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LOST AND FOUND

A Look Inside the Concept Meeting for "Paradise Lost"

Paradise Lost

Does Tom McBeath eat hot dogs? Where can you find 50 skeletons on short notice? Are there any wild boars available for rent? The evolution of an episode from the printed page to the television screen involves hundreds of questions and decisions on a daily basis. Answering those questions requires the choreography of multiple departments into a whole that is greater than the sum of the parts, and a metamorphosis that begins weeks before the episode ever goes before the cameras.

As each new episode begins shooting, pre-production for the following episode is already underway. Some departments, including the Art Department, Props, and Locations, begin weeks in advance scouting locations that will be used, designing and building the sets for those locations, and creating the props and hardware of an alien world. The week before shooting begins sees a series of department meetings in which the new episode is "prepped". As the series is returning to production after its summer hiatus in July, the 14th episode, Smoke and Mirrors, begins shooting on Stage 5 under the direction of Peter DeLuise, while upstairs in the production offices, the prep schedule begins for episode 15, Paradise Lost.

The first day of prep is the Location Survey. The writer and director, as well as producers and a number of department heads depart in the morning and descend on Widgeon Park, the location that has been selected to play the role of "Paradise." The tour takes much of the day, and the team investigates the terrain, identifying favorable spots for the village and the woods, and planning where specific scenes will be shot. They take a series of still photographs of these locations, a field of yellow flowers here, a creek there, a grassy meadow, a wooded thicket, a lakeside pier. The photographs will be used for reference during the upcoming prep meetings which will be taking place during the course of the week. The first of those meetings, where all the coordination and planning begins, is the Concept Meeting, scheduled for Tuesday morning, immediately following the assassination of Senator Kinsey across the street.

Around the huge table in the boardroom upstairs in the office, the department heads meet to begin coordinating the episode. Robert C. Cooper takes his place at the head of the table as both the writer and the executive producer. He is joined by Michael Greenburg (Executive Producer), N. John Smith (Executive Producer), Bill Gereghty (Director), Bill Mizel (1st Assistant Director), Andy Mikita (Producer), Peter Woeste (Director of Photography), Bridget McGuire (Production Designer), Ricardo Spinace (Art Director), John Lenic (Production Manager), Lynn Smith (Location Manager), Robert Davidson (Set Decorator), Christina McQuarrie (Costume Designer), David Sinclair (Prop Master), Derek McLeod (Construction Coordinator), Michelle Commens (Visual Effects Supervisor), Matt Martel (Visual Effects Coordinator), Wray Douglas (Special Effects Coordinator), Dan Shea (Stunt Coordinator), Jan Newman (Make-up Artist), Michael Eliot (Post Production Consultant), and Jennifer Johnson (Post Production Coordinator). Additional guests at the meeting include the various dogs who roam the studio freely, several of whom curl up in a corner or under the table. The bulletin board on one wall displays the photographs taken at Widgeon Park the day before, as well as photographs of the sets for the planet temple and the village huts currently under construction, and several of the prop designs including the enigmatic stone that is the key to Paradise.

The purpose of the Concept Meeting is to walk through the script scene by scene to determine the input that will be needed from each department, to brainstorm and problem solve and map out what will be required to bring the printed word alive on film. Traditionally it is the 1st Assistant Director who runs the meeting, and so Bill Mizel gets things rolling by skimming through the opening scene, set to take place at Jack's house. The house has a rear deck that will accommodate the necessary props including a barbeque grill, hot dogs, and a cooler, but the location is some distance from the park where the scenes of Paradise will be filmed. John Smith is responsible for scheduling, and suggests that with approximately three and a half days of shooting required at Widgeon Park, scene 1 might best be shot by a second unit team, since it stands well on its own. The possibility of placing the scene at Jack's cabin rather than his house is also discussed, but this solution doesn't alleviate the issue of distance and scheduling locations. The house is the logical choice.

In scene 4, SG-1 arrives through the stargate on planet P5X-777. As they walk down a path from the stargate past the MALP, the scene shifts to a VFX matte painting of the temple, with a large moon hanging low in the daytime sky. Returning to a view of SG-1, Jonas takes out a video camera, and begins shooting footage that will become significant later in the story. This simple scene presents a number of logistical issues. What will the planet look like, and how will it contrast with the moon that will be Paradise? Michael Greenburg imagines that the two should be in stark contrast, the moon being lush and beautiful while the planet is arid and barren, opposite to the Earth and its own moon, for example. However, Robert Cooper feels that the contrast should be more subtle. "The problem is that I wanted it to be more of a misdirect, that you think they're on the same planet. And if it's so different, they're going to know that they got sent somewhere else," he explains. There is a lengthy discussion about the pros and cons of contrasting the two landscapes. Robert continues, "I wanted them to think that they're just a hundred miles away, and if they could keep walking they could get back to where they started." Michael points out that scenery can change drastically within a hundred miles, witness Palm Springs, for example, but Robert insists that the priority is the final plot twist. "It would be more effective if they looked similar than if they're not."

There is still the question of where the scene should be filmed. Because the script specifies at least three different camera angles - exiting the stargate, the view of the temple, and the reverse view that Jonas is videotaping - it can't be done with a visual effects matte alone, and will require a shooting location added to a green screen effect. Robert Cooper compares the shot to the opening ziggurat shot from The Tomb in which SG-1 is added to a matte painting. Any angles shot at Widgeon Park will not look discernibly different from Paradise. It could be done on a soundstage with a green screen, which would require additional set construction. The options are discussed, and John Smith suggests Red Rock Quarry as another possible location. The quarry has been used in several episodes, including The First Commandment, New Ground, and The Fifth Man, but John points out that a new and unfamiliar effect could be achieved by shooting above the quarry itself, and adding a green screen and matte effect, revealing only the rocky ground. The three different angles still present a problem, not to mention scheduling an extra day at a different location. In the end, the decision is left up in the air. Lynn Smith will check the availability of Red Rock Quarry, and storyboards will be prepared to plan the camera angles for scene 4, and for the videotape that will be played back later in scene 47. If the complex planning doesn't work, the scene will have to be simplified.

