The Frasier Living Room

Getting your Labor Day Weekend off to a good start, here is a Friday question and answer:

Dave wonders about the FRASIER set.

Where were the cameras, and where was the audience?

The living room gives the viewer virtually a 360-degree view of the set. There seems to be a small space between the front door and the kitchen, but sometimes we see a wall there. And then there are the reverse angles; sometimes we have setups by the kitchen, sometimes by the balcony, sometime by the fireplace.

Were the walls movable? Was it clever staging? Handheld cameras? Multiple takes? What's the deal?

First off, the set was brilliantly designed by Roy Christopher. In addition to all the shows he’s worked on, he’s also designed the sets for numerous Oscar and Emmy award shows. But for my money the Frasier living room is his masterpiece.

The audience looks straight into the set. The balcony and skyline of Seattle is in the back. Martin’s chair faces you. Between the audience bleachers and the set are the four cameras. Walls are hinged. The wall leading to the kitchen can swing in and you can get a camera way up into the set. You can shoot the couch (which is angled to the audience) practically straight on.

I was able to bring cameras way up into the set and shoot a scene between Daphne and Roz at that round kitchen table in the back. You can get cameras far enough into the set to shoot scenes out on the balcony if you like.

In a couple of places there are "ports" in the walls. These are sections that can slide out allowing cameras to peek through from the other side of the wall. This allows you to shoot deep up into the set. You're always trying to get shots where you can see the actors' eyes. That's not something you are consciously aware of but when you can't see the eyes it's very disconcerting.

How they sometimes do reverse angles is by sliding a wall piece in. That's the "fourth" wall that the audience is looking through normally.

And here’s the best part. Wherever you shoot, from any camera, it’s always an interesting angle. There are hallways and nooks and skylines and pianos and artwork and fireplaces – it’s just a feast for the eye.