cough, cough

[kuanyin]

I really felt for Grayson in yesterday's episode and had to greatly admire how she handled a non-stop coughing fit. That is so uncomfortable and impossible to get over while using one's voice! Actually, her discreet coughing and eye dabbing made her character seem so much more real! I'm surprised this problem didn't occur all the time for everyone considering the amount of smoking done by the cast....

[Ben]

I really felt for Grayson in yesterday's episode and had to greatly admire how she handled a non-stop coughing fit. That is so uncomfortable and impossible to get over while using one's voice!

My favorite coughing scene was in 1967, when Dennis Patrick, as the c*cky Jason McGuire, was overtaken by a very un-Jason-like coughing fit as he lecturing Willie at the Blue Whale.  

But my all-time favorite coughing blooper didn't occur on DS.  I saw it as an outtake of a soap (don't know the name) on a Dick Clark "TV Bloopers" special.  A woman was in bed under the covers, when she was supposed to start shrieking like a banshee, over and over.  It worked at first, until she had to take another breath to continue screaming.  Instead, she started coughing.  Of course, that killed the intensity of the moment, and she began laughing.  

I wonder if that would have qualified for a "stop tape" moment on DS.  I mean, what if Barnabas, fangs bared and coming in for the bite, started coughing at that very moment?  

Ben
(glad not to be coughing like I was for the entire month of January)

[Julia99]

She did handle it admirably. . stage training and all but what I couldn't stop thinking of was how cheap are those d-mn producers. . .not letting them stop the camera so she could recover. . sheesh!!  5 minutes. .  .it would've taken 5 minutes!

Julia99

[Teresa]

I realize this is kind of off topic but I have my own coughing fit story. I was on the phone at work with a patient and had to excuse myself during a coughing fit. I put the patient on hold and went out to the hallway to get some water. When I went back in I realized I had locked myself out of the office. Being that I was the only one in that day I had to run down to the lobby to get the guard to let me in. The patient was still waiting for me when I got back-no kidding like 10 min later. I apologized and explained but felt like a goof ball explaining what happened to the security guard.

[Craig_Slocum]

I thought for sure this topic was going to be about coughing going on in the background off camera. I have heard that numerous times. I do think Grayson Hall handled that coughing spell well, and I could swear I heard coughing even after she was out of the room, just before the scene ended. At one of the Dark Shadows Festivals I went to, somebody from the audience asked a question regarding why scenes were not redone, and the answer was that the tape had to be taken to another place to be edited, it was costly,  and that taping was not always available.

[Raineypark]

Remember folks, we're talking 30+ years ago...when TV technology was primitive compared to today's digital, computer stuff.

I had the chance to work with that technology in college during the 70's...let me tell you that In-Camera Editing meant exactly that...you were expected to get your shots lined up in sequence, and shoot them exactly the way you needed them, because editing cost the earth.

 Re-takes were a HUGE no-no because it pushed everything out sequence and (most important) COST MONEY!  

The rule on that set was probably "Don't stop unless someone collapes on the floor...and they look like they're not breathing!"