By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)
Kevin Zegers quite literally stole the limelight from David Tennant on Monday night’s filming of Gracepoint. As night-time was approaching and this series main stars arriving on set, Mr. Zegers got to show off his character’s all-American charm while waiting for the production team to set up. And people who were across the street hoping to catch glimpses of tonight’s shooting saw him enjoy his time while waiting.
When the evening wore on, I had to wonder about the chorus line of officers waiting for their cue. I could not help but wonder if they will break out into song and dance ala Cop Rock. If that happened, I was ready with my camera to catch the moment. Instead, a few more of the performers showed up on set and Jack Irvine (who plays Tom Miller, Danny Solano’s best friend according to the Wikipedia), was on set to lead the charge of detectives and officers in this important part of this series’ episodic construction. There were also stand-ins for Tennant and Gunn mulling about for this scene. From a cinematographer’s perspective, I suspect that they would be filmed looking slightly blurry for what may be a dream-like sequence.
Word on Twitter reported that this evening’s production would be the filming of a pivotal scene — where Jack Reinhold (Nick Nolte)’s departure from the series would be filmed to some degree. If watching the principal characters walking down the middle of the street is going to be a surreal moment, then this scene is already pictured in my head as a very slow-moving moment, if not dream-like.
That’s how the old sea salt may observe the action, and there will be soft backgrounds so the stand-ins will look like the actual actors. I wished I could get a proper snapshot of that procession but would mean stepping into traffic and being in frame of the camera. I can only dream of being a staff photographer for any television production, and if the Gracepoint production team is listening, yes, these photos that I’m posting are my calling card.
However, the real action happened further up the street, by Crestview Inn — where the real Tennent was getting his scenes recorded for prosperity. Here, as his character, the detective looked like he was reeling from some experience where he may be apart from the world around him. Carver stumbles, and he may well be wandering around in his own reality when he notices nobody is paying attention to him.
It is impossible to discern what the new plot is going to be like, but to stand around to witness approximately 5 minutes of material being recorded is interesting. Fans wondering what the US remake is going to be like will no doubt find excitement building when the series finally broadcasts near the end of this year.
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