Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/974985
homeless encampment on fire, and rescue multiple teenagers. One firefighter chases deeper to rescue a teen and is trapped and overcome by an explosion. Having her escape path blocked, she finds a second, deeper grate to escape through. The fiery tunnel would obviously be a stage build. The practical exterior location immediately concerned me. It would be necessary to see multiple actors going up and down two different holes in the street somewhere. Previously, these had proved hard to find. Safety concerns prohibited using any type of actual sewer tunnel. Most other below-ground vaults in the city housed electrical transformers or other utilities. Safety approval would be problematic. Building out over raised roadbeds or doing an excavation were briefly considered (an option chosen for a later episode), but these solutions were problematic and costly. 6 6 P E R S P E C T I V E | M A Y / J U N E 2 0 1 8 The locations department found a series of ventilation chambers for CTA train tunnels that ran along Milwaukee Avenue. The chambers ran along the sidewalks on opposite sides of the street. Actors could easily descend through a grate on one side and have the rescued firefighter pop up on the other side of the street. The location totally supported the action required. The ventilation chambers were large enough, but would require a subfloor and safety railing installed below as they had large 8-foot diameter shafts that dropped down to the train tracks below. Studio safety and the CTA signed off and the idea was good to go. Concurrent to this, I began to work on the stage set. As always for these scenes, my design process starts first with the script. How does the event unfold? What beats are required by the script? How might I, as designer, enhance the environment and bring the effects to the foreground? Early in this series, I'd read a script and wonder (with dread), "How will I pull that off?" Happily, or sadly, after all these episodes, nothing fazes me anymore. Fire sets are generally built to be entirely fireproof. This allows the director and the director of photography to add or adjust fire levels and placement on the shoot day without having to worry about fire safety. Fire sequences are filmed on a "burn" stage; a stage specifically set aside for fire and event sets. It has additional ventilation and the fire lane is always kept clear. The tunnel would need to be big enough to allow the action required: multiple firefighters, extras and stunt personnel running back-and-forth a safe distance from fire, yet be believable enough to not feel like a stage set. It would be built like most of our fire sets: metal studs and drywall with a cement board floor. Some research led me to a set of early 20th century underground Chicago tunnels that housed phone cables and a light rail system for mail and freight delivery. They had an interesting look and a cross section wide enough to support the action. From that, a tunnel floor plan was created allowing for the entry and exit points and adequate length for the chase and explosion. The main area for the homeless encampment presented other challenges. It was described as filled with boxes, tents and sleeping bags. There would also be heavy fire and numerous stunt extras. Whereas the main A. ISOMETRIC OF A SKETCHUP MODEL SHOWING THE TUNNEL SET PREPARED BY CRAIG JACKSON FOR DISCUSSION WITH EPISODE DIRECTOR JOE CHAPPELLE. B. FIRE LEVELS BEING TESTED IN THE TUNNEL SET DURING FILMING. C. SKETCHUP PREVISUALIZATION OF THE TUNNEL SET BY CRAIG JACKSON RENDERED IN PODIUM AND PHOTOSHOP. THIS VIEW SHOWS THE ORIGINAL ENTRY POINT FOR THE ACTORS INTO THE SET, TUNNEL INTERSECTION AND THE MAIN ROOM HOUSING THE HOMELESS TENTS. B A