GateWorld: Let’s talk some thoughts on some individual episodes. “Metamorphosis” — it was the Will point-of-view episode that was directed by Andy Mikita.
Amanda Tapping: Right.
GW: It was different from anything that had been attempted thus far. From the view of an extended look through Will’s eyes for, literally, two-thirds of the episode. Were there any difficulties in shooting that?
AT: I think probably more for Robin [Dunne] than anyone. Because he had to wear this big helmet cam and it was really heavy. And he’d get headaches and his neck would hurt.
Martin Wood: Act with that on your head.
AT: Yeah, and for us, looking into the camera lens. Which is the biggest no-no you learn on the first day of I’m-Going-To-Act-On-TV School. That’s where I went. The ACME I’m-Going-To-Act-On-TV School. [laughs]
MW: I’ve seen your certificate, your graduation certificate.
Both: With honors! [laughs]
MW: She graduated cum laude-ly. [Martin is slapped by Amanda] What?
AT: You’re fired! You’re officially no longer my friend. You’re fired.
There was a cool kind of connection, too. With being able to look right down the barrel of the lens.
MW: It’s a very personal show because of that.
AT: But it’s weird. And Robin was wearing these glasses that gave him playback. So he could see what the camera was seeing. His eyes were covered by this playback thing. It was weird, it was really weird.
MW: The logistics of it were the hardest part for Andy. Because he had to work through it all. The show, when we had it on paper, was a much bigger show. It was much different how it turned out on the screen, just because of all the problems that presented themselves with having to do it P.O.V. I love the fact that we did that. We took the chances on Sanctuary that you never get the chance to do when you have network and studio overlords. On Sanctuary, we didn’t have that. We can do the P.O.V. shows. We can do the musicals. We did the cartoon one that nobody saw. It’s fun to do those kind of things. The stop-motion animation one that we did on the weekends. [laughs]
AT: That was cool. [laughs]
GW: “Normandy” — that was a big episode, too.
AT: Amazing.
MW: I loved “Normandy.”
AT: “Normandy” had such an interesting vibe to it. It was so …
GW: It could have had a better director.
AT: It could have had a better director!
MW: What?! [laughs]
I don’t remember who directed that one, but they were good!
AT: There were so many parts of shooting “Normandy” that I remember so clearly. The fact that our art department built a French village down the side of our parking lot. Like beside the studio, down that side.
MW: The same place that Mumbai was …
AT: The Port of Djibouti …
MW: That was the same spot. Mumbai and “Carentan” existed in the same spot.
AT: It was amazing. It was a cool vibe on set. Everyone really wanted to honor that period. Or had family members that had been involved in the war at some point. So as much as it was fun to play dress-up and look a little different, there was this real reverence to it.
MW: I remember one night we were shooting, and it was raining …
AT: It was pouring, and we were up the mountain …
MW: No, I wasn’t thinking about that. I was thinking about in Carentan. And you’d wrapped. And usually when you wrap at night, you’re like “Guys, I’ve got to go.” And you weren’t leaving. And everybody said “Amanda, you can go.” It was just this feeling …
AT: Camaraderie.
MW: You didn’t not want to be a part of it. And then we were up in the mountains, and that was unbelievable. And you were supposed to leave the next day for Florida. You and Robin were supposed to leave. And we were shooting all night, And it was pouring. And we had a tank we had to move from one spot to another. It was just a logistical nightmare, but it was so much fun. Those were the days. Those are the days from Sanctuary, where you remember vividly when you close your eyes and think of it. And “Normandy” was one of those shows where, as Amanda says, the idea of doing that is one of those things we get to do in Sanctuary. Because you can travel through the time periods. And you can play in all of these times.
Damian came in with the idea of “Normandy.” And he bit into it, hard! He started reading books, started doing a lot of research.
AT: His pitch to the network was the best thing ever!
MW: Oh, yeah!
AT: Instead of just sending the logline of “this is what the story is going to be like,” Damian sent a bunch of memos from different people in the war. And it was like Colonel So-and-So sends a message to So-and-So.
MW: … about how dangerous this Helen Magnus was.
AT: But he sent it as a series of secret memos. And it was the coolest way to pitch a show.
MW: And it fell flat.
AT: Flat! We were like “This is brilliant!”
MW: We were like “Oh, my God! This is great!”
AT: It was done on old paper, with stamps and seals. I thought it was just phenomenal. And the network was like “Huh? What is this?”
MW: “What’s the storyline?”
AT: “What’s the plot?”
MW: “What are the stakes?”
AT: That’s the occupation of Europe. How’s that for a stake?
MW: “Can you do it during the daytime?”
AT: Oh, yeah. We got asked if we could shoot it during the day. Um … no.
NEXT: Breaking down Sanctuary‘s musical episode, and Tapping addresses the ratings-dropping schedule change…
Terrific interview, Chad :-) Really miss the show and have recently gone back to randomly rewatching the series quite often in the last couple months. Just can’t get enough and have great ideas for cross-over stories as well. Feel the Universe story isn’t over and needs to be revisted someday. Hoping someone has left the light on and we’ll regroup down the road :-)
Great interview, however Martin that last idea is unique, but don’t lose base of what works. We want missions through the Stargate. Other species. It’s why Universe failed. There was one constant setting.
Two words. KICK. STARTER! I’m serious, guys! A kickstarter campaign for Sanctuary and Stargate WOULD be successful! What will it take to get this point across to MGM/SyFy/Brad Wright/Martin Wood/whoever and get it starter? WE WANT MORE STARGATE AND SANCTUARY! WE WANT A PROPER CONCLUSION TO SG-1/SGA/SGU!! It doesn’t even need to be on SyFy! We can air it on the Internet. SyFy had an opportunity to make Stargate its own version of Law and Order/NCIS – that show that was always there. The one grounding factor of the network, that you knew there would ALWAYS be a Stargate on.… Read more »
nice to read amanda’s and martin’s views on stargate’s future, and that they think there IS a future!! i totally agree with martin to continue stargate with things the fans find comfort with…
*fingers crossed*
ONE CAN ONLY DREAM FOR THE ABILITY TO ONE DAY WATCH THE REBIRTH OF GATE TRAVEL.
I would LOVE to see a new Stargate series, but you know what, I want a conclusion to the LAST one first! Give us a few movies to put the old guard SG-1/SGA/SGU to rest and then bring on a new series to jumpstart it! Maybe the movies to conclude it could pave way for a new show! Either way, its hard to imagine a third series when we know there’s two that are still open with no idea what’s happening to those characters.
@ browncoat: i agree! conclude the other stargates before starting something new.
and really, it’s *so* easy to do!!
Yea, Chad, love the article! Amanda Tapping is just amazing, I admire her the way I always have admired Tina Fey. And that is a big deal, because not every actress is worth admiring, at least, not to me. So many of them are so phony, but she is so real, and incredible. Martin Wood proves to be one of my favorite SG-1 directors, next to Peter DeLuise. They were the most charismatic directors on the show, and I love all the Director Featurettes on the season six DVDs. I especially love how he says “CUT!!!!” and throws his hands… Read more »
Great interview! I’m pretty much only interested in the movies if they have the old SGA and SG1 cast, I really want to see what happened next for them. :)
Another vote for this movie they talked about that will tie up the three SG series. And, they say there’s a terrific script… DO IT!!!!
[…] don’t fret yet loyal fans. Amanda Tapping and Martin Wood did an interview for Gateworld recently and said that they would love to continue the series on as either a miniseries or continue […]