As I was walking into the Production Office this morning (after waiting some twenty minutes for the recycling guy to move his truck out from in front of my parking space), I ran into actor Peter Kelamis (SGU’s Adam Brody) who had just dropped off the cast’s crew gifts.
Check ’em out –
Cool, no? A big thanks to the cast. Every time I have to remove the dog tags before taking a shower, I’ll think of them.
Speaking of the cast, yesterday marked the final (until, hopefully, next season) shooting day Mike and Julia. Today, we bid a fond farewell to Peter and Patrick.
I visited the set with Ashleigh and Lawren. I know, I know. I always get them confused too.
- THIS one’s Lawren.
- And THIS one’s Ashleigh.
Anyway, as is tradition this time of year, both Ashleigh and Lawren head down to stage 4 to set up squatting rights to the various areas they intend to occupy during the hiatus.
- Look at them, all comfy in their new living room.
The living arrangements are perfect of course. The kitchen only has prop food and the bathtub is actually an old crate that used to store a repair robot, but they call it home.
Following our set visit, we grabbed lunch at the truck. There, I witnessed something so shocking, so unbelievable, that I had to capture it on digital…
Check out eco-friendly, environmental know-it-all Ashleigh using a STYROFOAM CONTAINER for her lunch!!!
She claims she only went styrofoam because she didn’t bring her plate with her to set, but I believe that if she truly loved this planet, she would have walked all the way back to the office, picked up her plate, and walked all the way back to the catering truck (before walking all the way back to the office to eat). Shameful, really. Rumor has it she also requested extra styrofoam that she used to stuff her boots because they had a comfortable two inches of height.
This afternoon, I went to post where I had a visual effects spotting with Rick, Mark and Bones, then did the cut notes for The Hunt. As often happens when it comes time to lock my cut, the challenge isn’t how to implement the various notes but how to make sense of them. Specifically, my handwritten scrawl. 1. My handwriting is atrocious. 2. My handwriting is atrocious when I’m scribbling down notes quickly so I can continue watching my cut. 3. My handwriting is atrocious when I’m scribbling down notes quickly in the dark so I can continue watching my cut. Anyway, I was able to decipher most of what I’d written. And I’m sure you’ll have no problem doing the same. So here you go, the cut notes for The Hunt.
Spoiler warning!
Here’s an early review of tonight’s episode of SGU, Malice, from the gang at popculturezoo: http://popculturezoo.com/2010/11/malice-and-revenge-on-the-next-stargate-universe/
Today’s blog entry is dedicated Riley. Very sorry to hear about Moochie.
Mailbag:
Gen writes: “Does Lulu have food allergies? I’m having trouble remembering if you’ve said so already or not. Anyway, an elderly Cocker Spaniel who we adopted into our family some years ago had a habit of chewing on her paws, along with occasional digestive ailments. The vet told us it was likely a food allergy, and suggested we either change her diet to a special dog food or that we start cooking her meals for her. We started off with the special food, but one night when she was feeling under the weather I ended up cooking for her. That was that. I cooked that goofy dog dinner every night for the rest of her life.”
Answer: What a great dog mom (or dad)! Lulu is certainly very particular about her food. She won’t eat raw and I have her on a special canned food for hypoallergenic dogs. Might try cooking for her. How do you think she’d like her foie gras? With a rhubarb compote?
BA writes: “Also, took your advice and bought a copy of “Revelation Space.” I LOVE THESE BOOKS! Reynolds is an amazing writer. I’ve burned through every one of his books, even his short stories.”
Answer: Hey, Brad, pleased to hear you’re enjoying the show (Tell your friends!) and equally pleased to hear you’re enjoying Alastair Reynolds. He’s a recent discovery and I love the fact that I still have several of his books to read. Show co-creator and Exec. Producer Brad Wright is also a recent Reynolds convert.
Viv writes: “If you are already working on the season two finale, when the mid-season finale has yet to air, how does this allow the writing team time to react to something that doesn’t air well? […] The only show I know definite production info about is Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which I think had more sets, actors, locations, and maybe special effects that an SGU episode, and by the end of each season, they were shooting the episodes a bare three weeks prior to airing.”
Answer: It takes us about six months from shooting to final and Buffy was a show that made use of visual effects as well, so I find it highly unlikely that they would have been shooting episodes three weeks prior to their airing. The realities of production simply don’t allow for that type of creative shifting.
Llyod67 writes: “I want your opinion : does Wraith feed on pregnant women?”
Answer: Don’t see why they wouldn’t.
Renegard writes: “Joe, could you provide some information on the Destiny’s FTL drive? Is the intergalactic hyperdrive in Daedalus-class ships faster?”
Answer: Ivon Bartok is putting together a special feature that will focus on SGU’s various tech elements, from FTL to shields. Watch for it!
Debra writes: “As for Bubba… do me a big favor? Bitch slap your vet. Do it now, do it hard. Eyelashes cause horrific pain to the eyes. They should have fixed the eyelash problem LONG ago with entropic type surgery to prevent rubbing.”
Answer: Jelly had the procedure done long ago. Your comment spurred me to bring Bubba in this weekend for a check-up and referral to a specialist. Thanks.
Deena writes: “On a related note, are we going to see Varro pop up anytime soon?”
Answer: Varro…Varro…hmmm….doesn’t ring a bell…
Holloway writes: “However one issue that I can’t overlook, one that’s been agitating me since season one, is the handling and under usage of Greer.”
Answer: In season one, we set the groundwork for the series and tried to give each of our main players a spotlight episode (in Greer’s case, it was Lost). As we headed into season two, we broke down our stories and ensured that each main character would have one (or more) spotlight episodes. When it comes time to lining these episodes up in the production schedule, their placement is dictated by the overall season arc and ongoing storylines, so even if one character may seem light in the first half of the season, that won’t be the case for the second half. In the case of Greer, he’s got two big episodes in season 2 (in addition to a lot of terrific beats and throughlines in other episodes), but you’ll have to wait until the back half to see them: episode #213, Alliances, and episode #216, The Hunt. In fact, one of the things SyFy’s Erika Kennair remarked on during her last visit to the Stargate set was the significant development in both the Greer and T.J. characters this season.
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