Magnum P.I. Set Decorator

"The River" Premiers and What Else Is Going On.....

2012-02-08T15:43:00.000-08:00

I had watched the pilot a couple of times before last night's premier on ABC-TV. The Puerto Rico filmed pilot was actually only the first hour of the 2 hours with a few reshoots done here. The 2nd hour was the first Hawaii filmed episode attached to it. Some of the sets in the first hour were shipped to Honolulu and some were actually on the real boat they shot. The second hour from Hawaii matched pretty well even though the boat was now a large, floating piece of styrofoam and we did the best we could to match the set dressing rented for the pilot in Puerto Rico even though we had to go by screen grabs and figure out what some of it even was. A little confusing even to us! In general, though, most people were too scared to notice what did or didn't match from the first hour to the second. Unfortunately, they did use up 1 of the only 7 episodes filmed by attaching it to the original 1 hour Puerto Rican pilot so that only leaves 6 Hawaii episodes to go.

The reviews were generally good but concerns were over losing 20% of the audience in the 2nd hour. Since they are primarily going after the desired 18 to 49 year old demographic, that isn't much of a drop. Putting the show on against the tired old, but still popular, formula crime shows gave it some heavy competition.

All those night scenes in the jungle were actual night scenes in the jungle and that poor cast and crew spent many a day on completely opposite schedules as the rest of us while working 6:00 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. We did the opposite hours getting things ready for them.

They have gone in for action first rather than exposition first. In other words, we didn't learn a lot about all of the characters in the first 2 hour pilot, but you will find out more specifics about each character in upcoming episodes. However, like "LOST" before it, for every question they answer, you will also be left with more unanswered ones to ponder.

As to my personal thoughts on the show, I think given the current interest in walking dead, zombies, and the supernatural on mostly cable channels, this is a good entry for the mainstream networks audience. I never did buy into the formula crime shows that have inbred and spun off themselves with more title letters than I can recall (N.C.I.S.U.V.D.N.A. 5-0), I think this is a new direction and something different that can develop over time. They haven't resorted to things like the smoke monster or time travel that "LOST" did and still remained on top so I hope it is a success. However, TOO successful and I'd probably be replaced by someone "more important" so I'll just take regular success for now!

I did a week on the reality show "Biggest Loser" that was here filming a Hawaii segment. VERY different style of working with a reality show. Whereas I am used to doing things "right" and "perfect," or "real," the reality show is more about "it is what it is." Kind of frustrating, but that's part of their look and way of filming. Didn't get the new "Last Resort" pilot here. It's not about a Hawaiian resort but a rogue nuclear submarine crew that doesn't fire the missile as ordered. Normally pilots don't like to build big sets without knowing their future as a series, but this one is going to have to build one and that set dressing isn't going to be found at the local Radio Shack or used nuclear submarine parts store near you. They are also using the director of "Casino Royale" to direct this pilot. That means 007 meets TV pilot budget and schedule 2,500 miles from Hollywood. I'm seeing that double O more like "oh, oh" but then again thats also a zero in my income so I'll just wish them well and move on.

Up The River -- With A Paddle This Time

2011-08-04T11:13:00.000-07:00

Happy Summer (or winter where some are) Magnum Fans! After 6 months to the day of no work, I started last week on a fantastic new TV production called "The River." The what?? Well, 7 years ago people were saying what's "LOST??" It's a new series (mid-season January 2012) from Dreamworks (aka Steven Spielberg) and Disney. They have kept the lease on the Hawaii State Film Studio for another year after "LOST" and the recently cancelled "Off the Map." I have joked that on our show they are both lost and off the map as part of the plot so we are sure to be a hit! I believe there is a trailer on youtube that gives a little background to the story. I will say this, there is nothing like it on TV today and if you're tired of shows that have lots of abbreviations in the title (S.U.V., N.C.I.S., C.S.I. or even 5-0) this will be a real change. I've seen the pilot twice at the studio and I can pay it the highest compliment, I would actually watch this show!

The next great thing I can say is that the people I am working for are fantastic! Talented, creative, respectful, willing to listen and work things out and SMART enough to hire all of us who were fired off of "5-0" after 12 episodes. As a postscript to that, none of the people who replaced us are back for season 2......but enough on that dirty laundry.

So what does this have to do with Magnum? Well, the soundstage where all 8 seasons of Magnum were filmed is now the home to the set dressing warehouse! It's funny opening that same old metal door that still sticks and walking into that building each day. Unfortunately the building is no longer air conditioned and even with fans blowing, it's over 100 degrees in there by noon. The building is still divided by a wall that separates the back 1/3 for State owned set dressing from our front 2/3. but it is also one of the best collections of set dressing we've ever had--of course it's all technically owned by Disney. Other than a little of the falling insulation from the ceiling, there is really nothing left from Magnum days of interest. It's funny, though, because I can still remember seeing fog on the little window in that sticking metal door we all came through dozens of time a day because it was always so cold on that soundstage. They had to turn off the air conditioning whenever they yelled "rolling" because it was so noisy. So they kept it extra cold so when it was off the actors wouldn't cook in front of the lights.
Thanks again for all your kind thoughts, wishes, prayers, and encouragement! It was 28 years ago this month I got the call to work on Magnum full time and being back at the studio where it all began for me and looking forward to working with great people is a great feeling!

Photo Update on flickr

2011-06-14T04:57:00.000-07:00

I've gone ahead and loaded a lot of new photos (unfortunately none of them new from "Magnum") primarily of sets I did for "Hawaii 5-0" http://www.flickr.com/photos/rick_romer/

I think I might actually have too many photos, but it's always hard to decide what anyone might be looking for in my work and ultimately it's about diversity and range and that covers quite a large area. I spent 12 hours and watched several movies while doing it and I see now it's 2:00 a.m. so I guess it's time to quite.

Aloha, Rick

OMG - A Big Blog Blast!!

2011-06-08T21:24:00.000-07:00

Thanks again for your continued comments about me and the show. I do have some news and pictures to share.

One of our loyal fans who built his own model of the Bridge on the River Kwai sent me these screen grabs from the episode where Tom blows up Higgins' model. As you may recall from an earlier post, I built 3 versions of this model for the show when I was still working up the hill at what's now Diamond Head Theatre as their last resident designer. There was the just started model, the halfway there bridge, and finally the completed one. I was there just off camera when they filmed the scene with Higgins building it. He'd go to place a piece and then they would yell "CUT" and I would take it off, wipe off the glue and get another piece ready. Sure glad I spent 7 years in college for that one!

I wasn't there when they filmed the scene with Tom blowing it up. Well, actually Jack Faggard, the special effects coordinator, did the actual explosion. These screen grabs are great since it really shows the pieces being blown up in the air. What I don't actually know for sure (and yet can still sleep at night) is who built the model they really did blow up? My guess is they completed more of the half done model and blew that one up. The reason I think that is that when I did start working on the show full time in season 3, my Higgins' model was already established on one of his bookcase shelves. Also don't know when the decision was made to place my completed model on the set as permanent dressing.

Well, I hope the gentleman who bought my invoice for the bridge sees these photos. When I was selling off anything I had left from the show on ebay, one person purchased my copies of the invoices I'd sent to the show for building the bridge and a couple of other things and framed them all together. Don't forget you can click on any of the pictures to make them larger. I blew them up a bit and corrected the colors.

Next bit of news for those of you with $10-15 million or so that you don't know what to do with. The estate where the pilot of "Magnum" was filmed (not to be confused with the Anderson Estate where the series exteriors were sometimes filmed) is being sold again. The estate had been owned by the State of Hawaii for decades, then a division of the Teamsters Union (another interesting story best told over a mai-tai) and finally a private owner is now for sale. The man who bought the estate in a very sad condition and spent many millions restoring what was one of the grandest estates ever built in Hawaii (for Clarence Cooke in the 30's) is having to sell it. I did get to tour it last year and gave him photos of some of the sets I had done in the house over the years (sorry, all post "Magnum"). The room with the brick where they did the first Higgin's den is there along with what became the drive-up and entry for Rick's Bar (aka Kamehameha Club) all look fantastic. He also restored the pool house, pool, servants quarters, all the decorative tile on the lanais and put in a kitchen any 5-star restaurant would envy.

The line is amazingly short for those who want to purchase it so you still have time to think about it. I may have some other news soon about my lack of career since "Alvin 3" ended in January. I did join the film board at the Honolulu Academy of Arts--the main film art house in Honolulu at the Doris Duke Theatre. Hope you're all having a great summer! Aloha.

Ignore the tubley email--sorry!

2011-04-23T16:51:00.000-07:00

I foolishly opened an email about something called tubely and it sent offers to everyone else within my Magnum email list. I am normally more vigilant, but this time I slipped. At least you didn't get the i-pad offer I supposedly sent out to all my facebook friends! Now if I could just figure out how to get the millions of dollars that keep being left to me by relatives who are constantly dying in Nigeria, I could buy all of you new ipads!

Aloha,

Rick

Happy New Year

2011-03-05T10:15:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's been this long since I've posted anything. It has been an interesting time, however.......

2010 turned out to be the most productive, lucrative, and ultimately frustrating year I've had. I did still manage to keep my 28 years of filing for unemployment record intact, but it was only a matter of a few weeks. The frustrating part came just before Thanksgiving when I was fired from "Hawaii 5-0." This isn't a very good forum to air dirty laundry and since in the real world most people are fired because they probably did something wrong, discussing it in detail here isn't a very good idea. For the record, however, I did an amazing job on a very difficult show that ultimately used my experience, crew, and contacts to set up the first 12 episodes. With no reason or excuse given (since there wasn't any), I was fired in a very unprofessional, undeserving sort of way in the parking lot. Soon, other departments lost their local heads and replacements from other C.S.I. shows or "24" replaced us since that had become the look and style of the show and from where all of the producers got their starts. One big happy family now reunited in Hawaii.

Like any sort of unplanned break-up, the best cure is a rebound relationship....fast! Less than a week later with barely enough time to get another fantastic Christmas tree up and 300' of fresh cedar garland hung with the Thanksgiving roasting pan still soaking in the sink, I started as the Assistant Art Director on "Alvin and the Chipmunks 3: Chipwrecked." Not having seen Alvin 1 or 2, I had no idea that they had made over a BILLION dollars at the box office and DVD sales worldwide! Who knew? The best part was being needed again, finding a fantastic crew, working for a SUPER boss, and basically running the local art department and setting up set dressing as most of the movie was being shot in Canada and on a cruise ship in Florida. The work was all on a beautiful secluded beach, jungle, or water fall and most of the construction went into an ocean going raft. Lots of technical problems like wet coconuts in cargo nets are REAL heavy and matching Hawaii jungle plants to the ones they were putting in their tropical jungle on a Vancouver sound stage were a welcome change. Very interesting to see how they film real sets with real people and no real chipmunks, too. Well, if I'm only as good as my last set, I am very happy it was "Alvin 3" and not the one with another number in it.

I'm back to working on my house and need to also start hacking on my encroaching jungle as well. My productive year for me did not bode well for the maintenance on my house. I've met with the Disney Imagineering people working on their fantastic billion dollar resort, "Aulani," being built out at Ko Olina (west side). Hoping to get something more regular there.

"Magnum" is now airing daily here on one of he stations, ironically just before the original "5-0" comes on. If I were to do a chart graphic based on the work load and enjoyment level of the work then vs. what has happened to the business today........why bother? Moving on!

Thanks for the well wishes and a little news.....

2010-07-02T11:01:00.000-07:00

I appreciate all your comments especially after such a long work drought. I think I've still got it! I almost hesitate to report since I don't want to jinx anything--but it looks as though I am working with the best creative team of my career! It's not just that we all get along and are on the same page, but the people in the art department are fantastic, creative, and listen! Not to say that it's been easy by any account, but at least our challenges are being met with professionalism and creativity and not.....well, like some of the not so pleasant working relationships I've had in the past!

Being reunited with my crew again and having the most experienced shopper/buyer to follow through on the paperwork and track down the best prices is a huge help to me. If it wasn't so frustrating it would be funny, but the set dressing warehouse we fought so hard to get is already full and we haven't even started filming yet! I think once we have time to organize and get some racks we will be all right for awhile. I had no idea we had so much stuff from the pilot. We'll make it work somehow. Is it too soon to say "I told you we needed a larger space?!!"

One challenge at the moment is not having a script. We have outlines for 4 episodes, but nothing specific and they still expect to start filming on the 15th. The entire creative team will be arriving shortly so I'm sure we will have more info soon. I was able to see the entire pilot episode on DVD--there's nothing like it on TV AND it's in Hawaii! Knowing that it's been 42 years since the original premiered, I think they've done an excellent job of updating the show while still keeping the original flavor of what made the show so popular in the first place. Many local people are already wondering if they will still be driving by Diamond Head. turn right and suddenly be on the North Shore or maybe Waimanalo Beach like the original did. Can't say, but they are committed to showing Hawaii so you can expect lots of scenery no matter where their "creative geography" says it is.

As already reported in the media, we are going to be filming in one of the 2 warehouses left behind when the 154 year old Honolulu Advertiser shut down last month and doing construction and painting in the other building next door. Originally they wanted me to share space with construction, but the former "LOST" construction coordinator helped convince management that he needed all of the space and set dressing needed their own. When over 400 workers left their offices behind (either losing their jobs or now working our only daily paper the new Star-Advertiser) they left a treasure trove of 50+ years of desks, file cabinets, shelves, lockers etc. behind. We not only furnished our production offices but I was allowed to purchase enough office furniture to do every police, bad guy, or retro office set they can come up with. With the economy still not recovered here, old office furniture is difficult to find and even more difficult to sell so it was a perfect winning combination. They will be auctioning off the rest--still a considerable amount! Speaking of offices, our production office space could hardly be more perfect for the company than if it had been designed for us. Ok, first floor would have been better, but that's about it. Some of my main retail sources are in the same building.

Well, better get that first paycheck in the bank and get to work. I've been printing out photos for work so I'm not goofing off too much. Really.

Aloha, Rick

P.S. I really like the idea about having Tom Selleck do something on this show. Maybe during the rating sweeps they will? Of course there's that other former Hawaii resident, President Obama, who wouldn't hurt the ratings either! Couldn't hurt his ratings either :-)

Five-0 Books Me!

2010-06-10T14:26:00.000-07:00

I suppose most people think it was a done deal, that I would get the job, but in this business there are no done deals anymore--at least not until they ARE done. I was interviewed by the new production designer and producer on the 3rd and offered the job on the 4th. I start work next week but as of now the "where" isn't known. They are currently working out of the same hotel as "Pirates" which is convenient for those who are staying in the hotel but not for much else. "Off the Map" has the lease on the film studio even though their show is more about remote jungles and not Hawaii--but ABC had the facility first with "LOST." so it looks like Season 1 will be housed in warehouses or empty buildings somewhere. Given the talent and resources behind this show, I'm sure wherever they wind up we'll make it work. The original 5-0 started without a facility as well.

Thinking about it, this would seem to be the biggest revival of a show in television history. Other shows have been revived certainly, but none that ran 12 seasons. I like to remind people that the original show premiered 42 years ago and ended 30 years ago so not to expect guys in coats and ties, big hair that doesn't move, or shoot-outs in Iolani Palace! I guess that means no disco shirts, no million dollar ransoms, or even an atomic bomb in a refrigerator being delivered to Aloha Tower. You will, however, learn more about Steve McGarrett and Danny Williams in the pilot than you learned in the 12 years of the original 5-0 and some of the best dialogue I've ever read in a television script. Of course the sets will be so wonderful, you may not notice what the actors are saying! (guess I'd better say lol in case anyone else reads this)

Aloha, Rick

No News is........well, no news.

2010-05-28T12:21:00.000-07:00

It's been great hearing from lots of people about the pilot being picked up (including 5 former art directors I've worked with), but so far no one has offered me a job yet! There is no "obvious" in this business and I will have to jump through the usual hoops regardless of my previous experience or great job I think we did on the pilot. I was very pleased to see they kept the original opening credits and added a few "C.S.I." grid graphics while boosting the drums a bit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLKdYXyQa90&feature=email Also the trailer looks good as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmbrWOzvJDE

Not getting much publicity yet is the new ABC show called "Off the Map" about the Doctors Without Borders team. I did a couple of episodes dealing with them for "E.R." a few years back. They will be keeping the Hawaii Film Studio since they held the lease from "LOST" for the past 5 years. I suspect it will be your basic jungle clinic and tropical settings--again not "Hawaii." The humanitarian work these people do is amazing and there should be no shortage of exciting, ORIGINAL plots on this one. They shot the pilot already in the Caribbean. Also Steven Spielberg is supposed to be doing some sort of future/past series on the Big Island which probably means lava fields and fern forests and not much set decorating. "Pirates of the Caribbean" (12?) starts filming their water work this summer. Given that it is a franchise film (with major budget cuts) that already has much of their dressing, they are mainly hiring just to assemble and move things. The news makes it sound like there is a lot of work, but again, the reality remains that most of the jobs are filled in L.A. and with the exception of the 2 series, they will be over and gone by the end of summer.

In the old days they used to shoot pilots as MOWs (movies of the week) and air them before decisions were made. Given the expense of shooting a 90 minute or more show, they do the pilot and make an internal decision and just go for it. So you won't be seeing the pilot for 5-0 until it airs this fall on Monday nights with the series to follow. Other than their names and ethnic backgrounds, there is no attempt to replicate Jack Lord's famous rigid hair style. Interestingly though, both characters are of Irish descent. Makes you wonder if they ever revive "Magnum, P.I." if Thomas Magnum would have a moustache? Speaking of descents, I did work for a week on the George Clooney film "Descendants" as a shopper/buyer. No, George and I never had lunch together--in fact I never even met the decorator I was working for! They were all on Kauai filming and I was here taking pictures of potential set dressing and posting them each day. I was already involved in a roof extension project and garage sale when they wanted me back so it just turned out to be the one week.

Hopefully posting some actual (GOOD) news soon!

Aloha, Rick

Thanks for all your emails and comments!

2010-04-09T13:51:00.000-07:00

The production office for the "Hawaii Five-O" pilot shuts down today here and the wait to hear something from CBS begins. Pilots are sort of like a difficult birth with too many doctors in the delivery room. Everyone wants a successful birth, but between trying to use forceps, a knife or just plain PUSH, it's a pretty stressful operation. In fact, the labor pains lasted 3 weeks for a 50 minute pilot! Usually with pilots, the production team put together to do it seldom follows it to series. In fact, there are those who just specialize in doing pilots and often normally do features so the pilot is quite different than doing regular episodic work. They used to do 90 minute pilots that could be shown as a movie of the week (MOW). That way the studio or network could recoup some of their expenses whether the pilot was successful or not. I can't imagine anyone not liking what we did--unless they are expecting a repeat of the 1970's which this version is definitely not.

Haven't heard anything about a Magnum revival of any sort. I didn't know (but not surprised) about a 5-0 website but I made mention there. www.hawaii-five-0-fans.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=205&t=2022

Thanks for all the good wishes and I'll keep you posted.

Aloha, Rick

Even Happier New Year!

2010-02-13T18:12:00.000-08:00

Ok, my thanks to whoever is doing all that praying or whatever on my behalf because it's been working! After being ignored for the decorator job on a surf film about Bethany Hamilton and then turning down a 2 week job as their shopper buyer, I was asked to be the art director for a national Capital One ("What's in your wallet?") commercial with those wild and crazy visigoths. You'll probably be seeing the commercial in a few weeks. I worked 11 days, hired 9 guys, filmed 2 long days for 30 seconds of air time. We were based out of the same hotel as the surf movie and even another Capital One commercial for the Canadian market. It was a completely separate commercial and crew but for the same client. It's funny that several of them said how spoiled TV people were because commercials are so fast paced now. Then TV people think film people are spoiled because TV is so fast paced. Film people think TV people are spoiled because they don't have to worry about all the details of "The Big Screen." My take is to just shut up and do my job.

Right now besides "LOST" there is a George Clooney film, an Adam Sandler film, the surf film, and early rumblings from "Pirates of the Caribbean" filming here this summer and my phone wasn't ringing at all. Then 10 days ago I got a call to interview as Set Decorator for a new pilot for CBS's "Hawaii Five-0" Wow, that will teach me not to believe rumors. Lest you think I was a shoe-in because of my experience here, wrong. It wasn't until I was able to show my work online at www.flickr.com/photos/rick_romer/ that I was seriously considered. Then it took some discussion and another meeting before I was offered the job.

This is just the pilot. It has not been pre-sold or picked up yet--or so we are told. However, the script is absolutely amazing and riveting. Remember, I did another 5-0 pilot in '96 or '97 that never even aired (although it probably did help Gary Busey's career on Celebrity Rehab) so I am cautiously optimistic on this one. Daniel Dae Kim is going right from "LOST" into 5-0 as the character Chin Ho Kelley. Well, if they can revive "Hawaii Five-0" can a revival of "Magnum, P.I." be too far behind? There was only a year between the series after all.

I wasn't going to, but I got talked into seeing "avatar" in 3-D imax. I don't often say OMG, but OMG! I was ducking under those palm fronds in front of me during every chase scene. Nothing stayed inside the screen, it was right in front of me. I decided that it wasn't a film at all. It was an event. I came out of the theatre covered in popcorn and wanting to keep my yellow 3-d glasses on for the rest of my life. Go Blue People!

Well, Aloha from the only state that didn't have snowfall this weekend. I do assume there is snow on top of Mauna Kea, though. You have to drive up 14,000 feet to see it instead of outside in your driveway.

Aloha, Rick

Happy New Decade, Gadgets, Job Hunting

2010-01-06T18:43:00.000-08:00

Welcome to another decade of the Magnum Blog--well, that's Hollywood for less than 1 - 1/2 years, but it IS another decade. Come to think of it, this posting will probably bump the last actual set photo and that wasn't really even from "Magnum" so this is hardly a Magnum blog anymore. I guess if you know to go back to earlier posts you won't be disappointed--I still think there has to be a stash of photos I haven't found. That's what happens when you don't move for 25 years and have "stuff." Maybe that's why my 2 favorite shows are "Hoarding" and "Hoarders" which, of course, I'm not! It is interesting to hear the excuses the people use, however, since I have a tendency to keep objects that have memories attached when the reality is the memory is independent of the object. I haven't actually put that newly arrived at observation to the test in getting rid of anything yet--but it's still early in the decade.........

The COSTCO Santa brought me the new Nikon digital camera I should have asked for years ago when I had more sets to take photos of. Speaking of photos, my flickr page has gone from over 400 views a day to less than 200 views now that the Macy's Christmas tree photos aren't as popular. The 2nd most downloaded photos are from the marijuana greenhouse set we did for "LOST." I don't know if they find it by looking under "marijuana" or under "LOST." It was a pretty accurate depiction, though. (or so I was told)

One of the many anonymous followers asked a question about gadgets in the previous post. I am assuming the reference is to one used on "LOST" since we didn't have GPS back in Magnum days--we had giant surveillance vans and my Amiga computer and once in awhile the data storage room of the JAIMS Center in Hawaii Kai. That was about the extent of the electronic gadgetry which would mostly have been props and not set dressing anyway. In case you haven't heard, "LOST" is going to auction off all the stuff from the show instead of filling up the landfill here where most of the stuff would go if it hadn't been associated with "LOST". Imagine what a broken pair of glasses held together with rubber bands will go for just because they were worn by Sawyer in the series? As with most personal props, there will be several back-ups so they will be sure to make even more money with that show. I would not be surprised if it eventually comes out that it was the most financially successful show (worldwide) in the history of television and that is before the next 20 years of re-runs. I haven't seen it since my "Welcome back, Happy New Year, We love you, You're fired!" talk 3 years ago this week. I wonder if they will finally be battling aliens from outer space in their final season--the only area apparently left untouched after smoke monsters, time travel, and island moving. Meow.

