Y&R: On Location

While shooting on location is the exception to the norm in daytime television, it’s a very fun occurrence when it does happen. I always feel like I work in “real Hollywood” when we shoot a remote — there’s something about the yellow crew signs, trailers, and craft services table that makes it feel legit. Over the years our show has traveled as far as New Orleans and Paris (although they used local crews in those cases so I didn’t get to tag along), and as close as our back parking lot. Here are memories from my last few remotes.

GRIFFITH PARK MERRY-GO-ROUND (March 2010)

This is the episode our directing team won a Daytime Emmy for. Tony Morina directed the merry-go-round scenes and Mike Denney directed the hall of mirrors sequence (more on that below), both of which were featured in this episode. This storyline featured Tracey Bregman playing two characters, Lauren and her look-a-like Sheila. We had a stunt double and coordinator, special effects for a gun shot, and Dramamine on hand for the crew as we shot on a twirling merry-go-round for much of the day. This was my first remote and it was a blast, literally and figuratively thanks to the gun!

HALL OF MIRRORS – STAGE 41 (March 2010)

While I didn’t participate in this remote, I did stop by to snap these photos. They shot ALL night long, a true rarity in soap operas. And while this shouldn’t technically count as a remote because it happened on our sound stage, it was disconnected from our control booth the same way we would shoot on location.

PARKING LOT REMOTE (June 2010)

We didn’t have to travel far for this remote; it happened in our own backyard. But again, we were totally disconnect from the booth. In this storyline, cops Chance and Ronan are going after some bad guys and then get into a fist fight and Christine rushes in to break them up with the news that they are actually brothers. Disclaimer: it’s been a few years so I may have not remembered all that correctly. But we shot a car chase in the parking lot (the speeding car was driven by our stunt coordinator Terry James) and there were lots of rain machines. And props used my car as one of the “background” cars in the parking lot. That’s happened a handful of times over the years and it’s always fun to look for it on television. They even gave my Rav-4 a Wisconsin license plate for the evening.

Check out cameraman Kai way up on that ladder!

Do you like my pen necklace? It comes with me on every remote. That’s cameraman Johnny (decked out in rain gear) and AD Robbin on the right.

Below is our beloved boom operator Luis, who tragically passed away this past weekend. You can read more about him in last Monday’s post. On the right, Robbin poses with Kai.

I love this shot — here’s Mikael, Robbin, and Luis:

And here’s why our crew members are wearing yellow rain gear — by the time we get to the climactic fight scene between Ronan and Chance, the script calls for pouring rain. You can see it coming down in the photo below left. Check out Kai back on the ladder in the photo below right.

RADFORD LOT — BILLY & VICTORIA’S WEDDING (July 2010)

Wedding remotes are fun (and LONG) because they usually involve so many cast members. In the golden days of soaps, we shot remote weddings in Hawaii or the Caribbean, but these days we stay local. BIlly & Victoria’s “Father Knows Best” wedding was shot on the CBS Radford lot in Studio City.

First thing in the morning, the lighting team rigs a giant scrim via overhead crane to create a dappled lighting effect and diffuse the bright sunlight throughout the day.

Here’s director Mike Denney and stage manager Don Jacobs on the left. And that’s Nancy and myself on the right, tag-teamming PA duties for the day. My pen necklace makes its triumphant return!

Video village (a fancy term for where they set up monitors for the directing team) is inside the garage. The wedding takes place immediately outside. I remember it got real stuffy in that garage by lunchtime.

These shots demonstrate how well the overhead scrim works.

Great shot of Luis in action below.

GREYSTONE MANSION — LILY & CANE’S WEDDING (January 2012)

And just over a year ago we shot another big wedding remote, this time for Cane & Lily at the Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills. Their wedding supposedly took place in France, but we pulled a fast one on our audience and shot it only a few miles away from our studio. This mansion is open to the public and quite stunning — and the views over the city are spectacular, especially during sunrise and sunset (of which we saw both on this day).

We shot with four cameras, including a jib. You know it’s a special occasion when we break out the jib.

The lawn where we shot the vows was gorgeous. But I remember the ground was a little soggy from recent rain so our wardrobe department added platforms to the bottom of actresses’ high heels so they wouldn’t sink into the grass.

Here’s director Mike Denney sitting in video village.

After the vows, we moved to a different part of the location to shoot the reception. It’s supposed to be a vineyard in France and I think this passes nicely! Our production designers and set decorators did an excellent job creating atmosphere.