WEBVTT - TechList: The Tech of Stranger Things 0:00:05.400 --> 0:00:09.600 Hey there, it's Jonathan Strickland, and I'm here to introduce 0:00:09.760 --> 0:00:14.560 a playlist of ten episodes of my podcast tech Stuff 0:00:15.040 --> 0:00:20.000 that are all about entertainment and entertainment related fields, from 0:00:20.120 --> 0:00:25.720 video games to television series, two films to internet videos 0:00:26.000 --> 0:00:30.440 from yesteryear. So I hope you guys enjoy these episodes. 0:00:30.560 --> 0:00:34.440 You can go to the tech Stuff podcast page and 0:00:34.479 --> 0:00:38.000 subscribe to listen to all sorts of episodes about tech 0:00:38.080 --> 0:00:42.240 from all realms, and hopefully this will provide a little 0:00:42.240 --> 0:00:46.040 bit of entertainment, a little bit of education, and probably 0:00:46.080 --> 0:00:49.000 more than a few puns, because that's kind of how 0:00:49.080 --> 0:01:06.240 I roll enjoy this playlist. Welcome to text Stuff, a 0:01:06.319 --> 0:01:13.520 production from I Heart Radio. Hey there, and welcome to 0:01:13.560 --> 0:01:16.679 tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive 0:01:16.720 --> 0:01:19.119 producer at iHeart Radio, and I love all things tech 0:01:19.600 --> 0:01:24.080 and we are going to continue our playlist on entertainment. 0:01:24.800 --> 0:01:28.959 And this episode involves a couple of the members of 0:01:28.959 --> 0:01:32.160 the crew for Stranger Things, the Netflix series, who came 0:01:32.200 --> 0:01:35.200 into the office and talked about what they do in 0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:39.320 order to make the sets work the way they're supposed 0:01:39.400 --> 0:01:42.440 to it actually, and how they look too, and you know, 0:01:42.600 --> 0:01:45.679 Stranger Things was set in the eighties, so getting everything 0:01:45.720 --> 0:01:51.440 to look period appropriate, if not you know, accurate, was 0:01:51.600 --> 0:01:53.440 a bit of a challenge, especially with all the tech. 0:01:53.640 --> 0:01:56.760 So we're gonna take a listen to this episode. I 0:01:56.800 --> 0:02:00.280 have to thank my two special guests who have joined 0:02:00.320 --> 0:02:03.680 me for this episode of tech stuff, Jess and John, 0:02:03.960 --> 0:02:07.960 who both have worked on multiple projects, but the one 0:02:08.040 --> 0:02:12.520 we're talking about specifically today is the Netflix series Stranger Things, 0:02:12.639 --> 0:02:16.600 a show that I binged immediately when the first season 0:02:16.639 --> 0:02:19.040 came out and fell in love with it, not just 0:02:19.120 --> 0:02:21.600 because I recognized some of the people in it, but 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:26.120 because it really felt to me like it didn't feel 0:02:26.160 --> 0:02:29.480 like a show set in the nineteen eighties. It felt 0:02:29.520 --> 0:02:31.920 like a show that was made in the nineteen eighties 0:02:31.960 --> 0:02:37.200 and somehow disappeared and then resurfaced twenty years later, and 0:02:37.480 --> 0:02:42.239 it's it's so evocative, and I wanted to have both 0:02:42.280 --> 0:02:44.639 of you on to talk about your roles in making 0:02:44.680 --> 0:02:48.640 this show what it was. So we're gonna talk today 0:02:48.720 --> 0:02:51.280 about sort of the text side, the the behind the 0:02:51.320 --> 0:02:55.040 scenes side of making a show and and the work 0:02:55.080 --> 0:02:58.480 that you do and how that ends up contributing to 0:02:58.680 --> 0:03:01.560 this overall effect whatever the show maybe or the movie, 0:03:01.680 --> 0:03:04.320 whatever the project is. In this case, we're talking about 0:03:04.360 --> 0:03:06.800 something that is a period piece. But you know, obviously 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:09.240 there are other ones where you have a very different 0:03:09.280 --> 0:03:13.359 feel for whatever the project is. So I'm going to 0:03:13.520 --> 0:03:19.480 start with you, John, John, you are rigging gaffer. Tell 0:03:19.680 --> 0:03:24.240 listeners who have seen I'm sure the term gaffer in 0:03:24.280 --> 0:03:27.120 the credits what that means, because I think a lot 0:03:27.160 --> 0:03:31.040 of folks just don't know. The gaffer is just a 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:34.520 department head that's in charge of the electrical so electrical 0:03:34.560 --> 0:03:38.360 distribution and lighting. Um. I think the term comes from 0:03:38.760 --> 0:03:41.200 old man. Yeah, with the old man on the crew, 0:03:41.360 --> 0:03:44.440 he's in charge of the lighting. Yeah. They have a 0:03:45.080 --> 0:03:48.640 the term gaffer in uh and Lord of the Rings. Actually, 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:53.279 Sam Wise gamgees father is called the old gaffer. Uh. 0:03:53.400 --> 0:03:55.240 I say that because of my Lord of the Rings geek. 0:03:55.680 --> 0:03:59.400 So what are your responsibilities typically on a on a 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:02.760 shoot as a riding gaffer. I'd provide the power to 0:04:02.880 --> 0:04:06.320 the set and any any lighting that we can get 0:04:06.400 --> 0:04:11.680 up before beforehand before photography, We'll get that done as well. Cool. 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:14.840 So you are making sure that all the stuff that 0:04:14.920 --> 0:04:19.719 needs to work is actually going to work. An important 0:04:19.800 --> 0:04:22.800 role on any production and how did you get your 0:04:22.839 --> 0:04:27.640 start in in the business known as show I was 0:04:27.760 --> 0:04:34.240 a nanny for a director of photography in eight the 0:04:34.279 --> 0:04:37.880 summer of ninety eight, and I watched his kids during 0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:39.560 the summer and after at the end of the summer, 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:42.200 he had me tag along with him to go work 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:46.880 on a film. And after the film, he was like, Oh, 0:04:47.080 --> 0:04:48.800 you'd be great this. You should move to l A. 0:04:48.880 --> 0:04:50.440 I got my friends that can hook you up at 0:04:50.440 --> 0:04:52.520 a camera rental house and you can do that for 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:54.880 a little while. And I was like, I don't want 0:04:54.880 --> 0:04:57.200 to do that. I want to move to New York 0:04:57.240 --> 0:05:01.320 City and be a bum. So I didn't get into 0:05:01.320 --> 0:05:03.919 it right away. I was a maintenance man and apartment 0:05:03.960 --> 0:05:07.600 complex and all my tools were stolen, and I was like, 0:05:09.720 --> 0:05:15.440 I'll go work on movies a security circuitous route to 0:05:15.480 --> 0:05:18.640 get there. So did you have a background and electrical 0:05:18.640 --> 0:05:22.280 work before you even got into the movie. I've done 0:05:22.400 --> 0:05:24.200 like my dad does h V A C. So I 0:05:24.279 --> 0:05:27.560 kind of dabbled on that during the whole maintenance for 0:05:27.640 --> 0:05:32.120 apartment complex thing. I kind of understood electrical systems, right, 0:05:32.360 --> 0:05:35.640 So you then take that understanding and you start pouring 0:05:35.680 --> 0:05:39.280 it over to the production side. Where I imagine it's 0:05:39.360 --> 0:05:45.000 a a a fairly uh strenuous process to make sure 0:05:45.040 --> 0:05:49.040 everything is how it needs to be. Because obviously any 0:05:49.080 --> 0:05:52.679 time on any set is money, so anything that takes 0:05:52.760 --> 0:05:56.120 extra time is going to cost the whole production extra 0:05:56.160 --> 0:05:57.960 amounts of money. So I mentioned it's a fairly high 0:05:58.000 --> 0:06:03.440 stress environment. It is. Yeah, Uh, I don't get a 0:06:03.440 --> 0:06:07.719 lot of sleep. I always called Jesse will workaholic, but 0:06:08.120 --> 0:06:09.520 really it's for me. I do it all at home 0:06:09.520 --> 0:06:12.839 and she doesn't see it. It's fair. And now, Jess 0:06:13.040 --> 0:06:16.240 you you were a set decorator, are still our sick 0:06:16.320 --> 0:06:20.359 decorator for stranger things. Also, congratulations on getting an Emmy 0:06:20.440 --> 0:06:24.800 nomination for that. Thank you. That's amazing. I at this 0:06:25.000 --> 0:06:27.039 first time I think I've ever sat down at the 0:06:27.120 --> 0:06:31.039 table with an Emmy nominee. Uh yeah, it's it's a 0:06:31.040 --> 0:06:34.320 big moment for me, That's what I'm saying. So let's 0:06:34.360 --> 0:06:37.159 talk about what that means. What is what is actually 0:06:37.200 --> 0:06:41.320 set decorator on a set? UM? So I work under 0:06:41.360 --> 0:06:44.360 the production designer UM, and the production designer kind of 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:47.599 sets the look like, helps pick locations UM and then 0:06:48.200 --> 0:06:50.760 you know, has a lot of references and different things 0:06:50.800 --> 0:06:55.080 as far as the minutia of how a set comes together. Um, 0:06:55.240 --> 0:06:57.479 there's an art director who kind of oversees more the 0:06:57.480 --> 0:07:00.880 construction end of things and then everything from like those 0:07:00.920 --> 0:07:04.080 four walls. For the most part, I kind of deal 0:07:04.120 --> 0:07:08.400 with so light fixtures and um, you know, carpet and 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:13.000 sofas and electronics and all the garbage and some sets 0:07:13.000 --> 0:07:16.720 and piles up in the clutter. That's my specialty. So 0:07:17.240 --> 0:07:20.440 when a when the art department has said, like, oh, 0:07:20.520 --> 0:07:23.760 we've got this idea for what the the feel for 0:07:23.760 --> 0:07:27.400 this particular set needs to be, Uh, it's your job 0:07:27.480 --> 0:07:31.480 to go and actually procure all that, put it all together, 0:07:31.680 --> 0:07:35.280 make sure that it's matching the vision for whatever that 0:07:35.280 --> 0:07:39.000 that idea was right. Yes, and on a on a 0:07:39.040 --> 0:07:42.679 production that's a period piece, I imagine that also involves 0:07:42.800 --> 0:07:47.960 lots of hunting around for really obscure and obsolete stuff. 