Joseph Mallozzi's Blog, page 384

May 13, 2015: The Dark Matter rollout continues! Introducing Jodelle Ferland as FIVE!

Continuing our Dark Matter rollout – today, we turn the spotlight to actress Jodelle Ferland and her character, FIVE.

This was part of the casting breakdown that went out for the role:

“AKA The Kid. THE SHIP’S PIXIE-ISH MASCOT WITH MYSTERIOUS ABILITIES – SHE’S THE KID WITH ALL THE SECRETS. And a propensity for getting into trouble. EASILY BORED, QUICK TO MOUTH OFF, she is nevertheless innocent among her unsavoury company.”

In the comic book, the character is a tomboy and a lot younger (I originally envisioned her as about 12) but production considerations made the casting of a minor very difficult. We would have had to provide schooling in the form of a tutor and limited her hours on set. I suggested we circumvent the problem by hiring a high school dropout, but that brilliant idea was roundly refused. And so, we decided to cast older to play younger.

I had plenty of requests for the general auditions, actors I’d worked with over the years who I wanted to see read. And, when it came time to find a FIVE, actress Jodelle Ferland was at the top of my wish list. I’d had the pleasure of working with her eight years ago on an episode of Stargate: Atlantis on which she’d played a bratty princess. She was, far and away, one of the greatest guest stars I’d ever worked with. At only 12 years of age, she’d known her dialogue down pat – and even prompted our leads whenever they forgot their lines. She was brilliant.

So when it came time for the FIVE auditions, Jodelle sent in a self-tape from Vancouver, made the second round, and, ultimately, won the role on the strength of her adorably quirky performance.

So what is Jodelle Ferland like? Well, surprisingly – or not! – a lot like the character she plays. Cute, perky, wide-eyed and animated, funny, excitable, and suuuuuuper sweet. I sometimes imagine her as an anime character come to life!

And yet, at the same time, she is professional, focused, and possessed of astounding onscreen instincts. I’m always amazed because I have never walked onto set and asked her to readjust her performance. It’s as if she reads my mind, offering up the perfect interpretation of the character beats EVERY SINGLE TIME. And, I supposed it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise given that, at 20, this former child actor is the most seasoned member of our entire cast! The editors LOVE her because she always delivers great reactions on her off-camera moments, another sign of a wily veteran.

One on one, she’s delightfully normal – but when the camera is on her, she POPS. As more than one person has said: “When she’s onscreen, you can’t take your eyes off her.”

Tagged: Dark Matter, Dark Matter t.v., Jodelle Ferland

May 12, 2015: Who’s ready for some ship-based SF?! A Dark Matter sneak peek! News! Behind the scene pics!

SyFy offers up a sneak peek of Dark Matter in this awesome video highlighting the show, the crew and – finally! – some of the visual effects: http://www.syfy.com/darkmatter/videos/dark-matter-season-one-sneak-peek

Geo-blocked…but here’s hoping it gets uploaded to youtube soon!

Hey, Canadians!  We finally have an air date!  Dark Matter premieres Friday, June 12th at 10:00 p.m. on Space Channel.

Other Dark Matter premiere dates:

U.S.: Friday, June 12th at 10:00 p.m. on SyFy

Germany: Saturday, June 13th on SyFy Germany

U.K.: Monday, June 15th at 8:00 p.m. on SyFy UK

France: Monday, June 15th at 9:00 p.m. on SyFy France

Spain: Monday, June 15th on SyFy Spain

Ever closer!  Excited?  We sure are!  Yesterday, I attended the mix for #101 and got the chance to watch the near-finished episode on the big screen.  It looked like a feature film – gorgeous, riveting, with dazzling visual effects.  I can’t wait for you to see it.

Probably sooner than later as we’re making plans to offer up a sneak peek of our first episode in the coming week.  Our first teaser trailer was fantastic (https://youtu.be/1TqwBlTQfTg – 151k+ views and counting, thanks!) despite the fact that contained no visual effects.  The scene I have in mind, however, will highlight what you all can look forward to in the months to come: action, adventure, kick-ass visuals, and humor!  Stay tuned.

The above image adorned the tryptic in the ship’s mess hall compliments of Dark Matter playback operator Greg Whiteside.  Pictured: SIX (Roger Cross) pilots the phantom class marauder.

