DVD Comm: New Order, Part II
We come to The Chronicles Part VIII: New Order, Part 2. Andy Mikita and Gary Jones resume the commentary from Part 1. There are a few more nuggets buried in the part 2 commentary than in that of part 1.
Silence through the previouslies. With the start of the teaser, AM comments on the stern look on Camulus’s face. GJ theorizes that it’s because his arm his hurting. (Camulus is wearing an armband that appears to be quiet snug.)
Silence through the opening theme. Then commentary abruptly picks up again. AM and GJ discuss the similarity of each of the Asgards, AM jokes that he had suggested that they put eyebrows or a fu manchu on the second Asgard, but no one went for it.
AM points out Barclay Hope (Pendergast) and Chelah Horsdal (Comm Officer) on the Prometheus. He asks GJ to guess who her father is. He doesn’t know. It turns out that she’s the daughter of a well-known Canadian folksinger: Valdy Horsdal.
Neither AM nor GJ think much of the name Lionel Pendergast. They spend some time laughing about that.
AM and GJ have conversation about what’s happening in the boardroom that’s hard to follow, not really germane, and nearly impossible to reproduce.
[Daniel is beamed about the Daniel Jackson]. GJ complains about people being beamed with their hands in their pockets. AM points out the metal bar in Thor’s back. [Even with AM’s head’s up, I still can’t see what he’s referring to. Apparently I have weak observation skills.] GJ didn’t see it either. AM says that if we go back and pause, we’d see the bar holding Thor upright.
Jack is beamed aboard. AM: “Finally, Richard Dean Anderson shows up.”
GJ: Now who’s that guy?
AM: I don’t know. You know what, we had a photo double for him. [he doesn’t remember the double’s name]
Talk about how little time they had with RDA.
They offer appreciation for Sam’s hair extensions and night attire. [Sam gets dressed and goes outside.] AM tells us that she’s wearing his coat. And the dog that she pets actually belongs to the farm that they used for the location shoot.
GJ comments again on Sam’s hair. AM asks if he likes it. He thinks it’s okay. AM says it was controversial, but doesn’t say why. They both agree that she looks great with short hair.
AM tells us that this scene was their first day shooting exterior with High Definition. He says it was a beautiful day with the natural lighting and scenery, and High Def couldn’t handle it. They had to put screens up to create the sort of lighting that works best for HD. It didn’t leave AM with the best feeling about the technology.
AM refers to the look that Sam gives going out of her scene as one of her stock looks. The scene shifts to the Daniel Jackson and AM goes on to say that Chris Judge is the one who has a whole list of stock looks.
AM points out that the Thor in this scene is CG. GJ explains what CG is. (computer generated) AM says that everybody knows that by now. GJ protests that he’s explaining for some of the fans that don’t get out. (Which is a nice gesture.) AM: “No. Our fans. Incredibly knowledgeable. They know what CG is. Don’t you?” [We do. Thank you, Andy. :)]
AM goes on to explain that the difficulty with CG is getting everybody to look at the same place. “Okay imagine this little guy walking along...” He also reiterates that they didn’t have RDA for these scenes--still the photo double--so part of designing the scene is setting it up in a way that doesn’t really show him until it’s time for his shot.
Scene between Yu’s First Prime and Weir. AM compliments Kevin [Ohtsji] as an actor. GJ says again that the glyph that the First Prime is wearing looks like a particular company logo.
Back to the Daniel Jackson and the topic of RDA’s availability. AM explains that when they had him, all of the shots that they did involved him. Then later they went back to do the others. GJ: “So it was like a day of Rick.” AM: “And then another day and a half afterwards finishing all of these scenes without Rick.”
GJ proceeds to make a pun on the upcoming episode Reckoning using “rickoning.” It’s a huge reach. And, even as one who loves puns and word play, I’m sorry to say it doesn’t work.
Jack appears in hologram form. GJ mentions that “Rick’s got the good hair.” AM agrees that he’s got great hair. “At least he’s got hair.” [heh. And also, more support for the theory in some circles that I frequent that “it’s all about the Hair.”]
