The Grid itself

[bertowud]

Is it just me or has the entirety of the grid changed? It looks like everyone except Harry are now sharing a handful of cubicles instead of one big open work area. The Series 7 thread about the pods is what really made me think about it. The other thing is Tariq and Ruth seem to be sharing a relatively small office at times in series 8.

[Tea Lady]

Good point. Also wasnt there a walkway running down the right hand side of Harry's office? Now it appears blanked off with a room to the right where Tariq sometimes sits with lots of computer screens. Perhaps I have imagined this.

It is a bit difficult to compare the size of the grid to what it was a few series ago because there have not been that many wide shots of the grid I dont think. Ruth used to sit down the other end of the office before she left so you often had wider shots of the grid then.

I wish they would sort the lighting out on the grid. Either that or give out iron tablets as people look so pale.

[Moonlight]

Nicola agrees with you!! if you watch this vid at 3.05, she remarks at how much the Grid has changed in season 8..
gmtv behind the scences
ps. not sure why they seem to have The Matrix numbers running behind for some of this feature...

[JHyde]

I liked how the Grid looked in season 7, loved the lighting and you still got the wide shots of all of them at work.

This season the Grid hasn't had wide shots because the show hasn't had many wideshots. It's all been closeups and shotting from as many angles as possible. They have had many shots of Nicola Walker and Peter Firth walking down corridors together (in 8.4 for example) and also PF and Hermione Norris, but generally, they've had them right up in the camera.

[Adam Carter]

It's very weird and claustrophobic if you ask me. There were many times when Harry and the team were the only ones on the grid. Couple that with the abundance of close-up shots, and it was very off-putting.

[lwhite53]

I think the close-up, claustrophobic feel of the grid this season probably has to do with budget issues -- less real estate to build, light, etc, fewer cameras, fewer different kinds of shots. Also, since there are a dearth of people on the grid, the long shots would be kind of useless.

[bertowud]

You're correct on all of your points lwhite53. It just isn't very appealing. It looks like they've moved from a state of the art facility to surplus office space. I almost think that they're using production offices instead of a set.

[lwhite53]

Yeah, I'm definitely not happy with the "look" of series 8. It definitely looks cheaper and that never bodes well.

[almh]

It did get quieter - there were only really people milling around in the last episode, and it seems more closed off this series, focusing only on the main area of the Grid and Harry's office, with minimal scenes in the meeting room, gadget room and on the roof (this has been promoted to an area of the Grid. Of course, we got a scene there in 8.8 )