Have you ever wondered what Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley were looking at when they were shooting “I Love Lucy”? I have very little information to share about this, and I’m not even sure it’s a genuine color photo. But it does present us with a whole different view point with those three early television camera staring straight at us. The guy in the white, short-sleeved shirt facing the audience is Desi Arnaz. He usually warmed up the audience before each filming, so I assume that’s what he was doing when this shot was taken.
Rick C. said: “The shot is courtesy of Gregg Oppenheimer, whose father created, wrote and produced the show. This is one of his colorized shots of a wonderful vantage point.”
natehate on X said: “The heavy-set gentleman in the blue shirt is Karl Freund, the legendary cinematographer, who filmed such classics as Metropolis and Dracula. For Desi Arnaz, he perfected flat lighting and the three camera technique used on many sitcoms to this day.”
So, so awesome to see, as a child TV was my life and I would often wonder what was behind the cameras but no one ever showed it. Sometimes I feel I was a part of that industry in another life as I find it so intriguing and fascinating to see behind the scenes. Thanks for sharing
I noticed the dressed up crew. Today’s studio crews 👎
Martin,
The three cameras were actually 35mm film cameras. Desi Arnaz is credited with developing the three film camera production technique for television. When the series started (1951) there was no videotape recording. TV shows were broadcast live with only the kinoscope process used for preservation and rebroadcasting – recording a television program on motion picture film, directly through a lens focused on the screen of a TV monitor. Desi decided to shoot and edit the episodes directly on film like a movie but with three synced cameras during production, then broadcasting them using telecine equipment. The quality of the episodes were much better and became more valuable for syndication.