Day 09 Blog – Farewell Studio

Dear Backers’ Club Members,

Last Day in the Studio

And just like that, we’re done with the three sets that were built in the Regina studio! Today’s set was a bar-like location running the full length of one studio wall. It’s as dark as always in the front half of the studio (with one island of light near the door where the craft table is… getting spoiled on the free Sesame Bars!) but once again the lighting magicians have made it feel like a warm summer’s evening on our set, complete with rays of sunlight pouring in through the windows and bathing the well-trodden rug, comfortable stools and shiny taps in a warm glow. All fake, of course. Even the beat up rug was new just yesterday. In fact, someone spilled some coffee on it and before they could apologize the set dressers were busy rubbing it in to make the whole areas feel lived in.

It’s a quiet morning as well. Brent, Gabrielle (“Lacey”) and Fred (“Hank”) have the lion’s share of performing today. There’s no roof on this set (no need to build it if you don’t see it!), so the dialogue dissipates upwards and outwards and it’s tough to hear what people are saying. Luckily, we’ve been here long enough that we can be a bit pushier for our Backers’ Club videos, and we were able to get a wireless mic of our own on two of the crew – Michael (1st Director) and Ken (Director of Photography). Check out the video blog for Day 09 to hear what they were up to.

 

 

This does beg an interesting question. How does the crew talk to each other in a vast empty space filled with lonely maze-like walls and a strange mixture of blinding lights and consuming darkness. If everyone had to yell out to find each other, it would have the seeming chaos of a penguin colony at night during a new moon (or so they say, well… so no one says, but you get the idea). The solution? My favorite childhood toy – the walkie talkie.

Walkie Talking

Like any good relationship (or any terrifying Borg collective), the key to success for a smooth running set is communication, and the information superhighway of a film set is definitely the walkie talkie. Every second person on set is sporting a slick looking headset, looking like an extra on “24” and constantly chatting in film-ese to the crew’s collective mind. It’s a good look. Given that they are constantly wired in to a hidden dialogue (which takes priority over real life chit-chat), it can make for strange conversations. I was talking with one of my assistant director friends and it went something like this:

DAVIN: Hey man. When do want to film that part about your beard? We could try at lunch.

JORDAN [looking right at me]: Roger that. Team 2 flying out. Fred is 5 away.

DAVIN: …. Um. OK.

 

 

There is definitely a walkie talkie etiquette that one must learn before the first time to use one. It’s a whole new language based on efficiency. Hearing Jack for Jill on your walkie means Jack is looking to talk to Jill. Go for Jill will be her response when she’s ready. Flying in “X” tells everyone that you are bringing something like an actor or a prop to the set. Eyes on “Y” is short form for being able to see some particular object.

My personal favorite is I’m 10-1 – shorthand that you are ducking out for a second to use the washroom. Although I couldn’t find a good origin story for the term, I did find this. Back in the days mobile radio equipment used vacuum tubes took the the circuit about a quarter to a half second to warm up. Saying “ten” before your code introduced a delay that still allowed the main code to get through even if there was a bit of a delay. As far as the number “1,” I suppose that’s just universal bathroom code. In case you are wondering, yes, there is a 10-2, but I think most pros stay away from that one. I did once hear a 10-3 when a particular production assistant of mine was still recovering from a rough night on another show! The poor guy. I can only imagine.

The Callsheet – Pt.1

I thought it might be fun to give you a sneak peek into the world of call sheets. There’s too much to cover in one blog post, so we’ll get our feet wet and return to call sheets on another post.

Filmmaking is complicated. The plan for today had three stars from the television series, one special guest star, and a number of background performers acting in a scene 9:00am. It’s not enough to say “See you at 9!” We have to make sure that everyone gets to set, gets through hair and makeup and wardrobe in an orderly fashion, gets a great breakfast, and has had a chance to walk through the scene with the director all before 8:30am so that the lighting team and camera crew have a chance to prepare the shot and be ready to roll at 9. The callsheet is how we do it.

 

 

The document is prepared by Stephen (the 2nd assistant director) and emailed out by Kristina (the assistant production coordinator) to everyone at 9:15pm the night before. I’m sure there are many other brilliant minds that go into prepping this doc. To get a feel for how this works, let’s follow Brent to see what his day is like.

Wakey Wakey, Eggs n’ Bakey

Brent (and all of the out-of-town cast and crew) stay at hotels somewhere close to the studio. Brent and Fred are here for shots in the morning, so the callsheet tells the transport team to pick them up at 8:00am and run them down to the studio, or “Basecamp,” for 8:15am. Food will be waiting for them. In fact, food prepped by the appropriately named Jeff Nelson (aka Jeff the Chef) has breakfast hot and ready for all 50 of the early cast and crew since 7:15am!

A Little Off the Top

Brent is scheduled to head to hair, wardrobe and makeup (or H/W/M) as soon as he gets there. He only has 15 minutes ‘in the chair’ because, well, he’s a guy. Simple needs. The ladies has more to wrangle in the hair department, so they usually get a bit more time.

Blocking

Out of the chair and on the set by 8:30am, Brent and the rest of the crew go through “Blocking.” Kind of like a small rehearsal, this gives the actors, the director, the camera and sound teams – everyone – a chance to see how the action takes place. Everyone reads out their lines and the director moves people and props as he sees fit. At that point, Brent is free to take off for a few minutes while they set up the lights based on the blocking. He’s never too far from set, but you can tell he’s also not the nervous type. He’ll grab a seat by the monitors and throw a few jokes around; maybe hop on his phone for a moment.

When the crew is ready to shoot, an assistant director will come grab Brent and fly him in to set. Then voila; acting magic.

Props to you, Jay!

Just to make sure that things like props are in place, those are also listed on the call sheet. Jay, our props master, gets a quick heads up that a toolbox and laptop had to be there for the first shot.

OK Backers. That’s it for the day. I’m not sure if you missed it on the callsheet picture, but we had Frozen Yogurt on set today. Yes, it was a big enough deal to be featured prominently on the most important document on set! Our next shooting day is very exciting. We’re back outside, but not in Regina – we’re on our way 45 minutes south (unless you take the forbidden dirty road, which shaves off 10 minutes) to the beautiful town of Rouleau, Saskatchewan. See you then.

Davin and the Digital Team