# Was "Seinfeld" filmed on video or celuloid? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 18, 2005, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-seinfeld-filmed-on-video-or-celuloid/295193 "2005-03-18T19:47:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eventhorizon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Eventhorizon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eventhorizon)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-seinfeld-filmed-on-video-or-celuloid/295193/1 "2005-03-18T19:47:27Z")
Was “Seinfeld” filmed on tape (video) or celuloid ? I can’t find this info anywhere. The show looks so nice it’s hard to believe it’s just video The same question goes for all Sony comedies. Anybody? Thanx! ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-seinfeld-filmed-on-video-or-celuloid/295193/2 "2005-03-18T19:49:51Z")
Nearly all sitcoms, including Seinfeld, are shot on film. Video is reserved for reality shows, game shows, talk shows, and daily soap operas. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-seinfeld-filmed-on-video-or-celuloid/295193/3 "2005-03-18T19:51:46Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Nearly all sitcoms… Actually I should say “nearly all _American_ sitcoms.” The Brits tend to shoot their comedies on video with incompetent sound and lighting design, making them look like they were directed by some doofus with a camcorder. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-seinfeld-filmed-on-video-or-celuloid/295193/4 "2005-03-18T20:35:58Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > The Brits tend to shoot their comedies on video with incompetent sound and lighting design, making them look like they were directed by some doofus with a camcorder. “Are you being taped?” ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-seinfeld-filmed-on-video-or-celuloid/295193/5 "2005-03-18T21:54:05Z")
> [@Eventhorizon](#): > > Was “Seinfeld” filmed on tape (video) or celuloid ? > I can’t find this info anywhere. The [Internet Movie Database](http://www.imdb.com/) is a great resource for these sorts of questions. > [@](#): > > Originally posted by **[The IMDB](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098904/technical)**: > > Technical Specifications for “Seinfeld” (1990) > > **Camera:** Panavision Cameras and Lenses > **Film negative format (mm/video inches):** 35 mm > **Cinematographic process:** Spherical > **Printed film format:** 35 mm > **Aspect ratio:** 1.33 : 1 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-seinfeld-filmed-on-video-or-celuloid/295193/6 "2005-03-18T22:25:32Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Nearly all sitcoms, including Seinfeld, are shot on film. Video is reserved for reality shows, game shows, talk shows, and daily soap operas. I haven’t really paid attention, but is it really the majority? Most of the sitcoms I remember growing up with (“Three’s Company,” “Married with Children,” “Mr. Belvedere,” “Alf,” etc…) were vidoetaped. In fact, I seem to recall that’s why Cheers stood out to me so much, because it looked different from all the other sitcoms at the time. It wasn’t until much later that I learned it was because it was filmed, and not taped. ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-seinfeld-filmed-on-video-or-celuloid/295193/7 "2005-03-19T02:57:25Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I haven’t really paid attention, but is it really the majority? Most of the sitcoms I remember growing up with (“Three’s Company,” “Married with Children,” “Mr. Belvedere,” “Alf,” etc…) were vidoetaped. In fact, I seem to recall that’s why Cheers stood out to me so much, because it looked different from all the other sitcoms at the time. It wasn’t until much later that I learned it was because it was filmed, and not taped. Yes, I remember that, too. In fact, I remember the different networks having a different “look” to them…and I’m sure that this had to do with whether their shows were taped or filmed. CBS, for example, definitely had that film look–more muted colors, less contrast. I remember ABC having that brighter, more contrasty videotape look, and NBC was in-between. British comedies tend to videotape their in-studio shots, but anything taking place, say, outside is filmed. It’s kind of distracting, at least to me, especially on older shows. Have you ever seen the first season of “Newhart”? I remember seeing one episode. It’s on videotape, and it looks like a completely different show! ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-seinfeld-filmed-on-video-or-celuloid/295193/8 "2005-03-19T23:10:22Z")
The Panavision Studio configuration calls for a 1,000 foot magazine. 35mm film runs at 90 feet per minute. Allowing film lost to the lab for threading, you get a shade more than 10 minutes per magazine. Most scenes in comedies- even a Master- rarely runs 10 minutes. Side trivia. Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball pioneered the use of three cameras shooting at once for their early shows. [Cite](http://www.televisionheaven.co.uk/cbs.htm). It was economical since it allowed one to carefully block and capture comedic moments- before live audiences- from three angles at once. If the scene ran well, you had it in one take. Enormously helpful when shooting comedy. Most if not all filmed comedy shows do make use of pick-ups, shot after a scene is covered. Some pick-up shots are done with no audience in place, since they are frequently single lines or a small bit of business to be cut into the larger scene. Another side note. Many shows not shot in front of an audience do make use of more than one camera. I shot **Sex & The City** quite a few times. They frequently shoot multiple cameras for effiency’s sake and to preserve a take that is really nicely timed and performed all around. It is more cost effective to have a B Camera and B Camera crew manning the rig at all times, than it is to re-light and re-block over and over for every scene. Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-seinfeld-filmed-on-video-or-celuloid/295193/9 "2005-03-20T01:19:46Z")
> [@Eventhorizon](#): > > Was “Seinfeld” filmed on tape (video) or celuloid ? Absolutely NOT celuloid (sp) nor celluloid! Celluloid is made from nitrocellulose and camphor and was used to make photographic film. Nitrocellulose is also called guncotton, a high explosive when confined and a fast burning substance in the open. It was outlawed for cinematography something like fifty years or more ago because of its high flammability hazard. Cellulose acetate largely replaced celluloid. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-seinfeld-filmed-on-video-or-celuloid/295193/10 "2005-03-20T04:38:08Z")
I’m always amazed that people have to ask whether something was shot on film or videotape, because to me the difference between the two media are like night and day. Oh well. **Tamex** , the differences you perceive between networks are probably more imagined than actual. There are so many different production companies, using different equipment, that supply the network programs that it is very unlikely that there would be a predominant visual “look” to a network. And all networks follow basic [NTSC](http://www.ntsc-tv.com/) technical standards. **Trivia:** • Oldest existing videotape: [_The Edsel Show_](http://www.ev1.pair.com/edsel/edselshow1.html) (1957) (scroll to the bottom of the page for a link to a viewable clip). • Second oldest existing color videotape: [_An Evening With Fred Astaire_](http://www.ev1.pair.com/colorTV/NBCcolortape.html) (1958). Notice the particularly brilliant sound quality, a side benefit of the high speed at which videotape ran through the early VTRs. • First American sitcom shot on videotape: _All in the Family_ (1971). ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-seinfeld-filmed-on-video-or-celuloid/295193/11 "2005-03-20T10:30:12Z")
Well, I don’t notice it anymore…but I did notice it as a kid. Perhaps there were fewer companies back then. Or I could have been imagining things, too.