Survivor's Club - The Hottest Day of Filming

There are a lot of days when we film in bad weather - days so hot your eyeballs feel like they're frying, days so cold your hands might fall off, and rain pouring so hard you could almost drown on set. Each month we'll remember one of those horrible weather days and celebrate the survivors who braved the elements in order to film.  Why would we want to remember those days?  Because going through hell on set has a way of bringing everyone closer together when they can say they survived mother nature AND filming on a Yibble set.

THE HOTTEST DAY(S) OF FILMING

Now that it’s getting cold outside let’s talk about really hot weather. For a long time there was a tie between a day on the set of Destiny (1996) and one for Pandora’s Box (1999) but thirteen years later we’ve finally surpassed both.  This summer (2012) we filmed in the hottest weather I’ve ever made actors film in.

It was 102 degrees outside.

And that’s not adjusting for humidity or the heat index. 

Not only was it over a hundred degrees with barely a breeze, even at the MacLeod farm (which is always windy) but I made the actors film in heavy and hot Victorian garb.

Check out those hot dresses.  I am so cruel.

Ironically I joked about making everyone film in Victorian garb the previous summer during the 15th anniversary reunion when it was hot outside.  Apparently it wasn’t a joke – it was a premonition!

Peri: "The beer's hot, Berry."
Minerva: "Failure!"

Morgan brought some battery-operated fans and I had some human-powered fans which helped, but not a lot.  Everyone was sweating, hairstyles were wilting, and the equipment was less than thrilled.  I think Drew had the worst of it when he was shut inside a dark, hot shed with what I think turned out to be a hornet's next while playing a "group" of thugs trying to get the heros. He had to bang on a wooden door and I think he got some splinters as well as bruised knuckles.  Drew you get a golden band-aid award for that!

Tempers flared a bit, but overall it was more of a “if-we-power-through-it-we’ll-win-an-air-conditioned-pizza-dinner” sort of bonding experience.  Um…the place where we ate dinner was air-conditioned, not the pizza itself. Just in case you were wondering where we got air-conditioned pizza.

Reading through the script while eating dinner.
 I like to make my actors multi-task.

 Housing out of town actors can be a bit of problem when you don’t have money for a hotel, but I thought “why not just camp out at the MacLeod Farm?”  Yeah, that was before I knew it was going to be so hot.  We braved the heat for one night (and woke up chilly – what’s up with that?), but the second night we were luckily able to crash at my parents small but air-conditioned house (thanks mom and dad!). 

Please notice how big everyone's drinks are.

The whole weekend was hot – about a hundred degrees each day – but it was that first one that was the most miserable.  On the second day of shooting we filmed in the morning, which wasn’t too bad.  Then we retreated to the sanctuary of a cool Taco Bell before filming in Kate’s parents’ basement (insert angelic choir singing here).  

Hoop skirts: the 19th century's
version of air-conditioning.

Then it was back outside for more filming.  Again, it wasn’t quite as hot as the day before since the sun wasn’t out, but being cloudy meant more humidity so…you know…not a lot better.  No Victorian costumes this time – but Civil War ones which are better, but not by much.  Finally the day ended with a Renaissance Festival scene during which it rained.  Lovely. 

To those who survived the Fires of Hell—I mean filming—in 2012, I thank you and salute you:

Christine Komiskey

Harmony Komiskey

Andrew Thomas

Morgan Thomas

Jen Weber

Kate Weber

Brittany Ann Whalen

Now go cool off with some Gatorade and a slice of air-conditioned pizza.