Today, we shot two of the most important scenes of this first season (if not the entire series), and every member of our cast – Marc Bendavid, Melissa O’Neil, Anthony Lemke, Alex Mallari Jr., Jodelle Ferland, Roger Cross, and Zoie Palmer – delivered BIGTIME. Sitting at the monitors, watching them in their first scene together, I found myself magically cross over from professional observer to mesmerized viewer as their onscreen characters took on a life of their own. The lines separating fact and fiction, fantasy and reality had blurred and I’d been transported. And the first thought that entered my head was: “I’m going to love watching this show!”
This cast is AWESOME!
A couple of behind-the-scenes snippets:
The gang (Alex Mallari Jr., Anthony Lemke, Roger Cross, and Trevor Finn) show craft server Cathy some love.
The exterior of the ship’s underbelly where secrets reside. Oh, and the cast because that’s where they hang out between set-ups.
Our Dark Matter screen grab of the day (from yesterday’s dailies):
Mysterious, no?
And, of course, on the heels of last blog entry’s Carlton Dance comes a little MJ c/o Alex Mallari Jr. (aka. FOUR). Go say hi to him on twitter: https://twitter.com/AlexMallariJr #FOURCLAN #DARKMATTER
And while you’re in the twitter neighborhood, why not drop in on the entire crew:
ONE (Marc Bendavid): Apparently, not on twitter. Yet.
TWO (Melissa O’Neil): https://twitter.com/Mel13Oneil
THREE (Anthony Lemke): https://twitter.com/ranthonylemke
FOUR (Alex Mallari Jr.): https://twitter.com/AlexMallariJr
FIVE (Jodelle Ferland): https://twitter.com/jodellemicah
SIX (Roger Cross): https://twitter.com/therogercross
THE ANDROID (Zoie Palmer): https://twitter.com/ZoiePalmer
This year is going to be A LOT of fun!
I don’t do twitter. 🙁
I suppose I’m just getting too old to learn new dog tricks. 😛
das
Great video of Alex, he’s got some moves 🙂
I am following Dark Matter on Twitter. I see some of what the actors are saying when Dark Matter retweets them. Dark Matter is only the 9th person/thing I am following. I am very particular about who gets the honor or being followed.
Is Alex doing Michael Jackson now? Is he going to be wearing a wig?
That screen grab shot is awesome! Like a page out of the comic book.
That’s so cool that Alex is going to do a Dark Matter dance a day. Thanks Alex! 😀
It looks like a happy set.
Is Trevor waving a bottle of hot sauc
That was definitely not a middle-aged white chick dance.
Just sayin’.
@das: I really don’t do Twitter either. And now my daughter informs me that Tumblr is the new medium. Microblogs.
I don’t do that either.
@JeffW: I haven’t tried my Bunnahabhain yet, but from what I have read it is fairly peaty. However I have the more pedestrian 12 year old. No one sent me a congratulatory and celebratory bottle of the really good old stuff. Ahem.
@Joe: so how peaty is that stuff? Inquiring minds need to know.
And do we have an air date yet? That doesn’t count as one of my questions. You just need to tell us before we all go crazy.
@ JeffW – My musical tastes go all over the place, from madrigals and ancient music, to bluegrass, to sea shanties, to swing, to classic rock, to nu metal, to funk, to tribal and folk music. I think the only types of music I can’t stand are disco, hiphop (some old school rap is okay), mainstream country, and modern pop music (the Beyonce – sp? -Gaga, that Katy chick, etc). The latter – those horrid female screechy voices – just like fingernails on a blackboard to me. The longer they hold a note, the more I wanna punch something. 😛
And I love anything that has a lot of bottom…the more bass, the better. I just love Tool for their bass; Justin Chancellor is, imho, one of the greatest bassists in rock music today. It’s not necessarily the complexity of what he does, but the variety of tones he creates with an instrument that, for many groups today, is just the boring ‘thump-thump’ in the background. I can’t find any vids of Justin playing an entire song sans the band, but this decent bass cover of Schism gives you an idea of the sounds he created for the song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzQPru77h-U
I really do prefer bass over the higher-pitched guitars (especially when the guitars are so over-played that they just sound like white noise).
Hey – any bass players out there?
das
@ Sparrowhawk – Everyone I know is on Instagram. I don’t do that, either. There comes a point where one has to draw the line on social media, and I’m getting to the point where if you can’t talk to me normal-like (be it live or on the net), just don’t bother talking at all. I did enjoy discussion forums, but those are dying out in favor of stuff like Twitter, and Facebook should really be called LookAtMeBook because it’s not about discussion but about self-promotion.
Joe’s blog…for me it’s a lifesaver. 🙂 He lets us talk about his stuff, our stuff, and off the wall stuff. In some ways I’ve always felt that Joe’s blog is one big couch, and he’s the Great Psychologist. 🙂
das
I dunno, Sparrow, towards the end there Michael Jackson was starting to look like a middle-aged white lady himself.