Anthony Lemke (THREE) and Melissa O’Neil (TWO) running lines on the bridge.

Yep.  Creepy.  And perfect.

Time to tuck in the guns.  It’s way past their bed times!

Tagged: Dark Matter, Dark Matter t.v.

May 11, 2015: The Dark Matter rollout continues! Introducing Roger Cross as SIX!

Continuing our Dark Matter primer in the lead-up to the show’s June 12th premiere (10 p.m. on SyFy, part of their new SyFy Friday lineup), I’d like to turn our attention to the character of SIX played by veteran Roger Cross.

This was the initial casting breakdown that went out for the role:

“AKA Tiny, AKA Griffin Jones. ON THE SURFACE, HE’S A LOW-KEY BRUISER, AN IMPOSING FIGURE among a group of intimidating individuals. HE’S A MAN OF FEW WORDS, A TOUGH AS HELL GOON WITH LITTLE PATIENCE FOR BULLSHIT. Cross him at your own risk. Beneath the rough and tumble exterior, however, is a heart of gold- 14k, the softest! A SURPRISINGLY SIMPLE GUY, HIS QUIET CONFIDENCE BELIES A FIERCE INTELLIGENCE AND PHILOSOPHICAL NATURE.”

Going out, we made a few adjustments as the physical aspect of the character become of considerable less importance and the role was opened up to both genders. In my mind, SIX would be defined through his/her relationship with “the kid”, the character of FIVE. I wanted someone dangerous and intimidating but protective and empathetic toward the youngest member of our crew.

One of the great things about the casting process for Dark Matter was the wealth of material we were able to draw from for the auditions. Many productions barely have a single script to work off. At the time we started, we had nine – and this allowed us to pick the perfect scenes for each character.

There are many things one looks for during the audition phase. Talent, obviously. Chemistry with the other actors. A sense of humor. You take a look at the performance as a whole. And I did. But, inevitably, whenever someone came in to read or sent in a self-tape, I always fixated on the delivery of one line – a single line that perfectly encapsulated the character for me. That line: “…I’m going to miss you, kid. I’m going to miss you a lot.” It was a deceptively simple, straightforward line, but it was possessed of so much subtext, said so much about SIX that it “getting it” was absolutely crucial.

Surprisingly few “got it”, made me believe. At the top of the list was actor Roger Cross who I was indirectly familiar with. He’d been my top choice for the role of a series regular back when I was on Stargate, but just – barely! – missed out. I knew his future wife, Josephine through our dogs. Her pug Tinkerbelle and my pug Jelly used to be best of friends when they’d hang at the dog park. I was, of course, familiar with his extensive credits (24, Continuum, First Wave). Roger “got it”.

Unfortunately, getting Roger was another matter. He was committed to a couple of other productions and, despite our best efforts, it didn’t look like we were going to be able to make it work. And so, resigned to the fact that we weren’t going to land him, we redirected focus to other candidates.

However, through the magic of our line producer, Norman Denver, working in conjunction with the line producers of the other shows, schedules were readjusted and – voila! – we finally had our SIX. And he WAS Roger Cross.

So, what is Roger Cross like to work with?  In a word: fantastic.  You’d be hard pressed to find a happier, warmer, more gregarious guy.  He’s known for his upbeat attitude, infectious smile, and cartilage-cracking hugs.

Tagged: Dark Matter, Dark Matter t.v., Roger Cross

May 10, 2015: As we head into our final week of production on Dark Matter’s first season!

Walked onto set the other day to find the above adorning the triptych in the mess hall. ��From left to right: Anthony Lemke as Han/THREE, Marc Bendavid as Luke/ONE, Melissa O’Neil as Leia/TWO, Alex Mallari Jr. as Chewbacca/FOUR, Zoie Palmer as C3PO/The Android, and Roger Cross as R2D2/SIX.

Greg Whiteside, in charge of Futurama and Family Guy triptychs. ��Also the��Dark Matter��playback operator.

Andy Mikita directs a mess hall scene.

Actor Anthony Lemke (Dark Matter’s��nefarious bad boy, THREE) and actress Melissa O’Neil (Dark Matter’s��kick-ass commander) share some downtime.

The latest meeting of the��Dark Matter Whisky/ey Club. ��We’ve come a long way from that one guy sitting alone in his office drinking Jameson’s.

