- Welcome back to another segment
of "Behind the Scenes with The Waltons."
Today, I am taking more of your questions
in another segment of "Ask Judy."
Okay, a long question here from Bake Like A Pro.
Sounds like something I should be sampling.
Anyway, "Who knew that for the tight shots,
they were all shot over again.
I wonder why that was?
Was it because the cameras were just so expensive,
they couldn't roll one wider shot and a second tighter shot
at the same time?
I wonder if this is done today
or technology now is less expensive,
more cameras, et cetera?
Seems this would make more sense today."
It works a little bit differently.
Sometimes shows will work with maybe two cameras,
but lighting can be different for a wider shot
than it is for a close-up.
So any time you're dealing with getting multiple shots,
it could impact lighting.
So, typically,
in film as opposed to, or even TV shows, drama shows,
as opposed to sitcoms
where they'll work with what they call three cameras,
then they will have three cameras set up,
and it's more of a broad scope of lighting
that just sort of lights everything,
whereas ours was shaped a bit more
to create shadows and different things like that.
So I think close-ups were more impacted,
and they wanted to adjust things sometimes for close-ups.
But if they were going to use a couple cameras,
then both cameras would already be set up,
and they would tend to be from a pretty similar position.
So the wide shot might be here, and the close-up camera
might be just a little bit off to the side.
So they were getting similar perspective on the lighting,
and they would just roll the whole thing.
They wouldn't start a camera partway through
because all of the sound still needed to sync.
They would just like roll, roll A-camera, roll B-camera,
and they, you know, do all of that at the same time.
Yes, every time you have a second camera crew,
it's an extra expense
not just for the equipment but also for the crew
because you need a camera operator
and a second camera assistant to work focus
and then, you know, potentially
also a second camera assistant to do the sticks.
So, more people to pay.
We typically only worked with one camera
except on rare occasions when we were having a bigger scene
where we might bring in a second camera.
Not very common.
So I don't think that it's done a ton anymore.
Sometimes with big action things now,
they might just set a camera someplace,
and it might be just picking up like one angle,
and those cameras might just get pieces.
I remember working on a show up in Canada
called "Cold Squad,"
and it was a big scene where there was a hostage situation,
and so there was a lot going on, a lot of police officers,
and they had several cameras shooting different things.
So at any given time as an actor,
you didn't know which camera might be on you
or picking up pieces of what you were doing
or when you might be in the background of something.
So that was a little challenging as an actor
because it was a hugely emotional scene for me
where I was supposed to be hysterical
'cause my son's supposed to be inside this building
and there's guns being fired,
and so I don't know what's happening,
and my husband and I are just there
and, you know, kinda freaking out.
So every single take,
because I didn't know what the cameras were gonna catch,
we had to be sort of at full emotional range
in case a camera caught a piece of you.
You couldn't just be sort of marking it
or, you know, having a casual take
or "Oh, I'm off camera so I don't have to fully emote."
So that was kind of an exhausting day.
So I hope that kind of helped
with that answer to that question.
Question from Bob: "I'm so enjoying your post,
particularly the 'Ask Judy' segments."
Thank you so much.
"How early in the process did the cast suspect
that the series might run as long as it did?"
I don't know that I ever had that sense.
It was just kind of season to season.
Each season, we hoped we would be picked up
for the next season.
I think after we got through the first season
when we started way in the bottom of the ratings
and ended up at the top of the ratings
by the end of the season,
I think we felt pretty confident
that we were having a good roll.
And for the next few seasons,
as we sat in the top five or so,
or top three,
we felt pretty confident that the show would continue.
Once we got into maybe Season 7,
as the ratings, you know, dropped a bit
in season probably 7, 8, 9,
it started to be more of a question, I think.
But I think there were definitely times
where I was like, "Wow, this is amazing.
Who'd have thought that we would do 6 seasons,
7 seasons, 8 seasons?"
It was just always such a gift each season
that we got to do another season.
