Intern Diary Part One: Pre Production!

Hi, I'm Suzie and I'm an intern at "R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour: The Series.” I grew up reading R.L. Stine's books and watching “Goosebumps,” the TV show- when I felt brave enough! No stories will make you want to sleep with the light on more than the ones written by R.L. Stine. So imagine my luck and excitement a few weeks ago when I got to come on board to work on the new show based on his short stories.

This is where the magic happens- my desk! (It is festively decorated for the haunted howlidays.)

I soon learned that more than a spine-tingling story goes into making a great TV show- it takes a whole team of talented people and all sorts of planning and decisions. The Haunting Hour is unique- it's an anthology series: that means a new cast and a new location to be shot every week! And lucky me, I get to be a part of the team creating the episode “My Sister The Witch” from start to finish.


So, “My Sister The Witch”... where do I begin? Well, the first thing I do is sit in on is a concept meeting where all the key crew members figure out exactly how this episode is going to look, and play out to make it perfectly spooky. We all have a copy of the script, and everyone involved has had a chance to read it, so there sure is a lot of details to discuss. Just like a perfect spell, it takes all sorts of ingredients to make an episode magic!

The boardroom! Where decisions are made, and ideas are born.

Besides listening to people talk about creepy crawlies and all sorts of costumes, I get to meet some of the Big Cheeses on the production: the Director Michael Scott, the Assistant Director (he is the people organizer!), Line Producer (he handles all the many, many business details of the production), Production Designer (who creates and coordinates with his team all the bits and pieces that make up the world of each episode), and of course, the show runners Billy Brown and Dan Angel, who created the show with R. L. Stine and are in charge of the story for each episode (they are also the guys who created the “Goosebumps” TV show with R. L. Stine- how cool to work with them!). There are lots of people with specialized jobs who work on the show, from costumes to transportation, to locations, and special effects among many other departments, and I get to hear them talk about what they will need to do to make “My Sister The Witch” extra witchy and wonderful.


Over the next few days, there are a LOT of meetings to go into even more detail about what needs to be created, planned or fitted for the show. People are constantly in and out of the production office, bringing props, costumes and visual effects ideas to the big boardroom for discussion. Sometimes we go to them- I get my first taste of delicious onset catering when we go the set of the current episode to have a lunch meeting with Darcy, the head of special effects, to discuss how we're going to make a couple awesome effects work for the episode.


Then, on the fourth day it's time for Tech Scout! This is when we go and check out the places our location scout has chosen for our sets, and all the key crew plan what they need to change and how they're going to put everything in, like lighting, an altar in the woods, or even a new wall. It's really fun, and we get a feel of what the episode will really be like (plus we get treats to eat for the road).

The Harris House- doesn't look so spooky in the sunshine, but wait til you see it at night...

“My Sister The Witch” is set at a nice house in the middle of a beautiful, but spooky, rural property surrounded by trees, and also an old church that serves as a meeting hall for a boy scout troop. Both of these places will get the total Haunting Hour treatment to make sure they look their creepy best when it comes time to roll camera.

What could be going down inside this building? Tune in to find out!

On the last day, the cast comes in to get their costumes fitted for shooting to begin on Monday. Jodelle Ferland from The Twilight Saga: Eclipse and Silent Hill is playing Alice, and Uriah Shelton from TV's “The Glades” is Pete, her brother. Our lovely costume ladies have picked out all sorts of fun clothes that help Uriah and Jodelle become their characters, and Jodelle even Tweeted that she wishes she could take them home for herself. I can't wait to talk to Jodelle and Uriah when I go on set next week!


So, now you know what has to be done before we start shooting the episode, and you'll have to stay tuned, because coming up in the next few days I will share my Intern Diary Part Two: On Set! Also, look for interview videos coming up with Uriah and Jodelle, all part of the 13 Haunted Howlidays of great extra features we have planned to count down to the premiere of "R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour: The Series" on The Hub Network December 25! Check back for more spooky fun!