Before moving on, David Sinclair asks to clarify the camera that Jonas will be using. Traditionally he has used the still camera on missions, but for this scene, he will be using the little JVC video camera that was often used by Daniel. Other props must also be settled. There are no plans to bring the portable stargate to the location. That will all be done in the matte painting. But the script mentions the MALP, and Bill Gereghty needs to know if that will be real, or an added visual effect. The MALP will play a part in later scenes, so it falls to the Props department, and not Visual Effects, to provide it. The script also mentions that Carter is taking readings with her "UTD," and Bill Gereghty asks for clarification. There is a pause as everyone tries to recall the full name of the ubiquitous device that resembles a television remote and has the miraculous ability to take readings on everything from air pollution to solar radiation. Finally, laughing, a few people call out in unison, "Universal Tricorder Device!" "Cool, that's all I needed!" Gereghty laughs back.

Scene 6 is a return to the SGC. As written, O'Neill comes through the gate, and continues into the control room to confer with General Hammond. Michael Greenburg points out that it is unnecessary to follow the action to the control room, and so the script is amended so that scene 6 takes place entirely in the gateroom. There will be discussions later regarding budget considerations as to whether to show O'Neill's exit from the "puddle" of the gate, or to allow his arrival to take place off-screen. The following two scenes also take place at the SGC on Stage 5, and involve Maybourne and two SFs who escort him. Maybourne will be needing handcuffs, and the mysterious stone device will make its first appearance in the scene. As they depart for the planet, Bill Gereghty wants to know if the SFs will accompany them off-world, and what gear they will be carrying. The SFs will stay behind, and the decision is made that Maybourne will be outfitted with the same survival gear as O'Neill, but without the weapons that O'Neill will of course be carrying.

Scene 11 takes place on the planet where Carter and Jonas continue to work. The temple of P5X-777 is being constructed at Norco, the secondary soundstage a few miles down the road from the Bridge Studios. Photographs of the temple wall are posted on the bulletin board for reference, as well as detailed drawings of the inscriptions and symbols which the Art Department and Props have created. These departments will also be providing the equipment that the scientists are using, and they will create the design for the combination lock that controls the doorway to Paradise.

As Maybourne activates the device, the script calls for the first of several stunts. "Carter steps in between Maybourne and O'Neill. Before she knows what's happening, Maybourne has slipped her zat out of her leg holster and hits her with a blast. O'Neill turns his P-90 on him but Maybourne grabs the stunned, slumping Carter and uses her as a shield. O'Neill can't fire. Maybourne fires the zat around her and O'Neill dives to avoid the blast but is partially hit. He writhes on the floor of the temple - temporarily stunned." Reading through the scene, Bill Mizel turns to Dan Shea and asks if he plans to use a stunt double for the shot. Richard Dean Anderson will probably choose to take the zat blast himself, but as Dan points out, the next scene calls for a tackle through the doorway, so stunt doubles for both O'Neill and Maybourne will be on the set that day anyway. Creating the curtain of energy through which the doubles leap will be the work of Visual Effects. There are suggestions of flashes of light or soft shimmering glowing images. Robert Cooper describes his impression of the effect, proposing, "I think it would be nice if it was more opaque than a force field, so that it's literally going to fill that arch with sort of a solid glowing light," and it is left to the Visual Effects department to make it happen.

The entry into Paradise occurs in scene 12 as "O'Neill and Maybourne appear in a bright flash and struggle on the ground." The light becomes another question for the Visual Effects team. Will it be white or color corrected? Will it be a brilliant flash or a curtain of light matching the temple doorway? Will it be brief or linger throughout the scene? The light provides a point of transition between the two scenes, but the script was written before the huge field of yellow flowers was discovered at Widgeon Park. Referring to the photographs on the bulletin board, the discussion now turns to the creative use of the flower field as another kind of transition. Bill Gereghty suggests, "I'd love to be able to have them fly in. To me, it's jumping, they're flying in there together, still tackling, end over end, boom, in the middle, with a big shot." The problem, however, is how to insert the actors, not to mention an entire crew with equipment, while keeping the field in pristine condition. Animated brainstorming brings up suggestions of launching the actors into the filed, dropping them from a height, or bringing in a crane and platform. Once inserted, however, any launch pad or crane or platform must be instantly removed as the camera pulls back to reveal the horizon and endless wilderness. Perhaps the camera could also be mounted on the same long crane arm so that they pull back simultaneously? The action should remain low to the ground; the actors will tumble in rather than fall. Robert Cooper explains, "I love the fact that it's going sideways and into the thing. Logically, you don't want to fall and hurt yourself arriving into Paradise. They're going in at ground level, and you'd come out somewhat close to ground level." In that case, Bill Gereghty suggests, the camera mounted on the crane could first pull up high, then down, rather than back, to capture the horizon. All the artistic shots must be done first, however, leaving the dialogue and action scenes for later when it is safe to trash the flower field. As the discussion at one end of the table focuses on the "walk-and-talk" scene between O'Neill and Maybourne, considering the destruction of the flower field by the crews and equipment, the specific locations that will be used, and the possible need for a steadicam, David Sinclair, at the opposite end of the table, realizes that they will soon be approaching the village. Anticipating the question that will be asked of him, he takes out his cell phone, dials a number, and asks, "How are you fixed for skeletons?"

The action continues at the SGC as Carter and Teal'c return, and the UAV is being prepared for launch. The scene calls for the UAV itself to be present, but since the launch will take place off screen, the additional special effects will not be necessary. Bill Mizel also raises the question of timing. How long has it been since Carter and Teal'c planned to remain on the planet? How long have O'Neill and Maybourne been walking through the wilderness? Will the scenes mesh properly within a time frame? Robert Cooper decides that O'Neill and Maybourne have been taking roughly 3 or 4 hours to walk from the field of flowers to the edge of the village. The final approach to the village requires that scene 18 be split in two, allowing for a new camera angle as they break through into the clearing, seeing the village for the first time. Bill Mizel indicates the point in the script and directs everyone to add a notation of scene 18A, or "18 Apple." "I think based on the limitation of the village and the lake shore, and this preliminary dialogue, it's hard for them not to see the definitive village during the course of that dialogue. So at this point in time I will keep a separation," he explains. Once the scene is blocked out, the final decision will be made as to whether a single camera angle can be used.

Bill Mizel continues skimming through the script, describing the arrival at the village. "Bill [Gereghty] will do an introductory shot to get us into the village, and we see village, and we see lake, and we see how pretty it is, and we see they're coming, and then we see that it's deserted, and maybe a bit overgrown and such. And of course O'Neill immediately assesses that. Maybourne is shocked. O'Neill cautiously looks around, finds an old artifact, an unusual diary filled with an alien language and some drawings. He's not very good at reading alien writing and all that stuff, so he tosses it." David Sinclair corrects, "Places gently," to some laughter from his colleagues over his protectiveness of his props.