0:07:48.280 --> 0:07:50.360 It does. I spend a lot of time and I 0:07:50.400 --> 0:07:54.680 always tell everyone dead ladies, basements, the state sales. I'm 0:07:54.680 --> 0:07:57.760 always like emptying out the leftovers of houses, you know, 0:07:58.160 --> 0:08:01.600 um after an estate sales over um. And you know. 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:04.040 In Stranger Things is one of those weird shows, especially 0:08:04.080 --> 0:08:06.720 where everything is a little bit interactive kind of which 0:08:06.760 --> 0:08:09.720 is why, Um, that's why I wanted John to be here, 0:08:09.760 --> 0:08:12.080 because he's I think he's sold himself short a little 0:08:12.120 --> 0:08:16.240 bit as far as like just preparing or providing power 0:08:16.280 --> 0:08:19.840 to a set. Because we had so many interactive elements, 0:08:20.000 --> 0:08:22.760 you know, lights and otherwise that um kind of had 0:08:22.800 --> 0:08:24.720 to be period and had to be functional and do 0:08:24.800 --> 0:08:27.480 a bunch of different things. So yeah, a good example 0:08:27.640 --> 0:08:30.160 that would be, of course, the Christmas lights make up 0:08:30.200 --> 0:08:33.400 play a huge role in that season of Stranger Things. 0:08:33.400 --> 0:08:37.680 I mean, it's it's a communications device, and I don't 0:08:37.679 --> 0:08:40.440 know how many of my listeners know this. Christmas lights 0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:43.520 don't work that way. Typically you have them all rigged 0:08:43.600 --> 0:08:46.160 ump so that if one goes out, they all tend 0:08:46.160 --> 0:08:49.160 to go out, especially the period ones. So getting them 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:52.760 so that they very they light up in very specific ways, 0:08:53.440 --> 0:08:56.240 uh probably meant a little bit of rewiring work and 0:08:56.280 --> 0:08:59.559 a little bit of rigging things in an interesting way 0:09:00.360 --> 0:09:02.000 so as you could get to do it on command. 0:09:02.000 --> 0:09:06.080 That was such an important integral part of the storyline. 0:09:07.360 --> 0:09:10.240 I remember. I remember when they came and asked me. 0:09:10.400 --> 0:09:14.480 They were walking through the Buyer's House set. It was 0:09:14.760 --> 0:09:20.560 Chris and Jess and Todd and they were like, we 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:22.920 want to make each light go off and on d visually. 0:09:23.360 --> 0:09:27.000 Is it possible? Yes? And I turned around and I 0:09:27.080 --> 0:09:29.920 walked back in my little office and I was like, oh, no, 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:33.439 how am I gonna make this wart? Like, technically yes, 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:37.840 it's possible, practical not really, So so how did you 0:09:37.880 --> 0:09:43.160 go about solving that problem? Um? I just started scribbling 0:09:43.160 --> 0:09:48.760 a lot and locked my door and just trying to 0:09:48.800 --> 0:09:52.679 figure out how to get lights to go on and 0:09:52.679 --> 0:09:56.880 off individually, which means we had to build individual strands 0:09:56.880 --> 0:10:00.040 of lights. So I ended up, I guess it's on 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:02.560 a low tech We're kind of getting at low tech 0:10:02.600 --> 0:10:07.440 as possible. So I ended up using Cat five cable 0:10:08.000 --> 0:10:10.360 and taking all the different strands and making them individual 0:10:10.400 --> 0:10:15.160 and soldering them into old Christmas likes that Jess would 0:10:15.160 --> 0:10:19.760 bring us. Wow. So you were actually hand designing something 0:10:19.840 --> 0:10:23.040 so that you could achieve this effect in a practical approach. 0:10:23.480 --> 0:10:24.840 That's one of the other things, by the way, that 0:10:24.880 --> 0:10:28.400 I love about stranger things and being I was born 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:32.360 in the seventies, so seeing uh, not just something that 0:10:32.600 --> 0:10:35.600 is set and appears to have been made in the eighties, 0:10:35.840 --> 0:10:39.360 but to rely so heavily upon practical effects. That warms 0:10:39.440 --> 0:10:42.720 my heart because I grew up watching films that relied 0:10:42.720 --> 0:10:45.000 heavily on practical effects, and I think it is very 0:10:45.040 --> 0:10:48.480 important to get across that same feel in order to 0:10:48.480 --> 0:10:51.280 get the effect that you want and not rely too 0:10:51.280 --> 0:10:55.800 heavily on anything that's computer generated. Not to dismiss computer generated, 0:10:55.800 --> 0:10:58.720 it certainly has a place a storytelling, but to me, 0:10:59.280 --> 0:11:02.680 at least in maybe this is my own bias, has uh, 0:11:02.920 --> 0:11:04.840 it just it just has a different look and a 0:11:04.880 --> 0:11:08.680 different feel, you know, there's something genuine about practical effects. 0:11:09.120 --> 0:11:12.360 And not all of ours went. Uh. We had different 0:11:12.400 --> 0:11:16.319 test runs that the Duffers for would they kill if 0:11:16.360 --> 0:11:18.280 any of those videos ever got out. Some of the 0:11:18.320 --> 0:11:20.080 ones that didn't work as well. Um with like the 0:11:20.120 --> 0:11:24.040 monster coming through our latex. We have you know, printed 0:11:24.040 --> 0:11:26.520 the wallpaper and stuff in the buyer's house onto latex, 0:11:26.559 --> 0:11:28.520 and we had all these different tests so we did 0:11:28.559 --> 0:11:33.280 with various um, you know, slimy substances and things on. Anyway, 0:11:33.320 --> 0:11:34.920 they didn't all it took a while to kind of 0:11:34.960 --> 0:11:39.840 get that just tweaked, you know, just right fashing the 0:11:39.880 --> 0:11:42.480 surface of the wall, and originally they had him breaking 0:11:42.520 --> 0:11:45.880 through the wall entirely. They're trying to do it all practical, 0:11:46.000 --> 0:11:50.000 and um, I think it's nice to have technology options 0:11:50.040 --> 0:11:52.560 where VFX could just take what we did and really 0:11:52.640 --> 0:11:56.440 enhance it. And you know, uh right, yeah, eventually you 0:11:56.480 --> 0:11:57.760 get to a point where you just say, you know, 0:11:57.840 --> 0:12:00.720 physics just doesn't work that way. Yeah. Like, I like, 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:03.360 I appreciate where you're trying to go with this. Yeah, 0:12:03.480 --> 0:12:06.080 I love that there was a latex approach a practical 0:12:06.120 --> 0:12:09.840 approach with that too, because I mean I also, full disclosure, 0:12:10.280 --> 0:12:13.720 my sister's a puppeteer, so I see the puppeteer side 0:12:13.760 --> 0:12:15.880 of sort of this kind of stuff all the time. 0:12:16.400 --> 0:12:20.040 And to appreciate practical effects where you're using something like 0:12:20.160 --> 0:12:23.000 a latex sheet and you're using some form of whether 0:12:23.120 --> 0:12:27.400 it's an actor, a mask, a puppet, or whatever, to 0:12:27.400 --> 0:12:30.600 to create that effect. I mean, there is something really 0:12:30.760 --> 0:12:36.040 visceral and and the textures are really impressive. It's something 0:12:36.040 --> 0:12:39.240 that goes again beyond just that. Oh, there's a very 0:12:39.240 --> 0:12:43.840 clever animation. Uh. And and also it just shows a 0:12:43.920 --> 0:12:47.160 level of care that you know, you have to have 0:12:47.320 --> 0:12:51.040 all of that work back behind the scenes to get 0:12:51.040 --> 0:12:54.680 that effect to happen on on screen. Uh. That is 0:12:54.679 --> 0:12:58.280 happening in real time somewhere. It's it's it's not a 0:12:58.280 --> 0:13:02.439 bunch of people staring at a green wall pretending that 0:13:02.600 --> 0:13:05.760 they see something that is really effective and then having 0:13:05.760 --> 0:13:08.079 to react to nothing at all. They actually have stuff 0:13:08.120 --> 0:13:11.440 to react to in those practical effects. Uh. I am 0:13:11.440 --> 0:13:13.480 not an actor that's good enough to react to a 0:13:13.520 --> 0:13:16.440 green screen with and and make that at all convincing. 