Check The ‘CSI:Miami’ Blog For It’s Latest Installment

In the latest installment of the popular CSI:Miami blog, Story Editor Brian Davidson offers a first hand look into a day of production on the episode “Come As You Are.”

In the episode “Come As You Are,” an investigation into the murder of a Marine recruiter causes Horatio to meet a troubled U.S. Marine who has come back from Iraq to bury his brother, who he believes he killed. The shooting is shown in a flashback to a battle in Iraq. It’s this flashback that Davidson details in the blog.

The scene set in “Iraq” was shot at an active oil field in Long Beach, California. The location provided an interesting challenge. According to Davidson, “Blowing up anything is hard enough, but try doing it in the middle of an active oil field – that well in the background was really pumping oil. We had to film an entire battle without lighting a spark.” To blow up the mess tent, they used “air mortar.” Essentially, a giant CO2 cartridge the size of a cow was used as a cannon that shoots air. Two mortars were placed outside the mess tent and when the director called action, the tent ripped apart as if it’d really been hit. All the flame effects were layered in during editing.

Another unique feature of this flashback shoot is that while a regular episode’s flashbacks are shot to be a heightened reality, this flashback was shot to be a real as possible. To achieve this, the scene was shot using handheld cameras to give the scene a chaotic documentary feel. Additionally, it was shot only from the Marine’s point of view, so the viewer would experience the scene as he did. They also used a film stock that allowed the background to appear really bright and capture the feel of the Iraqi desert. Also so the actors would experience the battle just as the characters would, they were not allowed to rehearse.

To read the blog entry in full, head over to the CSI:Miami Blog.

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