AM asks GJ if he’s seen this episode yet. GJ: “No.” AM wonders if he likes it so far. He does. He talks about remembering being in some scenes or watching some, but this is the first time he’s seen the whole thing. They talk about the realities of being called in early in the morning for work and then spending much of the day sitting around waiting to be used. AM is apologetic. GJ is philosophical. He goes on to say that it’s a nice place to be at work: good crew, good people, always someone to talk to. They agree that it’s a nice place to be. [Aw, I always think it’s nice how the consensus seems to be that it’s a good environment there. (I’ve had enough jobs--not in the industry, of course--to know that you can’t take something like that for granted.)]
Scene of Sam finishing her breakfast with “Pete.” They joke some about how little she manages to eat on screen.
“Pete” loses his temper. AM and GJ joke about typical DeLuise behavior.
Back on the Daniel Jackson, Thor revives O’Neill. There’s a beam of red light that passes up and down O’Neill’s face. AM says that they forgot to order the “head scanning device” for that day of filming so they wound up using Rick Dean (gaffer) on a ladder shining a light down to create the effect. It was then enhanced by vis effects.
AM describes the anti-Replicator weapon as a super soaker. He goes on to say that it’s really cool. The model shop built in air cannons and a trigger, it’s piston driven. AM told the guys that RDA would be the one using it: “He’s going to go ‘oh I want to play with it,’ he’s going to be running around the set.” After a brief side journey with GJ, AM gets back to his original topic to say that they “had to make it a Rick friendly prop. They knew that he was going to play with it and he’d probably break it within the first five minutes.” [heh]
AM brings up that the ship set came from Blade 3. He says that they had to sign off on making sure that it didn’t look anything like the set that was used for Blade. It was a matter of removing some things that they didn’t need and then just redressing the set.
Back at the “farm,” AM points out the weather vane that a set dresser put in the background. AM and GJ kick that around for awhile.
The scene shifts to Sam imprisoned within Replicator blocks. AM and GJ agree on the coolness of the look. AM explains that AT stood there while they built replicator pieces around her.
Visual of the anti-Replicator weapon. AM comments that the cost of building it was around $150,000.00. Lots of (union) man hours to put together. “Big money.”
AM asks GJ if he can tell the difference between the two Asgard. GJ tells him he can’t.
An inactive Replicator is beamed aboard Thor’s ship. AM identifies him as James Bamford, Stunt Coordinator for Atlantis. GJ MST3K’s over the action for awhile.
AM compliments the women who create the playback that appears on the show. “They’re so good. And there’s tons of it. Okay it needs to be ready at 3:00, okay?”
GJ: Oh see that’s the stuff...it’s great when you bring that up because that’s the stuff that people absolutely take for granted.
AM: And they work so hard.
The inactive Replicator activates and aggressions begin. GJ asks if it was CJ who was thrown to the ground. AM tells us that it was his stunt double. He goes on to explain that it was a wire stunt. They had him wired up and other members of the stunt team gave him a well-timed yank to help create a superpower sort of effect for the Replicator. He adds that it takes several hours to set something like that up.
They talk a little bit about the time strictures of a television production balanced against a need for quality, and the importance of having a good crew in order to pull it off. GJ talks about observing the way directors and crew have a shorthand with each other where they “get” what’s needed and work together well. AM hands out more crew compliments, talking about how they have a knack for making things look better even than what he envisions. [Nice.]
Onscreen Teal’c, Daniel, and Jack are taking it to the Replicators. AM tells us that Jack’s “who’s your daddy?” line was an RDA improv. It makes both of them crack up. AM then adds: “We were having a good day. When we’re having a good day, and he’s having fun, then he comes up with great stuff like that. It was a lot of fun this day.”
AM says that some might notice that the weapon that Jack built was green when it was on the ship and blue now that they’re on the ground. He says that’s just because Jim Menard (director of photography) decided he wanted to use a green light to light it when they were on the ship.
GJ voices some trepidation about the sartorial choices of Daniel wearing a black shirt (and gear) with green pants. He also comments that the watches they wear are huge in real life. “They’re like frisbees with straps.”
AM mentions that the scene where all the Replicators bug out took awhile to figure out. They had some difficulty getting the crane to move the way they wanted because of all the trees.
AM tells us that Image Engine is the company that did the special effects and the Replicators.
