March 20, 2013: 2007 Silver Wraith-mobile for sale! Only used for picnicking and chasing down human prey! SGC Blueprints!

I had a feeling that trying to sell my car would prove a giant pain in the ass.  As it turns out, the experience has surpassed expectations. Initially, I thought I’d save myself the hassle by contacting my local Audi dealer and trading my Q7 in as part of a new vehicle purchase – but the salesman I spoke to actually convinced me that I’d be better off selling the car privately and then putting that money toward that new car.

And so, following his advice, I did my homework, snapped some photos, posted an ad on craigslist that included details like the low mileage and the fact that I would also throw in both summer and winter tires.  And waited.  And waited.  And waited some more.  At first, I assumed that craigslist had failed to publish my ad, so I went to the Cars & Trucks section and found it.  Yep, there it was – along with the other 500+ automobile ads from other private sellers but mostly dealers who positively swamp the section with their listings.

In hindsight, I should’ve found a way to work my Q7 into an episode of Stargate and then auction it off.  Hey, remember the all-terrain wraith-mobile from Tracker?  Or the five passenger space shuttle with the moon roof that the Asgard use in First Contact?  Or the SUV Sheppard and the gang drive off in at the end of Enemy at the Gate (a scene, now that I think of it that, that may have been cut for time)?  Yes? No?

The other day, someone asked me if I had blueprints of the SGC.  I looked through my old Art Department handouts and these are what I came up with.  From Stargate: Atlantis episode #412, Miller’s Crossing:

SGC Facility

Shallow Money Pit Hallway?  It was used for the crucial Icarus Base evacuation/corridor cave-in/explosion sequence in the Stargate: Universe opener.   Back in the day, we used to see a lot of that Long Tall Hallway – for instance, the scene in Window of Opportunity where Teal’c keeps getting hit by the door.

The Gate Room

There’s a note for the Art Department: “Gate address “Pegasus to Atlantis” (attached)”.  In fact, pretty much every episode the gate was used included a gate address breakdown as part of the Art Department package.  If you’re interested – and if you are, then I’m assuming you must be a pretty hardcore fan – I’d be happy to scan and upload a few.

There are also notes for a greenscreen VFX and rear-screen puddle projection.  Simply put, every time someone interacted with the puddle, it was a VFX shot.  In the early years of the show, you rarely saw the puddle unless someone was actually going through it simply because it was too expensive to show.  More often than not, you would play the “puddle effect”, that tell-tale shimmer of lights playing off someone’s face as they looked at the off-screen puddle.  Eventually, we started to make use of a puddle projection that allowed us to glimpse more of the puddle – less at the beginning because the visual wasn’t all that convincing, but more in the franchise’s later years as the visual improved.

Control Room

There’s a note for Construction to include the “iris plug” in the event director Andy Mikita wanted to feature the gate in any of his planned shots.  When not active, the SGC gate had an iris in place which was fairly convincing onscreen but much less so up close.

Lab and Hallway to Lab

Sort of like childproofing a room except, instead of a toddler, you’re preparing for a soul-sucking alien guest.  I always liked the observation room/lab set-up but it’s a room we rarely had occasion to use.

There is a reference to “2 hero workstations”.  The term “hero” refers to something that will be featured onscreen/used by one of our characters.  As a result, it should be the more convincing of the various versions in a given scene.  The hero zat gun, for instance, actually had some operating parts (short, sadly, of actual stunning/killing/disintegrating/lock-picking capability) as did one of the hero staff weapon.

Work Area/Boardroom

Don’t remember the scene but I assume this was a different boardroom than the one located above the control room.  It was there, at the long table, that Hammond would discuss off-world missions with SG-1. What struck me most about the boardroom back in the day was how chipped and weathered that table was – and what pains the director must have gone through to shoot it in a way that concealed all those blemishes you couldn’t help but notice every time you visited the set.

Mess Hall

Home of the infamous blue jello and WoW Fruit Loops.

Sheppard’s Quarters

Where’s the t.v.?

Holding Room

For the “other” guests.  If I remember correctly, this was Vala’s room.

I know, I know.  I’ve really got to get around to scanning and digitizing the rest of these files.  In the meantime, interested in checking out anything else?  Destiny?  Atlantis?  Those various gate addresses? Wraith facilities or Sheppard’s family home?  Let me know.

Tagged: science fiction, Science Fiction Television, scifi television, SF, SF television, SG-1, SGC, Stargate, Stargate Command, Stargate: SG-1