Knight Rider
KNIGHT FEVER
Easily the most frustrating episode of the season. Originally, “Knight Fever” was conceived and shot as the 2nd episode of the season for us (to air back in early October). The idea was to have Kitt contract a tech-eating virus (think Ebola for machines) and nearly die. Well, that’s what we shot and planned to put on screen – the special effects were another matter entirely. Turns out it’s harder to make a virus look cool on screen than we ever expected. Two special effects teams and seven months later, we sort of realized that less is more. The virus you see now is the result.
Here’s another issue—we shot this episode way back in July, well before Kitt developed his current “personality.” He was supposed to be a little more robotic and so Mike’s and Sarah’s responses to him in the original script were more like that of a big brother or big sister talking to their much younger, far less experienced sibling. But now the episode airs as number ten, and Kitt’s AI is much more developed. The solution? Re-write all of Kitt’s dialogue to fit. Easy, right? Think again. Imagine you were having a conversation with your seven year-old brother, then you have exactly the same conversation six months later – except the seven year-old is now eighteen. I doubt the answers would be the same, (though I gotta admit, I’m still kinda the same dude I was when I was seven). Anyway, we’ve already shot both Mike’s and Sarah’s sides of the conversations – way back in July. But now we have to change Kitt’s entire attitude -- his point of view, his “feelings” about what’s taking place. All new dialogue. It took some doing.
In the end, I think turning episode 2 into episode 10 ended up falling under the banner of the “law of unintended consequences” -- meaning it turns out it makes more sense in the new slot than the old. We know Kitt really well by now, and we understand how much he means to Mike and Sarah and vice-versa. And despite Mike and Sarah’s relative coolness toward one another lately, it’s clear their love and friendship is still rock solid.
Plus, a tech-eating virus seems like it really could happen pretty soon, doesn’t it?
See you in '09,
Matt
Filed under: Matt Pyken | Comments [16]
Quick Q & A with GST
Q: When does the show come back?
We return on December 31st with all new episodes.
Q: Is the show canceled? What can we do to insure a second season?
No, the show hasn’t been cancelled. We’ll continue to air in the months to come. Like any show, the more people who watch, the greater the chances of us coming back in the in fall, so definitely get your friends to tune in.
Q: Is Michael Knight ever going to face off against an evil sheriff in a small town?
Yes.
Q: What does “SSC” stand for?
Satellite Surveillance Chamber.
Q: In the Xmas spirit, and to make sure I haven’t missed any, care to share all the passwords that can be used on KnightIndustriesResearch.com? thanks!
Use the username “devon” and password “bonnie” to log in. And then on Alex’s page, you’ll be asked for another password to access content only he would have access to. We gave the clue “learns along” in a previous episode, when Sarah used a special passphrase. That’s an anagram for the actual password for Alex’s locked content: “glenalarson.” Merry Christmas. Look for more content in the new year.
Q: Was there ever any consideration of using the Montecito as the casino in the Las Vegas episode?
No, because all those sets were torn down, but you can see the Montecito in the two hour Knight Rider TV movie from last winter.
Q: Which do you like writing for more, film or TV?
It’s like asking which of your kids you like better. I like them both. TV has an immediacy that features do not have. In TV, you need to feed the black box every week. In film, a project can be development for years. Hollow Man took 12 years to get to the screen.
Q: How much of the science in your show is real technology, and how much is made up just for the show?
Just about everything we do has some real world counterpart, even if it’s just in theory right now. Eric Wolff, a writer over at Discover Magazine, actually watches every episode and then blogs about the tech here.
What’s interesting is that the technology you might think is the most real is frequently the furthest from reality and vice versa. According to Wolff, a truly self-driving car with KITT’s handling abilities, for example, is still years away. But the more fantastical 3D printer that KITT uses to whip up keys and other objects that Mike needs, is currently in real world use.
Filed under: Gary Scott Thompson | Comments [15]
Take a stroll around the KittCave... (kinda)
A little while ago, Microsoft sent some reps down from Seattle to take about 1500 pictures of our main set. Their hope was to show off the Satellite Surveillance Chamber (aka, the KittCave) on Photosynth.net, a site where anyone can upload his or her 2D photos and turn them into 3D environments.
