A Visit to the Set of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman

by Rae ©2005

NOTE: This is a report of my visit to the set of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, in October 1995, originally posted in parts to the DQMW discussion list, so it's very much geared toward the members of that list at that time. This was an open set because it was filmed in a state park, and anyone could go and watch. I was lucky enough to know someone who knows Beth Sullivan, the show's creator, so I had a guest pass for 2 of my 3 days. As of February, 2005, I haven't changed or edited it since it was written, so make allowances for that.

Enjoy.

The first day we went we didn't have guest passes and so were kept far away by Ranger Glen who was really great to us. What a difference the next two days when we did have passes. We were treated as part of the crew, very welcome, no big deal. Nobody even looked at us, or if they did they smiled. The second day several people said welcome back. As long as you aren't in a shot and don't talk too loudly, nobody seems to care where you stand or who you talk to.

Here are some things I learned, off the top of my head.

CBS has screwed up the order of the episodes even though TPBP gave them the proper viewing order. So we will see Matthew sad, sad, happy, happy, happy, sad, sad.

Jane Seymour began to have contractions and was hospitalized briefly a week ago but apparently was able to come back and shoot 2 or 3 scenes. She should then be done for the duration. A crew member told me that she is due as we know on Dec. 20 but will have a cesarean section near the end of November or earlier. The first day we were on the set we could hear someone asking for someone else to go and get some pillows from Jane's trailer. She also gets several massages a day. In one scene we actually saw her run few steps in 3 or 4 takes. Don't know how she does it. She does have a stunt double named Shannon to ride for her. As she arrived at the set the first day she smiled and waved to us, but that was all we saw of her.

Re: Shannon, she got the job because she was working at Jane's daughter's riding stable, and looks a lot like Jane. She hasn't been there too long, but long enough to have worked the 30 consecutive days that are required to get one's SAG card which she does have.

Re SAG cards and extras: extras can either be SAG members (Screen Actor's Guild) or another guild which I forget. If you are only in the other one, you get $40 a day. If you are SAG, you get $95 a day. Same exact job. When you go home for the night, you find out if you will be called for the next day or not. You can work as much or as little as you want to. Many of "our" extras have very long lists of credits in other shows and films. One of the extras is a little old lady (her description) named Carmen who is there nearly every day. She is also in a commercial for Macintosh computers showing now on the Discovery Channel. She is a retired dental office manager who hated retirement and so became an extra at age 67. She was excited to have been called to be an extra in a movie in which she was to wear tennis shorts and act like a swinger. She's about 4'9, gray curls just under her bonnet (her signature, she said), very thin. Another regular is George, very tall, distinguished-looking, black narrow-brimmed hat, mutton chops. He is also retired and loves being on the set, and works almost exclusively on DQ. Another is Nancy, who thought she would not be called back and so had her hair straightened for another job, ER, I think, (she is African American) and then was called to DQ after all and her first thought was "OH NO, my hair!"

An interesting thing about Nancy, in one scene (all spoilers to follow), she spontaneously reacted by glancing sideways up (a blank type look that was clearly veiled anger) at the actor to something the actor said while she walked past in a take. The director (Chuck Bowman), called out to her that he really liked what she had done and to keep it in for future takes.

In this scene from "The Bounty Hunter" the bounty hunter is talking to Robert E and asking if he's seen the "negro" in the wanted poster he has with him. Nancy had glanced up at him as he said the word "negro." The story is about Robert E's past in which he killed someone. In another scene we saw, Sully tries to get Robert E to tell Grace, but RE is afraid she will leave him. Sully tells him, "Not the Grace *I* know."

And speaking of Chuck Bowman, I was talking to one of the wardrobe guys, Jimmy George, who I'd gotten friendly with, and he introduced me to the man sitting next to him at a table in Grace's cafe. It was Chuck. We shook hands and he asked to see my camera and we discussed photography a while.

Just after this conversation Chuck and Jimmy went off and I was still at the table, and a crew person came up and said, "Well, Rachel, you're in the next shot. Gotta move ya." Called me by name! I was totally pleased.