The next discovery, amid the ruins of the village, will be the skeletons, and this becomes a major point of discussion. The huts have already been designed by the Art Department, and are being built by the Construction team. Acquiring the skeletons falls to David Sinclair and the Props Department. Dressing them in the remains of clothing would be the work of Christina McQuarrie and the Costume Department, while jewelry and artifacts would once again be the responsibility of Bridget and the Art Department team. There are many questions that need to be answered. How many skeletons will be needed? Are they mummified or completely decomposed? Will there be children as well as adults? How and where will they be placed? Will there be partial clothing, jewelry, or artifacts? Will there be evidence of weapons or any clues about how they died? Robert Cooper explains his intention for the fate of the village. "I was imagining that a couple that they find in the hut are people that were either attacked or injured, and dragged themselves back. When the superstructure of the Utopia fell apart, they starved or whatever. There's going to be skeletons all over the place, because ultimately they fought. The majority of the people died by killing each other and fighting, the rest probably slowly died out over the next little while, as they were unable to survive without anyone else there." All this will be revealed later, however, so there should be very few clues in the initial discovery of the skeletons.

Meanwhile, David Sinclair is back on his cell phone to a friend. "Do you guys have a whole bunch of skeletons?" he whispers into the phone as the discussion continues at the other end of the table. The drawings in the diary indicate a Utopian population of about 50 people. The skeletons do not need to appear all at once, and the same props can be reused in different locations, but relocating the skeletons before each take will slow down production. The word from David's friend is that there are about a dozen skeletons in town available to be rented, and so the plan is to create a population of 50 from a dozen. Anticipating the scene in which O'Neill goes in search of the skeletons, Robert describes the tone he wants to convey. "Later on, in the sequence where he's hearing things in the village, and he's having a little hallucinatory reaction to the plant, he hears a noise over in the brush, and he goes over there to look, and there's a skeleton there. And it's kind of creepy. Why was the sound coming from where the skeleton was? It's almost ghostly. Is that what was making the sound, or is it in his head, and just screwing with him? What I don't want to do is to paint this whole village with dead bodies everywhere. I don't want them constantly stepping over skeletons." For the purposes of this first scene, however, it is decided that about three skeletons will be needed, discovered near the hut, with no indication of how they died. The rest of the mystery will be left for later.

The action returns to the SGC in scene 19 as Jonas is supervising the UAV search. The scene should be a simple one, and there is talk about using stock footage of the UAV flying overhead, perhaps footage that was previously used in The First Ones or The Fifth Man. Robert Cooper suggests that exterior footage might not even be required if they simply use playback footage of radar-like images of the terrain. As the discussion continues with whisperings and separate conversations in clusters around the table, Bill Mizel notes that the meeting has already been going on for over an hour, and he tries to move things along by referring to Peter DeLuise's reputation for efficiency on the set. "Are you guys all right?" he asks. "Or has Peter DeLuise wrapped yet or something? We'd better hurry up, because we don't want them to finish before we do," he jokes.

The following scene introduces additional characters at the temple. The script specifies Dr. Lee, previously seen in Prodigy, and two extras as scientists. Ordinarily, it would be necessary to discuss the characteristics of the actors to be cast, but since the episode requires only one returning guest role and two scientists and two SFs as extras, Bill Mizel decides to expedite the issue by taking care of the question of extras in a phone call later to Sandra Couldwell, who is responsible for casting. She will in turn coordinate with Christina McQuarrie for the necessary costumes, depending on whether the extras will be male or female. Christina is already familiar with Bill Dow, the actor playing Dr. Lee, from his previous appearance, so his costume will not be a problem.

According to the script, the scientists are working off the MALP, and lots of equipment has been moved in, including a laptop. Carter is working on the laptop, and Michael Greenburg and Robert Cooper suggest the need for the Playback Department to provide something on her screen that adds to her frustration, perhaps a graph or an error message that shows a lack of interface. Bill Gereghty asks for clarification of "working off the MALP," and David explains, "It has several different modes. It can be a flat deck, just as transportation, where you can put all kinds of gear on, but we also have scientific equipment, a camera, two satellite dishes. Then it also has a kind of an arm, and a trailer which also can carry accessory gear." In this case they decide to go with the flat deck, but they will also need a variety of cables connected to it as a power source, as well as assorted scientific equipment set up around the room. "Machines that go ping," offers David Sinclair, and Robert Cooper agrees with his description. "Yes, machines that go ping. We like that. Lots of ping." Before moving on, David wants to know, "Is there anything specific, some fancy gag we want to do here, like a bubble machine, or a laser, or anything?" No, the consensus is that "ping" will be sufficient.

In scene 22, we return to Paradise. O'Neill and Maybourne are by the water, and Bill Gereghty suggests that he would like to shoot across the water toward the actors. "What I'd like to do, in a couple of these, we may make a camera platform on top of the water. Hopefully we can schedule it so we get some nice backlight on the water. I just did a show, and we did a really terrific move, with a structure on the back of a rowboat, actually a controlled rowboat with a little electric controlling motor. You don't see the wake, and it really looked terrific. Put the low angle camera on the back of the boat, and it's really kind of effective for these kinds of things. I think we can do that." It's marked as a possibility, and Peter Woeste, the Director of Photography, makes a note to arrange for a camera moving low across the water. As evening turns to night, and eventually to morning, the Visual Effects Department will again be called upon to provide the changing sky and the planet which hangs low in the sky like a moon. To make the effect work, Bill Gereghty wants to shoot across some object in the foreground, perhaps a structure, or the edge of a hut. Thus it is decided that this won't simply be a matte painting. A view of the village will be shot at the location first, and then it will be left to Visual Effects to work their magic.

In the morning, scene 24 indicates, "Maybourne sleeps on a makeshift bunk he's cobbled together. O'Neill looks in on him, decides not to kill him, and leaves." This brings up a new question. Where will the sleeping areas be, and what will they look like? Bridget McGuire indicates the pictures on the bulletin board depicting the village structures that are currently being built. "It's all ruins, there's no hut, it's all just little bits and remains and the bottom of the foundation, and things like that." To give the impression that O'Neill and Maybourne have created a little makeshift sleeping area, Bridget will be going out to the location to set up the buildings that have been created so far, and to pick out a spot for the various skeletons and bunks. This brings up the question of how many huts will be needed. The skeletons will be found near one of them, but most likely the sleeping areas would be placed elsewhere, so perhaps the remains of at least three huts should be constructed. For the purpose of shooting the scene, Bridget wants to know if the sleeping areas should be near each other, or in separate huts. "They're not sleeping together," Robert Cooper clarifies. "Okay! That's all I needed to know!" Bridget laughs back.