If you've ever made a panorama by "stitching" together two or more photos of the same landscape, it's kind of like that. On steroids. This technology can take hundreds of photos of a given location/object/person, and then "synth" them together to create interactive environments you can virtually travel through, around, under, over, etc. Without the aid of any human eye, the computers will identity overlapping elements in different photos, and then use those points to place all the photos in a three dimensional space.
MS just got permission from NBC to show off a "synthed" KittCave, so it's up there for you to check out. Just search for "KittCave."
Just one catch: The browser plug-in, as you may guess, only runs on Windows (for now). As a die hard Mac user myself, I had to use a friend's computer to check it out...
Filed under: Eric Buchman | Comments [8]
Happy Turkey Day
Hey everyone,
No new episode tonight, but what better way to honor a holiday of peace and gratitude than with some photos of people fighting?
Here's some behind-the-scenes pics of a few different types of "showdowns" we've already filmed.
The above image is from "Knight of the Iguana." Justin Bruening learns how to disarm a guy with a gun... This is just a rehearsal, yet look at the guy's face. I don't think stunt performers get enough credit for their acting chops...
Also from "Knight of the Iguana," Mike and Billy's watergun fight had to be as carefully choreographed as any other type of gun fight. Each robot had its own operator, as well as someone off camera controlling Kitt. All the elements had to be carefully timed out and rehearsed so that the scene went off without a hitch, or else everyone would have to dry up before we could shoot it again.
From "Knight of the Hunter," Zoe prepares to show Billy a few moves. You can read Billy's thoughts on his lessons at his blog.
This is from an upcoming episode. It's an image from one of our most elaborate fight sequences yet. I'll let you guess how Mike finds himself in this situation... and how he gets out of it.
Have a great Thanksgiving!
Eric
Filed under: Eric Buchman | Comments [20]
KNIGHT OF THE ZODIAC
What do South Africa, Nevada, Native Americans, Paul Campbell, and Kitt have in common?
“I implore you” as Kitt likes to say – read on.
Poor Billy Morgan. Always back in the Kittcave while Michael Knight gets the girl. Billy sits at his workstation and pines for Sarah, gets played over and over by Zoe, but he never seems to get anywhere -- that is, until tonight’s episode.
Yep, Mike and Billy head for Las Vegas to take down a crew of sophisticated casino thieves, and Billy works in a little extra-curricular activity along the way.
Now, here’s the back-story on the characters and the location.
First, there’s Vegas. It’s 300 miles from us here in LA, and not a great town for shooting a TV series. If that seems counter-intuitive, think about it. Shooting inside a casino is a big deal. Security is all over the crew, and if you want to simulate a casino heist, forget it. When there’s real money around, the real guys with the real guns tend to get nervous. Then there’s the disruption factor; Las Vegas casinos make more in a day than we could ever pay for a location fee, so they’re not particularly keen on 200 members of a TV crew settling in for a few days.
So how do you do Vegas when it’s too far, too expensive and you’re the red-headed step-child?
Enter the Morongo Band of Mission Indians. These nice folks just happened to build a huge Vegas-style hotel and casino 90 miles east of Los Angeles on the edge of the desert near Palm Springs. We took our entire crew of 200, put them up for three days in the hotel, ate at the buffet for breakfast and lunch and shot this episode of “Knight Rider” everywhere from the casino to the pool to one of the cabana-style suites. It was awesome and it looks exactly like Las Vegas.
And one lucky member of the crew hit a $4000 dollar slot jackpot.
Now, what about Mike and Kitt and all those driving scenes? Without getting too technical, our visual effects wizards composite Kitt in with real footage of Las Vegas – footage we were able to get form the series “Las Vegas,” a show Gary Scott Thompson created and I wrote on for five years.
So, easy-peasy, right?
