When it was time to move to the next location, Phil offered to let us ride in his car rather than wait for an empty van. He told us that he has recently learned he has some family roots which go back to ancient Scotland and Kathi let him know how he can research his genealogy on-line (since Phil is on-line somewhere). He was delighted to learn that he could do that.

At each new location, it took a few minutes to figure out where to stand so we'll be out of the way, but at least everyone is just as confused about this as we are. Stand-ins, make-up and the script coordinator kept moving their stools as the cameramen and grips set up more equipment.

Stevey looked a little lost sitting on a low fence while all the setting up was going on, so I went up to him and asked him for his autograph. It was the first one he has ever signed and he was the only person I asked, so it was kind of special for both of us. ;j His mom thanked me for the kind gesture. I learned that it wasn't easy to find an outfit for him. He was to come in his own clothes, but his mom had to scramble to find the right color shirt without words. Having a boy, myself, I know how tough that can be. :)

Duncan's T-Bird was already there, but this was driven away shortly after our arrival only to return a few minutes later fresh and clean. That seemed quite an accomplishment, so I went up to the driver (the same one who drove us out in the morning) to express my amazement. I must have said the right thing 'cos Spike loosened up and demonstrated how the steering wheel shifts side to side. Spike is in charge of anything on wheels - you name it and he drives it to where it needs to be. He pointed out where a camera can mount on the front of the car and explained how the convertible top folds back into the trunk.

Well, it just so happened that Adrian decided that the top *should* go down, so we were all treated to the automatic display. The truck lid opens and stands straight up from the *back* of the car, then the top comes up and folds itself into the trunk. The lid then recloses. There is no *way* that Duncan can be hiding the bodies in there. ;j

For the action requiring the car, the car was given it's own "mark". Adrian needed to come zooming up the driveway, screech to a halt and hop out of the car. Crew members offered different strategies for him to estimate where he was to stop but it was Adrian, himself, who picked out a visual clue. Sure enough, he zoomed up, did his scene, and when Mario yelled "cut" he went back to look and was smack dab on his mark. Seeing Adrian as a precise historian and driver in one day made me think that there is nothing this man can't do. :)

Both Adrian and Mario lent a hand with getting the dogs to act a certain way on the set, but to say any more would be a spoiler. Just remind me after the episode airs to fill in the blanks.

Even *more* on the dogs, but this concerns what Mario and Adrian did with them at the kennel location:

Right when Kanis gives his name to Ms. Meach - "Kanis. Peter Kanis." - you can see a few of the *real* kennel dogs in the background. What you can't see is Mario standing back there raising a ruckus to get those dogs to bark so he could have some authentic barking sounds in the soundtrack.

When Duncan admires Lucille in the dog pen, there was some discussion about how to get the dog to stay at the front, as she was more interested in sniffing out the whole enclosure. Adrian got the idea of keeping some doggie treats in his jacket pocket. Between takes, he would slip a treat to the dog. *During* each take, his hand still smelled yummy enough to keep the dog right up at the fence.

Kathi asked David (Cyr, pictured), the Sound Mixer, if the different color highlighters on his script indicated the different microphones. He said "Exactly!" and launched into a full discourse of what he does. [Can you tell, yet, that *all* of the crew *loved* talking to us about what they do? ;j] The reduced pages of the script are taped up in front of him and he color codes the dialogue. That way, if a mike suddenly goes silent in mid-sentence, he can see right there if the script calls for a pause or if, indeed, something is wrong with the mike.

All David is concerned about recording is the dialogue - and even that can be hard to get with the hidden mikes the actors wear under their shirts. Leather coats are one of the worst kinds of costumes from a Sound Mixer's point of view what with all the swishing and creaking sounds they make. Then there are times when the actor's body (with the mike) might be leaning against something which blocks the mike while his voice goes out over the top of the blocking object and is totally lost. [Trust me, this makes sense with a certain scene. Let's see *you* try to describe the tellable stuff without giving away the non-tellable stuff. ;j]

What I couldn't say in detail about what David, the Sound Mixer, told us: It had to do with the part where Kanis is seen leaning over the huge cross at his meeting with Duncan at the cemetery. Actually, Kanis' line got cut right there, but Justin had said, "MacLeod. Or is it *Professor* MacLeod, now?" David noted that the mike didn't pick that up at all.

Thanks to David, I finally learned what a Foley Artist is! He's the one who adds all the other sounds in post-production; all the footsteps, slaps, punches, etc, that David is not set up to record and which would interfere with the dialogue if he *did* record them.

On the way back to the circus for lunch, I asked Tish about those reduced-sized (about 5x7 inches) scripts that everyone had. She said that they are called "sides" - a word dating back to Shakespeare's time when an actor was basically handed only their "side" with just a few words from the other side given as their cue. These sides, however, include all the dialog for just that day in the order they will be filmed. On the front, they include a reduced version of the call sheet which we got to see Friday night. Since the call sheet lists all the vital details for the day, these sides contain everything a cast or crew member needs to know in one handy little package.

