Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1531433
PROPERTYMASTERSGUILD.ORG 23 to take on this boat building? We need boats!" And my six-week break suddenly turned into two. S o, the process starts: Scripts are issued, production opens offices, and other heads of department are being hired. During this time, I pay special attention to who they are hiring, since I will need to either establish a new relationship with them or hopefully, already have a history with them. As the show builds momentum, I am so impressed with the decisions that are being made. These producers are headhunting the best of the best in all departments, which I'll say right now was very intimidating for me, since they had already set the bar so high. After years of doing this, I am always so fascinated by who it is that ends up carrying the visionary keys. Will it be the production designer or the costume designer? In a series, it usually never is the director but yes, it could be the showrunner. Only in hindsight will we ever see who it was. Ten 1-hour episodes equal approximately one foot of 8"x11" paper with every word of every episode printed on those pages. I organized my scripts in a catalogue-like rack you typically see on the desk of an auto parts store. Truthfully, in my early prep, I had only been able to read the first three scripts, as I was already too deep into my research. We began our talks with the potential buyers I was going to need full time in Japan. There was nothing we could resource here, and we needed everything! At this stage, the scale of what we were doing really took its toll on me. I needed to get every script read! To do this, I needed to take my catalogue rack full of paper home and lock my doors. My head was exploding! We needed weapons for six different armies. Each army might have upward of 300 samurai. We needed personalized props for each Regent, handwritten documents, historically correct lacquerware for some very complicated food scenes. We needed everything for tea ceremonies and everything for scenes involving seppuku. In short, we needed everything! I set up shop with our set dec department in a 65,000-square-foot warehouse. At one point, we thought the art department was going to join us, which would have been perfect. My portion of the warehouse was set up with the boat building on one side and the prop building and shelving on the other half. A wall of heavy clear plastic was hung from ceiling to floor to help control the dust from the boat side. Unfortunately, the deafening sounds of their power tools could not be avoided. We had three dedicated boat builders The production team needed to build 24 traditional Japanese boats, so Property Master Dean Eilertson, a sailor, was a perfect fit.