Friday, February 27, 2015

The Best Fringe Tour Ever - Part 7 (out of 9)

By Danna Aissa (@DannaAissa)

Last Summer @Odunham4life and her husband wanted to do a Fringe tour in Vancouver for their wedding anniversary. I had been in Vancouver a couple of months before, so she asked for my advice and I provided her with all the information I had been gathering about Fringe filming locations (I published a post about that, click here). She put together all the information from the different sources and prepared the best Fringe tour ever!

On her return, she tweeted lots of pics comparing stills from the show with pics from the real Vancouver, but you know how Twitter is, everything happens very fast and those tweets are now buried and forgotten, so I thought about writing some posts and keeping them handy. I have her permission to do it, of course! ;P


4x10 Forced Perspective
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Location: www.vancouverconventioncentre.com



4x12 Welcome to Westfield

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Location: Dann's electronics 



4x15 A Short Story About Love

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Location: waterstreetcafe.ca

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Location: The Captain French Hotel

4x17 Everything In Its Right Place

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4x18 The Consultant

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4x19 Letters of Transit

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Location: www.cbc.ca
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4x20 Worlds Apart

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4x21 Brave New World (part 1)

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4x21 Brave New World (part 2)

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Location: www.vanartgallery.bc.ca



More every two weeks!
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Friday, February 20, 2015

The People Who Brought You “White Tulip” (Part 3)

By Stephen Tulley (@Stephen_Tulley)

To wrap-up the closing credits of White Tulip we begin with several cards listing the twelve co-staring actors credited in the episode.

Co-Starring
Waitress: Marie Avgeropoulos
ND Agent #2: Jackson Berlin
Worker: Zoltan Buday
Uniform Cop: Robert Gauvin

Teenager: Richard Harmon
Female CSI: Jennifer Kitchen
Assistant M.E.:Tariq Leslie
Professor Lime: Andrew McIlroy

M.E. Tech: C. Douglas Quan
Arlette Turling: Kristen Ross
ND Tac Agent/Sniper: Duncan Spencer
Commuter: Michael Vairo


Casting By 
April Webster, CSA

April has worked closely with J.J. Abrams in the past and did all the principal casting for the pilot episode of Fringe. In this case she, or her assistant, might have cast the two “guest-starring” actors listed in the opening credits, but she certainly did cast the lead character for Fringe, and so, deserves credit.


I would bet good money that all of the co-starring actors listed above are local Canadian actors, as we saw many used later on by J.H. Wyman in Almost Human which also filmed in Vancouver. And just below we see that there is a local casting category.


Canadian Casting By 
Corinne Clark
&
Jennifer Page

 Main Title Design
Andrew Kramer

 Main Title Theme
J.J. Abrams

How many Fringe fans remember that J.J. himself wrote the opening title music?


Set Decorator
Louise Roper

Costume Designer
Jenni Gullett

Department Head Make-Up
Dana Hamel

Department Head Hair
Ian Ballard

These are various “heads” of departments. Set Decorators are in charge of all the furniture and “things” lying on tables, chairs, etc, and are constantly moving them out of the way for the cameras on coverage shots, whereas “props” crew members are in charge of all things that an actor might wear on their costume or carry in a scene. There is usually only one Costume Designer for a TV show. Hair and Make-Up departments might have two or three people working on a given episode, but only the heads of the departments are listed here.

Music Editor
Paul Apelgren

Post Production Supervisors
Amanda Lencioni
April Nocifora

VFX Supervisors
Jay Worth (LA)
Robert Habros (VC)

These are people who work in post-production with the editor to get the final footage in order for airing. VFX refers to “visual effects” and we see there are two: one with Bad Robot Productions in Los Angeles and one working locally in Vancouver.


Property Master
Rob Smith

Key Grip
David Dawson

Gaffer
David Warner

Script Supervisor
Alexandra La Roche

All these people work on set. The Property Master, with some assistants, choose and purchase and/or rent any of the props that the actors and background actors will be using in a scene. The Key Grip is in charge of all the grips on set and his assistant is referred to as the “Best Boy.” The Gaffer is the chief lighting technician and he and his crew is in charge of placing and maintaining all the lighting on the stage. The Script Supervisor works closely with the Director and 1st Assistant Director, and usually sits up front at the camera monitors for the shot (a place called “video village”). Her job is to keep track of which take is being marked on the slate and she is also in charge of maintaining the continuity of the actors in the scene across a series of takes and ensuring that the actors speak the dialog that is written in the script. In the British system this position is often called the “Continuity Girl” since the overwhelming number of script supervisors are women.

