Here it is! The long-awaited blog of our trip to the set of Stargate: Atlantis!



June 6, 2005 Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada


First, I should again mention how Laurie and I got here. I bid on and won a charity auction at Hollywood Charity Auctions for a one-day set visit for myself and a guest to either SG-1 or SGA. The charity which recieved my donation is called Minorities in Broadcasting Training Program, located in California.


Laurie and I got to the gate of Bridge Studios around 9:45 in the morning. Since we were a little early, we took pictures of the gate and the large MGM sign on the side of the building. (All pictures to follow!)

Once at the gate, we waited for Carole to come and take us in. Carole is the Promotions Coordinator for SGA and was absolutely wonderful for the two or three months preceding the visit. She made the whole process of arranging the set visit painless and easy—quite a feat for being 3000 miles away from me!! I cannot thank her enough.

So, Carole became our guide for the day.

First, she took us on a quick walking tour of the facility. The studio was given the name Bridge Studios because it once was a manufacturing company which made...you guessed it...BRIDGES! In particular, its claim to fame is the manufacture of the Golden Gate Bridge. The HUGE sound stages all have the original steel beams jutting out of them at roof level from the bridge-making facility. The beams are painted red and are exposed as a reminder of the buildings' amazing history.

Carole then took us to the stages that house the two gate rooms. We went to see SG-1 first. Didn't get any pictures of that gate as they were filming just up the stairs in the SG-1 briefing room.

Then we went up the stairs and were allowed to watch as they set up for a scene in the briefing room. On the set were Amanda Tapping, Ben Browder, and Beau Bridges. We didn't get to meet them, but we stood behind the director at his screen and watched for a few minutes. They called for Michael Shanks to come back in—he must have taken a short break outside—and he came past us in the long, narrow hallway we were standing in.

Any way, at this point, Carole led us out of SG-1's world and we went through the opposite door to the set of the city of Atlantis. Nothing was lit up at this point, but, since they weren't filming there that day, we could wander around the whole set for as long as we wanted. I will tell you that the room where the gate is—they refer to it as the Gatrium—is much smaller than you would imagine from watching the show. They make it look much bigger with camera angles and lighting. It's certainly not small—just not as huge as it appears. The gate itself, however, is HUGE! When you look at the pics, you'll get an idea of the size of it. It must be about 20 feet tall and it is beautiful! We went back later in the day to take pictures in the gate and Carole had called one of the lighting techs to ask him to turn on the lights in the gate for us. He did so, and we were very grateful to him. So we have pics with the gate lit. It is amazing to see! And the gate feels like a car tire when you touch it—it's made of rubber! It also folds down out of sight into the floor so that the area can be re-set for some other use.

One of the things that we noticed a lot is the ingenuity of the scenery and set people. They use and re-use everything! The styrofoam packing that holds electronic items snug in boxes for shipping can and will become almost everything you see decorating the set of Atlantis. For example—the pretty lights that look like they have water bubbling in them that you see all over the city—they may look like they are made of metal, but they are actually made out of those styrofoam pieces painted to look like metal. And the painting is so good that you don't realize its foam until you actually touch it. And the pretty lights inside? Water glasses turned upside-down with clear glass paper weights on top! Truly amazing! And truly clever!

There are going to be some new things on the set for the second season—a very large new light in the briefing room and a re-do of Weir's office. You'll love it, but I can't show you the pics 'cause we promised not to show new things until the second season starts.

We took pictures of "The Balcony", of course. A must for all good SGA fans! And the "stained-glass" windows above the steps and leading into the balcony are beautiful! We stood on the catwalk above the gatrium from where Sheppard so humorously pushed McKay off in Hide and Seek. It's a long way down! But it really IS one big, huge set. Everything connects so you can walk from one side of the catwalk to the other and then down the Ancient staircase to the gate.

Finally, we were escorted to another sound stage where the cast and crew were filming for the day. The set is made up to look like a giant cave—multiple rooms and everything! We laughed when we went into a small chamber off the main cave and there were shackles hanging from the ceiling—the shackles had fuzzy stuff inside them for the comfort of the actor! Fuzzy shackles—what a concept!