Just sayin’…
das
I am wondering if Alex knew he would be doing a Dark Matter Dance of the Day when he signed on?
I see the dance theme continues… Are we going to have a musical episode? 😉
Seriously, are we? I just sat through a musical episode of Fringe, so it’s got me wondering.
@Sparrow_hawk and @Joe:
Yes, please. How peaty is it?
@Das:
If I’m in a sing-along mood, I’ll choose vocals in the bass range (my own vocal range), which are few and far between in pop music. So, for sing-alongs, I tend to gravitate towards southern rock where bass vocals predominate. There are a few general pop/pop-rock groups that I like that have bass vocals (Dire Straights comes to mind), but not enough to ground me in that genre.
My current bugaboo is auto-tuned vocals. Can’t ANYONE hold a tune anymore? I’d rather listen to some honest vocals and guitar work than a perfectly auto-tuned and electronically produced studio piece.
As for bass guitar, from the first time I heard it in the 70’s, I’ve always loved the bass guitar solo in Kansas’ Magnum Opus (starts around 1:00):
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dumOc5V_PcE&w=420&h=315%5D
I tried to learn guitar as a result of this, but I don’t really have any talent for it, so I just had to content myself with listening.
@dasndanger said:
That explains a lot of your posts. 🙂
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Your dailies framegrabs look very moody and atmospheric. I hope they’re an accurate example of the lighting we’ll see on screen. I love DoPs who are as skilled with shadow as they are with light.
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Here’s a question for you. I asked it a few days before your call for questions so I figure I’ll ask it again.
Are you shooting in 4K? 4K TVs are getting cheaper and cheaper and Netflix even has a 4K feed now. It would be good if Dark Matter was future proof.
As an adjunct to that, I’d be keen to hear about the camera gear being used. Can we get some Q&As with some of the crew?
Yep, already following most of those folks on Twitter!
I don’t know if I can take this number of teases leading up the actual broadcast of the show! I will need the Great Psychologist by that time. Wait, I suppose I already do.
My cold is still feeling crappy, though not *as* crappy so I did drag myself out to work this morning – a decision I’m second guessing at this point.
@ Line Noise – Yeah…I know. 😛
@ gforce – Feel better! My cold lasted about 10 days (still have a bit of congestion, but I think it’s just normal winter congestion). I chewed on those Airborne vitamin gummies (the grapefruit flavor is best!) and I think they helped because I didn’t feel as crappy as I normally do with a cold. My biggest problem from it has been the ‘throat tickle’ that just comes out of nowhere – after I eat, talk too much 😛 , breathe, go to sleep – I just want it to go away!
Mebbe I should try gargling with single malt. Hey, Joey! Pass me the bottle! 😀
@ JeffW – Wow…that song is…LSD-inspired? 😉 Those were the days, eh? Ten-minute chillin’ songs that featured nstrumentals – something that the introduction of punk pretty much put a stop to. Not sure what song it was that won me over to bass – probably several – but I’m gonna say at the top of the list would be this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Tdu4uKSZ3M
Still gives me chills to hear that bass…mmmm…delish! It’s like chocolate for my ears. 🙂
das
Oh, wait…I dropped me eye…I mean, ‘i’ – that, obviously, should have been ‘instrumentals’. 🙂
das
@das Yep, sometimes this blog does feel like a couch, very welcoming, friendly, interesting and wickedly funny. And I do make an effort to read it each day, including Comments.
As for the Alex Dark Matter Dance of the Day, that’s great, but a little less crotch grabbing? You can certainly tell he has great body control and agility.
I have a Twitter account, but really don’t even log in to it with any regularity. It just doesn’t appeal to me. I also FB with some friends but mostly family. My grand niece & nephew’s soccer triumphs and losses, lots of cat themed things. I really can’t stand all the advertising in the feed though. And FB is really about private conversations made public. Some things people post should truly remain private or put in an email to the specific recipient. Some days it reads like diary entries.
Another Mailbag question:
Jodelle’s character is supposed to be a kid compared to all other cast, right? IMDB says she is 20 yrs. old. Does she mind playing a kid?
Anyway, hope everyone has a good day!
2cats =^-^=
And Sriracha! I’m never without two bottles in my house. You know, just in case one runs dry. I put it on pretty much everything. Except ice cream.
@das: I LOVE Tool. Always have. And it’s the outstanding bass playing by Justin that does it. If you love good bass, check out Ryan Martinie from Mudvayne. He’s also an innovator with tone and timing on the low end.
I played guitar and bass in bands from 1986 until 2001. I still play occasionally for fun.
Joe, IS there a target air date yet?
This show just seems to fall into place like kismet. I’m not saying you didn’t have to hustle but I’m glad it’s all working out!
