Supersuits, Sets, and Special Effects: The Production Topic

[johnar]

Dunno if I am repeating myself (I'm on several boards), but given the fact that the CW passed on the project in 2014 / 2015 and ended up with it anyway after CBS ran with it 2015-16, CW President had two business decisions to make:

1. make the show get better ratings (by changing it)

2. ruin the show to get it off budget asap (by changing it)

It appears this is just what Pedowitz did.

And the trouble is, season 1 was a balance of several things that produced magic (the kind legendary shows are made of).

The indifferent audience simply had not tried the show and discovered this. If they had (via more aggressive marketing by CBS) they would never have had to change a thing and tamper with the magic. But they changed it and, unless I am completely utterly wrong, the show is doomed it's only a matter of time and I guess it won't make (normal) syndicate cut.

Edited September 11, 2017 by johnar

[Bort]

11 hours ago, MarkHB said:

Season 3 will leave Supergirl in range of 80+ episodes within Season 4, which is the target for being able to go to syndication. 

This is the part that keeps me in the 'feh' zone. Episode numbers aren't the draw anymore. Netflix and the like have killed that. Syndication isn't as big a deal as it used to be. 

[MarkHB]

4 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

This is the part that keeps me in the 'feh' zone. Episode numbers aren't the draw anymore. Netflix and the like have killed that. Syndication isn't as big a deal as it used to be. 

It's still out there, though, including international (and I'm not sure if or how far the CW's Netflix deal extends outside the US).  Plus they could always syndicate it onto any of the various Turner networks and get more back-end ad revenue from those (i.e., show the same show for new ad money 4 years later).   Supergirl may have slid last season, but it never dropped below the median CW rating of an 0.4, and regardless of how the numbers look in the abstract the fact that it's the second-highest rated show on the network is more important in the renew/cancel evaluation than the raw numbers themselves.  The only shows the CW has that perform above their average are the DC shows and Supernatural; shows in the top-half of the network's ratings get renewed.  We saw last season with Frequency and No Tomorrow what it takes to get cancelled on the CW: ratings in the neighborhood of an 0.2.  I am confident that it won't drop that far this season and will, in fact, get a S4 renewal.

[johnar]

On 9/10/2017 at 10:15 PM, MarkHB said:

It's still out there, though, including international (and I'm not sure if or how far the CW's Netflix deal extends outside the US).  Plus they could always syndicate it onto any of the various Turner networks and get more back-end ad revenue from those (i.e., show the same show for new ad money 4 years later).   Supergirl may have slid last season, but it never dropped below the median CW rating of an 0.4, and regardless of how the numbers look in the abstract the fact that it's the second-highest rated show on the network is more important in the renew/cancel evaluation than the raw numbers themselves.  The only shows the CW has that perform above their average are the DC shows and Supernatural; shows in the top-half of the network's ratings get renewed.  We saw last season with Frequency and No Tomorrow what it takes to get cancelled on the CW: ratings in the neighborhood of an 0.2.  I am confident that it won't drop that far this season and will, in fact, get a S4 renewal.

Sound reasoning.

Just sad to see such creative and cultural potential wasted on just squeaking by...

So sad.

I envisioned a five year run (based on season 1 version of course), with as many as 7 possible spin offs and one feature film trilogy.

Yeah. That much potential.

Edited September 14, 2017 by johnar

[Xander]

The CW is going for the female audience and will not get rid of their female-headed Superhero show even if the ratings worsen. They hold on to CEG and JTV for the critical acclaim and will keep this one because it's woman-led. We'll probably get a Season 6 if the ratings aren't a complete disaster by network standards. 

Edited September 14, 2017 by Xander

[johnar]

Again, so sad to see such potential wasted on just squeaking by.

[MarkHB]

From the Media thread... @nightwing877

18 hours ago, nightwing877 said:

Too bad the tax break for LA happened once SG moved production, we lost far too many actor's because of the move. 

