August 30, 2010, 3:02 PM |
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By David Robinson, Editor
I’m sitting in an edit room poring over hour upon hour of footage from the second camera crew that was taken along on the Kerala, INDIA episode of No Reservations. The idea was to document the makings of an episode of No Reservations. You know, pull back the curtain and see the magical machinations at work, that sort of thing. The reality, so far, is a laundry list of TMI moments that would make a band of syphilitic Vikings queasy. Given that each member of the crew is a veteran of the show it’s amazing how unaware or apathetic they are to the presence of cameras recording everything they say and do. Let me try to be delicate here. . . .These people are animals.
Continue reading: S*%t Happens! »
Posted By: Rani Robinson
August 23, 2010, 10:19 AM |
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By Diane Schutz, Segment Producer
By now, you may already know – we first attempted to shoot a NO RESERVATIONS episode in Lebanon in 2006 – and wound up in the middle of a war [as my snarky friend Brian said: "Who would have thought such a thing could happen... IN BEIRUT?"]. I’m still a little bitter that we lost that Emmy to Ted Koppel, but I digress…
We’d fallen in love with the country before war struck.
We’d had two days of meeting people who were proud of their country, who wanted to share their homes and their food and their culture with us. After experiencing wartime Lebanon, we were determined to go back at some point to experience fun, happy, proud Lebanon.
Continue reading: The Return to Beirut »
Posted By: admin
August 13, 2010, 11:19 AM |
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By Jared Andrukanis, Segment Producer
I know this is a blog about our Rome shoot, not a lesson on film methodology…but trust me – this is important stuff to know.
In filmmaking parlance, there are two particular kinds of shooting, that can be used to quantify the day’s work – “On Set” and “On Location”. The names themselves are relatively self-explanatory, whereas one refers to shooting in a controlled, man-made environment and the other, a less controlled, natural setting.
Most films with a considerable budget film the majority of difficult scenes on set due to the unpredictability of natural locations. On set certain things are a given: there will be large generators consistently powering the shoot, moveable walls to accommodate large camera setups and dolly rigs, suspended rail systems to hang or “fly” lights, sealed entrances to keep out sounds or “lockdown”…these are just a few examples, but essentially all variables which can make filming more difficult are considered and factored into the mechanics of studios. This allows the filmmakers to focus on getting what they need without extemporaneous worry about mechanical items.
Sounds nice, right?
Continue reading: No Reservations in Rome »
Posted By: admin
August 9, 2010, 9:20 AM |
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by Dan Kelly, Director of Photography
Dubai. I honestly didn’t know what to expect, except for tremendous heat and the tallest buildings in the world. Little did I know that Dubai, much like New York City, is a melting pot of peoples and cultures that all welcomed us into their shops and homes with smiles and friendly nods. One man, a wealthy local fisherman who saw me filming his ships and workers, brought me into his cool air conditioned rest tent to have a moment’s rest and share a delicious cup of coffee with him and his friends.
Continue reading: Dubai Crew Blog »
Posted By: admin
August 2, 2010, 9:43 AM |
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By: Chris Collins, Executive Producer
The Where It All Began episode of No Reservations is made up almost entirely of footage from the unreleased documentary “Out of the Pan into the Fire.” Ten years ago, just after “Kitchen Confidential” was published, a photographer named Dmitri Kasterine had the foresight to walk into Brassiere Les Halles with a video camera and start shooting Tony Bourdain in his environs. He beat Lydia and me to the punch by roughly ten months and personally that made the material, which we had never seen before, all the more compelling. His film gave us an early glimpse at the guy who we would go on to spend the next decade of our lives with making television and forming a very strong relationship.
Continue reading: Executive Producer Takes A Look Back »
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