You might be interested to know that “grip” is an old circus term for anyone who lifted and carried stuff around the stage. The term “gaffer” comes from the oldest days of film. Before the era of large electric lights stages were often lit with the help of large mirrors on tracks which were moved around to reflect sunlight coming in openings around the building. To focus the light, “gaffers” used gaffing hooks on long poles to move the mirrors on tracks, hence that particular term!

SFX Make-Up Design
Todd Masters

SFX Coordinator
Bob Comer

Production Coordinator
Anita Truelove

Assistant Editor
Elizabeth Barnette

SFX here refers to “special effects” so Todd Masters was probably instrumental in designing Dr. Alistair Cook’s contorted Faraday Cage body. The others listed are most probably assistants to those “higher up” the food chain on set.

Stunt Coordinator
Michael Mitchell

Location Manager
Scott Walden

Music Supervisors
Billy Gottlieb
Charles L. Scott IV

Location Managers play an important role in not only scouting out places for location shots, but also coordinating filming with local municipalities, neighborhoods, and the general public.

Sound Mixer
Eric Batut

Supervising Sound Editor
Paul Curtis

Re-Recording Mixers
Rick Norman
Brian Harman

Post Production Services By
Technicolor Creative Services, Vancouver, Level Post 3

These are all post-production positions responsible for the final soundtrack of White Tulip, including all the sound effects that have to be added in.



 Promotional Consideration 
Paid For By
Ford Motor Company

Promotional Consideration
Paid For By
Microsoft Corporation
What would a season of Fringe be without some sponsored content? Car companies heavily use this as a means of promoting their newest model automobiles.


Film Processing By 
Technicolor Creative Services, Vancouver

The characters and events depicted in this motion picture
are fictional. Any similiarity to actual person, living or dead,
or to any actual events, firms, and institutions or other entities
is coincidental and unintentional.

This motion picture is protected under the laws of
The United States and other countries, and its
unauthorized duplication, distribution, or exhibition
may result in civil liability and criminal prosecution.

Copyright © 2010
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Production # 3X5117

Country of First Publication United States of America

NS Pictures Inc. is the author of this film/motion picture for
the purpose of article 15 (2) of the Berne Convention
and all national laws given effect there to.

The legal disclaimer that we all see at the end of an episode, but I’m sure no one actually takes the time to read it! The symbol you see on the left is for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, called IATSE, which is the union for most of the crew members.


And those are the people who brought you White Tulip! My thanks to those of you who have followed this blog submission over three posts, with lots of film and TV trivia thrown in.

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Friday, February 13, 2015

The Best Fringe Tour Ever - Part 6 (out of 9)

By Danna Aissa (@DannaAissa)

Last Summer @Odunham4life and her husband wanted to do a Fringe tour in Vancouver for their wedding anniversary. I had been in Vancouver a couple of months before, so she asked for my advice and I provided her with all the information I had been gathering about Fringe filming locations (I published a post about that, click here). She put together all the information from the different sources and prepared the best Fringe tour ever!

On her return, she tweeted lots of pics comparing stills from the show with pics from the real Vancouver, but you know how Twitter is, everything happens very fast and those tweets are now buried and forgotten, so I thought about writing some posts and keeping them handy. I have her permission to do it, of course! ;P

<- Part 5    Part 7 ->


SEASON 4

4x04 Subject 9
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Location: www.caffebrixton.com
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4x06 And Those We've Left Behind

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4x07 Wallflower

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Location: thetempleton.ca


4x08 Back To Where You've Never Been

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Location: www.orpheum-theater.com


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4x09 Enemy Of My Enemy


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More every two Fridays!
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Friday, February 6, 2015

The People Who Brought You “White Tulip” (Part 2)

By Stephen Tulley (@Stephen_Tulley)
Continuing on from my previous post about credits and job titles on TV productions, let’s review the rest of the opening credits from the iconic “White Tulip” episode of Fringe.

Co-Producer
Tanya Swerling


Producers
Zack Stentz
Ashley Edward Miller





These are most probably senior writers for Fringe.