AM says that the scene where Sam is calling for “Fifth” was originally written for inside. But it was a beautiful day, so everyone wanted to do it outside. He also mentions that visual effects painted out the power lines that were going to the house. AM had had a moment of “oh no” about the power lines, and it was a simple thing to get rid of them in post. GJ teases him a little: “You’re directing a show which tons of visual effects and you freak out over some power lines. What are we gonna do?!” [hee!]
AM: Well you’re always worried that ‘oh my God, we’re going to go over budget. Again.’” [hee!]
GJ: How often does the show go over budget?
AM: Every day.
GJ: Is that a serious answer? Are you serious?
AM: No we don’t go over budget every day. We’re all very conscientious. We’re all budget conscious. All the meetings, before you actually start shooting, the preproduction period. For seven days of shooting, there’s essentially seven days of preproduction--he interjects some admiration for the spidery Replicator ship [I think it’s cool too]--for those seven days you’re having departmental meetings with the props department, visual playback, costumes, with everybody. And the big thing is how much is it going to cost and how long is it going to take to do it.
GJ: So a lot of people don’t know that starting with a script or a story idea, the writers essentially have to write a budget-friendly show. Obviously it’s a show with a large budget that has room for visual effects which does cost, but they can’t go mental...
AM: For sure. And from their perspective they have do know....
GJ: Right. So if they’ve written a show where they come up a story idea that’s a great story idea, but you go you know we can’t do this because we can’t afford it, they have to backtrack then and adjust their story.
AM: Right. Okay, so we’re going to spend double amount that we would usually spend for New Order because it’s the season opener, it’s the two hour to start the year off. So the next two shows will make up the difference.
GJ: They’ll be bottle shows.
AM: Yeah, or at least we just won’t have as many effects [in order] to amortize through the course of the season. That’s the case with sets as well.
GJ notices again the size of the watch that O’Neill is wearing. They debate whether RDA gets to keep it or not. No conclusive answer is reached. Although GJ does ask “who’s going to take it off Rick’s hand?” [hee!]
AM tells us the scene where they’re searching for Sam was shot in about five minutes. They had to rush because the sun was going down and they were losing the light.
Establishing shot of Cheyenne Mountain. AM tells us that he got an email from the Brigadier General in charge of Cheyenne Mountain. They actually wanted RDA, and were using AM as the contact point.
Scene between O’Neill and Weir. AM and GJ agree that TH looks good in brown. AM confesses that he sometimes gets nervous about shooting the pivotal scenes--”what if I screw it up?” Then he says he’s kidding. He also tells us that RDA and TH met for the first time when doing the scene.
AM tells us that he thinks the “pros and cons” scene with SG-1 was also shot quickly--in about fifteen minutes. He then adds that most of it seems fast. “Unless you’re Peter DeLuise. Peter somehow gets his days done at 5:00 in the afternoon and gets such great stuff and just goofs around for the next two hours.”
GJ: Yeah but you’re a fast worker.
AM: Not as fast as he is. He’s lightning fast. Seriously. I’ll be on one stage shooting second unit. I’ve got a day half as big as his. I’ll hear on the walkie-talkie ‘main unit’s wrapped.’ What? They were shooting like seventeen pages today. Peter must be directing. Yeah, Peter’s directing, it’s 5:00.
They go on to talk about how in television a regular production day is twelve hours. 7:00 am, break at 1:00 for a half hour lunch, and then back to it until 7:30.
Ceremony of Weir stepping down and O’Neill stepping up. Walter appears onscreen. AM wants to know why he was looking down. They argue for awhile about whether he was looking down and than about why he was looking down.
There’s some discussion that there was originally more, and some stuff with O’Neill and Walter that RDA wanted. But then they cut around it because the scene was supposed to be about Sam’s promotion.
We see the cool Replicator ship again. RepliCarter emerges from within the blocks covered in goo. AM says that it was freezing. It was cool [and then something to do with special effects that I can’t make out out] and the goo and gel--
GJ: She was okay about that?
AM: Yeah, but no.
GJ: Yeah.
AM: It was done second unit, it was a little different--
GJ: It was just you.
AM: Yeah there were like three people on the stage and that’s it.
AM: The shot didn’t work exactly as I wanted it to. I wanted to go with his hand as he reached over and I always wanted to keep her in the shot, but we physically couldn’t do it.
