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Speaker 1: Technology with tech Stuff from dot Com. Hey there, and

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Speaker 1: welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland, executive

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Speaker 1: producer here at how stuff works dot com, talking all

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Speaker 1: about technology on this show. And today we have a

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Speaker 1: very special treat, at least for me and also for

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Speaker 1: you guys. There's this little series that showed up on

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Speaker 1: Netflix and took the world by storm. That would be

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Speaker 1: Stranger Things, a series that I very much personally enjoyed. Well,

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Speaker 1: my producer extraordinaire Ramsey was able to land interviews with

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Speaker 1: two really cool people who came in to talk to

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Speaker 1: us about what they did behind the scenes to make

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Speaker 1: Stranger Things work. And that's just Royal, the set decorator

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Speaker 1: for the series, and John Hilton, the rigging gaffer for

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Speaker 1: the series. So what follows is our conversation about the

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Speaker 1: tech behind making a show work and just sort of

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Speaker 1: the interesting challenges one faces when doing these sort of things,

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Speaker 1: especially in locations as opposed to sets. So enjoy. I

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Speaker 1: have to thank my two special guests who have joined

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Speaker 1: me for this episode of Tech Stuff, Jess and John,

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Speaker 1: who both have worked on multiple projects, but the one

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Speaker 1: we're talking about specifically today is the Netflix series Stranger Things,

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Speaker 1: a show that I binged immediately when the first season

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Speaker 1: came out and fell in love with it, not just

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Speaker 1: because I recognized some of the people in it, but

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Speaker 1: because it really felt to me like it didn't feel

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Speaker 1: like a show set in the nineteen eighties. It felt

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Speaker 1: like a show that was made in the nineteen eighties

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Speaker 1: and somehow disappeared and then resurfaced twenty years later, and

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Speaker 1: it's it's so evocat of and I wanted to have

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Speaker 1: both of you on to talk about your roles in

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Speaker 1: making this show what it was. So we're gonna talk

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Speaker 1: today about sort of the tech side, the the behind

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Speaker 1: the scenes side of making a show and and the

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Speaker 1: work that you do and how that ends up contributing

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Speaker 1: to this overall effect whatever the show maybe, or the movie,

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Speaker 1: whatever the project is. In this case, we're talking about

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Speaker 1: something that is a period piece, but you know, obviously

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Speaker 1: there are other ones where you have a very different

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Speaker 1: feel for whatever the project is. So I'm going to

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Speaker 1: start with you, John, John, you are rigging gaffer. Tell

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Speaker 1: listeners who have seen i'm sure the term gaffer in

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Speaker 1: the credits what that means, because I think a lot

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Speaker 1: of folks just don't know. The gaffer is just a

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Speaker 1: department head that's in charge of the electrical so electrical

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Speaker 1: distribution and lighting. Um. I think the term comes from

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Speaker 1: old man. Yeah, was the old man on the crew.

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Speaker 1: He's in charge of the lighting. Yeah. They have a

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Speaker 1: the term gaffer in uh and Lord of the rings. Actually,

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Speaker 1: Sam Wise Gamgees father is called the old gaffer. Uh.

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Speaker 1: I say that because of my Lord of the rings geek.

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Speaker 1: So what are your responsibilities typically on a on a

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Speaker 1: shoot as a ringing gaffer? I'd provide the power to

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Speaker 1: the set and any any lighting that we can get

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Speaker 1: up before beforehand before photography, We'll get that done as well. Cool.

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Speaker 1: So you are making sure that all the stuff that

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Speaker 1: needs to work is actually going to work. Yes, an

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Speaker 1: important role on any production. And how did you get

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Speaker 1: your start in in the business known as show I

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Speaker 1: was a nanny for a director of photography in eight

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Speaker 1: the summer of ninety eight, and I watched his kids

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Speaker 1: during the summer and after at the end of the summer,

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Speaker 1: he had me tag along with him to go work

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Speaker 1: on a film. And after the film was like, oh,

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Speaker 1: you'd be great this, you should move to l A.

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Speaker 1: I got my friends. They can hook you up at

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Speaker 1: a camera rental house and you can do that for

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Speaker 1: a little while. And I was like, I don't want

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Speaker 1: to do that. I want to move to New York

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Speaker 1: City and be a bum. So I didn't get into

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Speaker 1: it right away. I was a maintenance man in an

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Speaker 1: apartment complex and all my tools were stolen, and I

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Speaker 1: was like, I'll go work on movies, a security circuitous

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Speaker 1: route to get there. So did you have a background

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Speaker 1: and electrical work before you even got into the movie

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Speaker 1: a little bit? And I've done, like my dad does

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Speaker 1: h V a C. So I kind of dabbled on

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Speaker 1: that during the whole maintenance for apartment complex thing. I

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Speaker 1: kind of understood electrical systems, right. So you then take

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Speaker 1: that understanding and you start pouring it over to the

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Speaker 1: production side, where I imagine it's a a a fairly

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Speaker 1: uh strenuous process to make sure everything is how it

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Speaker 1: needs to be because obviously, any time on any set

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Speaker 1: is money, So anything that takes extra time is going

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Speaker 1: to cost the whole production extra amounts of money. So

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Speaker 1: I mentioned it's a fairly high stress environment. It is. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I don't get a lot of sleep. I always called

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Speaker 1: Jessell workaholic, but really it's for me. I do it

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Speaker 1: all at home. She doesn't see it. It's fair. And now,

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Speaker 1: Jess you you were a set decorator, are still lar

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Speaker 1: sick decorator for Stranger Things? Also, congratulations on getting an

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Speaker 1: Emmy nomination for that work. Thank you. That's amazing. I

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Speaker 1: at this first time I think I've ever sat down

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Speaker 1: at a table with an Emmy nominee. Uh yeah, it's

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Speaker 1: It's a big moment for me, That's what I'm saying.

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Speaker 1: So let's talk about what that means. What is what

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Speaker 1: is actually set decorator on a set? Um? So I

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Speaker 1: work under the production designer UM, and the production designer

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Speaker 1: kind of sets the look like, helps pick locations UM,

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Speaker 1: and then you know, has a lot of references and

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Speaker 1: different things as far as the minutia of how a

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Speaker 1: set comes together. UM. There's an art director who kind

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Speaker 1: of oversees more the construction end of things, and then

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Speaker 1: everything from like those four walls. For the most part,

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Speaker 1: I kind of deal with so light fixtures and um,

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Speaker 1: you know, carpet and sofas and electronics and all the

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Speaker 1: garbage and some sets and piles up in the clutter.

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Speaker 1: That's my specialty. So when a when the art department

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Speaker 1: has said, like, oh, we've got this idea for what

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Speaker 1: the the feel for this particular set needs to be, Uh,

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Speaker 1: it's your job to go and actually procure all that,

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Speaker 1: put it all together, make sure that it's matching the

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Speaker 1: vision for whatever that that idea was right. Yes, and

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Speaker 1: on a on a production that's a period piece, I

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Speaker 1: imagine that also involves lots of hunting around for really

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Speaker 1: obscure and obsolete stuff. It does. I spend a lot

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Speaker 1: of time and I always tell everyone dead ladies, basements,

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Speaker 1: estate sales. I'm always like emptying out the leftovers of houses,

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Speaker 1: you know, um after an estate sales over um. And

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Speaker 1: you know in Stranger Things is one of those weird shows,

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Speaker 1: especially where everything is a little bit interactive kind of

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Speaker 1: which is why, um, that's why I wanted John to

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Speaker 1: be here, because he's I think he's sold himself short

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Speaker 1: a little bit as far as like just preparing or

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Speaker 1: providing power to a set. Because we had so many

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Speaker 1: interactive elements, you know, lights and otherwise that um kind

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Speaker 1: of had to be period and had to be functional

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Speaker 1: and do a bunch of different things. So yeah, a

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Speaker 1: good example of that would be, of course, the Christmas

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Speaker 1: lights make a play a huge role in that season

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Speaker 1: of Stranger Things. I mean, it's it's a communications device.

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Speaker 1: And I don't know how many of my listeners know this, Chris,

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Speaker 1: the lights don't work that way. Typically, you have them

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Speaker 1: all rigged ump so that if one goes out, they

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Speaker 1: all tend to go out, especially the period ones. So

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Speaker 1: getting them so that they very they light up in

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Speaker 1: very specific ways. Uh, probably meant a little bit of

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Speaker 1: rewiring work and a little bit of rigging things in

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Speaker 1: an interesting way so as you could get to do

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Speaker 1: it on command. That was such an important integral part

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Speaker 1: of the storyline. I remember. I remember when they came

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Speaker 1: and asked me. They were walking through the buyer's house set.

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Speaker 1: It was Chris and Jess and Todd, and they were like,

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Speaker 1: we want to make each light go off and individually.

