With Season 2 of the hit-television show Grimm in full swing, I reached out to Geek To Me special correspondent – and Grimm background extra – Tara Dublin to give us a behind-the-scenes look at the show. Over the next few weeks, “Detective Dublin” will be sharing her experiences on the set of the fantasy series. What is it like to be on a top-rated show? Do you get to hobnob with the stars? Just how cool is it?
All these questions and more will be answered in “The Detective Dublin Files.”:
From the set of GRIMM: Episode 12, Season Two
We’re chugging along nicely in the filming of Season Two of “Grimm” up here in Portland. An incredible run of dry weather has helped the production immensely, because “Grimm” relies heavily on location shooting. No fake Hollywood backlots for this show; every minute you see on screen was shot in Portland. Even though all of my scenes are shot on one of the main stages, we’re always grateful for a dry shooting day.
Just before I leave the house to make my 7:18 am call time, I catch my reflection in the mirror and discover that I have my first-ever subconjunctival hemorrhage. So, that’s all kinds of awesome. Google says it’ll go away within a week, rad. While it’s not like I’m going to have some amazing close up (we’re called ‘background’ for a reason), everyone I talk to will notice and do that thing where they’re pretending they don’t notice but of course we both know they totally do. Awkward! Although a couple of my fellow extras are tactless enough to just say, “What the hell’s up with your eye?” At least I get to sound all wicked impressive when “subconjunctival hemorrhage” expertly rolls off my tongue. Pretty!
Episode 12 brings us a new director (you’ll have to watch the show to see who she is), as well as marking Claire Coffee‘s return to the precinct as Hexenbiest Adalind Schade. I’m not spoiling anything here; you’ve already seen her in the previews. WHY she’s there will remain a secret until the episode airs, of course. Also, we really don’t know. We hear snippets of dialogue, out of context and out of order.
There’s a lot of waiting around on a set. The main reason is all the technical stuff has to be perfect. The show has already been singled out for its excellent lighting design, and it’s always interesting to watch the crew place the lights in just the right way. A nearly imperceptible tilt of a shade can make all the difference. The camera placement is vital, obviously, but there’s a lot of discussion between the director and the cameramen about how certain shots should be captured.
Sometimes there are so many scenes set in the precinct, we get to work more than one day per episode. After putting in a 13-hour day on Monday, I return Tuesday morning for more background shots. While there were lots of us here Monday, to make the precinct look super-busy, today’s background is very light. There are only five detectives and ten uniformed officers, and all we’re required to do is walk back and forth in front of the door to the interrogation room, where Nick and Adalind are verbally sparring. David, Sasha, and Reggie are here, and with such a small amount of background, we get wait on the set instead of outside.
Things feel way more laid back when there aren’t as many of us here; it’s less noisy, and the crew can move around more easily when they have less bodies to have to work around. It feels like even more of a privilege to be here, and more intimate in a lot of ways. We had anticipated a fairly short day, and in a sense, it is, for us; we’re wrapped by 2:15. The crew and main cast will continue shooting after the lunch break until early evening.
I’ve caught a glimpse of the shooting schedule; there’s going to be a 2 month hiatus from just before Thanksgiving until after New Year’s, so we only have a couple of episodes left before then.
Oh, and Russell wasn’t here at all on these two precinct days…pretty unusual, don’t you think? I know why, but I’m not telling. You’ll just have to wait and see.
Do you have a question for Detective Dublin about the show Grimm or her expereinces on the set? Ask them in the comment section below and she may answer them in a future installment of “The Detective Dublin Files”!
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