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Dozens of bleary-eyed television professionals are crammed into a conference room early in the morning. They all have scripts in front of them; most have big cups of coffee, too. As they load up on caffeine, they discuss a simulated sex act in a hot tub.
"It might get quite vigorous."
This is the production meeting for episode #405 of Six Feet Under. The episode opens with a husband and wife celebrating their anniversary with a romp in their backyard Jacuzzi. This two-minute scene might seem simple enough to shoot, but in fact a great deal of planning is necessary. The Costume Designer assures director Alan Poul that the "modesty cover" - a small sock that the male actor will wear strategically - won't fall off during filming. The Assistant Director must figure out how to generate bubbles and steam using special effects because an actual hot tub motor would be too noisy. The Production Designer has the most work to do before filming begins because the back yard where the scene will be filmed presents some challenges. Her department needs to paint the house, fill the pool with inflatable toys (hard to find in February), buy some lawn furniture, and re-do some of the landscaping around the hot tub, all in the next two days.
Episode #405 is especially tricky because many scenes take place inside a moving van - the Fisher & Diaz "deadwagon." Often when David appears to be driving, the deadwagon is actually being towed by a process trailer pulled by a camera car. Actor Michael C. Hall isn't driving at all. Other scenes are shot using a "poor man's process" on a sound stage, when it appears the van is moving by using a green screen. Crewmembers move the van by hand to simulate bumpy driving conditions. Today, the group discusses which method will best serve each "driving" scene.
For the scene when Jake opens the body bag and looks inside, an actress will be inside the bag, holding her breath to appear dead. But when Jake dumps the body bag on the street a moment later, it needs to be filled with something else. The Property Master recommends an articulated dummy, weighing 80 pounds, with joints that move. He feels it will look better inside the body bag than a canvas crash dummy with a plastic head.
Continuity is always important, but becomes especially crucial in an episode like this one, most of which takes place over the course of one day. The head of the Make-up Department needs to know what David's injuries will be after Jake punches him. The director decides on a split lip and bloody nose. As the episode progresses, David's make-up will need to reflect the passage of time and resemble drying blood.
When David gets dirty making an attempted escape through the truck yard, the Unit Production Manager, who's been to the location, says there might be mud on the ground on that day. Everyone discusses how to make the mud appear to dry as the episode progresses. When David's doused in gasoline, the group discusses how to keep him looking wet for the remainder of the episode because the effect will be scary, even though in real life gasoline would evaporate and appear to dry.
When the deadwagon windshield gets smashed in MacArthur Park, the Transportation Coordinator decides there should be 6 windshields on set so they can be sure to get the effect right. A stunt double will stand in for the actor portraying the bat-wielding, 14-year old drug dealer.
And they've reached the end of the script, having made plans to go through three deadwagons, 30 pairs of pants for David, and 12 smashed cell phones. They've blithely planned and coordinated a gory death and a brutally violent abduction, assuring nine more long days of work for 160 crew members, at 23 different locations.
As the production meeting comes to an end, the participants file out of the conference room, clear about what it will take to turn the script for episode #405 into an hour long television show. Not surprisingly, most of them stop by the coffee maker to grab one more cup.
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Mortuary Fact
Mark Gruenwald, the influential Marvel Comics editor who helped create Captain America, wanted his ashes mixed with ink and printed into a comic book after his death. His wife followed his wishes, and his remains were printed into a special edition poster of 'Squadron Supreme' in 1996. |
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