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Speaker 1: Is it possible? Yes? And I turned around and I

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Speaker 1: walked back in my little office and I was like, oh, no,

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Speaker 1: how am I gonna make this story? Like? Technically, yes,

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Speaker 1: it's possible. Practical not really, So, so how did you

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Speaker 1: go about solving that problem? Um? I just started scribbling

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Speaker 1: a lot and locked my door and just trying to

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Speaker 1: figure out how to get lights to go on and

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Speaker 1: off individually, which means we had to build individual strands

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Speaker 1: of lights. So I ended up, I guess that's kind

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Speaker 1: of low tech. We're kind of getting at low tech

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Speaker 1: as possible. So I ended up using Cat five cable

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Speaker 1: and taking all the different strands and making them individual

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Speaker 1: and solder soldering them into old Christmas likes that Jess

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Speaker 1: would bring us. Wow. So you were actually hand designing

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Speaker 1: something so that you could achieve this effect in a

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Speaker 1: practical approach. That's one of the other things, by the way,

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Speaker 1: that I love about stranger things and being I was

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Speaker 1: born in the seventies, so seeing uh, not just something

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Speaker 1: that is set and appears to have been made the eighties,

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Speaker 1: but to rely so heavily upon practical effects that warms

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Speaker 1: my heart as I grew up watching films that relied

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Speaker 1: heavily on practical effects, and I think it is very

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Speaker 1: important to get across that same feel in order to

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Speaker 1: get the effect that you want and not rely too

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Speaker 1: heavily on anything that's computer generated. Not to dismiss computer generated,

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Speaker 1: it certainly has a place in storytelling, but to me,

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Speaker 1: at least and maybe this is my own bias has

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Speaker 1: uh it just it just has a different look and

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Speaker 1: a different feel. You know, there's something genuine about practical effects.

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Speaker 1: And not all of ours went. Uh. We had different

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Speaker 1: test runs that the juffers for would they kill if

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Speaker 1: any of those videos ever got out some of the

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Speaker 1: ones that didn't work as well. Um with like the

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Speaker 1: monster coming through our latex. Uh, we have you know,

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Speaker 1: printed the wallpaper and stuff in the buyer's house onto latex,

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Speaker 1: and we had all these different tests so we did

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Speaker 1: with various um, you know, slimy substances and things on. Anyway,

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Speaker 1: they didn't all it took a while to kind of

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Speaker 1: get that just tweaked, you know, just right the face

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Speaker 1: like kind of pushing feel of the wall. And originally

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Speaker 1: they had him breaking through the wall entirely. They're trying

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Speaker 1: to do it all practical, and um, I think it's

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Speaker 1: nice to have technology options where VFX could just take

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Speaker 1: what we did and really enhance it. And you know,

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Speaker 1: uh right, Yeah, eventually you get to a point where

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Speaker 1: you just say, you know, physics just doesn't work that way. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: Like I like, I appreciate where you're trying to go

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Speaker 1: with this. Yeah, I love that there was a latex

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Speaker 1: approach a practical approach with that too, because I mean

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Speaker 1: I also, full disclosure, my sister's a puppeteer, so I

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Speaker 1: see the puppeteer side of sort of this kind of

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Speaker 1: stuff all the time. And to appreciate practical effects where

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Speaker 1: you're using something like a latex sheet and you're using

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Speaker 1: some form of whether it's an actor, a mask, a puppet,

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Speaker 1: or whatever, to to create that effect. I mean, there

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Speaker 1: is something really visceral and and the textures are really impressive.

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Speaker 1: It's something that goes again beyond just that. Oh, there's

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Speaker 1: a very clever animation. Uh. And and also it just

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Speaker 1: shows a level of care that you know, you have

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Speaker 1: to have all of that work back behind the scenes

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Speaker 1: to get that effect to happen on on screen. Uh,

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Speaker 1: that is happening in real time somewhere. It's it's it's

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Speaker 1: not a bunch of people staring at a green wall

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Speaker 1: pretending that they see something that is really effective and

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Speaker 1: then having to react to nothing at all. They actually

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Speaker 1: have stuff to react to in those practical effects. Uh.

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Speaker 1: I am not an actor that's good enough to react

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Speaker 1: to a green screen with and and make that at

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Speaker 1: all convincing. I need to have some sort of monster

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Speaker 1: thing coming at me so that I can really, you know,

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Speaker 1: be somewhat convincing in my response. And the Christmas lights

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Speaker 1: is the same thing because we um, you know, I

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Speaker 1: think it looked a lot more authentic and better to

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Speaker 1: have it practical. But even um, there's like the scene

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Speaker 1: where Holly, the the young Wheeler daughters like following the

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Speaker 1: Christmas lights down the hallway. Um, and I think if

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Speaker 1: we didn't have all of those actually lighting up in

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Speaker 1: her having that direction and sort of all the interaction

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Speaker 1: you know with the lights and actors, it wouldn't have

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Speaker 1: been the same. No, you wouldn't be able to get

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Speaker 1: that tension. Yeah, that's a great moment, so tell me also,

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Speaker 1: I mean the Christmas lights. I think that's one of

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Speaker 1: those that I that I definitely wanted to hit upon

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Speaker 1: because it's a deceptively simple technology that ends up actually

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Speaker 1: requiring thinking outside the box in order to get the

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Speaker 1: effect they wanted son requiring you to actually solder things

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Speaker 1: weeks weeks. Wow, So if you had to estimate like

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Speaker 1: how many weeks are you talking about for that just

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Speaker 1: to make sure you can get that effect to work properly.

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Speaker 1: It was two weeks. That's I mean, that's a lot

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Speaker 1: of work to get Christmas lights. The light up we built,

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Speaker 1: I think we only built out of the twenty that

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Speaker 1: we were going to build, we only built seventeen because

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Speaker 1: that's all we had time to do on top of

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Speaker 1: everything else that we had to do. Yeah. Yeah, So

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Speaker 1: then they would so they would solder these little strands,

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Speaker 1: you know, onto the sockets, and then we had it

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Speaker 1: involved me going back to props Um the lights that

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Speaker 1: Joyce originally buys at Melball's Um props. I guess it

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Speaker 1: just sort of had newer lights in the box and

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Speaker 1: wasn't really thinking about the bigger picture. So we had

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Speaker 1: to go back and have switched those out for the

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Speaker 1: older strands to have like the green and red twisted

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Speaker 1: sort of look, so that we could that that was

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Speaker 1: the easiest thing for us to copy. So they would

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Speaker 1: finished soldering and then we would paint them green and

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Speaker 1: red and twist them all together. Um, you know, so

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Speaker 1: there's like a whole there's a whole collaborative effort any

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Speaker 1: right there making sure that like because I mean I

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Speaker 1: see a lot of movies where clearly that that level

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Speaker 1: of care was not quite taken. You'll look at something

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Speaker 1: and things like that's not even the same prop as

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Speaker 1: what he was holding a second ago. So having that

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Speaker 1: kind of level of detail is really cool. Uh So

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Speaker 1: I assume there was someone just like actually just manually

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Speaker 1: operating those lights for all those sequences. We had our

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Speaker 1: demmer board operator Jim Donovan. He programmed all that and

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Speaker 1: operating real temperating in real time. He's another one of

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Speaker 1: my heroes too, because these guys, because it wasn't because

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Speaker 1: the Christmas lights were one thing. And then um there's

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Speaker 1: also like the scene with the lamps in in in

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Speaker 1: the bedroom, um and Winona having to you know, bring it.

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Speaker 1: I guess we never had a scene at first they're

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Speaker 1: going to show her like bringing all the lamps in

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Speaker 1: and setting them up, and that was going to be

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Speaker 1: like a whole other nightmare. But um, once they were

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Speaker 1: sort of you know, they're just getting those programmed right

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Speaker 1: to do that effect. Um, Jim stayed late with me

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Speaker 1: one night and just like we did, you know, kept

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Speaker 1: practicing and getting all that down. So see, to me,

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Speaker 1: that's really cool because it's not just technical, it's it's

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Speaker 1: a level of performance. I mean you we're playing effectively

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Speaker 1: another character in the scene, and so you know it's

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Speaker 1: there's there's all the timing that's required in that too,

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Speaker 1: and again to get what the director wants in order

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Speaker 1: for that to have the emotional and psychological impact on

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Speaker 1: the viewer, which, by the way, credibly effective because I

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Speaker 1: loved it. Uh, So you know, I'm my hats off

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Speaker 1: to you because I occasionally am a performer, but I

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Speaker 1: couldn't do any of the rest of it, whereas you

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Speaker 1: guys are doing all of that. So I'm really I'm

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Speaker 1: really impressed. I assume that it's is pretty tricky outfitting

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Speaker 1: entire sets with nineteen eighties era uh, carpet ing, furniture,

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Speaker 1: the technology in particular, because we're not so far removed

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Speaker 1: from the nineteen eighties that we think of those things

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Speaker 1: as antiques. So therefore there's not a lot of work

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Speaker 1: in preserve preserving them, but we're far enough out where

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Speaker 1: nobody wants to hold onto them anymore. So was was

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Speaker 1: that a challenge to you to to find things that

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Speaker 1: could incorpe that could live in that early eighties setting?

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Speaker 1: Not as hard as you would think, I think, mostly

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Speaker 1: just because thank God for state sales and Atlanta being

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Speaker 1: a good estate sales city. Um. I've worked in other

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Speaker 1: cities where you just don't you know, they just don't

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Speaker 1: operate like that. They don't. I don't know how people

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Speaker 1: get rid of their stuff after they've passed. I don't know.

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Speaker 1: But um, Atlanta is good about it. Um. There are

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Speaker 1: other like I've done other movies. I did a movie

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Speaker 1: um that it was a news station set in the seventies. Um.