Jimmy G likes to take candids of cast and crew and has 20 albums full of photos which he gives to them if they want them, which they seem to. He took a great one of Ranger Dave who went over near me to to look at it, saw I was also looking, and showed it to me with a pleased manner. I complimented him on his photogenicity (my new word) and he agreed with me. Jimmy told me never to take a photo during a take, which I knew. He said his most embarassing moment was that once during a scene with Jane and Joe he took a photo and the flash fired. No one said anything to him about it and were very nice to him. He was mortified. He has been ultra-careful since.

And speaking of Ranger Dave, he has a reputation on the set for "being serious about his job." At one point all of a sudden out of nowhere I heard a chant from some crew members: "Ranger Dave. Ranger Dave. Ranger Dave." This went on for about half a minute and then just stopped. He was nothing but pleasant to us (once we had guest passes, that is).

Well, this is getting long. More to follow. Do you all want to hear peripheral stuff like this, (I have lots, lots more) or do you prefer sticking to the cast and spoilers?

But first, btw, they were filming about 4 or 5 shows concurrently to deal with Jane's pregnancy, which many people referred to as "the situation." This meant that there were several changes of directors, episodes, costume each day. ]

The continuity guy, Gil, was kept busy making sure everyone had on the same wardrobe as in surrounding scenes that may have been shot weeks ago. I heard several extras telling Jimmy what they'd been wearing before. As I've done continuity on a movie that was filmed here on the Vineyard, I was particularly interested in his work. He has a big looseleaf notebook with pages of polaroids and scene descriptions. The script supervisor also took a lot of polaroids and checked stuff. And as Gil had been to the Vineyard when he worked on Jaws II (he also worked on Quantum Leap), we chatted quite a bit.

Also, they film about 10 minutes per day. That's all. Takes 7 days per ep.

I think extras are responsible for making sure they keep continuity, too, for example, in the morning it was really cold, and Carmen offered me the knit gloves she got from wardrobe. I said wouldn't she want to wear them, and she said, no because it would warm up later (which it does out there, 40 in the a.m., 80+ during the day) and if she wore them in the morning, she'd be stuck wearing them all day.

Imagine trying to keep track of all the details, or trying to act a scene when you don't know the story or the character's motivation! These people are amazing. Most shows (maybe all shows?) film scenes out of sequence, but they are working on only one show at a time!

Matthew will be sheriff for several episodes. We saw a scene in which he demands that Hank give him his gun. Hank shoves Matthew a few times, then Matthew, in a quick move which Sully had previously taught him, puts Hank on the ground. Hank sort of laughs an nasty laugh and pushes his hair off his face and sneers, "Do you think you're gonna be able to do that to [some bad guy whose name I forget]?" Or something like that. Lu Ann and I were standing in such a position that from about 4 feet away (no kidding) we were looking at Hank's bottom with his feet (yes indeedy) up over his head (the aftermath of the the flipover that Matt did to him). The director said, someone brush him off, he's not supposed to be dirty yet, and someone else (male) ran in and dusted off Hank's bottom. Lu Ann and I both said at the same moment that we would be happy to take over the work, especially as there were several takes, each requiring the dust-off. Both of us also thought of you, Hussy, and took photos for you. A little later the stunt doubles came in and did the actual flipping part.

In another scene at the new reservation, Sully and CD are discussing the corn crop and tasting the sweetness of the corn. Many off-camera jokes about the corn and eating it. It's about selling the corn to buy meat. CD says, "*Buy* meat?" He can't believe he has to be a farmer when he's supposed to be a hunter, and that he's reduced to buying something that was always just his for the hunting. Few words, lots of impact. The reservation is set up in a gully down behind and below the stables and alongside the stream.

In another scene, Loren comes to the reservation to buy corn. He tastes it and apparently was spitting corn at Joe who started laughing about it. More corn jokes. In this scene Sully negotiates 40 cents per bushel, but Loren says "Only if it's delivered on time" and some other condition that I forget. Then Sully and CD walk off and CD says something like, "I thought you said it was worthe 45 cents." Sully says something about it being the best he could do. Then CD says, "I could have gotten 45 cents." This was all deadpan and I couldn't tell if maybe it was supposed to be humorous. I guess when we see it in context we'll find out.

