"Just take it easy," says Mitchell.
"We mean you no harm," Daniel adds.
Several seconds pass as Cam Chai, playing
Azdak, gives his lines off-screen. Vala comes around from the corner, dressed in a beautiful garment. The camera moves toward her. "Then you are foolish," says Vala. "I would not abandon you. I am your God."
She looks over at Daniel and smiles.
"And cut," says director Will Waring. I turn to Darren, nod my head, and think to myself,
I sure hope they decide to use the take of Claudia smiling at Michael.If you've seen
"The Powers That Be," this is not the take they used. It was gold, and I am indeed disappointed. But life goes on. Such is the excitement of standing behind the cameras at the home of
Stargate.
I will not pretend that this is a cohesive recollection of my days at The Bridge Studios in Vancouver. I will also not pretend that it is completely void of information for the upcoming episodes "Insiders" and "Irresistible." In order to give what follows proper context and flavor, I have added my observations, none of which I would consider to be "spoilery." No
on-camera dialogue is divulged, and certainly no plot points are revealed.
Having said that, in order to keep it interesting you will get the sense of the scenes that were being filmed as GateWorld watched from the sidelines. A small snippet from almost all of our interviews has also been included. If you want utterly no knowledge about "Insiders" and "Irresistible," I suggest you stop reading now.
Thursday, March 23, 2006It's been a year since my first visit to The Bridge. I remember last year I went to bed as early as was reasonable to get as much sleep as I could. I didn't know if I'd ever get to go back so I absolutely
had to absorb every detail I could take in. Visiting the sets was a true childhood goal of mine.
For me, it's not just the privilege of watching scenes that you will be seeing on your television set in four months. Rather it's things that no other fan will ever get to see. Last year Darren and I were privileged to watch a beautiful exchange between Landry and Mitchell which explored
Dr. Lam's back-story, and it was sadly deleted from the final cut. Unless MGM/Sony change their attitudes about deleted scenes from episodes before Season 10 (their policy may be changing this year), this footage will be forever lost.
Returning to the studios this year was very-much a wonderful thing for me. It had established that our trip last year was not a one-off, but that our work was still being read, and often liked, by the folks that make our favorite shows. To visit the sets of
SG-1 and
Atlantis is a treat a fan cannot describe. To have David Hewlett light up with recognition when you turn the corner is, well, inestimable.
Our contact at Bridge asked us to meet her at the studios at 10 a.m. We arrive two or three minutes early. While Darren and I are standing under the awning of the security office David Nykl rides up in his car. "Hey guys," he says, putting his pass card into the box, raising the guard stick. He was flying out to Amsterdam that weekend and couldn't make it to the con, so he made a special trip just so we wouldn't miss him.
The wonderful Carole Appleby of
Stargate Publicity escorted us from the main entrance. Carole is a young woman who has been working for
Stargate since the start of
SG-1 Season Nine and
Atlantis Season Two". We met her last year. When she speaks, Carole is as
Vancouverite as they come. Being a student of voice for many years, this is something I always pick up on.
Two years ago when Darren came by himself he got to sit down and chat with Martin Wood and Michael Greenburg in the
S.G.C. briefing room. I've always been jealous of him for this. So when we decide where to sit down with David for our chat, I immediately chime in. "The
Atlantis conference room!"
We enter Stage 6, the sound stage for the central spire of Atlantis. In minutes we are facing the grand staircase. To my surprise, the Stargate is missing. Actually, it's under the floor. The platform of the Gatrium is being revamped for Atlantis's cafeteria. This set was designed to appear to be a number of different places, from a commissary to a dark hallway where Teyla fights
Sora.
Air conditioning is very much active upstairs in the conference room. Above, suspended by cables, is the swaying globe that gives the room most of its light. But the panels of the tables are also lit by fluorescent bulbs on the inside. I sit down across from David while we do our interview in this room.
My first question to David is about the episode he is shooting this week, as Darren and I are not aware of this show's title. "'Irresistible' is the name of the episode," says Nykl, "featuring Richard Kind. And
Zelenka is doing much what Zelenka does quite frequently, which is in the control room with Weir. But, let's just say that there's been a remarkable effect on the Atlantis crew that has changed their behavior and Zelenka is susceptible to that." After a few pleasantries we say our goodbyes.
Carole takes us through the effects stage where portions of the "Blade" set have been converted into Atlantis. You'd recognize it as everything from the wide shots of Atlantis stair wells (usually used when Atlantis personnel are searching for something) as well as the catwalk that has been seen a handful of times. Right now Martin Wood is setting up a scene in McKay's lab. After a few moments we get a word with him, and he agrees to have some time with us during our visit.
Next on our list, the
Stargate production office. Approximately 20 feet (through walls) from the S.G.C. Stargate itself, the production office is integrated into the same building as Stargate Command and Atlantis Base. The office is about as exciting as any of the sound stages. You never know who you're going to see while you're up there. Last year Tony Amendola passed through.
Martin Gero is my favorite writer. There, it's out. We've talked a great deal since I met him a year ago. I walk in front of his office and see him inside. His noise-canceling headset is over his ears and he is typing away. When he looks up and sees me, the image of Jack O'Neill smooching the glass of General Hammond's back window goes through my head, but I don't repeat the gesture -- don't want to get scolded.
Martin is on a roll and can't be stopped for a chat (I suspect he was writing "McKay and Mrs. Miller"), but he promises me an interview later.
I've never met Carl Binder, though I'm a fan of his work. He's probably best known for
Dr. Quinn, and referenced the show at least once during our interview with him. Carl is one of the oldest writers in the
Stargate production office, but is a real gentleman. We speak with him next.
"Going off to think of a new idea, you're constantly going, 'Oh, wait a minute, they've done that. They've done that,'" Carl says. "'OK, They've done that, but is there a fresh, new way?' Ultimately there's only a certain -- very few story
types, and in science fiction. They're always saying 'That's
this kind of story' or '
that kind of story.'"
We say goodbye to Carl and make our way a couple of offices back down to Gero. Martin welcomes us in. Instantly I remember the space from last year. The wall to the right of his desk is filled with drawings from seasons one and two of Atlantis. One of the shelves in his bookshelf to his left are filled with, you couldn't guess it if you tried, Muppet characters.
Martin is a huge Muppet fan. Toys of almost every character are everywhere, though, disappointed, I could not find Pepe. We sit down and start off by catching up with Martin, showing pictures of babies and discussing school. But eventually we dig in to the meaty stuff. Martin's second episode of SG-1 is "200," an episode penned by just about all of the writers. It is only logical to bring it up with him.
"I'm not going to say anything about the 200th episode," Gero says. "I really feel like the [less] we say about this episode the better. The one thing that has gotten out is it is a fun episode in the vein of a
'Wormhole X-Treme!' That's really, I think, all that anybody needs to know. Sorry." Frankly, I can't agree with him more. We hear more about the show from higher-ups later on, and he is right.
To Be Continued ...
There are many certainties in my life. Here is Number 1:
No matter when you buy your airplane ticket, the time you didn't buy will always have the better pricetag.
David has been a member of GateWorld since early 2003. His interests
include Stargate, Battlestar Galactica, writing, and
multimedia. He is a DJ at a hometown radio station.
I think you're too involved in this whole thing and need to pull back a little. Imagine if you worked on a tv show and some lunatic fan wouldn't leave you alone.
Muppets?!? :p
And I can't imagine the Atlantis gateroom without the Stargate! Makes sense I know, I just never thought of it.
Looking forward to hearing more (while letting my eyes drift glassily over most of the spoilers :p )