Since 2009 brought me 3 weeks as a backstage dresser on "Mama Mia" and 2 weeks supervising 93 Macy's merchandising Christmas trees, my new (almost) full time job is to find a job to start out this decade. While 2010 is also the 26th consecutive year I have been on unemployment at least part of the time, I would actually like to have a job where I can complain about only having 2 weeks of vacation instead of 20 weeks (or more) of unemployment each year. I am now a "Designer," "Consultant," or "Project Manager" although I'm still pretty good with a bottle of Windex. I'm afraid the "Set Decorator" title got left behind with "Flirting with 40" in May of 2008. Time to move on. And time to go feed the animals......

Aloha,

Rick

P.S. President Obama didn't stop by to view his boyhood mentor's home, but I still had a great Christmas!

Updates, "LOST" Interview, Mele Kalikimaka Time....

2009-12-10T14:25:00.000-08:00

Holiday Greetings 72 Followers and "others"!

I went to our film and video association Christmas party last Saturday night and ran into a lot of people. Since there has been almost no work this year for anyone, "What are you doing" seemed to be the common greeting. I ran into the man who had interviewed me for "LOST" and he has posted it on you tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF-h_t_Or-o (or just put Rick Romer in the search window) I laughed when I saw it again because I couldn't believe some of the things I said. It took the producer 6 months to get permission from "LOST" and he had to submit the questions ahead of time. At least I didn't have to submit my answers ahead of time. Oh well, my 12.5 minutes of fame will live on in cyberspace. I got a lot of strange looks from people at the party while having a glass of wine with the co-executive producer on "LOST," Jean Higgins. It's been 3 years since they dumped me and living on a 40 x 60 mile island does make carrying grudges difficult. The reality is that she is still the most knowledgeable film person I've ever met and I will probably get more Christmas cards that she does. Ultimately, I doubt I will ever know the reason behind my dismissal.

Yahoo!'s flickr gives me daily accounts of each picture viewed and a 28 day viewing graph for the totals. There were over 12,000 views the first month and I average about 400 a day! The views seem to be more seasonal than career related, however. My thanksgiving table has now been surpassed by Macy's Christmas trees as the most popular views of my 30 year career! I recently helped a woman by putting in the lights for all of the Hilton Hawaiian Village trees and managed to cram 4,300 lights in their main tree alone. Against my advice, the hotel workers plugged it into the overhead chandelier which promptly blew out. The chandelier is so big that a worker climbed inside it to drop the cable down to the tree from a new circuit they ran. Unfortunately he used 14 gauge Romex wire instead of 12 and the load kept tripping the plugging strip because it was carrying too high a load. It was nice not to have to be in charge on that job and just put in the lights. Now I'm doing my own Christmas stuff--which I swear I just put away.

The Hawaii Film Office didn't quite shut down. They did fire the director and all of the staff except for one--not unlike chopping off all your fingers except for one. The former Maui film commissioner (each island/county also has a commissioner) is the head of the division that is above the State Film Office so she has been asked to fill in. I tried calling her yesterday and her cell phone message bank was full and she hasn't answered my email all week so I think she may really be swamped. Not a surprise. (UPDATE: She did call, did come over for my Christmas party, and yes, she IS swamped--but they are handling all film permit requests!)

Lately I've heard more rumors of the "5-0" film than the "Magnum" one. I wouldn't put any money on either one right now. George Clooney is going to do a feature here starting next month. The decorator will, of course, being in his/her entire crew and even the job of shopper/buyer will be going to someone else here locally. The politics involved in giving out the local job calls take precedent over actual experience, ability, or the full page ad I have in the Media Index Guide. Their loss--my unemployment extension (again) kicks in next week.

Maybe a little unrealistic of me, but I invited President Obama to visit his boyhood mentor's home (just happens to be the one I live in) when he spends Christmas here later this month. I doubt that it will happen since the mentor is a pretty controversial figure. I know he lived in my house because of the address in his FBI files! Still, if he and Michelle want to pop over one night with 10-12 secret service guys, I could whip up some egg nog or something.

Well, nothing really "Magnum" related to report--in fact, nothing even Set Decorator related to report either! Maybe I should just change the title of this blog so I can ramble more about my exciting life??!!

In case nothing more exciting does happen in the next 2 weeks to report, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season! On the other hand, if I have a picture of me and the President standing in front of my fireplace to post, I will!

Mele Kalikimaka and Hauole Makahiki Hou,

Rick Romer

See Post from May 10 about Omega Station - Interesting new comment

2009-11-03T13:20:00.000-08:00

Post Halloween Greetings!

I receive an email when someone posts a comment (which is something I think you can sign up for). Anyway, I just received an interesting comment from the May 10, 2009 post about the Omega Station from someone who was still working there when it closed. I thought it had actually closed earlier than 1997.

His comment brings up an interesting thought. With technology changing so quickly in the past decade or so, data storage space getting smaller and smaller, digital having replaced analog, etc., how much of this former technology is actually being saved or preserved? I realize there are at least 2 schools of thought on the practicality and purpose for saving anything outdated--those for and those against! As a set decorator we always have a problem with both current "high tech" as well as retro-outdated technology. Wanting current high tech means it is most likely being used which means having 100 film technicians around tends to be a bit disruptive. On very RARE occasions they used to let us film inside the FAA headquarters inside Diamond Head Crater (now moved) which looked like a James Bond film set with all the radar screens and scopes glowing in the distance. We sometimes filmed a Magnum episode at this high tech Japanese / American business place that had those old giant reel-to-reel tape storage machines the size of a refrigerator. Those old giant machines with all the dials and switches and red lights made for great background set dressing. It wasn't even all that difficult to rig something up with parts from Radioshack and some stainless steel Formica back then.

Set Dressing would also get stuck with surveillance van interiors as well. You know, giant reel to reel tape decks, mixers, amps, dangling wires, headphones, clip boards and coffee mugs that barely fit into a large milk truck. I think the last time I was asked to do one I said, I hate to tell you but an entire surveillance van would now fit into a briefcase--that's how long ago that was. Today, it would probably fit into an i-pod along WITH the i-pod. Now in the films and CSI shows, they seem to use a lot of plexiglass and projections and strange colored lights in the background as an attempt to make up for the formerly clunky hardware that actually did something in the background other than glow mysteriously or flash strange computer generated charts and graphs.

The bigger problem is finding the old technology when you want it now--particularly in Hawaii where we don't have basements or old warehouses to store things, but do have salt air and rust. There are a couple of prop houses in L.A. that carry some of the old technology items for retro sets, but as a society, we generally embrace the trend towards miniaturization and advanced technology. Even the collection of 78's I have are waiting to go onto cd's so I can get rid of the records. Given that my last Cuisinart coffee maker only lasted 3 years, the new one broke after 3 weeks and I am about to buy my 2nd weed wacker this year, it's probably good that we keep moving forward since so much of the craftsmanship now doesn't allow for much permanence anyway. Anyone remember having to go to the drug store to test a tube from the TV or radio that had already lasted more than a decade?

So just some ramblings about technology sets. I haven't posted on my flickr site for awhile, but I got carried away with visitors and Halloween and looking for work.

Aloha, Rick

Answer to Question, Ebay Item, More on Flickr......stuff!

2009-10-17T19:00:00.000-07:00

I did post an item on ebay (ending tomorrow) that is related to Magnum. It's a framed print that Archie Bacon, the show's art director for many years, gave me. I used it in that episode of Paniolo, but I can't find it in a photo. Anyway, it's never really had a home since I haven't had an office in 3 years so I thought it could go to a better one. Someone from Austria has asked about shipping--which I haven't looked up yet. Actually, it's virtually impossible to tell exact shipping on something that's larger than 14" because of all that "dimensional weight" stuff now and then even more complicated with the foreign aspect. I know about 5 years ago it was $60 to send a similarly sized item to England so I would guess foreign shipping is going to be at least $100 now. Just come on over and pick it up! I went to the official opening of what is now being called "Barbarian Princess" last night at the Hawaii Theatre. It's the first film ever done about the Hawaiian monarchy or the overthrow of it. From my standpoint, it is also the first and last Victorian period film done here since there is no longer any large source for antique items here without shipping them in. There are various Hawaiian groups who have been objecting to the use of the term "Barbarian" in reference to Princess Ka'iulani. Just about everyone watching the movie last night changed their mind if they hadn't already understood that the barbarian reference was from opposition newspaper items of the time who sought to discredit the monarchy during the overthrow in 1893. I spent a couple of days doing a photo display of the sets and some of the crew during filming for the theatre lobby. Considering they premiered it on Princess Ka'iulani's birthday you think they might have done something a little more. Anyway, it sold out and they are already on their 3rd showing as part of the Hawaii International Film Festival. Unfortunately the film remains unsold and undistributed so don't look for it at your neighborhood 20-plex any time soon.

I went ahead and put in some photos of Princess Ka'iulani in with the set photos as a way of showing her "non-barbarian" aspects and the fact that the movie does certainly honor her. I didn't see any protesters last night, but there were enough police around to have intimidated anyone to not even jaywalk--a $120 fine btw. Someone did ask a question after the movie about when were they doing to drop the "Barbarian" from the title and the director gave a great response and the audience cheered him so I think the title is here to stay.

Mike's question is the first comment under the last post about changes in set decorating now with HD and DVD availability. I know I've covered this topic before because I did at one point compare doing Magnum with LOST and the "scrutiny" aspects made possible today with DVD stop action and enlargement certainly do contribute to the detail that decorators go to now. However, I just happened to catch the last half of the 1960's "Time Machine" that was on this morning on TCM. I remembered seeing that when I was a kid and thought it was such an amazing film. What I saw today looked like some cheesey amateur production of a low budget student film! I didn't have to stop any action or enlarge anything to make that determination. This was a full on Disney (I think) feature film release when it came out in the 60's and yet today it wouldn't fly with any 8 year old. A lot of it is that we have also become more sophisticated as a society and the level of visual sophistication has increased as well. Many of the big "spectacle" films of the 50's and 60's look pretty tame now compared to when we so impressed when Moses parted the Red Sea (film shown backwards). Some things hold up--"The Birds" come to mind. However, Alfred Hitchcock was aware that our own minds could create better horror than he could on the screen so many of his "effects" were created in our own minds--like when Janet Leigh took her shower with Hershey's chocolate syrup in "Psycho." Today they have to show the steel knife blade ripping the flesh and red blood squirting out of an artery before anyone is shocked--especially an 8 year old! So I think the increase in set dressing details today has as much to do with technology (and the ability to scrutinize) as it does with our expectations as viewers. It certainly doesn't have anything to do with larger budgets!!!

Aloha, Rick

I continue to post more photos each day on my career pics http://www.flickr.com/photos/rick_romer

Locations and Higgins' Den Questions Answered

2009-10-13T11:35:00.000-07:00

Mike and Susie have both asked separate questions under the previous posts which I will attempt to answer here.

First, I have been posting a lot more career photos on my flickr site http://www.flickr.com/photos/rick_romer/ The photo editing tools are great and I'm getting pretty fast at fixing and loading the photos but I still have a couple hundred to go so check back from time to time! Deciding on categories is the hardest part so I've been using a lot of key word tags. They are also showing up in google now under my name. As impressed as I am with what we were able to do here in Hawaii over years past, I am also saddened that most of those sets could not be done today because we have lost so many of those sources. Well, at least they will live on in cyberspace for awhile!

I heard via a non-LOST source that they are going to auction off items at the end. Very smart if that is true since $10 lamps I bought at the Salvation Army that would normally have gone into a dumpster will probably bring hundreds since they were used in Hurley's House. Instead of paying for dumpsters, they can make tens of thousands. Those lamps were really ugly, though!

Mike asked about the"valuable" ivory tusk on the bookshelf in Higgins' den--see his photo link in the previous post comment. Well, that ivory tusk is a valuable as all of the small green jade carvings that were also in his den! Genuine plastic! It's all about location, location, location. Put something on a pedestal or put a picture light over a painting or on a bookshelf in an estate set and presto it's ivory and jade! Looking at the photo of the den set and then looking at a photo of Jack's father's den set on LOST yesterday when I got another call: "Where did you get his desk?" really reminds me of how standards have changed in set dressing. The sophistication and layers and detail in sets today compared to 30 years ago is amazing. People are more consumer aware, have seen more / sophisticated, and have TV sets with larger size and clarity. Although the plastic tusk and figurines would still look good today! Those 2 ordinary looking bronze-like vases on the mantel are actually old Chinese gourds that were grown inside a mold and then hand painted.

I'm not sure I understood Susie's question about locations and elements in her comment 2 posts ago. Unfortunately I never really used tag labels for these posts so I could just put in "locations" and go back and see what I've said in other previous posts. I know I did discuss the perils of using your own home as a film location (another bubble burst!). But here are some more observations regarding locations and set dressing:

DISTANT LOCATIONS: If you're going to be dressing sets a long ways away from your normal, resident studio location (anywhere from 50 miles to another state), there is that tendency to want to take everything with you. I've seen many a container of set dressing arrive from L.A. between features from "The Brady Bunch" to Bruce Willis epics "just in case" the decorator might need them. In the case of the Brady Bunch, the decorator used more of the things I helped him find here than were shipped over which made me feel good. The decorator on the Bruce Willis epic had a budget that allowed him to practically empty every L.A. prop house of all gilt furniture, chandeliers, and expensive looking items involving a dozen containers or more. I was only worthy of being a laborer to unload them, so I know first hand! Ironically, even though most of the items weren't used in the Nigerian presidential palace set, the ones that were used were never seen since the entire set (the first 20 minutes of the film) were cut out since Mr. Willis wasn't in any of the scenes. That meant no one even saw the 240 shades I put on the light bulbs of the 5' high chandeliers that the bad guys ran by once.

So, way distant locations do represent a challenge even when you do have the money. Having basic supplies, a resourceful crew, common sense and checking out the location ahead of time for sources is always best. Being able to knock on a stranger's door and politely asking to rent their dining room set is also a good skill to have.

LOCATION SETS: that allow normal access to familiar sources are less of a problem. Private homes present the biggest challenge--particularly if the family is living there and a full redress is required. Knowing the abuse than can happen when a film company is there (and you're not) should be a consideration when deciding to use the owner's furniture or objects as key pieces. As cool as it is to be able to say to your friends, "Meryl Streep sat right here on my sofa!", you might instead be pointing out the stain that someone made on it when something leaked or the damage that was done when something fell. The good news is that any reputable company would have purchased a new sofa--assuming it was replaceable. I always prefer a blank slate if there is to be a lot of filming done inside someone's home especially if they are "virgins." There are some homes who rent out often enough that know the pitfalls and aren't overly worried. There are also those nightmare locations that begin with the owner saying to us "No one told us you were going to take out all our furniture and crash a car through the picture window" and the location manager's cell phone is conveniently out of range in the jungle somewhere. Set dressers are the first to arrive and the last to leave. We discretely advise that perhaps their collection of porn we find under the bed might be better off elsewhere or also not mention the bug and rodent graveyard under their sectional after we move it for the first time in 3 years. This is why having an experienced crew is so important. As the set dressing crew is also responsible for restoring afterwards, it's always handy to have at least a location assistant at the site. We are blamed for all sorts of scrapes, and dings, and chips that may or may not have been caused by our film company. In many cases, replacing food in an unplugged (because of sound) refrigerator or finding broken window glass behind the drapes get dumped on the poor guys who are just trying to put the furniture back in the room.

STUDIO SETS: Permanent Sets - Swing Sets Permanent sets on a soundstage are set dressers best friends. Other than basic maintenance and restoring after shooting, all we do is cover and uncover them. The more permanent sets the better. In case of rain, sickness, script problems, these sets are just sitting there waiting to be filmed. There may be a lot of pain and angst creating them in the first place, but they can last for years and leave time for other sets. Magnum was really great for that reason. Even when other temporary sets were added, the style of the permanent sets was so strong that it was easy just to plug into that look.

Technically there can be swing sets that are "permanent" in that they are taken down when not in use and then set up again if used infrequently. Even Rick's bar set was considered a swing location set as it always required dressing at the beach location. Swing sets can just be new sets that are created in space on the soundstage for the particular episode--sometimes even inside permanent sets. We frequently did that once the large living room set was built and often incorporated actual walls from the permanent set.

Well, that's enough rambling on a question I'm not sure I even understood!

The "Cooler Kings" pilot that was supposed to be prepping this month seems to have cooled and another project may be taking its place. Funny how "The Circle of Life" from "Lion King" just popped into my head. Maybe because 2 years ago I was halfway through being the lead male dresser for 99 performances--or maybe because the projects just keep almost coming and then fade away?

Aloha, Rick

I'm on flickr!

2009-10-09T18:19:00.000-07:00

It takes awhile, but my career photos are now showing up on flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/rick_romer/ It's sort of a poor man's website, but it's about time I started putting my stuff online. I made a mistake making my categories too specific and too small. There doesn't seem to be any way to change or regroup them now. I'm making the group categories larger now. I've been listing them by kinds of sets rather than by specific projects and then using tags to allow you to find specific projects. I have a TV next to my computer that helps break the monotony--although watching 3 Esther Williams movies in a row on TCM was a bit much.

I haven't gotten to any Magnum photos yet. They are going to premier what is now being called "Barbarian Princess" at the Hawaii Theatre next week so I'm still putting up those photos. I didn't realize I was making the photos too small so I did go back and change some. Flickr has a great editing too so I can fix the photos before posting. This is sounding like a commercial. Well, it's something until I get a real website going.

Aloha, Rick

What I Ate For Breakfast......

2009-10-02T13:18:00.000-07:00

Has it come to this? Is this going to become one of those blogs where I post what I ate for breakfast and then people comment "mmmmm, yummy"? Well, I hope not! It's just that I have basically mined my mind of Magnum memories with 25 years having passed since I was in my 2nd season on the show. Most of the questions that have been emailed to me recently involved watches, rings, sunglasses used on the show. Those all fall into props and outside my area as the Set Decorator. So I don't really have anything new or even old to add to my working on the show that hasn't been written about somewhere in this blog. Of course, pertinent questions about the show are always welcome. Do I also need to mention again I don't have anything from the show left, Eve is not giving tours, and there is no secret stash of Magnum furniture?

News from the home front includes the Governor deciding to completely eliminate the Hawaii State Film Office at the end of the month! It's absurdity rivals the city building its billion dollar monorail that doesn't go anywhere. With tourism listed as our major "industry" in a year of cutbacks everywhere, it is expected the State is looking to save money. Our already poor public education system (with the highest percentage of students attending private schools in the nation) is furloughing teachers, programs being cut, and others being planned. Eliminating a proven money making department that has made getting permits easier and solving problems before they arise is unfortunate. The State also all but eliminated the film tax credit which was directly responsible for the work I had in 2008 in a double blow to the industry. While the film / TV industry isn't tied directly to the economy in general, investment in the business is. Given the lack of government support of the industry here, the plantation mentality of the legislature, the bad economy and the false belief that all the good workers are on "LOST", there does not appear there will be any work until mid 2010. Currently there is another Lifetime film going on but the Jerry Bruckheimer pilot has been postponed again. I'm not sure there could be any more nails in this coffin right now. I guess if professional mourners were paid, I might consider continuing to wait for the phone to ring. The reality is that I have had some success in other areas and I'm continuing to pursue work in them for now.

I hope that within a week or so I will have most of my past work online. Until I can get rickromer.com up and running, I think doing flickr albums of my photos is a good start. Working in a field where photos are the only evidence of my work sometimes makes it more difficult to convince others how good I am! Present tense, of course.

So I'm not sure if this really counts as a posting or just a rant? If neither works for you, I did enjoy a bowl of granola, a mug of coffee and a glass of carrot juice. Mmmmm, yummy!

I'm Still Here!

2009-07-27T00:50:00.000-07:00

Ironically, not posting for a month I had 3 new followers sign up! I wrote an article about this blog for the Hawaii Film and Video Magazine (www.hawaiifilmandvideo.com) and I was quoted in our local union newsletter so this probably wasn't a good time not to post anything for a month. However, any new viewers have a lot of catching up to do so this posting if really for you regulars.

The big news is that I am just about done with scanning hundreds of set photos on most of the projects I have done here and in L.A.--theatre, special events, as well as film and television. Ultimately these will wind up on rickromer.com which I now own--at least for a couple of years anyway. In the meantime, my work may just wind up on another blog or picasa web album. I need to do something to get my work and experience out there. The 3 categories will be Special Events, Theatre / Stage, and then TV / Film Design Projects. There's really nothing I can do about getting film or TV work here--particularly when there isn't any. Ok, I did just turn down being the production designer for an independent film project about skateboarding for $10 an hour (flat rate for everyone). This was actually a union job that is a new, extra, ultra low rate for low budget films. Given that I would have to pay someone else $40 an hour to do the construction I am doing on my house--even unemployment pays better than $10 an hour. I know, "do it for art", well, I'll save that for someone who needs the experience (and the abuse).

Speaking of abuse, this photo is from an African bar set. It's either from "E.R." or "LOST" that I did at Kualoa Ranch a few years ago. The rattan bar stools are from Rick's bar set and the round table was the one in Higgin's den. There might even be a couple of "Hawaii 5-0" things (the wooden beaded curtain for sure) and I know there are some "Baywatch Hawaii" pieces as well. Most of these things were in storage at the State's Hawaii Film Studio and available for rent. I'm probably the only person who remembers their origins. I just wanted to show you that the few abused Magnum things that have survived the termites, purges, and thefts are either very obscure or virtually unrecognizable. Even without termites, most of us aren't going to stay the same 25 years later either.

Our really wonderful film commissioner, Donnie Dawson, had her photo (more like a mugshot) on the front page of the Honolulu Advertiser as one of the hundreds of people whose job may be up due to budget cuts. There is an attitude among many of the plantation mentality legislators here that we don't need to do anything to encourage film or TV work in Hawaii--that it will always come here anyway. I guess they don't know that Canada and Australia will give you back a major portion of your expenses as a rebate if you film in their country and many other states will give you major tax or facility benefits. Ok, pardon my political frustration, but I am working very hard on getting a job that actually gives back some creative satisfaction and not what is happening to the film / TV industry.

And last but not least, to answer Susie's question regarding my watching the show, watching to see how things looked when it aired was a little late. I mean, what could I do about it after 20 million other people had seen it? What I mainly watched the show for was to see what they did actually show (or not) so I could use the item(s) again. I do remember once watching a show and noticing that the color orange really jumped off the screen so I normally avoided it--it used to be an "in" color. Also, something I learned and continue to do: use dark books in dark bookcases and light books in light bookcases! Doing otherwise makes the contrast really jump out. As far as the treehouse goes, I don't remember the treehouse, but it would have been built by the construction department and I probably wouldn't have had anything in it anyway. I was much happier talking with Gwen Verdon.

Again, many thanks for your encouraging comments. I'll let you know when I get my career photos up and running! Maybe some day my career will do the same.

Aloha, Rick

Never Discussed New Magnum Topic......... SCRIPTS!

2009-06-25T12:20:00.000-07:00

Thanks to another excellent email question from Alexandre of Normandy who always has good questions even if I can't always understand his English! I've never really talked about Magnum scripts before--or any scripts for that matter.

Of all the creative areas such as music, painting, architecture, etc. writing / scripts are probably the most abused art form! A lot of people don't realize that when a person creates a story in a script, it's not "chiseled in stone." Is there such a thing as written on water? Basically once a script is sold to a company, it becomes the property of that company and the scriptwriter is paid like when you pay Home Depot for a sheet of plywood. Home Depot doesn't have any say in what you do to their former property. You take the plywood home and cut it up into pieces to make it work for you. Well, they do the same thing with a script--only there are lots of carpenters doing the cutting: The director cuts, changes, rewrites according to his/her "vision," the producer changes the script for image, liability or just because they can, and finally the actor changes the script because "My character would never say that line!" The script could even be changed because the right location couldn't be found, the weather changed, or the time of day changed. So you have a creative work that has many hands molding it. Most people wouldn't think of adding another palm tree to a painting or tell a composer to change the key to B-flat, but scripts seem to be fair game for a lot of input. That said, you can't do without them!

