Sunday, March 26, 2006
WHEEL.......OF.....FORTUNE!
Turns out the tix were more limited than I thought. One of the therapists where I do PT auditioned and didn't make the cut. She filled out form for tix but didn't get any. I almost felt guilty for telling her I was going after I found that out. I said almost.
The venue was the downtown convention center, which was recently rebuilt and is absolutely huge. Dan put the wheelchair in the trunk of the car for me but forgot to pack the foot rests. So I didn't have to worry about standing in line or walking a lot, but I had to hold my feet up whenever Dan pushed the chair, which was painful. And with my feet sticking straight out with nothing to rest them on, I had to be really careful not to kick anyone, which was a bit amusing. If someone runs into my feet when they're on the foot rests, it's their fault, but if I end up with my shoe up someone's pant leg, I'd better apologize, heh heh.
We found a (VERY expensive) parking space across the street from the convention center, so Dan didn't have to push me that far, but I ended up being glad I had the chair anyway because the wheelchair seating was in the BACK of the building, and we were in line for about an hour before we were seated. The previous session had run extremely late because of technical problems, so they were still finishing up while we waited. One cool thing about that was that they had two vehicles in the lobby, and one of them was a cherry red Jeep Cherokee that a contestant WON! We got to watch the winner and family members run up to the Jeep, climb in and wave, and then do it all over again because the first take wasn't good. Kinda cracked me up.
The convention center boasted that it was truly handicap accessible, and I am pleased to report that it was true. The wheelchair seating was awesome! They have spaces on the first row of the balcony next to some permanent chairs, so you can park a wheelchair in the space and someone can sit right next to you. My sister had to sit in the row behind Dan and me at first, but after the section had filled with people and there were no handicapped people to sit next to Dan, she got to take the last empty chair.
I had an unobstructed view of the full stage! I was off to the left a bit, so I couldn't read the puzzle board, but there were big screens on either side of the stage showing what was being taped, so I didn't miss anything. The stage was set up like the interior of a ski lodge. Behind the contestants, there were projected pre-recorded images of local scenery that would change with each segment. I counted a minimum of six cameras going at any one time, which you would think would be very chaotic, but the operators were so practiced and organized that they hardly wasted a shot.
The announcer was amusing and reminded me a bit of Colonel Sanders. He gave the enormous crowd a bit of a warmup and a few pointers. One of the directors also had us practice cheering, then just applauding politely, and warned us not to yell out any answers so they wouldn't have to re-shoot anything.
All told, there were three weeks of shows taped in six sessions over three days. The drop-in bits (where Vanna is seen at various local landmarks) and aerial footage was pre-recorded before the sessions and mixed in so the audience would see exactly where it would air. The only stuff they left out was some voiceover work which would be recorded later: sponsor names and ID numbers for the home viewer winners of prizes.
I was sooooooo impressed with how efficient and professional the process was. For a half hour show, it only took an hour all told, including recording audience shots going into commmercials, coming back from breaks, and a long sequence over which the end credits are to roll. They taped two shows during our session....enough material to be efficient, but not so much that the audience would get tired of cheering and applauding.
The two shows were part of "College Week", so all the contestants were college students. Four of them were from local schools, which really added to the audience's enthusiasm. Also in the audience were cheerleaders, a marching band, and a team mascot, someone in a buffalo costume named Chip. No, I'm not kidding; that was the name on his t-shirt. While we waited for the first session to wrap up loose ends, the band and Chip entertained us with catchy little ditties like "Cheeseburger in Paradise".
I'm accustomed to shouting out answers when watching the show at home, so it was hard not to say anything when I figured out the puzzles before the contestants did! I behaved, though, and so did everyone else: none of the puzzles had to be thrown out or any segments shot over. It was kind of funny, though, to hear the crowd collectively groan whenever someone got a "bankrupt" or "lose a turn" on the wheel. Oh, and there were some SAD turns of events. One girl landed on the $10,000 space on the wheel, got a letter, then couldn't solve the puzzle (an easy one with only two letters left to guess), spun again and hit "bankrupt"!
I was surprised that the sound effects are all done as the show goes along and not mixed in later. The sound effects crew had perfect timing! I used to do sound effects live on radio, so I know how difficult that is.