It was just before this scene that we met Larry who agreed to have his picture taken with us. I was fortunate to get mine (his shirt is very soft leather) and then he was called away and the others didn't get their turns. Sorry guys.

Also between takes I was introduced to Orson by the sound mixer, Claude, who said to Orson, "Here's another cat lover." So we talked about his cats, 2 of whom have recently passed away of old age, and how he came upon their names, and his book about how to prepare mice, and I said I didn't think mine would care how the mice are prepared but I would certainly look for the book. (Also before that I was standing under the tent set up for the cast and extras where their chairs are and was leaning on a chair and felt somone sit in it and looked down and it was Orson. He looked up and smiled at me.)

Re the stream, it looked kind of ucky to us. Wouldn't want to step barefoot in it as the kids have done. But it's very pretty and lined with trees. In a few places there are 2by6 boards on which to cross over.

THe last shot of the day was a scene on the hill with Matthew and Emma, played by Charlotte somebody from England but sporting a southern drawl. When they began the scene, someone didn't think her hair ribbons matched her dress and so sent her back to wardrobe. While she was gone, Ozzie and the sound mixer were discussing this, (I was siting on the ground between them) and I said, "That's what we're waiting for?" Ozzie said something like, "No, that's what *we're* waiting for. *You're" just a visitor." It was teasing and cute and made me feel accepted as part of the group. When she came back she had on a different dress altogether. Emma is one of Hank's girls. The scene is a picnic, but not a fancy one, no basket or anything (I saw the script) and Emma is trying to act ladylike and not allude to her status as a whore. Here's part of the scene from what I remember (I heard it about 7 times)

E: something about having better plans for herself

M: something about having had plans to come home to a housefull of kids and his wife cookin dinner, and that having a plan got him nowhere.

E: But you're the sheriff. That's somewhere! More potato salad?

M: Sure. It's good.

Something about her mama seeing the devil in her and refering to her as a whore, and M saying, "your mama said that?" and E saying mama didn't see the devil in her father, and then quickly changing the subject.

(off camera Chad said, this is the worst potato salad I ever ate. Turns out there was bacon in it and he doesn't eat bacon. Is he vegetarian? So they got him some other salad but he said he wouldn't eat it anymore, and they agreed that he would just hold the plate and fork but not have to eat. Later when he picked up the plate he said "It's covered with ants." But you will never know when you see it that he was holding a plate full of ants.)

E: something about not being a great cook but her mama taught her sew and she had made her dress.

M: (eats salad). You made that dress yourself?

E: Yes. Why, do you like it? (Stands up and swirls it around to show it off.)

M: Yes. You look pretty. . . . The dress. It's pretty.

Then a long look and the script says, "The attraction between them is palpable."

Between takes Chad went off with his manager who was introduced to us, but whose name escapes me, and Charlotte sat by herself and practiced her lines. I heard her trying several inflections, and saying something about pronouncing "potato salad" with an English accent and having to be careful about it.

End of SPOILERS for today.

And now a contest.

I, shall we say, aquired (in a very above-board and correct way) something of a personal nature from one of the main cast. The first person who guesses what it is will learn privately how I got it and will receive a photo of that cast member.

No private email on this one, please. Let's let everyone have fun.

Good luck.

Rachel

part 3

Nope, not recipes, not Orson's book, not boxer shorts. "It" was not given to me but the actor, but by someone in the crew. I will start giving hints. That was the first one. Tomorrow I'll narrow the field a bit. BTW, those 2 or 3 of you who have seen "it" are not elible, and also, I'm on digest mode so I'll only be giving updates once a day. Sorry for the suspense factor. Let me say that "it" is really worth the suspense.

No Hussy, I didn't meet Hank :-( Sure got some good looks though. OK, here's a hint. "It" is not from William. :-(

OK, today, I will tell of my several encounters with Joe.

On the morning of the first day we had passes, 2 of us met the set's school teacher, Judy. She was very friendly and was delighted when I asked her to sign my call sheet. She couldn't get over it. She told us that Shawn is an excellent student, doing high school level work, and loves school. We saw him with his mother, also very friendly, and Judy introduced me to his father. His parents seem really great. BTW, Shawn seemed smaller and thinner to me than he looks on the show. He is incredibly professional and good-natured.