In episodic TV (like Magnum), right about the time you start filming an episode, a new script arrives in your box. Given that you are up to your neck with the current show, there is a real temptation to just leave the script where it is for awhile. However, it's not going to go away so it's in your best interest to read it asap for any possible "Are they out of their minds??!!" problems waiting and to give a heads up if you see an advance problem for your department. On Magnum there were some directors where I automatically doubled my budget regardless of the script requirements!

Before you even finish the new script, colored pages will appear in your box again--these are revisions. I forget the color sequence they have for 1st revision, 2nd revision, 3rd, 4th, etc. but it's something like blue pages, pink pages, green pages, yellow pages--whatever. Sometimes they will just say "Pinks are out" (which means they're in!) and that means more revisions. Sometimes these revisions are dialogue and they have changed "I can't go now." to "I can't go there now." This generates a new script cover sheet, contents sheet, and then the actual page with the dialogue change--and another tree gives its life for this valuable contribution to society. Of course they don't tell you what the actual changes are (you have to read them), but 95% of the time, it didn't affect me. In the pre-cell phone (pager only dark ages), I was once stuck in rush hour traffic on a freeway in L.A. My pager went off with the production office number and the dreaded "911" following. Fearing an emergency, I got off the freeway in a not so good area, found a pay phone, realized I was standing in a puddle of urine, called the production office only to find out that they had put "green pages" in my box! I needed to know this NOW??? This is why P.A.'s (production assistants) are sometimes found wearing concrete shoes and not on land. So as each new color comes out, you dutifully take your old pages out and put your new pages in your 3 ring binder. Then they will issue a new, revised entire script and you start all over again with more revisions. I think we're up to losing a forest by now! It's very embarrassing to be at production meeting where we PAINFULLY go through the entire script page by page (while your entire crew is waiting for you to dress a set at a distant location) and discover while everyone else has turned to their blue page, you are still have the old pink page and obviously not with the program. Wow, I am getting pretty detailed with all this! Moving on...........

On most shows, the scripts arrive mysteriously from a mainland production office--by mail or eventually fax on Magnum--by the internet now. However, Magnum was blessed with having a resident writer / story editor / eternally nice person named Chris Abbott-Fish. (I think the Fish name has since swum away). She wrote several scripts and rewrote others in residence at the studio. If there was ever a problem with a script, it could be handled (usually) quickly in house. I always enjoyed our infrequent meetings, but if anyone ever had a smile on their face at that studio it was her.

While I have no script writer inclinations or experience--there is a sort of template they stick to. God knows I could never stick to any formula the way I go on and on. There are things like "conflict" and "resolution" and other standard items that need to happen between commercial breaks. This is nothing new. I remember in college studying Greek drama and the professor used "Bonanza" as an example of Greek tragedy. When he broke it down into protagonist and antagonist and the other aspects of Greek theatre that I have since forgotten, there is a formula that is followed to some degree. Obviously you have to be a good writer to make it original, unique and interesting. Of course a few "f-words" and a couple of car explosions with really loud dialogue seems to help. Yeah, I know.........

So while we were shooting a current script, the next script would come out--it would be rare to have a 3rd one at the same time. Sometimes if there was a really difficult one, there might be a partial script, but rarely. Casting or production obviously had scripts before the worker bees got them. We would be too busy prepping the next episode to be able to deal with more than one ahead anyway. Each script had a cover sheet with all the usual info: writer, producer, director, production company, name episode number, dates, warnings, etc. Each script page would have the scene number on the left and ride side of the page and the page number at the top right corner. Basic action comments HE HOLDS UP HIS HAT or camera CLOSE UP ON HAND or location / time EXT. SURF SHACK - LATER are indicated along with the actual dialogue. A MOW (movie of the week) script is about 100 pages. An episodic TV script is around 60 pages. You hear "page count" as a reference to how many pages are supposed to be shot that day. If you have a 64 page, 1 hour script with an 8 day schedule, you better be shooting 8 pages a day. That's a lot for a 12 hour day and you better not have any company moves within that day. So you might have a 6 page day or an 8 page day depending on what they are filming. Some pages can go to 2nd unit. That means an entirely different and smaller film crew will go out and film the Ferrari driving up to the Kamehameha Club with a stand-in driving. Or a close-up of the bad guys shoes climbing the stairs (also a stand in) or the car crash, etc. Basically any photography not involving principal actors--or at least it's not supposed to be (but often is).

Feature films might only do 2 or 3 pages a day and have a 150 page script. And you wonder why you pay $10 to see a crappy movie? It's not all going to Nicole. A TV show with lot of permanent sets can go faster--the lights may already be in place and it's a routine for the actors. TV sitcoms with only 1 or 2 sets often do a taping in one night in front of a live audience--or at least they used to. These are sometimes called "3 camera shows" where they might actually be using 3 cameras at the same time--a wide shot "master," a close up, and maybe a side shot or a "2 shot." Obviously nothing is live / "one take" anymore so even if they mess up in front of an actual studio audience, they can always do another take or two and still finish on time more or less.

Ok, drifting off of scripts now so I guess it's time to close another time busting block buster of a blog post that sort of had something to do with "Magnum, P.I."!

Aloha, Rick

P.S. Keep in mind that a "One Hour" script is really only about 50 minutes or even less for commercials. As was once said to me, "TV shows are the filler between commercials." That reminds of of a t-shirt I never wore to work: "Theatre is Art. Television is Furniture" Well, that was before the digital era so I may have to draw you a picture to explain.

Stage Design and Production Design without Intermission (sorry. it's another 5 acts!)

2009-06-19T02:41:00.000-07:00

Hey, just because there weren't any pictures to go with the Sharon Stone Shower Scene Posting.......well, never mind. The second part of Susie's question involved set decorating and stage design. I did cover some of this earlier in my blog, but I do have another take on it.

I knew I wanted to be a stage and lighting designer while I was still in high school. I actually made my first prop when I was 12 and my older sister played the part of a maid in the senior class play. Our school auditorium was built in 1920 with old lumber and mining money and rivaled any movie palace complete with 1425 seats, intricate plasterwork, huge chandeliers, and a large fly system. I was always building things like a guillotine for Halloween that scared so many kids away my mom got mad at me. I had little or no encouragement with these projects until my drama teacher encouraged me to leave for the University of Minnesota--which I did 12 hours after graduating from high school. My joke was there wasn't an earlier bus. Basically, there is a path for lighting and set design in the theatre through college. Learning construction techniques, painting, sewing and even courses in make-up, fencing, history,theory and all sorts of background courses gives a basic and fundamental background for design. Adding art and architectural history and college is a way to learn the basics. However, there is no substitute for the actual DOING.

The same is true, of course, in film design. While I've never actually had a film class, there are obviously film schools--but they are more devoted to the making of films, directing, editing and basic production techniques. I doubt that there would be a degree in production design or set decorating or being a gaffer or grip. Film and TV work is more based on "doing" than learning methodology, history, etc. There is actually a hierarchy in most departments to begin in a lower capacity and work your way up. I think you will find that most decorators or designers have had some sort of design background training either in the academic or professional world.

Ironically after putting myself through 7 years of college primarily by being an outside designer, no one has ever asked me if I'd graduated from high school.

Personally I think it would be very difficult for someone who hasn't been trained in stage design and certainly in lighting design to function on any higher level of design for the theatre. Yes there are famous artists like David Hockney doing things like faxing thousands of sheets of paper that are then assembled into "art backdrops" for opera, but this isn't practical for most stage productions. There is a certain "design vocabulary" that is involved with stage design that doesn't really exist in production design. A VERY large percentage of film and TV design are based on duplicating a modern (or period) realistic set. Yes, there is creativity, yes the set can say something about the character, but most of the looks you see are realistic and contemporary or sometimes realistic and period. Yes, there are exceptions, but they are the minority by far.

I went to dinner one night here with the production designer of the Flintstone movie. He had to design the silverware, housing, cars, and basically everything to fit the "prehistoric" look of the movie. This concept is very rare and unique in the business and he was nominated for an Academy Award for his creativity. So was "The Madness of King George" that year--and it won the award. The joke was that all that the "George" designer had to do was take down the rest room signs at Windsor Castle and collect his award! I'm sure he probably had to do a little more than that, but certainly nowhere near the creativity and uniqueness that went into the Flintstones--which brings me to a somewhat controversial topic.

In general, there is the feeling that theatre "stage sets" are more flimsy, phony, and "artistic" and somewhat looked down on by film/TV designers. Stage sets are seen from a distance, look fake, are less detailed and are not really taken seriously. In defense of that misconception, stage sets often have to last for years and certainly for months at a time. Film/TV sets often only last a matter of hours and can be just as phony--but look "real" and have Will Smith or Jennifer Aniston in front of them. Personally, I always felt that this "competition" or attitude of superiority was ridiculous. The two art forms are very different and no different than an apple looking down on an orange--yet it is still there and exists. I referred earlier in a posting to the "secret society" of theatre people who work within the film industry. In my observation, a film/TV person would certainly boast of their "famous" background in that industry if working in a theatre environment, but a stage designer would not do the same in the film industry. Obviously there are exceptions, but I know for a fact that one of the designers on "That Show I Can't Talk About" had his stage background held against him. I certainly never mentioned mine. So basically it would be much easier for a stage designer to become a set decorator or production designer than the reverse. It is much easier for a well connected production designer with little talent to surround themselves with a team of talented art directors, set designers, and assistants along with a talented set decorator and become "famous" for their big features. I know of this personally. However, you better know what you are doing when working in the theatre 'cause it's just going to be you for the most part.

As a final note to this PhD thesis, the trend more and more in professional theatre design is toward "engineered design" than the more traditional design forms. If you have seen any broadway shows or the larger touring productions, it's becoming more about turntables, lifts, cantilevers, mechanics, and special effects that will "wow" and justify your $120 ticket.

Even within my career as a stage designer you can see the range of design in that medium. The 2nd show I did (and first musical) for the last theatre I worked for as resident designer was for "Follies." It was a fantasy plot about some old vaudevillians who meet the night before their old theatre was about to be torn down and relive their past lives, loves, and performances. It was a chance to create the crumbling theatre proscenium of an earlier time and use some traditional design forms like "drop and wings" in "Loveland" If you look closely that the raised relief design around the proscenium you will notice some clothes hanger shapes. That's because they ARE decorative clothes hangers that literally fell off a truck on the freeway. The truck kept going, but I stopped, risked my life, and picked them up--and there they are!

The last show I did before leaving the theatre to work on "Magnum, P.I." was "Deathtrap." You can see the difference in design, realism, and details with all of the set pieces. I personally carved the fireplace and most of the beams in styrofoam, did all of the scene painting, found all of the set dressing items, and was also the lighting designer (and set designer, of course). To be honest, working on "Magnum" was a big step down in the creative design department, but a major increase in the paycheck department. That's life.........

Aloha, Rick

P.S. The woman in the black pant suit lower right was Sue Gerben, the mother of Kevin McCollum who went on to produce rent and other Broadway hits. She knew she had cancer and went off to Paris to die. Kevin was 8 years old. If I'd never met the guy next to her, Wally White assistant to Buck Henshaw, I would never have worked on Magnum.

Steamy Shower Scenes w/ Sharon Stone........

2009-06-16T17:19:00.000-07:00

Pretty good headline! This is actually a Susie from Canada question in the previous comment about filming shower scenes. She also asked another good question and I will post some pictures with that answer soon.

Shower scenes are always tricky for various reasons: It has to look like a real shower, there has to be room for a camera, the water has to be real, the actor(s) have to look like they are naked, the faucets, shower head, and sometimes even the drain all have to look like they work and last but not least in black and white the chocolate syrup has to look like blood! Well, only in Hitchcock's "Psycho" for the chocolate sauce part.

So the actual construction can be of the masonite shower board, plastic tile or actual ceramic tile. Unless it is a large shower or unless it's just an overhead shot, or something close enough that can be done with the shower door open, one (or more) of the walls have to be wild to see what's going on--or not as the case may be! 99.9% of the time the actor(s) are not really naked. Sometimes uninhibited women will go topless. Onetime on "Mighty Joe Young" Charlene Theron lifted up her t-shirt at lunch, but that has nothing to do with shower scenes. In the case of actual (or partial) nudity, all non-necessary people are cleared from the set. That's called a "closed" set and only the actual cameraman, director, and sound people might be there. I did the last season of "Dante's Cove" a couple of years ago and there were lots of "closed sets" even though everything was "simulated" and the actors were wearing socks that weren't on their feet..........lol

The running water, drainage, and steam are all controlled by special effects--even the heating of the water. The actor might turn the faucet which may or not actually control the water flow depending on what the scene is. The actual purchase of the faucets and shower head (as well as the other bathroom fixtures such as towel bars) are all set dressing. Sometimes special effects or the art department construction might install them--sometimes set dressing will and special effects will then hook them up. There are fog / water filters for the camera--although sometimes the fog is desirable for concealment purposes! Showers have to be built up unless the stage has a drain or pit for the water to drain. It's similar when a sink is also used, but with obvious less complications. So the next time you see an actor turn on the water on a set or take a shower, you'll know there is a lot more work involved.

Next week we'll continue our plumbing discussion with staged toilet simulations. (no we won't!)

Aloha, Rick

Exterior Sets

2009-06-12T17:32:00.000-07:00

Did you know that 95% of all blogs are abandoned ? I just read that in the paper. I'll try not to let that happen to this one! Mike and Marco have asked about other shows and exterior sets so I can certainly ramble on about that subject. I have been working a lot on my house again. No, it's not San Simeon, but ever here of Mrs. Winchester? Well, meet Mr, Winchester!

A lot of people don't realize that Set Decorators also deal with a lot of exterior items as well. Greens still does plants, trees (real and fake). Sometimes they will wrap "tree skins" around telephone poles or street / stop lights to cover them up if it is a period show and they would be inappropriate. Set dressing might include mail boxes or even parking meters besides the obvious park benches or even magazine stands, newspaper boxes, and fire hydrants--noe working, of course. Any signs are always the Art Department. One time I called the Chicago police department to ask what color their street signs were because I was the designer on a show that was supposed to take place in Chicago and we had to cover up the Hawaiian names on the street signs downtown. It is not uncommon for the director to order street signs cut off if they are in the way and be welded back later. I don't know how much trouble they might get in for that or if anyone even notices the weld later.

Set dressing also covers garbage and dumpsters. One time we were doing an alley set (I think it was Magnum) and we had bags and boxes of garbage all over. Well, a trash company came along and picked up half our "set" before we noticed! We were dressing the day before shooting so there was no reason not to think our garbage wasn't real--instead of "reel." There was some actual dumpster diving that day. We always had to have security on those kinds of sets all night.

One of the most amazing exterior stories popped into my head when I was thinking about this. When we did the pilot for LOST, they shipped a real plane over on barges that had been cut up in one of those airplane graveyards they have out in some desert. We did the main crash site on a beach with very little depth. In fact, the actual road went right through the set and we covered it with sand. They would have to hold traffic whenever we filmed. Of course the cars would drive slowly because they thought it was a real plane crash. No one had ever heard of LOST or knew anything about it so there weren't really many people that interested. When the pilot ended, the entire plane and parts had to be taken off the beach as the permit only allowed them to leave it for filming the pilot. It was stored at a nearby small airport. When the show was picked up, they re-erected the plane a little further away with a little more depth to the beach and allowed the road to go through without covering it with sand. The plane and the pieces were again set up. The BIG no-no with the state and all the environmental people was that NO plane parts could wind up in the ocean. We eliminated a lot of the insulation parts and other things that might blow in the water anyway.

So when the actual show started filming, the pilot still hadn't aired and no one knew anything (or cared) about the show. The first season was fairly easy with the permanent sets being either the plane crash site or the "caves" which were built in an old warehouse right on Nimitz Highway. Then the flashbacks were the only real sets we had to worry about. Anyway, as we got closer to winter surf season, there were concerns about the plane crash site. In the winter here (so-called winter!), the storm generated surf comes from the north and causes the northern facing short to have large waves. Right now you could water ski in Waimea Bay and in the winter you would be killed by 30' waves. So there was concern because the waves started actually coming closer and closer to the plane. We had to move plane parts sometimes. Of course the State had people watching us so we had to comply. Given that they seemed to be making up the show as it went along, the writers actually put into the script that the characters were going to have to abandon the plane site and move before it washed into the ocean--which it was literally about to do.

So there was this script written about them about to pack up their belongings and leave their original camp. There was nothing about what they were going to do when they got to wherever they were going. So the time for the move came. They had already shot them leaving the plane site with the water coming right up to the plane and gave the impression it was washing out to sea--which of course couldn't happen. The new beach site was several miles away outside Haleiwa. You cannot control beach access in Hawaii--no one can own the beach--but you can control access through the land. So the new location was fairly protected from people trying to watch and was surrounded by land owned by the Bishop Estate and leased to the police. So they had planned this shot with all the rag tag people carrying their worldly possessions struggling up the beach right at sunset. It was really breathtaking with them in silhouette and the sun setting behind them. All they needed was Moses and the Red Sea parting.

Because this was all we were expecting the scene to be, there was no one from the Art Department there. Well, all of a sudden the director / producer announced he wanted to see the beginnings of their camp site! This would normally have involved the production designer, art directors, much decision making with producers, etc. Since this kind of thing happened on the show, my crew and I were scrambling for tarps, palm fronds, plane parts, and anything we could rig to start creating a camp site. Did I forget to mention that the sun had gone down by now? The topics have very short sunsets and we could barely see what we were doing. And WHAT we were doing was creating permanent sets for the next 2 seasons in locating the various characters tents and the look of the camp--in near darkness, with almost no materials, and with absolutely NO discussion about the "look" we were creating! Nor would it have been our responsibility to have done so. Anyway, we pulled it off and the rest is history, as they say!

BTW, the production designer was furious but there was nothing he could do. My department and I couldn't exactly stand there in front of the whole company and dozens of extras and refuse to do anything. It's not like it was brain surgery, but they were already starting to obsess about things on the show and here I was pointing my finger arbitrarily and creating what was becoming one of the most important sets of the series. Well, not to take all the credit, it was only the early beginnings of what later became much more developed and designed and planned and obsessed over just trying to make it look like it all wasn't. Typical.

Ok, that's my story. Back to my nail gun and paint brush............

Aloha, Rick

Random Thoughts.......oh no, without any photos!

2009-06-01T14:10:00.000-07:00

I'm going to have to write an occasional "non visual" post since my photo supply is nearing the end of its run. That doesn't mean the blog will end, but original set photos of mine will.....unless that rumored "lost treasure" of possible photos are ever found. Garrison Keillor only posts photos of himself and he seems to do ok. We're both from Minnesota, after all, but I'm better looking--I think that's supposed to be "average" according to his monologue.

Saturday was my last 2 performances of "Mama Mia" after 3 weeks of literally very close working relationships with mostly naked men and almost naked women--not as erotic as it might sound as I was so busy getting them out of or into their clothes as fast as possible. When it all ended on Saturday night with goodbyes and cards and hugs, as the line from a song in "Chorus Line" goes, "I felt nothing." Ultimately, I was only Dresser # 5 dressing #16, #17, #18, #19 and #20 in the show which opens tomorrow in Reno and then weekly in other towns across America for more years to come. It seemed like I should have felt something more, but I didn't.

Saturday morning before work, I had breakfast with "the woman who temporarily replaced the woman who replaced me on 'LOST'." We had spoken on the phone and dumped on each other about our experiences on the show a few times, but had never met. Sitting under the same Hau tree that Robert Louis Stevenson sat under 100+ years ago, we had a great breakfast overlooking the ocean at the Hau Tree Lanai. It almost seemed irreverent to talk about our "LOST" experiences in such a beautiful setting. Well, SOME of them were actually good! Mostly it was just nice to sit and talk with another set decorator which surprisingly doesn't happen more than once every few years. I had to laugh at our different upcoming potential work projects: She is deciding between which of 2 series she has been asked to do. I have only a rumor of a low budget possible movie this fall about children who fight space aliens with the only weapon that works.....snot! Well, she was very nice, extremely good looking and she paid for breakfast! That was a good start to the day that ended after 11 hours backstage in a windowless, black box of a theatre. Well, at least the air conditioning was a comfort.

Tomorrow I call unemployment and see if I qualify for another round. My ship has run aground more than once, but there's a full moon and high tide coming! OMG, that was really terrible! There must be some more Magnum photos here somewhere............

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

2009-05-29T12:33:00.000-07:00

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

Mama Mia, I've been working hard!

2009-05-26T01:52:00.000-07:00

Maybe that should read I've been working hard on "Mama Mia," the touring ABBA musical. I went to the bank last week and waved my first paycheck in over a year to the tellers (who thankfully all know me). Of course this has nothing to do with Magnum, but it is the reason I haven't been posting lately. The show is over this next Saturday and has been a lot of fun backstage with this Broadway touring company. Besides tearing clothing off of people and cramming them into new costumes, I get to polish shoes and steam 9 wedding suits 8 times a week. College finally paid off!

I'm not sure if I posted this picture before, but it does symbolize people as well as a TV set--things aren't always what they appear to be. Ok, back to work........most set walls are made up of "flats." In the theatre they are made of 1x3's laying flat with canvas (actually unbleached muslin) stretched over them. In TV (and some film) they are usually 1x3 (sometimes 1x2) on edge and covered with 1/8" "door skin", also known as luan, also known as 1/8 ply. I did talk about this in an earlier post, but now an earlier post can mean months ago. You can see how simple this method actually is, but also how well it works for easy set up / take down as well as versatility and reuse. Remember the wall "off sets" when walls are joined overlapping that sort of yell "IT'S A SET" in case you didn't know. Even the permanent sets on Magnum were built this way, although they weren't braced with these temporary steel braces or "jacks." A lot of this terminology came from the theatre / stage use. Of course the flats can be covered with plaster, texture, wallpaper, or that ever popular "V-groove" paneling so popular back then.

Since I digressed in the beginning (and there may be more of this as the photos are just about gone), I tried to link this blog into my"LOST" bio--something I didn't know that I even had. It's not to discuss that show, but maybe they will enjoy some of the general information I've been able to pass along about television production in general and not be sued by Disney for divulging "sacred" LOST info into cyberspace (like I know any).

I see I have picked up a few new followers (WELCOME and thanks!) even though I haven't posted much lately--but there is still a lot of info here to read. I really do need to get going on the promised sound stage floorplan. I'm afraid it's not going to be all that detailed or even to scale. I suspect that some of you could probably draw a better one with all of your knowledge of the show better than I can. At some point in the next few postings, the well of photos is going run dry. I keep hoping there are more set photos stored away as negatives, but I have a few termite repair battles to fight before I can spend a lot of time crawling around looking for them.

Hope you all have had a great 3 day weekend and took a little time to remember what it's supposed to be about--even as I grilled hamburgers on my one day off this week. Unfortunately it looks like there will be a lot more days off again soon! Maybe I can put my new found shoe shining skills into practice?

Aloha, Rick

2009-05-11T16:21:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe this is my 68th post. I don't have a whole lot of pictures left--maybe I'll just start all over? I can't even make stuff up because Marco will expose me. I could always turn it into one of those blogs where I tell you what I had for breakfast and what kind of weather we have--but even those subjects are the same each day!

In the meantime, here is another mystery set. I sure must have liked it because there are a lot of photos. I seem to remember it has something to do with a house of ill repute, but I'm not exactly sure. I am sure that it's pretty tacky and that's my walnut screen out of my entry hall--also that it's a set on stage. I can't even think of anything clever to say about it. It could be because I just repotted about 2 dozen palm trees in the hot sun and I'm overheated. These kind of sets didn't come along very often--ones where there was no specified or defined look and I could have a little creativity. Although 20 years later, I'm not sure what is very creative about this set?