The last location for the day was used for both an outdoor scene as well as an inside one. While we could stand on the fringes of the activity for the outdoor scene and see everything quite well, it was a bit harder for us visitors to hear the dialogue. Later during the inside scene, only the actors and camera crew (along with Mario) could fit in the room being used. There was a lobby area just outside where everyone else hung out. We couldn't see much, but we could hear everything just fine.

The last location - the college campus: Before you see the students walking with MacLeod to his car with a trunk (US version), there was a part where the group encounters MacLeod's friend, Shandra Devane, who is the head of the art department. Most likely, this little scene will appear in the Eurominutes, since it introduces the character whom we see later in WRATH OF KALI.

Here's that part from the script:

Shandra: How go the Crusades?

Julie (re MacLeod): He's great.

Shandra (with a smile): I'm sure he is, but can he teach? (beat; to MacLeod) There's a faculty meeting at three. Something about life insurance.

MacLeod: Let me know how it goes.

(Shandra gives him a look and moves off. Julie turns to MacLeod.)

Julie: So, what happened when they got there? [this is where we picked up the scene]

What I have not revealed before now (Feb 1996) is that Mario gave Kathi and I copies of the script during our Friday visit. We stayed up until the wee hours that night (after getting back to our hotel after 12:30 am) reading the whole thing. So I was able to notice that after a few rehearsals and during some takes of this scene, the actress who played Shandra dropped the word "life".

I hesitantly approached Danielle de Smit, the Script Supervisor, and told her that without the word "life", the joke loses it's meaning, since it could be about homeowners or car insurance. Danielle remarked, "Uh oh, I'd better tell Mario." She did and Mario didn't seem too concerned since they hadn't shot Shandra's close-up yet to get her saying the lines. But he called out to the actress and nicely told her that she needed to say "life" for it to be a joke. After that, she used the word again.

Now, whether they wound up using the correct take *with* this word in the Eurominutes remains to be seen. One thing is for sure, the line which was looped in later after the silly levitating house Quickening scene - with Duncan saying, "I should have gotten earthquake insurance" - definitely harks back to this earlier insurance joke. Together, the earlier line might work without the word "life," but then Duncan's reason for dismissing the meeting out-of-hand is not as clear.

While we were outside, I enjoyed watching how everything the camera sees is carefully planned out. You may call me stupid, but I used to think that those people cutting in front of the camera in crowd-type scenes were accidents. Wrong! That person is an extra who is given a cue and crosses in front 'cos that's what that scene would look like in real life.

The same goes for things like shrubbery and leaves. If unwanted leaves block the camera, they're moved - that's obvious. But when the director *wants* a branch where there is none, they mount one on a pole and *put* it there. This is called a "dingle." :) Now I want you all to appreciate that branch coming from the right side of your screen when Duncan is putting something in his car. <BG>

The "dingle": The transition to the flashback was off this pole-mounted branch.

There wasn't much for us to see or do while sitting in the lobby, so when all else fails, you talk to the guy who provides the food all day long. <BG> The main meals are provided by caterers, but food is put out all day long by a separate group called Craft Services. Along with the appropriate spread for the particular time of day (danish in the a.m., cold cuts around noon and munchie stuff before, during and after), someone will also come around at times with a particular delicacy on a tray. Today it was sushi in the morning and chicken wings in the afternoon. I asked this man (sorry, I was too tired by this time to catch a name) how he decided what to put out. He said it wasn't easy to come up with the variety I witnessed day after day so folks wouldn't get bored with the fare. (As a mom, I can relate to that. ;j)

During what turned out to be the last quiet moment of the day, Kathi wisely piped up to Adrian to thank him for allowing us the opportunity to visit on the set. He said he was glad we enjoyed ourselves and commented that it looked like we got some sun. (Whoops, forgot the sunblock. ;j)

Amazingly, despite the delays caused by scenes with four-legged actors, the filming wrapped up just at 8 pm. In a flash, the nifty props were whisked out of the room before I could get a decent picture of them. But Don had put some aside, as promised, and I clicked a frame or two.

Mario offered Kathi and I a ride back with him and we were off - with one last good-bye to Todd back at the circus. At his hotel, Mario instructed the driver to drop us off at our hotel, and we said our warm farewells in the van.

More than anything else with this visit, I am going to miss Mario.

-The End-

Acknowledgments:

First and foremost, I'd like to thank Mario Azzopardi for opening the doors to a possible set visit. Next, I'd like to thank my husband for supporting me in this chance-of-a-lifetime, and my kids for putting up with their silly mom.

Thanks to Kathi Knox for agreeing to come along with me and sharing in the entire spectrum of emotions which we have gone through.

Thanks to my Vancouver friend who extended Canadian hospitality to a faceless diehard fan, along with the others who offered tidbits of information in the BC section of the Canada forum on CIS.

Much thanks are owed to Ken Gord and Adrian Paul for agreeing to our visit.

Finally, I thank the members of this section (in SFMEDIA of CIS) who helped me with parts of my plan to visit the set, but their names have been withheld to protect the innocent. ;j

- Janine Shahinian ( (c) 1995)

THE END

Copyright (c) 1995,1996 Janine Shahinian
Photographs (c) 1995, Janine Shahinian -- Do Not Reproduce!