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macgeek2005 · Oct 7, 2006, 11:12 PM

Ever since getting addicted to friends, i've wondered what the process of making a sit-com is.

Firstly, do they do multiple takes, like a movie? Or is it more like, they're filming a live show? I know there is an audience there, but then when you see the episodes there are shots outside, and in different buildings. They can't possibly move the audience around or move the set around that quickly, to perform an episode in real time.

How is it done? If someone knows a website that explains it, or can just summerize it here, that would be great!

Thanks.

paul w · Oct 8, 2006, 01:16 AM

if you're macgeek2005 then why did you register in 2006? I'm confused.

macgeek2005 · Oct 8, 2006, 01:21 AM

Because i'm always macgeek2005. That's just who I am. I'm not gonna change every year.....

goMac · Oct 8, 2006, 01:30 AM

There isn't actually an audience there usually. (Some shows are exceptions, but Friends for example does not have a live studio audience). They usually used what's called a laugh track. Pre-recorded audio of people laughing. They then dub that over the show.

awaspaas · Oct 8, 2006, 09:56 AM

Situation comedy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nebagakid · Oct 8, 2006, 11:03 AM

To make a Sitcom, they first remove the hyphen between Sit and Com. Then, a skilled team of writers do what the executive producer wants them to do. Nextly, depending on the situation, most of the "traditional" sitcoms (a three camera set up), have a studio that is most of the time 3/4s of a room. (the last 1/4 being the area where the cameras go). Sometimes, these sitcoms have to shoot on location, so they take a small crew out and get the stuff done that they need. This is what Seinfeld was.

On the other hand, many sitcoms now are "single camera," and are shot like a movie. They still may have sets, such as Arrested Development and Scrubs, but it is a a complete set. Many of these shows don't have a laugh track, and sometimes that silence is filled up with background music.

goMac · Oct 8, 2006, 11:06 AM

Originally Posted by Nebagakid

...and sometimes that silence is filled up with background music.

Oh man, that made Arrested Development sooo good.

The Mick · Oct 8, 2006, 05:51 PM

While in high school, (granted this was 15 years ago

) our ROTC unit went to be the audience for several sitcom filmings in Hollywood. We would get paid to be there and we all had a good time so a win-win for everybody. There were sets for at least 3 of the main rooms where the show would take place, all arranged next to each other, with the cameras on the main floor, and the audience in bleachers behind the cameras. Many times there were smaller sets that could be moved in and out of the shooting floor.

They always brought out a comedian to warm the crowd up, and there were monitors above to watch in case you could not see and microphones to record us. We were always encouraged to laugh as much and as loud as we wanted, but to please not speak or say anything as it would get caught on the laugh track. There was maybe room for 150-200 people.

Often times the scenes were shot in one take, but errors would be made and then be reshot. I remember being told they would actually shoot the show twice in one night so they always had multiple takes to pick from, but we would only ever see them shoot one complete 30 minute show. It took about 60-90 minutes to shoot the show, then we usually would go see the "late" shooting of another program.

If there were scenes outside, they had been pre-filmed and they would be shown to us on the monitors in the proper sequence of the show during the shoot. I learned that the actors would learn the script and rehearse for a few hours a day for a couple of days leading up to the shooting of the episode. Doing some quick math in my head that's maybe 6 hours a week rehearsing and 4-5 hours to shoot the show twice. So maybe 10 hours a week working, for 22-26 episodes a year. Not a really hard life if you ask me.

Dark Helmet · Oct 8, 2006, 07:51 PM

They put a group of brain-dead chimps in a room with some crayons.

macgeek2005 · Oct 8, 2006, 08:15 PM

Originally Posted by The Mick

While in high school, (granted this was 15 years ago

) our ROTC unit went to be the audience for several sitcom filmings in Hollywood. We would get paid to be there and we all had a good time so a win-win for everybody. There were sets for at least 3 of the main rooms where the show would take place, all arranged next to each other, with the cameras on the main floor, and the audience in bleachers behind the cameras. Many times there were smaller sets that could be moved in and out of the shooting floor.

They always brought out a comedian to warm the crowd up, and there were monitors above to watch in case you could not see and microphones to record us. We were always encouraged to laugh as much and as loud as we wanted, but to please not speak or say anything as it would get caught on the laugh track. There was maybe room for 150-200 people.

Often times the scenes were shot in one take, but errors would be made and then be reshot. I remember being told they would actually shoot the show twice in one night so they always had multiple takes to pick from, but we would only ever see them shoot one complete 30 minute show. It took about 60-90 minutes to shoot the show, then we usually would go see the "late" shooting of another program.

If there were scenes outside, they had been pre-filmed and they would be shown to us on the monitors in the proper sequence of the show during the shoot. I learned that the actors would learn the script and rehearse for a few hours a day for a couple of days leading up to the shooting of the episode. Doing some quick math in my head that's maybe 6 hours a week rehearsing and 4-5 hours to shoot the show twice. So maybe 10 hours a week working, for 22-26 episodes a year. Not a really hard life if you ask me.

Wow, thank you so much for the detailed and informative description. That's exactly the kind of thing I wanted to know.

I have one question though.

A few days ago, I compared a syndicated version of a Friends episode, to a copy of the episode exactly as it was on TV. It even had the TV symbols on it and stuff.

Aside from the normal stuff syndication does (cutting out even as little as one line from a conversation), I noticed that in one scene, the camera angle was different. They said the exact same lines in the exact same way, so I know it was not a different take. They must have had 2 cameras filming the exact same scene from 2 different angles, but why? And why would the syndicaters decide to use one angle over the other?

Also, I noticed that the pitch of the music in the intro of each episode, and the speed of the intro are different in syndicated versions. It's ever so slightly faster, and the pitch is a half tone higher. Do they actually speed up the Entire thing to save time???

Nebagakid · Oct 8, 2006, 09:42 PM

of course they speed it up! The more time they have to use for commercials the better!

The Mick · Oct 8, 2006, 11:45 PM

Originally Posted by macgeek2005

Wow, thank you so much for the detailed and informative description. That's exactly the kind of thing I wanted to know.

I have one question though.

A few days ago, I compared a syndicated version of a Friends episode, to a copy of the episode exactly as it was on TV. It even had the TV symbols on it and stuff.

Aside from the normal stuff syndication does (cutting out even as little as one line from a conversation), I noticed that in one scene, the camera angle was different. They said the exact same lines in the exact same way, so I know it was not a different take. They must have had 2 cameras filming the exact same scene from 2 different angles, but why? And why would the syndicaters decide to use one angle over the other?

Also, I noticed that the pitch of the music in the intro of each episode, and the speed of the intro are different in syndicated versions. It's ever so slightly faster, and the pitch is a half tone higher. Do they actually speed up the Entire thing to save time???

I'm sure they do speed it up. I can watch a first run episode of the Simpsons and it takes the full half-hour. Then a year later in syndication it takes them only 25 minutes to show it.

There were always 2-4 cameras filming each scene, and the scenes were sometimes several minutes long of continuous work. It was all well coordinated as to who had cameras on closeups of the actors and wider shots etc. So I think the availability of alternate angles is not far fetched at all.

If you ever get the chance, do go to see a filming. It's quite interesting to see the actual work and compare it to the finished product. It was also hard to laugh again when seeing the same scene for the third time because the director would call for a re-take. Sometimes we really could not tell why he would do so, I assumed it was due to technical issues like bad camera angles or the mics would miss dialogue. It is fun to see these millionaires flub lines, and occasionally the crew or floor director would be visibly pissed off about it.