Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1490572
Because there were shots that looked into the driver's seat area, the front end needed to be recreated on stage. Bronte found a decommissioned bus under a freeway in San Francisco that the show could purchase for around $3,000. (The bus had a number of bullet holes in the windows and had previously been used to shuttle tourists to and from Vegas.) The front end was cut off, put on wheels, and shipped to the stage where it was rolled into place, at a cost of almost $30,000. Bronte oversaw the dashboard remodel which needed an almost complete overhaul to match the custom carbon fiber and touchscreens of the Barker bus. All the interior shots of the bus were shot on a greenscreen stage with clever lighting and camera bumps to make it feel real. Cruise Ship Episode four took us aboard the Royal Caribbean cruise ship, The Navigator of the Seas. What was envisioned as an easy episode shot on a 'locked down by COVID' dockside cruise ship, soon became much harder due to the lifting of COVID restrictions and cruises sailing again. After scouting three different ships, it became apparent the episode would only be able to shoot two half-days on the top deck and everything below deck would need to be sourced on dry land. Location manager Kyle Sucher found the Anaheim Hilton, seemingly the only hotel in SoCal without multi-story windows, that felt like the inside of a ship. To create the atrium bar, the crew cleared out the lobby, construction built a stage, and Jen and her team filled the room with purple lounge seating. (Which she sourced at Home Depot of all places!) For the cabin suite, we used an existing ground floor hotel room but built a railing outside the windows and dropped a blue screen to replace the sky. F. CRUISE SHIP CABIN. PRODUCTION STILL. G. CRUISE SHOP ATRIUM STAGE. ILLUSTRATION. H. CRUISE SHOP ATRIUM STAGE. PRODUCTION STILL. E F G H