We are officially in prep on episodes #101 and #102 of Dark Matter. The train has left the station and is barreling down the tracks. There’s no turning back now. We’re making a t.v. show!
As we creep ever-closer to our first day of shooting, the days grow longer, the pace more frenzied, and the meetings just keep on coming…
Production Designer Ian Brock and his team guide us through ongoing and upcoming construction and builds. The corridors, now textured and painted, are looking awesome. Following a small adjustment to the layout of the forward consoles, work has resumed on the bridge’s walls and monitors. The ship’s lower deck section is pretty damn impressive, with its dark blue metallic multi-level look. And we finally signed off on our shuttle (the Phantom Class Marauder) which will start coming together in the coming weeks.
Holy Smokes, it’s really happening! The various department heads gather to cram themselves into our conference room and discuss the game plan for our first two episodes. For those of you not familiar with production – or who may be new to this blog – the concept meeting is the very first meeting of prep week. The 1st A.D. (assistant director), in this case Brandon Tataryn who I’ll be introducing you to in the coming weeks, goes through the script to ensure everyone knows what, if anything, will be required of them in each scene. For instance, Costumes should have an idea for what our crew will be wearing when they first come out of stasis, while Props should know how many guns we’ll need for the final shootout.
SPFX stands for Special Effects, and that includes everything from squib hits to explosions, sparkage to steam. Our stunt coordinator, John Stead (another guy I’ll be introducing you to in the days ahead), has his work cut out for him as he’ll be choreographing a few big throw-downs, from the opening bridge fracas to the longer and more involved 4 on 1 encounter with the ship’s “security protocol”. Then, in episode #102, things get real down and dirty – and bloody! – on the planet.
Oh, yeah! We’re a scifi series, and that means stunning visual effects. A familiar face from our Stargate days, Lawren Bancroft-Wilson, is on hand to supervise sequences like “the missile pursuit” and those FTL jumps and exits. And, of course, graphics and playback are going to be key to telling our story and ensuring the show maintains that cool, SF visual style.
Remember this?
And this?
Next week = more meetings and mayhem!
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