Prime time reality game show benefits from combined video display to create powerful audience backdrop.
The sets of one of the most popular prime time game shows broadcast across NBC in the US, ‘Minute to Win It’ uses Dataton WATCHOUT™ for video audience background.
Hosted by Food Network Star, Guy Fieri, the game show airs on Sunday and Wednesday nights at 8:00pm Eastern time and has been running since March 14, 2010. The show aims to challenge contestants to do unusual and often entertaining tasks within a 60-second time frame in aim of winning the cash prize of $1,000,000.
Seasoned in creating vibrant television studio backdrops, Alan Barber from California-based, Background Images was hired to provide the video display and playback system for the show. “As a big supporter of Dataton WATCHOUT, we find it very accommodating to use it in handling very complex broadcast shows like this where other media servers cannot match the imaging requirements and capabilities. We also like the timeline-based programming that WATCHOUT is based around which is a format familiar to TV shows. Since first broadcast, the client has been extremely happy with its performance. As well as Minute to Win It, we are currently using Dataton WATCHOUT on three other television show sets and the list is growing fast!”
Dataton WATCHOUT multi-screen software is designed for high-impact presentations on a variety of display devices and is ideal for the broadcast environment. For the set of Minute to Win It, a forced perspective look creates a virtual audience in the background using a combination of video display and living elements. This is achieved using 12-channels of Dataton WATCHOUT to display content on a 12-meter LED screen positioned behind the audience wall on the main studio stage.
This screen is used to show a virtual audience in between game play, adding to the excitement and suspense of the game. The audience and other content is triggered via DMX from the lighting console and is able to sync with the lighting changes through the game, promising a seamless image on camera. All shows are pre-recorded for future broadcast.
And the last word goes to Fredrik Svahnberg, Marketing Director at Dataton who says: “The impact and appeal of on-screen video display is a powerful and often underestimated production tool and we’re delighted by the way it's utilised by Background Images.”
Dataton will exhibit in Hall 13, Stand C31 at the Amsterdam RAI during IBC 2010 between 10-14 September 2010.
