The Magicians, week 4.

Looking towards downtown from Granville Island, one last little respite on the week-end before heading back to work on "the Magicians".
 

walking on the seawall of False creek, random flower shot.

and finish the week-end off watching the sunset at Spanish Banks.

and then back to make believe land, this is one of the sets at our studio that will act as the residence of one of the actors. I can't show or say much right now, the show will not air until next year.

speaking of make believe, this curtain is behind the set, and from a distance will look like a city back drop outside of the set.

later in the week I was busy heading out to the airport to pick up actors that are flying in for roles on our show. The first order of business is to stage at the "taxi stand" close to the airport. I then call a central dispatch and they assign me a  parking stall close to the arrival terminal to pick up my cast.

Today, the coveted number 1 spot, literally right ouside the arrivals door.

back in the smoking hot Okanagan, my brother-in-law sent me this picture of his chance encounter with this rattlesnake out in the bush in the area where he was working.

waiting for cast, I can see a diffrent kind of sunset, this time my view was at the back of a shuttle van.

as i have said before, once in awhile boredom sets in, this was a pic of my thumb on top of one of the cast van interior lights.

The outside of one of the sets inside the studio.

But it was not being used today, so the sheets came out to keep the dust off of everything.

In another area of the stage, there is the mighty "green screen". The actors do their magic, then the editors do theirs, making the back drop anywhere and anything.
It does not have to be green. The technique can be done using any color, even colors which are outside of the spectrum of human vision (as long as you develop a camera that can pick it up). Green is used often because it's easiest for most modern cameras to pick up, giving the editor the cleanest possible image. It's also a less common clothing color, meaning it's less likely to cause any embarrassing disappearing outfits. Blue was once common, but it's common in wardrobes and is a common eye color. Still, you can avoid this, and it's a good color to try because it shouldn't interfere with skin color. White is a bad color because it's common in wardrobes and eyes. Same for black, only add to that hair. Both of these play a strong role in lighting and shadowing. Avoid these. Red is a bad color because it's seen in your lips and mouth and your skin tone. To select a good color, pick one that's not going to be found on anything else in the scene. Almost neon colors work well because they're bright and strong. For materials, anything matte and flat is good. Shine, reflections, and heavy texture is bad. How does it work? With digital processing, it gives the editor a solid background that's easily removed by software. Speaking of which, most consumer video software with chromakey capability (Adobe Premiere for example) will allow you an option to select any color to be removed

The sun sets on the first three episodes, and 19 days of shooting for "the Magicians"

this week-end was one of the worst wind storms in the lower mainland. My place had no power for over 24 hours, and this tree was laying across my nomal route home.

The Magicians, Week 3

Rogers Arena, home of the Vancouver Canucks. Hockey season will soon be upon us, but in the meantime, we'll just hang out in the parking lot across the street. Our circus is here for two days of filming for season one of "the Magicians"

We were filming at the old Main Street metals fabricating shop on Main St. by the train/bus station.

Honestly, this was in a pretty scruffy area of town in the east end. Lots of "interesting characters" roaming around.

And the day stretched into night.

I must admit when I am sitting waiting for cast to drive, I can get a little bored.

Back at circus waiting for cast, my view of the wardrobe trailer and beyond

The place to be on this hot, hot day was in the shade under the Georgia Viaduct.

Liking the  old sign action on the side of the Ivanhoe pub, which was right beside where we were shooting.

Hard to tell, but they are filming a scene outside, three actors confronting each other outside  in an alley scene.

A blurry shot of one of the sets inside Main Street Metals.

The building is now vacant, lots of decrepit halls and rooms.

A hazy view looking out onto Main Street.

Down in the basement, the video village, where the director, producers and others watch the filming on a video monitor. Also, a place for the actors to hang out when they are not on camera.

Upstairs, one of  the scenes involved a convenience store. All of this was created just for a few scenes.

Later in the week we moved to the old Safeway distrubution center in New Westminster. Some of the scenes today were in this hallway. Two days of shooting here.

Once again the crews worked their magic creating a lab aset including this specimen freezer.

Outside, the circus is a beehive of activity.

Hey this is looking familiar. After three weeks on the road, we were finally heading to our home studio on Marine Drive and Manitoba St. in the southeast end of Vancouver. Here I am cruising down Cambie towards the studio.

This will be one of the main sets for the show, a kind of frat house for the university the Magicians are going to. The detail is amazing, but I am limited to what I can photograph.

Outside the building, the circus is set up for the next 6 days. So far so good.

the Magicians, week two, episodes 101, 102, & 103

Week two on the filming of the new "the Magicians t.v. series". As I waited for one of the exec's downtown, I saw this cruise ship. Hey, wait for me!

The convention centre downtown Vancouver, what a beautiful morning.

Meanwhile, back in the real world...........

This was a Disney cruise ship, the air horn even blasted "when you wish upon a star, jeez!"

It was nice to have a little walk around by Coal Harbour before show time.

Our filming this week was at the University of British Columbia (UBC). I had a bit of time to explore, it was amazing how many gardens, trails, sculptures and shrines are around the campus.

When they are filming, we are not allowed to take pics of the actors. This was a real cool stunt where the stunt man was yanked across the yard by a cable. This is the closest I could get, the stunt man is just over the blue rail.

After dropping of the exec. downtown, I was treated to a stunning sunset on my way back to UBC.

Downtown waiting for an actor at the Fairmont Pacific Rim, looking at this fancy glass tree street lights.

Standing by at UBC, this sign certainly caught my attention. (I looked it up, now I know)

round and round we go, I went between UBC and downtown at least 20 times this week.

Our sets were actually the UBC grounds themselves.

Looking North from the UBC rose gardens during the day..........

and at night, as we transitioned into night shooting.

meanwhile back at the studio, preparations continue for filming the inside stuff in approx. one week.

Back on the UBC grounds night shoots, the lights are everywhere

This crazy building is apparently a storage facility for the books at the UBC library. There are rows and rows and rows, it was massive.

by the third day of night filming, I was starting to see things in the dark. (is that the Chan Centre, or am I hallucinating?)

They call it "Fraturday", when Friday stretches well into Saturday. The street lights were getting as blurry as my eyes, at the 4 a.m. hour rolled around, all good made it home in time for breakfast!