They have Pat and Vanna wait until they are announced on the show to come out onto the stage, so the audience reaction to them is real. They really do go change clothes after each show so the next one looks like it is the next day. And they have to pretend it is whatever day of the week that show is going to air, so for a Friday, they say, "See you Monday" or whatever. Found out that Vanna doesn't have a microphone until the last part of the show, I guess because it would pick up the sound of her high heels as she walks back and forth touching letters?
Vanna wore a beautiful periwinkle dress with two layers of fringe on the first show. For the second, an odd dress with a black tank for the top and a white skirt part with a floral print. Pat of course wore those nice game show host suits.
Before each show, they had the contestants come out, check their audio levels, and practice spinning the wheel a few times to make sure they knew where their marks were and to make sure no one had problems spinning it. They were already in their places when the taping started, and they stayed there through all but the last segment where the winner gets to solve a final puzzle. During each "commercial break", taping would stop and new prize tags were put on the wheel (I wonder how they stick them on there?). For the last segment, they set up a small portable wheel with the prize envelopes on it, they tape the winner's family members watching from the front of the stage, and if someone wins cash, the reaction is taped in real time so the excitement is spontaneous.
On the first show, a local student won a total of $40,000! The audience roared their approval! On the second show, a student from Illinois (who initially tried to buy a vowel when he had no money) made it to the final round but missed the last puzzle....I think his winnings were about $17,000. Also, someone won a trip to Miami and another to Venice! Way cool! One of the contestants said her goal in life was to become the next Vanna. Well, the girl WAS blonde and cute, but I wonder how that made Vanna feel? Vanna was a good sport about it, though, and came over and gave the contestant a hug as they were going to a break.
By the time we got done, my hands hurt from applauding and my face hurt from smiling. It was a bit chaotic getting out out of the convention center (we had to go the opposite direction of where we were parked because there were only a few exit doors open), but I got a chance to meet a guide dog in training, an adorable black lab pup. He was mainly interested in sniffing my shoes, heh heh. By the time we got out of the building, all the way around to the front and across the street to where we were parked, my legs were cramping up from holding my feet in front of me. They are still sore tonight.
So if you happen to be watching "Wheel of Fortune" on May 18 and 19, you may get a tiny glimpse of me, probably doing the "YMCA" dance in my wheelchair along with the marching band. I may not get another experience like that for several more years, or maybe not ever again.
It was almost as good as solving a puzzle.
The venue was the downtown convention center, which was recently rebuilt and is absolutely huge. Dan put the wheelchair in the trunk of the car for me but forgot to pack the foot rests. So I didn't have to worry about standing in line or walking a lot, but I had to hold my feet up whenever Dan pushed the chair, which was painful. And with my feet sticking straight out with nothing to rest them on, I had to be really careful not to kick anyone, which was a bit amusing. If someone runs into my feet when they're on the foot rests, it's their fault, but if I end up with my shoe up someone's pant leg, I'd better apologize, heh heh.
We found a (VERY expensive) parking space across the street from the convention center, so Dan didn't have to push me that far, but I ended up being glad I had the chair anyway because the wheelchair seating was in the BACK of the building, and we were in line for about an hour before we were seated. The previous session had run extremely late because of technical problems, so they were still finishing up while we waited. One cool thing about that was that they had two vehicles in the lobby, and one of them was a cherry red Jeep Cherokee that a contestant WON! We got to watch the winner and family members run up to the Jeep, climb in and wave, and then do it all over again because the first take wasn't good. Kinda cracked me up.
The convention center boasted that it was truly handicap accessible, and I am pleased to report that it was true. The wheelchair seating was awesome! They have spaces on the first row of the balcony next to some permanent chairs, so you can park a wheelchair in the space and someone can sit right next to you. My sister had to sit in the row behind Dan and me at first, but after the section had filled with people and there were no handicapped people to sit next to Dan, she got to take the last empty chair.
I had an unobstructed view of the full stage! I was off to the left a bit, so I couldn't read the puzzle board, but there were big screens on either side of the stage showing what was being taped, so I didn't miss anything. The stage was set up like the interior of a ski lodge. Behind the contestants, there were projected pre-recorded images of local scenery that would change with each segment. I counted a minimum of six cameras going at any one time, which you would think would be very chaotic, but the operators were so practiced and organized that they hardly wasted a shot.