Then we got to watch them actually filming. We probably spent 5 of the 8 hours at the studio just watching them shoot—it was fascinating! On the set were Joe Flanigan, David Hewlett, Rachel Luttrell, Rainbow Sun Francks, and Jason Momoa—plus twenty or thirty other people. Makeup artists, sound engineers, directors of all kinds, cameramen...lots and lots of people. Can't tell you what scene they were filming, except that it was from The Lost Boys, which is the first-half-of-the-season cliffhanger.

We watched them film for quite a while and then they took a short break to re-set cameras and lights. We stepped outside the soundstage to take a break ourselves. And it was then that David Hewlett came over and introduced himself. "Hi, I'm David!" And shook hands with both Laurie and me. He talked to us for a bit then had to go back inside.

Then Joe Flanigan came over and introduced himself also. "Hi, I'm Joe!" And shook our hands. Then he, too, went back inside to film some more.

Unfortunately, that was one of only three brief encounters we had with Joe during the day. The man is phenomenally busy!!! But he is very nice, sort of quiet, and, yes, unbelievably good looking!!! Pictures do NOT do the man justice!!! And I've seen some pretty good pictures of him! And, as Rainbow said in one interview, Joe DOES read the newspaper on the set. All the time. Cover to cover. He only puts it away when the director is about to call "Action". So I would imagine a discussion of current events with him would be both interesting and informative!

What to say about David Hewlett? Well, David was able to spend quite a lot of time with us between takes. He is adorable! Beautiful blue eyes and a great personality. He had us laughing the rest of the day! He asked us how we got to the studio—meaning, how did I win the chance to get a set visit—but Laurie answered him that we flew—and once he found out that we could take a joke and give as good as we got, we were in trouble with Mr. Hewlett!! He teased me when he found out that my computer was a pc. He and Laurie both use Macs. So I was unmercifully taunted about not using the "best" computer. When he went back on the set, David was trying to get our attention (while the cameras were rolling and he was off-camera!) by doing the "wave" and I didn't see him. Laurie did see it and bumped me to get my attention, but David was on camera by that time. But the next time we saw him outside, I got thrashed for not paying attention to him! I gave it right back by telling him that he ISN'T the center of attention all the time, which got me a truly McKay-like answer!!! By the way, it's really fun to watch David on set. You can actually see him change from David Hewlett to Rodney McKay in an instant. It's like a switch is thrown. He'll jump up and down in place and tip his head down—and when his head comes back up—David is gone and Rodney is there!

Once we found out that NOT paying attention to David on set was trouble, we began to watch him more and more. He would wave to us, or do some silly walk, or do a strong-man imitation by flexing his muscles just to watch us crack up! And we laughed (quietly) on set all afternoon!

We ate lunch before the actors came out—which is the norm for non-cast members so that the actors can get their food quickly and go to their trailers to study their lines for the next day. They eat very, very well—and often! Lunch is outside with both a variety of hot foods and cold—chicken, fish, salads, fruit, desserts—you name it! We ate in the tent that everyone else eats in and just relaxed for a while.

Speaking of the actors and the trailers they each have on site—Laurie and I had our OWN TRAILER!!! The trailers are lined up beside each other on the back side of the studio grounds. Most of the actors share a trailer—each person has one end or the other of one trailer complete with bathroom, shower, kitchenette, make-up table and whatever they want to put in them to personalize their particular home away from home. We shared the other end of Paul McGillion's trailer. Our names were on the door just like the actors' names. It was really such a surprise and made us feel right at home!

We didn't get to talk to Rachel Luttrell much during the day, but she made sure that she came over to us and told us how lovely it was to meet us and how glad she was that we were visiting. Rachel is absolutely beautiful and very tiny! She looks bigger as Teyla because she conveys such strength and leadership, but she is very petite. A very bubbly personality!!

I'll talk more about Rainbow a little later. But there are things we can't tell you, such as what he was wearing or what he looked like until the episode airs. Suffice it to say that you will be a little shocked, but Laurie and I agree that we liked the change in the character.