Scenes 25, 26, and 27 create a montage of sorts, as O'Neill tries to get his bearings. As written in the script, O'Neill fills his canteen at the lakeside, then hikes up toward high ground, and finally uses his monocular from a high vantage point to survey the wilderness in all directions. Widgeon Park, however, is a relatively flat valley, and there is no readily available high ground. The scene at the lakeside is not a problem, but the other locations have yet to be found. Perhaps some footage through the weeds and brush will have to be substituted, or through the jungle on the other side of the road, or through the original flower field where they arrived. Lynn Smith suggests a waterfall on site that might add an interesting vantage point, and Peter Woeste reminds them that if they are using the crane to shoot the arrival into Paradise, and they schedule accordingly, they could use the same crane to create a high POV shot from above the trees. Bill Mizel remarks, "Well, the lookout is the problem. We don't have a lookout." However, Robert Cooper explains that the lookout itself is not vital, but rather the purpose of the montage is to simply give the impression that he has explored the area and determined that there is no civilization nearby. "Having made a decision that the best thing to do is survive where they are and not try and get back to where the stargate is," he explains. The final determination of the locations to be used will be made at a later time, and Bill Gereghty plans to return to the park tomorrow to do some scouting.

Bill Mizel continues, "Scene 28, a little later on in the morning, Maybourne has got a little fire started that Special Effects is going to help us with. Scene 29, the scientists are packing it in, and Dr. Lee and Carter get into a pissing contest here on page 28." The script specifies that Carter has just returned from checking in with Earth, and this reintroduces the question of the MALP. There is more than one kind of MALP, but the camera of the communication MALP cannot be mounted on the flat deck of the tech MALP that the scientists have been using. After a bit of brainstorming about ways to modify the MALP, the decision is made that the communication MALP has always been right next to the stargate when communicating with Earth, so if Carter returns to the temple having just completed her transmission, the actual conversation and the MALP itself do not have to be seen at all. This greatly simplifies the scene.

Before returning to Paradise, Bill Gereghty has another question. O'Neill and Maybourne have now been gone for more than a week. Will they have shaved in this time? Maybourne has already had a beard in his recent appearances, so it makes sense for him to keep it. As for O'Neill, perhaps a shot of him shaving by the lake could be substituted for the water purification tablet scene. Robert Cooper questions why he would shave at all, and the consensus is that it would be a case of military discipline, or simple habit. Bill Mizel tries to move on, suggesting that the episode shouldn't become a showboat for O'Neill's beard, but the debate continues. O'Neill has been lost on other planets before, for example in A Hundred Days, and shaving has never been an issue. There is the shooting schedule to consider, although make-up is another alternative. "Save all this conversation for the movie, you guys!" Bill Mizel tries once again to redirect the discussion, and Bill Gereghty laughs, "Sorry I said anything! I wish I were dead!" The group laughs too, but the topic remains. Michael Greenburg feels that either O'Neill should have a beard, or he should be shown shaving. He persists, "We need to talk to Rick about it and see if he wants to do the fake stubble beard, or he wants to shave." But Jan Newman has had this conversation with Richard Dean Anderson before, and states emphatically, "He will not do stubble." Without make-up as an option, Michael decides, "Well then, he's got to have a scene where he shaves. That's the end of story, because we're not shutting down for weeks at a time." Jan wonders if he could grow stubble over a weekend, but that is impractical since O'Neill would have a full beard by the end of the episode if he didn't shave. Scheduling the production around Richard Dean Anderson's beard is an impossibility, and with fake stubble ruled out, the only option is to shave, either on or off camera. The debate continues until finally Bill Mizel, in one more attempt to return to the script calls out, "Let's go! Peter DeLuise is on his window shot!"

Laughing, the group returns to Paradise and the fishing scene. Will O'Neill have a makeshift rod, or is he using a simple drop line of some kind? That question will be addressed in the Props meeting later in the day. This scene is also the first appearance of the leafy green plant. "Any favorite plants?" asks David Sinclair. There will be a lot of it, so it should be something readily available, palatable, and digestible. "And dressable," adds Robert Cooper, noting that it should be growing freely, almost like a weed, around the village. "Well, this is a big deal for the Greens people, the Art Department, and Set Dressers," Bill Gereghty remarks, so the selection of a plant is a significant one. Some ideas are tossed out: arugula, beet tops, lettuce, horseradish, spinach, rhubarb. The latter is turned down, as rhubarb leaves are poisonous when raw. Someone calls out, joking, "Here we go! And action! Crunch!" and then imitates the gasping gagging sounds of a dying actor. Amid the laughter, Bill Gereghty points out that they will need to check with Tom McBeath and Richard Dean Anderson anyway about what things they can or will eat, in case there are allergies to be considered, since the episode calls for eating several things, from hot dogs to plants to fish. The final decision is left for the Props and the Greens people to work out.

"I have a much more important question," Bill Gereghty interrupts. "Where did this guy get the C4?" The scene calls for Maybourne to use C4 and a detonator, yet he specifically came outfitted without weapons. Robert Cooper explains that O'Neill has not been wearing his vest or carrying his P-90 in every scene since they arrived, and so Maybourne would have had access to it to steal what he wanted. It would be part of the reason that O'Neill tries to bury or hide his weapons in a later scene. Bill Mizel continues by addressing the Special Effects team, "So, Wray and Scott, here we have the first of the reasons why you're here." He reads through the scene and asks if the description of the C4 detonation is accurate. The Special Effects team responds that there would be a blob of C4 about the size of a golf ball, with a little square detonator about the size of a thumbnail attached to it, which would be radio controlled. In reality, however, the effect is a bit more complicated, and Bill Mizel continues, "Okay, small explosion. Small explosion, boys, all right?" He stresses the word "small." "This is a bit of a trick to do. You guys have to think about this a little bit, given that it's on a tidal flat. It's easier to write it than to do it. The water's fairly shallow. We can't have you, Wray, in a big wetsuit with a rubber ball out there. We'll still see your butt sticking out of the water, with the aqualung and all that. How are we going to do this, boys?" Despite the laughter at the image this conjures up, the Special Effects team seems to feel that creating the explosion is less of a concern than selecting the fish, and so the question turns to finding the ugliest, most exotic looking alien fish. Again, random suggestions are thrown out: white shark, groper, rainbow trout, rock hind, red snapper. Never is it suggested that fake rubber fish be used to float to the surface. David Sinclair announces that he'll be contacting the actors to find out what they'll eat, and Lynn Smith and Wray Douglas intend to shop for fish tomorrow, perhaps at the Chinatown markets. Before moving on, Peter Woeste backtracks a moment to offer another suggestion for shooting wide shots of fields and scenery. Perhaps a big fan could be used to create some blowing flower fields. Maybe we could have a helicopter fly overhead, someone adds rhetorically, and laughter begins again with new suggestions that are best left for the budget of the feature film, until Bill Mizel calls them back to scene 31.

