Movies for TV - Early Television Foundation

SCENERY AND PROPS 341
vision, there is no weakest part of the chain; the whole structure
is weak. Its weakness lies in the arbitrary number of lines which
circumscribe the results obtainable. But because we have to work
with what we have there is nothing to be gained by criticizing the
system. If the best possible scenery is placed before the live or
film camera, it will assure optimum results. Film productions are
capable of the best definition in the original,
but in use over the
television system they generally suffer due to the limitations of the
iconoscope film camera. For the purpose of the discussion following
it will be assumed that the word camera refers to both live and
film cameras, unless the text indicates a specific type.
The lack of spatial dimension in television reduces the need for
depth in many cases so that a painted case full of books will look
as real as the real thing when seen over the air, and the viewer
would swear that one could pick a book off the shelves. The
scenery used in the average stage production, while so obviously
unreal on the stage, looks authentic over television because we
cannot judge the lack of depth in the screen.
The type of scenery used depends on the purpose of the pro-
duction, but in many cases where authenticity is required a large
proportion of the scenery may be on very large photographs called
cycloramas. These may be as much as twelve feet wide or even
more and are enlargements on a grand scale of various scenes de-
sired for the background. Placed behind a window they provide
a perfect outdoor effect. Parts of one may be used for more than
one scene. If the cyclorama is of an outdoor scene it may have
trees on one side and grass, etc., on the other. The tremendous
size of the print makes it possible to cover an unusually large area
in one shot with consequent flexibility of action.
The scene to be described may be considered by some to come
properly under the heading of a special effect except that nothing
very complicated is used and all the image recording is done in
one operation. Quite obviously underwater scenes are difficult to
photograph in a studio. However,
if the scene is set and then a
thin glass tank of fish and underwater flora, etc., is set close be-
fore the camera lens so that the front of the tank completely