0:13:16.440 --> 0:13:19.560 I need to have some sort of monster thing coming 0:13:19.600 --> 0:13:21.920 at me so that I can really, you know, be 0:13:22.440 --> 0:13:25.319 somewhat convincing in my response. And the Christmas lights is 0:13:25.360 --> 0:13:27.800 the same thing, because we um, you know, I think 0:13:27.840 --> 0:13:30.120 it looked a lot more authentic and better to have 0:13:30.160 --> 0:13:33.520 it practical. But even um, there's like the scene where Holly, 0:13:33.679 --> 0:13:37.200 the the young Wheeler daughters like following the Christmas lights 0:13:37.200 --> 0:13:39.840 down the hallway. Um, and I think if we didn't 0:13:39.880 --> 0:13:42.240 have all of those actually lighting up in her having 0:13:42.280 --> 0:13:44.880 that direction and sort of all the interaction you know, 0:13:44.920 --> 0:13:48.120 with the lights and actors, it wouldn't have been the same. Now, 0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:51.160 you wouldn't be able to get that tension. Yeah, that's 0:13:51.840 --> 0:13:55.120 a great moment, So tell me also, I mean the 0:13:55.200 --> 0:13:57.320 Christmas lights. I think that's one of those that I 0:13:57.400 --> 0:14:01.480 that I definitely wanted to hit upon because a deceptively 0:14:01.679 --> 0:14:06.840 simple technology that ends up actually requiring thinking outside the 0:14:06.880 --> 0:14:09.960 box in order to get the effect they wanted, so 0:14:10.080 --> 0:14:15.199 then requiring you to actually solder things weeks weeks. We wow, 0:14:15.800 --> 0:14:17.960 So if you had to estimate, like how many weeks 0:14:17.960 --> 0:14:19.480 are you talking about for that just to make sure 0:14:19.480 --> 0:14:22.320 you could get that effect to work properly, it was 0:14:22.840 --> 0:14:24.880 two weeks. That's I mean, that's a lot of work 0:14:24.920 --> 0:14:27.400 to get Christmas lights the light up built. I think 0:14:27.400 --> 0:14:29.880 we only built out of the twenty that we were 0:14:29.920 --> 0:14:33.360 going to build, we only built seventeen because that's all 0:14:33.400 --> 0:14:35.760 we had time to do on top of everything else 0:14:35.800 --> 0:14:39.640 that we had to do. Yeah, yeah, so because then 0:14:39.680 --> 0:14:42.800 they would so they would solder these little strands, you know, 0:14:43.080 --> 0:14:46.760 onto the sockets, and then we had it involved me 0:14:46.800 --> 0:14:50.000 going back to props Um the lights that Joyce originally 0:14:50.000 --> 0:14:52.960 buys at mel Ball's Um props. I guess it just 0:14:53.000 --> 0:14:56.240 sort of had newer lights in the box and wasn't 0:14:56.280 --> 0:14:59.640 really thinking about the bigger picture, so we had to 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:02.080 go back. Can have switched those out for the older 0:15:02.080 --> 0:15:04.880 strands to have like the green and red twisted sort 0:15:04.880 --> 0:15:07.280 of look. So that we could that that was the 0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:09.800 easiest thing for us to copy, so they would finished 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:12.800 soldering and then we would paint them green and red 0:15:13.000 --> 0:15:15.960 and twist them all together. Um. You know, so there's 0:15:15.960 --> 0:15:20.120 like a whole there's a whole collaborative effort annuity right 0:15:20.120 --> 0:15:23.120 there making sure that like because I mean I see 0:15:23.120 --> 0:15:25.520 a lot of movies where clearly that that level of 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:27.920 care was not quite taken. You'll look at something and 0:15:27.960 --> 0:15:29.760 things like that's not even the same prop as what 0:15:29.840 --> 0:15:32.400 he was holding a second ago. So having that kind 0:15:32.400 --> 0:15:36.480 of level of detail is really cool. Uh So I 0:15:36.520 --> 0:15:40.040 assume there was someone just like actually just manually operating 0:15:40.080 --> 0:15:43.560 those lights for all those sequences. We had our demmer 0:15:43.560 --> 0:15:49.680 board operator Jim Dornoman. He programmed all that and operating 0:15:49.760 --> 0:15:52.520 real temperate, in real time. He's another one of my 0:15:52.560 --> 0:15:55.000 heroes too, because these guys because it wasn't because the 0:15:55.040 --> 0:15:58.120 Christmas lights were one thing. And then um there's also 0:15:58.240 --> 0:16:01.880 like the scene with the lamps and in in the bedroom, 0:16:02.200 --> 0:16:04.840 um and Winona having to you know, bring it. I 0:16:04.840 --> 0:16:07.040 guess we never had a scene at first they're going 0:16:07.080 --> 0:16:08.720 to show her like bringing all the lamps in and 0:16:08.720 --> 0:16:09.920 setting them up, and that was going to be like 0:16:09.920 --> 0:16:12.800 a whole other nightmare. But um, once they were sort 0:16:12.800 --> 0:16:15.560 of you know, they're just getting those programmed right to 0:16:15.680 --> 0:16:18.160 do that effect. Um, Jim stayed late with me one 0:16:18.240 --> 0:16:21.160 night and just like we did, you know, kept practicing 0:16:21.200 --> 0:16:23.960 and getting all that down. So see, to me, that's 0:16:23.960 --> 0:16:26.320 really cool because it's not just technical, it's it's a 0:16:26.400 --> 0:16:29.480 level of performance. I mean, you we're playing effectively another 0:16:29.560 --> 0:16:32.920 character in the scene, and so you know it's there's 0:16:33.160 --> 0:16:36.560 there's all the timing that's required in that too, and 0:16:36.640 --> 0:16:39.600 again to get what the director wants in order for 0:16:39.720 --> 0:16:44.560 that to have the emotional and psychological impact on the viewer, which, 0:16:44.680 --> 0:16:47.760 by the way, credibly effective because I loved it. Uh 0:16:47.840 --> 0:16:51.560 So you know, I'm my hat's off to you because 0:16:51.600 --> 0:16:55.320 I occasionally am a performer, but I couldn't do any 0:16:55.360 --> 0:16:57.480 of the rest of it, whereas you guys are doing 0:16:57.920 --> 0:17:07.359 all of that. So I'm really I'm really pressed. I 0:17:07.440 --> 0:17:12.560 assume that it's is pretty tricky outfitting entire sets with 0:17:12.760 --> 0:17:19.000 nineteen eighties era uh, carpet ing, furniture, the technology in particular, 0:17:19.280 --> 0:17:22.439 because we're not so far removed from the nineteen eighties 0:17:22.520 --> 0:17:25.399 that we think of those things as antiques, so therefore 0:17:25.440 --> 0:17:28.880 there's not a lot of work in preserve preserving them. 0:17:28.920 --> 0:17:31.560 But we're far enough out where nobody wants to hold 0:17:31.600 --> 0:17:35.600 onto them anymore. So was was that a challenge to 0:17:35.640 --> 0:17:38.200 you to to find things that could incorpe that could 0:17:38.280 --> 0:17:42.359 live in that early eighties setting? Not as hard as 0:17:42.440 --> 0:17:45.600 you would think. I think pigion mostly just because thank 0:17:45.640 --> 0:17:47.720 God for state sales and Atlanta being a good estate 0:17:47.760 --> 0:17:50.840 sales city. Um. I've worked in other cities where you 0:17:50.920 --> 0:17:53.720 just don't, you know, they just don't operate like that. 0:17:53.840 --> 0:17:55.879 You don't. I don't know how people get rid of 0:17:55.880 --> 0:17:58.520 their stuff after they've passed. I don't know, but um, 0:17:58.520 --> 0:18:01.040 Atlanta is good about it. There are other like I've 0:18:01.040 --> 0:18:04.240 done other movies. I did a movie, um that It 0:18:04.359 --> 0:18:07.479 was a news station set in the seventies. Um and 0:18:07.560 --> 0:18:09.680 that's one of those like there's already not a ton 0:18:09.760 --> 0:18:13.640 of like news broadcast station equipment out there, not like 0:18:13.840 --> 0:18:17.639 you know, old nintendos and things, but um and and 0:18:17.640 --> 0:18:19.639 then it was so fragile. It was sort of that 0:18:19.720 --> 0:18:23.560 like just that first wave of like electronic technology and 0:18:23.720 --> 0:18:26.760 the old analog stuff from like the fifties was you know, 0:18:26.800 --> 0:18:29.399 you can get that kind of stuff. Um, but that's 0:18:29.560 --> 0:18:32.240 but getting stuff that worked that was that's sort of that. 0:18:32.440 --> 0:18:38.120 Um that first generation plastic electronic disposable almost like technologies 0:18:38.440 --> 0:18:42.320 was harder. But um, fortunately for you know, Sears catalog days, 0:18:42.560 --> 0:18:45.280 a lot of Americans all had the same stuff and 0:18:45.680 --> 0:18:48.080 enough people held onto it her pack rats that we 0:18:48.119 --> 0:18:50.439 could kind of curate and go through and find everything 0:18:50.440 --> 0:18:55.200 we needed. Yeah. I I went to a panel with uh, 0:18:55.320 --> 0:18:58.040 the art director from Stranger Things, and he talked a 0:18:58.119 --> 0:19:03.679 little bit about the sess of identifying the different the 0:19:03.800 --> 0:19:08.040 different types of of fabrics and the different color schemes 0:19:08.080 --> 