13 bottles down – one for every episode in our first season. ��Time to get started on season 2!

Tagged: Dark Matter, Dark Matter t.v.

May 9, 2015: Your Dark Matter primer! The crew! The designs! And the dogs!

Awesome collage c/o Melissa O’Neil

Here’s your crew. ��And to find out a little about them, head on over to the SyFy UK homepage for the��breakdown:

And, while you’re there, check out some of the early concept designs for the show…

http://www.syfy.co.uk/galleries/feast-your-eyes-on-this-dark-matter-concept-art-introduced-by-exec-producer-joe-mallozzi

I was in at 8:30 this morning for our final Saturday production day!

Meanwhile, back on the home front…

Jelly.

Bubba.

And Lulu.

Looks like summer is almost upon us!

Tagged: Dark Matter, Dark Matter t.v., Science Fiction Television, scifi t.v., SF television

May 8, 2015: The Dark Matter rollout! Introducing Marc Bendavid as ONE!

1s Assistant Director Brandon Tataryn goes to extreme measures to ensure actor Marc Bendavid learns his dialogue.

In the lead-up to our big season premiere (June 12th at 10:00 p.m. on SyFy, in case you were wondering), I thought I’d start the ball rolling with some insight into our actors, their characters, and the process by which they won their respective roles. First up, appropriately enough, is the character of ONE played by Marc Bendavid.

This was the casting breakdown that went out for the role:

“ONE:��AKA Hero, AKA Jace Corso. HANDSOME, BOYISH, GOOD-LOOKING. CHARMING BUT A BIT OF A GOOF, HE IS THE CREW’S MORAL CENTER, A GUY WHO ALWAYS TRIES TO DO THE RIGHT THING, despite the odds being stacked against him and no matter how unpopular the course of action. HE IS A SPACE COWBOY, A BIT OF A DAREDEVIL, AND THE CLOSEST THING TO A HERO ONBOARD THE SHIP. Sure, he screws up – but he means well.”

To which I added: “If it helps, in terms of character and tone, think of Ben Browder’s character (John Crichton) from Farscape.”

What I absolutely loved about Browder’s portrayal of��Crichton��was his everyman quality. ��I imagined viewers at home watching Farscape��thinking: “That could be me!” ��More often than not, he was way over his head, struggling to keep up with his far more seasoned crew mates but, at the end of the day, he was three very important things: heroic, funny, and incredibly charming.

Which is what I was looking for in the character of ONE. ��He was our unlikely hero, the fish out of water who, despite the odds stacked against, always managed to persevere – in amusing fashion. ��We wanted him to be principled, a little vulnerable and, possessed of a sense of humor. ��I’d often described him as the voice of reason, an individual driven “to do the right thing even though, at times, doing the right thing wasn’t necessarily the right thing to do.”

The casting process inevitably defies expectations. ��Roles you figure will be easy to cast prove exceptionally difficult while those you assumed will be a challenge END up being slam dunks. ��In the case of ONE, it was the former, not because we couldn’t find anyone for the part but because we had several worthy candidates, each of whom brought very different, equally interesting interpretations to the table.

But, in the end, one stood out above the rest. ��Marc Bendavid was talented, good looking, and funny. ��And he delivered that crucial vulnerability I was looking for in the character. ��I wanted our audience to sympathize with the rest of the crew, but empathize with ONE.

On set, Marc is soft spoken but incredibly focused. He is a true student of the craft, constantly considering and questioning his character’s motivation. He’s one of the kindest individuals I’ve ever had the good fortune to work with. And, when he’s not working, he’s an avid reader and gardener.

And a not so avid tweeter: https://twitter.com/marcbendavid

Tagged: Dark Matter, Dark Matter t.v., Marc Bendavid

May 7, 2015: Space Cat! Oh, and the rest of the Dark Matter cast!

A sneak peek at the��Dark Matter��season finale. ��In the final shot, the crew enters the bridge as this season’s mysterious Big Bad swivels around in the command chair to reveal their true identity: Space Cat!

See, this is the type of behind the scenes photos fans love. ��Actor Anthony Lemke (Dark Matter’s��THREE) eats an egg salad sandwich.

