38 replies to this topic

[Vlawde]

Lots of changes and new shows this fall, so my reviews on some of these (for what it's worth!)

First, we had the live Salem event last Friday night, a gathering of quite a few folks from various shows investigating several locations in Salem. IMO Adam, Amy and Chip from Kindred Spirits seemed to be the most legit investigators. We also had Jack Osbourne and Katrina Weidman from Portals to Hell were ok. Then we had the Ghost Brothers, who, as far as I can tell, don't have any background in the paranormal before their show Ghost Brothers started a few years back -- as a gimmick (we're all from the hood"!) Pretty useless, although they had a guest medium Cindy Kaza, who is on The Holzer files with Dave Schrader. She seems relatively credible and is pretty hot to boot! The Bros kept talking over her when she was trying to talk though. Greg and Dana Newkirk were around a bit with the Kindred Spirits team, doing some witchcraft, and Dave Schrader was mostly a talking head along the show's host, whom I've never heard of before.

Overall, everything seemed rushed, I'd imagine because it was live TV, and there was too much cutting back and forth between teams.

Most of us are aware the GhostHunters is back with Grant Wilson and a whole new team. Apparently Jason Hawes was first approached about the reboot, but the network wanted a new team, so jason said no. Grant took the offer, and the new team seems pretty likeable and knowledgeable. Overall I like their approach to investigating.

Kindred Spirits is on hiatus between seasons. Again, a likeable cast that investigates the right way and with respect.

Portals to Hell is okay, Katrina is a good investigator, Jack has been on a few paranormal shows before but admits he doesn't have the background others do, and is an entertaining guy.

Ghost Brothers is now subtitled Haunted Houseguests, and I really don't take them very seriously as investigators, it's more entertainment/jokes.

So far there's only been one episode aired of the Holzer Files, so I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. Dave Schrader does Darkness Radio, and was also the one who hooked Ghost Adventures up with Keith -- he's posted here, the GA episode was a Haunting in Bothell (or something similar).

Ghost nation premieres next week, with the old GH crew, Jason, Steve and Tango. Advance word is good, we'll see.

Dead Files is another, I'm wondering if the show's premise is getting worn out. I still watch and enjoy it, but the format is stale.

And there are the UFO shows. IMO the best ones are Contact and Unidentified. Ancient Aliens is better than it was with more current events and facts, but still cringeworthy whenever they try to to connect past history with UFO's/aliens

[lorac61469]

I tried watching the new Ghost Hunters, not a huge fan. Don’t really like the team

I’ve got Jason’s show scheduled to record. Hoping it’ll be good.

Haven’t watched the Salem event yet, got it recorded.

I stopped watching The Dead Files a while ago when every other word out of Amy’s mouth had to be bleeped because of cursing.

Tried watching Ghost Brothers once. Awful.

Edited by lorac61469, 06 October 2019 - 12:28 PM.

[Vlawde]

I forgot to add Ghost Adventures. Last night the first new show in awhile aired. I had forgotten how bad the GA crew is, especially in comparison to a couple of shows I previously mentioned. Dramatics, exaggerations, and just too frikkin noisy with all the yelling. Not professional at all

[EVP]

Vlawde, on 06 October 2019 - 10:54 AM, said:

Then we had the Ghost Brothers, who, as far as I can tell, don't have any background in the paranormal before their show Ghost Brothers started a few years back

Ghost Adventures had no paranormal experience prior to the show starting.They were simply out of work actors at the time. Besides, REAL paranormal investigation would not last a season if it accurately depicted good practices. A show needs sponsorship and they would not receive it without activity which at best sporadic and occasional. Look what happened to "American Paranormal". It lasted only a couple of episodes. They tested theories. I liked the show despite it being hardcore skepticism.

Just call me old school. I can't watch a full episode without switching channels. It's like reading a book and seeing a poor adaptation done in movie.

Edited by EVP, 07 October 2019 - 05:23 AM.

[Vlawde]

...or for me, like driving past an accident. You don't want to look, but can't help yourself!