0:19:10.439 that we're going to be important and how you know, 0:19:10.440 --> 0:19:12.639 certain certain houses we're gonna look like they were more 0:19:12.680 --> 0:19:15.359 of a holdover from maybe the mid to late seventies 0:19:15.640 --> 0:19:18.080 and some were a little bit more modern in the 0:19:18.119 --> 0:19:21.200 sense of the early eighties. And uh and that also 0:19:21.359 --> 0:19:24.040 was really interesting to me, this idea of you know, 0:19:24.119 --> 0:19:27.160 you're not just you're not just creating creating a huge 0:19:27.240 --> 0:19:30.439 pile of stuff from a general era. You actually have 0:19:30.600 --> 0:19:33.920 to give each of these places its own personality. Well 0:19:33.920 --> 0:19:36.359 that's yeah, there is a I tell people the story 0:19:36.440 --> 0:19:38.680 that one of our accountants came to me after we 0:19:38.760 --> 0:19:40.960 were like up in filming the first week or so 0:19:41.480 --> 0:19:44.919 on stage and um, she said, you know, Jess, I 0:19:44.960 --> 0:19:47.520 saw your sets. They look really great, but gosh, like 0:19:47.720 --> 0:19:49.800 is this this is the eighties and they look very 0:19:49.880 --> 0:19:51.920 seventies to me, And I was, you know, and it's 0:19:51.960 --> 0:19:54.879 one of those like not every socioeconomic group is going 0:19:54.920 --> 0:19:59.280 to just instantly have you know, the eighties. Yeah, from 0:19:59.320 --> 0:20:01.960 like that's year's catalog that year. It's all. It's more 0:20:02.000 --> 0:20:04.000 of a you know, when did they build a house, 0:20:04.080 --> 0:20:06.960 When would they have you know, renovated or was there 0:20:07.119 --> 0:20:09.440 you know, what did they have the means to update 0:20:09.520 --> 0:20:12.159 the carpet, wallpaper or whatever, and kind of have to 0:20:12.200 --> 0:20:14.800 just think it through. Um, each character having its own 0:20:14.800 --> 0:20:18.639 sort of storyline with their home keeping everything consistent. I 0:20:18.640 --> 0:20:21.160 mean that is clearly very important if you want to 0:20:21.320 --> 0:20:25.600 establish things, like, you know, u believable character. It would 0:20:25.600 --> 0:20:28.800 be weird to go into a home of a person 0:20:28.880 --> 0:20:34.159 who was presumably just scraping by and you see what 0:20:34.280 --> 0:20:36.680 it appears to be a brand new apple two gs 0:20:36.760 --> 0:20:39.359 in the background. You're like, that's a couple of grand 0:20:39.400 --> 0:20:42.400 Where did they get that money for that? They? Yeah, 0:20:42.520 --> 0:20:46.560 So was there anything in particular that you either of 0:20:46.600 --> 0:20:51.880 you that you think was really interesting or really cool. Uh, 0:20:51.960 --> 0:20:55.959 something that you had not anticipated, uh that you know, 0:20:56.160 --> 0:20:58.280 that's like your go to. Like you know, if if 0:20:58.280 --> 0:21:00.280 people are asking you, what was it like, Well, let 0:21:00.320 --> 0:21:02.520 me tell you this particular thing that I was really 0:21:03.280 --> 0:21:05.560 excited about. Whether it was something that turned out the 0:21:05.560 --> 0:21:08.680 way you expected at the beginning or something that completely 0:21:08.720 --> 0:21:13.160 went a different direction. Getting getting invited back to season two, 0:21:13.200 --> 0:21:16.480 that was that's good. That's good. I think if you 0:21:16.520 --> 0:21:19.199 were able to take all of those Christmas lights and 0:21:19.240 --> 0:21:24.400 make them light up individually, that's a really good start. Um. 0:21:24.680 --> 0:21:26.800 I don't know, I don't that's I mean, that's why 0:21:26.800 --> 0:21:28.960 I was thrilled to be here today and asked John 0:21:29.000 --> 0:21:31.719 to come to because for me, that sort of like 0:21:31.960 --> 0:21:36.480 a collaborative overlap um my thing. And he knows this well, 0:21:36.640 --> 0:21:39.440 is it like today? In film? Um? Like everyone loves 0:21:39.560 --> 0:21:42.800 led lights lighting, even if they're trying to make even 0:21:42.840 --> 0:21:45.720 if it is like period or they wanted to look um, 0:21:46.000 --> 0:21:48.639 you know, period, they still kind of fall back on 0:21:48.880 --> 0:21:52.399 LEDs because they're easier to control and and I kind 0:21:52.440 --> 0:21:55.240 of hate them, so, um, I mean I'm coming around 0:21:55.240 --> 0:21:57.320 to some of them. But anyway to have them to 0:21:57.440 --> 0:22:00.359 have our electrical department have the patients to kind of 0:22:00.400 --> 0:22:03.159 like really do it right and work with the older technology. 0:22:03.200 --> 0:22:05.760 And and you know that that was a it was 0:22:05.800 --> 0:22:11.320 a long process. But the fluorescent fixtures lots fluorescence because 0:22:11.359 --> 0:22:17.280 their period of course, and hardly anyone stocks fluorescent ballast 0:22:17.600 --> 0:22:21.800 that we had to replace hundreds of ballast in high 0:22:21.800 --> 0:22:27.639 schools and Melvols and all over Georgia we replaced ballast. Wow, 0:22:28.200 --> 0:22:33.000 that's a that's a big undertaking. That was awful, But 0:22:33.000 --> 0:22:35.840 but it pays off on screen because it does give 0:22:35.840 --> 0:22:38.439 you that like like that's why it feels like it 0:22:38.480 --> 0:22:40.520 was made in the eighties is because it has all 0:22:40.520 --> 0:22:43.359 of this this love and care behind it. And you 0:22:43.400 --> 0:22:46.600 can see that rolling out through other projects that are 0:22:47.240 --> 0:22:51.359 clearly following that same philosophy. I mean, Stephen King's it 0:22:51.640 --> 0:22:55.600 coming out, Like, I think the look of it owes 0:22:55.640 --> 0:23:00.000 an awful lot to Stranger Things. It has a very 0:23:00.000 --> 0:23:03.199 similar kind of field to it. For that that second, 0:23:03.320 --> 0:23:05.560 I mean, it's amazing to me that they went ahead 0:23:05.560 --> 0:23:09.240 and decided to set the adult story in modern day, 0:23:09.280 --> 0:23:13.120 which conveniently made the children's story set in the eighties. 0:23:13.560 --> 0:23:16.439 And so there are a lot of parallels there. But 0:23:16.440 --> 0:23:19.240 it's funny because of course Stranger Things also, you could 0:23:19.280 --> 0:23:22.040 tell has a little bit of the the influence of 0:23:22.040 --> 0:23:25.720 Stephen King is certainly in the Stranger Things universe as well. 0:23:25.720 --> 0:23:27.640 So it's all kind of feeding in on itself. It's 0:23:28.080 --> 0:23:35.199 um collaborative and cooperative as well as competitive process. I'm sure. So, Uh, 0:23:35.359 --> 0:23:38.879 were there any particular sets that you really liked working 0:23:38.880 --> 0:23:41.840 on or any that you really did not like working on? 0:23:43.920 --> 0:23:47.800 I don't, John, I probably will have different responses, but um, 0:23:47.840 --> 0:23:50.639 I mean the Buyer's House is one of them. I 0:23:50.680 --> 0:23:53.119 tell everyone, it's like its own sort of character that 0:23:53.200 --> 0:23:55.199 we have. You know, it's at least we shot it 0:23:55.280 --> 0:23:57.840 in a for the most part chronological order, because we 0:23:58.119 --> 0:24:03.000 really literally destroyed it completely, um as we went and 0:24:03.040 --> 0:24:06.160 you know, Joyce ripping things apart and monsters smashing things, 0:24:06.200 --> 0:24:09.200 and um, I will say it was it was towards 0:24:09.240 --> 0:24:11.080 the end of it when all the Christmas lights were 0:24:11.200 --> 0:24:13.359 up and like half pulled down, and it was an 0:24:13.400 --> 0:24:16.760 absolute nightmare for the shooting crew. I mean, for a 0:24:16.800 --> 0:24:19.520 boom operator to operate in that setting was just like 0:24:19.640 --> 0:24:22.639 it's uh, you know, it's everyone was getting like tangled 0:24:22.720 --> 0:24:25.720 and um, it was Yeah, it was truly like a 0:24:26.240 --> 0:24:28.440 It was a it was kind of fun to watch 0:24:28.480 --> 0:24:31.320 it progress, but it was a it took a lot 0:24:31.359 --> 0:24:33.639 of patients. They're not not every shooting crew would be 0:24:33.640 --> 0:24:39.840 cut out to kind of handle that. That setting. My 0:24:39.960 --> 0:24:43.920 least favorite was the high school because we had again 0:24:43.960 --> 0:24:46.920 we had to go in and replace every fluorescent, most 0:24:46.960 --> 0:24:49.280 of the ballast in there. And then towards the end 0:24:49.320 --> 0:24:52.320 of it, when they had the scene with eleven and 0:24:52.359 --> 0:24:55.280 the monster, everything starts to go crazy and flickers, we 0:24:55.320 --> 0:24:58.639 had to take everything out and we reinstalled our own 0:24:59.119 --> 0:25:02.520 led rips throughout the school so we could make everything 0:25:02.560 --> 0:25:05.920 flicker on and off. That's a lot of work. There's 0:25:05.920 --> 0:25:07.840 a lot of work. And it wasn't even just led tubes. 