The first, reconstructed from parts of the one seen in the original film, was used for exterior scenes on planet "Chulak," where a hideous species of predators are using the Gate for nefarious purposes. It also doubles as the Stargate on Abydos.Production of the two-hour premiere of Stargate SG-1 began February 18th in a forest area north of Vancouver known as the Greater Vancouver Regional District Seymour Watershed. As this region -- which supplies water to much of the Lower Mainland of Canada -- receives some of the heaviest rainfall in all the world, it was no surprise that the company was pelted with a downpour and cold, damp air during the first two days of shooting.
Two Stargates were built for the show, each more than 20 feet in diameter.
The first, reconstructed from parts of the one seen in the original film, was used for exterior scenes on planet "Chulak," where a hideous species of predators are using the Gate for nefarious purposes. It also doubles as the Stargate on Abydos.
The second Stargate is part of a large, two-story permanent set at Vancouver's Bridge Studios that represents a secretive U.S. Air Force base. In addition to the Stargate, it houses the Control Room, replete with sophisticated computers and tracking devices, a Briefing Room, and a series of circular corridors that leads to the Gate.
Made of steel and fiberglass, this fully-automated Stargate is much more sophisticated and is capable of rotating and emitting light. A specially-designed 22-foot circular gear was constructed that turns the Gate on a precise pinion drive wheel using an eight-horsepower electric motor. The entire apparatus is controlled by a custom computer program that reads -- with the help of a sensoring eye -- the laser pulses emitted by seven chevrons on the Gate. This mechanism allows the computer to rotate the Gate in either direction and stop it on a dime.
Constructed on the same soundstage as the Stargate was the Royal Chamber -- where Goa'uld leader Apophis celebrates his marriage to Sha're with a sumptuous feast -- and the interior Cave set, where Jackson shows the SG-1 team an enormous Egyptian monument that seems to indicate the presence of hundreds of other Stargates throughout the galaxy.
By using a matte drawing in the post-production process, this Egyptian monument will appear to be of gargantuan size, dwarfing even the largest sports domes.
"We will use a variety of sophisticated matte processes in this series to add dimension and depth to conventional sets, or create entirely different worlds," says co-executive producer Michael Greenburg.
Across from the main stage, in a smaller facility, is the Abydos Stargate room, with a sanded, primitive motif, animal skin rugs, dirt floor, makeshift cooking utensils and crude weaponry. Interior scenes of a bleak Chulakian prison where O'Neill and his comrades find themselves captive were filmed at nearby Lake City Studios.
For production designer Richard Hudolin, the assignment to design worlds that don't actually exist presented an unlimited opportunity.
"There were virtually no parameters regarding design concepts, leaving me free to create a planet from my imagination," says Hudolin. "I recreated the Abydos Gate room exactly as it was depicted in the film, but for the other sets I borrowed from Roman and Egyptian motifs in designing the architecture. The planet of Chulak is expressed as a much more primitive society."
Hudolin began his research in October 1996 by examining drawings from the original movie and sifting through sets stored in a warehouse in Los Angeles. He designed the large Stargate military compound set to be assembled in sections. This proved to be a wise decision in light of the fact that the entire set had to be broken down and moved in April to a new soundstage across the Bridge Studios lot that will serve as the show's permanent home.
One of the most significant set pieces designed for the film is what's known as the "dial home device" -- a circular object, much like a sun dial, that's used to lock in the seven-digit code that corresponds to each Stargate. It is this dial home device that the U.S. military was without when it first discovered the Stargate, causing them to spend millions of dollars and many years building a super-computer facsimile. Operating like a combination lock, the dial home device revs the Gate into action, creating the phenomenon of instantaneous space travel.
To depict the spectacular energy inside the activated Stargate, a jet airplane engine was mounted two feet above a water tank, and its 180 miles-per-hour windstream used to create a water displacement effect. This filmed image was in turn inserted in post production into the center of the Stargate, which was shot against a blue screen backdrop. In the 1994 film, only one camera angle was seen of this swirling energy, while in the television premiere the effect will be seen from several angles.
"There's a reason why they only showed this effect once in the movie," comments special effects supervisor Stuart Bradley, "It's difficult to achieve. But we're determined to pull it off several times in the first episode alone."
The special effects team also built special serpent head spears -- two of which open at the ends and emit light flashes -- and six fierce-looking serpent helmets that are worn by the elite guards from Chulak. Two of these helmets were designed to split into three different sections simultaneously through a rather ingenious bit of animatronic engineering. Each weighs about 15 pounds and has dozens of moving parts.
Among the pieces designed by the prosthetics group was an abdominal pouch from which the snake-like Goa'uld emerges before entering the body of its new human host. The Goa'uld itself is operated by a puppeteer using a remote-controlled radio device.
Dozens of extras were utilized throughout filming, meaning that hundreds of costumes had to be designed for them, in addition to the main cast. That task fell to wardrobe designer Christine McQuarrie, who made about two hundred costumes for the premiere episode, borrowing liberally from different historical periods.
"I used the film as a starting point and then was inspired solely by visual interest," says McQuarrie. "By mixing modern fabrics with classic designs -- from such cultures as the Roman, Egyptian, Assyrian and others -- I was able to create costumes that convey the right feeling and avoid being historically accurate. We didn't want the clothes to be identified too closely with any actual Earth culture because the societies of these different peoples seen in the show were developed on different planets. It would be too coincidental if they dressed exactly like the ancient Egyptians or Greeks."
