NBC’s newest game show ‘Minute To Win It’ pits contestants in a high-speed high-stakes game with a chance at $1,000,000 in front of a large live audience. Or does it? A new press release from Dataton reveals that the audience is actually a ‘virtual audience’ powered by the Dataton WATCHOUT system across a 12-meter LED screen.
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.
The effect is seamless, and I have to admit I would have thought it real from the shots above.
Full release after the break.
Dataton WATCHOUT stars on Minute to Win It
Prime time reality game show benefits from combined video display to create powerful audience backdrop
Linköping, Sweden, 27 August 2010: 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.
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. Image courtesy of Background Images.
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.
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About Dataton
Renowned Swedish show control developer and manufacturer, Dataton has firmly established themselves on the international market since the 1980s. The company’s flagship products include the award-winning Dataton WATCHOUT™ multidisplay production and presentation system as well as the intuitive Dataton PICKUP™ audio guide. The latest addition to the product portfolio is the WATCHOUT Systems Manager, incorporated in the latest version of WATCHOUT. The systems manager is a powerful toolkit for creating interactive front ends to control high-impact WATCHOUT presentations.
do you know what moving heads they use ?
This is really cool…I had no idea they used such high tech machines on that show. I did notice how amazing the graphics were in the backdrop. Can’t wait to see more intricate designs of the set in the coming episodes of Minute to Win It!