While actor Roger Cross (Dark Matter’s��SIX) enjoys his morning coffee. ��Try to take it away from him and THIS happens –

Meanwhile, back on the ship –

Someone forgot actress Jodelle Ferland (Dark Matter’s��FIVE) in the airlock!

Actor Alex Mallari Jr. (Dark Matter’s��FOUR) shuttles our special guest star back to her trailer between scenes.

Actor Marc Bendavid (Dark Matter’s��ONE) wants your coffee.

Actress Zoie Palmer (Dark Matter’s��Android) keeping Space Cat’s seat warm.

And, yes. ��Actress Melissa O’Neil (Dark Matter’s��TWO) also wants your coffee.

Tagged: Alex Mallari Jr., Anthony Lemke, Dark Matter, Dark Matter t.v., Jodelle Ferland, Marc Bendavid, Melissa O'Neil, Roger Cross, science fiction, Science Fiction Television, scifi, scifi television, SF, SF television, Zoie Palmer

May 6, 2015: The Dark Matter rollout begins! Our season premiere approaches!

Let’s start by heading on over to IGN.com for a peek at some sketches and designs from the��Dark Matter Art Department:

http://ca.ign.com/articles/2015/05/06/syfys-dark-matter-ship-designs-and-sketches

More concept art coming your way this Friday including the Traugott Corp research facility!

Yet another Stargate connection…

Stargate: SG-1’s��Harrid, played by Stephen Park.

Dark Matter’s��Herrod, played by Stephen Park.

The terms “background holding” and “corral the extras” hold special meaning on this production.

Director Andy Mikita in action.

I’m with the band!

Actress Melissa O’Neil (TWO) shows off her phone’s lock screen – awesome artwork by��Dark Matter��comic book series artist Garry Brown.

Akemi bakes up a batch of super chocolatey chip cookies – but makes sure I drop by second unit on my way to main unit so that I can drop some off for Zoie Palmer.

Tagged: Dark Matter, Dark Matter t.v.

May 5, 2015: Wil Wheaton drops by for bourbon. And acting!

Introducing the latest member of the��Dark Matter Whisky/ey Club – actor, author, blogger, tweeter, Tabletop creator, and bourbon aficionado Wil Wheaton. ��He swung by the offices��to sample some of the Woodford Reserve, take a tour of the sets, and terrify me with��tales of the desecration suffered by a bottle of Colonel E.H. Taylor Tornado Surviving whiskey at the hands of a Moscow Mule enthusiast. ��And, since he was in the neighborhood, I figured I’d ask him to do the show as well.

Wil will be playing the part of Alexander Rook, President and CEO of Dwarf Star Technologies and…well, I can’t say more. ��Suffice it to say, you’ll love him in the role because Wil is positively tearing it up, delivering a performance that is cool, controlled, compassionate, canny, confident, with a touch of creepiness and a dash of Angostura bitters. ��I was truly heartened by the fact that he clearly gave it a lot of thought prior to his arrival, crafting a charmingly nuanced character in preparation for his scenes and then positively wowing us with his take. ��He’s been great – and, yesterday, outright outstanding as he served up a three page scene of complex dialogue, maintaining professional focus despite the incessant��interruptions of airplanes flying overhead (Yes, we were shooting by the airport).

All this to say, it’s been a pleasure having Wil here with us and we hope to do it again soon. ��Provided he survives this episode. ��But, hey, like we used to say on Stargate: This is science fiction. ��Nobody every dies in science fiction!

Unless it’s��Dark Matter of course.

This photo. Starring Wil Wheaton. Co-starring my garish orange office couch.

Tagged: Dark Matter, Dark Matter t.v., Wil Wheaton

May 4, 2015: Dark Matter in production! The first of our last location days!

Hey, guess where we were today? ��That’s right! ��We were at a research facility operated by Dwarf Star Technologies.

And its confusing bathroom pictograms.

Tenting the facility (which we didn’t we’d be able to do until we actually did it).

Craaaaane shooot!

Check out the spectacular job our Art Department did marrying the faux entrance to the actually building itself.

Meanwhile, THIS was going on in the background. ��Reason to worry?

The awesome interiors.

 

Gakking up the thingiemabob.

Hot! ��Hot set!

Tomorrow brings another location day. ��A massacre! ��Exploratory surgery! ��And, hopefully, far less airplanes flying overhead interrupting production.

Tagged: Dark Matter, Dark Matter t.v.