Jason Momoa—or Ronon Dex—is very quiet but very VERY tall! About 6'5", which, for me in particular, is like looking up at a giant as I am only 4'11"!! When Jason speaks, he has a low, smooth, baritone voice. He is actually from Iowa, he told us. I enjoyed watching Jason/Ronon interacting with the other characters that day and I think that you will all be pleasantly surprised with the addition of this character. He seemed to be very relaxed with the rest of the cast and fit right in.

BTW, both Jason and Joe ride skateboards on the lot. They use them to get from the set to their trailers and back again. We saw Joe on his 'board once during the day—riding down through the lot beside the trailers while talking on his cell phone!—but we couldn't get a picture in time. I DID get a picture of Joe's 'board sitting outside the stage door!

I have to tell you about the "food guy" on the set. This one fellow would bring snacks to the set during the day. First it was a big tray with fruit, and I imagine that he had pastries on a tray in the early morning before we got there. But in the afternoon, he brought out a wheeled cart full of all kinds of candy. David was with us when the candy cart came outside the stage and he couldn't wait to show us all the different kinds of candy on it! The one picture that Carole took of David, Laurie, Gene the Food Guy, and me is of David with two pieces of VERY sour candy sticking out of his mouth like fangs! Then he ate the candy and made the funniest face because he didn't know how sour it was! Never a dull moment with David!

I almost forgot to tell you about the chairs. We were going back into the soundstage at one point and one of the crew came up to us and told us that there was a surprise waiting for us up in the one cave "room" where the director sits. The staff had director's chairs made for us with our names printed across the back!!! And they told us that the actors would autograph the backs for us later in the day so that we could take the backs home with us!!!! We were just blown away by that wonderful gesture! I still get a warm, fuzzy feeling when I look at it! They are truly the nicest, friendliest people. (We also each got an SGA t-shirt, an SGA hat, and an SG-1/SGA comic-con DVD—all in black MGM bags!)

So I may as well tell you what it was like to get those autographs. Sometime in the afternoon, Carole managed to get Joe and David to come to the hallway outside the cave set where they had put our director's chairs. Carole gave them a silver permanent marker and first David, then Joe signed the backs. David, being David, kept teasing Joe the whole time he was signing my chair, trying to get Joe to mess up! Joe's reaction—that small, crooked smile that, to me, looked like he was thinking, "Why me?" No one is safe from the Hewlett mischief! He also tried—and, to a certain extent, succeeded—to get Joe to goof up on the autograph of a picture for me. Without telling you what it LOOKS like it says, suffice it to say that it says "Carol, great having you on set. Hope to see you again soon. Joe Flanigan". Believe me, David succeeded in making Joe goof, but it's really cute!

David's autograph for me? Well, once again, I was reminded of the Hewlett teasing! My autograph says, "Carol. Pay attention!! Wake up!! (reminding me of not seeing him doing the "wave" earlier!) Lots of Love, David Hewlett." I just KNEW that he was going to do something like that because he took pen in hand and looked at me with an evil glint in his eye! I looked at him and just said, "David? What are you going to write? David...?!" Such an imp!

Rachel wrote, "Carol, Lovely to meet you! Rachel Luttrell". She is so friendly and just a sweet person!

Then there's Rainbow! He came to find us late in the afternoon to sign the chairs and the autographs. He even took us right on the set during a break and had his picture taken with both of us and a couple of prop "guns". Sorry I can't show you that picture, but it's a spoiler and I promised!

Rainbow is friendly and easy to talk to. He spoke to us about how he felt when his character status changed on the show. He was, of course, disappointed, but that day happened to be his first day back as the "new" Ford and he was very, very glad to be back and very excited about the new direction for his character. Believe me, you WILL like it, too! When Rainbow autographed our pictures of Ford, we watched in amazement at the artistry that he demonstrated! His autograph is, well, amazing! Very artistic! And he, too, teased me about the Mac/pc thing! (Thanks, Laurie...for getting me in so much trouble for having a pc!). So...my picture of Ford has a little snippet about Macs being better! He covered every corner of the picture with either a drawing or something about our day at SGA. When he had to leave, he gave us both warm, friendly hugs and said a cheery "Goodbye!" He's wonderful, and I am so very glad that he's back for second season. I hope that they will give him even more time in future episodes.