Here's a SPOILER

Christmas episode, possibly, "When You Love Someone" Homestead dressed for Christmas.

We saw a scene filmed just beyond the new homestead in which Brian is trying to get a little white poodle named Fifi (real name Darla according to the animal handler) to search for Brian's friend, a little girl. Fifi is not cooperating, though Darla did great. The trainer stands just barely out of camera range, at times right on top of Brian, to give her signals. There was another trainer off a bit who used horns and beeping sounds to give signals. All the sounds and commands have to be edited out later. Shawn didn't seem to even notice the trainer right on top of him, but just went right on with his work. He had a fake dog to carry while riding his horse.

In another scene he arrives at the homestead and the dog runs into the house. Brian says something about the dog not being much of a dog, or something like that. Apparently the dog is not housebroken and Dr. Mike is not pleased about it. The ep is about Brian's first love. The teacher told us that Shawn had requested that his character be allowed to change and grow, so his hair style has been "updated" and Brian is experiencing first love. He will also get his first real kiss. We saw a photo of the kiss on the sound mixer's board. Looked pretty real!

Anyway, after the dog runs in the house, Matthew arrives by wagon to borrow tools from Sully. Brian says something about how the holidays won't be so happy, and M says how Ingrid loved Christmas. B asks M, "When you first knew you liked Ingrid, how did you let her know?" M says by listening to her and letting her know he was interested in what she said, or something like that. Then he throws some stuff in the wagon and asks Brian to tell Sully he'll bring it back later.

END of SPOILER

The sound mixer, Claude, showed us the garden and "orchard" (about 4 pathetic-looking trees in tubs). They had "planted" basil plants in the garden. Mind you this is Christmas in Colorado Springs, and there are leaves on all but one of the trees, and there is lovely green basil growing in the kitchen garden. We also got to go into the homestead, which I guess anyone can do anyway, but Claude gave us a little tour. The kitchen fireplace is movable so they can set up equipment. The first fireplace was too big and a new one had to be made. We saw the eagle carving and the wedding gift from CD that had been Snowbird's. I don't know the significance of the eagle. Does anyone out there know? Did I miss something?

M and S's bedroom is inside a sound stage. The sound stages aren't true sound stages as they aren't totally soundproof, but rather provide quiet for night scenes, allow night scenes to be shot in the day time, and allow privacy. The walls are movable to allow for different angles. There are 3 stages, one behind Grace's cafe, one inside the first row of buildings as you enter town where the Library is, and one behind the tool shop that isn't in use at the moment. The upstairs to the clinic and the children's bedrooms are in the one behind the library. We got to see M and S's bedroom but not any of the others. The bed is beautiful, the room is small, the rocking chair looked tempting.

Oh, we also saw the crib! It was in the lunch area on the first day, then disappeared.

About night and day scenes, when they were filming the picnic scene, it was late in the day and all of a sudden the crickets woke up. Ozzie kept hurrying the crew along because if it got any later they'd have to make it a night scene instead of a day scene, because crickets don't chirp during the day. There is a detail to look out for for all you detail-oriented people. Listen for crickets in day scenes, and you'll know it was filmed close to dusk!

And speaking of lunch, man they eat well! Salad bar, 3 choices of entree, 2 or 3 desserts, fresh fruit. Snacks at all times near the filming, (like olives, carrots, cookies, apples). We got to eat there, too.

OH, OK, about Joe. Well, the teacher invited us to come by the school to see the kids at work, so we went to the trailers to look for it. I was wandering by myself reading names on doors, all alone, when who comes toward me but Joe. He looked a bit panic stricken so I moved slightly away, raised my hand in a sort of wave, and nodded to him. He nodded back but didn't smile. I then said, "Actually, I'm looking for the school. Judy invited us to stop by." Well, the look of relief on his face was amazing. He walked toward me, and said, "I think it's that one there." I said thanks, he smiled, and went off. I can only imagine what it's like to find yourself alone with a stranger of unknown intent who could have gone nuts and said or done anything. And the relief to find she is going to act like a normal person. (Fortunately he doesn't know the real me ;-) As it turns out, the school was empty and we never did get to see it. Oh well.