When next we see the fish, it is cooking over a fire, and it is less important that it be recognizable as a fish at this point than it is that it be edible to the two actors. Bill Gereghty interjects, "If you cook it, you can use chicken. You won't know the difference. I mean, give them something that they can eat, because they should be eating it. They're damned hungry at this point. They should be ravenous." David Sinclair clarifies, "Okay. So we can have a really ugly fish come out of the water, and they can be eating tofu salad or something." Bill Mizel agrees, "It's just a kabob now." It is the mysterious plant, not the fish, that is the key to the scene. Bill Mizel continues, "What's important here is that we start to realize that Maybourne is getting a little agitated with him. We start to see the disintegration of the relationship, worse than it usually is with these two guys. And that's what the scene is all about." Maybourne has become hooked on the plant, and he should still be eating it. "So we'll have that plant in evidence there, maybe he's got a little salad out of it. O'Neill is obviously not interested in it," he adds. "Meat and potato guy."

In scene 32, O'Neill hides his weapons. The first question to be addressed is how he will dig the hole, and where. A small shovel would be part of his regular gear if he travels with his backpack. If he wears only his vest, he would rely on something else, perhaps his knife, or a stick, or a bowl from the village. The digging implement, as well as the items to be put into the hole, will come from the Props Department. His grenades, C4, extra clips, will all go into the hole, but David Sinclair points out that he wouldn't put these items loosely in the dirt. Would he have been wearing his backpack on this mission, he asks? "I mean, he hasn't worn one yet this season. Is that not in his contract?" Would we see him first wrap the items in his vest? Perhaps he could lay out the items for camera, on a cloth he found in the village, then wrap them before hiding them. The details can be worked out at the location. As Robert Cooper explains, he might not even need to dig a hole. "He doesn't have to bury it under the ground if there's something on the location where he could conceal it, under a stump, a rock, or something that's going to not be invasive. He's hiding it." That's the point of the scene. Bill Gereghty is willing to wait to see what is available as a hiding place, and Bridget McGuire promises, "I'll have a spot for the gun."

Act 3 ends at the SGC as the message from the Tok'ra brings bad news. As Act 4 opens, O'Neill awakens to discover that his P-90 is missing. This is the third detailed area among the huts to be created by the Art Department, the first being the hut where the skeletons were found, and the second containing Maybourne's sleeping area. O'Neill goes to the spot where he has buried his weapons, and finds that these, too, are missing. This scene cannot afford to be a long one, and so it reinforces the notion that the cache spot should be a pre-existing hole, and not something that needs to be dug up. O'Neill searches for Harry, then returns to the hut, but Bill Mizel wants to know what sort of a time cut is represented here. How long has he been gone? How hard did he look? Just how tired, frustrated, and angry will he be at this point? This is much later, Robert Cooper decides. It's now afternoon, he looked hard, now he's hot, he's sweaty, he's tired, and he's pissed.

The next few scenes are challenging in that they represent several pages of action with almost no dialogue. First, in scene 40, O'Neill returns to the hut and begins examining the diary artifact. This is also the first time we see him eat the suspect plant, and Bill Gereghty asks if this is indeed his first taste. There is a discussion about whether he might have tried it earlier with Maybourne, but Robert Cooper stresses that it was his intention that O'Neill had avoided the plant until now, and in his frustration, alone, he tries it for the first time while examining the artifact. Perhaps it is even partly a conscious decision on his part, a sort of test, knowing that Maybourne has been acting strangely and has been eating the plant. All this will have to be made clear without words.

The significance of the diary, too, must become clear in this scene. Bridget indicates the concept drawings of the round diary pages that are posted on the bulletin board. They show some stick figures, images of the plant, and alien writings. The script describes the scene: "He pulls out a page where a single stick figure is holding a flower - the plant - and offering it to someone who looks like the leader of the larger group. O'Neill looks at the plant he's eating." This, Robert explains, should be a turning point. "When he sees the diary, and he sees the picture of the plant, and he makes that connection, and looks at it, he's also starting to feel a little of the effects of that plant. At that point, I think he's going to become a little more suspicious of it. And he might not continue to eat it then." But the plant is already starting to have an effect on him. Will there be any physical signs of the plant's effect, Bill Gereghty wants to know? Maybourne, for example, has been eating a lot of it, and has become paranoid. Will he sweat, or shake, or show any other reactions? "The green contact lenses!" Bill Mizel interjects, referring to an inside joke of yet another visual effect best saved for the budget of the feature film.

The script continues with scene 41: "Carrying the page from the diary and a piece of charcoal from the fire, O'Neill walks around the village and checks out the various places where they found the skeletons. He uses the charcoal to cross off stick people in the picture as he finds remains. Time cut to O'Neill standing in the middle of the village looking around. He's covered it all. He looks at the page from the diary. Only half of the stick people have been crossed off." Bill Mizel explains the difficulty of making the scene work. "Here's the trick, folks. We've been through the village several times. We've said that we don't want to make it look like there was a full massacre in the place, otherwise they'd be talking about it, and they don't talk about skeletons at all prior to this, other than the original one. So there's a bit of a trick to this. We roamed around the camp a fair amount, now he roams around again, and the text talks about skeletons, so we need to be sort of discreet as to where we put these skeletons." Perhaps they could be found under bits of fabric, Bridget suggests, or under parts of buildings that have collapsed. Bill Mizel proposes, "You know, the water, the reeds, that lends itself really well to it. "The Killing Fields" kind of thing where you're just walking and it looks like a nice place and then you stumble upon something, and you see these things, things that are half buried and half in the water." The scene should be eerie, a bit of a scare for the audience, the whole place is coming alive. "Along with the beard and the green eyes," Bill Mizel jokes, referring again to the effects they'll be saving "for the feature."

