WB ORDERS FILMING OF NEW DS PILOT

[Julia99]

to be contrary to everone else. . I think that could've been interesting. . but then again, i'd hold out to see what kind of show this turns out to be. . .

[Midnite]

Having never heard of Robia LaMorte, I figured I better look her up.  Unfortunately, the imdb didn't have a photo.  Also, between the TV guest appearances and movies, there's nothing listed more recent than 2001.

Josette, you won't find anything more recent than in victoriawinters' writeup here, top right photo.

[Stuart]

Visit www.collinwood.net to learn of the new(ish) location for Collinwood...

It looks like MB's got a nice coincidental birthday present

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Yes, I am happy with that choice. As I said in the Dream Collinwood thread, architecturally speaking, Greystone was/is a perfect choice for Collinwood. I do like how a tower is incorporated into a Tudor design like the one used for Stan Hywet Hall, and I'll miss it a bit, but it's also something I can easily live without when both the grounds and interiors of Greystone are so perfect. And from a production standpoint, Greystone still makes perfect sense.

Now, if they go with a similar house-moved-from-England-and-reconstructed-in-Maine backstory, as was the case in the '91 series, I'll be ecstatic. 

Thanks for the news, Stuart. 

[Mark Rainey]

I've no problem with Greystone per se; it's certainly got the right look -- although I really hope they don't go the route of just using a different section to represent the Old House. That was a terrible, transparent maneuver in the 91 series that really destroyed credibility in the setting. And I hope they'll work on the angles, lighting, etc., so the place doesn't scream CALIFORNIA! so blatantly.

--Mark

[Stuart]

I'd say that the Old House is being done elsewhere - there's no way they could pack that material and Collinwood's scenes into less than a week of shooting.  It's impossible.

TBH, I think we might even see a tower - that'd be very easy to add digitally.  Thinking of it, there are lots of nifty digital fixes they could do... There's a walkway on the house that overlooks the vista of Los Angeles that they avoided showing in 1991 for obvious reasons - how amazing would that look with a cliff and the Atlantic dropped in?

[jimbo]

I'd say that the Old House is being done elsewhere - there's no way they could pack that material and Collinwood's scenes into less than a week of shooting.  It's impossible.

I am not entirely sure what you mean that because there was too much material to be filmed at "Collinwood" in too little time, that it is impossible that they used the other side of the Greystone mansion for The Old House. If they filmed at Greystone at the same time, I do not understand why you strongly believe that they did not use the other side again of Greystone for The Old House. Just a bit curious here. Thanks.

[Stuart]

Judging by how long the shoot is, versus how much time they've spent at Greystone, I don't think it adds up.

If you look at the 1991 pilot, around two-thirds of the material was shot at Greystone...  It was officially confirmed to me that Collinwood scenes were shot there when I checked my sources, so call it an educated guess.

Based on my (limited) knowledge of production methods, I just don't see it.  Of course I could be proved hideously wrong...  who knows?

[jimbo]

Thanks Stuart.  I guess we will find out very shortly. BTW that was a great scoop !

[MsCriseyde]

I've no problem with Greystone per se; it's certainly got the right look -- although I really hope they don't go the route of just using a different section to represent the Old House. That was a terrible, transparent maneuver in the 91 series that really destroyed credibility in the setting.

Yes, well, following the WB Studios tour in 2002, Sheenasma and I are still trying to digest that the Duke boys' house and Boss Hogg's house from The Dukes of Hazzard are, in fact, the front and back of the same house on the WB lot. But then you wouldn't know that just from watching the series. 

TBH, I think we might even see a tower - that'd be very easy to add digitally.  Thinking of it, there are lots of nifty digital fixes they could do... There's a walkway on the house that overlooks the vista of Los Angeles that they avoided showing in 1991 for obvious reasons - how amazing would that look with a cliff and the Atlantic dropped in?

Again, going back to info from the WB Studios tour, this is something that isn't even all that "new" in television shows. The home that was featured as the family residence in the opening sequence of the 80s series Growing Pains was digitally altered. IIRC, the house on the WB lot doesn't have a garage, so it was added on for the opening.

Just, please, for the love of God, no crappy models in the opening of the new DS like they used in 1991. Every time I see that, I think of the bit about Camelot from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I also think about the opening of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I really hope they don't go the route of just using a different section to represent the Old House. That was a terrible, transparent maneuver in the 91 series that really destroyed credibility in the setting.

I've actually thought that having the Old House resemble Collinwood made sense. Before moving the actual Collinwood to Maine (OK, actually still Massachusetts, but you know what I mean  ), the idea could have been to create some bit of it in Maine, so they constructed the front facade to resemble the original house they'd left behind. 

As Stuart said, his theory about the Old House being a separate location this time around could be "hideously wrong" - but for what it's worth, it also seems to make a great deal of sense. 

But, of course, time will tell...

[Stuart]

In fairness, it's a beautiful model... it's just lit and shot appallingly.  With more sympathetic lighting and dressing, and better lensing, it could have looked beautiful.

Still, as that thing apparently cost $35,000 over a decade ago, let's hope that the bean counters nix any more overpriced doll's houses

[Mysterious Benefactor]

As to the technical wizardry available to do almost anything, I don't know if anyone watched/remembers an NBC miniseries from back in '93 called The Secrets of Lake Success, but they also used Greystone as a location (and it's one of the many shows I'd taped back then). Not unlike Collinwood, the family mansion was located on a cliff, and the way they created that illusion was to add it to an actual location shot, like this:

They had both a day and night shot. A WB DS could do something very similar - or even something far more sophisticated with the advances now available in digital enhancement.

Incidentally, The Secrets of Lake Success, rather than using a pic of Greystone, used one of Seaview in its print ads. How wild is that?!

[Stuart]

Yay!  See, it's not difficult...  They even added a [crap] tower

[Philippe Cordier]

I hope they'll work on the angles, lighting, etc., so the place doesn't scream CALIFORNIA! so blatantly.

It really looks like a California mansion in the photos on Stuart's site (courtesy of Bob Issel) -- architecture, building materials, color, foliage, everything.  Yet in the photo in the "Dark Shadows - Comparison" thread started by a new poster under "Announcements," Greystone looks like a passable stand-in for Seaview Terrace.  Therefore I'd conclude, hopefully, that with lighting, filters, and camera angles we'll have the Collinwood of Maine (and Massachusetts  ) ...

I agree that part of the problem with the miniature used in the 1991 opening credits was the lighting, which highlighted the fakiness of the model, and the shrubbery especially looked fakey.

Great "breaking news" reporting by Stuart.

Given that the series has to be filmed in the Los Angeles area, I'm glad Greystone is being used, if for no other reason than that it is one link back to a previous "Collinwood."