Eli5 why do soap operas look like that?

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Eli5 why do soap operas look like that?

Comments

  1. gravity_bomb Avatar

    Soap operas use a multi camera setup to cut costs. This means that instead of changing camera location and lighting for every shot, they have multiple cameras to cover every angle at the expense of better lighting.

  2. otterdisaster Avatar

    Soaps are shot very quickly because new episodes drop 5 days a week. Lighting is usually pretty flat because of the speed at which shows are produced. This is because lighting setups take a lot of time, so changing lighting setups slow down production. This in turn gives a ‘look’ that carries over from show to show because they are all under the same types of time pressures, so they use the same production techniques.

  3. Black_Pfeiffer Avatar

    Most soap operas shoot with cameras that record at 30 or 60 frames per second, instead of the more cinematic cameras used for Film and TV, which shoot at 24fps. It gives it an old school video camera look that is hyper realistic…and horrible.

    You can mimic this look on most modern TVs by turning on the ‘hyper motion’ ‘120Hz’ or ‘sports’ mode, depending on the model. That will increase the refresh rate of the TV and give it that look.

  4. MrDBS Avatar

    Soap operas are filmed at 60 frames per second, which makes them look more realistic and smoother than film. There is a wikipedia article on the soap opera effect here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap_opera_effect .

    Peter Jackson shot the Hobbit at 48 fps and people complained that it looked like a soap opera.

  5. _youneverknow_ Avatar

    Soap operas are often shot in a studio under a fixed lighting grid, with less variability than the unique set-ups required when filming on location.

  6. redditusername1029 Avatar

    no one here actually answering why they film in that format.