The scene is far more complex than it appears as written. Three simple lines of text could represent as many as seven or eight separate shots. It is up to the department heads to provide the detail that will make the scene clear. The placement of the skeletons could be significant. Perhaps a few would have weapons in their hands. "Were they hunting, or were they defending the village? That could be interpreted a couple different ways, right?" asks Robert Cooper. As O'Neill completes his search of the village, the effects of the plant are becoming more apparent. He starts to hear things. According to the script, "He hears a noise. He draws his 9mm which has been tucked into his belt. Another sound. It's like someone running behind one of the buildings. He walks over to where he thinks the sound came from. Nothing there. Another noise on the other side of the village. Couldn't be the same person. Too much ground to cover. O'Neill heads in the direction of the latest sound. Another noise draws him toward the trees at the edge of the village. This one definitely sounds like someone running." Again, the scene should be eerie, built into a bit of a sequence. Michael Greenburg wants to know if a camera effect can be used to emphasize the hallucinations. "We should write that in, the hallucinating kind of thing, something film-wise, like, did you see Training Day? When Ethan Hawke first tried crack, or whatever it was?" Robert Cooper likes the idea. "A really cool effect, everything just went a little blue, and had a little bit of a weird shimmer to it?" They make a note to try a similar effect.

Scene 41, 42, and 43 provide a progression for O'Neill, as the hallucinations begin, and he follows the sounds until he is drawn to the second encampment. To aid continuity, Michael Greenburg asks that the scenes be scheduled in order. "This should be shot in sequence if we can, for Rick's sake, and our sake, really." In the script, a wild pig is seen twice, and as O'Neill is drawn away from the village, the pig makes its first appearance. Scene 42 takes place in a new location, dubbed the previous day at the park as "Pig Alley," and it represents a major challenge. Reading through the script, Bill Mizel comes to the scene and stops. "Let's talk about this pig thing…"

How do you create a wild boar? It will be seen on the screen for only a second or two, so it must be reasonably uncomplicated and inexpensive to produce in order to make it feasible. Bill Gereghty mentions that someone locally used to own a wild boar that could be rented for just such a purpose, but since the demand was so low, he got rid of it. He would prefer not to use visual effects, and wonders if it is possible to substitute a potbelly pig instead. "Naturally I'd rather have a wild pig, or a boar would be great, but how are we going to do that?" he asks. Robert Cooper suggests that the animal's appearance is so brief that it doesn't really need to be a pig at all. Perhaps another animal could be dressed up for effect. A dog, perhaps, Bridget asks? "You could take Sammy and spray paint him," Michael Greenburg jokes, referring to one of the ever-present set dogs curled up in the corner of the room. "He's quick!" he adds, in Sammy's favor. John Smith, with an eye on the budget, feels a live animal is out of the question. "I think we should look for stock footage of a wild pig running through the woods," he says. "By the time we hire an animal, if you want to do this with a real animal, they're going to want a week to train it, whether you need it or not. I mean, I've done that and it's a serious matter, two people there in the day, you're talking about the price of all that against stock footage." Bill Mizel agrees. "You've seen it in Lord of the Flies, Apocalypse Now, even, with the tiger and stuff. There are multimillion dollar movies that don't mess with this thing. It's a nightmare. It's a nightmare, and you don't want to be messing with wild boars and pigs, tying it in with the cast and all." Bill Gereghty understands the problem, and he would prefer to tie an actor or a double into the shot if possible.

What are the alternatives? Robert Cooper proposes that a Computer Generated Image could be used. They have created CG images before with great effect, and that could safely be combined with an image of O'Neill. Michael recalls a CGI creature that had been used once before, that perhaps could be scaled up and reused, but it was more of a lizard, and Robert feels that would not suit the scene. "I don't want it to be silly," he insists. "I don't want it to be like a chameleon. It should be something you wouldn't have second thoughts about eating. I'm thinking if you did Blinky, [the creature within the glass dome in Urgo], then nobody's going to be hunting that." It needs to be a threat, since O'Neill will shoot at it in its second appearance. However, creating a CG wild boar from scratch is expensive, even if you could get a wild boar to sit still for a 360 degree rendering. If training a wild animal is impractical, and dressing up a tame animal is hokey, then the options appear to be computer generation or stock footage. Robert Cooper concludes, "Let's see where we are in the budget. It's such a key moment in the story, and ultimately it's really more effective that he fires his weapon at this thing, and it's coming at him. To do a really cool CG thing would be the first choice, if we can afford to do it. It's not unlike that crow shot we did in Maternal Instinct. That looked great. That looked awesome," he adds, recalling the scene in which Daniel pulled back the trees to reveal the charred remains of a Jaffa, and was startled by a CGI crow. The others agree, and the discussion is left for the time being. The expense may be the deciding factor, not only for how the creature will be created, but for how much screen time it will have.

Bill Mizel continues with scene 42. Immediately after the pig startles O'Neill, "A shadow flicks between some trees in the distance. This one doesn't make a sound - but it looks like the quick dark silhouette of a man. It's gone in the blink of an eye. O'Neill runs for it." Is the shadow a hallucination, or is it really Maybourne, Bridget McGuire wants to know. Robert Cooper believes it probably is Maybourne, but it is meant to be ambiguous, and it is the device that leads O'Neill to the second encampment. This effect will be relatively easy to accomplish. Someone in the Greens Department can move the trees around, and someone dressed in black can play the role of a silhouette. Bill Gereghty decides, "It's so quick, it doesn't matter. I mean, I can be there, you can do it, she can do it, it's just something moving. Even Dan Shea could do it," he adds with a grin toward the stunt coordinator at the opposite end of the table. "Well, he's probably going to be eating or something that day," quips Bill Mizel in response.

Following the mysterious silhouette, O'Neill discovers the second encampment in scene 43. The day before, the location survey had turned up a creek area that is perfect for the location, but the crossing of the creek has to be taken into consideration. Bill Gereghty asks, "Rick will get wet in this? He'll walk through the stream? We should block that when we're scheduling so that we can continue right on. He walks down through the stream, or runs, or whatever. Now, I don't know if Rick can run now with the knee thing he has." It's a good point, and Michael Greenburg agrees, the rocky creek bed will be problematic for a bad knee. They should be prepared to double Richard Dean Anderson for the running sequences, and he can be given the option. Planning out the shooting schedule, John Smith wants to know if the scene will call for Bill Nikolai, the photo double, or Dan Shea, the stunt double, since running isn't strictly a stunt. In this case, Bill Nikolai is the logical choice. "Nothing personal, Dan," Michael Greenburg smiles back at the stunt coordinator.