Aloha, Rick

The Omega Station (see Mike's last comment question)

2009-05-10T17:41:00.000-07:00

Given that I tend to give long answers and that someone else might be interested, Mike had asked about using the Omega Station in Haiku Valley on Oahu for locations. I don't have any photos, but I do have a little info--although please correct me as you probably know more if you've done research. The Omega Station was run by the Coast Guard and was sort of an almost science fiction, 1950's (?) state of the art concept. Long before satellite tracking, ships and submarine's needed to know where they were on the planet. This facility generated a huge, ultra-low frequency that could be tracked by ships around the world. I think it might have been used with 1 or 2 others somewhere for triangulation or something. Anyway, this large, windowless building built in a (then) isolated bowl shaped valley which used the natural contour like a giant dish. Somehow they managed to string a cable across the valley and suspend this device above the bowl shape for broadcasting. The cable is gone, but the "stairs" are still there-- which are actually a 3,000 ft. ladder that makes my palms sweat just looking at it. It was restored for public use by the public, but there are a few "liability issues" like getting blown off it while climbing or falling a couple of thousand feet down.

Anyway, there was a bit of secrecy about this place and it was really isolated with a small road up to it. The very first thing I ever worked on in film was a really crappy movie called "Vacation in Hell" or something like that. I carved a giant pig statue as they were allowed to cover 2 sides of the Omega Station with fake steps and turn the whole thing into an Aztec Temple in the jungle. It was probably used at some point in 5-0 and Magnum, but that was before my time. In the mean time, they built the most expensive freeway ever built through Haiku valley in the 80's and 90's. It took all of the 80's and 90's to build it. I saw a thing on the History Channel las week that H-3 is considered the "most beautiful" freeway in the world. We just called it the freeway to nowhere since it connects Pearl Harbor with the marine base in Kaneohe. Anyway, one of the concerns early on was that the radiation from the Omega Station would be harmful. At one point they were going to enclose the freeway after it emerges from the giant tunnels on the windward side at a couple thousand feet up with steel mesh. Well, by the time they got that far, they didn't need the station anymore so the mesh idea went away.

I do remember being told that when they used to film there, you could stand on any hill and hold a fluorescent tube in your hand up in the air and it would light up! So I'm sure there was something to the radiation concerns.

I went through the building remains a couple of years ago on "LOST." Very sad. Vandals had destroyed all of this wonderful old "high tech" equipment and controls that had been left behind. Given that the station generated it's own power to create this huge signal, all of the major copper and reusable things had come out of there. However, it still retained a lot of controls and guages, switches, and things that had mostly been smashed. We were able to use some of the damaged things on "LOST" but had to return them since they technically still belonged to the government. There is just a very small road in and nothing is marked, but there in the middle of this jungle is this huge old building that looks like a Jurrassic Park set. If you have a death wish and want to see the station from above, you can go slow while on the H-3 while up about 2,000 feet in 70 mile an hour traffic and look down and there it is. I'm sure it would cost more to tear it down that would be practical so it just sits there. When I was filming there with "LOST", we didn't actually use the station, but another old wooden warehouse building located further up the hill from there. They may have since used it, but I haven't watched the show in 2 years. Are they really battling aliens on Mars now?

So, once again, I turned a simple question into a PhD. thesis, but that's just me.

Special Effects, Dust Aging and Jack Faggard

2009-05-03T18:47:00.000-07:00

Well, as usual, no idea what this set was supposed to be. Was this another part of the WWII Chinese Jewish Synagogue set? Jack Faggard was an old time Hollywood special effects man and about as nice as anyone in this business ever is--not to mention RARE in this business. He always had a story or a kind word and always kept his cool--which is good since he was also in charge of the explosives! Ok, so he blew out the windows and Christmas tree of that family one time, the rest of the time he was great. He did the bullet hits, explosions, fog, smoke, fires (from entire buildings to camp fires), and even tiki torches because gas was used. Normally the paint department handled "dust aging" which is blowing (usually) super fine diatomaceous earth on everything. Special effects also does spider webs which are usually made by spinning and blowing rubber cement and then dusting with talcum powder. Oh no, are there no secrets left? So it's quite a diverse department. One of the guys he trained went on to win an Emmy on "LOST" for special effects, Archie Ahuna. Jack was not one of those people who didn't like to share, he was really good about teaching and showing everyone.

So another mystery set turned into yet another explanation / education. That one photo with the dramatic lighting is one of those "accidents" that happen once in awhile with photography and is suitable for framing! I think that might have just been work lights or someone left the door open. You can see why they like smoke or fog in the air for some scenes. Also at rock concerts now that no one can smoke in the arenas, they blow out fog so the lights show up better. Notice no one is wearing a mask!

Aloha, Rick

P.S. The latest photo is of me on the "LOST slave ship at the end of the 1st season. I'm the one with the flesh. How prophetic it became as time went on with that show.......... Those chains became much shorter!

Bullet Hits or BANG BANG Shoot 'em Up

2009-04-30T16:45:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's taken me so long to post. The only 2 times I have been kayaking in the past year have been to scatter friends' ashes off Lanikai--which I did this past Monday again. It's a beautiful place to spend eternity, (it even means "Heavenly Water") but it's creating a bad association for me with kayaking! I think I'd better just go for personal enjoyment reasons soon.

Well, we have to take the good photos with the not so good ones. This was not one of the better sets, but the only thing I remember about it was that we not only shot it on film, we actually shot it up. It's interesting to see what goes into bullet "squibs" for a gun fight. Each gun shot blast is a separate wire to a small powder capsule attached to a wall surface or object (like a break-a-way vase or bottle. Each one of the circuits running to each object or hole-in-the-wall to be "hit" gets connected to a positive side of a circuit. Crudely done, it can be nails pounded into a board wired in series. Then taking the negative side of the circuit on a separate nail, you just run the negative nail down the row of positive stationary nails completing each circuit for just a second. As each circuit is closed, it fires the one squib it is connected to and BANG. Or as the case may be, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, depending on how many squibs are used. The order of the BANG locations matched the order on the crude little nail board so it appears that someone is firing an automatic gun across a wall. Single bullet hits can be done the same way. The person shooting obviously has to be aiming the fake or empty gun in the direction of the bullet hits for this to work. Not sure if I have made this understandable or not? Another way to do bullets are with small dust hits. On people you can even have small, remote controlled squibs or blood packs to simulate their hits as well. Of course there are times when we wish they would use real bullets on certain people, but that makes resetting a scene and clean up more difficult. To reset a scene, another wall or portion or panel of a wall has to be already there, painted, wired, and loaded so they can try for another take without having everyone stand around waiting. Well, looks like I made a boring set sound more interesting describing bullet hits. These are all controlled by the special effects team, by the way. Many times as a decorator, our department might supply the breakable objects made from "sugar glass" for them to use. They are VERY expensive and fragile--although it is fun to break a bottle over someone's head once in awhile!

Aloha, Rick

Hypothetical Answer to Mike's Hypothetical Question - Magnum Movie

2009-04-21T13:02:00.000-07:00

I decided to "elevate" Mike's comment question to a blog post since it's a good one and will let me rant and rave more! Also, since it's not about a set photo as usual, here is a picture of Tom I found in a drawer at McClain's that sold off everything last weekend at about .15 cents on the dollar. A dealer even came from the mainland to fill a container because things went so cheaply.

Anyway, there would be no reason to contact me about the look of any of the sets. Any decent Hollywood Art Director or Set Designer would be able to pull the basic design (interior and exterior) of any of the sets that were seen on Magnum. Screen grabs, blow ups, and production stills taken by the studio during filming would all provide more than enough information to re-create as much as they want of the show's original settings. If they want to do that at all.

As to the expense of new, original vs. recreation, it might cost a bit more having new sets designed as a Production Designer and staff would have to be employed, but not significantly more than another team going over hours of DVD's looking for set views and drawing plans.

And now a few words from the blogmeister............(ok, more than a few).......

When a producer or studio purchases the rights to a property such as "Fantasy Island" or "Hawaii Five-0," they aren't necessarily buying any obligation to re-create a museum replica of the original. Obviously there is some obligation to have 5-0 take place in Hawaii instead of Maine and "Fantasy Island" not take place on Fire Island, but given time and societal changes that have happened in the 20-30 years since these TV shows first aired and the current film tastes (car explosions, f-word, computer effects, and MTV editing, etc.), one would assume a recreation would not be practical if you wanted to make your $500 million opening weekend at the multiplex.

I mention those 2 shows because I did do a pilot for "Hawaii 5-0" in 1997 and I was the decorator for the pilot and (only) 13 episodes of the "new" "Fantasy Island" with Malcom McDowell in 1998. Granted these were TV to TV and not TV to film revivals, but they will serve as examples.

With 5-0, the only original cast member involved was James McArthur. Ever young at heart, he looked more like Albert Einstein with a mop of gray hair than the clean-cut, subservient Danno of the original series. One version of the MANY scripts we went through had McGarret in his deathbed filmed from the rear, passing the torch to Gary Busey and Russel Wong. (sniff) Originally the police office sets were going to be super-modern, futuristic on a high floor of the recently created First Hawaiian Bank tower downtown. When they finally found a director for the pilot, they decided ultimately on a more retro look built inside the old post office building--ironically across the street from the now revered Iolani Palace which was just another public building when it was the TV home of the fictional 5-0 state police. After that it was just another cops and robbers show that was so bad (mainly because of you-know-who) that it never aired at all.

The other revival show, "Fantasy Island," was a bit closer to the original series. There was still the plane that landed (an amazing feat on the fish pond at Kualoa Ranch!), a bell tower, the mysterious Mr. Roark (this time in Armani suits), a beautiful tropical hotel, but no annoying "boss, boss, deplane, deplane" person (although we did have a portrait of him in the hotel lobby in the pilot). The show was produced by 2 famous Hollywood producers ("the 2 Barrys"), Sony Studio, and had 3 famous stars as regulars.

Problem #1 - it was aimed at a "young and trendy" audience, yet it aired on Saturday night. Young and trendy audiences are not at home on Saturday nights--but did anyone ask me that? The now older, not-so-trendy original watchers didn't like the new version and watched something else.

#2 - there were 2-3 "fantasies" per episode and most of them were "bummer" fantasies. Unlike the original where they fulfilled positive dreams and aspirations, one woman on ours asked for "ultimate knowledge" and promptly discovered her sister was sleeping with her husband. Bummer. A REALLY strange fantasy (on the kinky side) was this woman fighting in an all woman's army unit in WWII against other all woman Japanese soldiers. The producers actually thought the USMC here was going to help them with equipment! Can you imagine the military actually wanted to read the script ahead of time?! (duh) I was the one who got the call from some general on the mainland since I was relying on all their tents and equipment for the battleground set. Basically he said, "Are you out of your mind?" So, big surprise, no military help. I saved the day (again) by using this theme party company that did "Mash" parties with vodka in the IV bottles for their party equipment. I know, wrong era, but no more absurd than the women to women combat troupes were. That might even have its own series potential?! General Mylie Cyrus? Maybe not.

So, moving along, what I am getting at finally, is that there is no reason to think that there would be a re-creation of what we all lovingly remember (some better than others) of the original Magnum series. I would assume that they would build all interiors on sound stages in L.A. and could even do the exteriors in Mexico or Australia where it is cheaper to film. I would hope the Thomas Magnum character would at least have a mustache and wear a baseball cap (and not shave his head and wear an earing), but you can be sure he won't be wearing his former jogging shorts! I read somewhere that Tom Selleck had said he hadn't been approached at all about the possible film. And why would they any more than they would contact anyone who worked on the original series? Maybe Tom playing Russell Crowe's father? The main ticket buying demographic today did not watch Magnum in the 1980's. They were born in the 1980's. Hey, I don't make this stuff up!

I guess if a picture is worth a thousand words, I'd better stick to photos.

Aloha, Rick

My First Time (was not the best time)

2009-04-15T19:18:00.000-07:00

As I recall, this was the first set I worked on at Magnum at the beginning of the 4th season. Technically I was still the assistant decorator, but as it was pointed out to me by the producer (when I officially became the decorator 5 episodes) later, I had been doing far more than being an assistant all along. This was supposed to be some sort of English import shop that had some sort of fight or something that happened to damage some of the items. I found a potter to make a bunch of items out of unfired "slip" pottery and then had them hand painted so they looked fairly real and could be easily broken. As fate would have it, the local department store, Liberty House, was having a British fair and had a lot of English themed items. I remember being with the decorator when he bought several thousand dollars worth of stuff at the counter in the store. I was still in my "WOW!" mode. Twenty years later I learned to max out the company credit card before noon while driving 65 mph on the freeway ordering things on my cell phone! That water filter crock has been in my kitchen for 24 years now and I think that scale is still at the film studio.

The building we used is the Kamehameha V (Kam V) Post Office downtown on Bethel and Merchant St. It's credited as being the first all concrete building in Hawaii (1871). Those are 2 cannons vertically inserted into the sidewalk for some reason I don't remember. We used both the exterior and interior. Looks like some sort of magazine stand outside. I'm sure we got by using real magazines and papers back then. When I did a stand on "LOST", EVERY magazine cover and newspaper had to be created in L.A., cleared and then glued on to an existing magazine. As usual, they probably weren't seen at all.

It's always tricky for locations when we film downtown as the directors always want "ITC" or intermittent traffic control. That means they can stop traffic whenever the camera rolls for sound and background continuity. If there are cars driving, they could be extras driving their own cars so continuity can be controlled. These 2 streets are not particularly busy in this area. We have to hire police to stop traffic so it does help the economy even if it does irritate drivers--unless Tom was playing in the scene, of course!

Aloha, Rick

P.S. Hope you all had a great Easter or Passover - you can see that I did!

Even I Know This One.......(I think?)

2009-04-07T19:15:00.000-07:00

I assume this was the Luther Gillis episode. I don't know about the going back in time thing, but anything has to be better than the smoke monster on "LOST!" This was a fun set to do, however. I think I remember it aired in black & white otherwise that orange chair looks like something out of a 60's Danish furniture store. I've been hanging a towel on that coat rack for the past 20 years, otherwise I can't imagine where I found all this stuff! Sadly the last of this kind of furniture in Honolulu is being sold off this month--a roll top desk larger than this one went for $350 because there really isn't much of market anymore.

I'm sure all of you experienced set watchers have noticed the jogs in the walls that indicate that one or more of them are wild (moveable). I can't think of much more to say about this set so now it's your turn!

Aloha, Rick

"Going Home" Set Discoveries.....Thanks, Marco!

2009-04-03T13:49:00.000-07:00

Marco sent me some screen grabs from this episode that I looked at more closely. The kitchen was a set on the stage, also! That large, dark hutch was mine and I thought it was odd I would have used it inside a real house since it was so big. I tried selling it (cheap) last fall with no takers, it went into an auction (where it was listed LAST) and didn't sell, so I wound up giving it away just to get rid of it. Also, if you look carefully, you can see a set wall seam in the upper right corner behind the hutch. That lamp over the sink is right out of J.C. Penney's (when we had one here), so that was another interesting discovery that confirms it was a set. Also, Marco, if you look on your asset list when your paperwork arrives, I think that wall oven is listed on it. Notice the wood trim on the arch unit in the kitchen (behind Tom's head) matches the trim on his bedroom closet. It's possible that they just reused that section from the kitchen and repainted it if there was enough time between the filming of one set and the other. Most set details (like trim and molding) were done in place on the stage. It was almost impossible to work on the sound stage while they were filming--in fact, if the sound man could have stopped all of our hearts from beating while they were rolling, he would have done it to make it quieter! That radiator in Tom's bedroom was a fiberglass one I brought back from Universal Studios set dressing storage building. Needless to say there were none in Hawaii. They were never sent back, but I think have recently disappeared from the film studio's storage room.

The trophy behind Gwen's head in the attic was probably taken off the cover set dining room and used there. The reason I would watch the shows (well sometimes for this reason) was to make sure that if someone placed the trophy into the scene and it appeared so prominently in the shot, it would have to be retired for awhile. Of course nowadays, nothing is sacred with DVD stop action and enlargements. Like when I spelled the main character's name wrong on a diploma on "LOST" It was used several times and none of us noticed it until a blogger posted it all over the net. Damn bloggers anyway! lol

Well, thanks for the screen grabs and looks like I milked the last post a little further and saved more of my pictures for later!

Aloha, Rick

One of My Favorites....."Going Home" with Gwen Verdon

2009-04-01T17:06:00.000-07:00

It's gloomy, cold, and rainy out again today so I thought I'd cheer myself up by posting a set from one of my favorite episodes. I did look this one up so I know it was from 1985 "Going Home" that had Tom going back to (I think it was) Virginia to see his family. This dining room set was built on the sound stage. The actual house was a large, old home in Manoa Valley and, in spite of its size, you can only cram so many people and so much equipment into a house for so long.

What was memorable to me was not the set (for once). It was being able to spend an entire morning sitting on the steps going upstairs and talking to Gwen Verdon. She was waiting for her scene and I didn't care what else I had to do. There always seemed to be a sort of "secret society" within the film industry of those of us who had our start in theatre. It's sort of hard to explain it, but it just is. I had no hesitation in telling her how excited I was to meet her and she was excited to have met someone who knew who she was! Well, not to get all mushy, but it was one of those incredible moments you never forget--even if I have forgotten most of what we talked about!

Meanwhile, back at the set, it was nice to have a set with some architectural interest--the built-ins and double-hung windows. Those are some of my (famous?) stapled up curtains. Speaking of theatre, as long as a drape didn't have to open on camera, they were usually stapled up by me and if we were really worried, the bottoms had a taped up hem and were ironed. We did have a Venetian blind manufacturer who would make us blinds in a day or two--ironically named Paramount Venetian Blinds. Looking at it now, I can't believe I didn't do some wall sconces (lights) since it would have been easy to wire them in from the back of the walls. They didn't always like it when me made holes in the walls, however. Speaking of walls, you can see the little jogs where the wild walls overlap. It was nice to do a traditional, mainland type of dining room after the usual wicker and rattan here.

Again, you can see the catwalk above the long wall of the set. The set would have been built in this location to take advantage of it. Lights on floor stands would fill in on the sides. I don't know how much this set was used in the episode (or at all, for that matter), I just have good memories of this episode.

Aloha, Rick

Higgins' Den "Before" Look PART I

2009-03-30T15:12:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately I don't have any more memory of doing this "before" of Higgins' Den than I do of the earlier guesthouse. What these photos also show, however, are the architectural elements of Higgins' den.

One of the first things I did as decorator was to make the books in the "wild bookcase" section fake. It was extremely difficult to move the bookcase wall with the books in it because of the weight. Whenever you saw a camera angle of the desk from the bookcase side, it had to be taken out to fit the camera in. The other side with the French doors was not a problem.

The (fake) white brick wall in Higgins' den were a left over design element from the pilot that was filmed partially at the Marks' Estate. There was an enclosed lanai that had painted white bricks on a couple of the walls. The double doors at the end of the room lead into the entry hall with the curved staircase. Beyond that was the door I called "the door to everywhere else" since it went to several places depending on the episode. Any of you ever notice this?

Not sure where to insert this entry hall story, but this is as good a place as any. When Ms. Lansbury came over to do the combined "Murder She Wrote" episode (later commenting that her show had "saved" Magnum when our ratings were down), she had a scene on the stairs with Tom. I was not present when this happened, but I did hear about it from several people. Ms. Lansbury was delivering her lines at the top of the stairs (as mentioned earlier that they only lead to the catwalks above the set) and Tom was at the bottom. At some point in the afternoon around 4:00 p.m. while Tom was saying his lines, an alarm tone went off. Ms. Lansbury suddenly walked down the stairs past Tom who had a look of bewilderment on his face. One of her people then said, "Ms. Lansbury is done for the day." Apparently part of her contract was to only work so many hours a day, which is not uncommon. Having an alarm clock and leaving in the middle of a scene is uncommon. I don't think anyone felt the love after that. Tom, on the other hand, was always good about giving that extra to finish a scene--especially at a location where returning would have been difficult (and expensive).

As long as I'm inserting sidebar messages, thank all of you who bid on my eBay Magnum items (especially you know who). I really don't think I have anything left of interest (the box I used to store my papers in? lol) If I ever do find anything, I will be sure to let you know. In the meantime, as mentioned before, the eBay guys from Hauula (Hawaiiprops) are legitimate and nice people--and are doing VERY well! I'd better establish some advertising / endorsement rates soon!

Mahalo again for your expressions of thanks for this blog!

Aloha, Rick

Higgins' Den "Before" Look PART II

2009-03-30T15:02:00.000-07:00

The Guesthouse (again) and My Office (next to Tom's)

2009-03-26T13:42:00.000-07:00

I went through a lot of trouble to rearrange the 96 thumbnail photos of the slide scans that were emailed to me from India to get all the sets in order. My i-photo likes to scramble things out of order. While putting the photos into a separate file, I noticed that they are all messed up. This means it will be easy for me to miss a slide or 2 when I post a set. Grrrrrrrrr, can't win. Also, I have been pulling these directly out of i-photo and not running them through Photoshop. So they may appear smaller and darker. If this is a problem for you, I will run them through, but it does take more time. I know, I know, what else have I got to do...............

Anyway, the most comments I ever got for a set photo was the one of the guesthouse so here are 2 more. Obviously this was for one of those episodes where things were changed. Was it a dream, a flashback, a fantasy, or did someone steal all the regular furniture? I'm sure the first comment will clue us clueless ones in. At least it does show the wall(s) that were hardly seen.

I have a whole bunch of Higgin's den photos that are also changed so maybe I should post those next?

The first picture is the corner of my office. It was sometimes used for storage of more fragile or expensive set dressing before they were used. Tom's secretary was on the other side of the 3/4 inch thick wall. I never heard anything really bad!

Happy Prince Kuhio Day (a State holiday here),

Rick

T.C.'s Living Room - Racist Decorating?

2009-03-23T12:37:00.000-07:00

Looking at these photos I sort of cringed. Egyptian papyrus scroll hieroglyphics above the sofa, African animal skins and poster, tribal drums, African figures, masks, prints............gee, do you suppose T.C. was black? Once upon a time in the mid-80's when African Americans were not often regulars on top-10 TV shows (pre-Cosby - post "Julia", "Good Times"), I guess having this cliche decor was acceptable. Other than that, it's gorgeous! (lol) At least the set isn't the usual "box" and has some interesting angles and wall surfaces. I remembering ordering those Egyptian hieroglyphic papyrus prints for over the sofa (I was so hip!), but I can't remember if I did the entire set or not. I'm guessing I might have or I wouldn't have taken so many pictures of it. I remember we did keep a file with Polaroid shots of all the permanent sets to make sure everything always went back. This set would have been called a "swing set" (no, not the kind you buy at Sears) because it was only set up as needed and then stored. Sometimes walls or windows might get reused in another set, but we always had to be careful not to use any of the dressing. Even pre-stop action TV had people who would notice T.C.'s zebra skin in another set. Normal minimum wall height was 10 feet. Paneling only came in 8 feet so you can see the picture molding at 8 feet with 2 more feet added. Well, that's all I can think of on this less than memorable set.

Aloha, Rick

Delivering the Goods...........Photos at last & more ebay stuff

2009-03-22T15:57:00.000-07:00

These are the first 2 of 90+ slides that were scanned and sent back on disc so we're back in business. I won't know which episode most of these are from so your part of the deal is to play Name That Set. This was for some party that Higgins had at the estate. I lucked out with this carousel horse, stuck an umbrella in it and instant overdone centerpiece! Set dressing was the only department allowed into the house so we could place those chairs up on the 2nd floor lanai The actual "front door" to the house lead to the lower lanai which then opened into this courtyard or into the other rooms of the house on the right. The room (bump out) to the left of the door was the "trunk room" since they would only come for the "winter season." There was an inner hallway off the lanai with the staircase (badly corroded by sea air the last time I saw it). Those are the 2,000 foot cliffs of Makapu'u next to the estate. It was a popular hang gliding take-off point and usually greener in the rainy season (whenever that used to be--weather has changed here). You can see the motor home parked in the distance. It was always a challenge to get the motor home as close to the set as possible and not have it seen (along with the other production trucks and massive generator). Often times it was covered with plants (fake or real) and sometimes camouflage net. Well, not much more to be said about these two.

