HAPPY WEDNESDAY!

Here's the rest of Charlie's Camera Corner when it come to the Slate:

People have been asking what the digital numbers on the slate are?

That's called the time code. Time code is a digitally displayed precise electronic clock showing hours, minutes, seconds, and frames. Sound for the scene is recorded separately and is later matched up with the footage in postproduction by the editors using this time code. Each morning we "sync" the slates with the sound department so that our time code numbers match up and the electronic clocks are in sync!

So what is this?

This is an insert slate and is used for extreme close ups and "insert" shots. It is basically just a much smaller version of the sync slate. The slate is this size so it can fit into the small "zoomed in" frame of an XCU (extreme close up). This slate does not have the running time code because most insert shots are shot with out sound.

Why is Charlie clapping this slate upside down?

This is called Tail Slate. Sometimes the set gets crowded or actors are stacked up too close to the camera at the start of a shot to fit the slate in. This is one situation when you would "tail slate" or also known as "tail sticks." It's done at the END of the take rather then the beginning. This allows the dust to settle and the lens to clear and give you room to get the slate in. When doing "tail sticks" you simply clap the sticks as normal then turn the slate upside down.

Any questions????????

Charlie's Camera Corner (hehe) will be back soon with some other cool insider info from the Camera Department. Again, he's on twitter if you want to ask him questions or just say hi: @charliecamera

Tonight make sure you're on twitter when the show is airing, as some of the crew will be tweeting live during the show to answers your questions.

So far the list includes:

@nealbaer (showrunner)

@svumac (that's me)

@charliecamera (that's Charlie camera)

@svustuyle (that's Costumes)

@dylanjude & @dpangione (that's art/graphics)

@mickbetancourt (writer)

@nfscl (editor)

It's a Halloween Eve here at SVU. The Set PA's will be doing their best to top last year's costumes. If you didn't see last year's post, here is our awesome Set PAs replicating the opening credits for SVU:

Today is the first day of shooting for Episode 10 "Perverted." Here's a behind the scenes shot of the crew at work this morning:

Did you know that there was an upstairs area in the squad room? We call it the lounge. It's funny, when people come to visit they are always shocked that there is an upstairs area, seems like people don't notice in the show.

Here's the first look at a new set we built specifically for "Perverted":

Any guesses what this room is for????

FBI Agent Porter returned! After seeing "Spooked" on Wednesday, are you all happy that he came back?

Another airing update: "Anchor" has been moved to 12/9 now (no longer 12/2).

Have a HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

Did anyone catch last week's TV Guide? If not, here's the cover:

We've just started shooting Episode 9, so the season is flying along. Let's get to some of your questions:

"Cahilla" asked: Was Mariska slapped for real when shooting scenes in Smut and Unstable?

For her shot angle she was, but under the supervision of our stunt coordinator, who taught the actor slapping her how to make it look like a harder slap then it really is. Needless to say nobody got hurt!

"Kazinoz" asked: When does shooting of season 11 finish?

Right now we wrap up our 22 episode Season 11 in mid-April.

"Neo66" asked How can that be Olivia's pad, she seems like a downtown girl and that place is Upper Eastside?

Believe it or not, Benson's apartment has been established as being on West 89th Street. So it's neither Downtown nor Upper East Side.

"Juiz_cita" asked: "What's happening with Novak?"

Casey Novak was disbarred for at least a year.

For those of you keeping track, there are some changes in our air date order:

Spooked airs 10/28, Users airs 11/4, Turmoil airs 11/11, Perverted airs 11/18, and Anchor airs 12/2

Tonight's episode features Oscar-nominee, Rosie Perez and it's the return of (drum roll.....) Stephanie March. So for all of you holding your breathe waiting, it's time to exhale.

Reminders: Hit us up on twitter. @nbcsvu is the show's twitter, @nealbaer is our showrunner and @svumac is my production twitter!

Thoughts about last night's episode????

Some answers to last week's questions: 1) The first photo is a TV Studio Set we built inside our hospital set. Next time you see us in a hospital pay close attention to the walls, they are the same. 2) That apartment belongs to Olivia Benson. Why are we in there? Tune in to "Spooked" airing on 11/4 to find out!

While we are on the topic of sets, here at the SVU Stages we are trying to keep things fresh. So the next new or at least improved set is the Morgue. This morning is the first time we will be filming in it and I snapped some photos before the shooting crew got in there. You all are the first to see it. Check it out:

As you can see the glass walls move and twist to open up the depth of the room for our Directors

Those doors on the end open up into a Morgue Hallway, but as you can see in the next photo......

Those morgue doors are really just the reverse side of the Squadroom Hallway Elevators! So what do we do when we need to film in the Morgue Hallway??....

We just redress the production office hallway to look like one!

Keep watching and remind everyone you see...WEDNESDAYS AT 9PM!!!!

Hope you all caught the season premiere last Wednesday. Did you like it?