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Speaker 1: And that's one of those like there's already not a

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Speaker 1: ton of like news broadcast station equipment out there, not

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Speaker 1: like you know, old Nintendos and things, but um, and

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Speaker 1: and then it was so fragile. It was sort of

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Speaker 1: that like just that first wave of like electronic technology

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Speaker 1: and the old analog stuff from like the fifties was

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Speaker 1: you know, you can get that kind of stuff. Um,

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Speaker 1: but that's but getting stuff that worked that was That's

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Speaker 1: sort of that. Um. That first generation plastic electronic disposable

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Speaker 1: almost like technology is was harder. But um for gently

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Speaker 1: for you know, Sears catalog days, a lot of Americans

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Speaker 1: all had the same stuff, and enough people held onto

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Speaker 1: it her pack rats that we could kind of curate

316
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Speaker 1: and go through and find everything we needed. Yeah. I

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Speaker 1: I went to a panel with uh, the art director

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Speaker 1: from Stranger Things, and he talked a little bit about

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Speaker 1: the process of identifying the different the different types of

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Speaker 1: of fabrics and the different color schemes that were going

321
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Speaker 1: to be important, and how you know, certain certain houses

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Speaker 1: we're going to look like they were more of a

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Speaker 1: holdover from maybe the mid to late seventies and some

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Speaker 1: were a little bit more modern in the sense of

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Speaker 1: the early eighties and UH. And that also was really

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Speaker 1: interesting to me, this idea of you know, you're not

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Speaker 1: just you're not just creating creating a huge pile of

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Speaker 1: stuff from a general era. You actually have to give

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Speaker 1: each of these places its own personality. Well that's yeah,

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Speaker 1: there is a I tell people the story that one

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Speaker 1: of our accountants came to me after we were like

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Speaker 1: up in filming the first week or so on stage,

333
00:19:02,359 --> 00:19:05,560
Speaker 1: and um, she said, you know, Jess, I saw your sets.

334
00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:08,320
Speaker 1: They look really great, but gosh, like is this this

335
00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:10,639
Speaker 1: is the eighties and they look very seventies to me.

336
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Speaker 1: And I was, you know, and it's one of those

337
00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:16,119
Speaker 1: like not every socioeconomic group is going to just instantly have,

338
00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:20,080
Speaker 1: you know, the eighties. So Yeah, from like that Sears

339
00:19:20,119 --> 00:19:22,800
Speaker 1: catalog that year. It's all it's more of a you know,

340
00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:24,919
Speaker 1: when did they build a house, when would they have

341
00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:27,840
Speaker 1: you know, renovated or what's there? You know, what did

342
00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:31,240
Speaker 1: they have the means to update the carpet, wallpaper or whatever,

343
00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:33,399
Speaker 1: and kind of have to just think it through. Um,

344
00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:36,080
Speaker 1: each character having its own sort of storyline with their

345
00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:40,040
Speaker 1: home keeping everything consistent. I mean that is clearly very

346
00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:43,199
Speaker 1: important if you want to establish things, like, you know,

347
00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:47,159
Speaker 1: unbelievable character. It would be weird to go into a

348
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Speaker 1: home of a person who was presumably just scraping by

349
00:19:52,960 --> 00:19:55,320
Speaker 1: and you see what it appears to be a brand

350
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Speaker 1: new Apple two gs in the background. You're like, it's

351
00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:02,359
Speaker 1: a couple of grand Where did they that money for that? They? Yeah?

352
00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:06,480
Speaker 1: So was there anything in particular that you either of

353
00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:11,840
Speaker 1: you that you think was really interesting or really cool? Uh,

354
00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:15,919
Speaker 1: something that you had not anticipated? Uh that you know,

355
00:20:16,119 --> 00:20:18,199
Speaker 1: that's like your go to, Like, you know, if if

356
00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:20,080
Speaker 1: people are asking you what was it like, like, well,

357
00:20:20,119 --> 00:20:22,119
Speaker 1: let me tell you this particular thing that I was

358
00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:25,399
Speaker 1: really excited about. Whether it was something that turned out

359
00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:27,399
Speaker 1: the way you expected at the beginning or something that

360
00:20:28,119 --> 00:20:32,560
Speaker 1: completely win a different direction, getting getting invited back to

361
00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:36,160
Speaker 1: season two. That was that's good, that's good. I think

362
00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:38,760
Speaker 1: if you were able to take all of those Christmas

363
00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:41,000
Speaker 1: lights and make them light up individually, that's a really

364
00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:46,440
Speaker 1: good start. Um. I don't know, I don't that's I mean,

365
00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:47,960
Speaker 1: that's why I was thrilled to be here today and

366
00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:51,280
Speaker 1: asked John to come to because for me, that sort

367
00:20:51,320 --> 00:20:55,600
Speaker 1: of like a collaborative overlap um my thing. And he

368
00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:58,400
Speaker 1: knows this well. Is it like today in film? Um?

369
00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:02,120
Speaker 1: Like everyone loves led lights and lighting, even if they're

370
00:21:02,119 --> 00:21:03,920
Speaker 1: trying to make even if it is like period or

371
00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:07,560
Speaker 1: they wanted to look um, you know, period, they still

372
00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:09,840
Speaker 1: kind of fall back on LEDs because they're easier to

373
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Speaker 1: control and and I kind of hate them, so um,

374
00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:15,720
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm coming around to some of them. But

375
00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:18,800
Speaker 1: anyway to have them, to have our electrical department have

376
00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:21,440
Speaker 1: the patients to kind of like really do it right

377
00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:24,200
Speaker 1: and work with the older technology and and you know

378
00:21:24,280 --> 00:21:26,840
Speaker 1: that that was a it was a long process. But

379
00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:32,359
Speaker 1: the fluorescent fixtures lots fluorescence because their period, of course,

380
00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:38,119
Speaker 1: and hardly anyone stocks fluorescent ballast that we had to

381
00:21:38,119 --> 00:21:43,800
Speaker 1: replace hundreds of ballast and high schools and Melvols and

382
00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:48,720
Speaker 1: all over Georgia. We replaced ballast. Wow, that's a that's

383
00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:53,240
Speaker 1: a big undertaking. That was awful. Yeah, but but it

384
00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:56,120
Speaker 1: pays off on screen because it does give you that

385
00:21:56,240 --> 00:21:58,800
Speaker 1: like like that's why it feels like it was made

386
00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:00,960
Speaker 1: in the eighties, is because has all of this this

387
00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:03,800
Speaker 1: love and care behind it. Uh, And you can see

388
00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:08,639
Speaker 1: that rolling out through other projects that are clearly uh

389
00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:12,320
Speaker 1: following that same philosophy. I mean, Stephen King's it coming out, Like,

390
00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:16,359
Speaker 1: I think the look of it owes an awful lot

391
00:22:17,119 --> 00:22:20,680
Speaker 1: to Stranger Things. Uh, it has a very similar kind

392
00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:23,520
Speaker 1: of field to it. For that that second, I mean,

393
00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:26,480
Speaker 1: it's amazing to me that they went ahead and decided

394
00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:30,560
Speaker 1: to set the adult story in modern day, which conveniently

395
00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:33,840
Speaker 1: made the children's story set in the eighties. And so

396
00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:36,840
Speaker 1: there are a lot of parallels there. But it's funny

397
00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:39,640
Speaker 1: because of course Stranger Things also, you could tell, has

398
00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:42,639
Speaker 1: a little bit of the influence of Stephen King is

399
00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:45,920
Speaker 1: certainly in the Stranger Things universe as well, So it's

400
00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:49,520
Speaker 1: all kind of feeding in on itself. It's umu collaborative

401
00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:55,000
Speaker 1: and cooperative as well as competitive process. I'm sure so, uh,

402
00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:58,800
Speaker 1: were there any particular sets that you really liked working

403
00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:01,800
Speaker 1: on or any that you really did not like working on?

404
00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:07,760
Speaker 1: I don't, John, I probably will have different responses, but um,

405
00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:10,600
Speaker 1: I mean the Buyer's House is one of them. I

406
00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:13,080
Speaker 1: tell everyone, it's like its own sort of character that

407
00:23:13,119 --> 00:23:15,159
Speaker 1: we had. You know, it's at least we shot it

408
00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:17,800
Speaker 1: in a for the most part, chronological order, because we

409
00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:22,919
Speaker 1: really literally destroyed it completely. Um as we went and

410
00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:26,119
Speaker 1: you know, Joyce ripping things apart and monsters smashing things,

411
00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:29,199
Speaker 1: and um, I will say it was it was towards

412
00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:31,040
Speaker 1: the end of it when all the Christmas lights were

413
00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:33,320
Speaker 1: up and like half pulled down, and it was an

414
00:23:33,359 --> 00:23:36,720
Speaker 1: absolute nightmare for the shooting crew. I mean for a

415
00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:39,440
Speaker 1: boom operator to operate in that setting was just like

416
00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:42,600
Speaker 1: it's uh, you know, it's everyone was getting like tangled

417
00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:45,679
Speaker 1: and um it was. Yeah, it was truly like a

418
00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:48,399
Speaker 1: it was a it was kind of fun to watch

419
00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:51,280
Speaker 1: it progress, but it was a It took a lot

420
00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:53,600
Speaker 1: of patients. They're not not every shooting crew would be

421
00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:59,720
Speaker 1: cut out to kind of handle that. That setting. My

422
00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:04,000
Speaker 1: favorite was the high school because we had again we

423
00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:06,960
Speaker 1: had to go in and replace every fluorescent most of

424
00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:09,600
Speaker 1: the ballast in there, and then towards the end of it,

425
00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:12,760
Speaker 1: when they had the scene with eleven and the monster,

426
00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:15,520
Speaker 1: everything starts to go crazy and flickers. We had to

427
00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:20,240
Speaker 1: take everything out and we reinstalled our own LED strips

428
00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:22,960
Speaker 1: throughout the school so we could make everything flicker on

429
00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:26,080
Speaker 1: and off. That's a lot of work. There's a lot

430
00:24:26,119 --> 00:24:27,879
Speaker 1: of work. And it wasn't even just LED twos. It

431
00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:30,280
Speaker 1: was like they were soldering again. I just would see that,

432
00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:33,080
Speaker 1: you know, you guys were on location soldering in some

433
00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:37,560
Speaker 1: old classroom putting LED strips in like twos or whatever

434
00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:41,080
Speaker 1: you were doing. And yeah, that was well what was

435
00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:44,960
Speaker 1: what was it like working in Uh? Did they the facility?