The announcer was amusing and reminded me a bit of Colonel Sanders. He gave the enormous crowd a bit of a warmup and a few pointers. One of the directors also had us practice cheering, then just applauding politely, and warned us not to yell out any answers so they wouldn't have to re-shoot anything.
All told, there were three weeks of shows taped in six sessions over three days. The drop-in bits (where Vanna is seen at various local landmarks) and aerial footage was pre-recorded before the sessions and mixed in so the audience would see exactly where it would air. The only stuff they left out was some voiceover work which would be recorded later: sponsor names and ID numbers for the home viewer winners of prizes.
I was sooooooo impressed with how efficient and professional the process was. For a half hour show, it only took an hour all told, including recording audience shots going into commmercials, coming back from breaks, and a long sequence over which the end credits are to roll. They taped two shows during our session....enough material to be efficient, but not so much that the audience would get tired of cheering and applauding.
The two shows were part of "College Week", so all the contestants were college students. Four of them were from local schools, which really added to the audience's enthusiasm. Also in the audience were cheerleaders, a marching band, and a team mascot, someone in a buffalo costume named Chip. No, I'm not kidding; that was the name on his t-shirt. While we waited for the first session to wrap up loose ends, the band and Chip entertained us with catchy little ditties like "Cheeseburger in Paradise".
I'm accustomed to shouting out answers when watching the show at home, so it was hard not to say anything when I figured out the puzzles before the contestants did! I behaved, though, and so did everyone else: none of the puzzles had to be thrown out or any segments shot over. It was kind of funny, though, to hear the crowd collectively groan whenever someone got a "bankrupt" or "lose a turn" on the wheel. Oh, and there were some SAD turns of events. One girl landed on the $10,000 space on the wheel, got a letter, then couldn't solve the puzzle (an easy one with only two letters left to guess), spun again and hit "bankrupt"!
I was surprised that the sound effects are all done as the show goes along and not mixed in later. The sound effects crew had perfect timing! I used to do sound effects live on radio, so I know how difficult that is.
They have Pat and Vanna wait until they are announced on the show to come out onto the stage, so the audience reaction to them is real. They really do go change clothes after each show so the next one looks like it is the next day. And they have to pretend it is whatever day of the week that show is going to air, so for a Friday, they say, "See you Monday" or whatever. Found out that Vanna doesn't have a microphone until the last part of the show, I guess because it would pick up the sound of her high heels as she walks back and forth touching letters?
Vanna wore a beautiful periwinkle dress with two layers of fringe on the first show. For the second, an odd dress with a black tank for the top and a white skirt part with a floral print. Pat of course wore those nice game show host suits.
Before each show, they had the contestants come out, check their audio levels, and practice spinning the wheel a few times to make sure they knew where their marks were and to make sure no one had problems spinning it. They were already in their places when the taping started, and they stayed there through all but the last segment where the winner gets to solve a final puzzle. During each "commercial break", taping would stop and new prize tags were put on the wheel (I wonder how they stick them on there?). For the last segment, they set up a small portable wheel with the prize envelopes on it, they tape the winner's family members watching from the front of the stage, and if someone wins cash, the reaction is taped in real time so the excitement is spontaneous.
On the first show, a local student won a total of $40,000! The audience roared their approval! On the second show, a student from Illinois (who initially tried to buy a vowel when he had no money) made it to the final round but missed the last puzzle....I think his winnings were about $17,000. Also, someone won a trip to Miami and another to Venice! Way cool! One of the contestants said her goal in life was to become the next Vanna. Well, the girl WAS blonde and cute, but I wonder how that made Vanna feel? Vanna was a good sport about it, though, and came over and gave the contestant a hug as they were going to a break.
By the time we got done, my hands hurt from applauding and my face hurt from smiling. It was a bit chaotic getting out out of the convention center (we had to go the opposite direction of where we were parked because there were only a few exit doors open), but I got a chance to meet a guide dog in training, an adorable black lab pup. He was mainly interested in sniffing my shoes, heh heh. By the time we got out of the building, all the way around to the front and across the street to where we were parked, my legs were cramping up from holding my feet in front of me. They are still sore tonight.
So if you happen to be watching "Wheel of Fortune" on May 18 and 19, you may get a tiny glimpse of me, probably doing the "YMCA" dance in my wheelchair along with the marching band. I may not get another experience like that for several more years, or maybe not ever again.
It was almost as good as solving a puzzle.
Comments:
Post a Comment