There was a new tax break in LA?  I know Supergirl applied for one before the Vancouver move, but it was denied.

[legaleagle53]

Just now, MarkHB said:

From the Media thread... @nightwing877

There was a new tax break in LA?  I know Supergirl applied for one before the Vancouver move, but it was denied.

Yes, and it's the reason that Timeless was able to move production from Vancouver to Los Angeles for its second season.

[MarkHB]

1 minute ago, legaleagle53 said:

Yes, and it's the reason that Timeless was able to move production from Vancouver to Los Angeles for its second season.

Thanks.  At this point even if they could get it I'm sure they'd rather stay in Van City for the crossover potential, though.

[nightwing877]

2 hours ago, legaleagle53 said:

Yes, and it's the reason that Timeless was able to move production from Vancouver to Los Angeles for its second season.

 

2 hours ago, MarkHB said:

Thanks.  At this point even if they could get it I'm sure they'd rather stay in Van City for the crossover potential, though.

Sigh, too bad they were denied. But yeah the crossover's makes sense, unless they flew out actors for those, which would be hard. Even though SG's show never had any crossover's except cameo's last year. 

The only thing about being in LA, is all the wonderful actor's being more available. And not just Cat, but it's sad how many actor's have been lost because of this move. Guess that's just how it is.

[quarks]

On 9/10/2017 at 11:15 PM, MarkHB said:

It's still out there, though, including international (and I'm not sure if or how far the CW's Netflix deal extends outside the US). 

Very late to this, but the CW Netflix deal was for the U.S./portions of the Bahamas only.  Netflix has to negotiate separate streaming licensing rights for additional countries/regions - so some countries have Supergirl on Netflix, some don't.  

[Trini]

A few pics from instagram:

 

 

[MarkHB]

Regarding that one by David Harewood, I heard Kevin Smith raving about Melissa (in a good way) on "Fatman on Batman."  As he put it (roughly), "Number One on the call sheet can cause all kinds of turmoil if they want to, but she's just the best person ever to work with."

[Trini]

A closer look at Earth-X James' costume:

[Trini]

From the Lena thread:

On 11/28/2017 at 8:22 PM, nightwing877 said:

For someone promoted to regular, Lena sure feels like a recurring character having missed 4 episodes already. She has been absent for 3 episodes. Guess Katie has had a nice long holiday for over a month while these episodes filmed. I'm sure she will not miss anymore episodes though. 

----

I've actually been wondering myself how the contracts, etc., are set up for this show; because it's unusual(?) that certain regular characters can be missing for episodes at a time.

I can only compare to The Flash, but over there it seems that the core regulars are required to appear in each episode, even if it's one short scene with one line.

There are other dramas where regular characters aren't in every episode, but usually when I've seen that, it's a show with a much larger ensemble cast.

[nightwing877]

1 hour ago, Trini said:

From the Lena thread:

----

I've actually been wondering myself how the contracts, etc., are set up for this show; because it's unusual(?) that certain regular characters can be missing for episodes at a time.

I can only compare to The Flash, but over there it seems that the core regulars are required to appear in each episode, even if it's one short scene with one line.

There are other dramas where regular characters aren't in every episode, but usually when I've seen that, it's a show with a much larger ensemble cast.

That's right, I have known other shows to not have regulars in every episode. But the Flash for instance seems to have everyone in every episode regardless. I agree, shows with a larger ensemble cast would do that. 

Funny last season James missed so many episodes, but this season they make an effort to put him in every episode even for small scene's. Yet could of sat him out. Maybe Lena has the deal James had last season missing episodes. I don't know it's weird.

[paulvdb]

It happens in some shows as a cost-cutting measure. I remember on Veronica Mars that some actors were not contracted for all 22 episodes in a season but for something like 16 episodes so they'd not be in some episodes. It's probably the same here.

