Episode 13: The Fix

WARNING: SPOILERS ARE KEPT TO A MINIMUM, BUT THERE ARE SOME!!!!

Tonight’s episode pushes the HEROES story forward on several levels. Peter meets a mentor, invisible man Christopher Eccleston http://imdb.com/name/nm0001172/ Hiro meets “The Big Boss” who may be behind it all! (And fans of sci-fi synergy get a major treat!) One of the series regulars is revealed with a new power (one which may seem small now but will play out in a big way at the end of the season!!!) And Claire makes contact with her birth mother (Who is pretty hot! :o)! )

The episode was directed by Terrence O’Hara http://imdb.com/name/nm0641343/ I originally hired him for SMALLVILLE because of an awesome X-FILES episode he did. He’s a super nice guy, efficient, visual and great with cast. He’s a favorite on SMALLVILLE, and has done eight or ten episodes. I thought he’d fit in well here also.


DIRECTOR TERRENCE O’HARA


TERRENCE, THOMAS AND HAYDEN IN THE BURNT TOAST DINER

This episode was another one of the handful that was designed to be smaller budgetarally. Most of the show shot in or around our sound stages with only 1 day and one scene shot “out.”

For instance the entire Hiro storyline was shot in the parking garage where our crew parks. We dropped a huge blue screen for one angle and we matted in an NYC city street in the background. It was kind of a pain in the butt because we had to park the crew 2 blocks away and shuttle them in that day. I thought the director and the Stargate VFX team did a good job of putting it together… Especially the shot which dollys with Hiro and Ando as they walk away from the ticket booth and tilts them up the stairs.

The scene on the NYC city street at night where Peter first meets and confronts the invisible man was filmed in one night in downtown LA. The original plan was to have only a very little bit of that scene in episode 12 and most of it in episode 13… But in the editing bay Tim Kring decided he liked going all the way up to Chris Eccleston choking Peter in episode 12 and then reprising most of that scene again in 13.

A very interesting thing in this series, that I’ve certainly never experienced before, is the vast flexibility of how we tell the stories episode-to-episode. Sometimes we pick up stories right where they left off, actually reusing previously shot footage. Sometimes we re-shoot scenes that have been previously seen, using new angles to tell new nuances. Sometimes we “park” a story and don’t come back to it for 2 or 3 episodes. It’s both enormously freeing and challenging creatively.

One of the big challenges of this episode was, how do we tell the story of two invisible people, who can see each other, but who can’t be seen by the public, in the middle of a downtown New York street. Tim never wants this show to lean too heavily on visual effects, and is always looking for the more human way to tell the stories. And in this case, even if we did want to go VFX heavy… what would they be? If we made Milo and Christopher look transparent amongst the other people they’d look like ghosts. We talked about ways to switch between visible to invisible on camera, but worried that that would tell the story that they were transitioning back and forth instead of staying invisible in and amongst other people.

In the end, after much discussion, we decided to try to “double-cover” lots of the scenes, seeing it sometimes from our characters points of view and sometimes from the world’s. Frankly, this episode became a learning experience. We made a couple of mistakes. One was not using the exact same angles when we transitioned from Chris and Milo struggling and knocking over the table, we change angles to a slightly wider view as the table they bumped is knocked over. This moment isn’t as visually clear as I wish it was. Also, I don’t think we hired enough actors (as opposed to extras) to react to the invisible struggle. The first cut seemed confusing… Can people hear them even though they don’t see them? We improved this a bit in post by adding dialogue, but we could have done better to see more specific reactions from the street people.

I think you’ll see at the beginning of the next episode (#14) how we greatly improved these problems. TV is a learning medium on many levels.


MILO AND CHRISTOPHER ECCLESTON

We also built a new major set for the series, which makes its debut in this episode. It is the rooftop of the Deveaux building. That’s right, the rooftop of the building where Simone’s father lived and died and where Peter first met Simone.

In upcoming episodes this will be scene in the past, the present and the future. In it’s glory, in mild disrepair and in destruction. Of course, the Deveaux roof is in downtown Manhattan – so how do we achieve its look?

During this episode’s prep we had a spasm of financial responsibility where we decided not to build it at all and to rewrite it to Isaac’s loft. Another, more minor spasm, where we decided to build it on stage – but build it mostly surrounded by close-in walls and a very minor blue-screen. And then we did it the HEROES way. We built a 1,200 sqaure foot set, elevated 12 feet off the ground, surrounded by a 300 foot wide 40 foot high blue screen which can only be adequately shot by using a 50 foot techno crane. And then, when all is said and done 80% of the shots are visual effects shots where we matte in New York City in the background… Day and Night!!!

Like I always say “HEROES, IT’S LIKE A TV SHOW… ONLY BIGGER!”


OUR NEW SET: THE DEVEAUX ROOF


IT TAKES TWO DP’S (JOHN ARONSON AND NATE GOODMAN) TO NOT BE ABLE TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO SHOOT THIS BABY


SET DETAIL – IT’S ALL ABOUT THE DETAILS


D.P. JOHN ARONSON


JOHN ARONSON PRECISELY MEASURES A SET WE’RE BUILDING ON LOCATION

Well, that’s it for this week. Hope you like the episode.

