"Guiding Light" Revolutionizes Daytime Production Models as It Enters the Digital Age

Guiding Light the longestrunning scripted series in television history amp8211 and the only one on the air today that began life as a radio program amp8211 has implemented costefficient new technologies and production techniques that will likely revolutionize the way daytime dramas are madeThese changes which will fully be seen on screen as of February 29 also could provide advertisers with exciting new opportunities to reach viewers even those who time shift and largely ignore traditional television spotsSince returning in January from the show39s twoweek holiday hiatus the GL team has been producing episodes in a manner radically different from that employed by virtually every daytime drama dating back to the Fifties a model pioneered by GL in 1952 when it made the move from radio to TV Gone are the cumbersome two and threewalled sets giant pedestal cameras dozens of overhead lights and miles of cable connecting all of the equipment In their places are approximately forty permanent sets each with four walls and a ceiling Onset equipment now consists of three handheld cameras a few handheld microphones and a couple of handheld lights and it is all wireless The photos below illustrate the differences between the old and the new Spaulding Study sets Note the permanent ceiling in the new set The video and audio is recorded in sync on all of the cameras and microphones and is downloaded via wireless technology to a computer as the production moves through the day Scenes shot in the morning are already being logged and edited by lunch The massive control room that had hummed with activity for years is now dark The new digital control room is the size of a closetThe old Spaulding Study setMarj Dusay top and Marcy Rylan on the new Spaulding Study setAll of this happens in the GL studio space in the CBS Broadcast Center in New York but the production has also ramped up on a record amount of location work amp8211 all of it in the town of Peapack New Jersey which now doubles as the fictional town of Springfield on the showThere is nothing like this being done with this technology anywhere on television amp8211 certainly not by a team that produces 260 hours of scripted dramatic programming every year amp8220We39re not reality television or primetime or even a soap operaamp8221 executive producer Ellen Wheeler told me last week as she took me on a tour of the New York studio amp8220Nobody is making this kind of television in so massive an amountamp8221 As we walked through the twostory labyrinth of sets Wheeler who initiated the plan for these sweeping changes early last year carried a small wireless monitor that allows her to watch everything that is being recorded by her three cameramen simply by pressing buttons below its six inch screen It matters not where they are or where Wheeler may be She is always effortlessly connected to everything that is happeningWheeler explained that a confluence of events led to the decision to transform the daytoday execution of the show and pioneer a new production model for the future Early in 2007 as the kickoff to its 70th anniversary celebration 15 years on radio 55 years on television many GL cast members spent a week in Biloxi helping build homes for victims of Hurricane Katrina Their work was recorded on hand held cameras Upon her return Wheeler watched much of the footage amp8220We were shooting reality in a real place with real peopleamp8221 she recalled amp8220I felt completely connected to them I told our production manager 39This is how we39re going to shoot our show next year39amp8220Here we are one year later and it39s happeningamp8221 she smiledAround the same time Procter ampamp Gamble Productions which has owned GL from the beginning had received the results of an audience survey that expressed a desire on the part of viewers that the show be made to amp8220feel more realamp8221 This was especially important to younger viewers who had come of age watching reality television programsamp8220Procter ampamp Gamble Productions called and said 39We want you to make changes based on our research39amp8221 Wheeler explained amp8220Find a way to make the show more realisticamp8221 And shortly after that CBS the network that has run GL since its move from radio indicated that it too wanted this aging franchise to be made newer and fresher she addedWheeler described the transformation which took place while the show was in production in virtually the same space as amp8220an unprecedented taskamp8221 She noted that she didn39t have to hire new people to execute her plan amp8220All of my team rose to the challengeamp8221 she proudly declaredThe new sets don39t have to be assembled and struck on a recurring basis amp8220I don39t need crews to stay overnight to put sets up or truck sets inamp8221 Wheeler noted The sets are permanent if somewhat small amp8211 just big enough for the furnishings actors and the technicians holding cameras microphones and lights amp8220I wanted the feeling of being in the room with the charactersamp8221 Wheeler explained She got itWhat she also got is an increased attention to set detail Every room is filled with small items that one might find in a real room of its kind For example as we walked by the permanent set for CO2 a Springfield coffee shop I took note of a number of real life products placed about including Bounty Paper Towels on a shelf and a bag of Pringles chips prominently displayed in a bowl on the counter The items were not set there as part of a product placement arrangement amp8211 but other products could be and given the show39s new realistic look and feel they would not appear out of place as they often do on other showsamp8220We39ve been doing product placement on our own without any dealsamp8221 Wheeler laughed amp8220When the character Dinah got pregnant we had her crave Pringles throughout her pregnancy We wrote entire scenes around Pringles even specific flavorsamp8221Another aspect of GL39s new production design is its extensive use of locations almost all of them in the town of Peapack New Jersey which will allow viewers to see the cars homes yards and haunts of the characters on the GL canvas Viewers will get to know Peapack extremely well Advertisers may want to keep an eye on the town as well The opportunities for exposure on its streets appear to be limitlessamp8220We just shot the character Cassie going to a Sunoco gas stationamp8221 Wheeler said amp8220We don39t have a deal with Sunoco We have a deal with the gas station owner We didn39t try to avoid the Sunoco sign out frontamp8221The Cross Creek Study is also a producer39s office Pictured Kim Zimmer and Bradley ColeWheeler also pointed out that in her zeal to construct as many permanent studio sets as possible the show39s many production offices including her own now do double duty as Springfield locations Wheeler39s office is also a chapel complete with permanent pews and an altar area behind her desk the top of which is removed when scenes are shot there Another producer sits in a tacky nail parlor still another in a seedy motel room The photo above shows actors Kim Zimmer and Bradley Cole in the new Cross Creek Study set which is also the office of producer Alexandra JohnsonGamsey Even some restrooms in the CBS Broadcast Center have become parttime sets Users beware

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"Guiding Light" Revolutionizes Daytime Production Models as It Enters the Digital Age

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"Guiding Light" Revolutionizes Daytime Production Models as It Enters the Digital Age

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