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Chapter 5:
Prep Week
A blow by blow
breakdown of the production process from concept to finished episode
Season 9 spoilers are concealed so even spoilerphobes can
read safely
 The
script has been written. It has been carefully revised. And it has
finally been distributed to the various departments. Now, all that's
left to do is shoot the episode, right?
Wrong.
Turns out your guest star is unavailable, the network wants changes, and
the line producer claims the script won't board. Welcome to Prep Week.
Before we can actually start shooting the script, we need to prep the
episode. In other words - the director needs to prepare a shot list,
deals with guest stars need to be closed, costumes need to be made and
fitted, sets need to be constructed, locations need to be scouted, props
need to be created, stunts need to be coordinated, special effects need
to be prepared, playback and visual effects need to be discussed and
envisioned. And we have a week in which to get it all done.
We start things off with The Concept Meeting. Remember that scene in The
Avengers movie where Sean Connery presides over a conference room full
of individuals in bear suits? Well, the concept meeting is something
like that except that nobody wears a bear suit and the part of Sean
Connery is played by the Director who actually presides over a gathering
of department heads. We sit at a long table and go through the script,
page by page, scene by scene. Questions are asked, red flags are raised.
The Executive Producer clarifies points of confusion, jots down notes
for future script changes, while the Director gives everyone the heads
up on what he'd like to see, what he's expecting of them, and how he is
planning to shoot a given scene. Maybe he's considering using a crane
for the opening shot, or is thinking of changing the final scene from a
coffee shop "sit-down" to a more dynamic "walk and talk" in the park.
Everyone discusses the viability of the suggestions, what needs to be
done, then all are given their marching orders and the Concept Meeting
wraps. Hopefully in under two hours.
With the preliminaries out of the way, various meetings will follow over
the course of the next few days -
Costumes:
My favorite of all the prep week meetings. Who is
wearing what and when? In this particular case, we're discussing the
SG-1 mid-season two-parter...
SPOILERS: DRAG MOUSE OVER TO HIGHLIGHT AND READ: [[...The Fourth Horsemen. Christine Mooney, our
SG-1 Costume Designer, has already gone through the script and
anticipated what we're going to need: stinky off-world peasant garb", haz mat, USAMRIID haz mat. She shows us pictures of the various outfits
and then we discuss specifics: What is our guest star wearing when he
makes his first appearance? Do we want to see any of the new military
digital camo? We're going to need doubles (maybe even triples) of
certain outfits since they'll be damaged over the course of the shoot.
Let's put Landry in his dress uniform for a scene or two because, as
much as Rick wasn't crazy about his dress uniform, Beau is a fan of his.
At some point during prep, Christine will come by and show me pictures
or sketches of what she's working on. And when the guest stars come in
for their fittings, she'll call us down to wardrobe for a quickie
fashion show. Overall, it a fun process - but nothing beats dressing the
villains. Check out Ex Deux Machina for a particularly styling baddie.]]
END SPOILERS
Stunts and special effects:
If you ever need something blown up, then Wray Douglas
is your man. As our Special Effects Supervisor, he has been blowing
things up on Stargate for years. Blowing things up real good. He has
also, working in conjunction with SG-1 stunt coordinator Dan Shea,
beaten/tossed around/run-over/blown up/shot/set fire to/etc. many an
actor. I envy him.
SPOILERS: DRAG MOUSE OVER TO HIGHLIGHT AND READ: [[In the Fourth Horseman, we need to pull off a fairly
tricky stunt in the council chamber on Dakara that, after some
discussion, will require a marrying of visual and practical effects. No
less tricky but decidedly more fun is a scene where Cameron Mitchell is
knocked down by an invisible force, dragged across the ground, hoisted
up in the air, choked to within an inch of his life, then
unceremoniously dropped. Browder, being the masochist he is, will
undoubtedly love getting down (and up and down again) and dirty. General
Landry, meanwhile, will be going on a less physically-demanding but no
less harrowing ride of his own. We discuss the choreography, what we'll
need, how many stunt men will be required for a couple of other scenes.]]
END SPOILERS
Props:
Dean Goodine is the SG-1 Property Master and, like
Christine, he's ahead of the game, coming to the meeting armed with
potential props or, at the very least, some clever ideas for what he is
planning. Many of the props are simple re-uses from previous episodes (a
zat, a staff, medical monitors) while others are created specifically
for the episode (breakable test tubes, a "special device" [which is
actually designed and built by the art department], and a remote unit
for that "special device".
Visual effects and playback:
Michelle Comens, our VFX Producer, comes to the
meeting armed with a shot by shot breakdown of the various visual
effects, everything from zat gun blasts to enormous space battle
sequences. Invariably, we're always over-budget to start the meeting and
will spend the next hour or so trying to get the number down. Krista
McLean meanwhile (my partner in anime appreciation) has the most unsung
job of all - that of Playback Supervisor. Her department creates
everything that you see on those monitors - from heart monitor feedback
to live video feeds, MALP telemetry to plain old static.
Casting:
First and foremost, we try to cast locally. Sean
Cossey, our ever-affable Casting Director, oversees the audition process
- contacting the agents, bringing in the actors, getting the
performances on tape and then forwarding the tape to the production
offices. Casting is always interesting as the performances invariably
run the gamut from brilliant to bizarre, amusing to downright
frightening. There was the actor who auditioned for the role of an alien
- and proceeded to do the scene with a French accent. There was the
beautiful but, well, not very accomplished actress who came in for a
one-line part and proceeded to mangle that one line - on three
successive attempts. And there was the actor who came in to audition for
the part of the "elderly scientist", read, then gave us the option of
doing another read without his false teeth as it would make him look
much older. We passed.
Art Department & Locations:
Our meetings with the Art Department are a little more casual, with
Bridget McGuire, our Production Designer, dropping by the offices to
show us the schematics for the ship she is going to get the Construction
Department to build or the blueprint for the chamber she is going to get
the Set Decorators, brothers Mark and Robert Davidson to dress. Art
Director James Robbins will swing by with his designs for everything
from alien hand-held statuettes/potential bludgeoning weapons to wraith
ships. In the event we're not building a location, we're going out to
find one and that's when -
Doug Bron, our Locations Manager, steps up. He'll find us that perfect
apartment, creepy hospital, or alien cappuccino bar we so desperately
need.
We'll deal with a plethora of other issues, from extras to make-up,
transport to budget concerns, taking mini meetings, making last minute
changes until, finally, we run out of time and we're on to the
Production Meeting - which is much like the Concept Meeting except that,
at this point, all the bugs have presumably been worked out. We go
through the script, page by page, scene by scene, and put the finishing
touches on our grand plans. That done, the Production Meeting wraps.
Hopefully in under an hour. And from there, we're on to -
PRODUCTION WEEK.
Joseph Mallozzi is a Writer
and Executive Producer for Stargate SG-1
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