"All Rise" to do Pandemic Episode w/ Facetime, Zoom

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"All Rise" to Shoot Pandemic Episode using FaceTime, Zoom — Cast Will Record Footage from Inside Homes
by Matt Webb Mitovich
April 6, 2020


CBS’ freshman drama "All Rise" is returning to production — virtually — for a timely episode that “reflects the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing, and its impact on the criminal justice system.”

As part of the episode, which will air Monday, May 4 and be comprised of footage recorded by each series regular within their homes, Judge Lola Carmichael (Simone Missick) will virtually preside over a bench trial.




Written and inspired by current events, the episode will be produced using FaceTime, WebEx, Zoom and other available social media and online technology.

“It’s a unique chance for our All Rise family to band together – in our different homes, even cities – to tell a story about resilience, justice and the power of community,” executive producer Greg Spottiswood said in a statement.




Virtual footage will be shot in each of the series regular’s homes, using VFX to create the necessary backgrounds. In addition, a cinematographer operating solo from a vehicle will capture exterior footage that reflects the desolate environment that currently exists on the streets and in the neighborhoods of Los Angeles.

The entire episode will be shot abiding by social distancing rules and technologies taking place in the world as it exists now.

https://tvline.com/2020/04/06/all-ri...al-distancing/

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cool

[JamesG]

Dorian Missick Joins Virtually-Produced Social Distancing Episode of "All Rise"
by Denise Petski
April 21, 2020


Former "Southland" star Dorian Missick is set for a key guest role in "All Rise‘s" first-ever virtually-produced special episode influenced by the coronavirus pandemic.

In a true social-distancing family affair, Missick will be joining his wife, lead Simone Missick, in the role of DJ Tailwind, who’ll be an ongoing presence throughout the episode, set to air Monday, May 4 at 9 PM on CBS.



Per producers, “the DJ is our guide through the streets of Los Angeles – a comforting, occasionally irreverent voice we hear as we see beautiful moving images of the almost deserted city, accompanied by beats and music. He’s an unknown dance party DJ who lives in LA and is getting through the lockdown by sharing his music and occasionally his thoughts with the world via his laptop at home.”

https://deadline.com/2020/04/all-ris...ma-1202914266/

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All Rise previews its virtual episode

The CBS legal drama tweeted a glimpse of what to expect on Monday's remotely shot episode that was made in response to the coronavirus shutdown. The episode was filmed at the actors' homes using Zoom, FaceTime and WebEx. Executive producer Len Goldstein said the idea for a remote episode came from the producers trying to find a creative way to end the season after they were unable to film the final two episodes of the season. “So we all began to think, ‘Is there a technological way that we can tell this story and not use the technology just as a gimmick, but use it to really have a real season finale, bring our group together again, reach out and connect with one another in the same way, and hopefully deliver a satisfying episode in the process?'” executive producer Len Goldstein told reporters. “Fortunately, Greg Spottiswood, who created the show, and Greg Nelson, one of our senior writers, had a great idea for a story in which to do that. And fortunately, we have one of the most innovative directors in television, Michael Robin.”

All Rise producers think their virtual pandemic episode is a positive sign for a Season 2 pickup

“I don’t think it bodes ill for us,” creator Greg Spottiswood says of Monday's remotely shot episode. “I feel like we have a lot of people that we’re working with on the studio, on the network side, who have a genuine affection and love for the show and for the characters and for what we’re trying to do. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t have allowed us to do this experiment, which frankly at the beginning, none of us really knew what we were doing. (Laughs) We pitched it to them with all the confidence that we could, but everybody knew that this was a bit of a roll of the dice. And the fact that they’ve gone on this journey with us, supported us, creatively and obviously financially and all of that, that shows that there’s a certain commitment to this creative team and our show. Will that translate into a Season 2? None of us know. But there’s a lot of question marks about what’s coming back, how it’s gonna come back.”