[LouczarGStudy]

I caught part of a paranormal show on TV while I was in El Paso last week.  It was late and it took only a few minutes of the over dramatic sound effects (music and such) that I turned it off.  Wish I would have caught the name of the show....

[Menet]

Vlawde, on 07 October 2019 - 07:04 AM, said:

...or for me, like driving past an accident. You don't want to look, but can't help yourself!

Did you get a chance to review Grant's new show?  (Sigh)  Remember when ghost hunting was much simpler?  I miss those days.  lol

[Vlawde]

Menet, on 09 October 2019 - 02:27 PM, said:

Did you get a chance to review Grant's new show?  (Sigh)  Remember when ghost hunting was much simpler?  I miss those days.  lol

I did mention I liked it, but I've seen all episodes so far...and when I get off work later I'll watch tonight's episode. Overall I like the new team, and the fact that they really make an effort to debunk or recreate things. Plus they don't (or at least haven't yet) pulled the demon/evil entity card. This Friday Jason's new show Ghost Nation premiers, advance buzz is good. After seeing that, I may have an idea if I prefer one or the other, but based on watching both Jason and grant on the old Ghost Hunters, not sure I'll be able to.

[Menet]

Vlawde, on 09 October 2019 - 04:38 PM, said:

I did mention I liked it, but I've seen all episodes so far...and when I get off work later I'll watch tonight's episode. Overall I like the new team, and the fact that they really make an effort to debunk or recreate things. Plus they don't (or at least haven't yet) pulled the demon/evil entity card. This Friday Jason's new show Ghost Nation premiers, advance buzz is good. After seeing that, I may have an idea if I prefer one or the other, but based on watching both Jason and grant on the old Ghost Hunters, not sure I'll be able to.

Ghost Nation.  I like it.  I trimmed back my cable bill considerably and have not elected to stream anything which doesn't allow me to watch the shows you've been telling us about.  If I could, I would be watching Jay and Grant.  The rest?  Meh.

[Vlawde]

After watching several episodes of Ghost Nation, I like it. It has a different vibe and feel than Grant's Ghosthunters, which in style and most other things is pretty much like the old show...which isn't a bad thing.

Watching Ghost Nation last night, I kept thinking how it looked better than other similar shows and the production values are really good. Part of that is they don't film the majority of it in the dark with night vision. They do use IR on the investigation cameras, but the crew that films the actual show use regular cameras with enough light, so for the majority of the investigation it's in color, which makes a big difference in how it looks. Regardless of color or night  vision though, the videos are super clear and professional looking. The narration is done by all 3, Jason, Dave and Steve, which is nice instead of one guy.

They do a good job (as does Grant) of debunking and finding the real  facts. However, many scenes outside the actual investigation process are obviously set up and scripted in advance. Yeah, most shows are but it (to me at least) is really noticeable here.

I've seen all the paranormal shows (AFAIK) and feel that Ghost Nation and Ghosthunters are the best in regards to quality and, for the most part, how investigations are supposed to be done. Still reserving judgement on the Holzer Files until i see a few more. One think I do know is that the medium, Cindy Kaza, is smokin' hot!

[MacCionoadha BeanSidhe]

I like Ghost Nation as well. Color is so much better than watching the investigation in IR/Night Vision all the time. What I like is that it streams on Amazon, now I don't have to wait till it's out on DVD to watch.

[Menet]

Vlawde, on 19 October 2019 - 01:41 PM, said:

Watching Ghost Nation last night, I kept thinking how it looked better than other similar shows and the production values are really good. Part of that is they don't film the majority of it in the dark with night vision. They do use IR on the investigation cameras, but the crew that films the actual show use regular cameras with enough light, so for the majority of the investigation it's in color, which makes a big difference in how it looks. Regardless of color or night  vision though, the videos are super clear and professional looking. The narration is done by all 3, Jason, Dave and Steve, which is nice instead of one guy.