Credits roll and they discuss whether and where to get some lunch. And we are out.
Silence through the previouslies. With the start of the teaser, AM comments on the stern look on Camulus’s face. GJ theorizes that it’s because his arm his hurting. (Camulus is wearing an armband that appears to be quiet snug.)
Silence through the opening theme. Then commentary abruptly picks up again. AM and GJ discuss the similarity of each of the Asgards, AM jokes that he had suggested that they put eyebrows or a fu manchu on the second Asgard, but no one went for it.
AM points out Barclay Hope (Pendergast) and Chelah Horsdal (Comm Officer) on the Prometheus. He asks GJ to guess who her father is. He doesn’t know. It turns out that she’s the daughter of a well-known Canadian folksinger: Valdy Horsdal.
Neither AM nor GJ think much of the name Lionel Pendergast. They spend some time laughing about that.
AM and GJ have conversation about what’s happening in the boardroom that’s hard to follow, not really germane, and nearly impossible to reproduce.
[Daniel is beamed about the Daniel Jackson]. GJ complains about people being beamed with their hands in their pockets. AM points out the metal bar in Thor’s back. [Even with AM’s head’s up, I still can’t see what he’s referring to. Apparently I have weak observation skills.] GJ didn’t see it either. AM says that if we go back and pause, we’d see the bar holding Thor upright.
Jack is beamed aboard. AM: “Finally, Richard Dean Anderson shows up.”
GJ: Now who’s that guy?
AM: I don’t know. You know what, we had a photo double for him. [he doesn’t remember the double’s name]
Talk about how little time they had with RDA.
They offer appreciation for Sam’s hair extensions and night attire. [Sam gets dressed and goes outside.] AM tells us that she’s wearing his coat. And the dog that she pets actually belongs to the farm that they used for the location shoot.
GJ comments again on Sam’s hair. AM asks if he likes it. He thinks it’s okay. AM says it was controversial, but doesn’t say why. They both agree that she looks great with short hair.
AM tells us that this scene was their first day shooting exterior with High Definition. He says it was a beautiful day with the natural lighting and scenery, and High Def couldn’t handle it. They had to put screens up to create the sort of lighting that works best for HD. It didn’t leave AM with the best feeling about the technology.
AM refers to the look that Sam gives going out of her scene as one of her stock looks. The scene shifts to the Daniel Jackson and AM goes on to say that Chris Judge is the one who has a whole list of stock looks.
AM points out that the Thor in this scene is CG. GJ explains what CG is. (computer generated) AM says that everybody knows that by now. GJ protests that he’s explaining for some of the fans that don’t get out. (Which is a nice gesture.) AM: “No. Our fans. Incredibly knowledgeable. They know what CG is. Don’t you?” [We do. Thank you, Andy. :)]
AM goes on to explain that the difficulty with CG is getting everybody to look at the same place. “Okay imagine this little guy walking along...” He also reiterates that they didn’t have RDA for these scenes--still the photo double--so part of designing the scene is setting it up in a way that doesn’t really show him until it’s time for his shot.
Scene between Yu’s First Prime and Weir. AM compliments Kevin [Ohtsji] as an actor. GJ says again that the glyph that the First Prime is wearing looks like a particular company logo.
Back to the Daniel Jackson and the topic of RDA’s availability. AM explains that when they had him, all of the shots that they did involved him. Then later they went back to do the others. GJ: “So it was like a day of Rick.” AM: “And then another day and a half afterwards finishing all of these scenes without Rick.”
GJ proceeds to make a pun on the upcoming episode Reckoning using “rickoning.” It’s a huge reach. And, even as one who loves puns and word play, I’m sorry to say it doesn’t work.
Jack appears in hologram form. GJ mentions that “Rick’s got the good hair.” AM agrees that he’s got great hair. “At least he’s got hair.” [heh. And also, more support for the theory in some circles that I frequent that “it’s all about the Hair.”]
