SCI FI WIRE‘s Ian Spelling talked with Michael Shanks about filming for the two upcoming direct-to-DVD movies, Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum, set to be released in 2008.
Most of the interview has to do with the filming of Stargate: Continuum, which has had a great deal of publicity concerning their Arctic filming location and the use of two of the Air Force’s F-15s.
Shanks wasn’t able to go to the Arctic because he was filming his three episodes of FOX’s hit show 24, but Dr. Daniel Jackson is still present in some of the Arctic scenes. They accomplished this by refrigerating a soundstage. Shanks said, “I was part of one long day where we were filming on a frozen set, and that was fantastic, because we had this big, refrigerated set and this ship they’d built. It was a recipe for pneumonia, going in and out of the Vancouver sunshine, which was really warm, and this refrigerated set, but it was a lot of fun, because we could take our time a little bit more than we’d been able to in the past. And the look of it as fantastic.” Fans can see a few pictures taken behind-the-scenes for that filming day where Tapping and Shanks sit outside the set to thaw out in the Vancouver sun by visiting Joseph Mallozzi’s blog entry for June 13.
The Air Force had a news report about the two F-15s that were brought up to Vancouver for two days of filming for the movie (see Solutions Blog article). The news feature mostly focused on the two Air Force officers being played by Amanda Tapping and Ben Browder and didn’t mention the presence of Beau Bridges and Michael Shanks in the filming of these crucial scenes. Sharp-eyed fans have carefully examined the footage of the broadcast and have determined that Daniel rides in the second seat of Mitchell’s F-15. Of that experience, Shanks said, “So we got to sit inside those for a couple of days and press some buttons and switches and learn the lingo they use and get pulled around a tarmac in these $30 million planes. It was one of those moments as an actor where you sit there and go, ‘I can’t believe I get paid for doing this.'”
To read the full interview, visit SCI FI WIRE: Shanks Talks Stargate Movies. More plot details and other production information for both movies are available from the Solutions Wiki: SG-1 Movies index.