Today was one of those days were if something could go wrong, it pretty much did. The plan was to leave nice and early to have plenty of time to get to the Disney Studios at Burbank so Quinton to take us on a studio tour and show us the sets of FlashForward.
Things started off according to plan. We were out of the house and on our way by 8am. We got caught in a bit of traffic which was to be expected. We were making steady progress when we got caught out a highway closure. It looked like there had been an accident which had been cleared but the road hadn’t been reopened. This meant we got sent off in a different direction that was packed full of traffic.
It started to get closer and closer to our appointed meeting time and we were still a little distance away from where we need to be so Jackie suggested I call Quinton to tell him were were going to be late. That’s when I realised I didn’t have my phone in my pocket. That worried me slightly so I searched my bag the best I could. We pulled off the freeway so I could properly search my bag by tipping the contents all over the seat. No phone! Turns out I’d left it behind on the coffee table. Feeling monumentally stupid, I called Quinton to say we couldn’t make it because we had to go back and get it. It didn’t cross my mind to simply buy another phone until Di called up to say just that. Yup, monumentally stupid – that’s me!
We continued on our way towards Burbank but got tricked by confusing signage and missed our exit. We decided it would be better to turn around and simply drive back towards Burbank and turn off when we thought it was about right and at worse, ask for directions. We eventually made it to the lot, about two hours after we should’ve arrived. LA is such a confusing place to drive, even for those who grew up there.
The studio tour was kept short and sweet. There are some fabulous examples of art deco buildings on the lot but the only one I managed to take a successful photo of was the theatre that they re-did for the first screening of The Princess and the Frog
A tiny snippet of the front doors.
Quinton took us through one of the production buildings that started out life as the animation building. It acts as a small gallery and they had some wonderful pieces of animation art up – background drawing, character development sketches, costume designs and preliminary drawings.
After this, Quinton took us to Stages Two and Four, where FlashForward is shot. I’ve never been on a tv set before and it was pretty cool to see how much work goes into building a set. The cityscapes which look so realistic when they shot inside people’s houses are simply a backdrop. Amazing how good something can look if it’s slightly blurred and not in focus 100%.
They were filming in the hospital set that’s on stage two but we were allowed inside the FBI set that shares the stage. While we were waiting to see if we could go inside, Di snapped this photo of me. Been awhile since someone took one of me that I actually didn’t mind.
The level of detail in the FBI set was incredible. It’s amazing how real and unreal the set looked. It was strange to walk out a door and be outside again. There was a guy getting about in a hospital gown who was a special guest for the episode but I had no idea who he was. Turns out he’s an actor on Battlestar Galactica. So there you go.
After our tour, we had lunch in the commissary. Turns out FlashForward crew had broken for lunch because Jack Davenport (Lloyd Simcoe) and Sonya Walger (Dr. Olivia Benford) wandered past with their lunch. And then as we were leaving, Stan Lee walked pasted. He’s much shorter than I thought he was. Maybe he just seems tall because every time I’ve seen him he projects such a big personality.
Di did a brilliant job of getting me to LAX on time, even with a stop at a Best Buys to get a new cell phone. The flight was packed and when we first got on it was like a sauna. I think the A/C wasn’t working properly because a maintenance guy came on board as I was waiting to get down the aisle.
So, right now I’m lying on Steve’s bed with his cat curled up next to me. I seem to be a cat whisperer. Apparently Steve’s cat hasn’t slept on the bed in ages. Last night, one of Jackie’s and Jake’s cats slept on the bed with me as well. Tomorrow I’m heading into San Francisco. I’m going to check out the Cartoon Art Gallery on Mission St and have a walk around looking for bike shops. Thursday night, Lisa and I are going to see Princess Mononoke.