Yes, it’s official! Dark Matter will be at San Diego Comic Con!
Our panel is scheduled for the night of Thursday, July 9th from 7:15 pm – 8:15 pm in Room 6BCF!
Those in attendance will include cast members Melissa O’Neil (TWO), Jodelle Ferland (FIVE), Roger Cross (SIX), and Anthony Lemke (THREE), Executive Producers Jay Firestone and Vanessa Piazza, and yours truly (provided they can tear me away from the dealer alley).
So, who’s coming?
Continuing our discussion of Dark Matter’s second episode…
1) She’s gone!
The boys bid the miners a fond farewell, then hightail it back to marauder where they discover…The Raza is no longer in orbit. TWO abandoned them! In the script, this revelation was the act out and, after the commercial break, we would come back to a second marauder scene in which the guys debate their very bad situation. One by one, they leave until on THREE remains. It takes him a few seconds to realize the futility of his position and he heads off to catch up with them.
The episode was 4 minutes long, we needed to lose something and, in the end, this extra scene struck us, ultimately, superfluous. No doubt it will show up as a deleted scene somewhere down the line.
2) Could you be more specific?
The miners are hopelessly outmatched, outgunned, outnumbered – and have no idea what Ferrous Corp. has planned. FOUR takes it upon himself to find out by “questioning” the prisoner. This was Alex Mallari Jr.’s audition scene and it was his cool, calculated and controlled performance that won hi the role. He and actor Kerr Hewitt (who plays the part of Sgt. Voss) are terrific in this scene.
It was smooth sailing – once we eventually got started, but there was a delay shooting this scene (first one up on the day) because it was decided the set’s windows were wrong. More to the point, they weren’t a visually match for all of the warehouse interiors we’d already shot. These were the windows when I first visited the set…
Pictured above where the windows we shot. Same windows, but rotated. Well, not just the window but the entire back wall of the set…which took 90 minutes to fix.
Ah, the attention to detail!
3) We’ll never be able to hold this position.
Thanks to FOUR’s no fuss no muss interrogation technique, we discover that Ferrous Corp. plans to target their antiquated reactor; trigger a blast that will level the entire facility. In other words, make it look like an accident.
The reactor was actually part of a water filtration plant that offered us a bunch of great looks. Prior to even setting foot in the place, however, we were given a run-through of the various procedures to follow in the event of an emergency covering everything from ammonia leaks to marauding dingos. The scariest for me, however, were the big honking red buttons that studded the walls of the entire facility. We were informed that pushing these buttons would shut down the show plant – and result in the production having to pack up and leave. So it was imperative we NOT press these big red attractive-looking buttons!
To dissuade cast or crew members from pushing the buttons, or accidentally leaning up against them, Production Designer Ian Brock caged them in these imposing-looking (but ultimately easy pull-away) structures.
4) I bet you regret not teaching me how to fly that shuttle now! Do I ever!
As the guys prep the miners for their last stand, SIX comes to the logical conclusion that they are doomed – BUT there may be a way to win the day by making the battle too costly for Ferrous Corp. to pursue. He suggests going up in their shuttle and taking out the corporate destroyer. On the surface, it seems like a foolhardy act and yet, upon closer scrutiny, one realizes that SIX has carefully thought things through. He can die on the surface with all of them in a losing cause OR he can die up in orbit, possibly saving everyone else’s lives in the process. Again, SIX demonstrates a cool reasoning and selflessness that certainly suggests leadership material…
The scene ends with ONE watching SIX walk off O.S. BUT the actual scene doesn’t end there. There is a long shot in the director’s cut in which SIX climbs up this seemingly endless stairwell. Actor Roger Cross must have done it a half dozen times on the day, no doubt working up a great leg burn and good sweat in that big leather coat. Unfortunately, the episode was running long so we had to cut it. Another deleted scene to look forward to when the time comes: SIX’s endless stair climb!
5) I’m the only one who can save you now.
