Light box

I've gone back and read some of the posts about the light box and so I wanted to reiterate some what I said in another thread.

The running lights around the border of the screen have NEVER been computer generated.  Up until season 36 the light box has been brought out on stage and the lights have been shot live and chroma keyed in simultaneously.  Everything inside the light border is black which disapears when the technical director "keys" out the color black form that camera's shot.

Now there is no room for the light box to sit on stage because of the jib, so instead of using a live camera shot they use a shot of the actual light box that is taped.  It takes away from some of the excitement of seeing the show live, but using this taped lightbox looks absolutely no different than using a  live shot.

Incidentally, on the Gameshow Marathon episodes, the same thing was done with the openings for both The Price Is Right and the Match Game.  That spinning box used for "Get ready to match the stars" was the actual box used and taped in the 70's and keyed in for the marathon.

[FastCompany]

RatPack78 wrote:
Up until season 36 the light box has been brought out on stage and the lights have been shot live and chroma keyed in simultaneously.  Everything inside the light border is black which disapears when the technical director "keys" out the color black form that camera's shot.

That would be a luminance (luma) key.  The Match Game box was chroma keyed.  

[asd2001]

Something interesting about shooting the light box live is that it would often look different depending on the episode.  Specifically, sometimes you couldn't see the bulbs at all, and other times, the bulbs were in full view.  I'm guessing this depends on how far the camera was zoomed into the light box.  Regardless, this is something I loved about TPIR in the past...because so many things were done live, there were bound to be inconsistencies from one episode to the next, and that's part of the beauty that this show had.  (Another example would be the ticket plug before it was electronic...sometimes, it would not be centered or steady on the screen.)

Watching the light box in action was also one of my favorite parts of seeing the show live, and I'm disappointed (but not surprised) that it will no longer be used.  Still, I am grateful that they are at least using a taped shot of the same light box.  (I would feel differently if it were a taped shot of a different light box, or a computer generated one.)

[junkaholic95]

This might interest some of you.  A homemade lightbox.  The same guy also has a replica of the 70s version.  This is also the same guy who made his own mini big wheel.

[PIR85]

there were bound to be inconsistencies from one episode to the next

But I would wager that 99.99% of the television audience never noticed that "inconsistency", myself included.  I knew it was always a live shot, but it always looked the same day to day anyway.  So, this will be one change on the show that will literally have no effect on me at all.

[price_authority]

Your nomenclature is wrong. The device used in the opening is simply a board with chase lights surrounding a black field. In the center of the black field is a window concealing the logo which opens on cue.

A light box is a whole different technology. A light box is a box painted white inside with light bulbs inside it. It is usually faced with colored Plexiglas, behind which is a transparency with graphics on it. There is a light box on the Range Game (the price) and there are four on the Bonus Game.

[PIR85]

Interesting point, price_authority; however, most of us have always referred to it as "light box" with no confusion.

[price_authority]

It's not a box, for one thing. "Chase light board" would be accurate.

[CBSpromoman]

price_authority wrote:
It's not a box, for one thing. "Chase light board" would be accurate.

People have come to refer to it as a "light box" simply because the lights form a box (frame) around the action in the opening.  That's the only real reason.  In that respect, the term may not be completely accurate technically, but it isn't completely wrong, either.

There's a big difference between calling that device the "light box" and saying that the visual effect is realized through a "chroma key."

[asd2001]

PIR85 wrote:
But I would wager that 99.99% of the television audience never noticed that "inconsistency", myself included.

Oh I am in total agreement with you.  I'm not trying to imply that the status of the light box has any relevance to the majority of viewers.  I was just pointing out that this one of those unique characteristics of the show that I, in the 00.01% minority, noticed.  That is all.