Camera Shots

[AndreDuPres]

The shot of Lt. Forbes pants gave me an idea...why does DS have so many weird camera angles and shots on random objects?  Which director uses the most innovative techniques?  Also, I was watching DS with a little cousin, and she became quite annoyed that the camera lingered at great length on some bushes on Widows Hill or some such set.  On another note, I've noticed that many of the episodes utilize mirrors:  Barnabas is speaking to Carolyn in one episode and though she herself is not in the shot, her reflection is shown.  I think it's a cool technique, but they over-do it sometimes.  And I do get tired of the endless inanimate objects (though it's funny when they focus on Julia's ash tray or Quentin's brandy).

[Willie]

They really go crazy when they start conducting experiments in a laboratory.  Long shots of one piece of equipment after another, lights blinking, arcing electricity, ooh, scary!    One of my favorites was when Julia and Barnabas were in Dr. Lang's lab, and there was a big magnifying class attached to some sort of arm.  They managed to get the camera in the perfect position so we could see Julia's eyeball magnified to ten times normal size.  And they stayed on that shot for a long time!

I absolutely love that stuff.  Gives the show even more character.

[Raineypark]

It was the 60's.  You couldn't get through an aspirin commercial without an artsy shot.....

[petofi]

Many of the mirrow shots were developed to give new angles to the cramped conditions of the cameramen.  The cameras they used were HUGE compared to today's video cams; the zoom lense assembly weighed about 60 pounds by itself.  The Norelco Cams that they used after color came in on the show were the new industry standard, but they were cumbersome.  They used wheeled  camera bases with hydraulic lifts to help smooth their movement, and these took up a great deal of space as well.  Stuart Goodman, who worked on DS recalled that the zoom took some getting used to, but was ultimately smoother once you got used to them.  I think some of the lingering shots were to buy time for the next camera set-up, and many of them were, indeed, artsy shots to add interest to the show or mood of the show.

Petofi

[Josette]

They would often have a close up of something and one couldn't figure out just what it was.  Then the shot would spread out from that and it would turn out to be some ornamentation on a piece of furniture or the wall or something.  It was often quite effective.

[arashi]

Personally I love it when they focus on one character, who is usually rambling like crazy, to give the vampire actor/actress time to put their fangs in.

[BuzzH]

Personally I love it when they focus on one character, who is usually rambling like crazy, to give the vampire actor/actress time to put their fangs in.

What's even funnier about the above is when you can actually HEAR the fangs going in.  This happened in a scene from 1897 in an ep I watched last week.  Charity was rambling on, they closed in on Nancy and you could HEAR Jonathan putting the fangs over his teeth.  It was too funny!  I had to rewind to make sure I actually HEARD the scunchy noise it made, LOL! 

[MagnusTrask]

Oh God.... that's too good and too bad to be true.

[AKA Laura's Fires]

The shot of Lt. Forbes pants gave me an idea...

LOL!  My husband nearly screamed at that...he calls it a "BATCH-CAM" shot, and my man just doesn't go there...

[michael c]

i love to see what they choose to feature during the show's closing credits.

usually it's one of the main sets but sometimes it's a random inanimate object(a telephone,a statue,a brandy snifter).those are the best.

i recently caught a particularly ambitious closing credit.it wasn't just a shot of buffie harrington's room but it's image reflected in a mirror and focused on the only television set that i can ever recall seeing on the show.

[retzev]

i love to see what they choose to feature during the show's closing credits.

usually it's one of the main sets but sometimes it's a random inanimate object(a telephone,a statue,a brandy snifter).those are the best.

i recently caught a particularly ambitious closing credit.it wasn't just a shot of buffie harrington's room but it's image reflected in a mirror and focused on the only television set that i can ever recall seeing on the show.

Me too! I especially love the shots that have drapes or cobwebs moving in a breeze, or candle-flames flickering, obviousley not still shots. I'm always disappointed when they use an exterior still of the Old House or Collinwood, etc.

BTW, what episode was it that showed the TV set?

[michael c]

the episode with the closing credit i mentioned is the final episode of dvd set 20 #1021.

but the television set is visible in several episodes that feature buffie's room.

[retzev]

interesting - thanks