Dark Shadows remembered

[Cousin_Barnabas]

Taeylor, the Phoenix plot is one of my personal favorites as well.  Laura verses Liz should have gone on forever.  Those showdowns were epic. 

[Joeytrom]

The exterior images were said to be discontinued after the series went to color due to time constraints and the budget.  But they still inserted exteriors of the cliff/ocean and lightning from time to time.  Couldn't they have just as easily inserted the exteriors as they did in the early episodes?  They were shot with color film.

I would have loved to see exteriors of Barnabas walking through the woods at night or appraoching Collinwood.  HODS did it but it just didn't feel the same.

[Cousin_Barnabas]

The exteriors of the mansions were filmed in color?

I don't see any reason why they wouldn't use them, then.  I had always assumed that they were filmed in black and white and that is why they weren't used. 

Now, I know exterior shots filmed in color - at this time in TV history - were rather difficult and the film quality could be less than stellar, but if the original shots were color, (in the words of ingenue Victoria Winters) "I don't understand." 

[KMR]

Now, I know exterior shots filmed in color - at this time in TV history - were rather difficult and the film quality could be less than stellar, but if the original shots were color, (in the words of ingenue Victoria Winters) "I don't understand." 

I don't know why "exterior shots filmed in color at [that] time in TV history" would be "rather difficult and the film quality ... less than stellar."  Bear in mind that the whole point of the discussion of filmed exterior scenes were that they were film, not videotape.  The quality need not be any less than other programming shot on film.  The expense was likely due to the fact it was on location, not in the studio.

But it is rather curious, in that if they did shoot some of the exterior shots in color they were obviously thinking ahead, so the footage could still be used if the series ever went to color.  And then the series did go to color, and they stopped using the footage...  Oh well...

[Cousin_Barnabas]

The few times that you do see exterior shots filmed for TV studios during this time period, the color is always washed out and less vibrant than the studio shots.  Blues turn to grays while reds turn to pinks.  Color was very tricky in the early days of color TV.  There were controls on interior shots with lighting and whatnot, but outside, the film crew had to fend for themselves. 

Since the Dark Shadows studio shots were so clear, I think one of the reasons color footage was not used after the transition was because the color footage they had wasn't, and it clashed.  It was probably washed out.  It wouldn't matter when seen in black and white, but in color, it might not have looked very good when compared to the studio shots.  This could be a reason that stills were used after the transition, as they were definitely clear and, if they were not originally, could be easily color-corrected.  Another thought is night-imagery.  It would be nearly impossible to get a good color exterior shot at night without a lot of expensive lighting.  Since so much of Dark Shadows takes place at night, this could be another reason they decided to go for stills.  The blue tint of the Collinwood night photos could be easily applied and the picture would still be crystal clear.  Just some thoughts.   

[KMR]

Cousin Barnabas, are you talking about things that are filmed or things that are videotaped? There is a very big difference between the two. They are entirely separate technologies; the only thing they have in common is that they get their source images from light coming through a lens. Exterior shots on videotape were quite rare in the earlier years of television, I believe, and I think that's what you have in mind when you talk about the washed out colors, etc. DS did not use videotape for any of the exterior shots; those were all on film (in fact, ABC made a big deal out of that fact.)

There is essentially no difference between using film to shoot for a theatrical motion picture or for a television broadcast. There is no reason at all that TV programming shot on film in the mid-1960s would be of any lesser quality than material shot for use in a major motion picture. Unless, of course, very low quality film and/or processing were used, or the cinematographer's skills were not up to par.

[Joeytrom]

I just remembered that a few early color episodes do use the live exterior shots of Collinwood during the opening scene voice over.  This is where Collinwood is framed around tree branches and the camera moves toward the mansion drawing room windows.   The Blue Whale exteriors were also used for a while.

One 1795 episode had a large still photo of the forest in the background when Barnabas is searching for Jeremiah & Josette.

[michael c]

Taeylor, the Phoenix plot is one of my personal favorites as well.  Laura verses Liz should have gone on forever.  Those showdowns were epic. 

you can say that again. legendary.

the laura story is filled with brilliant scenes and showdowns but the liz/laura confrontations are among my favorite scenes ever.

[Cousin_Barnabas]

KMR, yes you are right.  I was thinking videotape.  Stupid me.  But, here is the color FILM footage of Collinwood from Ep 297: Attached.


It looks pretty foggy, washed-out and unclear when compared to the stills, so there must have been a cheap color film used.  I guess this explains why it wasn't used beyond these first few color episodes.


And as for Laura and Liz, mscbryk, I think I just will say it again:  Laura verses Liz should have gone on forever.  Those showdowns were epic.       Too bad we couldn't have a flashback of the early days of Roger's relationship.  Liz trying to stop the wedding would be phenomenal to see. 

[KMR]

Wow, CB, I had to look twice just to make sure that really was a color image! 

Yeah, it looks like they used a print of the film that faded pretty fast. Either that, or the telecine job wasn't very good. (Or maybe both...)

What a shame that they couldn't keep going with the filmed exterior shots. But I'm sure the expense would have kept rising, and as they went to flashback storylines, they had to spend more money on costumes and re-dressing the sets.

[Cousin_Barnabas]

Yeah, it could pass for B/W if it weren't for that tint of green on the lawn and in the leaves.  The house looks pretty much like it does in the b/w episodes.

Exactly.  Like I brought up in another thread, priorities changed rapidly on the show, so there was less time and money for such little details.  It's unfortunate, especially since the Old House burned to the ground.  It would have been nice to see additional footage of that beautiful house while it was still standing.