On the Set: Episode 405

Hi. My name is Bartlett. I'm Paula Yoo's travel bear. Yes, she is way too old to still have a travel bear, but well, there you go. Let's just say I'm her good-luck charm.

Paula likes to drag me along everywhere she goes. Her friends are used to getting silly pictures of me on top of some mountain in Yosemite, by a video poker slots machine in Vegas, and even at the Coliseum in Rome.

So I've traveled all over the world. Been there, done that.

But as cynical as I am, nothing prepared me for the TOTALLY AWESOME TRIP TO SET OF SYFY'S "EUREKA" IN VANCOUVER, CANADA!!!!

Paula's busy working at her, you know, job, where she's Co-Producer for Eureka. She wrote Episode 405, which is also known as THE CROSSOVER EPISODE WITH WAREHOUSE 13. It will air Friday August 6th at 9 PM (ET/PT).

Anyhoo… Paula's so busy "working" that she asked me to write up her Eureka Unscripted blog post about our trip to the Eureka set. Although it's really hard for me to type on Paula's computer keyboard (I'm a stuffed bear, for goodness sake), I will do my best. So here's a bear's-eye view of EUREKA… or, as Paula likes to say, YOOREKA.

TUESDAY MAY 11

Paula and I have never flown first class, so we were delighted to see that our airline had a first-class lounge! They serve all the free soup and salad you want! I'm a bear, so naturally I have to eat a lot all the time…

We arrived very late at the hotel in Vancouver - around 12:30 AM! Fortunately, Eureka's Story Editor Eric Wallace was still in Vancouver, so we all got to hang out for a little bit before Eric flew back to LA…

I was very exhausted and went to sleep in the very big bed provided by this hotel. Bears usually like to sleep on the floor of a cave, but I am a very sophisticated bear.

WEDNESDAY MAY 12

Today was a very long day. Paula had to attend many meetings, including a production meeting, a tone meeting, and a visual effects meeting, AND she had to do a couple of last minute production revisions to her script. I had no idea being a TV writer was so much work - I only see Paula in front of her computer playing Solitaire, so I was surprised to see how busy she was…

So while I enjoyed a lovely breakfast at her hotel (a Japanese-styled breakfast of fish and rice)…

… poor Paula was stuck at her production office, writing writing writing… I decided to help her revise her script. It needed a bear's touch.

I then got a little bored while Paula kept leaving for back to back meetings, so I decided to explore the Eureka production offices. It was filled with very nice humans who always smiled and said "hello" to me even though I am a bear. I saw one office where they have all these fancy schematics and layouts of the Eureka sets.

Paula was up until almost 3 a.m., writing and working on the last day of "prep" before her episode 405 was scheduled to shoot the next day. I fell asleep on the ride back to the hotel...

THURSDAY MAY 13 - FRIDAY MAY 14

Paula and I had a very fun time on the set when they filmed our episode 405! At the start of each day, we met the director Michael Robison at the catering truck for a delicious breakfast. I know it seems like we eat a lot, but when you are in production on a show, it's not unusual to work 12 to 14 hour days with very little time for breaks.

The production schedule went from 10 a.m. until midnight, with one "lunch" at 4 p.m. So we made sure to stock up on our food so we didn't get too hungry on the set. Can you imagine if my tummy growled during filming? How embarrassing would that be?

When we arrived on the set, the beautiful Salli Richardson-Whitfield who plays Allison walked by. She was so beautiful! As a joke, some of the production crew spread rose petals by her feet, making her laugh…

I noticed there was a specific order of events that happen when filming a show. First, the actors and director do a "rehearsal" where they run through the lines and discuss the "blocking" - where they should move during the scene. Then the actors leave to get their makeup/hair done and change wardrobe while stand-ins (lookalike actors) then stand in their spots while the lighting and camera and production crew set up the cameras and lights for the shoot. And then they shoot the scene from several angles - a "master" shot that shows everyone in the scene together, and then a series of "coverage" shots where they film the same scene over and over from each character's viewpoint.

It's very hard and often tedious work. Paula sat with the script supervisor and director to watch the scenes and to answer any questions the actors had about the dialogue.

Here is a shot I took of the stand-ins helping the crew light the shot for a couple of our actors:

I then went to the makeup trailer to get my makeup done, too, because one day I would like to become an actor. Maybe I will become the new Sheriff of Eureka… Colin Ferguson, watch out!

Later, I wandered around the set and took lots of pictures. Paula joined me occasionally for some photo ops. Below are some pictures we took while exploring the sets:

This is me in GD:

This is me in Henry's Garage:

Look at these fun props from Eureka!

I took a very artistic shot of our hard-working crew setting up the cameras and lights for one scene in GD…

I stopped by to chat with S.A.R.A.H., the Smart House, but she was "asleep." When they are not using the Smart House, they cover all the furniture with sheets to keep them from getting dirty!

Paula took a break at lunch to have some Vinspresso with me at Cafe Diem:

Here is Paula at her "chair" on the set on the last night of our visit to the Eureka set. If you look closely, you can spot Erica Cerra who plays Jo Lupo on our show, in the background, making funny faces to the camera. Erica is very silly!

On our last night, we said good-bye to everyone. It was so amazing to meet the hard-working and extremely talented production crew and cast of Eureka! Thank you, EUREKA PRODUCTION CREW! YOU GUYS ROCK!

Well, I hope you enjoyed my blog post. I'm now back in LA with Paula at the Eureka Writers' office. Writing is fun, but one day, I hope to direct!