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January 28, 2006
Acting, acting, acting...
Yesterday was the first taped casting session of the new season. What generally happens is that our casting agents (we have both US and Canadian casting agents) audition actors for a particular role, and send us tape of the session. For Canadian casting, there are live sessions which are often attended by the producers and the director, time permitting.
Casting is an interesting part of the process… the producers have to make off-the-cuff, shoot-from-the-hip, spur-of-the-moment decisions based on an actor reading a couple of lines in a small room without the other actors there. But most of the time it works out great.
For major roles, the producers often try to get “name” actors – people who they know they can count on for a larger performance. This gets fun, because you end up getting to meet established stars, like (last year) Jewel Staite, Wallace Shawn, Robert Davi and Maury Chaykin. You can also count on sci-fi genre actors making appearances too, like Colm Meaney and Claudia Black, who’s now a series regular.
I love the casting sessions, maybe a little too much. My first year here, Robert Cooper noticed that I always wandered in to his office when they were reviewing casting tapes. He asked me “what’s your obsession with casting?” So I explained that it was just another part of the process that I was learning about, and it just seemed like the producers were more welcoming about having me around during the casting sessions. To which he replied, “Who told you that?”
That’s what we call “tough love” around here. He means well (I’m told) – he’s just trying to keep me on my toes. Thanks Coop.
Tonight, you’ll see Stronghold and Grace Under Pressure.
· Grace Under Pressure is what we call a “two-hander” – an episode that is carried mainly by two actors rather than the whole cast. And when the actors are David Hewlett and Amanda Tapping, you never even think about the cast members that aren’t on screen. This is a great episode, with great performances and cool effects. Keep an ear open for the witty banter in the tease – classic Martin Gero humour.
· Stronghold has a very strong “B” plot, in my opinion, involving one of Cameron Mitchell’s Air Force buddies, Major Bryce Ferguson, who’s in the hospital. The actor playing Ferguson is Reed Diamond, who was in The Shield. These scenes are terrific because of the obvious chemistry and the quality ad-libbing.
· Lastly, I wanted to let you in on some NEWS: David Hewlett just finished directing his first feature which stars…. David Hewlett! And Paul McGillion! It’s called “A Dog’s Breakfast” and it’s being hyped as “a head-smacking, bone-breaking, fiancé-bashing comedy/horror about a family that just loves themselves to pieces.” Probably will be a bit before it’s in your neighborhood theatre, but keep a lookout!
ATL
Posted by Alex Levine at 12:05 AM
January 21, 2006
Familiar Faces
Pre-production is humming along here at Bridge Studios in Burnaby, BC. Familiar faces are popping up everywhere. Today I saw Michael Blundell, one of our D.O.P’s and Kenny Gibbs, the SG-1 Props Master. He’s the guy we talk to about knives, guns, krantos, bedsheets, hats, evacuation pods and even alien artifacts. And Alex Pappas, one of our AD’s, was here for the first time this season, and he's one of our glue guys. Great people, all around.
Martin Wood was in my office the other day talking about how great Carl Binder’s scripts are for this season. Talk about a guy who loves what he does. This guy is giddy about the upcoming shows, and his enthusiasm shows in his work.
Anyway, we’ve already had construction meetings, pre-production meetings, tons of story meetings, script-note meetings, scheduling meetings, equipment meetings, and personnel meetings, and it’s only January 20th!
Tonight you’ll get to see Ripple Effect on SG-1 and Critical Mass on Atlantis. Here’s some stuff you didn’t know about these shows.
· Ripple Effect showcases some cameos for some beloved characters you’ll remember from past seasons… No, I’m not going to tell you who… okay I will. JR Bourne is back as Martouf and Teryl Rothery is back too as Dr. Janet Fraiser.
· People always tell you that, when you don’t have everything you need or want to make something happen, creativity thrives. That is very true in film and tv, and very applicable to Ripple Effect. The show was prepped before our hiatus last year, and our crew (especially art and construction) had been working their tails off and were nearly burned out. So we needed to find an exciting episode that didn’t require new builds and lots of work on sets. What did we do? We relied on our talented writers and actors to make a fun story with what we had. So think about that when you’re watching tonight.
· On Critical Mass, you get to see Rachel Luttrell sing. One of the problems we had was… she was too good! They decided to re-record it so that she would sound less polished. I personally think they found a happy balance. But these actors make me sick. It’s not enough that they’re beautiful and can act, but they can sing too? And do martial arts. And… and… and… enough already!
