April 29, 2015: Episode #110 rocks! Smoked meat and scotch! And, a mailbag!

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Hoooleeeeeey!  Just finished watching the director’s cut of episode #110 and I’m still reeling.  It is FANTASTIC!  A huge congratulations to our stunt coordinator, John Stead, who hit this one out of the park in his first major directing gig.  As I said in the email I just sent him: “Super tight, dynamic, suspenseful and, at parts, downright hilarious.”  Our cast was terrific – as were our amazing guest stars: Torri Higginson, Ennis Esmer, Jessica Sipos, John Cor, and Conrad Pla.  And, of course, our crew, awesome as ever.  These are the types of episodes that get me excited about the show all over again and, most importantly, give me the renewed energy to roll right into stories for season 2!

Mais, qu’est ce que c’est?  Qu’est ce que indeed!  But it figures big time into one of our late season episodes!

Smoked Meat Wednesday with the gang!  One smoked…

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April 28, 2015: Time flies! We all like Vanessa! And gelato!

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Time flies when you’re having fun.  Today marked our very last read-thru of Dark Matter’s first season.  Pictured above: the cast (with the exception of Zoie Palmer who was excused because she had a note from her mom), EP Vanessa Piazza, Director Andy Mikita, Line Producer Norman Denver, Consulting Producer Ivon Bartok, VFX Supervisor Lawren Bancroft-Wilson, and Story Editor Trevor Finn.  Well be going out with a big bang.

It’s hard to believe it’s been five and a half months since I moved to Toronto, girlfriend and dogs in tow, and now, here I am less than three weeks away from wrap – and a little over six weeks away from our season premiere.  It’s been hard, exhausting work – but, ultimately, incredibly fulfilling.  The cast and crew have been nothing short of awesome and I sincerely hope we get the chance to do it all again next year.

But…

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April 26, 2015: Our atypical Android! More Dark Matter behind-the-scenes goodies! Mailbag!

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Actor Anthony Lemke (Dark Matter’s Three), forwarded me a terrific podcast about gendered robots and stereotypes.  The participants point out that female androids tend to be sexualized entities while their male counterparts are usually powerful forces.

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-april-24-2015-1.3047057/ex-machina-s-portrayal-of-gendered-robot-perpetuates-stereotypes-1.3047064

It’s an interesting listen and it made me think of our ship’s android, played by the awesome Zoie Palmer, who is clearly atypical from the normal: a female android who isn’t sexualized but a force to be reckoned with.  On the surface, she is your standard logic-based robot but, as the first season progresses, viewers will come to realize there’s much, much more to our android.  In describing her the other day, I said she was much closer to Hitchhiker’s Guide’sMarvin and Red Dwarf’s Kryten than TNG’s Data.  Zoie has done a great job fashioning an incredibly endearing character.  Every time she pops up on screen, Akemi gleefully shouts “Zoie!”.  The…

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April 24, 2015: Aches! Pains! Production! And excruciatingly late lunches!

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I think I may have pulled my heart muscle.  Seriously.  I suspect I may have done it during a recent frenzied coughing fit.  During the day, I feel fine but at night, it feels as though I did two hundred left handed one-arm push-ups before bed.

Also feel a wicked headache coming on, the type that creeps up on you late Friday afternoon and lasts through the weekend, well into Monday…

Started the morning with an 8 a.m. appointment for Jelly.  On the positive side, the ultrasound results came back clean.  No masses or shadows or missing car keys.

On the negative side, her issues could be spinal, neurological, Cushing’s Disease, or a smorgasbord comprised of any variations of the the three aforementioned possibilities.

One of the half dozen diagrams the specialist drew for us during our one hour visit.

Coming up: A visit to the neurologist!  More tests!  And…

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April 23, 2015: Less than a month to go!

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Sympathy pains!  Not a day after I was feeling after my habanero-caffeine upset, my girl Jelly is feeling under the weather.  Apparently, she’s been alternately sleepy since she woke up – which is me on a normal day.

Hey, look at what the Dark Matter art department got!  A 3D printer, perfect for making scale models of ships and such!

 Set Designer Doug Slater shows off his latest creation.  I think it’s that box from Hellraiser.

Anyway, I told Doug that whenever he has time, between now and the wrap party, I’d like him to make me an Iron Man suit.  Will check in on his progress next week!

In addition to the usual prep (episodes #112 and #113 with director Andy Mikita), production (director Martin Wood shooting scenes from episode #1111 in the ship’s underbelly), and post (notes on episode #109, directed by Ron Murphy), today was our international…

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April 22, 2015: From vampire to zombie on less than two hours!

