Last night I was watching an Antiques Roadshow episode on PBS, and idly wondering how much of the material was shot live, and how much might have been shot before or after each presentation. “How many cameras do they have going at once?” I asked myself, as I watched the perspective switch between various angles. “I can see them doing close-ups of the object after the fact, but they must have three cameras on at all times — a wide shot, one on the appraiser and one on the owner. Either that, or they shoot everything three times, and the owner’s just faking his or her reaction.”
The very last owner in this episode proved beyond a doubt that she hadn’t been rehearsed. When the appraiser told her that a painting of a yacht race (possibly America’s Cup) could be worth $90,000, she blurted out something. What she said I don’t know for sure, because all I could hear was “Bleeeeeeeeeep!”, but I have a pretty good idea. Nice to know that some reality shows are just that.
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