Anyway, that was fun. Then, later, I was standing on the porch in front of Loren's chatting to a crew person about how nice and friendly it was on this set. He was telling me of other jobs he's had where it is definitely not friendly, and that working here was paradise. Joe, who was walking toward us, said, "It's been paradise since you've been here," to the crew person. I said, "It's been paradise since *I've* been here." Joe smiled, and said, "Yes, that too."

So then, later, at Grace's cafe I saw him several times. I was just chatting to various people and Joe just kept coming over but not saying anything. He did nod at me a few times as if to say, "well, I don't know who you are, but you're around and everyone's talking to you, so I accept you." I'm of course making his thoughts up, but it seems reasonable :-)

And then, after he finished his last scene, he was leaving via the main street of the town and had been stopped for photos by some of the other fans who were there but who had been kept away by rangers. After he took the photos with them he started to leave so I called out, "Can we form a line, Joe?" and he said sure, and came back. The other woman's husband took pictures of us with our own cameras. He put him arms across our shoulders. I had my hand on his upper back. Could not resist a pat, and said, thanks, and then he went away. Haven't seen that picture yet, it's still in the camera.

So that's it for today. Keep those guesses coming. Here's another hint for as a reward for those of you still reading my long post: "it" is from one of the male cast members.

I got the name of the extra wrong who was worried about her hair. Her name is Jeanne, and Nancy is an extra who rides, wears a long blue skirt that flows over the horse's back, a bun at her neck, a narrow brimmed hat. I spotted her in DB through the windows of the mercantile. Her husband is a wrangler.

We learned from Ranger Bob (was it Bob?), the one who took us around (see Deb R's post) that the whole town is a reproduction of a set built in the 30s or 40s for some studio to film westerns. It was torn down by some developer, but then the land was bought by the Parks and Recreation Service, or by Paramount or somebody (Deb, Connie, Lu, help me out with details here!), and an exact replica of the town was rebuilt. A while ago Chuck Connors (The Rifleman) came to the set and, looking through what was Horace's telegraph office, he noticed a big oak tree and asked "How did they move that 400 year old tree?" (obviously not a true or exact quote). Turns out that they had rebuilt the town several feet to the north (or was it south) by mistake, and no one would have realized if Connors hadn't noticed the tree being in the "wrong" place.

Regarding an upcoming episode, The Expedition (not a spoiler), it came out 5 minutes too short so they had to write in extra scenes and were filming them while we were there. Now it looks to me that The Expedition is on next week. Pretty fast work, eh? It might be fun to see if we can tell which are the added-on scenes.

The new directions the characters are taking (Brian growing up, Ingrid getting killed) are a result of meetings with the actors who gave input into how they wanted their characters to develop. Shawn asked for Brian to grow up, and so will get a new hair style among other things, and Chad felt that Matthew was too young to marry and should have some adventures that he could not have if he were married. Also the general feeling seemed to be on the set that there were too many marriages and babies goin' on.

The house in town behind the pump, next to Grace and Robert E's house is actually inhabited by the set's caretaker. Imagine living where you have to keep the shades drawn, and people come and try to look in the windows, and there is noise all the day long and some nights, too.

If you are looking at your tapes, note the window in the old homestead. One pane is actually made of canning jars. I think someone has already told of this on the list before, but I was fascinated by it. Was this a common thing to do? If I ever build my own home I want to put in a window like it.

Well, that's it for today. I'm starting to run low on things to tell you about so will try to spread them out a bit.

This is not a spoiler: We saw scenes from an upcoming ep, The Iceman. When I first heard the title mentioned I immediately thought it meant a, you know, iceman, like from a glacier, and I started off on a lovely mind trip wondering where there are glaciers near CS, and who finds him, and how they deal with it (remember the mastodon in Northern Exposure?). Then Connie, Lu Ann, and Deb started talking about it and I suddenly realize, Oh, Iceman, like blocks of ice for the fridge. Duh!