Alas, SIX gets as far as the Marauder before he is surprised by a miner in the company of the now freed Sgt. Voss. The turncoat is played by Canadian t.v. legend Pat Mastroianni who started off in the biz starring as Jerry Jeremiah (or, as my writing partner likes to say, “The original Joey Jeremiah” although I’m not sure why because there was only one). Pat is in great company in an episode full of great local talent which includes the likes of Amanda Brugel, Rob Stewart, Chloe Rose, David Richmond-Peck, Sean Arbuckle, Kerr Hewitt, Alex Courey…and a familiar face from my Stargate days who I’ll be discussing in my next blog entry!
In the meantime, here are some Dark Matter news items to tide you over…
TheTVJunkies preview episode #103:
“Zoie Palmer fans rejoice! The Android plays a major part in Episode 3 after a technical error with the ship sets the Raza off-course. But it’s not just her tech abilities that come in handy–One convinces the Android to help out the crew in a pretty ingenious way after the crew start to become suspicious of one another. Really, what can’t she do?”
“These two shows, Killjoys and Dark Matter, air on Friday nights after Defiance, and in my opinion, they are definitely worth checking out.”
Melissa O’Neil chats with the gang at The Mind Reels and talks about how I kept the cast guessing until the very last shot of the series:
I live in San Diego and I don’t know ANYONE who can get tickets to ComicCon. My son is a project manager at Sony Entertainment (PS4 games, specifically) and even though ComicCon sets aside a certain number of tickets for the “biz,” no one he works with was able to get tickets. If you have any for sale… lol I remember taking my oldest son down when he was a teenager – he’s now 43 – and each successive son (there are 4 boys, 3 girls) in turn was dragged down by a mom who used them as an excuse to go. Alas those days are long gone.
A call-back to SG-1, you say? Hmmm…did I send that third email last night? *checks* Nope.
*wanders off, whistling a vaguely familiar tune*
PS: No San Diego Comic Con for me. Dragon*Con 2008 brought out my latent, crowd-based claustrophobia.
👥👥👥👥👥😖👥👥👥👥👥
Please come to New York Comic Con!!! I’ll be there Sunday, if you could schedule that day it would be perfect!!
So looking forward to tomorrow night!! 😀 Trying to avoid too many spoilers and such, I want it to be fresh! And after this week I’m really going to need it.
Blargh. Just a crappy week. My work is piling up and all I do is field phone calls all day because – it seems – I’m the most brilliant person on the planet and no one else can figure out diddlysquat. 😛 I finally managed to delegate some of the ordering and such to one of the guys who has office and computer experience, and since he’s an installer and not a mechanic I can use him in the office when we’re not doing installations. It was a fight though – he is an obstinate fella who has trouble shifting gears (older, and I’ve known him nearly all my life so he’s like a big brother). In the end I won. 😀 I’ve been trying to do billing for the entire week, and managed to get out just three bills. You should see my desk – it looks like Office Depot threw up all over it. 😛 (Or, as I remember…like your old desk back at the Stargate offices, Joe – chaos everywhere!)
Needless to say, I need a good escape. And, hopefully, Dark Matter will deliver a laugh or two…or maybe an OMG! and/or a chewed-off nail, or even a sharp kick in the nuts – just anything to make this week end on a high note. 😉
das
Syfy is re-running the episode right now (11:46 pm Thurs night central time) as I comment on this. That was smart to seal off the red buttons because if you tell someone NOT to touch the red buttons, they will not be able to get it out of their minds and want to TOUCH the red buttons.
One of these days I will get to SDCC. Probably will have to get myself on a 5-year waiting list or ask a friend to get me a pass as part of my bucket list fulfillment process. Of course I’ll have to save up a tremendous amount of money for all the autographs I will want. You guys have a blast and I wish you great success. Every new fan counts. Can’t wait to see your pictures. Hopefully some nice person at Syfy will record the panel and put it on their site for all of us unfortunate people who can’t be there. .
Nice! Any chance you guys will be coming to the Salt Lake City Comic-Con? I’ll be there all three day again this year. Just saying… Still getting caught up on the blog and am probably not the first one to suggest this but I was thinking “the marauders” would be a good name for the Dark Matter fan base. When six name the shuttle the first thing I thought was your earlier blog post abt what to name the fan base.
