Audience on LITB?

[comet97]

I wonder if they had a 'Live' audience on the show or if they used an applause machine for effect.
Any ideas how we could find out for sure folks?

[David VP]

LITB was never done with a "Live" audience. No way.

It's all too obvious it's canned laughter. (With some of the same "cues" used over & over -- i.e.: the woman who says softly "uh-oh!" at appropriate moments in the shows. )

The "Uh-oh!" cue is used in other sitcoms too, I have noticed.

Of course, it's fairly obvious they had to use canned laughter during all of the (many) outdoors scenes. No "audience" there for certain.

[Mark B.]

LITB was shot like a movie (one camera setup at a time, out of sequence, etc.) as apposed to shows like Dick Van Dyke or Lucy. Those shows used several cameras to capture the action as the episode was acted out in sequence for a live audience.

The way to tell the difference is to look at the set- if there are a lot of shots outside and if the interior sets have more than 3 walls (like the Cleaver House), then there is no live audience.

Mark

[comet97]

Originally posted by Mark B.
LITB was shot like a movie (one camera setup at a time, out of sequence, etc.) as apposed to shows like Dick Van Dyke or Lucy. Those shows used several cameras to capture the action as the episode was acted out in sequence for a live audience.

The way to tell the difference is to look at the set- if there are a lot of shots outside and if the interior sets have more than 3 walls (like the Cleaver House), then there is no live audience.

Mark

I didn't think so Mark. lol

I've also noticed the lady saying Oh oh and a few other laugh lines.
Thanks for the input.

JDF

[HaskellGirl]

I never understood the "single-camera" show versus the "multiple-camera" show. I DO understand multiple-camera sitcoms, where there are a few camera's going at once. But I don't understand single camera...doesn't that take up so much time? Why don't they use more than one camera at a time?

[Mark B.]

Its the same way a movie is done- each shot is set up with the lighting, set, props, etc. just right for that point of view. It is actually more efficient because less elements have to be coordinated at once for each shot- fewer things can go wrong in each take.

Mark

[tdr]

LITB was filmed with a one-camera setup and no live audience. I, for one, am glad for that circumstance. It's not only that the sets are more real looking, especially the outdoor setting which are actually outdoors, but indoors we get to see almost all angles of the house instead of shots from slightly varied angles into the same 3 walls. Notice in I Love Lucy, Dick Van Dyke, All in the Family, et al, you are always looking at the main set, a living room, through the same "wall" that is never seen.

But I think having no live audience is simply better quality overall in the writing and directing. The one-camera system was in vogue in the 60's but went out of favor in the 70's with the success of All in the Family, whilch also introduced the trend of making jokes out of the 'forbidden' subjects of 50's and 60's television. Since that time through today, in sitcoms the dialogue is always punched up with jokes-- every other line has to get a reaction out of the over-eager audience, hoping to be such a big part of the airing. With the one-camera system all efforts can be aimed at pleasing the audiences at home which will see the airing, and not at both a live audience and a home audilence. This is better efficiency of time also, IMO... all scenes on the same set can be shot out of sequence, and/or all shots with a particular 'guest' actor with limited involvement can be done more quickly. And finally, a mulitple-camera/ live audience system does not allow for direct closeups. With a one-camera, a 'pan' shot can be done showing all actors involved, then closeups can be reshot on individual actors as seen through the eyes of the others to whom they are speaking. In LITB, with Ward's serious talks with the boys, thus we look at Ward from the boys' point of view, as well as W & B from Ward's point of view.

[hawaii five-o]

The "Uh-Oh" lady is actually Lucille Ball's mother, Dee Dee, who was always in the studio audience for the tapings of "I Love Lucy". "Beaver" borrowed their laugh track from "Lucy". If you watch enough sitcoms from the 50's and 60's, you can hear Dee Dee's "Uh-oh" quite frequently.

[comet97]

Originally posted by tdr
LITB was filmed with a one-camera setup and no live audience. I, for one, am glad for that circumstance. It's not only that the sets are more real looking, especially the outdoor setting which are actually outdoors, but indoors we get to see almost all angles of the house instead of shots from slightly varied angles into the same 3 walls. Notice in I Love Lucy, Dick Van Dyke, All in the Family, et al, you are always looking at the main set, a living room, through the same "wall" that is never seen.

But I think having no live audience is simply better quality overall in the writing and directing. The one-camera system was in vogue in the 60's but went out of favor in the 70's with the success of All in the Family, whilch also introduced the trend of making jokes out of the 'forbidden' subjects of 50's and 60's television. Since that time through today, in sitcoms the dialogue is always punched up with jokes-- every other line has to get a reaction out of the over-eager audience, hoping to be such a big part of the airing. With the one-camera system all efforts can be aimed at pleasing the audiences at home which will see the airing, and not at both a live audience and a home audilence. This is better efficiency of time also, IMO... all scenes on the same set can be shot out of sequence, and/or all shots with a particular 'guest' actor with limited involvement can be done more quickly. And finally, a mulitple-camera/ live audience system does not allow for direct closeups. With a one-camera, a 'pan' shot can be done showing all actors involved, then closeups can be reshot on individual actors as seen through the eyes of the others to whom they are speaking. In LITB, with Ward's serious talks with the boys, thus we look at Ward from the boys' point of view, as well as W & B from Ward's point of view.

Very interesting info TDR
Thanks for explaining it so well. ;-)

...jd

[comet97]

Originally posted by HaskellGirl
I never understood the "single-camera" show versus the "multiple-camera" show. I DO understand multiple-camera sitcoms, where there are a few camera's going at once. But I don't understand single camera...doesn't that take up so much time? Why don't they use more than one camera at a time?

Unlike earlier sitcoms such as The Honeymooners and I Love Lucy which were filmed before a studio audience in a theater-like setting with the action taking place largely indoors, movie studio-produced shows such as Leave It To Beaver were free to use backlot exteriors, allowing the action to take place out-of-doors and within a town or neighborhood. The studio audience was replaced with a laugh track, and interior scenes were filmed on nearby studio soundstages.

[JudgeGarth]

~~~This is better efficiency of time also, IMO... all scenes on the same set can be shot out of sequence, and/or all shots with a particular 'guest' actor with limited involvement can be done more quickly.

I heard that Fred MacMurray on 'My Three Sons' and Brian Keith on 'Family Affair' filmed all their scenes for the entire season in just a few weeks at the beginning of each year's shooting schedule.

[comet97]

Originally posted by JudgeGarth
~~~This is better efficiency of time also, IMO... all scenes on the same set can be shot out of sequence, and/or all shots with a particular 'guest' actor with limited involvement can be done more quickly.

I heard that Fred MacMurray on 'My Three Sons' and Brian Keith on 'Family Affair' filmed all their scenes for the entire season in just a few weeks at the beginning of each year's shooting schedule.

They got it down to a Science!

[HaskellGirl]

Thanks for the clarification!!