New Magnum items listed on ebay are: #190295729912, #190295732049, and #190295733545 and my last 2 "LOST" caps. Good luck (to me, that is!)

Aloha, Rick

Newspaper article about me and the set

2009-03-19T18:26:00.000-07:00

(first section on right......nice painting!)

Just going through the last of my paperwork and found a bunch of newspaper column drops about me (celebrity that I used to be, lol) and came up with this article from December, 1987. I had to laugh that I had already been deposed as the decorator after 3 seasons and hired back as the assistant and never mentioned my (now) boss. Hmmmm, wonder why? That's one story I can't put on the internet, but buy me a drink sometime and............

Anyway, the article does give some information--I would guess all of you know most of it already! Sorry that I had to chop it in half, but I hope it's legible. Just double click it to make it larger.

While I am posting this, UPS delivered the Scan Safe slides now on disc of the "lost" Magnum sets so if you don't mind suffering a little longer, I will soon be posting them. Speaking of posting, should I bother to put anything on ebay after what has been spent in the last week? Anyone got any money left? Speaking of ebay, I assume you all know that whoever is selling that junk on ebay (a red,white, and blue lei?) from a "genuine L.A. prop house" that claims to be from Magnum should be thrown off. I can sell you a monkey pod pineapple bowl for $50 if you really want one....... The stuff from Hauula, HI is all legitimate so go for it! (nice people, too)

Aloha, Rick

Back to the Blog

2009-03-15T15:15:00.001-07:00

I thought I should post at least one thing this week that didn't have to do with ebay. The auctions haven't closed yet, but I will say an early "Mahalo" to all those who bid and hope you enjoy your Magnum items.

I just scanned these photos and they reminded me of the week I just had--ending with food poisoning and having to cancel a party for a good friend who is visiting. Anyway, a recurring theme seems to be what happened to all the Magnum items after the show? As I have said, the State Film Office bought the remains for their set dressing "stock" of items that could be used by another resident company at the studio or even rented by an outside group doing a commercial or other TV / film project locally. The set dressing crew (leadman, swing gang) occupied the area that also housed the storage for all of these items used by other past shows - Hawaii 5-0, Magnum, Hawaiian Heat, Byrds of Paradise, One West Waikiki, Jake and the Fatman, etc. No distinction was made as to which show the items came from. Kitchen items went into the kitchen storage area, tables with tables, pictures with pictures, etc. We more or less remembered where some of the items had come from, but it was not designated as being very important--more of a "Hey, remember this from Jack Lord's desk?" When you're around it all day, it loses any real importance of its origins.

When a resident TV show occupied the studio, the set dressing crew inherited the duty of maintaining the resident stock of dressing as well as those of the current production. The next biggest show after Magnum was "Jake and the Fatman." We made a vague attempt to label "Viacom" dressing but we were so short on storage space that ultimately everything was co-mingled. When I went with the show to L.A., things were left to my crew to close up where they sat for another 3 years before the next show came in.

When there was no resident company using the film studio, the burden of renting the set dressing out fell on the film studio resident manager. The renting of these items was / is very sporadic, but until a few years ago, this facility was the only place you could rent crates, a silver lame curtain, a marble topped desk, gym lockers, or the old 5-0 phone booth. It was more of an "honor" system that everything would be returned and put back where it came from. As you can imagine when a project is over, it is more of a dump and run than a careful return and replacement. The duties of the studio manager are more than enough maintaining this large facility without playing rental agent. Periodically it would be suggested that the State just get rid of "all that old stuff" and then I would write letters and try and explain the importance of maintaining a stock of items and it stayed.

I took these pictures prior to the demolition of the set dressing storage building (one end of it was construction and one end set dressing). As we used to say, if the termites quit holding hands, it would have all caved in. I don't have any photos of the interior, but suffice to say it was not unlike this exterior collection. Roof leaks, rats, bugs, dirt were pretty much everywhere in this building affectionately called "The Hole." The other two photos were after the items had been cleared away prior to demolition. The new building is basically in the same location. I tried to have some say in what was saved vs. what was thrown out which was done by the demolition contractor. In the end, I had to be happy that anything at all was saved. Those items now occupy 1/3 of the old 5-0 soundstage in a much improved environment. In some ways, the quantity held by the less quality old storage building was preferable but sooner or later those termites would have won and all would have been lost.

So this is the real story of what happened to all the set dressing 20+ years later. The importance we attach to the past is often better preserved in our memories than in objects.

Aloha, Rick

ebay Magnum link and item numbers listed

2009-03-08T14:58:00.001-07:00

You can either go to my account directly (after 6:30 PST tonight) @ http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/descon or here are the numbers and closing dates:

Auctions Closing Saturday, March 14th around 6:00 p.m. PST (now dst):

Variety Ad large: #190291970106

Variety Ad small: #190291972476

Magnum Stationery: 190291967451

Auctions Closing Sunday, March 15 between 6:00 and 6:30 PST (now dst):

Exposed film: #190291783135

Crew Award: #190291788394

Selleck Ad: #190291795369

Magnum Art: #190292001854

Model Invoices: #190292209771

Call sheet, memo, my card: #190292221384

Assuming I won't be able to retire after these auctions close, I have more things for next week including 2 complete episode production reports w/scripts used. some set working plans, and more (I hope). Please know that you're getting the originals of whatever I have and I will not be reproducing things for later sales. Slides should be back soon--more photos, less words.

Please help support my favorite charity, me!

Shameless Commercialism - I'm selling on ebay again! (under Descon)

2009-03-07T16:03:00.000-08:00

I hope to have many things on ebay by Sunday (March 8th) evening (my time). I was postdating the auctions, but a couple of things slipped through and are on now (Saturday). Stationery, ads, invoices, exposed film and some other things I hope I don't get in trouble for! I do sort of mention my blog in the ads, but ebay has gotten so strict now about everything, I didn't want to chance them pulling my ads for pushing this blog. Thought it might bring a few new followers--I think the anonymous ones are about to take over from those of you with faces! Do you think Tom is one of them??? Probably not.

So now is your chance to help support this out of work decorator with your kind, charitable purchases! I hate groveling, but that's what us decorators have to do sometimes! Usually it's more for the perfect lamp shade or end tables, though.

Aloha, Rick

Scanning update - Magnum slides to photos

2009-03-05T13:44:00.000-08:00

I just spent over an hour rearranging thumbnail photos (that were smaller than my thumbnail) on the Scan Safe website. I did not arrange them in any order when I mailed them, but they allow editing them (click / drag) online. It's sort of like that old TV game show "Concentration" where you try to remember a match and where you saw it. I would have lost. 93 of the 96 slides I sent them were of Magnum related sets including 2 of my old office. There are some good ones of the guest house and several of Higgin's den, T.C.'s office, Rick's office, a party in front of the Anderson estate, some other rooms from the estate, Tom's boyhood home dining room, the very first set I ever did (!) and many I don't have a clue as to what set they are from.

It appears that it takes a little longer than Scan Safe estimated (more like 2 months) but the price was cheap (under $50) and the quality looks good. However, I don't yet have the CD so I'll wait before they get my endorsement or eternal damnation from 36 loyal followers (and myself).

I gave a few more things to show while waiting so check back soon........

Aloha, Rick

Set decorating then vs. set decorating now....opinions

2009-02-24T10:33:00.000-08:00

This is a good chance for another rant and rave following the last post. Once again Rubber Chicken has a comment that prompted another post. These photos are from a set my crew and I did for a TV show. It is sort of a den / office / lab set. It was built on a soundstage and all the walls were constructed, painted and the set pieces shopped for with only a few things rented. (If you can believe it, they changed the script and this set was never filmed)! Just like in English class when they used to say "compare and contrast" this set with Higgin's den, for example. We have now arrived at our topic: Obsession with detail to the point of distraction or simply, "more is more, not better". Just my opinions...........

Last year I bought one of the seasons I had done of Magnum--not having seen the show in more than a decade (I know, shocking!) Once I got past the short shorts, the most surprising thing was the absence of set decoration. I don't mean empty walls or barren back alleys, but the lack of detail, obsession, and quantity of STUFF. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it did start me thinking.

In the previous post I talked about set differences between Magnum and "LOST" which was as much a difference between eras as the shows themselves. Going back even further when you watch 50's reruns of shows like "Gunsmoke" or "The Honeymooners", there is practically no set dressing at all. Magnum looks very "modern" compared to that era. So obviously there is a trend towards more detail and more realism.

Almost 100 years ago, a New York stage director / producer dismantled an actual tenement room and had it reconstructed on the stage where it shocked audiences with its realism. Prior to that, sets had been more theatrical or suggestive. This lead to all sorts of "realistic" attempts even including horse racing on a treadmill onstage before audiences were ready for a more balanced look to their theatrical experience--go to a real race track and watch a real horse race. The trend towards realism in television has gone in the same direction. Going from not being able to say "pregnant" 50 years ago to having to have parental controls today. Did you know there are even standards for how much blood you can show at 7:00 p.m. vs. how much blood you can show at 9:00 on network TV? Do you ever see anyone smoke on network TV today? So the look, rules, regulations continue to change but they are still with us today.

In the previous post I discussed the availability of accurate research on the internet. This has also lead to an obsession to recreate this realism on television. Ironically with the MTV style of camera / editing today (with 2 and 3 second shots being normal), you actually see much less of the sets. Murky backgrounds, shadowy lighting, mostly close-ups, and fast shots define many TV shows today at the same time obsession to detail and accuracy is the trend. Next time you watch any of the top 10 shows today on TV, see what I mean. This does not include sitcoms that seldom venture out of their living room or kitchen sets--but you will notice much more clutter in and sometimes over-the-top statements to define their character. For example, "Roseanne" had the picture of the dogs playing poker in their living room and that old afghan on the sofa as a way of saying "lower middle class" even though I never thought it was appropriate for their characters.

While I've always held that the set should say something about the character even before they enter the set, that seems to have gotten a little out of hand. Yes, the set should tell a story, but it isn't The Story, it is an environment that should support it, not dominate it. Wow, chisel that on my tombstone! Last, but not least, my gripe about period sets. In your living room in 1975, was everything in that room FROM 1975? Was everything orange and brown, shag carpeting, swag lamps, chrome frames, and macrame? So often, particularly in features, as a way of "selling the era," they research the period to death and damn well make sure everything is right! So you wind up with star-burst clocks and flower power for 60's and pink flamingos and chrome dinette sets for 50's, etc. Sets are crammed with "iconic" looks from the period, the EXACT period, that they are almost distracting. Didn't you have anything from the 60's in your living room in the 70's or did you throw everything out every decade and buy new? Sometimes it is more interesting to see what is IN the room than what is going ON in the room. Of course, I prefer sets over plot anyway so I have a different experience!

Well, my coffee is out and so is your interest about this time, so I'll close for now. Still waiting for the slides to come back from India. Ok, so "Slumdog" won, send the pictures already!

Aloha,

Rick

"Magnum" vs. "LOST" / Apples vs. Oranges / Loc. Photos

2009-02-16T18:20:00.000-08:00

Isuppose this blog will go on forever if I keep answering questions I've covered before, but each time I'll do it better! "Which show had the more challenging sets" is an answer worth repeating if for no other reason there are now 30 more followers since the last time I answered the question a few months ago.

The era of the 80's with Magnum was more like the Garden of Eden of Resources. First, I was probably the youngest decorator to be doing a top 10 TV show who wasn't related to a major studio executive. Armed with my M.F.A. degree and some years of stage design behind me, I was ready! 5 episodes into season 4 when my boss, The Decorator, was fired--his former assistant decorator walked into the arena to do battle. It wasn't much of a battle then. I met with the directors alone and the division between decorating and art direction was very distinct. The art director talked skeletal bones and I talked flesh and the look. My position was much more independent and my dealings were with the director more than the art director who I would do the courtesy of showing what I was planning would coordinate with his paint and design. (shocking HERESY today!) I would even dare to speak the truth then: "It's not so much about what you want as what I can get here." OMG, today that would be like saying something so horrible I would be banned from the internet and on my way to Guantanamo. So, the position was much more independent and creative back then and my design input more necessary and appreciated.

The Garden of Resources was amazing. Everybody rented set dressing items then. High end looks came from C.S. Wo, middle and lower end looks from The Consignment Center, Asian (then "Oriental") came from Treasures of the East, "old" from Eurasian Antiques, lighting / lamps from Aurora for Lighting, Hawaiian style from Rattan Art Gallery and a quick stop at Woolworth's and I was done with that episode. If that wasn't easy enough, I even had an assistant, a lead man, and a crew besides my personal driver and 5-ton truck driver (the truck weighed 5-tons). Almost as much care was given where to have lunch as many of the sets. Well, all those sources are long gone and C.S. Wo hasn't rented in 20 years and you can't even "buy off the floor."

Fast forward to the era of TODAY with a show like "LOST" (or any other big show) and it is a changed world. Many "big box" stores that replaced more local companies do not have any rental policy. Smaller local stores don't like their stock being off the floor for a week or more at only 15% rental (some charge 25-50%). So much more has to be purchased today rather than rented at a fraction of the cost and returned. That means $1.25 /sq.ft. / month for a warehouse space to store all the purchases since there are fewer rentals. At least "LOST" repeats many of its sets in flashbacks. Yes, the internet has opened up resources to find, purchase and ship, but it is a double edged sword.

The internet has also made research only a click away. In the "Magnum Era," who knew what a basement of a synagogue in China looked like in 1945? And to a certain extent, who cared? We said it was--so it was. Today it is very hard to fake the look of anything. In fact, the research available is overwhelming: is this synagogue conservative or Orthodox, what part of China?, etc. With digital technology, it is possible to analyze sets, props, and set dressing with extreme detail. Corresponding with this technology, there are people who seem to have an amazing amount of time to look at the wrong dates on x-rays and titles on books and post their findings on endless blogs (present company excluded, of course). So the attention to detail from both the set design / decor / props and those who examine this detail and greatly upped the "need" for accuracy. Thus, the creation of the Production Designer.

The role of the Set Decorator has changed since Magnum. Today it is rare that I ever even meet the director, ride in the same van as the director on a scout, or that the director would even know my name. Many times I have stood next to a director opening a set when he thanked the Production Designer for "his" fabulous set which the P.D. had only seen for the first time seconds before. Many times this "anonymous decorator" says "Thank you" and walks away in his anonymity--disgusted. Although it does vary from project to project, many Set Decorators have been reduced to "Head Shopper / Buyers" more than an independent or even co-creative partner. Having to have Production Designer approval on each item before it can be placed on a set (particularly with fewer choices today) is frustrating if not insulting. Ironically, there have been times when the Production Designer "got it wrong" and the set was rejected with much fanfare by a director or producer in front of the whole crew. I am the first to answer "I was just following orders" before quickly trying to rectify the "problem" I did not cause. My favorite story is that the last project I did when the Production Designer turned in the set dressing budget--before I was even hired! Since he was $20,000 short of reality, I was once again the messenger trying not to be shot when I delivered the bad news to the money producer.

So today, Set Decorators have shopper buyers working to please a Production Designer who has art directors overseeing their set construction and set designers / draftspersons designing with additional accuracy, and sets cost much more. I'm not so sure that all of this "more" has resulted in "better." Truthfully, some of the best "sets" on Magnum were just showing the natural beauty of Hawaii. The rest were designed on paper napkins at lunch.

To that end, here are a few photos I shot a couple of hours ago while riding around east Oahu with my visiting sister. The cliffs above Makapu'u are near the "T.C. Helicopter" exterior, and the islands are offshore of "Robin's Nest." And these sets didn't cost a dime.

Oh wait, what was the question again? Oh yeah, well if I could have done "LOST" then and "Magnum" now, I would have been far less challenged! But then Tom would be in his 60's and no one would be wearing short shorts............

Aloha,

Rick

Bridge Invoice and work schedule information

2009-02-11T20:33:00.000-08:00

Getting ready to put some things on ebay and found this invoice for the bridge model. It's funny the things I've found and saved. I'd probably toss all this stuff out, but it seems like some of you are interested. Maybe?

I also didn't finish answering all of the schedule info. In the previous post I discuss the normal film season schedule and the normal episode schedule. The "normal" work week schedule was Monday through Friday. The normal work day began at 6:00 a.m. and ended at 6:30 p.m. with 1/2 hour deducted for lunch--although lunch always went a little longer than that. A lunch wagon travels with the show to feed us. If there was to be night work, then maybe the call time would be noon or later with the 12 hours extending into the night. Back then if you worked a Saturday, you received 1.5 times your normal rate--even if you only worked that one day. If you worked a Sunday, you received 2 times your normal rate. It was very rare that we ever worked a Sunday and sometimes Set Dressing worked a Saturday--usually the film company did not. Today work is based on a 5 day week--any 5 days with the 6th day at 1.5 and the 7th at 2 times your rate.

There were no sick days or vacation days. If you showed up for work too sick to work, you got 8 hours even if you went home earlier. It was an unfortunate way to spread the flu or colds since you would get your 8 hours anyway. Department heads were usually on a weekly rate. I used to say to my crew that the only way I could make more money was to go home early. The only way they could make more money was to work late. It didn't always work out that way. Some L.A. people had other deals like getting Saturdays "worked or not worked."

I know the stereotype is that we are all overpaid and have all these benefits. Truthfully, it is a very demanding business without excuses, explanation, and no reason needed for being fired. If you are a daily hire, you are only guaranteed that day. I often wonder if I had started at McDonald's back then instead of Magnum, if I wouldn't have been better off financially? But am I bitter................

Another rule we had back then but has since gone away is that all department heads had to be driven while they were at work by a teamster driver. While I won't go into the history of this policy, it was just a given back then. I was allowed to drive from my home to work and park my car. After that, all shopping, scouting, dressing, etc. during work hours, I was in a company car or van and being driven by a teamster driver. No, this wasn't a luxury or even necessarily always desirable. It just was and you didn't question it. Over the years this rule slowly eroded and now I am able to drive a van, shop alone, and carry things. Company vehicles and trucks are still driven by teamster drivers today who are an accepted and valued part of the company.

These are fairly standard situations for most film and TV companies. There is potential for abuse in these intense working conditions. Costs are high, demands are great, conditions often extreme, egos sometimes huge, hours are long, and the work intense. Sometimes it is difficult for the "outside" world with a 40 hour work week, regular breaks, vacation time, same location each day to always understand the hours and conditions of a film / TV company. As someone once said to me, "I've never worked on a show that wasn't cancelled."

Aloha,

Rick

Magnum, P.I. Filming Schedule & misc. answers to questions

2009-02-11T12:43:00.000-08:00

I will save up a few emailed questions from time to time and answer them here as a post so all can see--especially when they are such good questions: "How long did it take to film an episode and a season of Magnum?" and "What ever happened to Archie Bacon?" (former Art Director of several years of the show). As usual, I am incapable of short answers...........

Looking at some of my old calendars, I went back to work for the 1984 season on July 30, my crew started on August 9, I think filming began on August 2o or possibly 27th. Tom came back to work on September 5th. Filming 22 episodes that season ended on March 28th (library set) and my last day of work was the 30th. (by contrast today, "LOST" took 3 months longer to film 22 episodes). My first day back for the 1985 season was July 29th so I would assume things again ended in late March or early April.

Shows were normally "boarded" for 7 or sometimes 8 days. The 1st Assistant Director would break down the script according to days at a location, proximity of locations to each other, availability of actors, and the estimated page count (time) of each scene. Before computers, they used strips of paper put into a literal "board" to plan the schedule. 1st A.D.'s should be running this country as their ability to consistently figure out all of these variables is amazing. (and when they fail, they are fired--unlike our politicians). The studios who own and/or distribute these shows plan (if not insist) on following this 7 to 8 day schedule. More time is more money.

There is something called "2nd unit" which is supposed to mean "non principal(s) photography" meaning that there are some scenes that do not involve / require principals ("stars") of the show. So helicopter shots of Tom driving the Ferrari with classic dialogue like "Life is a lot like pizza............." or a close-up of a watch on Higgin's wrist, or Tom stitching up a wound, etc. are usually second unit--meaning it's a photo double driving the Ferrari, a stand-in wearing a duplicate shirt and coat and watch for the close-up, and our medical consultant's hands actually doing the stitching. These 2nd unit shots usually have a separate crew, camera, and may all be done on one day and later edited into the final episode. The time it would take to set up separate lighting and camera angles just to show a 2 second shot of a watch while using an actor whose time is limited to so many hours a day does not make financial sense. Nothing else in this business makes much sense, but the money parts do.

There are times that, to appease the studio powers that be (also known by the more technical term as "covering your ass"), shots may be relegated to 2nd unit in order to keep to the original first unit schedule. Keep in mind that while filming is going on for one episode, the next episode is prepping and there is no time off between the current show and the following one. In set dressing, for example, while we are shooting we are wrapping the previous episode AND prepping the next one. And for this amazing ability, I would assume our life expectancy is 10 years less. Unemployment does have some unintended benefits.........

The answer to what ever happened to Archie Bacon is a bit shorter: I don't know.

It's a strange phenomenon in this business. You work side by side with people 60-80 hours a week off and on for years. You know their partners, kids, birthdays, and sometimes more than you care to know about them. You knock yourself out, jump through hoops, cure the common cold, and cut off various body parts for them. Then they go back to L.A. and you never hear from them again. Well, once I did get Christmas card from Fred Silverman, but I think his secretary sent them to everyone even if he hadn't met them. So that's just how it is.

Archie Bacon was an amazing person and designer. He was always creating "something" and was really good at whatever he did. He was also very humble and nonchalant about it. That alone is very rare in this business now. I did stay in touch with Lou Montejano off and on for about 5 years after Magnum and we even worked together again when I lived in L.A. doing "Jake and the Fatman." The person who originally hired me on Magnum (who does read this blog sometimes) is really the only person (besides my original crew) who I do talk with. Our similar departures from the show were under the same shady shadow of corruption which is still spoken of in hushed tones until a few more bodies are buried. Sounds like a Magnum plot.

Ok, I can hear some dry rot and termite damage calling to me so I'd better get something done today. I think I work harder around this house on unemployment than when I do work for a paycheck. The Midwest work ethic never leaves.

Aloha,

Rick

The Bridge over the River Arno

2009-02-08T23:37:00.000-08:00

One of the best parts of doing this blog for me has been meeting, or at least hearing from, interesting people from all over the world. I was very happy to hear from my new friend Cristian in Tuscany (where the Arno flows and my obscure humor doesn't). This is a model of the Bridge on the River Kwai he built while in Middle School. The last time I saw this model, it was sitting on the shelf in Higgin's den. All these years later seeing "my" model brought back memories of sticky fingers, frustration in trying to keep all those little railings vertical, and even to making the side "rocks" out of plaster--or whatever I used. Who would ever think that someone on the other side of the world from me would someday duplicate this bridge model? Or are there dozens of duplicates I'm not aware of??

As I mentioned earlier, I did make a beginning, a middle, and an end model and was just off camera when John Hillerman would put a piece on the partially finished bridge model. They would yell "cut" and I would take the piece off, wipe the glue off, and ready the piece for another take. I thought I'd died on gone to heaven! A couple of years later I was in charge (well, for a few years at least). So many thanks for Cristian for sharing his photos and giving me permission to use them here.

Speaking of permission, some of my photos will be appearing on Magnum Mania with my permission. The point of my blog is to share information, memories, and answer questions. However, if these images start appearing on coffee mugs and t-shirts then---hey, I want in!

In my haste to post the 50th anniversary of "legendary" Magnum Prop Master, Rick DiNieri, being in the I.A.T.S.E. Hollywood Local 44, I spelled his name wrong in the previous post. I'm sorry about that.

Aloha,

Rick

P.S. - forgot

2009-02-07T13:51:00.000-08:00

I forgot to say CONGRATULATIONS! to Rick Dineri who celebrates his 50th year of being in the prop master's union, Local 44 in Hollywood. I am also a member of that union and saw his name in the latest newsletter--yes, I actually read those things. Wow, 50 years, he must have only been 8 years old when he worked on Magnum.