AM asks GJ if he’s seen this episode yet. GJ: “No.” AM wonders if he likes it so far. He does. He talks about remembering being in some scenes or watching some, but this is the first time he’s seen the whole thing. They talk about the realities of being called in early in the morning for work and then spending much of the day sitting around waiting to be used. AM is apologetic. GJ is philosophical. He goes on to say that it’s a nice place to be at work: good crew, good people, always someone to talk to. They agree that it’s a nice place to be. [Aw, I always think it’s nice how the consensus seems to be that it’s a good environment there. (I’ve had enough jobs--not in the industry, of course--to know that you can’t take something like that for granted.)]
Scene of Sam finishing her breakfast with “Pete.” They joke some about how little she manages to eat on screen.
“Pete” loses his temper. AM and GJ joke about typical DeLuise behavior.
Back on the Daniel Jackson, Thor revives O’Neill. There’s a beam of red light that passes up and down O’Neill’s face. AM says that they forgot to order the “head scanning device” for that day of filming so they wound up using Rick Dean (gaffer) on a ladder shining a light down to create the effect. It was then enhanced by vis effects.
AM describes the anti-Replicator weapon as a super soaker. He goes on to say that it’s really cool. The model shop built in air cannons and a trigger, it’s piston driven. AM told the guys that RDA would be the one using it: “He’s going to go ‘oh I want to play with it,’ he’s going to be running around the set.” After a brief side journey with GJ, AM gets back to his original topic to say that they “had to make it a Rick friendly prop. They knew that he was going to play with it and he’d probably break it within the first five minutes.” [heh]
AM brings up that the ship set came from Blade 3. He says that they had to sign off on making sure that it didn’t look anything like the set that was used for Blade. It was a matter of removing some things that they didn’t need and then just redressing the set.
Back at the “farm,” AM points out the weather vane that a set dresser put in the background. AM and GJ kick that around for awhile.
The scene shifts to Sam imprisoned within Replicator blocks. AM and GJ agree on the coolness of the look. AM explains that AT stood there while they built replicator pieces around her.
Visual of the anti-Replicator weapon. AM comments that the cost of building it was around $150,000.00. Lots of (union) man hours to put together. “Big money.”
AM asks GJ if he can tell the difference between the two Asgard. GJ tells him he can’t.
An inactive Replicator is beamed aboard Thor’s ship. AM identifies him as James Bamford, Stunt Coordinator for Atlantis. GJ MST3K’s over the action for awhile.
AM compliments the women who create the playback that appears on the show. “They’re so good. And there’s tons of it. Okay it needs to be ready at 3:00, okay?”
GJ: Oh see that’s the stuff...it’s great when you bring that up because that’s the stuff that people absolutely take for granted.
AM: And they work so hard.
The inactive Replicator activates and aggressions begin. GJ asks if it was CJ who was thrown to the ground. AM tells us that it was his stunt double. He goes on to explain that it was a wire stunt. They had him wired up and other members of the stunt team gave him a well-timed yank to help create a superpower sort of effect for the Replicator. He adds that it takes several hours to set something like that up.
They talk a little bit about the time strictures of a television production balanced against a need for quality, and the importance of having a good crew in order to pull it off. GJ talks about observing the way directors and crew have a shorthand with each other where they “get” what’s needed and work together well. AM hands out more crew compliments, talking about how they have a knack for making things look better even than what he envisions. [Nice.]
Onscreen Teal’c, Daniel, and Jack are taking it to the Replicators. AM tells us that Jack’s “who’s your daddy?” line was an RDA improv. It makes both of them crack up. AM then adds: “We were having a good day. When we’re having a good day, and he’s having fun, then he comes up with great stuff like that. It was a lot of fun this day.”
AM says that some might notice that the weapon that Jack built was green when it was on the ship and blue now that they’re on the ground. He says that’s just because Jim Menard (director of photography) decided he wanted to use a green light to light it when they were on the ship.
GJ voices some trepidation about the sartorial choices of Daniel wearing a black shirt (and gear) with green pants. He also comments that the watches they wear are huge in real life. “They’re like frisbees with straps.”
AM mentions that the scene where all the Replicators bug out took awhile to figure out. They had some difficulty getting the crane to move the way they wanted because of all the trees.
AM tells us that Image Engine is the company that did the special effects and the Replicators.