436
00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:48,840
Speaker 1: Wasn't that set in an old building and emory? Yeah,

437
00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:56,320
Speaker 1: Hawkins Lab. How was that experience? Uh? I'm you know,

438
00:24:56,560 --> 00:24:58,400
Speaker 1: there are a lot of shows at filmed there. Um,

439
00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:00,359
Speaker 1: I feel like we were still in the early wave

440
00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:02,879
Speaker 1: of like some of the shows that were like really

441
00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:04,960
Speaker 1: working on all the different floors and stuff. So like

442
00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:08,800
Speaker 1: especially John and having to go up and put you know,

443
00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:10,880
Speaker 1: move ceiling tiles out of the way to run cable

444
00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:13,520
Speaker 1: and stuff. Is like you're for the first time in

445
00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:16,640
Speaker 1: forty years. You know, you were you were, you were

446
00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:19,920
Speaker 1: the explorer that everyone else got the benefit we found

447
00:25:19,920 --> 00:25:24,400
Speaker 1: all the rat face. Yeah, Well, for people who don't know,

448
00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:27,160
Speaker 1: can you talk a little bit about the building itself

449
00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:30,000
Speaker 1: where the Hawkins Lab was, because I think, you know, again,

450
00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:33,520
Speaker 1: everyone sees it in the show, but they don't know

451
00:25:34,359 --> 00:25:36,960
Speaker 1: what the actual space was. They might just think, oh,

452
00:25:37,040 --> 00:25:38,800
Speaker 1: was that just a set on a studio, and in

453
00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:41,480
Speaker 1: fact that parts of it at least we're very much

454
00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:44,439
Speaker 1: in a real building here in Atlanta. Yeah, we I

455
00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:47,040
Speaker 1: will say, like when we were first when the Duffers

456
00:25:47,040 --> 00:25:49,280
Speaker 1: were first here and we were gonna, you know, film

457
00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:53,440
Speaker 1: Stranger Things in Atlanta and full disclosure, I sometimes location

458
00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:55,560
Speaker 1: scout when I'm not decorating. It's like my secret job.

459
00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:57,399
Speaker 1: So um so I was doing a lot of the

460
00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:00,880
Speaker 1: like early scouting, trying to figure out what Hawkins Lab

461
00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:03,879
Speaker 1: was going to be and how undercover and small it

462
00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:06,760
Speaker 1: was gonna be, your how big and um you know,

463
00:26:07,160 --> 00:26:10,159
Speaker 1: just what the look was gonna be. Yeah, and I

464
00:26:10,359 --> 00:26:13,479
Speaker 1: we didn't all agree. I felt like that building at Emory,

465
00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:16,240
Speaker 1: with its metal facade and kind of craziness on the outside,

466
00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:19,719
Speaker 1: was a little like ostentatious for a secret sort of

467
00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:23,960
Speaker 1: different facility. But um, anyway, but they loved I mean,

468
00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:27,040
Speaker 1: it is a pretty impressive building and it's very distinct,

469
00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:29,159
Speaker 1: and what they did with it in posts, like putting

470
00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:31,240
Speaker 1: the satellites and stuff on top of it made it

471
00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:33,960
Speaker 1: all kind of work. But um, yeah, it's a it's

472
00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:36,520
Speaker 1: on Briar Cliff here in Atlanta, and it's an old

473
00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:42,520
Speaker 1: mental hospital. Um and uh yeah, so it's truly creepy.

474
00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:46,320
Speaker 1: Um it's not everything works in there anymore. Powers like

475
00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:48,879
Speaker 1: kind of like hit or miss in some areas, and uh,

476
00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:53,440
Speaker 1: a lot of leaks and things. It's yeah, so it

477
00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:55,520
Speaker 1: must have been a tough one to work in as well, John,

478
00:26:55,560 --> 00:26:57,560
Speaker 1: did you do you have a lot of challenges going

479
00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:00,879
Speaker 1: through all that. I mean, it just like that place

480
00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:05,120
Speaker 1: they just stopped one day and everyone left and then

481
00:27:05,119 --> 00:27:08,280
Speaker 1: people came in behind them and trashed the place. So

482
00:27:08,359 --> 00:27:14,199
Speaker 1: there's broken glass everywhere, there were needles everywhere, um, and

483
00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:17,800
Speaker 1: just trying to figure out what like how to power

484
00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:20,399
Speaker 1: how does this light come on where? And you have

485
00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:22,600
Speaker 1: to trace it all the way down sometimes in the

486
00:27:22,680 --> 00:27:26,800
Speaker 1: floor underneath you or the subfloor underneath you. That was

487
00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:30,000
Speaker 1: definitely a challenge. Wow. So I'm sure that was one

488
00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:33,240
Speaker 1: of the more difficult ones to actually to power and

489
00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:36,399
Speaker 1: make sure that everything was working properly. Uh yeah. I

490
00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:39,040
Speaker 1: saw the pictures of sort of the before and after

491
00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:43,399
Speaker 1: during one of those presentations, and it was really, um,

492
00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:46,679
Speaker 1: really alarming. Actually there was a shot that was just

493
00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:50,240
Speaker 1: down the hallway and it was possibly the most creepy

494
00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:54,119
Speaker 1: looking photograph I had seen in a really long time. Well,

495
00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:56,240
Speaker 1: the one thing I will say is that we'd every

496
00:27:56,320 --> 00:28:00,119
Speaker 1: intention when we first started of shooting um like the

497
00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:03,879
Speaker 1: the sort of rift lab and Hawkins like where the

498
00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:07,600
Speaker 1: tank and everything is. That was the tunnels leading up

499
00:28:07,640 --> 00:28:09,320
Speaker 1: to that and the opening scene where he's like getting

500
00:28:09,359 --> 00:28:11,080
Speaker 1: off the elevator and everything. We're going to do that

501
00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:15,080
Speaker 1: at Emery, which is they actually have these like underground tunnels,

502
00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:20,440
Speaker 1: um that are that are It's pretty bad. I don't

503
00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:22,760
Speaker 1: even know. Yeah, it's like asbestos and all these like

504
00:28:22,840 --> 00:28:25,080
Speaker 1: crazy you know, it's just it's dark. There hasn't empowered

505
00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:28,280
Speaker 1: on there forever um And so at the last minute,

506
00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:30,720
Speaker 1: I think they've done these like air quality tests and stuff,

507
00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:33,119
Speaker 1: and they finally said there's okay, this is great. The

508
00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:35,879
Speaker 1: texture is great. It's authentic, but we like, really, we

509
00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:39,320
Speaker 1: cannot film down here, so we ended up um copying

510
00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:41,040
Speaker 1: the general look of it on our stage and we

511
00:28:41,120 --> 00:28:43,320
Speaker 1: built a series of tunnels that were a lot more

512
00:28:43,800 --> 00:28:46,560
Speaker 1: easy to control from a lighting standpoint in every other aspect,

513
00:28:46,560 --> 00:28:50,240
Speaker 1: so right, and you don't have to worry about bringing Yeah,

514
00:28:50,880 --> 00:28:52,880
Speaker 1: when we do that, I feel like the like John

515
00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:56,240
Speaker 1: and I and our cruise that are there you know beforehand,

516
00:28:56,320 --> 00:28:59,960
Speaker 1: so early working on places, especially those guys with like

517
00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:03,720
Speaker 1: the ceiling tiles are the hidden that's what is above

518
00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:07,960
Speaker 1: those is uh, they're real, you know, there's yeah, there's

519
00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:13,400
Speaker 1: there's a whole treasure trove of exactly. Yeah. So we

520
00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:15,200
Speaker 1: deal with the worst of it, and then I think

521
00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:17,680
Speaker 1: shooting crew has a little better time. By the time

522
00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:19,200
Speaker 1: they get in there, it's all been cleaned up a

523
00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:20,840
Speaker 1: little bit. And then of course then you have you know,

524
00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:27,040
Speaker 1: the very pampered people to actors. That's fantastic that they

525
00:29:27,080 --> 00:29:29,520
Speaker 1: complain a little bit about it being a little chilly outside.

526
00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:32,120
Speaker 1: Like listen, when we came here, there was no power,

527
00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:34,920
Speaker 1: water was coming in, and there were rats everywhere. So

528
00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:40,480
Speaker 1: there's some sets like in season two, UM which you know,

529
00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:43,640
Speaker 1: who can kind of leave everyone just sort of experienced

530
00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:47,400
Speaker 1: later this month, but um, it's there is an arcade

531
00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:50,560
Speaker 1: and just know like when we finish all the south

532
00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:53,600
Speaker 1: showing the photos, but the before was like an old

533
00:29:53,720 --> 00:29:57,360
Speaker 1: um Launder matt dry cleaner place that had been sold,

534
00:29:57,480 --> 00:30:00,520
Speaker 1: closed down, leaky roof, all the same stuff. Um the

535
00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:02,400
Speaker 1: hoarder had taken it over and it was like to

536
00:30:02,520 --> 00:30:07,160
Speaker 1: the ceiling with like mattresses and diapers and like whatever garbage.