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If yesterday’s late night insomnia gave me the taste of the vampire life, today’s sleep-deprived shambling no doubt approximated the daily travails of your average zombie.

It started promisingly enough with dinner at Wilbur’s Mexicana where I was joined by my long-time nemesis and occasional writing partner, Tara Yelland.  The Wilbur in Wilbur’s Mexciana is Wilbur Scoville, the American pharmacist who devised the Scoville scale for testing the relative heat index of peppers…

You know how most places have salad bars?  Well, this place had a hot pepper bar offering some six dozen assorted bottles of hot sauces ranging from “mild” to “you’re screwed”.  Given my high tolerance for the stuff, I elected to go with a couple of hot – but not insanely so choices: scotch bonnet and orange habanero which both clock in at 150k – 325k scovilles.  Compare to the wimpy jalapeño that comes in at somewhere…

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April 21, 2015: I’m so busy, I don’t have time to title this blog entry!

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I had the afterburners on today, casting, getting a new scene out, prepping episodes #112 and #1113, discussing the upcoming VFX show and tell, organizing the concept sketches for the visual roll-out, providing notes on the preliminary ship sounds.  A dinner break with my friend Tara Yelland (Follow her here – https://twitter.com/t_yelland – but be warned: she’s sassy!), then it’s on to a review of the director’s cut of episode #109.

Today…

She wheels, she deals, she produces…and sews.  Dark Matter Executive Producer Vanessa Piazza does it all!

But maybe she should just stick to wheeling, dealing, and producing.

This afternoon, I perused hideous medical saw-induced flesh wounds with the lovely Lynda McCormack.  Who happens to preside over the Dark Matter make-up department.

Dark Matter Story Editor Trevor Finn models the new uniforms.

What the heck is the Dark Matter construction up to?

Your guess is as good as…

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April 19, 2015: Akemi’s birthday weekend! The pictorial play by play!

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This weekend, we celebrated Akemi’s birthday in the traditional way with a couples massage, sushi, and the annual purchasing of the sunglasses to replace the lost sunglasses I purchased the previous year.

It’s customary to consume an entire bowl of banana chips prior to the massage.

She’s like that character from Ringu. What was her name? Sudoku?

Pork bun lunch at Momofuku

The ole’ fried chicken and caviar combo at Momofuku. Just like they prepare it down south.

The cereal soft serve gave me a plethora of new ideas for some summer ice cream flavors.

Sashimi at Sushi Kaji

The lilybulb root and sea urchin cake at Sushi Kaji. Just like mom used to make!

Trout nigiri and roe at Sushi Kaji.

Chu-toro nigiri at Sushi Kaji.

We return home to a little something awaiting Akemi at the front desk.

Nadege macarons c/o Dark Matter VFX Supervisor Lawren Bancroft Wilson.

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April 18, 2015: Name our fandom!

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Star Trek has its trekkies, Firefly the browncoats, and the various Stargates their gaters (not gateheads as wiki would have you believe).  So, I figure that now, less than two months out from our world premiere, is as good a time as any to come up with a name for our Dark Matter fandom.

First, the show…

“The crew of a derelict ship awakens from stasis with no memories of who they are or how they got onboard.  Naming themselves numerically in the order in which they woke up, ONE through SIX, they begin their search for answers.  Facing threats at every turn, they have to work together to survive a voyage charged with vengeance, betrayal, secrets, and shocking revelations.”

So, what do you think?  Suggestions?  Army of Darkness?  The Crazy 8’s?  Marauders?

I’ll leave you to it.

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April 17, 2015: Behind the scenes on your new favorite show – Dark Matter! And a Jelly update!

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Because you asked, extra nicely, here’s a picture of Dark Matter’s Commander Truffault of the Mikkei Combine (Torri Higginson) standing alongside ONE (Marc Bendavid).  Wait.  Is that  the mess hall?  What is she doing onboard the ship?

Consulting Producer Ivon Bartok was looking a little piqued so we placed him in quarantine.  Nighty night to our brave little soldier.  See you Monday morning!

The concept meet for episode #112.  Or was it the concept meeting for episode #113?  Whichever.  Andy Mikita is directing both.

The request list in the production office kitchen.  I’m checking the fridge first thing next week.

Production Assistant Kyle Dolphin models the Android look for an upcoming episode.

A bottle of Vega V whiskey.  And upon closer scrutiny…

A shoutout to a blog regular and her recent whisky/whiskey rant.  Hey, Ponytail, looks like the Dark Matter crew checks the blog as well.

Thanks to everyone who was inquiring…

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