No wonder it has that million-dollar look ...

Press, 12 June 1986, Page 19

No wonder it has that million-dollar look ...

DUO’S Robin Corry discovers what “Dynasty’s” producers spend their enormous budget on.

“Dynasty” is a glitzy, glossy show that has the million-dollar look — and no wonder. Every episode costs a million dollars to make. For that kind of money the producer, Esther Shapiro, the woman who dreamed up the series, expects perfection. She says: “We don’t spend fortunes on car chases and locations. The money goes into hiring the best writers, and into clothes and furnishings. “The average cop show spends no more than $5OOO an episode on costume. On ‘Dynasty’ we start at $25,000. No woman in the cast ever wears the same thing twice.” The end result is what Esther calls “the dramatised fantasies of every middle-aged woman,” an everyday story of jet-set-ting folk leading smooth, pampered lives. But the reality is very different. Most of “Dynasty” is filmed inside two ugly concrete buildings at the Warner Hollywood studio, each 60 metres by 30 metres, which contain stages three, four and five. Inside some 70 people toil up to 15 hours daily in conditions that would have a factory out on strike. On even the hottest Californian days the noisy air-conditioning has to be shut off during filming and the temperature can soar to a sweltering 30 degrees, or more. It takes a seven-day week to shoot one episode, then another four weeks of editing and polishing. Each day’s labour produces an average of six or seven minutes of finished film. Most “Dynasty” fans are still asleep when the stage-hand boss, Brock Broughton, usually the first to arrive, parks his Ford Mustang at 6 a.m. By the time he has checked the day’s scenes, his crew have clocked in and are ready to tug and shove furniture into position, and make sure all the props are precisely where they should be. That includes having the right fresh flowers in vases and every ornament, ashtray and rubbish

bin positioned properly. While this is going on, the cameramen, lighting and sound engineers, carpenters, electricians and make-up people are arriving. Actors needed for the first scene of the day arrive at 7 a.m. and clock in just like everybody else. Even Joan Collins and Linda Evans have timecards! The early birds usually include Joan Collins, John Forsythe, who plays Blake Carrington, Gordon Thomson (Adam Carrington) and Michael Nader (Alexis’ husband, Dex). Joan Collins makes the 15-minute journey from her Beverly Hills home in her beige Rolls-Royce and heads for her cramped dressing room. There she runs through her answer-ing-machine messages and diary with her secretary, Judy Bryer. Then she changes into a white towelling dressing gown and goes next door to be transformed into Alexis by the make-up artist, Bob Sidell. Women actors are allocated an hour for make-up, hair and wardrobe, 30 minutes longer than men. While this is going on technicians are positioning cameras, sound and lighting equipment. Then the first scene is rehearsed. Alexis has to storm into Blake’s office for a blazing row. Joan Collins, still in her dressing gown, and John Forsythe fluff some of their lines, and deliberately throw in a few unscripted quips to ease tension. During this rehearsal time the final adjustments are made to sound and lighting. Cameras are focused and strips of tape are put on the floor to mark the actor’s exact positions. Next comes the dress rehearsal, with Joan Collins in a yellow dress and turban, but still wearing slippers for comfort. At this stage it is found that when she picks up a picture on Blake’s desk and bangs it down the noise is deafening. The problem is solved by putting a soft pad under it. Finally the scene is filmed, the director Kim Friedman shouts “Print that,” and everyone relaxes. But not for long.

That same scene has to be re-shot several more times from various angles and in close-ups, and for each take Alexis has to be in the same postion and the same fiery temper. To save time and costs, scenes are not filmed in the order they are seen. Once the sound, lighting and cameras are set up, all the scenes in the episode on one set are shot one after the other. For most of us “Dynasty” bears no resemblance to everyday life. Yet the producer, Esther Shapiro, and her team insist it is an accurate reflection of the lifestyle of the average super-rich Denver oil family. The rooms in the Carrington mansion are exact replicas of a house called Filoli, a 48-room tourist attraction with 17 working fireplaces outside San Mateo, California. After the cast and crew have been toiling for weeks on end in the concrete dream factory, getting out on location is looked forward to like a Sunday School treat. But outside scenes are often no picnic — as Joan Collins and Linda Evans found out when they filmed their famous mud fight. The entire scene lasted about two minutes, but it took a whole day’s filming, high in the mountains outside Los Angeles. “It was cold,” says a “Dynasty” insider. “Production started at 7 a.m. with temperatures barely above freezing, and went on until 5 p.m. The temperature didn’t get above five or six degrees all day.” The crew had created a mud-filled pool, and the wardrobe department had created several sets of identical dresses for the two actresses. “Minutes after filming started the dresses were caked in mud,” says the insider. “With the mud and the low temperatures both actresses were shivering. During breaks they wanned up in their changing rooms and drank hot coffee. Then they’d put on clean dresses and go back into the mud. DUO copyright. “Dynasty” screens on Two at 8.30 p.m.