Friday, May 29, 2009

The Hallway to.........somewhere?







First, thanks for your continued comments about this blog.  Even though I've been hearing lost of applause each night while backstage on "Mama Mia," somehow I don't think it's intended for me.  So I'll take what I can from all of you enjoying this blog!

Here is a hallway which looks like it must be from the Robin Masters' estate.  Where to and why I don't know.

You can see the fake beams above going down the hallway.  These are called "headers" and act as masking for the lights and also to block the view of the catwalks above.

It's funny that my first 2 impressions of seeing these photos are:  1.  Wow, that was a lot of carpet we used!  and 2.  There isn't anyplace on this island you could now find (buy or rent) anything in these photos.                                                                                                                     I guess I've complained enough now about that subject.  A lot of those paintings were generic ones we used time and again.  They were really just prints with that stuff called "modge podge" trying to give them some depth or fake brush strokes. 

 The only real problem I see with trying to film in this hallway is that the camera would either have to be at one end following someone walking down the hallway away from the camera, or at the other end watching someone walk towards the camera.  If the camera wanted to follow someone walking down the hall, one side or the other of the walls would have to be removed for the camera to track from the side.  Somehow, I don't think we would have done that!  Sometimes if the floor is uneven, 2"x12" planks are put down so the camera dolly can roll smoothly for the shot.  They can also lay "dolly track" for more uneven terrain and also for smooth curves if needed.  This is usually done on exterior shots only. More popular now is the "hand held" shot where an operator has the (now much lighter or even video) camera in a harness and follows the character.  It gives a more realistic or "gritty" look to the action.  It's also a lot less time consuming in setting up a shot. I can't tell you how many carpets we had to clean, repair, or replace in locations we filmed because the camera dolly leaked oil onto the carpet!

Well, not much more I can think to say about this brilliant hallway except to answer your questions--especially where did the hallway go?

Aloha,  Rick

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think that photo is from an episode where Magnum inherits an estate. The owner isn't really dead but wants Magnum to find the person who wants to kill him. I'm going to see if I have that episode on DVD. It might be time to buy another season set.

Anonymous said...

Thanks again Rick...Need to run but the last two photos came from season 4 "The Case of the Red Faced Thespian" I could be wrong..LOL

Anonymous said...

Okay.so where did the hallway? anyone..

Unknown said...

Isn't this the hallway of the evil asian guy in the episode where the female writer imagines Magnum as the dashing hero?

rubber chicken said...

Thanks for sharing these Rick. :)

I'm late in making this comment, but the photos are indeed from The Case of the Red Faced Thespian (4.12). There's some screencaps in that link, and I took some to share below:

photo 1
photo 2
photo 3
photo 4
photo 5
photo 6
photo 7
photo 8

There were many interior spaces at Robin's Nest used in this episode. I was going to say you had your work cut out for you, to create so many new sets, but then I thought that for this episode you at least weren't having to travel to far flung locations. These spaces were right in the studio. I wonder if this was an easier week, or maybe the need to create new construction equaled things out? Do you have a preference between working in the studio and working at real life locations?

rubber chicken said...

It seems that comments can't be edited, but I meant to say that this hallway had guest rooms on either side, of which at least one entrance was used. The door at the end of the hallway opened into the room for Robin Masters' secretary, and the door to Robin Masters' office was also in that room.

Also, I'm glad hand held camera shots weren't being used for Magnum P.I. Cleaning oil from carpets doesn't sound fun though. Was that done by hand or did you have a machine for the purpose? Inquiring minds want to know. :)