Wentworth Miller and Christine Lahti were both amazing people to work with. Both of their characters are very hard edge and you either love them, or love to hate them. I personally think they are wonderful! We are glad to have Christine for at least 3 more episodes (wink, wink). And who knows, perhaps we will see Wentworth again (wink, wink).

We are just about to wrap up filming in tandem, so things are coming back down to earth again here. I snapped a few shots of some of the sets we built here at the stages for your viewing pleasure:

(We built this set in part of one of our permanent sets, can you guess which one?)

(This is someone very important to the show's apartment, any guesses?)

Keep an eye out, see if you notice when we are on these sets in some of the upcoming episodes.

Oh, how do you all like the new SVU Media Room???

Spread the word we are now on Wednesday at 9pm, that's a day and time change. Tell all your friends! This week Eric McCormack guest starts, and he doesn't disappoint!

Hello,

Just wanted to check in quick.

Our 2-week summer hiatus is over and we've started shooting episode #5. What's special about this episode??? IT'S THE RETURN OF STEPHANIE MARCH! So all of who feared it'd be a while before she came back, fear not.

We are also prepping to shoot two episodes at the same time; this is called shooting in tandem. It pretty much doubles a lot of folks' work, but we get two episodes done in the same amount of time it would normally take us to shoot one episode. This is good for all of you, because we can air more episodes earlier in the season. The premiere of Season 11 is right around the corner and currently SVU will be airing new episodes for 9 consecutive Wednesdays! That's 9/23 through 11/18!!!

So needless to say it's been pretty busy over here, but I promise to leave less time between posts once we finish with the tandems.

In the mean time hit me up with some questions!

To respond to what seems like the most recent question: Will Captain Harris ever return?

Nothing is impossible. Harris was a great character and we always like having great characters come back. On that note, make sure to tune in on 10/28 (Ep. #6) to see one of our other great guest characters return.......

So we just starting Episode 3 and things are moving along swimmingly. We have some amazing guest stars in the first three: Wentworth Miller, Eric McCormack, Christine Lahti, and Stephen Rea (just to name a few).

I know its delayed news, but I’m sure most of you heard Mariska is once again nominated for an Emmy. She's nominated this year along with Ellen Burstyn, Brenda Blethyn, and Carol Burnett as guest stars. We are very excited because SVU has now received a total of 22 nominations!

Some of you couldn’t tell from the photos how the new Media Room ties into the old squad room. Here’s a picture of the floor plans so you can see how it fits together. The Media room is outlined in orange and the squad room is in purple.

Our premiere (9/23) is getting closer and closer, remember new day and time: Wednesdays at 9pm Eastern and Pacific. 8 PM Mountain and Central.

The hiatus is over and we are back and rolling along. Wentworth Miller is in the premiere, if you haven’t checked his scene posted on the site, you are making a mistake! It’s linked on the Law & Order SVU Homepage.

Also, if you haven’t yet jumped on the twitter train, it’s time to. Linked on our homepage are Ice T and Showrunner Neal Baer’s twitter accounts (as mentioned in previous posts). And for some random tidbits and cool stuff from SVU, check on yours truly on behalf of SVU at svumac on twitter, here’s the link: http://twitter.com/svumac

Lastly, for those of you who haven’t guessed what the new set was from the previous photos. Here you go, please meet the new SVU Media Room:

I actually snapped these photos during a rehearsal of a scene from our premiere episode, hence all the people. We knocked down a wall in the squad room near Benson’s desk and the old multiplex is no where to be found now! Going to really open up the show and provide directors a new way to shoot our show.

Hi all,

Just wanted to check in and post some more pics of the ongoing construction at SVU while we are on hiatus.

It takes a lot of work and time to redo/add on to existing sets. We have to completely remove the old lighting set ups above and then install new ones to accommodate the new piece of the set. Any more guesses on what we may be building?

I’ll post them more once construction gets a little further on it’s way.

Also, if you have a second, check out this link:

http://video.nytimes.com/video/playlist/the-many-deaths-of-mike-doyle/1194840653472/index.html

It’s the Many Deaths of Mike Doyle, he plays or should I say played (tear) CSU Tech O’Halloran on SVU. Seems like every roll he takes he ends up a dead guy. Check them out.

Some people wanted me to confirm SVU on Twitter.
It’s true, SVU is @nbcsvu
It is also true that @NEALBAER is in fact the real Neal Bear.
Hopefully sooner then later some more of our cast will be live on Twitter, but for now if you want to check out Ice T’s twitter it’s: @FINALLEVEL

Now that we are on Hiatus, there is some interesting stuff happening here at the SVU stages. Wanted to give you all an inside peek of the transformation of our Squadroom. Not going to tell you exactly what’s changing, but I’ll keep posting updated construction shots to keep you up to date

This is a shot from what was the Squadroom hallway towards what was a wall of the Squadroom.

This is a reverse shot from what was inside the Squadroom towards where the Multiplex monitors were.

Any guesses about what we are adding?