We tried out a new breakfast place this morning: Rob Cooper’s house. After breaking 80 on a recent golf trip (apparently, this is very good) and winning a bet with Ivon Bartok, Rob scored a state-of-the-art waffle iron he was just dying to try out on some prospective guests – and Fondy and I were only too happy to oblige. My waffle (pictured), was topped with maple syrup, three types of ice cream (dulce de leche, chocolate truffle, and roasted marshmallow), whipped cream, and a lone blueberry (because Fondy insisted I have some fruit). It was excellent as was Fondy’s latte. Service was also first rate. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this place to fans in town looking for some good morning eats. But best get there before 10:00 a.m., especially on weekends as line-ups start early.
Fellow Student Bodies alumni Ross Hull and I have been looking for a project to do together for quite a while and, last week, we finally found one: a two minute Weather Network report on how inclement weather effects television production. Ross, a weather anchor for the network, dropped by the studio on Friday and conducted the hard-hitting interview in which Paul and I revealed numerous shocking facts on the topic: how it’s not really not that big of a deal despite Vancouver’s notorious rainy season, how we’ll simply tarp a scene if the downpour gets too bad, how the only time it truly effects production is when the coverages don’t match (In which case Post performs magic with color correction, but even this isn’t always a solution. For a great example, look no further than the last few scenes of Nightwalkers). We also explained how, sometimes, the nasty weather turns out to work in our favor. Take Camelot for instance. We were shooting on location when the rain hit. Note poor Daniel’s walk and talk early in Act I. He is soaking wet. Bad for Michael but great for our director who got some wonderfully sloppy visuals of a muddy Mitchell during the swordfight sequence. Threshold is another great example. We weren’t expecting snow but we soldiered on and were pleasantly surprised by the ensuing dailies. Gorgeous. In this case, despite – or one could argue because of the bad weather, everyone won – with the possible of Chris Judge who had to spend hours lying in the cold, cold snow.
Finished the Harry Potter book this afternoon, then took a trip down to Chapters and picked up another stack (pictured). Earlier this week, I also picked up a number of George R. R. Martin, partly because I’d heard good things, but mostly because I met him at last year’s Comic Con and he struck me as a very nice guy.
A quick Q&A –
Anonymous #1 writes: “ I’m very excited about the Joe Flanigan pitched script. So when he comes to you with one, is it just a vague idea that all the writers hash out or does he have a more developed plot ?”
Answer: In this case, it was a very vague idea that we are hashing out.
Anonymous #2 writes: “When the newest stargate series comes to the public eye, will you have a hand in writing for some of the episodes?”
Answer: It’s way too early to say, however, if Brad and Robert would like us to write a script or two, we’d be more than happy to oblige.
Jason writes: “How are the background actors selected and do you audition them or just say this guys looks like a scientist and that guy looks like a soldier?”
Answer: We don’t audition extras. We simply tell our Extras Casting Director what we are looking for in a given episode and she will draw from her talent list.
Pauline writes: “Do you think of an actor you would like to appear in SGA, and then create the character for them or does the character come and then an actor fit the roll.”
Answer: We usually write the script first and then cast the role. In rare instances, we may hear an actor might be interested in the role, in which case we will write the part with him (or her) in mind. This was the case when Fred Willard played Vala’s father in Family Ties.
Craig writes: “Any chance of being told what role you had in mind for the lovey Miss Lilly?”
Answer: Don’t recall, but I don’t think it was SGA.
Anonymous #3 writes: “On the Shep back story and going to earth, very cool. Its got to be pretty drastic, we’re talking about a guy who didn’t feel the need to send a message home to anyone with everyone else, nor has shown to have any links back on Earth that he wishes to keep.”
Answer: Indeed. Odd, no?
Anonymous #4 writes: “wow. The food looks so good. Where is that restaurant located?”
Answer: Feenie’s – 2563 W Broadway, Vancouver.
Atlantisfannew1 a ecrit: “Un tournage d un épisode sa dur combient de temp?”
Reponse: Sept jours.
Shawna writes: “Well, Sci-Fi, ideally, but I don’t want to write something that no one here will understand.”
Answer: Then pick a genre show – something like Supernatural or Smallville.
Anonymous #5 writes: “Since I’m pretty new to fandom I had no idea that you didn’t like Michael. But judging by all the comments you’re unscreening on your blog about O.S., Daniel/MS fans…”
Answer: Congratulations. You’ve posted the single stupidest comment I’ve had the pleasure to approve in quite some time.
Redhooks writes: “Do you think the production quality might be better with the extra time?”
Answer: The production schedule is pretty much set in stone so the late premiere doesn’t really change how much time we spend shooting the episodes. Where it does give us some leeway, however, is in post – allowing us to switch around the production order to accommodate things like pregnancies and such.
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