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August 19, 2005

Big Ideas

I walked into work today past the closed Iris – the bay doors to the SG-1 set were wide open. It reminded me of the day the actor playing Tenat came to our end of the hall to show the producers the prosthetic makeup he was going to wear for “The Ties that Bind”. He was talking normally, just to talk, so the producers could see how the prosthetic mask looked when he talked. It was very realistic makeup. All I kept thinking is, “this alien is going to attack me.” What a weird place to work.

The other day I took a friend of Robert Cooper’s on a tour of our show, and it was the perfect day for it: pretty people were auditioning near the casting trailer, the puppeteers were practicing with Hermiod, the Asgard, in the boardroom, Beau Bridges was doing one of his scenes in the SG-1 set with Peter DeLuise directing, and I even got to show Rob's buddy the village set and a number of other sets. One of the funniest things that ever happens around here is when the puppeteer makes Hermiod cuss or talk like a gangster. Anyway, it was a great tour.

Now you’re all wondering, “how can I get a tour?” Well, it’s easy! Just send a cheque or money order to Alex Levine, script coordinator, Stargate —- I kid, I kid. The sad truth is, tours are reserved for media, contest winners and the friends/family of the big wheels…

Now, about this week’s shows:

· Brad Wright is a big idea guy. He had an idea at the start of this year for this week’s episode “Beachhead”, and it’s a cool one. However, the first draft of the script was long and massively overbudget in terms of visual effects. But even cut back, this story has scale… it’s definitely not one of those sci-fi shows where you feel like you’re stuck on Earth or just dealing with high-falutin’ concepts. I don’t want to ruin it, so all I will say is that it’s a pivotal episode about the Ori, with huge jeopardy for Earth… And it sort of sets the stage, character-wise, for this season and for … dare I say it… next season? I know, this is pretty cryptic, but I’m steering wide clear of spoiling anything (Joe Mallozzi works right next door, and he’s got a hair-trigger temper). Also watch out for Maury Chaykin as Nerus… good times.

· I just had a chat with Martin Wood about his experience on “Trinity” – the Atlantis episode that’s airing this week. That was a challenging show to direct, he said, because it’s a McKay driven character piece, and most of it is shot in a small, relatively simple (but highly decorated) set. So he had to keep the camera moving to keep the pace of the show up, and to create the tension the story needs. And here’s a little bit of a spoiler for you - it’s finally a story where our conceited Dr. McKay gets his comeuppance, and it’s a good one.

Joe, what are you doing in my office? Joe… why are you so angry? What? I’m not writing anything… I’m just surfing for ice-cream makers… Seriously…

ATL

Posted by Alex Levine at August 19, 2005 01:28 AM