24 is heading east.  Fans of the FOX drama already know that the upcoming seventh season of 24 will be the first to take place outside of the Los Angeles area.  Jack Bauer and company are taking their show to Washington DC, and that means that the 24 production team has to shoot some scenes in and around the actual DC area.  Over the course of the next two weekends, 24 will be shooting scenes for eight different episodes in the DC area.  Kiefer Sutherland and most of the main cast will be shooting at various locations around the nation's capitol and, according to executive producer Howard Gordon, will also attempt to persuade a couple of politicians to film cameos.


This marks the first time 24 has left California for filming.  24, simply because of its format and heavy action, requires an immense amount of pre-planning.  On most TV shows, scripts aren't finished until pretty close to the filming of episodes.  Think of how far ahead 24 has to be to shoot bits and pieces of eight episodes on-location in a new environment like Washington DC.  It's incredible what those guys do.  As for the fear that audiences won't believe in the season's DC setting, Howard Gordon said, “The idea is to sell Washington in the first batch of episodes and, hopefully, people will have bought into the setting later on.”

The 24 team is tentatively scheduled to return to Washington DC for additional shooting sometime in early April.  24's production team will also be filming a bunch of panoramic locations which they will later use as fake backdrops for the actors.  The actors will perform their scenes in front of green screens.  This is a tactic that is used fairly often these days, though it's rarely noticed.  When green screen is done poorly, it can be a disaster, but the technology is so good these days, it's usually seamless.


-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
Source: Variety
(Image Courtesy of FOX)