Also, I am waiting for permission, but one of the blog readers sent me some photos of a bridge he built like the one he had seen on the show and it is fantastic. No, I don't think he is taking any mail orders right now, but it brought back a lot of memories of how sticky my fingers got gluing all those little pieces together.

Back to Basics...........Set Photos

2009-02-07T13:02:00.000-08:00

I feel like one of those vaudeville performers who just keeps on tap dancing while waiting for the next act to come on.........except they're late. Well, I may not be able to tap dance, but I am still waiting for my slides / cd to come back from India so I can post more set photos. In the meantime I'm trying to come up with other interesting photos--like a bust of Jack Lord facing Macy's at Kahala Mall!

This is probably the most obscure of all my set photos: A 1945 basement of a Jewish Synagogue in China! I'll bet the writer's stayed up all night thinking of that one--it's obscure even by "LOST" standards. Again, no idea which episode or why or what it was for. I scanned all 3 photos as one rather than individually since there's not a whole lot to see.

It is interesting, though, because the paint job on the columns is pretty good, there is dirt on the stage floor, you can see the ends of the set and catwalk above, and, of course, the set dressing is fantastic! (what little there is of it--crates, brass items, boxes).

Another side note, I always have to laugh now when a director or designer says "just get a few wooden crates" and I respond with "we have to build them." I suppose for 100 years or more, wooden crates were readily available and cheap and usually discarded. Now that we have decimated many of our natural forests, wooden crates are almost impossible to find anymore. We used to get ours from a place called Jade Food Products for free, then .50 cents, then $1.00 a crate, then they switched to cardboard and no more crates. Incidentally, the only cardboard box plant in Hawaii shut down last summer.

Now I'm running out of obscure information about cardboard plants in Hawaii AND photos, so maybe I will have time to learn how to tap dance? Hey, it could happen.

Aloha, Rick

Old gate house to Fort Ruger and Jack Lord memorial

2009-02-04T18:37:00.000-08:00

This should also settle the question of what is at 3949 Diamond Head Road. Other buildings include the Red Cross, ARC School, and a dog park across from the film studio.

Photos of former Mgnum Soundstage and studio (February 2009)

2009-02-04T18:32:00.001-08:00

More about film studio, Hawaii 5-0, Magnum

2009-02-04T17:57:00.000-08:00

Idrove over to my old haunts around the film studio today (in part to let my visiting sister help our economy shopping at Kahala Mall) and took some photos. Rubber chicken has put his original letter to me under comments in the previous post if you want to follow all of this. I also forgot to point out that the google maps of the studio area are at least 4 years old since they do not show the new studio offices and construction mill although the new soundstage is shown.

I took pictures of the corner of Diamond Head Road at 22nd Avenue and again at 18th Avenue. I think some of you will recognize parts of the National Guard building that was used in some Magnum episodes. I wasn't aware that across the street from this building (on 22nd Avenue) there are still some of the old WWII warehouses still in use for something. I remember when they used to actually store tanks there. As this is the most expensive part of the island, I used to tell visitors that this area had their own army for protection. In any case, there does not seem to be any trace of a warehouse that could have been the one where 5-0 was filmed.

Sorry, couldn't add these photos on this post so refer to above next posting for views.

The view at the corner of Diamond Head Road at 18th Avenue is much greener and better landscaped than it was during Magnum times. The old soundstage (renamed the 5-0 Stage and now used for storage by "LOST") has a new sliding door and has been repainted, but is otherwise the same. It's just an old Butler Building warehouse, but is the holy grail for Magnum fans. The new studio gates and guard house are an improvement over the old shack and chain link fence that were the entrance for Magnum slightly to the left of the main gate and still there.

Well, it ain't much folks, but it is 30 years later and this is what it looks like now.

Aloha, Rick

P.S. here is also a detail of one of the old guard houses to Fort Ruger and now an electrical substation. Also the bust of Jack Lord outside Macy's at Kahala Mall.........odd place for a memorial.

Answers to Questions.........and the usual ramblings

2009-02-04T01:37:00.000-08:00

Aloha from cold Honolulu..........yeah, I know, no sympathy from most of the winter world. Well, the 60's are cold here at night and with the wind chill, even 50's.........and in a Speedo it's even colder........ok, enough.

Rubber Chicken asked so many good questions on my gmail account, I thought I would answer them here. I know I did write about some of this earlier, but this blog is sort of like "LOST"--who wants to go back and read all the old posts to know what's going on?

Those of you who have the amazing Google Maps downloaded can check out photos of the areas of Honolulu being discussed here. (zip code is 96816)

His questions pertain to the "old" studio and its location. I don't actually know if the address was 3949 Diamond Head Road. As I remember it (33 years ago this Spring), it was on 22nd Avenue and Diamond Head Road. Because the "new" film studio is on 18th Avenue at Diamond Head Road and has the address of 510 - 18th Avenue, I'm not sure about the 3949 address. The next time I am over there (which might be tomorrow or the next day), I will check it out and maybe take some photos. I was working up the hill in 1976 at what is now Diamond Head Theatre when I got a call about salvaging some materials that were left behind when 5-0 moved to the new 18th Avenue studio location. I turned their old sky cyc. (light blue muslin material used outside their office interiors as "sky") into many backdrops and show curtains for years after at the theatre. As I recall it was on 22nd Avenue--but maybe it was further down? There is no building large enough to have been a soundstage there now, but so many of those old WWII buildings have been torn down (some were even pre WWI). I do know that the first season (at least) of 5-0 was filmed in an old quonset building at Pearl Harbor. You could still see part of it, but I haven't really bothered to look lately. I remember hearing it was a real mosquito haven. I'm sure Jack's hair prevented any from biting him there.

While I don't know which episode was entitled "Lest We Forget," I do know that we used the entrance (and other parts) of the building on 22nd Avenue and DH Road as a prison and other "secure" or military looking locations in other episodes. It's still there and I will post some photos--at least they won't have to travel to India to appear on this blog. (still waiting for their return btw).

A 1976 building permit would have been issued for the "new" (Butler brand warehouse building) sound stage that was erected at the current film studio at 510 18th Avenue. As I stated before, the (now "old") soundstage has been renamed the "Hawaii 5-0" stage even though it was only used the last 3 seasons (1976-79) of 5-0. It would have made more sense to call it the "Magnum, P.I." stage since it was home to all 8 seasons of Magnum. The old office-bungalows are still there only because the State ran out of money to tear them down and build what was supposed to have been another set of offices for another sound stage that was also not built. The "new-est" soundstage and offices are currently being used by "LOST" with the 5-0 / Magnum stage used only for storage.

Again, as mentioned before, this entire section of Honolulu was a pre-WWI army base called Fort Ruger. It included all of Diamond Head crater and the area from Kahala Avenue to part way down Monsarrat Avenue and all the way up the hill to Leahi Hospital which was "THE" hospital in 5-0 and also often used in Magnum as well. At each end were the stone guard gate houses when the entry to the army base would have been restricted. The larger one near Kahala Avenue does not have a roof but houses an electrical substation for the area. The smaller one on the town side is just empty. It's hard for most people to imagine the size of this base with huge gun implacements (some still there), an area that now houses a large cemetery, a community college, Diamond Head State Park, water supply tunnel, etc.

As far as "teaching the ways of our strange Oahu building codes" that Rubber Chicken requested, I could start another blog on that subject alone--only it would have to be anonymous. I prefer not wearing any concrete when swimming in the ocean.

I have a few last set photos to post and hope I hear from my friends in India soon on the 96 slides I've sent. When I last heard they were "in queue" which sounds better than dumped in a pile awaiting scanning. I also found some things to put on ebay that might interest some of you. I will at least post the photos here before they go away to a better home than 25 years in my attic. I found some plans and drawings of the big Vietnam Hotel set and a lot of my notes from scouts and schedules and things. I even found complete crew list. I doubt that any of the phone numbers would be the same 25 years later and most names were listed at the end credits anyway. Any other documents with names or location phone numbers would not be a good thing to post.

I love reading your comments I hope as much as you enjoy my posts!

Aloha

Scan Problem Solved?

2009-01-19T00:00:00.000-08:00

Now that I'm getting to the remains of the current photo collection, this is the only photo I have representing the main filming company. It was an episode that had some sort of carnival or side show plot. It was set up at Sandy Beach on the eastern end of Oahu without regard to the very high winds that can happen there. I remember that was a big problem but not finishing at this location was an even bigger one.

The time it takes to film a scene depends on many variables: the actor (mood, memory or mind), "wardrobe malfunctions," equipment, weather, and (more than once) how big the director's hangover was. When it appears that the company may not finish filming a scene at a location and will not be able to return to finish, a decision has to be made how to complete the scene(s) without having to return and still maintain continuity. At this particular location, the wind was a real problem. Keeping an entire carnival set up at a public location until the time was found to come back was not an option. It was determined at some point that part of the location set would have to be moved back to the studio backlot to complete the scene as part of another day. Unfortunately it happened to include the ferris wheel. It's odd to think of a ferris wheel as set dressing, but in this case it was. Luckily it was the amusement company that was responsible for actually moving it while we began duplicating the rest of the set. Back then all we had to go by were polaroid film shots--not always the clearest to see the detail. Now everything that is recorded on film is also on digital video and available immediately. All film is only processed in L.A. Sometimes it was as easy as putting an actor against a wall of the same color and hanging the same picture or drapes hopefully from the original location that could be moved. There were times when one scene in a room might have been

filmed many miles or days later than the rest of the scene. I know I had to try and find some drapes and items to match some things to match one of the sets that had been shot in England. I offered to go get them but.............. Ultimately all I can do is come close and hope no one notices--and usually no one does.

Getting back to the scanning problem of my Magnum slides, thanks to Google, I found a company that claims to do high quality scans at a very reasonable rate. Decent slide scanners start at $800 and the better ones at $1,600. I don't think I have enough Magnum memorabilia left to pay for half of one, so at .29 cents each, this company appears to be the winner. The slides are actually scanned in India! They are cleaned, scanned at 3,000 dpi, put on a disc, I can delete online, and then they are mailed back with a disc. Sounds a little too good to be true, but I'm going to risk it. It takes about 3 weeks and I may just do a few to start. As these are slides, there are no duplicates or back up if something happens. Anyway, given the time and money it will save, I think it's worth giving it a try. So I'll stretch the remaining scans, tell a few jokes, and before you know it, I hope I will have some more photos to keep this blog going awhile longer. I'd sure miss the applause! Thanks again for viewing.

Aloha,

Rick

"Paniolo" Episode - 2 more photos found

2009-01-15T12:18:00.000-08:00

Iguess I was so happy to have found the first 3 photos, I didn't notice I had 2 more. I don't remember whose room this was, but he must have really liked horses to keep his saddle in his bedroom! (or maybe some other reason I don't want to know about?) Over his dresser is a print of one of Archie Bacon's cowboys. He was the last Art Director I'd worked with on the show and had designed this room that we furnished. He was a good artist and did a lot of western / cowboy drawings and even some sculptures during his slow times at work. Wow, slow times at work?? Those WERE the good old days! Nowadays, 14 hours is hardly enough. I had to laugh at the hat on the dresser that says "paniolo" which was the name and theme of this episode. Probably a good find of mine from the Goodwill or Salvation Army store. No, I didn't dye the drapes to match the ceiling and door color, but it almost looks like it in the photo. The absence of any age or character on the wall surface makes this set look less believable.

I see we used 2 "Hot Set" signs on this set. As I recall they were ignored since the film company was still on the Big Island and this set just sat there. More than one person was caught napping on the bed. Notice the floor was carpeted as were all of our sets (unless they were tiled or some other floor covering). I could almost say that I would eat all of the carpet that was ever actually seen on this show--and still be hungry! As it was difficult to store or reuse carpet (since it was cut to fit each set), most of the crew had Magnum carpet in their homes. Universal Studios policy was that all materials (including lumber, molding, etc.) had to be disposed of and not given away. Since we were 2,500 miles away from their watchdogs, this rule was often ignored. I don't think the word "recycle" was used back then and all those rain forests were still there just waiting to be cut down. I used to smuggle the discarded molding out and give it to the theatre up the hill where I used to work--ok, maybe a few pieces wound up in my house, too. I think the statute of limitations has run out after 20+ years anyway.

Aloha (and stay warm!) It's down into the 70's here today!

Rick

Happy New Year! - The Blog Continues...........

2009-01-14T21:00:00.000-08:00

Maybe I should get out more, but it still amazes me that only 3 weeks ago was Christmas Eve, 2 weeks ago I was in New York City, last week in Minneapolis, and here I am back in Honolulu with a month's worth of Christmas decorations to take down. While I was on the mainland, I did see an ad for a drugstore that scanned slides and photos, so there must be a place here that could do the same for me. I'm kind of down to the dregs on what photos I have left, but something will work out. I've had so many encouraging comments from you that it's the only applause I get these days!

These photos were from an episode called "Paniolo" which is the Hawaiian word (I think with a little Portuguese influence) for cowboy. This was one of the few times an episode was partially filmed off the island of Oahu. The only others during my tenure were the one on the cruise ship and the one when they went to England (and Tom met his future wife).

A new luxury hotel on the Kohala Coast of the Big Island was opening and offered us rooms for "promotional consideration." I remembered we scouted several big cattle ranches on the Big Island (Hawaii) which is larger than all the other islands combined. At the time it was home to the largest privately owned cattle ranch in the USA (Parker Ranch with over 250,000 acres and 50,000 head of cattle). The last owner, Richard Smart, had a career on Broadway and I was the designer of the theatre he built in the town surrounded by his ranch. Ok, digression over, we wound up shooting on Monty Richard's Ranch, the name of which eludes me.

Some of the interiors were still built on the soundstage in Honolulu which are shown here. I did spend some time on the Big Island with my crew, but most of the work for me was back in Honolulu. As much as I would have liked to have spent some time at this incredible resort, it was a little difficult to hide behind the umbrella in my mai tai by the pool, so I went back to Honolulu and left my crew to deal with the bales of hay and horse poop at the real ranch.

This set looks like they had a sale on crackle paint but regardless, it's appropriate for a rustic ranch office. If you wonder why that cord is hanging in the middle of the set, normally set dressing is responsible for hanging any visible, "practical" light fixtures. Then the electricians hook them up. In Hollywood they actually have a separate fixture crew to do this.

The HOT SET sign is Hollywood language for "Don't Touch." Technically it's supposed to refer to a set that has been partially shot and needs to remain intact for continuity purposes until filming is complete. Sometimes we would just use the signs so the crew (or extras) wouldn't have lunch on it, but more than once we would find someone taking a nap on a bed or sofa. If the items were rented and had to go back in new condition, I just wish stun guns had been invented back then.

I think this set would still hold up today--maybe some old photos on the walls and I'm not sure what I was thinking with those curtains. Maybe they were on sale along with the crackle paint?

Aloha, Rick

Happy Holidays! and Good news / Bad news

2008-12-26T17:54:00.000-08:00

Anybody remember me? Sorry it's been so long....something about cooking for 43 at 5 different dinners here, cards, wrapping, mailing packages and 3 weeks of decorating. It was great! So to relieve my Post Christmas Traumatic Stress Syndrome, I put a ladder up from my library side today and reached in as far as I could under the eaves and managed to pull out a box labelled "Film Stuff." That's a very scientific technical term, I know. So the good news is that there is a lot of Magnum stuff in there. The bad news is that, other than this photo of these 3 studly 80's guys in their shorts, everything is unfortunately in slide form. The other good news is that there is lots of stuff I can put on ebay and maybe make enough money to buy a slide scanner for my Mac. The ones you see for $99 everywhere (I even bought one once) only work on PC's. And no, I'm not sending you the slides so you can scan them! So there will be some new posts of what looks like quite a few sets I haven't shown. You may have to identify most of them as the slides aren't labelled. Some boxes say "Luther Gillis Den, Guesthouse," "Whorehouse," "T.C.'s LR & Office" and some blank ones. I think there still should be more slides somewhere, but I could only reach in so far. The real access to that space is full of stuff. There is also paper work, stationery, and even an asset list of set dressing for a year among other things.

The man who bought my Magnum jacket a few months ago would be amused to know that instead of the jacket at Christmas, we received this card. It almost seems strange to see it say "Merry Christmas" on it. I forgot the jackets took a long time and we were given this card instead. A little "Magnum humor" (very little). The other is a page that we were given (at least mine seems to be an original) of an ad Tom took out in Variety magazine. In case you don't know, no one ever says "Thank You" in this business. I always say that fact you haven't been fired yet is the only thanks that you will ever get. Tom was different and was very appreciative.

So, not the most exciting post, but that's probably going to be it for my inagural blog year of 2008. I'm going to be away from my computer until January 12 and will start posting again soon after. I really appreciate all of your encouragement regarding this blog. May all of my good karma pay off soon with a job in 2009!

The picture is of my crew members, Al on the left and Russ on the right, and me with the great legs in the middle. It was taken outside my office. Tom's office was off on the right, next door to mine.

I will look forward to posting more next year as long you keep enjoying them!

Hauole Makahiki Hou!

Rick

Higgins' "Other" Bedroom Set

2008-12-12T12:33:00.000-08:00

In the hopes that I might find some pictures, I climbed into a storage area under a stairway in my home that I open about once every few years. I did find a Magnum file that had my original start papers and things from my employment. I did find some photos printed from some slides. They were labelled "Higgins' Bedroom. I do remember doing an another bedroom for him later. I'm guessing this might have been part of a flashback or something because the walls are just painted and not the usual aged plaster look. Ironically there is virtually nothing from his original bedroom set posted earlier so there must not have been any interest in continuity. There is also nothing of mine in this room which tells me it must have been closer to my "end" as the decorator or maybe even after when I became the assistant to the person who replaced me. I still did many of the sets even though I was never given credit for them.........another long story that I can't put in this blog. I do have a few more sets to post and then I have got to dig out my oldest files and hope I find the mother lode. Maybe I could post some "Jake and the Fatman" sets and drive you all crazy trying to figure out which Magnum sets they were? That wouldn't last long since you're all too smart for me on this subject!

One of the few benefits of unemployment, I mean "availability," is I can really do up Christmas. With no TV sets to dress, that leaves my house and lots of Christmas stuff I haven't had time to dig out in years. It doesn't pay much, but it keeps me off the beach. Hope all you anonymous people out there and my loyal 14 followers are having a good holiday season as well. Posting again soon!

Aloha, Rick

'Twas the Week Before Christmas.......or thereabouts

2008-12-02T23:49:00.000-08:00

This is my "Magnum Christmas Story." Sorry, it doesn't involve Santa, little children or puppies. We were doing some sort of terrorist training camp out in Kahuku on the North Shore of Oahu (like no one would notice) right before Christmas one year. Normally set dressing does tents, everything in them, and even camouflage netting. Sometimes the net might be part of the set and sometimes it is used to hide something in the distance like the camera truck, inappropriate signs, or buildings. The Kahuku location chosen was perfect in every way except for a large trailer home that was used by the caretaker and his family too near the set. My crew hung a very large camouflage net to cover the house so that it wasn't noticeable from the set.

I think it was the art director who ultimately found the old plane that special effects head, Jack Faggard was to blow up. Jack was a really good "powder man" and known for his big explosions. In the film business, while explosive powder is used, it is more for show often blowing harmless pieces of cork as debris. The actual damaged look might be created later by tools or paint and much more controlled than what might appear on the screen...still, it is an explosion and not always 100% predictable. On the day of the explosion, all the usual precautions were taken, crew cleared, and the family of the home was allowed to watch from a distance. Off went the charge--a lot more than was expected--and it looked great!

Moving on to the next scene, the family returned to their home on the other side of our camo net hung to hide their house. What they found was that all their windows had been blown out, their Christmas tree was on the other side of the room along with their presents. Whoops! So the show paid for new windows, another Christmas tree and I'm not sure what they did about the presents, but I'm sure there were a few more! The shock wave of the blast had traveled through the netting and right at their house. Possibly special effects hadn't noticed how close the house was behind the net or maybe it was just a mis-directed blast. In any case, it was almost not a very Merry Christmas for the family who luckily had watched the explosion. And they all lived happily ever after. The End.

It's time to play....NAME THAT EPISODE!

2008-11-23T16:49:00.000-08:00

This is another one of those sets that looked good then, but would probably get me fired today in its simplicity. I think the painter would be in the same boat as the paint aging is pretty bad, too. I have no idea which episode this was from but we built this from scratch in an area known as Sherwood Forrest on Waimanalo Beach--even though I think it was supposed to be in the mountains somewhere.

I thought it was good that you see that we didn't build any more than was necessary--hence the half of a water tank. It looks like the Greens Department had a ways to go getting some planting around the base of the cabin. There is very little age or uniformity in the dressing out on the deck. This sort of "screams SET" and doesn't look believable to me now. I've already checked--the fireplace rocks do not line up with the ones in Agatha's house (which sounds like I'm succumbing to "Magnum Mania" for detail!)--although it is strangely the same size. The stones all look too uniform and plain for supposedly being lava rock. Well, not much more to say about this set since I don't really remember any more stories about it. Since there is no way for me to top the last 2 postings, here is something less exciting for you to ponder.

As I am getting close to Thanksgiving, I may or may not have time to post again this week. Robin Masters would be right at home with my overindulgent feast, but unfortunately Higgins has the week off and I'm doing it all by myself. OMG, I'm slipping into Magnum dementia!

Happy Thanksgiving to all and let's be thankful for what we do have whether we are celebrating with turkey on Thursday or not.

Aloha, Rick

Look what I found.....The Guesthouse Set! (and ME!)

2008-11-22T13:26:00.000-08:00

Who would think I'd ever put this photo of me on the internet? Well, I sure won't be mistaken for Tom Selleck! One day the Art Director, Archie Bacon, and I were walking by the unprotected, uncovered Ferrari and I just happened to have my camera. Like a couple of naughty kids, we took turns taking pictures of each other sitting in the car. Yeah, I'm SO cool that I didn't even know how to open the door from the outside or the inside so I had to climb in and out! This was the "driving " Ferrari. They also had a "tow" Ferrari which they used behind a camera truck for when you saw Tom inside the car "driving"--which he wasn't. Again, cutting back and forth between actual driving shots and sitting behind the wheel shots, it looks pretty good. That's the soundstage behind me on the left.

On to the guesthouse photo--it turns out I did have one in my portfolio. That means that when Indiana Jones comes over and we go on a quest in my attic to find the long buried photos, there could be more (?). I know you all have seen this set more recently and more often than I have so pardon my first impression on seeing it for the first time in decades--what a dump! It's much smaller than I remember and almost looks dirty with those walls. Ok, please, no hate mail and death threats--it's just my first thougts after all these years. You can see the make-up tables being stored inside the set since space was always a premium on that stage. George Sumner was a personal friend of John Hillerman so that painting had to hang prominently over the fireplace. It would not have been my choice since it photographed so dark on camera. Basically the furniture was pretty much run of the mill sort of middle class Sears contemporary items. I had forgotten there actually were windows on the camera left side of the set and the smaller one on the landing. Normally a set would be lit for filming and then the lights taken down and used elsewhere. As you can see, the basic lights were left up on the catwalk all the time because this was a permanent set. The guesthouse set was fairly close to the side wall of the soundstage--the back wall maybe 6-8 feet away which made it difficult to have a higher ceiling since the roof sloped down at that point. You can see the small ceiling sections over the entry door.

There was a door to the right of the TV set that really did lead into Tom's bedroom set. There was also a small wall portion that could be used as part of the "4th wall" but was seldom seen. I think that is my leadman Russ Maki standing on the set.

Many have asked what happened to all the items. I am amazed at how many of those items did survive the "great purge" when they tore down the old set dressing building a few years ago. It's funny how when things are taken away from their original environment, they just become "stuff." Like after my parents had died and we sold the family home, I brought things back to Hawaii that had been in that house for decades. Somehow without the wall paper and windows and familiar surroundings, the things just weren't the same. What few items that may or may not still exist in the new storage area, are the property of the State of Hawaii Film Office and would not be for sale--so don't ask! I'll be the one getting in trouble for even mentioning it!