0:25:07.880 --> 0:25:09.639 It was like because they were soldering again. I just 0:25:09.680 --> 0:25:12.800 would see that, you know, you guys were on sodering 0:25:12.840 --> 0:25:17.160 in some old classroom, putting led strips in like twos 0:25:17.240 --> 0:25:21.000 or whatever you were doing. Yeah, that was well, what 0:25:21.040 --> 0:25:23.680 was what was it like working in Uh? Did they 0:25:24.320 --> 0:25:28.879 the facility? Wasn't that set in an old building and emory? Yeah, 0:25:28.960 --> 0:25:36.359 Hawkins Lab Law was that experience. Uh, I'm you know, 0:25:36.640 --> 0:25:38.480 there are a lot of shows that film there. Um, 0:25:38.480 --> 0:25:40.399 I feel like we were still in the early wave 0:25:40.480 --> 0:25:42.960 of like some of the shows that were like really 0:25:42.960 --> 0:25:45.000 working on all the different floors and stuff. So like 0:25:45.600 --> 0:25:48.879 especially John and having to go up and put you know, 0:25:49.040 --> 0:25:50.960 move ceiling tiles out of the way to run cable 0:25:51.000 --> 0:25:53.560 and stuff. Was like, you're for the first time in 0:25:53.640 --> 0:25:56.720 forty years, you know, you were you were you were 0:25:56.760 --> 0:25:59.920 the explorer that everyone else got the beef we found 0:26:00.000 --> 0:26:04.440 all the rat facing. Yeah, Well, for people who don't know, 0:26:04.560 --> 0:26:07.240 can you talk a little bit about the building itself 0:26:07.280 --> 0:26:10.080 where the Hawkins Lab was, because I think you know, again, 0:26:10.560 --> 0:26:13.560 everyone sees it in the show, but they don't know 0:26:14.400 --> 0:26:17.000 what the actual space was. They might just think, oh, 0:26:17.080 --> 0:26:18.879 was that just a set on a studio, and in 0:26:18.880 --> 0:26:21.520 fact that parts of it at least were very much 0:26:21.520 --> 0:26:24.480 in a real building here in Atlanta. Yeah, we I 0:26:24.520 --> 0:26:27.080 will say, like when we were first when the Duffers 0:26:27.080 --> 0:26:29.320 were first here and we were gonna, you know, film 0:26:29.520 --> 0:26:33.480 Stranger Things in Atlanta and full disclosure, I sometimes location 0:26:33.520 --> 0:26:35.600 scout when I'm not decorating. It's like my secret job. 0:26:35.720 --> 0:26:37.439 So um, so I was doing a lot of the 0:26:37.520 --> 0:26:40.920 like early scouting, trying to figure out what Hawkins Lab 0:26:40.960 --> 0:26:43.919 was going to be and how undercover and small it 0:26:43.960 --> 0:26:46.800 was going to be or how big and um, you know, 0:26:47.240 --> 0:26:50.080 just what the look was going to be. Yeah, and 0:26:50.119 --> 0:26:53.080 I we didn't all agree. I felt like that building 0:26:53.080 --> 0:26:55.719 at Emory, with its metal facade and kind of craziness 0:26:55.720 --> 0:26:59.280 on the outside, was a little like ostentatious for secret 0:26:59.440 --> 0:27:03.400 sort of from a facility. But um, anyway, but they 0:27:03.440 --> 0:27:05.919 loved I mean, it is a pretty impressive building and 0:27:06.000 --> 0:27:08.760 it's very distinct, and what they did within in posts, 0:27:08.760 --> 0:27:10.800 like putting the satellites and stuff on top of it, 0:27:10.960 --> 0:27:13.600 made it all kind of work. But um, yeah, it's 0:27:13.600 --> 0:27:16.080 a it's on Briar Cliff here in Atlanta, and it's 0:27:16.080 --> 0:27:21.800 an old mental hospital. Um and uh yeah, so it's 0:27:21.800 --> 0:27:26.280 truly creepy. It's not everything works in there anymore. Powers 0:27:26.320 --> 0:27:28.080 like kind of like hit or miss in some areas, 0:27:28.200 --> 0:27:33.119 and uh, a lot of leaks and things. It's yeah, 0:27:33.359 --> 0:27:34.840 so it must have been a tough one to work 0:27:34.840 --> 0:27:36.399 in as well, John, did you do you have a 0:27:36.440 --> 0:27:39.840 lot of challenges going through all that. I mean, it's 0:27:39.880 --> 0:27:43.600 just like that place they just stopped one day and 0:27:43.640 --> 0:27:46.479 everyone left and then people came in behind them. And 0:27:46.560 --> 0:27:50.600 trashed the place. So there's broken glass everywhere, there were 0:27:50.680 --> 0:27:56.480 needles everywhere, um, and just trying to figure out what 0:27:56.800 --> 0:28:00.000 like how to power how does this light come on where? 0:28:00.040 --> 0:28:01.640 And you have to trace it all the way down 0:28:01.920 --> 0:28:04.840 sometimes in the floor underneath you or the sub floor 0:28:05.359 --> 0:28:09.280 underneath you. That was definitely a challenge. Wow. So I'm 0:28:09.320 --> 0:28:11.879 sure that was one of the more difficult ones to 0:28:12.000 --> 0:28:15.040 actually to power and make sure that everything was working properly. 0:28:15.680 --> 0:28:18.280 Uh yeah. I saw the pictures of sort of the 0:28:18.320 --> 0:28:21.400 before and after during one of those presentations, and it 0:28:21.480 --> 0:28:26.240 was really, um, really alarming. Actually, there was a shot 0:28:26.280 --> 0:28:29.400 that was just down the hallway and it was possibly 0:28:29.440 --> 0:28:32.119 the most creepy looking photograph I had seen in a 0:28:32.200 --> 0:28:35.120 really long time. Well, the one thing I will say 0:28:35.160 --> 0:28:37.719 is that we had every intention when we first started 0:28:37.720 --> 0:28:42.360 of shooting um, like the the sort of rift lab 0:28:42.960 --> 0:28:46.000 in Hawkins, like where the tank and everything is. That 0:28:46.240 --> 0:28:48.520 was the tunnels leading up to that and the opening 0:28:48.520 --> 0:28:50.280 scene where he's like getting off the elevator and everything. 0:28:50.320 --> 0:28:53.200 We're going to do that at Emery, which is they 0:28:53.240 --> 0:28:57.120 actually have these like underground tunnels, um that are that 0:28:57.240 --> 0:29:01.280 are It's pretty bad. I don't even know yeah, it's 0:29:01.280 --> 0:29:03.800 like asbestos and all these like you know, it's just 0:29:03.840 --> 0:29:07.360 it's dark. There hasn't empowered on there forever um. And 0:29:07.400 --> 0:29:09.400 so at the last minute, I think they've done these 0:29:09.400 --> 0:29:11.600 like air quality tests and stuff, and they finally said, 0:29:11.640 --> 0:29:14.880 there's okay, this is great. The texture is great, it's authentic, 0:29:14.960 --> 0:29:17.200 but we like, really we cannot film down here. So 0:29:17.640 --> 0:29:20.480 we ended up copying the general look of it on 0:29:20.520 --> 0:29:22.480 our stage and we built a series of tunnels that 0:29:22.520 --> 0:29:25.080 were a lot more easy to control from a lighting 0:29:25.080 --> 0:29:27.680 standpoint in every other aspect, so right, and you don't 0:29:27.680 --> 0:29:31.640 have to worry about breeding in Yeah, when we do that, 0:29:31.680 --> 0:29:33.479 I feel like the like John and I and our 0:29:33.720 --> 0:29:37.400 cruise that are there, you know beforehand, so early working 0:29:37.440 --> 0:29:41.760 on places, especially those guys with like the ceiling tiles 0:29:41.760 --> 0:29:45.240 are the hidden that's what is above those is uh 0:29:45.400 --> 0:29:48.520 the real you know there's yeah, there's there's a whole 0:29:48.560 --> 0:29:54.000 treasure of exactly. Yeah. Um. So we deal with the 0:29:54.040 --> 0:29:56.200 worst of it, and then I think shooting crew has 0:29:56.320 --> 0:29:58.360 a little better time. By the time they get in there, 0:29:58.360 --> 0:29:59.840 it's all been cleaned up a little bit. And then 0:29:59.840 --> 0:30:01.760 they course then you have you know, the very pampered 0:30:02.000 --> 0:30:07.920 people to actors. That's fantastic that they complain a little 0:30:07.920 --> 0:30:10.160 bit about it being a little chilly outside. Like listen, 0:30:10.600 --> 0:30:12.960 when we came here, there was no power, water was 0:30:13.000 --> 0:30:16.960 coming in and there were rats everywhere. So there's some 0:30:17.040 --> 0:30:20.720 sets like in season two, um which you know, who 0:30:20.840 --> 0:30:23.960 can kind of leave everyone just sort of experienced later 0:30:23.960 --> 0:30:28.520 this month, but um, it's there is an arcade and 0:30:28.640 --> 0:30:30.800 just know, like when we finished all this off, show 0:30:30.840 --> 0:30:33.479 you the photos. But the before was like an old 0:30:34.360 --> 0:30:38.120 launder matt dry cleaner place that had been sold, closed down, 0:30:38.320 --> 0:30:41.440 leaky roof, all the same stuff. The hoarder had taken 0:30:41.480 --> 0:30:43.440 it over and it was like to the ceiling with 0:30:43.920 --> 0:30:48.680 like mattresses and diapers and like whatever garbage. And so 0:30:48.800 --> 0:30:52.120 that process wasn't another good one. We've had a lot 0:30:52.160 --> 0:30:55.080 of stranger things. Is like people who hear about our production, 0:30:55.120 --> 0:30:56.960 I feel like who also shoot in Atlanta are like 0:30:57.240 --> 0:30:59.520 who he seet and kind of know what we started 0:30:59.560 --> 0:31:01.760 out with then what the final product is are like 0:31:02.320 --> 0:31:05.440 why you know your show is like does the craziest 0:31:05.520 --> 0:31:06.920 Like we're willing to put up with a lot more, 0:31:06.960 --> 0:31:10.560 I think than a lot of other like productions, Hollywood 0:31:10.600 --> 0:31:13.080 productions that you know, would never touch some places that 0:31:13.120 --> 0:31:15.520 we go into. Yeah, well again it pays off though, 0:31:15.760 --> 0:31:17.920 so I look forward to seeing those photos because of course, 0:31:18.000 --> 0:31:20.560 again growing up in the seventies and eighties, I have 0:31:20.680 --> 0:31:23.000 a lot of fond memories of arcades that you just 0:31:23.120 --> 0:31:25.320 you know, you very rarely encounter those kind of places 0:31:25.360 --> 0:31:27.080 these days. It's going to be another one of those 0:31:27.120 --> 0:31:29.840 like why would you put the effort into it? Like 0:31:30.160 --> 0:31:32.120 it's but it was just little architectural things about the 0:31:32.120 --> 0:31:34.200 building that we thought were kind of great. And I 0:31:34.240 --> 0:31:36.400 don't know everyone that you run into one of those 0:31:36.400 --> 0:31:39.720 places where you're just like, well, everything inside here is 0:31:39.720 --> 0:31:44.000 is trashed, but it's so evocative of that particular thing 0:31:44.040 --> 0:31:46.920 you're trying to do that you know, I'm sure it 0:31:46.960 --> 0:31:50.040 becomes one of those debates that rages in your mind, 0:31:50.120 --> 0:31:52.520 like is it going to be worth the amount of 0:31:52.560 --> 0:31:55.280 effort it's going to take to get this place into shape? 