537
00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:11,840
Speaker 1: And so that process was another good one. We've had

538
00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:14,440
Speaker 1: a lot stranger things. Is like people who hear about

539
00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:16,600
Speaker 1: our production, I feel like who also shoot in Atlanta

540
00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:19,000
Speaker 1: are like who he seet and kind of know what

541
00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:21,240
Speaker 1: we started out with and then what the final product

542
00:30:21,280 --> 00:30:24,280
Speaker 1: is are like why you know your show is like

543
00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:26,400
Speaker 1: does the craziest Like we're willing to put up with

544
00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:28,760
Speaker 1: a lot more, I think than a lot of other

545
00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:32,360
Speaker 1: like productions, Hollywood productions that you know would never touch

546
00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:34,520
Speaker 1: some the places that we go into. Yeah, well again

547
00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:36,880
Speaker 1: it pays off though, So I look forward to seeing

548
00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:39,320
Speaker 1: those photos because of course, again growing up in the

549
00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:41,840
Speaker 1: seventies and eighties, I have a lot of fond memories

550
00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:44,000
Speaker 1: of arcades that you just you know, you very rarely

551
00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:46,160
Speaker 1: encounter those kind of places these days, it's going to

552
00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:48,520
Speaker 1: be another one of those like why would you put

553
00:30:48,560 --> 00:30:50,760
Speaker 1: the effort into it? Like it's but it was just

554
00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:53,000
Speaker 1: little architectural things about the building that we thought were

555
00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:55,400
Speaker 1: kind of great. And I don't know every knowing that

556
00:30:55,480 --> 00:30:57,400
Speaker 1: you run into one of those places where you're just like, well,

557
00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:02,440
Speaker 1: everything inside here is is try but it's so evocative

558
00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:05,800
Speaker 1: of that particular thing you're trying to do that you know,

559
00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:09,400
Speaker 1: I'm sure it becomes one of those debates that rages

560
00:31:09,440 --> 00:31:11,520
Speaker 1: in your mind, like is it going to be worth

561
00:31:11,680 --> 00:31:14,280
Speaker 1: the amount of effort it's gonna take to get this

562
00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:17,360
Speaker 1: place into shape? And if the answer is yes, then

563
00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:19,160
Speaker 1: you just have to grit your teeth and going for

564
00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:22,920
Speaker 1: it and and and uh, you know, get the work done.

565
00:31:23,120 --> 00:31:28,360
Speaker 1: The library we had, the Hawkins Library. Yeah, um, we

566
00:31:29,120 --> 00:31:33,080
Speaker 1: another one of my really good ideas. There's a a

567
00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:37,400
Speaker 1: library in downtown East Point, Georgia that was, um, it

568
00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:39,280
Speaker 1: was like on the places in Peril, like a story

569
00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:43,240
Speaker 1: preservation list. It was. It was leaky roof same thing,

570
00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:47,280
Speaker 1: you know, asbestos, mold, tons of tons of mold. They

571
00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:49,720
Speaker 1: had standing water in the basement for like two years. Um.

572
00:31:50,600 --> 00:31:53,440
Speaker 1: And we had the big idea to spend out don't

573
00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:55,200
Speaker 1: know how much we spent there with like a full

574
00:31:55,240 --> 00:32:00,400
Speaker 1: like mold remediation and abatement process. Um. And then you know,

575
00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:03,360
Speaker 1: John went in and fixed all the light fixtures, and

576
00:32:03,400 --> 00:32:06,520
Speaker 1: we went in and put in you know, the bookcases

577
00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:10,120
Speaker 1: and of a lot like twenty books and um, library

578
00:32:10,160 --> 00:32:12,120
Speaker 1: card catalogs, all that stuff just to you know, for

579
00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:16,400
Speaker 1: really not at all much screen time. UM. But you know,

580
00:32:16,520 --> 00:32:18,080
Speaker 1: but you need a perior of library and you gotta

581
00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:20,840
Speaker 1: start somewhere. So um, we ended up actually donating I

582
00:32:20,920 --> 00:32:24,800
Speaker 1: donated like the books and everything to the city's point

583
00:32:24,840 --> 00:32:28,200
Speaker 1: to stay intact there so it can it kind of

584
00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:31,080
Speaker 1: gets now rent out as a location for other productions,

585
00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:33,719
Speaker 1: and that money kind of goes into keeping the building

586
00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:36,520
Speaker 1: up and they fix the roof and everything. So you

587
00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:40,360
Speaker 1: saved it. Yeah, there's there's a little nice little byproduct

588
00:32:40,480 --> 00:32:44,000
Speaker 1: of the production. It's not just not just that you're

589
00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:47,720
Speaker 1: making amazing entertainment, but that you can actually benefit well.

590
00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:50,800
Speaker 1: And again this gets outside of tech, but we hear

591
00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:52,920
Speaker 1: it all the time. I Mean there's always the discussion

592
00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:57,560
Speaker 1: about the benefits of the film and television business moving

593
00:32:57,600 --> 00:32:59,920
Speaker 1: into any place. When you can hear about the stories

594
00:33:00,160 --> 00:33:02,800
Speaker 1: that you're like, that's something that I wouldn't necessarily have

595
00:33:02,920 --> 00:33:05,680
Speaker 1: thought of, just from the effect that we're getting this

596
00:33:05,840 --> 00:33:09,840
Speaker 1: influx of productions coming into Atlanta. For those who do

597
00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:13,080
Speaker 1: not know, Atlanta is one of the cities in the

598
00:33:13,160 --> 00:33:16,040
Speaker 1: United States that's really taking off when it comes to

599
00:33:16,280 --> 00:33:18,920
Speaker 1: film and television and music video production. And you know,

600
00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:22,320
Speaker 1: there's certain to a certain extent, music video had been

601
00:33:22,520 --> 00:33:26,160
Speaker 1: fairly big here for a while. Uh. Television, some TV

602
00:33:26,400 --> 00:33:29,200
Speaker 1: productions we're being were shot in here. But we're seeing

603
00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:32,560
Speaker 1: more and more film projects as well, largely because of

604
00:33:32,560 --> 00:33:36,640
Speaker 1: the construction of the Pinewood Studio that's south of the city,

605
00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:40,680
Speaker 1: and they're especially like just around the area that we're

606
00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:43,440
Speaker 1: in right now, we're at Pont City Market in Atlanta.

607
00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:47,120
Speaker 1: Around this general area, you can't you can't go maybe

608
00:33:47,120 --> 00:33:49,080
Speaker 1: a couple of miles in any direction before you start

609
00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:53,239
Speaker 1: seeing signs for various productions. They're everywhere, uh and um.

610
00:33:53,480 --> 00:33:56,840
Speaker 1: And so we're actually seeing some of that benefit now

611
00:33:56,920 --> 00:34:01,719
Speaker 1: where we're seeing you know, communities get potentially get the

612
00:34:01,880 --> 00:34:05,960
Speaker 1: reuse of buildings that otherwise would have been remaining vacant um.

613
00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:09,640
Speaker 1: From a similar perspective, although this wasn't from a film production.

614
00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:14,719
Speaker 1: The building we're in right now was largely vacant for decades.

615
00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:19,120
Speaker 1: It was a Sears distribution center. Then for a while

616
00:34:19,160 --> 00:34:21,719
Speaker 1: the city of Atlanta had about ten percent of this

617
00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:25,879
Speaker 1: building and the other was empty. I picked up many

618
00:34:26,040 --> 00:34:31,360
Speaker 1: police reports and things here, and you could get like

619
00:34:31,520 --> 00:34:33,239
Speaker 1: art supplies, and I used to come here and get

620
00:34:33,320 --> 00:34:37,239
Speaker 1: art supplies. Yeah. Yeah, And to the point where if

621
00:34:37,280 --> 00:34:39,799
Speaker 1: you were to walk around all the different offices here,

622
00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:41,520
Speaker 1: first of all, they'd ask you to leave. But if

623
00:34:41,520 --> 00:34:44,400
Speaker 1: you were to do that, you would probably see a

624
00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:48,279
Speaker 1: lot of of old equipment, like we have an old

625
00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:52,400
Speaker 1: turbine in our lobby. And it's because every office was

626
00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:55,319
Speaker 1: given some of the pieces of equipment that had been

627
00:34:55,400 --> 00:34:57,960
Speaker 1: used when this was a big distribution center for Sears.

628
00:34:57,960 --> 00:34:59,480
Speaker 1: I mean it was built right on the railroad. They

629
00:34:59,480 --> 00:35:03,320
Speaker 1: would actually bring railroad cars into this place. So every

630
00:35:03,400 --> 00:35:06,880
Speaker 1: office has some some element of that worked into it.

631
00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:10,319
Speaker 1: Uh and uh, it's it's again just one of those

632
00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:14,040
Speaker 1: reminders of the history of the place that for decades

633
00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:18,200
Speaker 1: went just completely unused. And this was literally just stuff

634
00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:19,759
Speaker 1: that was piled up. So I guess it's kind of

635
00:35:19,800 --> 00:35:21,960
Speaker 1: similar to what you do just where you have to.

636
00:35:22,239 --> 00:35:25,160
Speaker 1: You have to go into interesting places and just kind

637
00:35:25,160 --> 00:35:27,880
Speaker 1: of search around. I mean, uh, there used to be

638
00:35:27,920 --> 00:35:31,399
Speaker 1: a really great place very close to here that had

639
00:35:31,920 --> 00:35:35,040
Speaker 1: crazy stuff for lots of antiques and a lot of

640
00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:38,360
Speaker 1: old fixtures and things. And now it's a restaurant. And

641
00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:41,160
Speaker 1: I'm always sad when I go by the Wrecking Bar. Yeah,

642
00:35:41,600 --> 00:35:43,680
Speaker 1: I'm sad that that place is gone because I would

643
00:35:43,719 --> 00:35:47,880
Speaker 1: find really interesting stuff there. But that was just for me.

644
00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:59,200
Speaker 1: I don't I don't decorate sets at all. So, uh,

645
00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:03,399
Speaker 1: what do you think out of maybe not just stranger things,

646
00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:06,759
Speaker 1: but every anything, any production you've worked on, was the

647
00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:12,200
Speaker 1: the most interesting, uh piece that you have ever found

648
00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:16,719
Speaker 1: for a production? Well? This, um, the movie I was

649
00:36:16,719 --> 00:36:22,279
Speaker 1: talking about there was uh took place in a television station. Um.

