Even with those artistic sacrifices, the eventual savings amounted to only $30,000, far less than the cost of a single episode. There would be fewer camera movements and no exteriors, making the episodes seem more akin to soap operas (and Playhouse 90), with the videotaped image effectively narrowing and flattening perspective. Television City, normally used for the production of live production would serve as the venue. The total number of new episodes was projected at twenty nine, more than half of which (sixteen), had, by November 1960, already been filmed in the show’s standard 35MM black and white format.ĬBS suggested that in order to trim the production’s $65,000 per episode budget, six episodes should be produced in the cheaper videotape format, eventually transferred to 16-millimeter film. Thanks to Mike Clark for the new photo that shows one in use on ‘The Long Distance Call’ episode starring Bill Mumy.įive weeks into The Twilight Zone’s second season, the show’s budget was showing a deficit. These were thought to have come into service here and in New York a bit later, like around late ’61 or ealy ’62. It’s been a while since we covered this historic variation from the normal way the show was done, but in revisiting the story, we also now know that Television City had Marconi Mark IV cameras as early as 1960. ‘The Twilight Zone’…The Six Video Tape Episodes
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