Season 6 - filtered lens, no close-ups - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

sabastianc65 · 12-25-2012, 03:06 PM

Hello!

I read in "The Lucy Book" that for the sixth season of "Here's Lucy," a filtered lens was used and no more "Lucy" closeups were used.

Does anyone that owns this season notice the filtered lens during this season? Does it make the picture look different?

340wedge · 12-29-2012, 04:50 PM

I own it, I'm not sure about filters, but there are no close ups that i have seen yet, still have more episodes to see. I can say this, Lucy looked her age in season 6, it's amazing how much older she looks than the previous seasons, although she still looks great!

HeresJames · 12-31-2012, 06:41 PM

I've noticed some soft focus shots of Lucy in Season 6 but not enough to be distracting.
I agree that Lucy looks her age in Season 6 but I think some of that can be attributed to the quality of the DVD transfers. The occasional bags and wrinkles probably weren't as visible on early 1970's television sets.

btw The Lucy Book is full of inaccuracies, imho.

LittleRickyII · 01-03-2013, 01:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sabastianc65

Hello!

I read in "The Lucy Book" that for the sixth season of "Here's Lucy," a filtered lens was used and no more "Lucy" closeups were used.

Does anyone that owns this season notice the filtered lens during this season? Does it make the picture look different?

I noticed that for the first time today! I've never noticed it before when watching these season six episodes in the past, perhaps because I haven't seen it in such clear quality as on these DVDs. But I can certainly see it now. Doris Day had this done throughout her series and it gave me a headache. I thought Lucille Ball had avoided employing this kind of photography, other than in Mame, and in stills. But season six, at least the episode I watched today, surely goes there in a big way. It was the episode with Andy Griffith, most noticeable in the scene in the hotel room. Every close-up shot of Lucille Ball is in soft focus. You can easily see the contrast because it goes back and forth between closeups of Andy Griffith and long shots of the two of them, which are done in regular focus, and soft focus closeups of Ms. Ball. Very obvious.

And yes, in spite of the soft focus techniques this sixth season, I'm agreeing with HeresJames and 340wedge that she suddenly seemed older in S6, not only in her appearance but her voice got noticeably deeper from the fifth season. Could it be that she did further damage to her vocal chords singing improperly in Mame (as she had done singing in Wildcat a dozen years earlier)?

lucyandethel · 01-06-2013, 09:20 PM

Most series produced on film do not utilize closeups. I think in the early days of television, there were more closeups. However, if you look at a lot of filmed series, such as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Cheers, Frasier, there were not closeups. I did notice in this last season of Here's Lucy a lot of fuzzy shots when it was on Lucy. They did the same thing in Mame. That is a old, old Hollywood trick to hide imperfections on someone's face.

12-25-2012, 03:06 PM	#1
sabastianc65 Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Sep 15, 2010 Location: USA Posts: 18	Season 6 - filtered lens, no close-ups Hello! I read in "The Lucy Book" that for the sixth season of "Here's Lucy," a filtered lens was used and no more "Lucy" closeups were used. Does anyone that owns this season notice the filtered lens during this season? Does it make the picture look different?

12-29-2012, 04:50 PM	#2
340wedge Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Jan 09, 2008 Location: New York Posts: 83	I own it, I'm not sure about filters, but there are no close ups that i have seen yet, still have more episodes to see. I can say this, Lucy looked her age in season 6, it's amazing how much older she looks than the previous seasons, although she still looks great!

12-31-2012, 06:41 PM	#3
HeresJames Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Nov 08, 2009 Location: Connecticut Posts: 13	I've noticed some soft focus shots of Lucy in Season 6 but not enough to be distracting. I agree that Lucy looks her age in Season 6 but I think some of that can be attributed to the quality of the DVD transfers. The occasional bags and wrinkles probably weren't as visible on early 1970's television sets. btw The Lucy Book is full of inaccuracies, imho.

01-06-2013, 09:20 PM	#5
lucyandethel Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Dec 18, 2009 Location: Los Angeles CA Posts: 435	Most series produced on film do not utilize closeups. I think in the early days of television, there were more closeups. However, if you look at a lot of filmed series, such as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Cheers, Frasier, there were not closeups. I did notice in this last season of Here's Lucy a lot of fuzzy shots when it was on Lucy. They did the same thing in Mame. That is a old, old Hollywood trick to hide imperfections on someone's face.