The next consideration is the props, and attention turns to David Sinclair to determine what artifacts O'Neill will be finding. There will be more skeletons, of course, but now there will be some weapons in evidence. What is the level of technology? They came to the planet as a peaceful Utopia, so there was no need to bring weapons. Even though the race was advanced enough to create the temple portal, the weapons on the planet would be simple ones, more typical of tools for hunting or building the village. Knives, spears, axes, Robert Cooper offers. "Chainsaws?" laughs Bill Gereghty. Robert Cooper explains, "The fact of the matter is, that this was a society that had the ability and the technology to do these sorts of things. They knew how to do it. What's the word for when modern people forego technology?" he asks, grasping for a metaphor. "Crazy?" retorts Bridget. The point is that the race was advanced, but the tools and weapons were crude, so David will construct simple weapons from found objects to decorate the set.

The entire scene is about half a page long, but there is not a single word of dialogue. This becomes the challenge, as Bill Mizel explains. "It says here in text what it is we want the audience to start putting together here. The way that Bill shoots it, we need to try and interpret this text that Rob wants. You want to try and have O'Neill give us the impression, as he's been running around, that he's figuring all this out, what's been going on with these people." The script describes O'Neill's search of the second encampment, finding collapsed buildings, skeletons, weapons, signs of a fight. "The Utopians had divided into two. Some of them had come up into the hills to live in a much more ragtag manner. They weren't here for long before they died or more accurately - were killed. Something has caught his eye and he doesn't like it. He moves aside a bit of rotted tattered clothing and reveals one of the skeletons more clearly. We see that wrapped around the spine, up into the skull, is the skeleton of a symbiote. On O'Neill, who understands what happened now." These are the final pieces of the puzzle that explain the Utopians' fate. Someone had inadvertently invited a Goa'uld through the portal, he had tried to take over, but only half of them followed him, and the resulting battle destroyed the society. Bill Mizel points out that this half page of text won't be easy to shoot. "All of the stuff that I've been describing is easy to say in text, but to photograph it and have you understand everything that I've just said is something else. This is all done on Rick's face and the way that Bill shoots it, and it's all through acting. It's a bit of a thing for Mr. Anderson to deal with."

The scripted text for the scene concludes with a parenthetical remark, "(If the audience doesn't put it all together yet, it's okay. It will get explained later.) But it should be pretty clear that this man was a Go'auld." Bill Gereghty needs to know how much help the audience will require. "I don't know if it's necessary, you guys know better than I, but have we seen a symbiote skeleton enough to know what it is?" he asks. Michael Greenburg recalls that we've seen a schematic in playback on several occasions. David Sinclair reminds the group of the winged primordial skeleton that appeared in The First Ones. Will O'Neill's discovery need to be clarified? Bill Gereghty is thinking in photographic terms. Will the distinction between the two skeletons stand out on camera? Perhaps the skeleton could be brownish and the symbiote bleached white for contrast, or vice versa. Perhaps O'Neill could dig out the symbiote and hold it up for a better view. Robert Cooper assures him, "If you don't watch the show you're not going to know what it is. If you're familiar with the series, you're going to know instantly. And then later O'Neill's going to tell him that that's what it is." Michael Greenburg is even more certain. "Our audience will know," he states confidently.

Scene 44 takes place between Carter and Teal'c in the locker room at the SGC. The dialogue is self explanatory, but the issue for today's meeting is for the Costume Department. Christina McQuarrie asks, "Is Carter getting dressed in her uniform or civvies?" Robert Cooper imagines it should be civvies. "Felt like a T-shirt to me," Bill Gereghty adds, then asks, "Can she have her hair wet? She's just gotten out of the shower?" Michael Greenburg decides that's not a problem. They did the same thing in the locker room scene in Bill Gereghty's first episode, The Broca Divide. Civvies it is, then, and wet hair. Christina makes a note.

Back in Paradise, O'Neill is returning to the village by way of Pig Alley. This is a complicated scene, calling for the return of the wild boar, as well as explosions, stunts, and weapons fire. First, Michael Greenburg wants to establish, "Has he eaten more plants? Is he hallucinating anymore, here?" No, Robert Cooper decides that he realizes by now that the plant is the problem, so he won't have eaten more. He may, however, still be feeling some of the residual effects since only a couple of hours have passed. It's not until later in the scene that he fully snaps back to reality. The instant he realizes that he shot Maybourne is really the sobering moment for him. Michael wants to add a note that the hallucinatory effects will be lingering, which may account for him tripping the grenade line despite his Special Ops training. As the script continues, O'Neill drags his foot, trips a thin vine on the ground, and dives for his life as the grenade explodes. Richard Dean Anderson will have the option of doing the dive, but a stunt double will be needed to tie into the special effect of the grenade going off. The explosion will be the work of Wray Douglas and the Special Effects team, but the grenade itself will come from David Sinclair. He asks if close-ups will be necessary for the vine or the grenade. Robert would like a close-up, perhaps slow motion, almost a hyper-reality moment. Bill Gereghty describes the scene as he visualizes it. "We might want an insert. The foot in the vine, click, the face, dive out, boom, you know, like that. We can build a little sequence there." The Make-up Department is called upon to provide O'Neill's wound. He'll need an appliance to be worn underneath his torn pants, and plenty of blood. Bill Mizel continues describing the scene. "He's got this wound, and it doesn't look good. He's sweating, he's hurt, he's on the ground, now he sees something in the bush. Is it Maybourne, is it the guy in the black suit, or is it the pig? We don't know. We'll do some movement of bushes, and we'll have the guy in the black suit." This time when the pig returns, O'Neill fires his gun, under the supervision of Special Effects, and he hears a cry of pain. Maybourne will need some attention from the Make-up Department too, as O'Neill drags himself toward the source of the cry, and finds Maybourne bleeding from a bullet wound to the shoulder. Act 4 ends on a wounded O'Neill standing over an injured Mayborne.