ATL
Posted by Alex Levine at 01:16 AM
January 13, 2006
Front and Center
I just talked with Brad Wright about this week’s Atlantis episode, Epiphany. Now, if you look closely at the credits, you’ll see a familiar name in an unfamiliar place: Story written by Brad Wright & Joe Flanigan. Joe Flanigan? Colonel Sheppard? Yes, space fans, Joe Flanigan.
He came to Brad last year with a story idea in which Colonel Sheppard lives with a people for a protracted amount of time, and affects those people in a significant way. Now, Joe was probably thinking of being their saviour in a guns blazing, “Magnificent Seven” kind of way, but when you watch it, you’ll see that his impact on the people in this episode is different, but just as significant. He does get to do some fighting, don’t you worry, but if I remember correctly, he gets his butt kicked a few times.
Anyway, I don’t want to spoil the episode before you see it, but another issue Brad had to deal with is how to have Sheppard away from Atlantis long enough to bond with a people, but not too long that things on Atlantis will have changed in a significant way. How would you do that?
Brad also added that he wished he could have explored Sheppard’s backstory more in this episode, but he promises (promises!) to reveal more in season 3.
On Stargate SG-1, Ben Browder is featured in fanboy’s favourite episode of season 9, Collateral Damage. And not only is it my favourite episode, it’s Paul Mullie’s favourite episode too – and he wrote it!
So I asked Paul about it, and he said… “Can’t you just wait for the DVD commentary?” And so I said to him, “Well that’s going in the blog for sure. Thanks for your cooperation.” And then he felt bad because I guilt tripped him, and so we chatted about it.
Be warned, Collateral Damage is pretty violent at the beginning. And even though the violence has been toned down and stylized (especially since the rough cut) – well, those of you with weak stomachs will want to hide behind your TV dinners. But I think you’ll really enjoy it – great performance by Ben, amazing guest performances by William Atherton (you may remember him from Die Hard as the journalist) and Anna Galvin.
And here’s a bit of trivia for you – the guy who plays Colonel Mitchell’s father is actually younger than Ben Browder!
ATL
Posted by Alex Levine at 06:30 PM
January 06, 2006
Where were we?
Welcome back, sci-fi fans. If you feel anything like I do, you just blinked and all of the sudden it’s 2006. That’s a good thing, because the second half of the season of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis kicks off tonight.
Things at the office are gearing up. So far it’s just the writers, the producers and the art department that’s back in full effect. But hey, those VFX types and the Post department… well they never left. I went down there the other day and the air had that “we never left” feel to it. I felt the urge to run.
So let’s play a game. It’s called “who’s the biggest writing machine?” Okay, think of your odds-on-favourite. Focus. Okay, you’ve got a name in mind, do you? Well… SURPRISE! It’s not whiz-kid Martin “Gero-worship” Gero, although he always pulls his weight. And nope, even though Paul “Long Drive” Mullie has the wherewithal to pull off a script in a weekend, he really needs a backbreaking deadline to make that happen. Rob Cooper you say? Ah, so close, but you know, he’s directing again this year and has other stuff to think about.
So….. (drum roll)… It’s Joe Mallozzi everybody! Take a bow, Joe. Joe pulled off three scripts this off-season. He gets the golden typewriter award and a year’s free Rolfing. Rolfing, for those of you who don’t know, is a very painful massage technique that frees fascial adhesions (unhealthy binding of tissues), allowing the muscles and bones to return to balanced relationships. Following Rolfing, people have reported reduced chronic pain, greater range of motion, improved coordination, a feeling of rejuvenation, and an increased sense of well-being.
Oh, Joe – just wait until those positive benefits begin!
So tonight you get to watch the exciting conclusion of The Fourth Horseman and also the second of a two-parter Atlantis called The Hive. I asked Joe if he could remember any wild and crazy behind the scenes anecdotes about The Fourth Horseman, but he looked up from his computer a little confused and said, “who are you and what are you doing in my office?” So we’re going to give Joe’s brain a little while to re-acclimate.
Carl Binder was more forthcoming about The Hive. He said it was the first episode he’d written with a space battle, and was thrilled to watch the effects come together. Also, David Hewlett’s character Rodney McKay gets all hepped up on Wraith enzyme. The director and producers didn’t know exactly how it would play, so they had David perform a bunch of different ways, even some that were way over the top. The results are hilarious. David’s such a great actor he can really carry a scene by himself. Also in The Hive is the single greatest clown joke ever uttered in sci-fi television. Gonna have to call Guiness Book of World Records again, I’m sure.
Enjoy!
ATL
Posted by Alex Levine at 10:54 PM
