24: On the Loose



24: On the Loose is a special feature found on the Season Three DVD.

On the Loose
APRIL 25, 2003 - FINAL DAY OF PRODUCTION OF SEASON 2: Kiefer Sutherland talks about how happy he is with Season 2, and says that they will have to try to make the third season better, but after that night. He laughs and walks away.

FOUR MONTHS LATER: Jon Cassar, 24's director, explains that they are on episode five of Season 3 which involves a complex scene with a helicopter. The production room is shown, where the cast are gathered to discuss how the scene with the helicopter landing in the middle of the street will go down.

A few days later, a shoot takes place at the prison where the riot is occuring. Director Ian Toynton is shown, who is filling in for Cassar who had to leave due to a family emergency. Rodney Charters, the director of photography, explains the difficulties Toynton is having because he is not used to the shooting style of 24. Charters also says that Cassar will have had a specific way he wanted the scene to be shot, as he was excited about working on it, so Toynton has the added pressure of living up to Cassar's dreams of the scene.



SEPTEMBER 9, 2003 - RUNNING A RIOT: Kiefer Sutherland talks about the difficulties of the scene; having so many people in such a physical scene is hard to work with. Richard Rosser talks to the prisoners about what is expected of them from the scene. Direction begins and a split screen shows different camera angles of the scene, as well as Toynton watching the action. He calls "cut" at the end of the scene, clearly happy with how it went.

Some of the prisoners explain what happens on set whilst they are not shooting. Footage is shown of them relaxing backstage in the prison. Sutherland says that working in a real prison is good because it creates an atmosphere that makes working there much easier. Lobo Sebastian, the actor who played Peel during the prison scenes, talks about his experiences whilst working inside the prison. Gregory J. Barnett, the stunt co-ordinator, gives some direction to some of the prisoners. Some of the regular background artists talk about how many times they have been killed on the show.

The next day, Rodney Charters introduces the laundry scene where the game of Russian roulette is played. Leonard Roberts, who played Officer Buchanan, talks about how realistic the scene looks. Lobo Sebastian says that he likes playing the bad guy. Sutherland complements the actors who have a small role in the scene. He talks about the complex and exciting dynamic that is caused by the situation Jack and Ramon are put in. Evan Katz, the writer of the scene, talks about why he wrote it as he did. Charters explains that Jon Cassar will be returning the next day, and have to take over right in the middle of a scene.



Cassar returns on September 11, clearly angered to find a small hole in the wall that six SWAT members are supposed to come through. Another problem arises when Greg Barnett realises that a man that was in the scene before was black, but there was noone to double for him. Barnett finds Christopher Whitman, a lighting technician for the show, and preps him to double for the actor from the scene from the day before. The scene goes ahead as planned, with Whitman working well in the role. Cassar, clearly happier, congratulates the crew.

Earlier that day, shooting took place for the scene where Ramon and Jack board the helicopter. Mike Reyes, the key grip, predicts that the sun will go down in around fourty-five minutes, so Cassar speeds up the crew for a quicker shoot.Reiko Aylesworth (Michelle Dessler) explains that she is doing some off-camera work; talking on the phone for James Badge Dale's Chase Edmunds to tell him that they found Kyle Singer, but it being too late to stop Jack from taking Ramon.

Filming then moves to a street where the helicopter will land. Cassar explains that it needs three miles of visibility, and currently it was a mile and a half, so they had to wait. He explains that, since 9/11, helicopters could not be in the air after 12pm, and, at 8:17am, he begins to get worried. It gets to 10am and the cloud clears enough for the chopper shoot to take place. Cassar says that they will be shooting right up until the deadline, so it will be tight. The choppers land and prepare for the shoot, brandishing cameras and other equiptment, and they take off at 11am to begin actual filming. More problems occur when the chopper cannot land where it had been originally planned, but the crew do not miss a beat. It gets to 11:53am and the chopper finally comes in to land.

Cassar shows his watch; exactly as 12:00pm. He says that the way the show is shot is exactly what the show is about; time.