Act 5 begins where Act 4 left off, with the confrontation between O'Neill and Maybourne, then the action returns to the SGC. Scene 47 takes place in Carter's lab, which must be prepared and decorated since the same room is used for multiple sets including Carter's lab, Jonas's office, Daniel's office, the operating theater, and the observation room. The playback footage that was shot earlier to represent the planet will be used here, and although the script specifies only exterior footage of the planet, Bill Gereghty decides to shoot some interior footage of the temple also, to be playing in the background. Shooting this additional footage must be added to the schedule. The stone "key" device is also significant to this scene, and Robert Cooper interrupts to direct the group's attention to the picture of the prop on the bulletin board. "This is the first time I've seen the painting detail on this device piece here. The two circle concept with the line between them is not clear to me. It's got to be the defining element on the stone." Indicating the inscriptions and designs in the image, he explains, "The writing stuff's great, I love that. And this is even fine too, I don't mind that this is part of it. But in this area here, I would put one clear big circle, and a line between the smaller circle up here," he points. David Sinclair had already begun creating the prop from the given designs, but he makes a note of the changes Robert Cooper has requested. The prop will have to be redesigned and created again.

Back in Paradise, O'Neill must deal with his wounded leg. The script calls for him to use his belt to make a tourniquet, but David Sinclair points out that a tourniquet is very specialized for much more severe wounds. Using his belt for a pressure bandage is much more likely. "Whatever you guys think, that's fine. I just didn't want it to fall off," Bill Gereghty answers. As he examines the wound, O'Neill finds a piece of shrapnel that must be removed, and again David Sinclair interjects. Shrapnel is very tiny, and this sort of grenade doesn't use that type of fragmentation anyway. It is more reasonable that a piece of wood, or rock, or debris would be embedded in his leg. Again Bill Gereghty leaves it to Props and Make-up to determine what will be removed from the leg. The bigger question is how it will appear on the screen, and Bill Mizel turns to Gereghty and asks, "What do you want to see here, in terms of what we can and can't see on television?" They'll want to see the wounded leg, certainly. This calls for Make-up to prepare a rubber appliance to be worn under the uniform, covered with blood and debris. Will it be necessary for the camera to linger on the wound as O'Neill pulls out his knife and digs into the flesh? No, it is agreed that the camera should tilt up to show O'Neill's face as he struggles. Richard Dean Anderson will be able to convey what is happening in his expression without the need to show the gore on the screen.

In a parallel scene, Maybourne has made his way to the second encampment. According to the script, he has tied strips of cloth around his wounded shoulder. It will have to be rough, Bill Mizel reminds David. "The man just patched up his own shoulder. That's a little awkward." He's chewing on more of the plant for energy, again the domain of the Props Department. He has O'Neill's P-90 and jams the clip in. Bill Mizel wonders if this will require the presence of Robert Fornier, the military technical assistant from the Props Department, but David Sinclair feels the scene is not that complicated. Maybourne has also covered his face with camouflage, probably mud from the creek bed, and Jan Newman is left to create the look for him. "Make it look like Apocalypse," Bill Gereghty directs.

Scene 51 is the climax, and involves a number of departments. Maybourne approaches the hut where O'Neill is sleeping. His hiding place will have to be determined at the location. The make-up will need to be consistent, a wounded leg for O'Neill, camouflage for Maybourne, sweat and dirt in general. Maybourne fires a burst from the P-90, so this time the presence of the "gun guy," military technical assistant, will indeed be required, Bill Mizel notes. O'Neill must dive for cover from the gunfire, so pads will be necessary for Richard Dean Anderson, and a stunt double must be available if needed. Maybourne tosses a grenade and the hut blows up, a job for the Special Effects team. The script calls for a shot of O'Neill on the ground with debris raining down on him, but Bill Gereghty wants to suggest a change. "Just suppose that we don't do that," he says. "Make it a bit more of a surprise. He dives back in there, we get to see this thing going boom! Then, literally, what happened to him? Then we don't have to do that shot with all that stuff raining on him." The shot is more effective if O'Neill's fate is left in doubt, he insists, and the others agree. O'Neill will disappear after the hut explodes.

In order to blow up a hut, Bridget McGuire needs to know how many times the shot will be filmed. "This blowing up is a one-shot deal?" she asks. She and her Art Department will need to know how many huts to build for the destruction sequence. At first the thought is that two huts will be needed, but Bill Gereghty feels that once is enough. "I don't think we need to blow it twice. All it is is basically a hut, we see it blow up, we'll wonder where Rick is. We only need to do it once. I mean, I'll do a couple cameras out there shooting it," he decides. The Special Effects department has a concern about safety. The hut is constructed from wood and plaster and hay bales, not the foam material often used for set construction. "A grenade's a sizable kaboom," David Sinclair points out. An explosion will result in pieces flying everywhere. "You're talking about actors diving out of the way, and crew as well. We had this situation before when we blew up the staff cannon." How far away from the hut will Maybourne be? Could he be hiding behind a wall or a structure that would offer protection? Alternatives are discussed, and finally Wray Douglas believes that the scene will work safely. "I think we can have the actor there, no problem," he decides.

In the final moments, O'Neill reappears, and it is now Maybourne's fate that will be in doubt. Will a stunt double be required for Maybourne as O'Neill shoots him? Again, Bill Gereghty feels that the less you see, the more effective the moment. "What I'm trying to do," he explains, "is build this thing so you don't know whether O'Neill hits his shoulder, or whether he shoots him dead." The others agree, no double for Maybourne. As the episode concludes, Special Effects will create a campfire for O'Neill and Maybourne's final exchange, and a large shadow effect will be created to enhance the cargo ship overhead that will be added by Visual Effects. "And the scene ends," Bill Mizel declares, and the meeting wraps abruptly.

This is only the beginning. Endless details have yet to be sorted out before the episode goes before the cameras, and changes will continue to be made throughout the coming week. Each department will meet separately with the writer, director, and producers to address specifics and to finalize details. Later this afternoon, the Props department will return, as well as Visual Effects, and Costumes. On Wednesday there will be meetings with Stunts, Special Effects, and Casting to discuss the extras to be hired. Additional meetings will be scheduled in the coming days. Scenes will be added, others will be cut, dialogue adjusted, camera angles reconsidered, and gradually the many departments will be coordinated until the final episode takes shape. At least for now, after nearly three hours of discussion, the foundation is in place. In the days ahead, the concepts forged in this room will become reality on screen.

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Ritter, Kate. "Lost and Found." July 16, 2002.