In relation to video/TV, what gives each decade it's signature look?

[jrsone]

I have in my head what I’m trying to convey but I’ll try to put it in words as clear as possible. I’m speaking mostly about 1960s-2000s.

Watching television, broadcast and cable, you can tell what decade you are watching from the show or commercial you are viewing. What makes that distinctive style? I know the 70s has a brownish/orange tint, the 90s a little brighter, the 80s in between. Was there a certain type of camera, a filming technique, a certain type of film altogether?

I’m really interested, I’ve been watching old commercials and TV shows as well as news clips and it’s always been something I’ve been curious about.

[nightshadea]

I can always tell when something was taped in the 70s because of the too bright lighting and the low buzz that never seemed to get edited out

[engineer_comp_geek]

Moderator Action

Since this has to do with how TV shows are/were made, CS is a better fit.

Moving thread from General Questions to Cafe Society.

[engineer_comp_geek]

In the 70s, there were two “signature” looks. One was for things that were videotaped, as video cameras back then weren’t all that great compared to modern cameras. Lighting was often harsh to compensate for the limitations of the cameras.

Higher quality shows tended to use film rather than video. The film was then processed to videotape afterwards. This was much more expensive, but the quality was a lot better. Shows like MASH were produced using this method. The grainy quality to the film is noticeable though.

In the 80s, diffusion was the “in” thing for TV lighting, and many shows used it. That fad went away in the 90s. Many shows were still shot on film and converted. Better film quality and better video camera quality both make a noticeable difference in each type of show from this era.

80s shows also had women with poofy 80s hair and huge shoulder pads, and the music was often 80s synthesizer based.

In the 90s, better cameras meant better and brighter colors, better contrast and a wider dynamic range of all visuals. Better cameras meant that the lighting no longer needed to be as harsh just to get the image to be visible.

Steadicam was invented in the 70s, and became more popular through the 80s. This allowed a lot more flexibility with certain types of shots. A chase scene from earlier shows would be shot from more of a distance since the cameras couldn’t move as much without the camera shaking being noticeable.

As cameras became smaller and easier to handle in the 80s, shaky-cam became a more popular technique. Shaky cam wasn’t really practical in the 70s and earlier. Shots from the 60s and 70s would be from big, bulky, fixed cameras. In the 80s and later, cameras could now follow the action, and shaky cam allowed for first-person type views into the action. Shaky cam got a bit overused in the 90s (IMHO) with shows like ER using it almost constantly.

[jrsone]

@engineer_comp_geek

In the 70s, there were two “signature” looks. One was for things that were videotaped, as video cameras back then weren’t all that great compared to modern cameras. Lighting was often harsh to compensate for the limitations of the cameras.

Higher quality shows tended to use film rather than video. The film was then processed to videotape afterwards. This was much more expensive, but the quality was a lot better. Shows like MASH were produced using this method. The grainy quality to the film is noticeable though.

In the 80s, diffusion was the “in” thing for TV lighting, and many shows used it. That fad went away in the 90s. Many shows were still shot on film and converted. Better film quality and better video camera quality both make a noticeable difference in each type of show from this era.

80s shows also had women with poofy 80s hair and huge shoulder pads, and the music was often 80s synthesizer based.

In the 90s, better cameras meant better and brighter colors, better contrast and a wider dynamic range of all visuals. Better cameras meant that the lighting no longer needed to be as harsh just to get the image to be visible.

Steadicam was invented in the 70s, and became more popular through the 80s. This allowed a lot more flexibility with certain types of shots. A chase scene from earlier shows would be shot from more of a distance since the cameras couldn’t move as much without the camera shaking being noticeable.

As cameras became smaller and easier to handle in the 80s, shaky-cam became a more popular technique. Shaky cam wasn’t really practical in the 70s and earlier. Shots from the 60s and 70s would be from big, bulky, fixed cameras. In the 80s and later, cameras could now follow the action, and shaky cam allowed for first-person type views into the action. Shaky cam got a bit overused in the 90s (IMHO) with shows like ER using it almost constantly.

Thanks, this puts a lot of things in perspective.