I think I heard this from a ranger or a fire marshal so it might not be true, but whoever it was said that there would be an episode in which Matthew burns down the old homestead in a fit of grief, (which I think has been discussed on the list before) and that they actually will be doing a controlled burn of the actual building.

Grace and Robert E will try to adopt a little boy named Alexander (looked to be around 9 or 10 from the little I could see as this was the day we didn't have passes). While learning to ride Sully's bicycle at a picnic or party at the new homestead he falls over (did his own stunt), and Michaela, Colleen, and a few others run a few steps toward him. Jane had to do this several times, while wearing her long coat. In 80 degree temps. Of course there is Something Wrong with Alexander. Don't know if he lives or dies or is otherwise spirited off to Guest Cast Heaven.

Re the coat, it's made of lightweight cotton but still, it's a layer. At one point in the scene I heard someone tell Jane to "move that plate in front of you." Guess Brian wasn't available for Stomach Hiding. From the side, the coat does the job nicely.

Here's some advice to future Ranch visitors:

1. Look at the ground and pick up any pieces of paper you might see. I found a torn up call sheet under the boardwalk in front of the clinic. I got 2 pieces out easily but had to fish the 3rd out with a stick and help from Lu Ann. I don't know whatever made me see it much less pick it up.

2. If you live in or have been to somewhere of interest to others, wear a t shirt with a logo. I wore my Black Dog t shirts each day and was approached by many people who wanted to know when I'd been to the Vineyard, and then freaked out when they found out I live here. I got 4 phone numbers and addresses and was asked for mine by many more than that, and it was the Vineyard what done it, not my smiling face nor delightful personality. But hey, whatever works.

Well, Banker Lodge is gonna stir up some trouble for Hank. In a scene that was shot inside the bank, so I couldn't see it directly but watched it on Claude the sound mixer's monitor, and listened to it on a head set, Preston is sitting at his desk polishing his fine leather shoe when Hank walks in with two of his Hussies (nice to see you, Joyce!). They tried shaking hands hello, then tried it again with Hank not shaking hands, once with Hank standin up, once sittin accross the desk, all sorts of ways.

Anyway, Lodge is going to open a big Hotel and Hank wants him not to bother, but rather to join up with his already established fine operation. P says his hotel will have "good" entertainment and gambling and be high class, and altogether different sort of place than Hank's. Then he tries to make an offer to the Hussies but Hank says "They already have a job" or something like that and leaves. Preston smirks to himself after Hank is gone.

In another scene, one of the extra scenes for the Expedition, Horace comes into the bank and says he can join in on a big poker game because Myra has decided to go on the expedition. Should be interesting. Maybe he'll end up the Big Winner to all the men's Surprise and Mortification.

Another great thing I got to do was see the daily rushes from the previous day's shooting. Claude showed them to me on his monitor and I was treated to a fascinating rundown of all the things that had gone well or wrong in each take. It was strange to see the same scene over and over back to back, but a little different each time.

Here's something I learned from working on one of the movies here on the Island. Everyone knows about the clapper (you know, the board with the scene number and name, and take, on it). What some of you might not know is why they snap the clapper. The sequence is this:

The following all happens within a matter of about 8 seconds: The sound mixer (Claude) starts the scene by okaying (no planes, no trucks, etc.) and says into the microphone the name of the scene and take number and some other info, then says roll sound or something like that. Then the assistant director says "Rolling" and all the production assistants make sure the crew knows they're to be quiet, then the sound person (don't know the correct title) says "Speed" which means that the tape in the tape recorder is at full speed (if they start to early there's a distortion). Then the clapper guy runs in, show the camera the board, snaps the clapper, and runs out of the shot. If there's a second camera, he does the same for the second one (cameras A and B). He does this quickly so as not to waste film. The snap of the board is for the sound editor later to match up the audio with the video. If for some reason they didn't do the board at the beginning of the scene (they forgot, or something) then they do it at the end, holding the board upside down to signal to the editor that it was at the back of the scene. There's a term for that but I forget what it is (back something). All of this would be marked on the script by the script supervisor as well, and also a note made by the sound mixer. (BTW, it's the script supervisor's job among other things to make sure all lines of dialog are shot, nothing left out by mistake.) Then, after the clapper, the director says, "and . . . ACTION."