[stealinghome]

Being a regular really just means that the show on which you're a regular has first claim to your time--so (say) if McGrath is a regular on Supergirl and recurring elsewhere and there's a week both shows want her to work, Supergirl gets her. I believe I read somewhere that the producers had wanted McGrath more (or at different times) in S2 but had to work around her schedule, so making her a regular this season may have just been the producers trading some additional money per episode in salary for the certainty of knowing for sure that they'd have McGrath when they wanted/needed her.

It's not unheard of for shows with smaller casts to still have some actors missing from several episodes; on Person of Interest, for example, Amy Acker was only ever contracted for 16 episodes/season, so missed a few every year once she became a regular--and that show's regular cast was only ever 4-6 people. If all parties are on board, a regular missing a few eps a season makes sense as a money-saving measure on the production's side that offers the actor a little more flexibility with their time if they want to fit some other stuff in.

Edited December 5, 2017 by stealinghome

[Trini]

[Trini]

Kevin Smith interview with SFX Supervisor Armen Kevorkian (Interview starts at 17:14): http://www.smodcast.com/channel/fatmanonbatman?audio=204

They discuss Armen's career history, the process behind putting together special effects for TV, Kevin discusses the episodes of Supergirl and The Flash that he worked on.

[MarkHB]

That is a really great interview.  I listened to it last week.

[Trini]

Closer look at the Reign mask and makeup:

 

 

Mehcad and two of his stunt doubles:

But which two?? ?

[tinnefoil]

[tinnefoil]

[tinnefoil]

[Trini]

Halfway to the full Brainiac look:

Worldkillers:

 

[Trini]

VFX break down for 3.07:

[Trini]

 

Not sure if this is from Season 4 or not, so possible *spoilers*:

[MarkHB]

That was cool :) .

[Trini]

[Trini]

[MarkHB]

Hmmm... completely unspoiled, but that looks vaguely Midvale-ish.

[Trini]

Kevin Smith mentioned in his Fatman Beyond show he'd be done with directing his Supergirl episode in the second week in October; so last week(/this week) was prep, I guess.

[Trini]

[Trini]

Kevin starts his episode on Monday:

[Trini]

[Trini]

[Trini]

[Trini]

Kevin Smith update, they've wrapped episode 4.08; possible spoilers in the photos:

[Trini]

I think there was some speculation before, but here's confirmation that they shot some things out of order to accommodate Melissa's Broadway role:

Quote

Here’s the funny thing: Episode 403 was the first thing we shot this season. So by the time I shot the stuff you saw [in episode 2] with him orating and saying these bigoted things, or him hurting Tiya Sircar — who I worked with on Star Wars: Rebels funny enough and did some bad things to her there, too, as Darth Maul — I was very, very familiar with this guy’s motivations and I understood how to play those scenes because we had shot 403 before any of that stuff. It’ll be funny for audience members to go back and watch those two episodes after they watch the next episode and see if they can understand where the vitriol comes from, understand where this character’s beef lies. ...

[Trini]

Well, this was just funny:

[Trini]

[Trini]

Encore VFX reel for 2018 featuring scenes from Supergirl and other DCTV shows:

[Trini]

[Trini]

Filming Brainy's wall walk:

[Trini]

[Trini]

A few Elseworlds BTS photos of the Fortress of Solitude:

Edited January 1, 2019 by Trini

[Primal Slayer]

I'm surprised that Kara has gotten zero alterations to her suit after 4 years. 

[Trini]

I think they've done small functional tweaks (the undersuit used to be more obvious is Season 1); but if it ain't broke, don't fix it?

[MarkHB]

On 1/1/2019 at 7:14 PM, Trini said:

I think they've done small functional tweaks (the undersuit used to be more obvious is Season 1); but if it ain't broke, don't fix it?

I read somewhere that Melissa is very much in "DON'T TOUCH IT!" mode re: the suit design.  She thinks it's fine the way it is, it's certainly not the case that they were deliberately evolving towards something the way Barry's suit is, and maybe if "touching it" means "how about some shiny brass epaulet-brackets to hold your cape on?" then possibly she's terrified of what could happen.  :)