Working with a staff of ten, McQuarrie sourced her clothes from Vancouver and also New York and Los Angeles. She worked closely with a U.S. Air Force representative in designing the garb of the SG-1 team. In fact, the group's fully-dressed field uniforms are authentic military issue.
The more than 200 visual effects shots in the premiere episode required that special attention be paid to camera angles and frame perspective to allow for computer-generated effects to be added later. To achieve this, director of photography Peter Woeste and visual effects supervisor Ted Rae used numerous split screen and lock-off shots, and Woeste frequently utilized a three-camera set-up to capture the complex action sequences. Motion control camera work -- in which an intricate camera movement is repeated in exactly the same motion through the use of a computer-controlled crane -- was utilized in several of the sequences that occur in the Stargate control room.
Concludes executive producer Jonathan Glassner, "Most sci-fi shows take place on one or two main sets each week, usually a spaceship. Stargate SG-1 will take viewers to strange new worlds each week, with different costumes and sets for each show. It's much more demanding and costly to do, but we're very excited about the challenge and the rewards of presenting a unique environment and adventure with each episode."
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JONATHAN GLASSNER |
In addition to co-writing the pilot of Stargate SG-1, Children of the Gods with partner Brad Wright, Executive Producer/Writer Jonathan Glassner wrote three episodes for the first season: The Broca Divide and the teleplays for Hathor and Within the Serpent's Grasp. During Stargate SG-1's second season, Glassner wrote the episodes The Gamekeeper, The Tok'ra, The Tok'ra II, Show and Tell, and the teleplay for Out of Mind. Glassner also directed the episodes Torment of Tantalus in season one and The Serpent's Lair in season two.
Prior to Stargate SG-1, Glassner served as Executive Producer of MGM's The Outer Limits. He directed three of the show's episodes entitled Trial By Fire, Vanishing Act, and The Camp, and also wrote several episodes. He co-created and executive produced the series Street Justice, created and executive produced the pilot Island City and produced 21 Jump Street. In addition, Glassner was the Executive Story Editor of Freddy's Nightmare, and Story Editor for Sonny Spoon and The Wizard. He has written multiple episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Nasty Boys, O'Hara and others. His first produced script, for the telefilm War of the Worlds, received a 1991 CableACE Award nomination.
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BRAD WRIGHT |
Toronto native Brad Wright served as Co-Executive Producer and Writer for the CableACE award-winning MGM series The Outer Limits before partnering with fellow The Outer Limits Executive Producer/Writer Jonathan Glassner. The two formed Double Secret Productions which, along with Gekko Film Corp. and MGM, produces Stargate SG-1. Wright and Glassner co-wrote the pilot for Stargate, The Children of the Gods. Wright then went on to write the episodes The Enemy Within, Solitudes, and Politics, and supplied the story, with writer Katharyn Powers, for Fire and Water for season one. In season two, Wright scripted the episodes The Serpent's Lair and 1969. He also wrote the teleplays for A Matter of Time and Message in a Bottle.
Wright has also been a co-producer/writer for the series Neon Rider and was story editor and writer for Adventures of the Black Stallion. Along with the feature film 40, Wright has written scripts for the telefilms Elephant Crossing and McWade and Co. He has also written an extensive number of scripts for episodic television, including such shows as Highlander, The Odyssey, and Forever Knight, as well as several television pilots including Showtime's Poltergeist: The Legacy. Wright was nominated for Best Writer at the 1998 Gemini Awards, and also nominated as Best Writer in a Dramatic Series at the CableACE Awards in 1997.
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MICHAEL GREENBURG |
Co-Executive Producer Michael Greenburg took on Executive Producing duties on Stargate SG-1 in its second season. As a partner with Richard Dean Anderson in their production company Gekko Film Corp., he has executive produced a number of projects starring Anderson. They include the critically acclaimed series Legend, two highly successful MacGyver television films for ABC (Trail to Doomsday and The Lost Treasure of Atlantis), as well as the CBS pilot Firehouse, and the television movie In the Eyes of a Stranger. Greenburg began his affiliation with Anderson by producing the hit series MacGyver, for five of its seven seasons on ABC.
The Scarsdale, New York native and graduate of USC School of Cinema, has also produced the feature films Alan Quartermain and the Lost City of Gold starring Richard Chamberlain, Sharon Stone and James Earl Jones, and the IMAX film My Strange Uncle starring Cloris Leachman. Among his many television projects are The Coltons for ABC, The Vegas Strip War for NBC, Dixie: Changing Habits for CBS and the mini-series The Golden Moment for NBC.
In addition to his Executive Producer duties on Stargate SG-1, Greenburg also wrote the story for Message in a Bottle with writing partner Jarrad Paul.
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RICHARD DEAN ANDERSON |
As the star of Stargate SG-1, Richard Dean Anderson also took on the role of one of the show's Executive Producers in its second season. Anderson and his business partner, Michael Greenburg, formed their production company, Gekko Film Corp., after working together on the highly successful series MacGyver. Gekko Film Corp. has produced such projects as the critically acclaimed series Legend, two MacGyver television films for ABC (Trail to Doomsday and The Lost Treasure of Atlantis), the CBS television movie In the Eyes of a Stranger and the CBS pilot Firehouse. Anderson starred in and executive produced all of these projects.
Gekko Film Corp. produces Stargate SG-1 along with MGM and Double Secret Productions.