650
00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:26,080
Speaker 1: It was set in nineteen in Sarasota, Florida, and the director,

651
00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:29,279
Speaker 1: I don't know if he completely understood, he's a little

652
00:36:29,280 --> 00:36:32,600
Speaker 1: bit of a savantain and wanted to have like a

653
00:36:32,640 --> 00:36:37,520
Speaker 1: full working broadcast studio from that era. They not just

654
00:36:37,640 --> 00:36:41,960
Speaker 1: look like one, but actually literally working, which yeah, exactly,

655
00:36:42,120 --> 00:36:45,000
Speaker 1: monitors in a control room and cameras and and all

656
00:36:45,080 --> 00:36:47,839
Speaker 1: of it, and all the editing and um and this

657
00:36:47,880 --> 00:36:52,440
Speaker 1: is all still like film and stuff. Yeah. Um. And

658
00:36:52,520 --> 00:36:56,080
Speaker 1: there was this one piece a quadruplex machine. And this

659
00:36:56,120 --> 00:36:59,759
Speaker 1: is like right when um, news gathering was like going

660
00:36:59,800 --> 00:37:02,239
Speaker 1: like ronic and so a lot of that technology was

661
00:37:02,360 --> 00:37:05,840
Speaker 1: changing like in the moment. But um, this quadruplex machine

662
00:37:06,160 --> 00:37:09,399
Speaker 1: that looks like a giant kind of real to real thing.

663
00:37:10,120 --> 00:37:13,560
Speaker 1: Um that there are not that many of them, and

664
00:37:13,600 --> 00:37:16,040
Speaker 1: they are really not that many of them left now,

665
00:37:16,200 --> 00:37:18,480
Speaker 1: especially working, which is like uh you know, and they're

666
00:37:18,520 --> 00:37:21,040
Speaker 1: so finicky. Um. There was like a place in the

667
00:37:21,080 --> 00:37:24,160
Speaker 1: Rhode Island that had some museum and like a couple

668
00:37:24,200 --> 00:37:26,719
Speaker 1: other places even like in l A what I'd call

669
00:37:26,840 --> 00:37:29,239
Speaker 1: the regular prop houses to ship it out here that

670
00:37:29,400 --> 00:37:32,560
Speaker 1: they didn't have any So I just um was calling

671
00:37:32,600 --> 00:37:36,040
Speaker 1: old TV stations. Not that anyone has phones or answers

672
00:37:36,040 --> 00:37:38,640
Speaker 1: their phone anymore anywhere. It's like an annoying another annoying

673
00:37:38,719 --> 00:37:42,040
Speaker 1: landline thing. But um, so I was just driving around.

674
00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:43,920
Speaker 1: We were filming in Savannah, and I was just driving

675
00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:46,239
Speaker 1: like on the weekends too, smaller towns that used to

676
00:37:46,280 --> 00:37:49,319
Speaker 1: have news stations. UM, just like looking for like that

677
00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:51,920
Speaker 1: one place that has an attic or a basement that

678
00:37:52,320 --> 00:37:55,800
Speaker 1: just dashed all the stuff and never threw it away. Um.

679
00:37:55,840 --> 00:37:58,600
Speaker 1: And there was a guy in in making at a

680
00:37:58,640 --> 00:38:01,160
Speaker 1: TV station and he was like literally the only guy

681
00:38:01,200 --> 00:38:03,839
Speaker 1: like manning like reruns of the Simpsons or whatever they're

682
00:38:03,960 --> 00:38:06,840
Speaker 1: you know, like I don't even think they didn't news anymore. Um.

683
00:38:06,880 --> 00:38:09,720
Speaker 1: But he came to the door and I was asking

684
00:38:09,760 --> 00:38:13,520
Speaker 1: him about like old equipment and you know, um, he's like, well,

685
00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:15,360
Speaker 1: we do have this old site out in the swamp

686
00:38:15,440 --> 00:38:18,040
Speaker 1: that we used to use like as a studio. And

687
00:38:18,080 --> 00:38:20,000
Speaker 1: I was like, do you think you have a quadruplex machine?

688
00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:21,440
Speaker 1: And he was like, oh yeah, I got that. I

689
00:38:21,480 --> 00:38:22,920
Speaker 1: got like two of those out there. And I was

690
00:38:22,960 --> 00:38:26,919
Speaker 1: just like literally, um, yeah, that was like the best moment.

691
00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:28,680
Speaker 1: And so I getting this guy's truck when you're right

692
00:38:28,719 --> 00:38:33,120
Speaker 1: out to the swamp and uh leaky roof, no power, Um,

693
00:38:33,160 --> 00:38:35,640
Speaker 1: you know, same thing we always were dealing with. Um,

694
00:38:35,680 --> 00:38:37,399
Speaker 1: but yeah, they're in the corner and like a dry

695
00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:40,440
Speaker 1: corner was like this quadruplex and a bunch of other

696
00:38:40,480 --> 00:38:42,839
Speaker 1: stuff that was really useful to have to we were

697
00:38:42,880 --> 00:38:45,280
Speaker 1: able to kind of tinker and get it to work.

698
00:38:45,320 --> 00:38:48,759
Speaker 1: And um, that was my that's by far my my

699
00:38:48,880 --> 00:38:52,399
Speaker 1: like prize possession of all the things I've ever found. Yeah,

700
00:38:53,120 --> 00:38:56,560
Speaker 1: it's uh, sort of the sort of challenges you don't

701
00:38:56,600 --> 00:39:01,239
Speaker 1: necessarily anticipate until you encounter one of those tour directors

702
00:39:01,280 --> 00:39:06,680
Speaker 1: who has that that strong dependence upon authenticity. I'm sick

703
00:39:06,719 --> 00:39:10,880
Speaker 1: of control panels. That's another yeah, Like season two is

704
00:39:11,000 --> 00:39:14,680
Speaker 1: uh yeah, you guys will see when that comes out.

705
00:39:14,719 --> 00:39:17,759
Speaker 1: But there's a we did a whole control panel in

706
00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:20,520
Speaker 1: the riff lab this time that we needed to be

707
00:39:20,560 --> 00:39:23,239
Speaker 1: able to really control rather than like getting prop ones,

708
00:39:23,280 --> 00:39:24,800
Speaker 1: which is kind of what we had the first season

709
00:39:24,840 --> 00:39:27,600
Speaker 1: and something I was never really that happy with UM.

710
00:39:28,360 --> 00:39:33,359
Speaker 1: I had probably the bad idea of UM designing my

711
00:39:33,560 --> 00:39:37,080
Speaker 1: very own UM control panel with all these separate like

712
00:39:37,239 --> 00:39:40,680
Speaker 1: old boat led lights and indicator lights and all these

713
00:39:40,719 --> 00:39:42,920
Speaker 1: different things that I was trying to get John in

714
00:39:42,960 --> 00:39:45,880
Speaker 1: like really early last season to help start like figuring

715
00:39:45,880 --> 00:39:48,040
Speaker 1: out how we were going to empower each one and

716
00:39:48,080 --> 00:39:50,640
Speaker 1: have each one on a separate control I was told

717
00:39:51,400 --> 00:39:54,840
Speaker 1: there would be no flickering too, because that was a big,

718
00:39:55,640 --> 00:40:00,880
Speaker 1: big expense for production, and then then there will the

719
00:40:01,160 --> 00:40:04,360
Speaker 1: board is a flickering mess of like yeah, like I

720
00:40:05,680 --> 00:40:07,239
Speaker 1: feel like I feel like a little bit of it

721
00:40:07,239 --> 00:40:09,960
Speaker 1: has been spoiled for me, but I will I'll go

722
00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:12,320
Speaker 1: into it just knowing there may be a flicker or

723
00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:16,520
Speaker 1: two in season two. I don't know. I haven't seen

724
00:40:16,520 --> 00:40:18,560
Speaker 1: any of the footage, so I'm not sure. Yeah, maybe

725
00:40:18,600 --> 00:40:21,600
Speaker 1: that all got cut. I wasn't even there when it happened. Yeah,

726
00:40:21,600 --> 00:40:23,560
Speaker 1: that was kind of a nightmare. And UM, we've done

727
00:40:23,600 --> 00:40:27,320
Speaker 1: all kinds of like even season one, UM in the quarry,

728
00:40:28,520 --> 00:40:30,759
Speaker 1: which you would think like that's you know, probably not

729
00:40:30,800 --> 00:40:32,919
Speaker 1: even that much from a set deck standpoint and there,

730
00:40:32,920 --> 00:40:36,520
Speaker 1: and there wasn't except they wanted to light some of

731
00:40:36,560 --> 00:40:39,320
Speaker 1: that scene with search and rescue where they find um

732
00:40:39,480 --> 00:40:43,960
Speaker 1: Will's body or not real body, but you know, UM,

733
00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:46,360
Speaker 1: they wanted to light that practically, and so we needed

734
00:40:46,440 --> 00:40:51,080
Speaker 1: period whacker lights. UM. And just like the logistics of

735
00:40:51,120 --> 00:40:54,200
Speaker 1: like me me finding the lights that were there, right,

736
00:40:56,920 --> 00:40:59,400
Speaker 1: government auctions is my other go to, UM, And so

737
00:40:59,480 --> 00:41:02,799
Speaker 1: we found some and like Tennessee sent sent transpoke guys

738
00:41:02,840 --> 00:41:04,839
Speaker 1: up there to go pick him up and bring him back.

