24 Season 6: Opening with a Bang



24 Season 6: Opening with a Bang is a special feature found on the Season Six DVD.

Opening with a Bang
Scott Degarmo, an LAPD officer, explains that he is closing the street down to be able to film a scene from the premiere of Day 6 of 24. He says that before 10:30pm on that night there will be an explosion on the street. Preparations begin at 3:30pm that afternoon, with director Jon Cassar and stunt coordinator Jeff Cadiente planning out how the explosion, which will be of a metro bus, will take place.

Scott and Stan Blackwell, the special effects coordinators, explain how the explosion scene will take place. They rig the bus with explosives whilst explaining that it is for scene #103, therefore making it right at the start of the episode. Stan Blackwell explains, as the shoot is set in front of the Walt Disney Concert Hall most of the explosive wants to be directed towards the camera and away from the center, which they have techniques and methods of doing. They work out that they have been working on the scene for around three weeks, which will add up to a shot that will take around two and a half seconds.

At 5:45pm, Nicole Burke congratulates Jon Cassar on his Emmy win, "Outstanding Director", for his work on Season 5, which was awarded to him the night before. She presents him with a cake. Time moves on and, at 8:00pm, the crew moves to the shoot location and prepares to start filming. Cassar gives the crew final instructions before the big shoot. Cassar explains the locations of each of the cameras to Scott Powell, 24's editor and, for this scene, "Tourist camera" operator. They get to the front of the Walt Disney Concert Hall and decide how the Torist camera shot should be played. Cassar then moves over and prepares the other cameras.



Cassar notices that all the dummies in the bus are bald, and instructs assistant property master Bryce Moore to spray paint some hair on. Around 9:30pm, Burke leads a safety meeting before the final reheral takes place. Stan Blackwell explains that parts may fly from the exploding bus, and directs people as to where to stand. At 10:00pm a final rehersal takes place, with the location and movement of the cars being prepared. Cassar explains about the tourist cameras that are in place to assist with the usual camera setup for large scenes such as this.

Camera A-E are set up and readied, and Cassar calls action. A view of each camera angle, as well as the finished episode and two DVD camera crews are show. The explosion takes place, and the scene cuts to each of the five angles for a full screen view. Cassar calls "cut" but tells the camera operators to keep rolling if it seems like they have a good shot. He also tells Stan Blackwell to go in and put out the fire.

As the fire is put out, Cassar, Burke and Cadiente look closely at one of the tourist cameras and admire how good the shot looks.