And then Bob also asked,
"Did filming the reunion episodes,
particularly the ones in the '90s,
feel different from shooting the original series?
And was it easy to fall back into the character
and relationships with fellow cast members?"
I think falling back into the relationships was very easy
because we had continued to be in touch
over all the years that we were not doing the series.
And because we had done 220-something episodes
for those of us who did all 9 Seasons,
those relationships were pretty clear.
It did feel different, though, particularly in the '90s
after, you know, a number of years away from the show,
mostly to work out
for me who my character was at this point,
what had gone on in her life since the regular series,
and how that might have impacted
who Mary Ellen was at this point in her life,
what was different.
We were in a different time period.
So those things to work out were different.
There wasn't, I think, the same,
for me, level of comfort coming back into,
and it was more, in some ways,
like stepping into another set
as would happen when I went to work on other shows
but with a degree of familiarity and comfort
that I didn't have when I went onto someone else's set.
Elaine asked,
"Did the episode or any other specific episode win an Emmy?
And what Emmys did any particular actors/actresses win
from 'The Waltons' and for what?"
So we did win a number of Emmys
and also things like Golden Globe Awards
and People's Choice Awards, and things like that.
We did win Best Drama Series one year,
and Michael Learned won three Emmys
for playing Olivia Walton.
Richard won an Emmy, Will Geer won an Emmy.
Ellen Corby won three Emmys for Supporting Actress
for playing Grandma.
And then individual things,
Beulah Bondi won an Emmy for the episode "The Pony Cart."
And then some of our writers,
both John McGreevy and Joanna Lee won Emmys.
Our editing team won Emmys.
And then there were a number of other nominations.
A number of writers were nominated,
and a number of directors were nominated.
I think other writers were nominated.
Our brilliant cinematographer Russell Metty was nominated,
and then I think like Ralph Waite was nominated.
Will and Ellen were nominated for years as well
when they didn't win.
And I think perhaps even Michael and Ellen
may have been nominated other years that they didn't win.
So there you go,
lots of nominations and lots of wins for "The Waltons."
A question from Dave:
"A quick question,
and, of course, thank you for continuing to do this."
You're very welcome.
"I noticed you mentioned a lot of good choices
that Ralph Waite made in shooting a scene.
I was just thinking, I've read a couple scripts and noticed
the writer does frame the scene in a lot of detail.
So this is a delegation question.
How much breathing room does a director have
in making shot choices compared to what the script demands?"
So I think that has changed over the years.
In some scripts that I have read,
there is quite a bit of detail.
It will say close-up, or it will say long shot,
or it will say camera pans or insert,
or some get - you know, or moves in tight on the actor.
So some scripts get into a fair bit of detail.
But then since I've gotten more into writing myself,
I have also had - experienced people advise me
to not do much in the way of framing, you know,
or dictating camera choices.
So I tried to minimize that because from what I understand,
directors don't like to be micromanaged
nor do camera operators or cinematographers.
So I think there's meant to be, or even actors,
so you try not to tell an actor what he should think
or what his attitude or emotion should be on every line.
So you wouldn't say,
"Oh, she says fearfully" or, you know, "getting angry"
or "She rolls her eyes or stomps her foot."
So, you want the script to tell the story,
and you wanna give the actors the room
to find the performance and how they see the character,
and you want the director to have freedom to tell his story
because it really is sort of how the director
is crafting that story.
So you don't want to micromanage as a writer.
So I think these types of things
may have changed over the years,
and it may depend on the show,
and it may depend on the writer.
And sometimes you're gonna get your hands slapped,
and sometimes it might be perfectly fine. (laughs)
Thank you so much for all of your questions.
If you have a question,
please put them in the comments below.
I go through the comments as much as I can,
I answer as many of 'em as I can,
and that is where I pull specific questions
for the "Ask Judy" segments.
So I will be back
with more "Behind the Scenes with The Waltons"
and more "Ask Judy."
Thanks for watching.