739
00:41:04,880 --> 00:41:07,520
Speaker 1: And then just John assessing that for the first time

740
00:41:07,600 --> 00:41:11,040
Speaker 1: is you know this like archaic mess of wires and

741
00:41:11,120 --> 00:41:14,319
Speaker 1: different things and um, but he rewired those and they

742
00:41:14,360 --> 00:41:18,040
Speaker 1: looked great. On camera. So, uh, it's it's kind of funny.

743
00:41:18,120 --> 00:41:20,920
Speaker 1: I I did an interview it's actually going to be

744
00:41:21,000 --> 00:41:24,879
Speaker 1: the episode that follows this one, Uh, with a guy

745
00:41:25,000 --> 00:41:29,520
Speaker 1: who was hired to to write a full kind of

746
00:41:29,560 --> 00:41:34,279
Speaker 1: like a workshop manual of the Ghostbusters technology. And he

747
00:41:34,360 --> 00:41:37,040
Speaker 1: was given full access to all the different props and stuff.

748
00:41:37,040 --> 00:41:39,839
Speaker 1: But it was his job to figure out not just

749
00:41:39,920 --> 00:41:42,799
Speaker 1: what the stuff was, but what it used to be

750
00:41:43,200 --> 00:41:45,520
Speaker 1: and how it actually works in real life and then

751
00:41:45,600 --> 00:41:50,360
Speaker 1: how was it in in the mythology of Ghostbusters altered

752
00:41:50,400 --> 00:41:52,759
Speaker 1: so that it works for that. And he started looking

753
00:41:52,800 --> 00:41:54,959
Speaker 1: at all the different pieces, like just imagine the top

754
00:41:55,000 --> 00:41:58,080
Speaker 1: of Ecto one, like the top of that car and

755
00:41:58,120 --> 00:42:01,080
Speaker 1: all the different coutrement that on top of it, and

756
00:42:01,120 --> 00:42:04,520
Speaker 1: he had to source all of that, and he says, Yeah,

757
00:42:04,760 --> 00:42:09,360
Speaker 1: they went to a junkyard that outside of a NASA

758
00:42:09,440 --> 00:42:12,480
Speaker 1: site and they got all of that, and I had

759
00:42:12,520 --> 00:42:15,560
Speaker 1: to figure out what they were And then how does

760
00:42:15,600 --> 00:42:18,640
Speaker 1: that help you catch ghosts? Is there really a junk

761
00:42:18,719 --> 00:42:22,640
Speaker 1: yard outside of NASAs? Because that sounds amazing. And I'll

762
00:42:22,680 --> 00:42:25,040
Speaker 1: put you in touch with him because he can tell

763
00:42:25,080 --> 00:42:28,520
Speaker 1: you where they went to get all the different pieces

764
00:42:28,560 --> 00:42:31,000
Speaker 1: because they had like various pieces of sonart they had.

765
00:42:31,160 --> 00:42:36,200
Speaker 1: They had an old uh I think it was like

766
00:42:36,239 --> 00:42:40,719
Speaker 1: an old ground to air missile launch case. There was

767
00:42:40,760 --> 00:42:43,880
Speaker 1: nothing in it because apparently that would be bad to

768
00:42:43,880 --> 00:42:47,319
Speaker 1: get out there. But yeah, so there's yeah, I'll get

769
00:42:47,360 --> 00:42:49,000
Speaker 1: you in touch with him because he can certainly tell

770
00:42:49,040 --> 00:42:52,280
Speaker 1: you more about where they sourced all that stuff, because

771
00:42:52,280 --> 00:42:54,319
Speaker 1: that was it was somewhere out west, I know. But

772
00:42:54,840 --> 00:42:57,759
Speaker 1: um and keep in mind Ghostbusters were made back in

773
00:42:57,800 --> 00:43:00,480
Speaker 1: the early eighties, so maybe they've tightened up since then.

774
00:43:01,640 --> 00:43:04,839
Speaker 1: But it was pretty it was pretty incredible. Uh. And yeah,

775
00:43:05,000 --> 00:43:07,960
Speaker 1: learning about that like that, that experience of having to

776
00:43:08,680 --> 00:43:12,960
Speaker 1: uh to to really find out the way sources sometimes

777
00:43:13,200 --> 00:43:16,479
Speaker 1: is fascinating to me because you know, I hold onto

778
00:43:16,520 --> 00:43:20,719
Speaker 1: stuff fairly for a fairly long time. But I mean,

779
00:43:20,760 --> 00:43:22,440
Speaker 1: it's just technology is just one of those things that

780
00:43:22,480 --> 00:43:26,640
Speaker 1: goes obsolete so quickly. And uh and also there's just

781
00:43:26,680 --> 00:43:29,760
Speaker 1: so many different parts that if any one part fails,

782
00:43:29,800 --> 00:43:33,400
Speaker 1: the average person is more likely to either go out

783
00:43:33,440 --> 00:43:34,920
Speaker 1: and buy a new one and just throw the old

784
00:43:34,920 --> 00:43:37,480
Speaker 1: one away or just do without because a repair tends

785
00:43:37,480 --> 00:43:39,160
Speaker 1: to be about the same amount of money as it

786
00:43:39,200 --> 00:43:41,080
Speaker 1: would cost just buy a new one. Anyway, for a

787
00:43:41,120 --> 00:43:43,880
Speaker 1: lot of the older tech, So I imagine it gets

788
00:43:43,960 --> 00:43:46,520
Speaker 1: really tricky, especially if they want something that's gonna work

789
00:43:46,560 --> 00:43:48,920
Speaker 1: on screen, if it's something that's just going to be like,

790
00:43:49,080 --> 00:43:51,440
Speaker 1: all right, well we just need this this washer dryer

791
00:43:51,640 --> 00:43:53,719
Speaker 1: that was back then, but the whenever you're gonna use it,

792
00:43:53,760 --> 00:43:55,400
Speaker 1: we just need in the background. I guess that's one thing,

793
00:43:55,440 --> 00:43:59,120
Speaker 1: but we need a working one. That's a totally different thing. Yeah,

794
00:43:59,320 --> 00:44:02,719
Speaker 1: it's this. Season two has a lot of well, we

795
00:44:02,760 --> 00:44:06,040
Speaker 1: have the Arcade, which has John and I. Early on

796
00:44:06,200 --> 00:44:08,600
Speaker 1: we were getting the scripts and stuff with season two

797
00:44:08,960 --> 00:44:13,040
Speaker 1: talking about like how to get arcade cabinets that were

798
00:44:13,080 --> 00:44:15,080
Speaker 1: in good enough shape or you know, when we get

799
00:44:15,080 --> 00:44:17,680
Speaker 1: real ones, and then there's all this UM. I don't

800
00:44:17,680 --> 00:44:19,960
Speaker 1: know if like the average viewer knows, but like playback,

801
00:44:20,280 --> 00:44:22,400
Speaker 1: UM is a thing that we deal with constantly on

802
00:44:22,480 --> 00:44:26,200
Speaker 1: Stranger Things. It's UM the frame rate adjustment and stuff

803
00:44:26,840 --> 00:44:30,640
Speaker 1: on various like screens and monitors. So your screen that

804
00:44:30,719 --> 00:44:33,400
Speaker 1: you're you're shooting is refreshing at a certain rate, the

805
00:44:33,480 --> 00:44:35,600
Speaker 1: camera is going at a certain rate, and if that

806
00:44:35,640 --> 00:44:37,680
Speaker 1: doesn't match up, probably that's when you start getting those

807
00:44:37,680 --> 00:44:42,319
Speaker 1: weird lines that starts scrolling across the screen, which is realistic,

808
00:44:42,440 --> 00:44:45,879
Speaker 1: but it's distracting because now you realize you're looking through

809
00:44:45,960 --> 00:44:48,560
Speaker 1: the lens of a camera as opposed to being an

810
00:44:48,560 --> 00:44:50,879
Speaker 1: observer and less scene. So we have to fix that,

811
00:44:51,320 --> 00:44:54,239
Speaker 1: right and so and and even UM season one was

812
00:44:54,320 --> 00:45:00,279
Speaker 1: similar to the there's various UM security U hims like

813
00:45:00,280 --> 00:45:02,520
Speaker 1: at Hawkins Lab and we I think, I feel like

814
00:45:02,520 --> 00:45:06,160
Speaker 1: I've bought every Commodore sixty four available because there they

815
00:45:06,160 --> 00:45:08,279
Speaker 1: tend to be fairly reliable and easy to work with

816
00:45:08,400 --> 00:45:12,160
Speaker 1: and you can input various things into them. And UM

817
00:45:12,320 --> 00:45:15,120
Speaker 1: so doing something similar, you know, a lot of I

818
00:45:15,120 --> 00:45:17,520
Speaker 1: think a lot of productions probably would have put like

819
00:45:17,800 --> 00:45:20,680
Speaker 1: l E D screens or l c D. You know,

820
00:45:21,040 --> 00:45:23,520
Speaker 1: they would have updated with new technology and not dealt

821
00:45:23,560 --> 00:45:27,320
Speaker 1: with the playback aspect of running through like CRT monitors

822
00:45:27,560 --> 00:45:30,520
Speaker 1: with whatever we need to show on screen. UM, but

823
00:45:30,560 --> 00:45:32,840
Speaker 1: we're we try to be as authentic as possible and

824
00:45:32,880 --> 00:45:35,480
Speaker 1: stranger things and so there's just a lot of our

825
00:45:35,480 --> 00:45:38,200
Speaker 1: playback guy was always present. I felt like on every

826
00:45:38,200 --> 00:45:41,319
Speaker 1: set it was always like real monitors, UM saying with

827
00:45:41,320 --> 00:45:45,080
Speaker 1: the arcade, and we did it all pretty practically, UM

828
00:45:45,160 --> 00:45:48,960
Speaker 1: leaving a lot of those those old monitors inside the

829
00:45:49,000 --> 00:45:51,480
Speaker 1: cabinets and then just like running stuff through them and

830
00:45:52,400 --> 00:45:56,080
Speaker 1: adjusting the frame rate. That's great. I mean again, I

831
00:45:56,160 --> 00:45:59,680
Speaker 1: just to me that stuff definitely pays off, Like again,

832
00:46:00,080 --> 00:46:03,720
Speaker 1: gives that that feel that you want and uh that

833
00:46:03,719 --> 00:46:07,640
Speaker 1: that since that you're watching something that was made years ago,

834
00:46:08,280 --> 00:46:13,080
Speaker 1: um and yet with a modern sensibility. So it's anyone

835
00:46:13,120 --> 00:46:14,839
Speaker 1: who grew up around the same time I did, I

836
00:46:14,880 --> 00:46:18,680
Speaker 1: think just has that deep connection when they see this there,

837
00:46:18,840 --> 00:46:21,520
Speaker 1: you know, because it feels very Spilledburgian in many ways.