0:31:55.840 --> 0:31:57.920 And if the answer is yes, then you just have 0:31:57.960 --> 0:32:00.720 to grit your teeth and go for it and and 0:32:00.720 --> 0:32:03.840 and uh, you know, get the work done. The library 0:32:03.880 --> 0:32:09.720 we had the Hawkins Library, Yeah, um, we another one 0:32:09.720 --> 0:32:13.720 of my really good ideas that there's a a library 0:32:13.840 --> 0:32:17.640 in downtown East Point, Georgia. That was, Um, it was 0:32:17.680 --> 0:32:20.160 like on the places in Peril like a story preservation list. 0:32:20.280 --> 0:32:25.719 It was. It was leaky roof, same thing, you know, asbestos, mold, 0:32:26.080 --> 0:32:28.080 tons of tons of mold. They had standing water in 0:32:28.080 --> 0:32:31.600 the basement for like two years, um. And we had 0:32:31.600 --> 0:32:33.920 the big idea to spend I don't know how much 0:32:33.960 --> 0:32:36.560 we spent there with like a full like mold remediation 0:32:36.680 --> 0:32:41.040 and abatement process. Um. And then you know, John went 0:32:41.080 --> 0:32:43.800 in and fixed all the light fixtures and we went 0:32:43.840 --> 0:32:46.960 in and put in you know, the bookcases and of 0:32:47.040 --> 0:32:50.960 a lot like twenty books and um, library card catalogs, 0:32:50.960 --> 0:32:52.880 all that stuff just to you know, for really not 0:32:53.240 --> 0:32:56.640 at all much screen time. Um. But you know, but 0:32:56.680 --> 0:32:58.719 you need a perior of library and you gotta start somewhere. 0:32:58.760 --> 0:33:01.600 So um, we ended up at actually donating I donated 0:33:01.600 --> 0:33:05.000 like the books and everything to the City's point to 0:33:05.040 --> 0:33:08.520 stay intact there so it can it kind of gets 0:33:08.680 --> 0:33:11.360 now rent out as a location for other productions and 0:33:11.560 --> 0:33:13.959 that money kind of goes into keeping the building up 0:33:14.000 --> 0:33:16.480 and they fix the roof and everything. So so it's cool. 0:33:16.680 --> 0:33:20.480 Saved it. Yeah, there's there's a little nice little byproduct 0:33:20.560 --> 0:33:23.800 of the production. It's not not just not just that 0:33:23.840 --> 0:33:27.800 you're making amazing entertainment, but that you can actually benefit well. 0:33:27.920 --> 0:33:30.840 And again this gets outside of tech, but we hear 0:33:30.880 --> 0:33:33.000 it all the time. I mean, there's always the discussion 0:33:33.120 --> 0:33:37.640 about the benefits of the film and television business moving 0:33:37.640 --> 0:33:40.280 into any place. When you can hear about stories like that, 0:33:40.360 --> 0:33:43.680 you're like, that's something that I wouldn't necessarily have thought of, 0:33:43.960 --> 0:33:46.959 just from the fact that we're getting this influx of 0:33:47.520 --> 0:33:50.360 productions coming into Atlanta. For those who do not know, 0:33:50.960 --> 0:33:53.840 Atlanta is one of the cities in the United States 0:33:53.880 --> 0:33:56.720 that's really taking off when it comes to film and 0:33:56.720 --> 0:33:59.920 television and music video production. And you know, there's certain 0:34:00.040 --> 0:34:03.160 to a certain extent, music video had been fairly big 0:34:03.160 --> 0:34:07.160 here for a while. Uh Television, some TV productions we're 0:34:07.160 --> 0:34:09.640 being were shot in here. But we're seeing more and 0:34:09.680 --> 0:34:13.600 more film projects as well, largely because of the construction 0:34:13.640 --> 0:34:17.000 of the Pinewood Studio that's south of the city, and 0:34:17.560 --> 0:34:20.799 they're especially like just around the area that we're in 0:34:20.880 --> 0:34:24.320 right now. We're at Pont City Market in Atlanta. Around 0:34:24.360 --> 0:34:27.279 this general area, you can't you can't go maybe a 0:34:27.280 --> 0:34:29.359 couple of miles in any direction before you start seeing 0:34:29.440 --> 0:34:33.680 signs for various productions, they're everywhere, uh and um. And 0:34:33.760 --> 0:34:37.280 so we're actually seeing some of that benefit now where 0:34:37.360 --> 0:34:42.400 we're seeing, you know, communities get potentially get the reuse 0:34:42.480 --> 0:34:46.040 of buildings that otherwise would have been remaining vacant um. 0:34:46.040 --> 0:34:49.680 From a similar perspective, although this wasn't from a film production, 0:34:50.040 --> 0:34:54.759 the building we're in right now was largely vacant for decades. 0:34:54.960 --> 0:34:59.160 It was a Sears distribution center. Then for a while 0:34:59.239 --> 0:35:01.759 the city of atlant had about ten percent of this 0:35:01.880 --> 0:35:05.919 building and the other was empty. I picked up many 0:35:06.120 --> 0:35:11.160 police reports and things here. Yeah, and you could get 0:35:11.320 --> 0:35:13.120 like art supplies, and I used to come here and 0:35:13.120 --> 0:35:16.800 get art supply. Yeah. Yeah. And to the point where 0:35:17.120 --> 0:35:19.839 if you were to walk around all the different offices here, 0:35:20.040 --> 0:35:21.560 first of all, they'd ask you to leave, But if 0:35:21.560 --> 0:35:24.440 you were to do that, you would probably see a 0:35:24.520 --> 0:35:28.440 lot of of old equipment, Like we have an old 0:35:28.440 --> 0:35:32.440 turbine in our lobby. And it's because every office was 0:35:32.920 --> 0:35:35.359 given some of the pieces of equipment that had been 0:35:35.480 --> 0:35:38.040 used when this was a big distribution center for Sears. 0:35:38.040 --> 0:35:39.560 I mean it was built right on the railroad. They 0:35:39.600 --> 0:35:43.360 would actually bring railroad cars into this place. So every 0:35:43.440 --> 0:35:46.960 office has some some element of that worked into it. 0:35:47.520 --> 0:35:50.359 Uh and uh it's it's again just one of those 0:35:50.360 --> 0:35:54.080 reminders of the history of the place that for decades 0:35:54.200 --> 0:35:58.240 went just completely unused. And this was literally just stuff 0:35:58.280 --> 0:35:59.799 that was piled up. So I guess it's kind of 0:35:59.840 --> 0:36:01.920 some lewarer to what you do, Jess, where you have 0:36:02.000 --> 0:36:04.960 to you have to go into interesting places and just 0:36:05.040 --> 0:36:07.800 kind of search around. I mean, Uh, there used to 0:36:07.840 --> 0:36:10.960 be a really great place very close to here that 0:36:11.200 --> 0:36:14.920 had crazy stuff for lots of antiques and a lot 0:36:14.960 --> 0:36:17.960 of old fixtures and things, and now it's a restaurant. 0:36:18.320 --> 0:36:21.280 And I'm always sad when I go by the Wrecking Bar. Yeah, 0:36:21.640 --> 0:36:23.719 I'm sad that that place is gone because I would 0:36:23.760 --> 0:36:27.920 find really interesting stuff there. But that was just for me. 0:36:28.000 --> 0:36:40.400 I don't I don't decorate sets at all. So what 0:36:40.520 --> 0:36:43.480 do you think out of maybe not just stranger things, 0:36:43.520 --> 0:36:46.120 but every anything, any production you've worked on. What was 0:36:46.160 --> 0:36:51.759 the the most interesting, uh, piece that you have ever 0:36:51.840 --> 0:36:56.680 found for a production? Well? This, um, the movie I 0:36:56.719 --> 0:36:59.799 was talking about, theo Wash took place in a tell 0:37:00.000 --> 0:37:05.000 Asian station. Um. It was set in nineteen in Sarasota, Florida, 0:37:05.120 --> 0:37:08.880 and the director, I don't know if he completely understood. 0:37:08.920 --> 0:37:11.680 He's a little bit of a Savanta and and wanted 0:37:11.960 --> 0:37:16.799 to have like a full working broadcast studio from that era. 0:37:17.000 --> 0:37:22.040 They just look but actually literally working, which yeah, exactly, 0:37:22.200 --> 0:37:25.080 monitors in a control room and cameras and and all 0:37:25.120 --> 0:37:27.880 of it and all the editing and um and this 0:37:27.920 --> 0:37:32.520 is all still like film and stuff. Yeah. Um. And 0:37:32.600 --> 0:37:36.120 there was this one piece a quadruplex machine. And this 0:37:36.200 --> 0:37:39.799 is like right when um, news gathering was like going 0:37:39.840 --> 0:37:42.720 electronic and so a lot of that technology was changing 0:37:42.800 --> 0:37:46.359 like in the moment. But um, this quadruplex machine that 0:37:46.640 --> 0:37:49.439 looks like a giant kind of real to real thing. 