Seriously, can ANYONE who *isn’t* a CELEBRITY, STAFF – [clean a Restroom, meet a Star…], a major PLAYER in the “BIZ” and/or “PRESS” **EVER** get tickets to SDCC again??
It’s probably easier to get an all day audience with the POPE! – Even HE would probably have problems getting tickets, even *with* “Divine-Intervention”!!
Shucks… SDCC is too far away from Ontario for me to visit. That’s like… a 38-hour drive… at least according to Google maps… and it’s probably even longer, knowing how Google tends to underestimate the length…
Meh…I should go to a comic con one of these days… maybe I’ll get lucky and get a girlfriend…
Love all the extra stuff you show us, can’t wait for a blooper reel, the interviews were all good. You guys have done this stuff before. ! Loved seeing Torri, have missed her smiling face. Sail on!!
There is a reason the SDCC fears the Salt Lake Comic Con, we’re still accessible. That said, I won a free pass and it was such a clusterfuck getting in I missed almost everything. (Those issues have been resolved, they say).
Still, my (very warm) Mrs. Santa outfit was a big hit. Lots of photos, everyone loves Mrs. Santa.
Ahhhh, the irresistible urge to push big red buttons! Many years ago I was in charge of a tape robot. Basically a big metal cylinder (big enough to stand in) with computer tape cartridges stacked on all the walls. A robot arm mounted in the centre of the cylinder would swing around and grab the cartridges and load them into tape drives. Because you could stand in this thing and the robot arm would move quite fast there was a big red emergency stop button on the inside of the door. One day, while I was doing maintenance, I found myself wondering what would happen if I hit the button. “What’s the worst that could happen?” I thought to myself and hit it! Apparently the worst that could happen is that it trips an internal circuit breaker to cut the power and then I panic because I can’t turn the thing back on with the usual power button. I was almost at the point of having to tell my boss what I’d done and get a service engineer in when I discovered the circuit breaker. That taught me that big red buttons are not to be pressed lightly!
I *will* be at Comic-Con! 🙂 Just hope I can actually get into the panel–even though 6BDF is one of the larger rooms, I know that it’s going to be packed and that there’s going to be a massive line. (Sorry, no time or funds to do a Dark Matter costume, so you’ll just have to settle for the stripped-down Stargate desert outfit I was wearing when I met you at the Dark Matter comic signing back in 2012.)
Thanks Sparrow_hawk!
I can remember when Harry was very young, looking at him and thinking “This cat’s going to break my heart one day”. I was right. Pets are only a short time gift. I have several friends that never got another pet after their terrible loss. I can understand that now. Stress makes me lose my appetite. I’ve lost three pounds already. Today is distraction day. I’m going to make German chocolate cupcakes with butterscotch frosting and mowing the yard. It’s going to be 100F today, wish me luck!
I’m glad DM comes on tonight. I need another major distraction. Hope twitter jail isn’t too bad!
You know, I didn’t ask how Akemi is doing with Jelly’s absence. You have the show as a distraction but Akemi cared for Jelly most of the day. How is Akemi doing? I need to check her blog.
When will you know about season 2? Will you really sell your house and move to Toronto if it’s a success?
P.S. can’t afford comic con (kid in college)
Das: Hope your day gets better!
hope you can come out to dragon con as well on our side of the country i’d love to meet you guys
Alas, my days of attending conventions are long, long time past. But if a kind soul tapes the panel (and includes decent audio), I will scour YouTube to view it. Greatly looking forward to eppy 3 tonight!
2cats
I have to admit, I just loved the first two episodes of Dark Matter. It has litterally been since Stargate, in all it’s incarnations, since I’ve enjoyed a show so much. I will be Tweeting tonight and supporting Dark Matter, along with WormholeRiders. Thanks, Joe, for writing and producing such a great show.
After a loooong week, I am at home sitting in front of the TV with my feet propped up waiting for Dark Matter to come on. I’m a little early, I know, but I ain’t moving! Bring it on! What time is it? How much longer?
I like the heavy duty pumps with the heavy duty pipes. Seems more In place than a Budweiser Brewery being masked as an interstellar ship’s engine room. Need to somehow get a copy to watch. It could help answer questions like why does an android need a space suit. But I can tweet