AM says that the scene where Sam is calling for “Fifth” was originally written for inside. But it was a beautiful day, so everyone wanted to do it outside. He also mentions that visual effects painted out the power lines that were going to the house. AM had had a moment of “oh no” about the power lines, and it was a simple thing to get rid of them in post. GJ teases him a little: “You’re directing a show which tons of visual effects and you freak out over some power lines. What are we gonna do?!” [hee!]
AM: Well you’re always worried that ‘oh my God, we’re going to go over budget. Again.’” [hee!]
GJ: How often does the show go over budget?
AM: Every day.
GJ: Is that a serious answer? Are you serious?
AM: No we don’t go over budget every day. We’re all very conscientious. We’re all budget conscious. All the meetings, before you actually start shooting, the preproduction period. For seven days of shooting, there’s essentially seven days of preproduction--he interjects some admiration for the spidery Replicator ship [I think it’s cool too]--for those seven days you’re having departmental meetings with the props department, visual playback, costumes, with everybody. And the big thing is how much is it going to cost and how long is it going to take to do it.
GJ: So a lot of people don’t know that starting with a script or a story idea, the writers essentially have to write a budget-friendly show. Obviously it’s a show with a large budget that has room for visual effects which does cost, but they can’t go mental...
AM: For sure. And from their perspective they have do know....
GJ: Right. So if they’ve written a show where they come up a story idea that’s a great story idea, but you go you know we can’t do this because we can’t afford it, they have to backtrack then and adjust their story.
AM: Right. Okay, so we’re going to spend double amount that we would usually spend for New Order because it’s the season opener, it’s the two hour to start the year off. So the next two shows will make up the difference.
GJ: They’ll be bottle shows.
AM: Yeah, or at least we just won’t have as many effects [in order] to amortize through the course of the season. That’s the case with sets as well.
GJ notices again the size of the watch that O’Neill is wearing. They debate whether RDA gets to keep it or not. No conclusive answer is reached. Although GJ does ask “who’s going to take it off Rick’s hand?” [hee!]
AM tells us the scene where they’re searching for Sam was shot in about five minutes. They had to rush because the sun was going down and they were losing the light.
Establishing shot of Cheyenne Mountain. AM tells us that he got an email from the Brigadier General in charge of Cheyenne Mountain. They actually wanted RDA, and were using AM as the contact point.
Scene between O’Neill and Weir. AM and GJ agree that TH looks good in brown. AM confesses that he sometimes gets nervous about shooting the pivotal scenes--”what if I screw it up?” Then he says he’s kidding. He also tells us that RDA and TH met for the first time when doing the scene.
AM tells us that he thinks the “pros and cons” scene with SG-1 was also shot quickly--in about fifteen minutes. He then adds that most of it seems fast. “Unless you’re Peter DeLuise. Peter somehow gets his days done at 5:00 in the afternoon and gets such great stuff and just goofs around for the next two hours.”
GJ: Yeah but you’re a fast worker.
AM: Not as fast as he is. He’s lightning fast. Seriously. I’ll be on one stage shooting second unit. I’ve got a day half as big as his. I’ll hear on the walkie-talkie ‘main unit’s wrapped.’ What? They were shooting like seventeen pages today. Peter must be directing. Yeah, Peter’s directing, it’s 5:00.
They go on to talk about how in television a regular production day is twelve hours. 7:00 am, break at 1:00 for a half hour lunch, and then back to it until 7:30.
Ceremony of Weir stepping down and O’Neill stepping up. Walter appears onscreen. AM wants to know why he was looking down. They argue for awhile about whether he was looking down and than about why he was looking down.
There’s some discussion that there was originally more, and some stuff with O’Neill and Walter that RDA wanted. But then they cut around it because the scene was supposed to be about Sam’s promotion.
We see the cool Replicator ship again. RepliCarter emerges from within the blocks covered in goo. AM says that it was freezing. It was cool [and then something to do with special effects that I can’t make out out] and the goo and gel--
GJ: She was okay about that?
AM: Yeah, but no.
GJ: Yeah.
AM: It was done second unit, it was a little different--
GJ: It was just you.
AM: Yeah there were like three people on the stage and that’s it.
AM: The shot didn’t work exactly as I wanted it to. I wanted to go with his hand as he reached over and I always wanted to keep her in the shot, but we physically couldn’t do it.
Credits roll and they discuss whether and where to get some lunch. And we are out.