Behind the Scenes of a Hollywood TV Set

Yesterday I was the set photographer for a TV show being filmed in the Hollywood Hills. Here's a glimpse into a really cool shoot that was shot at a house in the Hills. The hasn't been release yet so I can't show details of show, but I think I can get away with showing the amazing location, BTS and gear shots.

My friend, Seth, is doing animation for a new TV show and he asked me to join him to take stills of the location. The images I shot of the set could be used later to help with the animation part of the show.

Seth and I start our day by taking the LA Metro to Hollywood. Coming out of the metro stop we got dumped onto Hollywood Bvd. Tourist and super heroes litter the walk of the stars. Since the house we they were filming was in the Hollywood Hills we had to take an Uber up. Let's dive in!

We arrive and the crew is setting up lights and prepping for the scenes for the day. Two of the DP's gaze out over the Los Angeles skyline. You can see all of LA from this location.

I always love set photography. Watching the crew, actors, director, PA's, makeup..etc., etc. Its'a symphony with each person playing integral part to create live action.

-Two Arri Alexa's Cameras ready for action
-Lights behind the cameras

The first seen is shot at this table and the LA skyline is in the distance. The actors are in makeup, the director and crew are discussing details of the shots that are about to go down. I shoot stills of the set to be used later for the animation.

There's a lot of downtown for me on set. So I run around taking shots of the location and behind the scenes images. Sometimes the behind the scenes shots can be used for marketing purposes or just for the director to have images of his work.

The shot above was taken at different times of the night and opposite side of the exterior looking over the city.

A closeup of the Alexa movie camera. A true badass.

Crew are equally as fun as the actors on set. They are always characters and I especially dig talking to grip guys because they really know lighting. They love it and always down to talk shop.

Hipster uniform is a must for crew

In the distance there appears to be the Adams Family house. :)

Crew waiting for the perfect magic hour shot; when the sun hits the horizon the sky turns that gorgeous Hollywood orange.

An actor gets in some last minute script time.

In a room of the back of the house sits the producers, director, audio guys and others. They sometimes direct from another room for a variety of reasons (noise probably being one of the primary reason and ease because sometimes there are scenes shot in different areas of the location...this way you don't have to constantly move the director. I'm totally guessing...correct me if I'm wrong or feel free to expand in the comments if you know more. I'm just a stills guys.

DP and some crew guys farting around and gazing out over LA.

Seth and I take a lunch break, a crew bus takes down to Sunset Blvd at the bottom of the hill. I see a box with maps to the stars.

Spiderman walks by.

Where the actors prep in their star trailer before being taken up on the crew bus. Lunch is over so the crew/actors load up in the van. I jump on for the last part of the day.

We arrive back on set from lunch and it's sunset. That's me inside the house with camera in hand. Working but hardly working.

I leave this post with a final shot taken with the iPhone in pano mode. I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into set life in Hollywood.

If you want to see some of the other set photography work I have done:

http://www.michaelthompsonphotographer.com/productionstills/

Thanks Steemians!
Michael