0:37:50.160 --> 0:37:53.640 Um that there are not that many of them and 0:37:53.640 --> 0:37:56.080 there are really not that many of them left now, 0:37:56.239 --> 0:37:59.160 especially working, which is like you know, and they're so finicky. 0:38:00.200 --> 0:38:01.880 There was like a place in the Rhode Island that 0:38:01.920 --> 0:38:05.040 had some museum and like a couple other places even 0:38:05.040 --> 0:38:07.760 like in l A what I would call the regular 0:38:07.800 --> 0:38:09.880 prop houses to ship it out here that they didn't 0:38:09.920 --> 0:38:14.240 have any so I just um was calling old TV stations, 0:38:14.280 --> 0:38:17.280 not that anyone has phones or answers their phone anymore. Anywhere. 0:38:17.280 --> 0:38:21.000 It's like an annoying another annoying landline thing. But um, 0:38:21.080 --> 0:38:23.120 so I was just driving around. We were filming in Savannah, 0:38:23.120 --> 0:38:25.000 and I was just driving like on the weekends too, 0:38:25.000 --> 0:38:28.200 smaller towns that used to have news stations. Um, just 0:38:28.239 --> 0:38:30.680 like looking for like that one place that has an 0:38:30.680 --> 0:38:33.680 attic or a basement that just dashed all the stuff 0:38:33.719 --> 0:38:36.640 and never threw it away. Um. And there was a 0:38:36.640 --> 0:38:40.040 guy in in making at a TV station and he 0:38:40.120 --> 0:38:42.560 was like literally the only guy like manning like reruns 0:38:42.560 --> 0:38:44.759 of the Simpsons or whatever they're you know, like I 0:38:44.760 --> 0:38:47.279 don't even think they did news anymore. Um. But he 0:38:47.400 --> 0:38:50.239 came to the door and I was asking him about 0:38:50.239 --> 0:38:53.799 like old equipment, and um He's like, well, we do 0:38:53.880 --> 0:38:55.680 have this old site out in the swamp that we 0:38:55.760 --> 0:38:58.480 used to use like as a studio. And I was like, 0:38:58.520 --> 0:39:00.239 do you think you have a quadruplex machine and he 0:39:00.280 --> 0:39:01.799 was like, oh yeah, I got that. I got like 0:39:01.800 --> 0:39:04.000 two of those out there. And I was just like literally, 0:39:05.000 --> 0:39:07.239 um yeah, that was like the best moment. And so 0:39:07.400 --> 0:39:09.040 I getting this guy's truck when right out to the 0:39:09.080 --> 0:39:13.400 swamp and uh, leaky roof, no power. Um, you know, 0:39:13.560 --> 0:39:16.239 same thing we always are dealing with UM, but yeah, 0:39:16.320 --> 0:39:18.000 they're in the corner and like a dry corner was 0:39:18.040 --> 0:39:20.880 like this quadruplex and a bunch of other stuff that 0:39:20.920 --> 0:39:23.319 was really useful to have to we were able to 0:39:23.400 --> 0:39:26.680 kind of tinker and get it to work, and UM 0:39:26.719 --> 0:39:30.200 that was my That's by far my my like dries 0:39:30.239 --> 0:39:32.920 possession of all the things I've ever found. Yeah, I 0:39:32.960 --> 0:39:36.200 love it. It's uh, sort of the sort of challenges 0:39:36.239 --> 0:39:40.000 you don't necessarily anticipate until you encounter one of those 0:39:40.040 --> 0:39:46.280 autour directors who has that that strong dependence upon authenticity. 0:39:46.320 --> 0:39:50.560 I'm sick of control panels. That's another Yeah, Like season 0:39:50.600 --> 0:39:54.279 two is uh yeah, you guys will see when that 0:39:54.360 --> 0:39:57.360 comes out, But there's a we did a whole control 0:39:57.400 --> 0:40:00.400 panel in the riff lab this time that we needed 0:40:00.440 --> 0:40:03.279 to be able to really control rather than getting prop ones, 0:40:03.360 --> 0:40:04.880 which is kind of what we had the first season 0:40:04.920 --> 0:40:07.520 and something I was never really that happy with UM. 0:40:08.400 --> 0:40:13.400 I had probably the bad idea of UM designing my 0:40:13.640 --> 0:40:17.160 very own UM control fannel with all these separate like 0:40:17.280 --> 0:40:20.759 old boat led lights and indicator lights and all these 0:40:20.760 --> 0:40:22.960 different things that I was trying to get John in 0:40:23.040 --> 0:40:25.920 like really early last season to help start like figuring 0:40:25.920 --> 0:40:28.080 out how we were going to empower each one and 0:40:28.120 --> 0:40:30.680 have each one on a separate control. I was told 0:40:31.440 --> 0:40:34.360 there would be no flickering season two because I was 0:40:34.400 --> 0:40:40.920 a big, big expense for production. And then then the 0:40:41.239 --> 0:40:45.719 board is a flickering mess of like yeah, like I 0:40:45.719 --> 0:40:47.279 feel like I feel like a little bit of it 0:40:47.280 --> 0:40:50.040 has been spoiled for me, but I will. I'll go 0:40:50.080 --> 0:40:52.400 into it just knowing there may be a flicker or 0:40:52.400 --> 0:40:56.560 two in season two. I don't know. I haven't seen 0:40:56.600 --> 0:40:58.640 any of the footage, so I'm not sure. Yeah, maybe 0:40:58.680 --> 0:41:01.600 that all got cut. I wasn't even or when it happened. Yeah, 0:41:01.680 --> 0:41:03.600 that was kind of a nightmare. And um, we've done 0:41:03.640 --> 0:41:07.360 all kinds of like even season one, um in the quarry, 0:41:08.600 --> 0:41:10.799 which you would think like that's you know, probably not 0:41:10.840 --> 0:41:12.960 even that much from a set deck standpoint and there, 0:41:13.000 --> 0:41:16.560 and there wasn't except they wanted to light some of 0:41:16.600 --> 0:41:19.400 that scene with search and rescue where they find um 0:41:19.520 --> 0:41:24.000 Will's body or not real body, but you know, um, 0:41:24.040 --> 0:41:26.400 they wanted to light that practically, and so we needed 0:41:26.520 --> 0:41:31.120 period whacker lights. Um. And just like the logistics of 0:41:31.160 --> 0:41:34.279 like me me finding the lights that were there, right, 0:41:36.960 --> 0:41:39.480 government auctions is my other go to UM and so 0:41:39.520 --> 0:41:43.000 we found something like Tennessee since since transpoke guys up 0:41:43.000 --> 0:41:44.879 there to go pick them up and bring them back. 0:41:44.920 --> 0:41:47.560 And then just John assessing that for the first time, 0:41:47.680 --> 0:41:51.080 is you know this like archaic mess of wires and 0:41:51.160 --> 0:41:54.399 different things and UM. But he rewired those and they 0:41:54.400 --> 0:41:58.520 looked great on camera. It's kind of funny. I I 0:41:58.560 --> 0:42:01.800 did an interview it's actually going to be the episode 0:42:01.800 --> 0:42:06.239 that follows this one, uh, with a guy who was 0:42:06.480 --> 0:42:10.200 hired to to write a full kind of like a 0:42:10.239 --> 0:42:14.800 workshop manual of the Ghostbusters technology. And he was given 0:42:14.840 --> 0:42:17.160 full access to all the different props and stuff. But 0:42:17.160 --> 0:42:20.120 it was his job to figure out not just what 0:42:20.160 --> 0:42:23.320 the stuff was, but what it used to be and 0:42:23.640 --> 0:42:25.919 how it actually works in real life and then how 0:42:26.080 --> 0:42:30.560 was it in in the mythology of Ghostbusters altered so 0:42:30.600 --> 0:42:33.000 that it works for that. And he started looking at 0:42:33.040 --> 0:42:35.120 all the different pieces like just imagine the top of 0:42:35.160 --> 0:42:38.319 Ecto one, like the top of that car and all 0:42:38.360 --> 0:42:41.160 the different coutrement that we're on top of it, and 0:42:41.160 --> 0:42:44.560 he had to source all of that and he says, yeah, 0:42:44.800 --> 0:42:49.400 they went to a junkyard that outside of a NASA 0:42:49.520 --> 0:42:52.560 site and they got all of that and I had 0:42:52.560 --> 0:42:55.640 to figure out what they were And then how does 0:42:55.640 --> 0:42:59.000 that help you catch ghosts? Is there really a junkyard 0:42:59.000 --> 0:43:03.000 outside of nasasite? That sounds amazing? And I'll put you 0:43:03.040 --> 0:43:05.640 in touch with him because he can tell you where 0:43:05.680 --> 0:43:08.920 they went to get all the different pieces because they 0:43:09.000 --> 0:43:11.480 had like various pieces of sonart they had They had 0:43:11.520 --> 0:43:16.400 an old uh uh. I think it was like an 0:43:16.440 --> 0:43:21.080 old ground to air missile launch case. There was nothing 0:43:21.120 --> 0:43:24.120 in it because apparently that would be bad to get 0:43:24.120 --> 0:43:27.520 out there. But yeah, so there's Yeah, I'll get you 0:43:27.520 --> 0:43:29.160 in touch with him because he can certainly tell you 0:43:29.200 --> 0:43:32.440 more about where they sourced all that stuff because it 0:43:32.480 --> 0:43:35.160 was it was somewhere out west, I know. But um 0:43:35.320 --> 0:43:37.920 and keep in mind Ghostbusters were made back in the 0:43:37.920 --> 0:43:41.759 early eighties, so maybe they've tightened up since then. But 0:43:41.840 --> 0:43:44.879 it was pretty it was pretty incredible. Uh And yeah, 