Next week… The adventure continues!!!

Comments

Jacki said…
I only recently found this blog, and it is amazingly fantastic! I love learning about this behind-the-scenes stuff, it makes the actual shows so much more fun to watch! :)

Can't wait for the new episode in a few minutes!
The Film Diva said…
Excellent job breaking down the logistics of your production. I'm going to post about it on my blog. I love the show, you guys rock the house every episode. I even gave up my season pass to 24 to keep Heroes in the queue! :-)
sweetdarlin said…
I love looking at the behind-the-scenes photos. It's unusual to see the work that had to be done to create one episode and you capture it nicely. It's nice to hear that you admit to errors too. I'm still so amazed in the show that I wouldn't notice.
TOODLES
Anonymous said…
Another great episode and blog entry.

And then a question for a future blog entry, how big is the producation staff for "Heroes" compared to other shows? "Heroes" just feels so epic at times and its hard to believe that the average size crew and staff can do all it does.
Jeff's Place said…
I love seeing the backstage end of the show. How you shoot, what it took to get "The Shot"! So cool to see and hear about the crew end of production!
Thanks Mr. Beeman!!
Awesome stuff for sure!

Please always keep us guessing about who is going to do what on the show.
As always GREAT STUFF this week!!!!!!!

Keep it up!
Anonymous said…
I think I prefer the Heroes way to any other, Greg. I was actually noticing lots of the little details about the roof during the scene instead of focusing directly on the actors. I guess that's why god invented tivo, huh? I love the idea that you kids are scrambling around all the time improvising sets. It's like the realization of every kid's backyard playtime imaginings come to life. I get the feeling you must thank the fates every day for bringing you to this show. Am I wrong? Everything looked gorgeous, low-budg or not. As always, I find myself thinking "is it Monday yet?" Who ever thought I'd EVER say that about a Monday? You've made magic happen. Thanks!
I recognized the hiccups you guys encountered while shooting/post producing the scenes between Milo and Chris (who is my favourite Doctor to date). But I understand that HEROES is experimenting with things that haven't really been done before -- which is why this show is so special and so beloved -- and that constant state of change is bound to create inconsistencies on-screen.

I loved the new roof-top set, BTW. I can only hope my show will have your budget. ;-)

KJC
Anonymous said…
I really appreciate all the work that goes into the show. It isn't often that I actually watch a network show, with the same intensity that I watch a movie. Thank you for making Monday's exciting. It the typical depression when I realize it another boring Monday, and then get excited when I remember that a new episode will air.

I am also taking part in the Hero's 360. I am also really enjoying that experience. I assume you don't have alot to do with this part, considering how busy the actual show keeps you. However, if its possible I would love more. More involvement, more story tie-ins, more immersion into the Hero's environment. My biggest fear is that the online experience will fade away over time, or the cryptic messages lack any depth into the plotlines/subplot. Sorry for such a long post, but the show is a ton of fun.
King Krims said…
Heroes best show on bar none
Anonymous said…
It's like heaven... only better!
Anonymous said…
I'm a college student studying video/film. I came across this blog doing a project for my producing/directing for television class and I think that this blog is one of the coolest things a director/producer of a show can do. I can read and learn about aspects to a job that hopefully I will have in the future, its a great medium for me. Thank you Greg Beeman. Also Greg (if you read these comments) if there are any internship opportunitys available on your show that would be an amazing opportunity for anyone looking to go into this field. I know many people that kill to get an opportunity like that, I know I would! ;)
Anonymous said…
Fabulous show- it has far surpassed "24" as my can't-miss show. I have to watch with a pillow in my lap, so as to avoid hurting my chin when my mouth drops open at the end of every scene.
Anonymous said…
About the significance of the rooftop of Charles Deveaux's apartment (which looks fantastic, by the way)- when annika asked Tawny my questions about Deveaux and the Society (#8 and 9 here: http://www.myfanbase.de/index.php?mid=1492&pid=2666 , though #8 had more info), she said it was founded for causes that Charles felt bettered the world, so did the Deveaux Society set up headquarters there or is that where the older gen. of HEROES met?
Anonymous said…
hi, My name is EDUARDO I´m from BRAZIL end I wold like to make a suggestion:
could be very cool, to make a chapter with the participation of TOM WELLING as CLARK KENT on HEROES
end a participation of the any HEROES on SMALLVILLE series.PLEASE think in it.
Anonymous said…
hi, I WOULD like to make a suggestion:
(Sorry my bad english)
Anonymous said…
I love your show, but 2 hiatus in 1 season blows. ..and please don't drag the story like Lost did and make us lose interest. Just get to the climax of the "NY blows up" and then move onto something else. Alien invasion, whatever. It's a super-hero show, the ideas should flow like water.
Anonymous said…
Thanks for the nice post!
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"Episode 13: The Fix"
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