During the day, we talked to various directors—the director of the SG-1 episode that we briefly watched, the director of the SGA ep, photography directors, high-definition directors, etc.—and everyone asked us where we were from and why we liked the show. We told them that we loved the show for the writing, the beauty of the sets, the acting, and just the care and attention to detail that marks the Stargate univerise. Again, I must stress how easy-going everyone was and how they all took time from the busy day to speak to us and make sure we were having a good time.

At one point during the afternoon, Carole asked us if there was anyone in particular that we'd like to meet that we hadn't met, yet. Immediately the name of Martin Gero popped into my head. As you probably all know, Martin is one of the staff writers for SGA. Carole pulled out her cell phone and, about 20 minutes later, we were in the hallway leading to the offices of the writers and producers of Stargate. As we came through the doorway into the hall, we saw a picture on the wall that stopped us dead in our tracks and had us laughing out loud. The picture, about 3' x 3', is a montage of head shots of just about everyone on staff or crew of SG-1—also some pets and some baby pictures. And every one of the people or pets has a golden jaffa symbol like Teal'c's on their forehead! Every single person. Every single baby. Every single dog. The title of the picture, in large letters at the top, is: I WAS A TEEN-AGE GOA'ULD. We kept looking at it and the longer we looked, the more we laughed! And right at the center of the top of the montage is a picture of Chris Judge as Teal'c with that raised eyebrow look of his that says "I'm the only one who's allowed to look like this!"

On another wall are pictures of the entire cast and crew for every single season of both SG-1 and SGA. It's like a big family!

Down the hall we went and into an office and there was Martin Gero! He welcomed us very warmly and asked us to sit down. He asked us how we ended up on the set for the day and then why we like the show so much. He also asked us if there were any episodes that we didn't like and we were very honest with him about what we didn't like. He was genuinely interested in our opinions and listened to what we had to say. He told us that he was pleased to know that people take such an interest in the show. If you have the DVD of Rising and watch the special features section, you will see Martin Gero showing you around the set. He's very, very funny! Delightful to talk to!

So, by this time, it was almost time for them to wrap for the day. We were only supposed to be on set for 6 hours—from 10 to 4—but they went over time to get the scenes finished so we stayed until they wrapped—around 6. We saw David coming out of his trailer—he kind of sheepishly admitted that he'd fallen asleep for a couple of minutes! As he walked away towards the set, I remember thinking what a long day they put in and how tired they must get—all of them, both cast and crew. They work very, very hard to bring us that hour-long show every Friday night!

But we STILL didn't have a picture with Joe Flanigan, and Carole knew that we both wanted to get that picture! So she worked some magic and took us back to the trailers and we waited to see if we could catch Joe before he left for the day. Sure enough, Joe came out of his trailer—back in his street clothes—and we finally got the long-awaited picture. We did get to talk to Joe for just a minute, and he was very curious about where exactly we were from. And remember how I said that David Hewlett is an imp? Well, just as we were getting ready to have our pictures taken with Joe, here comes David, also in his street clothes, looking at the three of us (myself, Joe, and Laurie) saying, "Look pretty! Look pretty!" and making "kissy" noises. Then he said, "I'm talking to Joe." He then moved behind us and I remember saying, "David? What are you doing? David?!!" Well, when you look at my picture with Joe, you will see me on the left, then Joe, then Laurie on the right—but between Laurie's head and Joe's head is a shadowy Hewlett head with his lips caught in a "kissy" pose! It was a great picture! Joe had his arms around Laurie's and my shoulders, and we had our arms around his waist. Heaven. Pure Heaven.

The day was over. All too soon. But it is a day that I will remember for the rest of my life. A once-in-a-lifetime event. We said our goodbyes to Joe, David, and Carole and walked off the lot towards the studio gate. As we were leaving, Rachel came past in her car and waved to us and Jason came past in his Jeep, paused, and told us how glad he was to have met us. Yep, a truly wonderful day!

Now I have to go and write a LOT of thank-you's!

Hope you enjoyed! I sure did!!

Carol

Pictures can be found at: (The pics are totally out of order, but I did my best! Hope you like them!)

http://http://flickr.com/photos/10632767@N06/