0:43:45.080 --> 0:43:48.040 learning about that like that, that experience of having to 0:43:48.760 --> 0:43:53.000 uh to to really find out the way sources sometimes 0:43:53.280 --> 0:43:57.640 is fascinating to me because I hold onto stuff fairly 0:43:57.880 --> 0:44:01.080 for a fairly long time. But I mean it's just 0:44:01.239 --> 0:44:03.239 technology is just one of those things that goes obsolete 0:44:03.320 --> 0:44:07.080 so quickly. And uh and Also, there's just so many 0:44:07.120 --> 0:44:10.400 different parts that if any one part fails, the average 0:44:10.440 --> 0:44:13.719 person is more likely to either go out and buy 0:44:13.719 --> 0:44:15.279 a new one and just throw the old one away, 0:44:15.360 --> 0:44:17.719 or just do without, because a repair tends to be 0:44:17.760 --> 0:44:19.719 about the same amount of money as it would cost 0:44:19.719 --> 0:44:21.319 to just buy a new one anyway for a lot 0:44:21.320 --> 0:44:24.680 of the older tech, So I imagine it gets really tricky, 0:44:24.800 --> 0:44:27.080 especially if they want something that's gonna work on screen, 0:44:27.120 --> 0:44:29.440 if it's something that's just going to be like, all right, 0:44:29.440 --> 0:44:32.000 well we just need this this washer dryer that was 0:44:32.280 --> 0:44:33.759 back then, but they're never you're going to use it. 0:44:33.800 --> 0:44:35.440 We just need in the background. I guess that's one thing, 0:44:35.480 --> 0:44:37.160 but I like, we need a working one. That's a 0:44:37.200 --> 0:44:41.920 totally different thing. Yeah, it's uh. This season two has 0:44:41.960 --> 0:44:44.560 a lot of well, we have the Arcade, which has 0:44:45.200 --> 0:44:47.640 John and I. Early on we were getting the scripts 0:44:47.640 --> 0:44:50.160 and stuff with season two talking about like how to 0:44:50.239 --> 0:44:54.359 get arcade cabinets that were in good enough shape or 0:44:54.440 --> 0:44:56.200 you know, when we get real ones, and then there's 0:44:56.200 --> 0:44:58.560 all this Um I don't know if like the average 0:44:58.640 --> 0:45:01.160 viewer knows, but like playback, Um, it's a thing that 0:45:01.200 --> 0:45:04.640 we deal with constantly on Stranger things. It's um the 0:45:04.640 --> 0:45:09.400 frame rate adjustment and stuff on various like screens and monitors. 0:45:09.440 --> 0:45:12.600 So your screen that you're you're shooting is refreshing at 0:45:12.600 --> 0:45:15.279 a certain rate, the camera is going at a certain rate, 0:45:15.320 --> 0:45:17.080 and if that doesn't match up, probably that's when you 0:45:17.080 --> 0:45:20.240 start getting those weird lines that start scrolling across the screen, 0:45:20.520 --> 0:45:25.120 which is realistic, but it's distracting because now you realize 0:45:25.120 --> 0:45:27.880 you're looking through the lens of a camera as opposed 0:45:27.880 --> 0:45:30.239 to being an observer and a scene. So we have 0:45:30.320 --> 0:45:32.720 to fix that, all right, and so and and even 0:45:33.000 --> 0:45:38.400 UM season one was similar to the there's various UM 0:45:38.400 --> 0:45:42.040 security rooms like at Hawkins Lab and we I think 0:45:42.080 --> 0:45:45.400 I feel like I've bought every Commodore sixty four available 0:45:45.400 --> 0:45:47.879 because there they tend to be fairly reliable and easy 0:45:47.920 --> 0:45:50.799 to work with and you can input various things into them. 0:45:50.800 --> 0:45:54.839 And UM, so doing something similar, you know, a lot 0:45:54.880 --> 0:45:57.200 of I think a lot of productions probably would have 0:45:57.200 --> 0:46:00.759 put like L E. D screens or CB you know, 0:46:01.080 --> 0:46:03.560 they would have updated with new technology and not dealt 0:46:03.600 --> 0:46:07.600 with the playback aspect of running through like CRT monitors 0:46:07.640 --> 0:46:10.560 with whatever we need to show on screen. UM, but 0:46:10.640 --> 0:46:12.920 we're we try to be as authentic as possible and 0:46:12.920 --> 0:46:15.520 stranger things, and so there's just a lot of our 0:46:15.520 --> 0:46:18.200 playback guy was always present. I felt like on every 0:46:18.280 --> 0:46:21.360 set it was always like real monitors. Um. Same with 0:46:21.400 --> 0:46:25.040 the arcade, and we did it all pretty practically, um, 0:46:25.200 --> 0:46:29.000 leaving a lot of those those old monitors inside the 0:46:29.040 --> 0:46:31.640 cabinets and then just like running stuff through them and 0:46:32.440 --> 0:46:36.160 adjusting the frame rate. That's great, I mean again, I 0:46:36.239 --> 0:46:39.760 just to me, that stuff definitely pays off. Like again, 0:46:39.840 --> 0:46:43.320 it gives that that feel that you want and uh, 0:46:43.440 --> 0:46:47.120 that that sense that you're watching something that was made 0:46:47.200 --> 0:46:51.600 years ago, um and yet with a modern sensibility. So 0:46:51.880 --> 0:46:54.759 it's anyone who grew up around the same time I did, 0:46:54.800 --> 0:46:58.279 I think, just has that deep connection when they see 0:46:58.320 --> 0:47:00.640 this there, you know, because it feels very buil Burgie 0:47:00.680 --> 0:47:03.120 in in many ways. You know, it's just it's very 0:47:03.160 --> 0:47:07.200 evocative of those uh, those great films and TV series 0:47:07.239 --> 0:47:10.280 in the eighties. So you guys did a phenomenal work 0:47:10.480 --> 0:47:13.920 to recapture that and to make it feel like it 0:47:13.960 --> 0:47:16.960 was on screen. It looks effortless. I know that that's 0:47:17.040 --> 0:47:20.200 exactly the opposite of what it really was. It was very, 0:47:20.320 --> 0:47:25.680 very full of effort, but from an audience perspective, um, 0:47:25.800 --> 0:47:28.680 it just it just works so well. So I'm really 0:47:28.680 --> 0:47:31.960 looking forward to season two. We keep hearing rumors about 0:47:31.960 --> 0:47:33.600 how many seasons they are going to be. I think 0:47:33.600 --> 0:47:35.480 there need to be as many seasons as there need 0:47:35.520 --> 0:47:37.839 to be to tell a story and then we can 0:47:38.760 --> 0:47:41.439 we can close the chapter on that book and want more. 0:47:41.719 --> 0:47:46.040 I'm happy with that. We'll see because who knows what 0:47:46.040 --> 0:47:48.319 what will happen down the line. But I am so 0:47:49.040 --> 0:47:53.440 really excited to see season two and beyond. And if 0:47:53.480 --> 0:47:56.080 you if you put a word in for they need 0:47:56.560 --> 0:47:59.440 a bald guy as an extra, you know, even if 0:47:59.440 --> 0:48:02.560 he's just screw in a light bulb in the background. 0:48:03.200 --> 0:48:06.960 I'm local, I'm right here, I know, I know Randy. 0:48:07.040 --> 0:48:09.759 So Randy and I go way back. I can. It's 0:48:09.840 --> 0:48:12.600 just throwing it out there. Maybe Randy needs an assistant, yeah, 0:48:12.600 --> 0:48:16.279 who knows, or maybe just like a guy to like 0:48:16.640 --> 0:48:20.280 deal with all the insanely attractive women that he's dating. 0:48:20.360 --> 0:48:24.279 It's phenomenal. Really, It's like we had a discussion with 0:48:24.360 --> 0:48:26.680 him about that. Like that was to me, like everything 0:48:26.760 --> 0:48:31.440 was believable up until they showed you. Like I was 0:48:31.480 --> 0:48:34.160 buying into it, right into that, and he's like, thanks Jonathan, 0:48:34.280 --> 0:48:38.520 thanks a lot, You're welcome, Randy, very good guy. Thank 0:48:38.560 --> 0:48:41.440 you Jess and John for joining me on this show. 0:48:41.520 --> 0:48:44.920 I really appreciate the opportunity to explore what it is 0:48:45.000 --> 0:48:48.000 you do and get a deeper appreciation for the work 0:48:48.040 --> 0:48:52.400 that goes on behind the scenes. And uh, this was phenomenal. 0:48:52.440 --> 0:48:55.640 I wish you guys the best of luck and success 0:48:55.680 --> 0:48:58.520 in the future, and maybe we'll have you on again 0:48:58.560 --> 0:49:01.440 at some point. We'll talk about some other crazy stuff 0:49:01.480 --> 0:49:04.560 like you know, let me tell you what now is 0:49:04.600 --> 0:49:07.680 the hardest props I've ever had to find. You never 0:49:07.719 --> 0:49:10.600 know when that story is gonna change. Well, thank you 0:49:10.600 --> 0:49:13.440 guys again, Thank you. I hope you guys enjoyed that 0:49:13.520 --> 0:49:17.600 episode of text Stuff. We've got a lot more coming 0:49:17.840 --> 0:49:20.560 and let me know what you guys think if there 0:49:20.600 --> 0:49:23.120 are things you would like me to cover as we 0:49:23.520 --> 0:49:25.760 go through all this. I've got a big series about 0:49:25.800 --> 0:49:29.000 the PlayStation coming up soon. But if there are any 0:49:29.000 --> 0:49:31.399 other topics you would like me to cover, reach out 0:49:31.560 --> 0:49:34.040 on Facebook or Twitter. The handle for both is tech 0:49:34.080 --> 0:49:36.719 Stuff HSW and I'll talk to you again really soon. 0:49:41.480 --> 0:49:44.520 Text Stuff is an I heart radio production. For more 0:49:44.600 --> 0:49:48.000 podcasts from My heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, 0:49:48.120 --> 0:49:51.280 Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.