I've seen all the paranormal shows (AFAIK) and feel that Ghost Nation and Ghosthunters are the best in regards to quality and, for the most part, how investigations are supposed to be done. Still reserving judgement on the Holzer Files until i see a few more. One think I do know is that the medium, Cindy Kaza, is smokin' hot!

So who is using the medium?  The Holzer Files?

And am I understanding you correctly?  Ghost Nation is filming in daylight or what kind of light are they using.  IR in the dark. Natural lighting?  Does everyone here believe that investigations have to be done in the dark?  Darn it.  Gonna have to tap into this.

Thanks, Vlawde.

[MacCionoadha BeanSidhe]

The medium is on The Holzer Files.

GN films at night and during the daytime. They shoot the groundwork/background checks during the day but use IR cameras for their investigation cams. Jay and the team use flashlights for illumination, and the film crew uses natural light cameras on the investigators.

No, you can investigate at any time during the day or night. Investigating at night cuts down on human contamination as most people are at home quietly sleeping.

Edited by MacCionoadha BeanSidhe, 19 October 2019 - 03:24 PM.

[dash]

yeah I think the same. it doesn't need to be dark for strange crud to happen

[Menet]

I had to consider the lighting for moment.  I'll bet it is because most people cannot see hauntings/ghosts/spirits and Jason has had luck with IR lighting in darkness.  That has to be it.  I think it is popular for that very reason.  But I could be wrong.

[Vlawde]

They say that sometimes IR light can make things show up that aren't visible under normal lighting. The baby monitor entity on the most recent show was an example of that, I wonder if anything would have been visible with a normal camera/lighting? (going on the assumption here that it was a spirit) What I'd like to see is them using full spectrum cameras, I've seen interesting results with those.

[Menet]

They don't have ghost hunter shows on Broadcast tv.  I would try Jason and/or Grants show just to see how they have changed things up.

Well, you might be able to capture a ghost in a picture but it will not be what anyone expects to see.  lol . People are expecting ghosts and are not look for characteristics or identifying features (I like that...identifying features).  And I really wonder how much time anyone spends on review?  That's got to be a god awful job.  Blaaah.

The most recent one I had a look at was video footage taken by some young men. (brothers).  Whoever does Top5 on Youtube has it.  Between 3 - 5 months ago.  The entire household had been listening to the sound of legos being rustled about in a container.  Now the boys were lego fans (me too) and had been rustling legos for years looking for specific pieces.  It all boils down to them filming the room, looking for the culprit.

The sound had been taped so you could hear the legos but they didn't think they had caught anything until they put it up on a larger screen, sometime later.  It shows the head of a lego creation following their departure from the room.  It was fun to see yet I didn't notice it. Thousands didn't notice it until the screen was enlarged.  What supported it was the way the eldest boy told the story.  That cinched it for me.

Jeez.  What I have been trying to say is if you are filming or taking pictures remember that hauntings are very subtle at manipulating the environment.  So subtle that you may not recognize it at first glance.

[MacCionoadha BeanSidhe]

Well, a long time ago on GH, They would run six cameras for 8-hours each; so we're talking approximately 36-hours of footage they'd review. There will be more now on GN as they're there for a week now.

[Menet]

MacCionoadha BeanSidhe, on 20 October 2019 - 04:09 PM, said:

Well, a long time ago on GH, They would run six cameras for 8-hours each; so we're talking approximately 36-hours of footage they'd review. There will be more now on GN as they're there for a week now.

Morning, Mac.

That is a lot of footage and I remember them looking exhausted  That has got to be awful.  You would have to be on your toes all the time or I'll even go reviewing it at least 4 times.  I can imagine if you have been around the work long enough you even develop a sense for it. (if you pay attention to that little paranormal tickle) The frame or picture that keeps calling you back.

What if it doesn't jump out and hollar BOO?  Darn it!

[MacCionoadha BeanSidhe]

Menet, on 21 October 2019 - 08:36 AM, said:

Morning, Mac.

What if it doesn't jump out and hollar BOO?  Darn it!

That's when you have a fresh set of eyes watch it to see if you missed something.