Stargate: Vegas, baby, Vegas

December 29, 2008

Vegas, baby, Vegas

So by now you've probably heard that some of this week's episode entitled "Vegas" was actually shot in Vegas. Rob Cooper wrote and directed this one, and sometime in August he said to me, "You know, we're probably going to need someone to come down to Vegas just to deal with legal clearances." And of course that's my job! So I said to Rob, "Well great. I'll be there." But there was just a pause on the other end of the line and then a chuckle. "You're just messin' with me, aren't you?" And he was. But truth be told, there wasn't a lot of time to party and gamble because they were too busy working. That is, until the shoot was finished. Then, and only then, they gambled and golfed. And a little bit before the shoot too.

Even though I wasn't invited along for the ride, I was one of the people responsible for getting Planet Hollywood involved. That's the casino that allowed us to shoot on their premises and do our chase scene on the roof. We asked a number of casinos if they were interested in having us shoot there, but but only a handful of casinos even responded. I guess they're too busy raking in the cashola to worry about a little extra publicity. Other than the Planet Hollywood, I understand the Riviera was interested, and a couple others (New York, New York and Treasure Island) were considering letting us shoot their exteriors. At the time of our preproduction, the film "21" came out on DVD and Rob and I watched it, wondering where all the casinos were that were featured in the film. As you might expect, it was the ones I mentioned - Planet Hollywood and the Riviera. The Hard Rock did allow them to shoot there, but I think it might have only been the exterior.

"So why Vegas?", you ask. Well, suffice it to say that this isn't your ordinary Stargate Atlantis episode. It's an 'alternative' type of Stargate Atlantis, one that shares some of its flavour with another well-established television franchise. Don't worry - you'll figure it out pretty quick. But the real answer is, nothing makes an episode feel more realistic than shooting on location. And nothing else really feels like a Vegas casino. All that being said, other supposed "Nevada" locations were actually shot here in British Columbia. Even the desert! And no, they're not VFX; rather they're a sampling of the incredibly diverse terrain we have up here in the Great White (and not so white) North.

Now, here's the best news you've probably heard all day. There's a HUGE explosion in this episode because Rob is a big fan of explosions. I recall when they were breaking the plot for the mid-season two-parter, it was Rob who pitched out the negative side-effect of the Attero device could be that the Stargates all explode. Someone else pitched another angle, but Rob explains his firm belief that "people love explosions." And he's right. I watched The Dark Knight this past summer and I have to say, as far as explosions go, that is one awesome movie (another good one for explosions is Tropic Thunder). So anyways, our crack special effects team, led by SFX Coordinator Wray Douglas, made some serious thunder of his own on this one.

I wasn't there for this explosion because that location was hours away from Vancouver. In fact, it was far enough that they had to set up camp and put the crew up in a hotel. I was, however, standing by when Wray rigged and set off the explosion for the Atlantis Season 5 promotional ads that Martin Gero directed. It's pretty cool to be there - there's always a palpable sense of excitement when there's going to be a big explosion. Lots of people turn out, ear muffs or ear plugs are handed out, and the AD's have to be ruthless in directing people out of harm's way. The producers crowd around the monitors while the braver of us huddle with Wray behind plexiglass and wait for the BOOM.

Enjoy Vegas!

Posted by Alex Levine at December 29, 2008 7:01 PM