Producer
Kathy Lingg





 In this case we do know that Kathy Lingg is the Head of Television Programming for Bad Robot Productions, so in this case she is representing J.J. Abram’s company in the planning and filming of White Tulip.


Supervising Producer
Josh Singer 

Supervising Producer
Jeff Vlaming

Supervising Producer
Reid Shane



Reid Shane is listed as a production manager on IMDB, so he might be one of the so-called “odd-even” producers for this episode. In TV production sometimes two people will fill a high-level job, such as 1st Assistant Director or Key 2nd Assistant Director. One will supervise the shooting schedule for an episode while the other will stay in an office and coordinate all the scheduling and planning of the next episode. These people are listed as “odd-even” on the call sheet. Not all production works in this manner, it just depends on how the production company wants to structure the crew.

And on a completely unrelated note, as a one-hour TV drama Fringe ran for 42 minutes an episode from Season 2 on (48 minutes in Season 1). It takes a cast and crew eight days to shoot a one-hour drama for television.

Consulting Producer
Akiva Goldsman


Consulting Producers
Alex Kurtzman
Roberto Orci



The Consulting Producer credit is given to someone who has provided some feedback on the production. Without knowing how the script was developed for White Tulip we don’t know if these people had actually provided some input on the final product, or whether this is a courtesy title given to three writers who were important in the development of Fringe.
Co-Executive Producer
David Wilcox

Co-Executive Producer
Joe Chappelle

Executive Producer
Bryan Burk

Executive Producer
J.H. Wyman

Executive Producer
Jeff Pinker



These people, basically, are all writers. We know that Josh and Jeff were the so-called “show runners,” (also sometimes called “hyphenates” as in “writer-producer”) meaning the head writers. In television writers have a great deal of control over the production of the show, whereas in film that authority is usually exercised by the Director.

Executive Producer
J.J. Abrams

From previous interviews I know that before a season of Fringe began J.J. liked to sit down with the writers and work out the full 22 episode season as one long play broken into three acts with different trajectories within those acts. Writers were then invited to provide a treatment for certain episodes, which is a detailed narrative description of the story. Only when it had been accepted did the writers actually begin to work on the script for the episodes.




Written By
J.H. Wyman &
Jeff Vlaming



Even though in television there are many writers working on the script, the Writer’s Guild of America and its Canadian counterpart have specific rules governing who gets credit based on how much that writer has contributed to the final product.


Directed By
Thomas Yatsko






The Director has all creative authority over the episode, but doesn’t manage or coordinate the crew as they set-up for a shot. Generally after a rehearsal the Director will “fine-tune” a performance with the actors away from the set as cameras are moved and the lighting is changed.

That concludes the opening credits. Now let’s start with those many names you see listed at the end of a TV episode, the so-called “closing credits.”

Music By
Michael Giacchino
&
Chris Tilton





Of course the composers of the music should be listed as having contributed to the episode. Michael Giacchino was continued to be given a credit in future seasons even though he ceased to compose music for Fringe sometime in Season 2.
Production Manager
Vladimir Stefoff
First Assistant Director
Greg Zenon
Second Assistant Director
David Baron



These are important people who manage and supervise the crew while on set. The “Unit Production Manager” is someone who has served as a 1st Assistant Director for many years. In this case Vladimir Stefoff coordinated the scheduling and funding of the episode with the Line Producer (see previous post). For instance, the call sheet for the next day of filming can only be confirmed once the Unit Production Manager (also called the “UPM”) signs off on it.

The 1st Assistant Director is the individual who directly oversees the crew while on set. In this case Greg Zenon created the shooting schedule for this episode and gave the command to the camera and sound departments to begin rolling once the Director was ready to start filming. The “1st” as he/she is often called, is a very powerful position on set, and it takes years to have accrued the necessary days in the lower ranks of Key 2nd Assistant Director and 2nd2nd Assistant Director (called the 3rd Assistant Director in the UK system.)

David Baron is the “Key 2nd Assistant Director” who implements the wishes of the 1st Assistant Director on set. He most probably directed all the background actors (i.e., “extras”) while on set. The “2nd” also creates the call sheet for the next day of filming and supervises all the contract paperwork for the guest starring actors. In general, the 2nd2nd AD (or 3rd in the UK) isn’t given a credit in most television productions.

Next time I’ll conclude the closing credits of White Tulip and describe some of those strange job titles you might have wondered about.

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