@Das: I can see why you don’t like to use Twitter but I love it. I’ve had conversations with people from all over the world. Which comes in handy when I have bouts of insomnia. 😊
I’m still reading Red Country. We had a free preview weekend on a few of the pay channels and I recorded the whole season of “The Missing”. Good but heartbreaking show! I’m stuck at the car place for 2 hours today (or more 😔), so no problem catching up.
I have a twitter account, I should look at it now and then. Instagram is fun, a frippery. Tumblr is odd. FB is how I keep in touch with a lot of far flung friends and family; I have a global glob of buddies.
Ooh, mysteries and dancing, most excellent.
Joe, I had a Burning Man dream which featured you. But you were not actually in the dream, just your one night micro-restaurant with seating for four couples, and a glossy high end surprise meal. In rolling suburban hills, not the desert. Chocolate was involved. I wandered off before any food was served. Figures.
@Das: Thanks! Where do you get these airborne gummies? I’ve been looking all around the air both inside and out and don’t see a one! Do you use a net? 😉
I know what you mean by the throat tickle – it’s making me drink a ton of water which I guess is good for hydration, but it sure does increase the bathroom breaks!
One question for Jodelle Ferland, if I may? (I don’t know if you had cast questions in mind but here goes nothing) Who is the cute little girl and the ginormously beautiful cat on her twitter page? I love that picture!
Oh and I followed all on your twitter list above. 🙂
@ 2cats – I totally agree. And there’s a bit of a ‘family feel’ here, which makes it all very comfy. 🙂 Also, you said:
Not really sure I would have put those two thoughts next to each other… 😉 😉
@ Tam Dixon – My main problem with Twitter, et al., is my ADD/OCD thing. All the various options for communication sets off my ADD – I don’t know where to look or read! But my OCD dictates that if the info and ability to communicate is out there, then I MUST do it ALL! And trying to do it all just sets off my ADD, and then I can’t concentrate on any off it, which ticks off my OCD that wants to do it all, and do it all right! No middle ground for me – it’s all, or nothing. So, as I try to keep up with the internet as it continues to bombard me with information and access, my ADD & OCD are fighting with each other for dominance in my brain and the battle goes on until I end up sitting in a dark corner, sucking my thumb and babbling incoherently. Figuratively, of course. 😉
So, for that reason I’m doing less and less on the net…I’m going the ‘nothing’ route in order to save my brain. I’m still hanging onto Joe’s blog because I really like it here, enjoy the company (and our host, of course 🙂 ), and the format is simplistic and uncluttered, which is easy on my brain. 🙂
😉
@ jimfromjersey – Innovator – that’s the word I was looking for to describe Justin. I really do love their music, and grasp the philosophical and metaphoric meanings behind many of their lyrics, but I must admit that I cringe at some of the song titles. 😛 You know the ones. 😉 I’ll have to give Mudvayne a better listen – I’m familiar with them but I tend to listen to the same things over and over instead of branching out to new things. It’s a bad habit, one I find hard to break. 😉 @ Sparrow
das
@ gforce – Heh! Wet sneezes = airborne gummies! 😀
(Kidding aside, I get mine from Sam’s Wholesale)
🙂
das
@Das: Well, I’m glad you’re here. We love ya Das!
Ugh, i take that back about my cold feeling better. It’s back with a vengeance!
Das, I don’t think we get that brand here in Canada, sadly. And it seems I’ve already tried the other kind of airborne gummies unfortunately! 🙂
Is that Trevor holding the bottle of magic?
@das: Yes, I saw it. 😉
Speaking of TV shows, I love Galavant, it’s so funny and the songs are great too, its on ABC at 9pm on Sundays, it has a lot of involvement from Disney. It’s quite satire in nature. It’s more a fantasy/comedy/musical.
This is easily the funniest opening to a TV show I’ve seen in a while.
Opps meant to put 8pm there. Anyway people should check it out, its quite good.
That was a bright spot in my very rough week. (BTW — Thank you Joe for sharing the picture of Lucy — such a tragic story and I can’t stop crying about the situation). Alex is a great dancer. Thank you for all the Twitter links. I’m now following them.
@Gforce: Hope your cold passes more quickly.
@Das This blog is pretty magical. Very unique. Most people usually leave a comment and dash and run, but we talk to each other, we rant, we support. And I really enjoy that.
@Das, That was a nice cover video on some real nice cover bass Playing. Oddly his had reminded me of a spider. My number one will always be Geddy Lee, Some bar band from Toronto. Geddy not only can lay down a nice bass line but uses his bass for accompaniment and lead theme and cord progression. I would suggest starting with YYZ then go either way on the time line.
@JeffW, I so much agree with you on the auto tune.
Caught up on your posts and all I can say is how excited I am for this show! The casting is great. I love Zoie on Lost Girl, I can’t believe how “grown up” Jodelle is now (I suddenly feel very old!), love Roger still from his 24 days, and the others just look wonderful. I appreciate the diverse cast this show has in contrast to many other shows.
I know you say your rib will take a long time to heal, but nonetheless, wishing you a faster-than-expected recovery!