UGO - Set Visit

I’m heading down to visit the set of AMC’s newest series,Rubicon, and it’s a boiling hot day in New York City, so I’m not looking forward to spending the day in the heat, watching crew set up lighting, and actors repeat the same lines over and over. All I want to do is sit in front of an air conditioner with a gigantic glass of water, and never, ever think about anything, ever again. 

But I truck on anyway, following the directions AMC’s (super friendly, by the way) press people have given me. I get off near Wall Street, walk past the Seaport, and start heading right off the beaten path. When I finally find the location of the set, I see trucks outside, filled with equipment, and I know I’m in the right place – but this isn’t the right address, yet. Next to the truck yard is a nondescript building with no markings except the number, and man, sitting inside watching the World Cup on TV.

I poke my head in, and tell him I’m looking for the set ofRubicon...In broken English, he thinks for a second, and then gives me a shake of his head, he’s not sure what I mean. I explain this is the address of the shoot for Rubicon, I’m here to visit the set, and he then understands what I’m talking about – whatever combination of words I used was the right code: he tells me they’re all at lunch, but they should be back soon.

After a very short wait where I sit down on a rickety folding chair, blissfully basking in the air conditioning, the press reps enter and ask if I’ve been waiting long. Then they have me sign a few documents, basically stating that I won’t spoil anything I’m about to see (so, sorry guys, I can’t tell you how James Badge Dale’s character dies in the ninth episode), and it’s up a ramp, down a long hallway, and in to a rickety elevator.

And then the elevator opens, right on to the set for Rubicon, and...It’s an office. Just a regular looking office, sure, but in the middle of this broken down old building, with no exterior markings, there’s the office that Will Travers and his team of analysts work in. There’s documents scattered everywhere, maps of hot spots all over the world, and crew members busily setting up the next scene.

Point is – in case it isn’t clear from this description: they’re not just filming Rubicon, they’re living it.

The show, which viewers got a sneak peak of after the season finale of Breaking Bad (and which you can view online over at AMC’s site), is a puzzle box of mysteries, as Will Travers, played by James Badge Dale, tries to figure out just what is the secret, fourth branch of government. Or maybe not. That’s the thing about mystery shows: just when you think you’ve figured them out, they go ahead and surprise the crap out of you.

We won’t really know how much Rubicon will twist and turn until it officially premieres on August 1^st, and as I said, I’m not going to spoil what I saw here, but there’s a few impressions I got from the set that left me impressed with the scale, and the detail of the production. So back to our story.

The thing about the office set that’s so impressive is that it is an actual office. I know it doesn’t sound mind-blowing, because, you know, most of work in offices. But for a film set on TV, that’s a rare commodity. Most of the time, you’re missing a wall, so the crew can pull back the camera, or film around the actors. Or more often, there’s no ceiling, so they can properly light the scene from above. On Rubicon, they’re filming in an office they built, and it’s darn impressive looking.

When you walk to the back to visit some of the executive offices? You’re actually walking to the back of the office. When you walk up the stairs to go to the second floor? Same thing. It’s almost innocuous in its detail... Walking in, you think, “Oh well, this is just an office.” But that’s because the set designers have done such a fantastic job of making it a place that actually makes sense, and works.

After spending a little time poking around on the set, I got to go visit with James Badge Dale (you can watch that interview here), who is smart, funny, personable, and very passionate about his show. My favorite part of going to find him though? For those of you who watched the sneak peak, you know there’s a mysterious hallway Dale’s character ends up in towards the end of the episode. Not only are the elevators on set actual elevators, but there’s a second way into the hallway, and that’s by pressing a panel on the wall, which pops open a door, which lets you down to the lower levels of the set.

I’ll just reiterate for a moment: how cool is it that there’s a secret door on the set of Rubicon?

The other thing I’ll mention, and we are getting a little into spoiler territory here, but when I was interviewing Dale, he decided to chat in the room at the end of the hall. Again, for those of you who watched the sneak peak, you know there’s a long, foreboding shot of the door at the end of the secret hallway. I had rewatched the episode right before heading to set. So when Dale casually suggested walking through the door, my gut reaction was, “Are you sure? Won’t that be dangerous?”

Turns out, I shouldn’t have worried – and I won’t tell you what’s behind the door, other than to say, watch the video interview, and you may get a snippet of it. It’s certainly as well realized as everything else on the set, and major kudos to the set designers for that.

After interviewing James, it was back to the main floor of the set to watch a scene in progress. While there, I chatted with one of the writers, who had her kids on the set, which spoke a lot to the family nature of the crew. One crew member was knitting while the others chatted and teased her. Another was hanging out with the writer’s kids. And the whole time, whenever the director called action, they were right on the ball there, ready to go. It’s a friendly crew, but also an extremely professional one.

Watching the scene in question, the big thing I was struck by was how well lit the whole thing was. It’s really gorgeous to look at, and particularly when seeing the practical set they’re on – which is normally avoided because it’s a nightmare to light – I was even more impressed. It’s a good looking show, and it’s clear that everybody on the crew is working hard to make it as visually distinct as network-mates Mad Men and Breaking Bad.

As I left the set, and headed back out intp the blazing sun, it all started to fade a bit. Had I actually just been on the set of Rubicon? What had I really seen, after all? Maybe I was just imagining things, and wandering the streets of New York, delusional.

Or maybe... Just maybe... That’s exactly what they want me to think.

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