838
00:46:22,000 --> 00:46:24,919
Speaker 1: You know, it just it's very evocative of those, uh,

839
00:46:24,960 --> 00:46:27,960
Speaker 1: those great films and TV series in the eighties. So

840
00:46:28,560 --> 00:46:31,880
Speaker 1: you guys did a phenomenal work to recapture that and

841
00:46:31,920 --> 00:46:35,440
Speaker 1: to make it feel like it was on screen. It

842
00:46:35,440 --> 00:46:38,080
Speaker 1: looks effortless. I know that that's exactly the opposite of

843
00:46:38,120 --> 00:46:41,360
Speaker 1: what it really was. It was very very full of effort.

844
00:46:42,280 --> 00:46:46,839
Speaker 1: But from an audience perspective, um, it just it just

845
00:46:46,960 --> 00:46:50,359
Speaker 1: works so well. So I'm really looking forward to season two.

846
00:46:50,640 --> 00:46:52,799
Speaker 1: We keep hearing rumors about how many seasons they are

847
00:46:52,800 --> 00:46:54,200
Speaker 1: going to be. I think there need to be as

848
00:46:54,200 --> 00:46:56,400
Speaker 1: many seasons as there need to be to tell the story,

849
00:46:56,680 --> 00:46:59,840
Speaker 1: and then we can we can close the chapter on

850
00:46:59,880 --> 00:47:03,640
Speaker 1: that book and want more. I'm happy with that. We'll

851
00:47:03,680 --> 00:47:07,239
Speaker 1: see because who knows what what will happen down the line.

852
00:47:07,280 --> 00:47:10,759
Speaker 1: But I am so really excited to see season two

853
00:47:10,920 --> 00:47:14,479
Speaker 1: and beyond. And if you if you put a word

854
00:47:14,520 --> 00:47:17,920
Speaker 1: in for they need a bald guy as an extra,

855
00:47:18,560 --> 00:47:21,200
Speaker 1: you know, even if he's just like screw in a

856
00:47:21,280 --> 00:47:24,959
Speaker 1: light bulb in in the background. I'm local, I'm right here,

857
00:47:25,560 --> 00:47:27,840
Speaker 1: I know I know Randy. So Randy and I go

858
00:47:27,960 --> 00:47:30,719
Speaker 1: way back, I can. It's just throwing it out there.

859
00:47:31,200 --> 00:47:35,080
Speaker 1: Randy needs an assistant, yeah, who knows me, or maybe

860
00:47:35,120 --> 00:47:37,879
Speaker 1: just like a guy to like deal with all the

861
00:47:37,960 --> 00:47:42,600
Speaker 1: insanely attractive women that he's dating. It's phenomenal. Really, It's

862
00:47:42,680 --> 00:47:45,000
Speaker 1: like we had a discussion with him about that, Like

863
00:47:45,040 --> 00:47:47,920
Speaker 1: that was to me, like everything was believable up until

864
00:47:47,960 --> 00:47:52,120
Speaker 1: they showed your girlfriends, Like I was buying into it

865
00:47:52,239 --> 00:47:54,799
Speaker 1: right upto that. And he's like, thanks, Jonathan, thanks a lot,

866
00:47:55,440 --> 00:47:59,239
Speaker 1: You're welcome. Randy, very good guy. Thank you Jess and

867
00:47:59,320 --> 00:48:02,680
Speaker 1: John for joining me on this show. I really appreciate

868
00:48:02,719 --> 00:48:05,319
Speaker 1: the opportunity to explore what it is you do and

869
00:48:05,360 --> 00:48:08,600
Speaker 1: get a deeper appreciation for the work that goes on

870
00:48:08,680 --> 00:48:12,719
Speaker 1: behind the scenes, and uh, this was phenomenal. I wish

871
00:48:12,719 --> 00:48:16,240
Speaker 1: you guys the best of luck and success in the future,

872
00:48:17,000 --> 00:48:19,160
Speaker 1: and maybe we'll have you on again at some point.

873
00:48:19,239 --> 00:48:22,279
Speaker 1: We'll talk about some other crazy stuff like you know,

874
00:48:22,640 --> 00:48:25,800
Speaker 1: let me tell you what now is the hardest props

875
00:48:25,960 --> 00:48:28,000
Speaker 1: I've ever had to find. You never know when that

876
00:48:28,040 --> 00:48:31,200
Speaker 1: story is going to change. Well, thank you guys again,

877
00:48:31,280 --> 00:48:34,799
Speaker 1: thank you, thank you. I know it sounds like a

878
00:48:34,840 --> 00:48:37,440
Speaker 1: broken record, but once again I have to thank Jess

879
00:48:37,440 --> 00:48:40,600
Speaker 1: and John for coming into the office and talking with us,

880
00:48:40,600 --> 00:48:43,400
Speaker 1: and of course thank you Ramsey for landing the interview.

881
00:48:43,480 --> 00:48:45,839
Speaker 1: It was an amazing opportunity and I think it really

882
00:48:45,880 --> 00:48:49,560
Speaker 1: turned out great. I very much enjoyed this. Like I said,

883
00:48:49,560 --> 00:48:51,319
Speaker 1: I'm a huge fan of the show, and also just

884
00:48:51,480 --> 00:48:54,960
Speaker 1: learning more about what goes on behind the scenes on

885
00:48:55,239 --> 00:48:58,080
Speaker 1: any kind of shoot is fascinating to me. I see

886
00:48:58,080 --> 00:49:00,239
Speaker 1: all these terms all the time, and I don't really

887
00:49:00,239 --> 00:49:02,759
Speaker 1: have a working knowledge of what they all mean. So

888
00:49:02,840 --> 00:49:06,320
Speaker 1: we're hoping that in the future will get other professionals

889
00:49:06,360 --> 00:49:09,360
Speaker 1: who have worked on various productions here in the Atlanta

890
00:49:09,480 --> 00:49:11,880
Speaker 1: area to talk more about what it is they do

891
00:49:12,080 --> 00:49:15,560
Speaker 1: so we can understand how the best boy turned out

892
00:49:15,600 --> 00:49:20,319
Speaker 1: to be so darned best because we don't know. We

893
00:49:20,360 --> 00:49:24,839
Speaker 1: want to know, but we don't know. You might already know,

894
00:49:24,920 --> 00:49:26,719
Speaker 1: but keep it to yourself because I'm gonna ask that

895
00:49:26,760 --> 00:49:30,319
Speaker 1: best boy when they get in the studio. So you guys,

896
00:49:30,320 --> 00:49:32,040
Speaker 1: just hold onto that. But if you do have any

897
00:49:32,200 --> 00:49:34,399
Speaker 1: suggestions for topics that you would like us to cover

898
00:49:34,440 --> 00:49:37,200
Speaker 1: in future episodes of tech Stuff, or maybe there's a

899
00:49:37,239 --> 00:49:40,160
Speaker 1: company that I should focus on or a particular person

900
00:49:40,160 --> 00:49:42,520
Speaker 1: in tech, send me a message. Let me know the

901
00:49:42,600 --> 00:49:45,600
Speaker 1: email addresses tech Stuff at how stuff works dot com,

902
00:49:45,960 --> 00:49:48,000
Speaker 1: or drop me in line on Facebook or Twitter. The

903
00:49:48,080 --> 00:49:51,040
Speaker 1: handle at both of those would be text Stuff hs W.

904
00:49:51,520 --> 00:49:54,719
Speaker 1: Remember you can watch me record shows live on Wednesdays

905
00:49:54,760 --> 00:49:58,320
Speaker 1: and Fridays that happens over at twitch dot tv slash

906
00:49:58,400 --> 00:50:02,160
Speaker 1: tech stuff, and there you'll see not just the the

907
00:50:02,160 --> 00:50:05,200
Speaker 1: whole process of me recording, but what happens when I

908
00:50:05,280 --> 00:50:09,120
Speaker 1: make mistakes, which is more frequent than I care to admit.

909
00:50:09,480 --> 00:50:13,640
Speaker 1: So come on watch and laugh and learn and maybe

910
00:50:13,640 --> 00:50:16,120
Speaker 1: even fall in love. Who knows who will show up

911
00:50:16,120 --> 00:50:18,040
Speaker 1: in that chat room, And I will talk to you

912
00:50:18,080 --> 00:50:27,200
Speaker 1: guys again really soon for more on this and thousands

913
00:50:27,200 --> 00:50:39,320
Speaker 1: of other topics because it staff works dot com