Not so fast. Some of those visual effects artists who create the composite shots do their work in South Africa. Say what? We actually digitize the footage of Kitt driving (shot in front of a green screen), then we digitize the footage of the Las Vegas backgrounds, then upload both sets to the internet. The digital artists in South Africa download our uploads, marry the two sets of footage together then send it back via a very big and fast internet data pipe to us here in LA. Then we drop the shots into the show.
And that’s how you get to Vegas via South Africa and Palm Springs, baby.
Oh yeah, and Billy meets a beautiful girl, wins a hundred grand playing blackjack and saves Mike from the bad guys. But that’s another story.
Matt
ps - true fact: Courtney Flynn, Billy's love interest in this episode, was named after Courtney Flynn, who works on the show...
Filed under: Matt Pyken | Comments [33]
I WANNA ROCK AND ROLL ALL KNIGHT
Hey Knight Rider fans!
This week's episode explores the dualistic nature of our world. How perception directs our understanding of right and wrong. A meditation on pairs, if you will. Mike & Sarah, Billy & Zoe, Nikki & Max, Rachel & Teresa...
Wait, who are Rachel and Teresa?
That would be us, the writers of this episode. And truth be told, our primary meditation was on sexy criminals running around in a hot car. We loved creating Nikki & Max as a reflection of our heroes Mike & Sarah. Both drive hot cars, but Nikki & Max are expressive and reckless while Mike & Sarah are measured and bottled up. They teeter on the edge but never drop off.
Billy & Zoe, on the other hand, go 'round and 'round. They gossip about Mike & Sarah, but are they really talking about themselves? When are they going to play a little "how's your father?"
The dance was enjoyable for all involved and hopefully will be for you too.
So what didn't you see in this episode? Here are a few tidbits for y'all:
Finally, we would not have an episode to blog about without the tremendous collaboration of all the writers, crew, and cast. A special shout out to our guest cast Kelly Kruger & Brandon Quinn for bringing Nikki & Max to life with such sexy badness.
So that's all, folks. $20 bucks says you'll enjoy this episode...
Filed under: Teresa Huang & Rachel Mellon | Comments [49]
KNIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD
GST wanted me to tell you a couple things about tonight's episode, "Knight of the Living Dead." First up, that it was supposed to air last week, but we were preempted for President-Elect Obama.
That meant our Halloween episode had to air after Halloween. But it was also supposed to air last week for another, very important reason. You might've noticed Kitt's flashy costume -- a convertible with pink rocker tape striping, pink stitching, and this familiar pink ribbon:
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and Ford and Knight Rider partnered to make Kitt one of their "Warriors in Pink" for this very special cause. This limited edition Warriors in Pink Mustang is for sale at many dealerships across the country, and proceeds from the sale of each one are donated to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. You can find out more about this project and other Warriors in Pink at this website:
http://www.fordvehicles.com/warriorsinpink
And secondly, GST wanted me to tell you about KARR... But he didn't want me to say too much, because there's still a lot to be learned about him on the show. Hopefully, though, you were paying attention when Sarah entered her father's passphrase into the computer.
Thursday afternoon, some more content will be available at KnightIndustriesResearch.com. You'll still need to know who Devon and Bonnie are to log in, but to see this extra content, you'll need an additional passcode. Is this new passcode exactly what Sarah used on the show? That would be too easy... But the letters are all there.
And I'll give you one more hint: the screen cuts away before she finishes entering in her father's entire passphrase. So you're going to need to figure out the rest of the second word in order to solve the anagram.... Good luck!
Keep watching for passwords on the show, by the way, because every time we reveal one, that means we've unlocked even more content on the site.
Filed under: Eric Buchman | Comments [57]
Recent Posts
- KNIGHT FEVER
- Quick Q & A with GST
- Take a stroll around the KittCave... (kinda)
- Happy Turkey Day
- KNIGHT OF THE ZODIAC
- I WANNA ROCK AND ROLL ALL KNIGHT
- KNIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD
- No new episode tonight, but...
- More questions, more answers...
- A HARD DAY'S KNIGHT
- KNIGHT OF THE IGUANA
- You've got questions, we've got answers. Part 1
- Welcome to our blog
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