I found a few other surprises--even a "funny" Christmas story (and photos) about an explosion we did that accidentally blew out the windows out of a house and sent their Christmas tree flying across their living room. Have to wait for Christmas for that one! Again, thanks for all your encouragement and comments. (don't stop now!)

"Echoes of the Mind" 2-Hour Season Opener

2008-11-14T14:47:00.000-08:00

This has to be one of the biggest and best sets I've ever done--in many ways. This episode stared a fairly unknown actress playing the good twin/evil twin (yes, that plot again) in a 2 hour season opener that Marco will tell us which one--at least I remembered the title he told me).

The location was amazing! One of the great homes of Honolulu happened to be empty. In the mid 80's it was for sale for $5.9 million. It is now the Contemporary Art Museum although some elements of the home remain. A chance to furnish several rooms in this home (and have the budget to do it) was a dream come true and I ran with it! There were still amazing resources back then to choose from: Robert Rose / Kreiss Collection, Orientations by Greg Mills, Consignment Center, Rattan Art Gallery, and Treasures of the East were all world class decorating resources (and all gone now). I remember the black rosewood bench along the wall cost $16,000 (relax, rented for 15%). Well, it was almost a purchase when someone sat on the arm and cracked it. This was one time I didn't let my usual honesty get in the way. We glued it and never said another word!

The most memorable and wonderful event to come out of this design was my meeting the late Betty Ho. Betty was one of "the little old ladies" who did these amazing, creative flower sculptures ("arrangement" is too common!) for the Honolulu Academy of Art (ironically the former location of the home by the builder of this home). Anyway, I'd heard that Betty had a group of ladies who could do some large scale and elegant arrangements for this set. I needed something elegant, opulent, and overscale to help fill these huge spaces--like a 60 foot living room and a 30 foot wide window. We became immediate friends and remained so for 20 years until her untimely death. I learned a lot from her but mine never seemed to match the elegance of hers.

By comparison to most of my sets ( as you may have noticed), this one is not as "full" as most of my sets are. My reasoning that it's easier to take something out than have to find something to put in didn't really apply to this set. It was 80's contemporary with Asian influence in a tropical setting. I also did a bedroom and some outdoor spaces, but I don't know if I have photos of those areas or not. These photos are just the ones I've had in my old portfolio.

This season the producers gave me a photo made from a frame of film that showed my name in the credits. It has Sharon and Tom sitting on that striped day bed with Higgins looking on and my name. It's still framed and I don't want to take it apart to scan. I guess you can always stop motion at the end and see for yourself.

Anyway, I don't think I will be topping this set in the blog any time soon so I hope you enjoy it.

As always, your comments and questions are appreicated!

Aloha, Rick

Cheesy to Sleazy Photos that didn't fit in part 1 or 2

2008-11-12T21:20:00.000-08:00

I I guess I made these photos too large as I got the "error" notice when I tried all of them in the Part 1 post. P.S. sorry about my typos--I shouldn't have the TV on next to my computer when I'm posting. Unfortunately not watching Magnum reruns!

I don't remember where I got all those great mannequins, but they really worked out well.

A friend of mine who was the main scenic artist for the opera here painted the Mona Lisa with the bikini top. I hate to tell you but that is my statue of Venus de Milo. She's been living in my bathroom for 20 some years (without the pasties on). So much for my degree in art history--more like desecration of art history. Thanks for looking..........Aloha, Rick

From Cheesy to Sleazy Part 1

2008-11-12T20:15:00.000-08:00

This has to be one of the most outrageous sets ever done on Magnum. Well, thank you--it was all my idea! My neck was on the line, but unlike today, I had the trust and encouragement from those above me. Sadly, those days seem to be gone. Even more amazing, we had ONE day to dress this empty store on a Friday, we shot it Saturday when we were allowed greater control over traffic on this otherwise busy street (Nuuanu Ave.) and then we struck it (removed) on Sunday. By Monday it was like it was never there.

Because it was a long day (and ultimately Friday night), I had to call for extra security since every hooker in downtown Honolulu was trying to come in and shop! Also, anyone who was leaving work on Friday afternoon and saw this "new shop" going in on Friday must have been surprised when they went to work on Monday morning and no trace of it existed.

The location was amazing - an old 50's (maybe even older) store interior that had hardly been touched. There were 3 bays on one side of the store and 3 bays on the other with a center area. Given that the name of the store was "Never on Sunday" (in reference to the movie of the same name where the girls took Sunday off and the fact that it was a front for other activity), it gave me the idea to do a different theme for each of the 6 bays using lingerie. This presented another problem. Where were we going to get all of this lingerie and who was going to know how to put it all together? I joked that my crew only knew how to take it off--not put it on! I had seen an ad in the paper that a new lingerie shop had opened in a small shopping area. Dealing with an independent owner is always much easier than dealing with a corporate entity like, say, a Victoria's Secret chain store. We obviously couldn't afford to buy all of the clothing and it's a little strange to rent underwear! Well, set decorating is not all carpeting and drapes as you might have learned by now. So I went into this shop, explained myself to the new owner, and she agreed to not only supply the outfits, but also "install" (so to speak) the merchandise. I probably should have been a used car dealer with this sales ability. Luckily she came through since we only had the one day to set up (it costs money each day you rent a location), had there been a problem with her not showing, we would have had a huge problem.

Something I have recognized over the years that I seem to be able to do well is to look at a pile of STUFF and organize and make sense out of it (with the exception of my own desk, of course). So I walk into this shop with my crew, this woman, a pile of our stuff and her stuff, try not to trip over the carpenters who are also installing their walls and get to work. I think they call it total chaos? I sort of picture in my mind what I want to do, but I'm flexible enough to go with what we have. I've worked for decorators who belong to the "Let's try it over there.......no, let's trying if over here" school of decorating. It's fine when you have days to move and try and change things, but it's a pain when you have only 1 day. The fact that decorators work on a flat rate (and not hourly) might have something to do with it!

It helped that Bernie Kowalski (standing in white out in front of the "before" picture) was one our best directors. Creative, understanding and fun, I felt that I could be a little more creative and have some fun. Sometimes we work a little harder for the "good" directors. Everything came together on this one. Bernie walked in Saturday morning and loved it all. It's amazing how the director, assistant director and director of photography can walk onto a set for the first time, look at the set, figure out their moves (blocking) and be able to convey it all in pieces to the actors (they digest little bits at a time better between visits to their motor homes). When it all works within the time and budget constraints and everything comes together (miracles do happen regularly), it's a great feeling. You even get 6 weeks to pretend they saw all of our hard work on the screen before watching the episode and seeing somewhat less. Sometimes by then a couple more episodes have passed and it's hard to remember all that was done earlier.

I hope you are all getting a little more insight into what went into all those episodes--and still goes on with most shows today.

Aloha, Rick

From Cheesy to Sleazy Part 2 - More Photos

2008-11-12T20:00:00.001-08:00

Additional Photos - please see part 1 for further informtion

An accidental discovery lead to something I'm fairly certain was left in the show. When I sat down on the sofa opposite the mannequin at the other end of the cushion, it slid towards me--almost like she was propositioning me. After showing the director, as I recall, "Rick" / Larry sat and did a double take when the mannequin slid towards him. Yes, you did see the sofa again in Higgin's bedroom. It's been in my bedroom for 20 years now. This set really was a fun, creative departure from the kinds of sets we normally did.

Aloha, Rick

Cheesy Sets of Yesteryear - Hospital Set from 1985

2008-11-10T12:07:00.000-08:00

I recently watched some episodes of the original seasons of both "Perry Mason" and "Superman." What struck me most was what passed for credible sets back in the 1950's on television. I've seen high school plays with better sets than "Superman" and even "Perry Mason" re-used sets week after week and just changed the sign out in front or the drapes inside. It's what was acceptable back then on the smaller, "snowy" screens with the "rabbit ears" antenna. Just getting decent reception in the days before cable was about all you could hope for. Oh, and maybe an occasional plot.

Before I praise myself about my sets, the 1985 set photos I am showing from this top 10 TV show would get me fired today in 2008! The design with flat, uniform colors, no aging or character from the art department is bad enough, but the set decorating is about as thin as you can get! Compared to what we see today on "E.R." or other shows, this looks pretty amateur--yet it was good enough in 1985 for Magnum. In my defense, L.A. actually now has real hospitals that have closed because of mergers or lack of earthquake upgrades but are available for rent by film and TV production companies. When I worked in L.A., I could "do" a hospital set by doing..........nothing! There is also a company (actually more than 1 now) that rents anything from an MRI machine to 1930's operating tables. In Honolulu it is always a challenge to create a hospital room outside of a real hospital. So this is a "state of the art" hospital set built on the soundstage in 1985.

I guess the moral of this post is that our tastes and standards have gone up considerably as our sophistication, awareness, and size and quality of our TV screens have increased as well.

Side Story Ramblings:

This reminds me of a standard in Hollywood. I was naive enough to think that when I finally got into the Hollywood Set Decorators union, that I was now "available" to do films and television--or anything! Wrong. As has been explained to me: First there are the BIG feature Set Decorators who do "Batman" and "Pirates" and "007." That's all they do. They have no life and live out of hotel rooms in exotic locations. Then there are decorators who do regular films. Even they have to be careful not to do too many of one type or they get pigeonholed as only doing comedies, or slasher films or period movies. Then we make the jump from the big screen to Television. Or as some would have it, the jump from heaven to earth. My favorite Hollywood line was from a decorator I was working for in a more lowly position. She actually said to me when I spoke, "Do I need to know you?" How can you be upset over that?!

Moving on down the line are MOW (Movie of the Week) or mini-series decorators, cable shows, network shows, 3 camera soap operas, video, etc. From the charwoman up through the footman to the head butler for sure. The argument with feature decorators vs. TV is that their screen is so much bigger and the detail is so much more important, etc. I always laugh at that and say if I had your time (often a month for 1 or 2 sets) and your budget (hundreds of thousands and up) and crew (dozens), I could do bigger and more detail, too! The final irony of it all is that film screens have gotten smaller and smaller over the years and television (especially HDTV) has gotten bigger and better. Unfortunately old stereotypes and egos die hard. I've had the opportunity to work with some wonderful, talented decorators who understood that I was there to make us all look good so please don't think that everyone doesn't need to know me! The Hollywood union does not allow you to work in any other capacity than your single craft. By also being a member of the Hawaii union, we are allowed to work in 3 different areas so it is possible for me to be a Production Designer, Set Decorator, or Swing Gang here. I figure you can always learn something from everyone--even if it's how NOT to do something! Ok, go collect your prize at the door and thanks for reading! Aloha

Additional Hospital Set Photos - 1985

2008-11-10T11:57:00.001-08:00

I hadn't even finished the title and the blog listed me twice with no way to delete. So even my mistakes are published for all to see! Anyway, these are additional photos since I have made the files large enough for you to see details and I can't post more than 4 or 5 per blog entry.

Additional Hospital

2008-11-10T11:57:00.000-08:00

Set Construction and How They Are Built

2008-11-06T22:48:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Dave from Perth, here is another topic you might enjoy knowing about. Or not. Even though construction was not part of my Set Decorating, I had been a carpenter-designer-painter-electrician for 15 years in the theatre before Magnum so I do know a bit about behind the camera construction. Ok, stay awake............you will be tested on this later.

Basic wall units are called flats (just like in the theatre) only the frames are built on edge and covered with a thin plywood (sometimes called door skin). You put enough flats together and you have a wall. The camera obviously can see closer to these walls so they not only have to be covered with something (texture, wallpaper, surface decoration, etc.)you have to be careful about the spaces between the flats since they are usually made in 4' wide modules because that's the normal width of the plywood. One of the ways you can always tell a set wall from a real interior wall is by all the jogs or angles in the walls. Sometimes they are small jogs only about 1 inch and sometimes maybe a large architectural element like a pilaster (engaged column) to break the flatness and hide the seams. These jogs are so you don't have to cover a flat seam and sometimes to be able to take the wall completely out. These are called "wild walls" and are designed to be removed from the set so that the camera can shoot from a different angle and not be hampered by the wall. It's the only way you can film inside a small room or space. Even when Tom was crawling in a tunnel, one side of that tunnel was open for the camera and could be put back later.

Many of the Magnum permanent set walls had a form of plaster (usually dry wall paste) we called mud. I did address this in an earlier post, but it created the look of rough, aged plaster and also bridged any gaps in the walls made up of smaller flats. Many walls were wall papered and sometimes painted walls only had something like masking tape that was painted to cover the crack between the flats. This seam could always be cut with a knife if the wall needed to be taken out. They sometimes pre-painted more masking tape if they had to recover it if the wall went back in place.

The basic construction framing material is wood--weather it ultimately looks like marble, stone, brick, or tile. Tile was usually ready made wallboard tile or sometimes even scored masonite which is sort of a thin fiberboard with a smooth surface. So 500 words later, it's time to answer David's question about bricks (are you still with us David?). By the time Magnum was around, Universal Studios had one of the best molding (moulding) mills in Hollywood. They could make just about any kind of trim. They also had vacu-form wall surfaces like bricks, stone, and things like "dirt skins" for caves and exterior ground. As I recall, the bricks in Higgin's den were vacu-form plastic (heated plastic sheets over a form, air pulled out, plastic conforms to the underlying shape). They came in large sheets and could be painted. They also had "Z-brick" which were a fake brick veneer, but only came in about 3 or 4 variations. Got any old pancake houses near you? I do and it's still full of Z-brick. (sounds sort of like "brick" with a French accent). It's getting late...... Another way of doing bricks (we used this in the theatre a lot) is to take a large sheet of 2 or 3" thick styrofoam (sometimes used for roofing insulation) and a rough file or rasp and digging out the foam for the grout area. You can do large blocks of stone or smaller bricks or even stones with this. Sometimes a soldering gun with a wide tip is used--but it does give off a toxic gas when it melts the foam.

The 1970's and 80's had a lot of things like "Mediterranean" spindles, geometric plywood cut-outs, filigree panels, and other peculiar architectural elements that were used. Often times you would see some sort of "entrance screen" into a room near the doorway. These were used to help block the view beyond the door when it opened or to see the bad guy hiding before the good guy did or sometimes for the camera to shoot through. Furniture and architectural elements located near the camera in the foreground are called a "cutting piece". It's a way of providing foreground interest or sometimes to create the illusion of the 4th wall when all there really is is a low cabinet with a vase on it.

Thanks for staying with me if you did. You can pick up your diploma on the way out.

Aloha

Saigon Bar Set built inside the living room on sound stage

2008-11-06T17:24:00.000-08:00

I I I Ithink this was my favorite set ever built on the stage. Well, maybe a tie with Agatha's! Again, you experts can supply me with the episode and plot, I'll supply the set photo. Amazingly this was built inside the living room set and actually used the same walls. I really lucked out in finding this bar and the art department built me the back bar. I think that painting behind the bar might still exist at the studio--no you can't buy it! I can't believe all the set dressing that was available back then here in Honolulu. This is another impossible set to create today unless it was all shipped from L.A.

This was supposed to be a once grand hotel in Saigon. Today you could pull 27 pages of research off the internet of authentic places--back then we faked it. Not too bad even if I say so myself! The front desk area was built for this set. I think this was the final setting up before filming as there appears to be 2 extras behind the desk. I used existing light so unfortunately the color is a bit off, but you can see all the practicals on (visible light fixtures on the set). I really wonder what happened to all that rental furniture--from Consignment Center and Eurasian Antiques. Coincidently, both owners died in 1990 right when I went to L.A. for 2 years on "Jake in the Fatman." Nothing ever replaced them--personally or commercially.

You can really see the old catwalks in some of the photos. Because the roof of the warehouse / soundstage was angled, there was more catwalk headroom in the center than near the walls. The way up to the catwalk system (other than ladders) was the curved staircase in the entry hall. It was kind of an abrupt transition from civility to dangerous practicality. A couple of series later some (before the new soundstage opened), someone ordered the removal of all the catwalks with the idea they could be replaced. OSHA did not allow it. Lighting the set became much more difficult but at least you could built a set wherever you wanted rather than where the catwalks were. A mixed blessing.

Ok, keep those cards and letters coming!

Aloha

Shameless Commercial Interruption and MAHALO

2008-11-06T17:18:00.000-08:00

If television shows are, in fact, fill between commercials, here is a commercial:

I am selling both my "Magnum, P.I." watch and "Jake and the Fatman" watch on ebay.

Now back to our regularly scheduled post even though I don't have a regular schedule.

MAHALO to all you anonymous people who can now post comments on this blog! I may not know who you are, but I'll take applause anywhere I can get it! Thanks for your positive comments and next is my second favorite set ever on Magnum.

ANYONE can now leave a comment on my blog

2008-11-06T12:09:00.000-08:00

Sorry, I just had pointed out to me that you had to join to leave a comment here. I just checked the box so that anyone can now leave a comment..........OMG, what have I done?

Don't worry about me. I'll find work someday...........my glass is half full after all.

The Computer Room (or 80's High Tech)

2008-11-05T22:21:00.000-08:00

This was a set that Archie Bacon (Art Director) designed. I don't think this one was drawn on a paper napkin! It was pretty advanced for the time--high tech Robin Master's Estate in the 80's.I like the fact that it matches what a basement in that type of house might have been like. That gray switching device on the wall above the printer I recognize as something that I think had been in every show I've done in Hawaii. I know I used it on "Baywatch Hawaii" in the lifeguard station and probably used it on "LOST" at some point. The TV monitor used a technique called a "burn in" which could make it look like something was on the screen when it was really added later. It looked pretty good, but no one could walk in front of it. Later came a 24 frame sync. box nd now we can do green screen and you can walk in front. I know at some point they used a computer I bought (an Amiga!) which none of us could figure out. I did figure out "Crystal Hammer" which was sort of an advanced "Pong."

I don't think this set was complete when I took the photos. I'm not sure what's happening with that entrance hall and stairs. It looks like they are using some pre-existing walls but again, not complete. It's kind of funny about this set. It's like the last time I was asked to do a "surveillance van" I said you mean like with reel to reel tape recorders? I had to tell the producers that you can put everything you need in a briefcase (now probably an i-pod) so there goes the set--same with a computer room now. You can buy that at Costco --but it was a great set back then in the for the 80's. (Sorry, couldn't figure out how to get rid of a photo once it had been uploaded)

Aloha

Found More Photos of Agatha's & Higgins' Rooms

2008-11-05T21:45:00.000-08:00

Not much to say here (Wow, did I say

that?). Found these additional photos and thought I should post them before we get too far away from the original posts................

Logos, Brand Names, Art work, Legal Stuff.....

2008-11-02T14:26:00.000-08:00

I just found out about "Magnum Mania" and saw an interesting comment about "Ormel Beans" or something like that. In TV (even back then--more so now) you cannot show any logo, brand name, trademark image or even something like the Energizer Bunny. It can be considered a form of advertising and/or product placement. In feature films, there are entire product placement companies that will give you things to use if you show their label. In fact, if you see a can of Coke in a major film, Coke probably paid $50,000 to get it there. If they add a line, "Hey, how about a Coke?" you could probably add a couple of hundred thousand more. It's the opposite in TV. Show a can of Coke and you have now eliminated any possibility that Pepsi is going to buy a commercial or be a sponsor. As was pointed out to me once, TV shows are nothing but fillers between the commercials. It is true if you think about it. (sad, but true)

On Magnum, we regularly "greeked out" (no, not a racial slur) labels or logos. I remembered on an episode where someone fell into a truck of pineapples and crashed into a display of them or something to that effect. Dole gave me dozens of boxes with their pineapple logo and name on it. We covered up the "D" and turned them into "Ole Pineapples." I was worried that we could get in trouble not because we had covered up the "D", but "Ole" sounded Spanish/Mexican and Mexican pineapples were/are major competitors of Dole. Anyway, no one said anything. There was also an old rule (now gone) that if you showed more than 3 or 4 of something, it was ok because you weren't featuring one brand. So a magazine rack with Time, Newsweek, etc. was ok. Now, you can't show ANY names. Even on "LOST" which is ultimately a Disney owned show, we could never show anything like Mickey Mouse in a kids room. All magazine covers were custom made and cleared that they did not exist anywhere.

As far as the art work on the walls during Magnum days, there were never any restrictions. Anybody's art work was fair game back then. I used Peggy Hopper since her work was"in" and photographed well, I later used a lot of Gary Reed's and other artists. After all, their work was being seen by millions around the world, right? Even things like the Gaugains, Picasso, and others used on the permanent sets were, well, just used! How times have changed.

Any art work used on any set today is (in legal terms) considered a form of reproduction. Even if you own an original painting or other artist created work, you will never own the actual rights to display that on a TV show any more than you could use the image on cocktail napkins or calendars. Only the original artist or legal guardian/owner of the work can sign a release--even with museum works as well. It has turned into a nightmare for decorators and a huge business for companies in L.A. who now rent "cleared art." I remember doing a show once and wanted to use an artists work (who had agreed) and brought over the release for her to sign. It was in a very "legalese" language and even contained a clause about "theme park usage" and "forms of media not yet known" , etc. I probably would have been scared to sign it, too. She didn't sign. So compared to now, Magnum was in the "good old days" for yet another reason that you now know!

There was an episode with a character who was supposed to be doing a sort of John Wayne imitation and Mr. Wayne's family controlled estate was approached about some posters or memorabilia. That would be a NO! Images are very protected as to when and where they can be used--not to mention what they can charge to use them. I was having a hard time finding some black and white photos I needed for a MOW I did earlier this year. It was getting too difficult to find and too late so I just took my own photos, ran them through photoshop and framed them. I was warned by the producer to still sign a release for them and state that they were created on company time and with company purchased materials lest I come back later and demand compensation. Great for artists (and lawyers), pain in the --- for decorators!

Yet another bit of TV trivia for you to ponder..........

Aloha

The Library Set from "Rapture" 60422

2008-11-01T17:02:00.000-07:00

In looking over these photos of the mostly unfinished library set and/or being shot, I can only guess I wasn't able to be there for the completed set before the film company showed up and pulled it all apart. That was always a challenge due to my unpredictable schedule. They pull out walls and furniture to allow for lighting equipment and the camera to film on any stage set. They will do a "master" shot that captures the scene in a wide angle and then move in for close-ups. It's not uncommon for an actor to be talking to........no one! When they edit it together, two actors are talking to each other. Anyway, what decorator wants actors, and lighting and sound equipment covering up their set? Sometimes there's not much time before the set is dressed and when it's being pulled apart.

What I remember most about this set was a pre-production meeting with some of the writer/producers. I think one of them was Rueben Leder. While discussing the look of this new set, I often was running the availability of local set dressing through my head so I wouldn't come up with an idea that I couldn't produce. I knew that a friend of mine's father had just donated his large collection of animal heads to the Hawaii Opera Theatre prop department. He was a contributor or they wouldn't have been too thrilled with housing this large and heavy stuffed animal collection. I suggested various trophy animal heads for the library walls and semi-jokingly said "How about a water buffalo?" So Rueben called my "bluffalo" (bad) and I felt kind of cocky since I knew I could supply it. The joke was on me because I didn't know that the water buffalo head weighed a few hundred pounds! There was no way that it could be hung on any set wall without causing it to collapse. The carpenters had to build a whole rig to hold up the head and put the whole unit on wheels in case they needed to move the wall. You can see it hanging crooked with 2 ladders in one photo. I'm sure my poor crew was taking a break from trying to hang it.

I see I used my green brocade dining room chairs on the set. I think this was a set where they decided on the day of shooting that the real library table I had in the middle of the set was too small and they wanted a larger table, NOW! So I sent my crew to my house with the big truck and they got my very large dining room table. It's also where the big ding in the top of my black walnut table came from--no compensation since it was the decorator's table. Anyway, I guess it worked out fine. The books don't look very impressive and were, in fact, real books and weighed a ton. One of the things I did when I became decorator was to make all the books in Higgin's den fake so it was easier to move the walls. They couldn't complain about that since it didn't really change the look--only the weight!

