rec.arts.movies.past-films

"Paul B. Thompson" wrote in message
news:10f58$47bb2a14$498e728$6669@...
>I was recently watching an episode of the old "Wild, Wild, West" TV show
> ("Night of the Puppeteer") and was reminded of a stage technique I
> remember
> seeing used in the 60s but not so much since then. A lot of the story
> takes
> place on an empty, dark stage. Occasional spotlights create little islands
> of light through which the actors pass. I've seen this technique used on
> old
> Star Trek ("The Empath") and in an episode of the Twilight Zone whose name
> escapes me (a disparate group of people find themselves trapped in an
> empty
> place. They turn out to be toys and puppets in a kid's toy box.)
>
> Was there an originator of this technique, or someone who made it famous?
> Was it ever used in feature films? Nothing springs to mind, but it's
> rather
> effective for creating a weird, off-kilter atmosphere.
>
> Paul Thompson

I remember it being used on several episodes of "The Outer Limits" also.
Right now I can't name them however. The Twilight Zone episode you refer to
is called "Five Characters In Search Of An Exit." Director Lamont Johnson--
"It was like a theater experience, like working on a unit set in the
theater,
and I've done a lot of theater so it didn't hold any particular problems for
me."

Source: The Twilight Zone Companion-Marc Scott Zicree