All Rise producers quickly realized their room-based show is perfect for a quarantine episode

In wake of the pandemic, All Rise producers learned from former L.A. County District Attorney Gil Garcetti -- a consulting producer on the series and the father of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti who's famous for prosecuting O.J. Simpson -- that the court systems were grappling with how to navigate operations, including examining virtual trials. So producers began brainstorming the possibilities for a virtual episode, which resulted in tonight's "Dancing in Los Angeles" remote episode. “It was daunting at first,” says creator Greg Spottiswood. “And then, pretty quickly, I think we all realized that in actually a weird way, this was a good format for our show. Our show is about people in rooms, in the hallways, talking, arguing, connecting or not connecting.” According to the Los Angeles Times, "Straight Up Technologies was enlisted to guide producers through the endeavor, and it was decided Cisco Webex — whose picture quality is sharper than that of most other services — would be their primary video-conference tool. A private network was created for cast and crew to dial into; video feeds were isolated and recorded. Producers then used VFX to create the necessary backgrounds — for example, one that mimics an L.A. County Men’s Central Jail cell. Exteriors of a desolate Los Angeles were shot by a cinematographer operating solo from a vehicle." All Rise star Simone Missick says she and her fellow cast members were stunned by the announcement. “We were like, ‘What?’” Missick says. “And then the immediate thought is: ‘Now, wait, how are we going to do this?’”

ALSO:

• Tonight's All Rise was written to capture how the justice system continues to function despite the pandemic: “I think one of our aspirations of the episode was to capture both specifically and generally what is the vibe of living in this moment and having to find a way to connect and find a way to do your job,” says creator Greg Spottiswood.
• Simone Missick on filming All Rise at home: “It was like shooting a very high-budget indie film with a skeleton crew of one,” she says. “If you could have a spouse move a chair for you, you were winning. It was all about time management. Normally I need about two hours for hair and makeup, because that’s when professionals do it. So how long do I need when I’m doing it? No clue. You have to move the lighting setup and we’ve got these long ethernet cords I’m dragging all throughout the house to make sure the connection is great.”
• Missick on being her own hair and makeup team: “Me, the overachiever, decided to do different hair and makeup for every day,” Missick says with a laugh. “But then I couldn’t remember, what did my eye shadow look like? I have no clue! I actually regretted that part of it. That’s why we have professionals for all of these things. But I’m very proud of myself. The acting, who knows? But the hair and makeup!”

All Rise delivered a so-so quarantine episode, which made it brilliant

The problem with quarantine shows like the first SNL At Home and A Parks and Recreation Special is they put too much effort into trying to be special, to rise to this unusual moment, that they don't feel organic. As the first drama series to do a quarantine episode, Monday's All Rise episode -- titled "Dancing in Los Angeles" - delivered something that didn't feel like a stunt, says Daniel Fienberg. "When is making a so-so episode of broadcast television actually quite brilliant?" he asks. Fienberg adds: "When broadcast shows rush to address major global events, the results tend to be grind-to-a-halt exercises in sanctimony; 'Isaac and Ishmael,' the astonishingly clunky post-9/11 episode of The West Wing, is the ultimate illustration. 'Dancing at Los Angeles,' in contrast, was assertively sanctimony-free. It was, and I say this as the highest of compliments in this case, a regular episode of All Rise told in a very specific style. It contained an episodic plotline, with Simone Missick's Lola volunteering to use her virtual courtroom as a guinea pig for online bench trials in order to ease a coronavirus-spawned backlog in the judicial system." This, he adds, "was a completely legitimate 'Here's how our characters would actually be going through life in these bizarre times' episode of TV that used technology in a way that somehow avoided feeling like a stunt. It was also an instance in which having a middling bar for success benefited All Rise tremendously. I never got the impression the All Rise team was trying to achieve something definitive or to try to be all things to all viewers." As Fienberg points out, SNL did something similar with its second SNL At Home episode that felt more like a typical Saturday Night Live episode compared to the first edition. "So congratulations to All Rise for settling into the mundane immediately," says Fienberg. "It looked easy, but it couldn't possibly have been. There's a template here for quarantine episodes, not that I expect many more dramas to make the effort."

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I liked it!

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All Rise's quarantine episode doesn't boost ratings

About 5.06 million watched the first quarantine-themed drama episode of the coronavirus pandemic, which was in line with the CBS freshman legal drama's numbers and down from its last airing.