MovieChat Forums > Carnivàle (2003) Discussion > $4 million per episode??

$4 million per episode??

posted 10 years ago by eolloe
15 replies | jump to latest

I really find it very hard to understand where all that money went.

I could understand a show like Game of Thrones, with all the CGI and costuming and massive cast costing a lot. But Carnivale? As good a show as it was, I really don't understand it. None of actors were huge names in 20003 (Adrienne Barbeau and John Savage had been stars decades earlier, but hadn't been that active in the national spotlight in years), and the show only ran for 2 seasons, so high salaries for the performers couldn't be the explanation.

[–] don-lope-de-aguirre 10 years ago

Ths costumes were expensive, the Carnivale set was literally carried around and build and re-build on different locations.

I have no problem seeing the money put into it.

Although thinking about it - maybe it would have been possible to leave a lot of the Carnivale on one location to save a lot of money. Maybe the show could have been renewed.

[–] eolloe 10 years ago

The costumes were expensive?? Then they were overpaying for what they got.
This wasn't Downton Abbey or Boardwalk Empire or GOT. They were basically wearing rags, often the same rags in each scene (and if they weren't the same, they could have saved money by using the same ones, since I doubt most viewers would have noticed the difference).

And for moving the set around and rebuilding it on different locations -- how much does it cost a real carnival to move their "sets" to different locations every few days? I'm sure it's not in $1+ million territory. None of them would last more than a few weeks.

[–] undomiel152003-1 10 years ago

These rags were designed by the way, by individuals that had to study the type of clothes individuals wore in that era. Every set in USA has unions by the way, which means they have to pay them. I mean if that's your point then say it. Does the show not look authentic to you? It by the way had visual effects. It had acting, part of the budget is the cost of the ensemble and a Carnivale will not just have four individuals.

Quit ya moanin

[–] eolloe 10 years ago

Even the garbage was authentic down to the last detail. The producers and the designers spared no expense in their quest for authenticity.



[–] Marionj3 9 years ago

It was also filmed outside - a huge expense compared with filming in a studio.

One example that gets quoted is that it was filmed in California, but made to look like dust bowl Oklahoma. The cloudy skies were CGI.

[–] MartenBroadcloak 10 years ago

It wasn't GoT big but it was still a pretty elaborate period piece.

[–] trudat20 10 years ago

You're basically recreating a world a d theme from the 1920s....trust me that's expensive. To include salaries I reckon.

Silence is Golden and duct tape is Silver

[–] There_Is_No_Sayid 10 years ago

That seems pretty logical. I remember that the producers of Stargate Universe said it cost a couple million to do an episode of that.

They've got a large cast and are often doing storylines which take place in several different locales. This necessitates a larger crew as well

Unless Alpert's covered in bacon grease, I don't think Hugo can track anything.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] azNbLadEz 10 years ago

Boardwalk Empire is also expensive as hell. If it wasn't, these show would have ran for at least a few season longer.

[–] rod775-1 9 years ago

Enjoyed this more than any other HBO series even tho there were major loose ends leaving us dangling. It looks like the future of our beloved characters would be even more fantastical than how they started out. Wow! Just think, Ben and Sophie battling it out with a resurrected Jonesy as Sophie's "igor". A whole new PENNY Dreadful.

[–] dbitz7958 9 years ago

No doubt a large part of the budget went towards authentically recreating the Depression era - sets, costumes, period vehicles and more. As a Paramount Ranch historian, I documented the reconstruction of the Western town set that had been used for Dr.Quinn, Medicine Woman to be Mintern, California for Carnivale. They sank a ton of money into overhauling the town to be 1930's. I photo-documented the construction. There was also a LOT of period set dressing for the completed town that never even made it on camera, that was placed to give directors options. (All of which was guarded 24/7 by paid security, by the way.) In addition to making part of the town into Mintern, a section of it was turned into Tipton, Oklahoma for the "Tipton" episode. They also built a shanty town area for one of the episodes. The carnival was never set up at Paramount Ranch, but most of the vehicles were trucked in from one of their other locations to drive through the Tipton part of town for that episode. They paid for quite awhile to reserve Paramount Ranch after season 1 until they decided whether or not they would use the location again for Season 2 (which they didn't.) I was on the set at least once to watch filming, so I can see where it would have been an expensive show to produce, just from what I observed at Paramount Ranch alone. I would add that while Paramount Ranch, as a National Park, is a "bargain" to use as a filming location, the private movie ranches, and they used several, command a lot of money to rent.

[–] northernlad 9 years ago

Makes no sense. You know GoT is much more expensive to produce. No way around that. I guess what it comes down to is GoT while expensive, is also earning HBO money. Carnivale probably didn't earn that much. That's a shame too. This story is amazing.

I gotta go feed that thing in Room 33.

[–] fiveuses 9 years ago

You need to remember when this show was produced. Post-production (cgi, color correction, etc.) was a lot more expensive then.

[–] creamandcrop (45) 2 years ago

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