On this set you can see a small ceiling piece in the corner--no bigger than it needed to be for whatever scene and angle they were shooting. You can also see a little of the catwalk system above used for overhead lighting. I don't think we had the OSHA safety requirements that they have now or this nasty piece of engineering would have been condemned. I think one of the reasons for the locations and shape of the permanent sets for Magnum was based on the location of the old catwalks left from the Hawaii 5-0 set days. Higgin's Den was in the same location as McGarret's office. In fact, their desk chairs were almost in the same exact spot! I know that story sounds like the tail wagging the dog to have adapted the sets to the existing catwalks rather than building new ones, but I'm pretty sure what's what happened. I think if they had changed them much, they would never have been able to use such unsafe, wooden, hanging from a ceiling system as they had.

Well, not much else is coming to mind about this set. Again, I don't think it was used again or I would have remembered that water buffalo! At least you got some pictures on this post.

Aloha

P. S. to "Locations" and then The Library Set (I promise!)

2008-11-01T15:04:00.000-07:00

I guess I am drifting off of Magnum and on to general TV production topics so I promise to get back to Magnum again! Some good questions have been asked and it's more difficult to answer them in the post comment section.

I'll just answer some questions about locations (which are basically the same during Magnum time as well as today). Obviously you all know that a show is not shot in the order that you see it completed on your TV. All scenes pertaining to one set are shot at the same location--different scenes but same pertaining location. Costume changes, day/night changes, happy/sad changes, clean / dirty, or sunny / rainy all shot at the same location on any particular day. If there are a lot of scenes at this location, maybe 2 days. It takes, on average, 6 to 8 days to film one 50 minute TV episode. "Baywatch Hawaii" took 5 days, "LOST" takes 10 (or more). The general rule is to be "out" on location as little as possible (3-4 days max) and "in" on the soundstage as much as possible per episode. It's not only cheaper to be onstage, but you have greater control and convenience for everyone.

So to answer the question (I hope), it is possible to make major moves on this island, but not on the same day. Filming on the beach in Mokuleiea on Tuesday can be followed by a house in Hawaii Kai the next day. You would never make a move that far in one day even if those 2 scenes followed each other in the script / plot.

Next answer, yes, there was (and is) a tendency to use the same locations for different scenes / sets over and over--sometimes even in the same episode. The front of a house is where the good guy lives, and the back of the same house is the break-in scene for the bad guy's house. Obviously "film friendly" locations with an easy to work with owner, plenty of parking, cheap, secure, multiple looks in one location, near town would be used much more often than a difficult to get to, problematic owner, expensive, or too close to a rainy area, etc.

Generally homes of crew or producer ("above the line") members were almost never used in filming. First, there could be a conflict of interest with the studio that the producer was using his home or property (and getting the location fee) because of his influence rather than appropriateness of the location. We did film once at Tom's (and other owners) club, "The Black Orchid."

Second, ANY person who works on a film crew would know the kind of abuse a location takes--even when being watched carefully. Let's just say that not all of the 100+ people who work on a TV show crew are as careful as considerate as the owner would be.

Third, there is sort of an anonymity or privacy among crew / actor / producer people. Do you really want everyone you work with inside your bedroom or the set dressing crew moving and finding what is really under your sofa? No. You really don't even want anyone to know where you live!

I refer to the film crew as a "city on wheels" in a former post. That means the bathrooms, offices, food catering truck (breakfast, lunch and dinner for 150 a day is not uncommon even in a swamp/beach/valley location), trailers or motor homes for all featured actors, 30 and 40 foot trucks that carry equipment from light bulbs to 12,000 watt lamps. ( No 60w energy saving fluorescents for a film crew!), wardrobe with double and triple outfits for every main actor and all sewing, steaming, and cleaning possibilities, and 1 (or more) giant generators that could power your entire neighborhood in a blackout (except that you wouldn't be able to afford the rental!) a prop truck not unlike a small K-Mart, and even a portable gas truck that refuels your vehicle. Sometimes even a special effects truck with enough explosives to really make a big mess. I'm sure there are towns smaller than a location TV show. Feature films are even larger. You could live inside Bruce Willis's portable gym trailer!

So given the above abilities and production needs, it would be very rare to ever use the power from a home or small building to power all of this equipment. When filming on a 25th floor of a building, however, the electricians would work with the building engineers to tie into their power rather than run cable up all those floors. Imagine your bathroom with 150 strangers using it in one day?!

And the final answer is, yes, the only thing more fun than my house at Halloween is my house at Christmas! I think I'd better save this topic for another blog and get back to Magnum, P.I.!

Aloha

As far as getting to the set each day, guest actors and many resident featured actors were picked up at their hotel or homes each day by a teamster driver. Tom lived so close to the stage he could have walked or ridden a bike. Obviously for security purposes he drove or was picked up by his driver (who is still with him 20 years later) or his security man. Most of the actors would stay at the Colony Surf or if VERY big, at the Kahala Hilton Hotel (now just The Kahala). Sometimes Tom rode in his motor home out to a location. Did you know that one year he gave all his co-stars new Porches? Are they cheaper by the dozen??

Where Did the Locations Come From??

2008-10-31T12:14:00.000-07:00

Before I get into this, be sure to check out some of the post comments. People are asking really good questions--and I am giving really good answers! I don't know how much longer I will be able to keep going back through past posts to answer since they are getting longer with each day!

There are SO many misconceptions about locations, I think I'll address that now since it's Halloween and I've got things to do and locations to haunt!

"Please pick my house to film in!!!" Ok, do you having a full square block of parking for just the basic equipment within a short walk of your house? Are you on a quiet street away from a freeway, airport, or other noise? Do you have neighbors that will agree to the lack of parking,blocked driveways, cable running, lights placement, and maybe even rain towers if called for? Are you ready for at least a day of prep, a day of filming possibly for 12-14 hours starting at 5:30 a.m., and another day of wrap? Ok, this is just for the EXTERIOR of your house! Want people inside? Do you have room for 25 not counting the actors in the scene? Can your floors take many hundreds of pounds for a camera dolly, very hot lighting and sound equipment, and possible damage to your hardwood floors even if they tell you they will have rubber tips on all the equipment? Do you mind having all of your furniture, pictures, family photos and personal items, moved out and other things brought in that you can't use? In fact, you will probably be moved OUT of your house and put in a hotel and not allowed back in while they are filming! So, no, you won't be having a leisurely breakfast with Tom Selleck in your kitchen, sorry!

How do people find your house, business, farm, or back alley? There is a Location Department with a locations manager. They have thousands of photos (now on CD's) of locations that have been used in the past or clients who want filming in the future. The location head reads the script to imagine what they might be looking for. The director will describe what they are looking for in the old farmhouse, abandoned factory for the big shoot out, or family home on that quiet street required by the story in the script. First looking at photos and then driving to see preliminary locations is the director, assistant director, maybe a producer, a production designer or art director, the location manager, an assistant location manager, and sometimes a DP (director of photography) all crammed in a van for days at a time. Sometimes they may even pass a location and like it and direct the location manager to check it out later. They may find the perfect location for each scene. However, the schedule and page count at that location can also dictate where they film. Ok, if according to the schedule, the house and the farm have to film on the same day (each one being only a half day in film time estimation), then they need to be fairly close to each other since the company (a small city on wheels) has to pack up in the middle of the shooting day and move to the next location. While they are packing and moving, the are NOT filming. When they are not filming, they are costing the production company many thousands of dollars an hour in salary and equipment rentals in non-productive work. So even if PERFECT locations are found, a money producer can say "NO, find something closer to each other. We can't afford to move that far." So, once the perfect locations are finally found, the right amount of parking nearby, and they are affordable (more on that later), now the REAL location work starts! There are City and State rules regarding filming on City or State property. There is a City and a State Film Department that generate these permits to make sure the public is not overly inconvenienced or interrupted. Traffic may need to be held, security hired, parking reserved, maybe an explosion happens, rain, we even did snow and ice once downtown on "LOST." With multiple locations it takes multiple permits which are for specific times on specific dates. The schedule changes (all the time!), the permits have to change and maybe not be approved the second time because of a conflict. But we're still not done..........now the preliminary scout happens with department heads to check out those problems and situations that pertain to their department. Lighting guys are looking for power access, I'm looking for set problems, construction people are measuring, etc. Then a few days later there is the final scout which can include 25 department heads and their assistants looking to finalize and minimize any problems. They don't like problems. Now as exhausting as this location process is, those people who are scouting are still working on the current episode that is filming during this process and your "normal" work is still going on. It's called STRESS!!! Sometimes 24 hours a day and 7 days a week are still not enough time. And then you are told you can't work any more overtime!

It is very rare that a location had everything I needed on Magnum. If we did film inside a home, like we did in the episode where Tom went back to Virginia and Gwen Verdon played his mother (I spent the whole morning talking with her--I didn't care how busy I was!) I might get lucky. That house had appropriate furniture and things which could stay. Sometimes we try to get old photographs of the actors to "personalize" the set. Keep in mind when an actor opens a door on a location and walks into a room.......that same door might have been taken or duplicated so the actual room is now on the sound stage maybe 4 days later. Filming in a home with fixed walls, low ceilings, and having to worry about their floors, walls, heat, noise is not as desirable as filming on a sound stage with "wild walls" (that move), no noise problems, AIR CONDITIONING!, etc. When homes were not appropriate inside from a set dressing standpoint (but worked for every other department) then we had a lot of work. Sometimes the rooms had to be painted or walls added. Unfortunately this was done by the construction department that for some reason always thinks that the 1 or 2 days we have to prep the house is ALL theirs! Many times I have hung art work on walls that still had wet paint because the painters had just finished and the company was moving in to film! We would move out the owners items, construction / paint would move in for a day or so, and then we would have very little time to unload our 5-ton truck (or sometimes 2) and dress the set. Sometimes we couldn't even get our truck near the location because grip and electric had gotten there before us and were unloading their equipment at the same time. These were daily occurrences and somehow things got done. Many times I thought that what went into getting a set dressed was MUCH more interesting than the story that was being filmed there! But does anyone listen to me..........? Aloha

History of The Studio Facility and Permanent Sets

2008-10-30T11:51:00.000-07:00

Ok, now that you are spoiled by all the photos, here is a plain old boring text one! I'm one of the few people who probably remembers the studio facility history. The area of the studio is located in what was known as Fort Ruger. It was an army military post (like Pearl Harbor still is for the US Navy). Ft. Ruger was actually built before WWI and included Diamond Head and it's large interior crater. Side note: Diamond Head is not an extinct volcano but only "dormant." Since it hasn't erupted in 10,000 years, I wouldn't worry about it!

Over the years after WWII, the State (only since 1959) of Hawaii acquired more and more of Ft. Ruger. The need for a military base in the middle of Honolulu was a little extreme especially since this area had become the most expensive part of town. A large portion became a cemetery, the military housing area became Kapiolani Community College, the old base theatre became Diamond Head Theatre (where I spent over 8 years designing), and so on.

"Hawaii 5-0" began filming in 1968 in a mosquito infested warehouse near Pearl Harbor. It quickly became a hit show (for 12 years!) and was able to move to an unused Ft. Ruger portion on 21st Avenue on the back side of Diamond Head. I believe the current studio site on 18th Ave. was being used by the National Guard. For reasons unknown to me, the studio and the National Guard switched locations at the end of 5-0's 1976 season and moved into a new studio facility built by the State on 18th Avenue and Diamond Head Road. There were small bungalows for offices (still there--barely), a large "Butler Building" sound stage on a concrete slab (now used for storage by "LOST"), and the paint, construction, and set dressing storage area located in a long, old, tin roofed structure (torn down and replaced with a new building). There was also a large parking lot and huge back lot. Thus began the Hawaii Film Studio facility. You can google this location and see for yourself.

Hawaii 5-0 aired its last episode in 1980. I actually had worked on the last episode of 5-o as a very low (and VERY young - lol) set dresser. Jack Lord tried another series called "M-Station, Hawaii" about a submarine--both sank very quickly. Glenn Larson pitched a story about a private-eye investigator. Did you know that Tom Selleck was on the "Dating Game" TV show and was rejected BOTH times??!! Shows you what a mustache and short shorts can do for your career! Anyway, they did a pilot and waited to see if it was picked up. The story goes that Tom painted his landlady's house since he was basically out of money. As you all know, the show was picked up and off it went into television history.

The pilot was shot at different locations around Honolulu. You usually don't build many sets for a pilot because you don't know if the studio (in this case Universal Studios) or network will get the go for a series. One of the locations included a famous old estate called the Marx Estate which was owned by the State of Hawaii in Nuuanu Valley (which could be another blog in itself). Higgin's den was filmed there in the pilot. The Anderson house on Kalanianeole Highway (aka "Robin Master's Estate) was becoming off limits for interior filming because the Spanish tiles on the staircase had been damaged during 5-0. Ironically the very last episode of 5-0 (the one I worked on) was filmed at the Anderson Estate--am I making TV trivia history or what??!! So the influence and style of the sets that were ultimately used for the show were based on these 2 locations. The Spanish Colonial style of architecture, rough plaster walls,dark trim and windows, all came from the Anderson Estate and the brick and French doors of Higgin's den came from the Marx Estate based on the look of the pilot. In actuality, Tom's guest house entrance was actually the old boat house of the Anderson Estate which was pretty much in ruins. It was very rare that you ever saw him enter his guest house from the outside--he usually just headed off in that direction and then they cut to him entering onstage.

Anderson's also had a large servants quarters near her cheesy chain link fence so the show added the gates. Eve was fond of animals and later it was not unusual to see calves, large dogs, and other animals inside her house. My crew and I were the only ones actually allowed inside her house so we could place plants and furniture on her upper lanai (balcony). She inherited her house from her grandparents and it was truly a magnificent estate--and I do mean was. She was paid extremely well for its use as a location whether we used it or not. Later, it became a nightmare for her since people thought either Tom Selleck, Higgins or maybe even the illusive Robin Masters actually lived there. She still has old shade cloth and other barriers to keep the view private. I always thought that was strange since she would rent out the grounds for parties and weddings and certainly could have made a lot more money letting people on the grounds like the "real" Southfork Ranch did on the TV show "Dallas" after the show ended.

As you must know, all permanent interior sets (Higgins's den, entry hall, living room, Tom's guest house, bedroom, Rick's interior office, and even the interior of the helicopter) were all filmed inside on the 18th Avenue soundstage. Ironically it's been named the "Five-O Stage" even though 5-0 only filmed there 3 years and Magnum did all 8 there. More trivia!

Ok, I'm having way too much fun with this. As your reward for reading all of entry, I'll have some photos of a very rare set (that almost killed my crew--literally) coming up soon--Robin Master's Library. Aloha

More Agatha Info

2008-10-30T02:27:00.000-07:00

I think I've got the photo upload thing down, but I didn't want to take any chances and add more to the previous post and lose them all. So back to Agatha's set...........

Again, there was much discussion about what Agatha would have in her house. In the end they pretty much trusted me to "go for it" and I did! Looking at these photos now, I can tell you it would be impossible to do this set here in Honolulu today. Even with the number of things I again brought from my own house, you would never find all these things in town today.

You can see how much detail and work went into constructing these sets. All those windows were custom built, painted, and then I covered them all up with my drapes! Because of the size of this set, you can see that above the set they used "headers" or sort of fake beams to help hide the overhead lighting and allow the camera to shoot a little wider without worrying they would see the top of the set. Looking at it now 24 years later, it seems odd the way the drapes I stapled up are on the INside of the arched window. There should be some curved molding around them. Oh well, too late now! Again, the pedestals on either side of the fireplace, the portrait of Queen Victoria (my great uncle was a guard for her BTW), the bench with arms, the marble top commode in front of the window, the burgundy side chair, that huge oriental rug (later stolen from me) and some of the smalls all came from my house. I would never do that again today!

This set was only used once as I recall. A lot of work but a wonderful episode. I think that there could have been a spin-off of Magnum staring Gillian. "Agatha, P.I."?? Maybe not. She was capable of a lot more. I have many happy memories of her.

Aloha

More Agatha Photos

2008-10-30T02:11:00.000-07:00

I thought I had uploaded more photos but only one showed up. Trying for some more.........

Agatha's Living Room Set

2008-10-30T01:51:00.000-07:00

This was one of my favorite sets as Gillian Dobbs was one of my favorite actresses. I first met her in 1975 when I designed the sets and lighting for "The Music Man" at the main theatre here in Honolulu just up the hill from the film studio. Trust me, she wasn't acting--Gillian WAS Agatha! Not that she wasn't a good actress, but her character really was herself in real life. I don't think the producers really knew what to do with her. She was a bit odd, but a perfect romantic foil for the stout and dour Higgins. She lived here in Honolulu. Other guest actors and actresses were always picked up at their hotel and driven to and from the studio. I would see Gillian sitting outside the studio on a concrete bench waiting for her bus that went by the facility on 18th Avenue. She never complained, but I always felt sorry for her. In this business, the squeaky wheel gets the oil and Gillian never squeaked very much. After the show she didn't do anything that I was aware of. Marco my Magnum expert told me she had passed away. Her character of Agatha will live on!

Here are some photos of her living room. There is much to tell about this set and I will have to do that in 2 parts. As you can see, there are some photos of some of the carpenters actually building this set. My only complaint was about the fireplace. I think it was left over from another set but it seemed so dark and rustically inappropriate for the more fussy feminine nature of this set. Well, with all that I packed into this set, it wasn't all that noticeable!

Higgin's Bedroom Set (on stage)

2008-10-29T19:31:00.000-07:00

Well, now that I have photos that work, I can talk about this set. Whenever a main character of a series is given a "personal" set that is not part of the permanent sets (like Tom's guest house or Higgin's den that are in virtually every episode), the dilemma is deciding if it will ever be seen again. If it is to be seen again, then the show needs to own or at least have permanent access to the items used in it so it can be duplicated again later. There was never enough room on the small soundstage (or even a large sound stage) to leave every set standing indefinitely "just in case" it's used again. In the case of Higgin's bedroom set that wasn't done until well into the series, I thought I would use many things from my house which is a large old home here in Honolulu not unlike something Higgin's might have lived in at one time. In this case the sofa, chair , bench at the end of the bed, personal pictures of my grandparents, the wall candle holders, bronze statue, and lamp all came from my house. We bought the bed (later eaten by termites) and rented the other items which were returned after this set was shot.

There was much input from the producers as to how cluttered, how personal, and what his bedroom would say about the character of Higgins. I've always felt that any set should tell a story even before we know who lives there. Do they read a lot, collect things, are they religious, are they sentimental, a romantic, an egomaniac? All of these things can be indicated by their environment (set decoration) before we even know much about the character. In the case of such a well established role of Higgin's the caretaker of the Robin Master's estate, we see that he is very traditional, fairly ordered, obviously living in a past era of English tradition. There is a vase of mine that I used in this set. I don't think it is visible in any of the photos (I'm sure I have more somewhere I will eventually dig out). The vase was made out of copper and on front it says (above) "The Sun Never Sets...........(below) "On the British Empire." This sort of summed up Higgin's formality and memories of past glories (imagined or realized) in life. By this time in his life, the sun had set on the British Empire and Higgin's was now a loyal caretaker.

The textured walls that were used for the interior sets of the Master's estate were made of plywood, then covered with hand troweled joint compound (wallboard plaster), then painted, and then a sort of ink substance applied and wiped off that gave an aged, rough plaster look. In some cases an additional "dust age" was used of diatimacious earth inside a sprayer. You did not want to be around when this was sprayed! The stock moulding of the set was produced at Universal Studios molding (moulding for those of you in the UK) department and shipped over. The set walls were usually 10 feet tall since the camera seldom saw over 8 feet. Small sections of ceiling could be place overhead when needed, but seldom were.

Hey aren't people supposed to comment on these blogs??!! HELLO....is anyone out there? Ok, time to scan some more photos................Aloha

First Photo Attempt

2008-10-29T13:23:00.000-07:00

Having a few problems. Not sure how to make these big enough to see detail, but I'll figure it out. This was a set we only did once or twice of Higgin's personal bedroom. It was actually built inside Robin Master's living room set. I can't believe how much stuff is mine! That lamp on his dresser is destined for a local auction here next month. Maybe I should try selling it on ebay? At least it really WAS used on the set unlike some of the stuff on ebay. Well, expect more photos soon. Just need to see what this one looks like before I do more. Thanks for looking. Aloha

Where Did Everything Come From on the Set?

2008-10-29T11:28:00.000-07:00

I had intended to start posting some set photos today. My scanner suddenly says I have to install the software that I already installed a couple of years ago. I need to find or download it again since I must have a forgetful scanner. Must have learned that from me.

Given the range of sets on Magnum from back alleys to mansions to huts in Vietnam villages--where did all that stuff come from (and what happened to it after)?

First, the studio did have a small set dressing storage area behind the construction mill. It was an old military building with a tin roof and more than a few holes. We had rats, cockroaches, and centipedes besides all the set dressing. We kept a basic stock of items there from crates, barrels, old gas pumps and rustic things stored outside to kitchen items, drapes, office and desk equipment, basic chairs, dishes, etc. Most of these items were fairly nondescript and could be used over and over with not much fear that someone would say, "I saw that coffee mug 3 episodes ago!" Well, maybe YOU would have, but most viewers wouldn't! lol

Second and most important source was a place called The Consignment Center. I would give anything for that to still be here, but the owner, John, passed away in 1990 and soon after so did his establishment (with great scandal). If you had a chair (or a house full of items) you wanted to sell, you would take it to this consignment center. Your chair would be placed on sale for say $100. If it sold, you would get $60 and John would get $40. Now imagine a HUGE space packed with thousands and thousands of items from antiques to junk--that was The Consignment Center. I think half the things there belonged to people who had long since moved away or had died. John was a real character and was very successful at making deals. The best deal he ever made was to allow the decorator from "Hawaii 5-0" and later Magnum to rent these items that technically belonged to other people for 15% of the value for a week. We would pick up the items, use them, bring them back and John would get a check. If we damaged or lost anything, he got another check for the full price. A true "win-win" situation. Once in awhile John would get a call from someone who saw a painting or sofa they owned that showed up on a set from Magnum. Instead of apologizing or offering them compensation right away, he would start with, "Yes, isn't that WONDERFUL?!" Usually the person would then agree that it was wonderful that Grandmas chair was seen by millions of people not knowing John had just made 15% on it. In some cases they might not be so happy and I would be warned not to rent any more of their items. The stock there kept rotating so that it seemed an almost endless choice and was a perfect arrangement since I seldom needed (or wanted) an item again since it might have been seen already.

Third, and most unbelievable now, was C.S. Wo. The Wo family has had a virtual monopoly on furniture stores in Honolulu for more than 30+ years. Even now, all major furniture stores (even with different names) are still owned by the Wo family. Today if you want to buy something, it all comes from their warehouse. Even walking in to one of their stores with cash, you cannot buy anything off the floor and plan on 24-48 hours to even pick something up at their giant warehouse. However, in the "good old days" I could walk into their main store on Kapiolani Boulevard with my crew in the 5-ton truck, pick out anything I wanted right off the floor, and out the door it went! No one even believes me when I tell them that today. So any high-end looking furniture, lamp, pictures etc. were almost certainly from this store.

Having to buy everything would have meant storing or trying to sell it later since it would not be able to be used again in most cases. It also would have been a lot more expensive than paying 15 % a week to rent--which was usually all the time we needed it. If we did need it longer than a week, we would just pay another 15%. This also applied to a dozen other places from Chinese to antique or a lamp store. In cases when I would do a set for Higgins or Agatha, I used many of my own items from my house. At the time it seemed like a good idea since they would be available again if needed and were appropriate for the characters. In spite of the sense it made at the time, it was used against me 3 years later in a political move to get rid of me. More on that one later!

Sorry, no pictures yet, just more words! I promise to get my scanner going soon. Aloha