Crack The Case: STONE COLD

It's been a while since I've updated this, but we've been very busy trying to get all of of our shooting done before our deadline. Let's see, where did I last leave off...Last Tuesday, before Thanksgiving, we were filming with the nice folks over at Bluegrass restaurant. They were so accommodating and it was really great to get that feeling of a real restaurant for the final episode... not to mention all of the great food---Special thanks to all of our friends over there. Also, look for a few special appearances from some of our friends returning from college in this episodEverything went pretty smoothly, except for the fact that Rachel got sick so Jack and I were literally rewriting the scene over the phone on the way there. Plus, it rained, so a couple of the exterior shots had to be pushed back. Because of one of our producers/main characters being sick, the holidays, and a few other factors, we ended up having a few extra days off over the break. On Saturday, however, we were back to work at a warehouse in Northbrook, which will actually be posing for a warehouse downtown in the fourth episode of the show. That was a lot of fun and we shot a great action sequence there too, which we added once we saw all of the fun things that we got to play with there---Special thanks to Jack's grandpa for the hook-up over there as well as the awesome BBQ chicken and burgers. We actually also got a nice surprise when we notice the Smashing Pumpkin's recording studio being right next door. Anyway, this past week we were back to HP on Tuesday and when we filmed two flashback sequences around two different houses and on Wednesday when we filmed some last interior house shots with most of the main characters, plus Jack Zamost, reprising his role as Max Moore's character's younger brother in the final episode from the first episode. On Thursday, we were filming in school for the final time...well... try 80 feet under the school! That's right, we were filming in the tunnels under the school and it was hot and scary. For the first time we had both of our main two adults together, and they could not have been more on top of their game along with Dylan for these two awesome scenes you can look for in episode 6. As of now, we have three days worth of filming left to finish, and depending on how the weather is, and how we can fit them into our busy schedules, we will hopefully be wrapped as soon as possible.
Stay Tuned!

After another week of filming I can honestly say that this is probably the most difficult thing that I, or most of us, have ever done. Last Monday, and Tuesday, we were working with some of our "Classmates" in the library, hallways, and indoor track of the school, and in a big change from last year, those will be all except two of the very few scenes that will be filmed in and around the school, in an attempt to give the show a much grander scale. On Wednesday, we were on location INSIDE the police station! It was very cool, and you can look for some of that footage in episode 3. The officers were very nice and accommodating, and one of them is quite the actor. We were given all access to the file rooms, jail cells, and hallways, and I am so excited about what we got. On Thursday, we finished up some hallway scenes and a pretty emotional scene with our two main male leads. By that time, we were all completely exhausted and we enjoyed a much needed 3 days off. Today, we were back to work at full speed, filming an action-packed sequence at the train station. We had to work extra hard to fight the cold and the darkness, and I think that our actors got quite a workout, as Michael Gordon ran from the parking lot across the street, all the way to the train speeding away. And if you ask any of our actors, we never do anything just once, and that chase was no exception. However, we did only have one shot at filming one train that was coming in the direction we needed. It was tough, but in the end it was definitely all worth it, and the footage we ended up with is the closest you're going to get to an action blockbuster around here. We are a little more than halfway through, and we just keep on keeping on, filming and rehearsing every little detail over and over and over again. Stay tuned!

Production began on the new show this week and filming is in full swing. We started filming on Wednesday, and while most students were enjoying a day off, we were hard at work. We filmed some house shots for the whole day, and then on Thursday we were on location right outside of Chipotle. Max Moore, who plays Ricky was on the show, was pretty happy about that, as he got to eat two burritos over the course of the two-hour shoot. After getting another scene done in the house that night, we all went home exhausted, finishing late, and enjoying a nice relaxing shoot Friday with only one quick scene being filmed for the first episode. It involved a news report, and after getting asked to leave the outside of Target, we switched over to Staples and finished up quickly there. Kevin Pluss rocked out in his role as bumbling store clerk, Clark. Finally, today we had a split shoot: You may have seen us filming outside of the police station for about an hour and a half in the early afternoon, before taking a break and then filming a flashback scene involving our first pair of adults. We can't give to much away, but it really was interesting to see what happens ten years before the main story occurs, and you can look forward to that in episode 2. Tomorrow we get a day off, and then on Monday it is back to work. Everything is going great and we are off to an amazing start. The actors have been on top of their game and are only getting better and better everyday, the crew is making things easier in every way possible, and the we couldn't have asked for a more committed team for the production board, who just keeps trudging along, no matter what we throw at him. We can't wait to show you what we're working on, and stay tuned for updates as filming progresses over the next two weeks!
Mahalo,
Burt and Jack