{"id":50,"date":"2008-08-01T11:31:24","date_gmt":"2008-08-01T15:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/humanspark\/?p=50"},"modified":"2008-08-01T15:27:14","modified_gmt":"2008-08-01T19:27:14","slug":"spark-blog-initial-thoughts-on-filming-with-alan-alda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/humanspark\/featured\/spark-blog-initial-thoughts-on-filming-with-alan-alda\/50\/","title":{"rendered":"Spark Blog: Initial Thoughts on Filming with Alan Alda"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"captionLeft\">\n<table border=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/humanspark\/files\/2008\/08\/hs_610_blog3_01.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-51\" title=\"Walk and Talk\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/humanspark\/files\/2008\/08\/hs_610_blog3_01.jpg\" alt=\"Alan Alda Walking and Talking\" width=\"610\" height=\"315\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Filming Alan Alda\u2019s conversation in motion, Director of Photography Larry Engel is guided backwards by Producer Graham Chedd.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Today was the first day that I worked with Alan Alda. All I could do was keep thinking of his work on <em>M*A*S*H<\/em>, one of those TV shows that sticks with you over time.<\/p>\n<p>We packed a lot of shooting into the first day and only after do I have a chance to reflect on it. First off, Alan, who\u2019s worked for more than a decade with Graham and therefore has a great relationship with him and the former crew of <em>Scientific American Frontiers<\/em>, is patient, generous, and engaging &#8212; on both sides of the camera. While I\u2019ve been making films myself for more than three decades, it\u2019s my first encounter with Alan and his cohorts in science filmmaking. That puts me in an awkward situation &#8212; the newcomer. But both Graham and Alan are taking their time and allowing for our collective learning curve.<\/p>\n<div class=\"captionRight\">\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/humanspark\/files\/2008\/08\/hs_286_blog3_02.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-52\" title=\"Alan Alda on the Computer\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/humanspark\/files\/2008\/08\/hs_286_blog3_02.jpg\" alt=\"Alan Alda on the Computer\" width=\"286\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Alan Alda, surrounded by production gear, grabs a rare quiet moment on the computer.<br \/>\nPhoto \u00a9 Larry Engel, 2008<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Alan, unlike many so-called \u201chosts,\u201d is truly interested in speaking with and hearing from researchers at the cutting-edge of science and human understanding. He is honestly fascinated by their work and involves them in a true dialogue as he shares his own musings on the subject of human origins and that spark that happened so long ago. Alan is eager to enter into a true dialogue with these great minds. Several times over the course of the day I had to remind myself that I was filming the scene, not simply listening in on a great conversation. I think that this will make <em>The Human Spark<\/em> particularly compelling; we\u2019re not just telling an important and wonderful story, but we\u2019re sharing Alan\u2019s quest to uncover and understand it.<\/p>\n<p>Alan is tall; I\u2019m short. I have to be careful as I film him not to get too close and create too low an angle on him. He\u2019s trim, and carries himself with a slight lean forward &#8212; exactly as I remember him in <em>M*A*S*H<\/em>. Another adjective comes to mind: gracious.<\/p>\n<p>More later, and thanks for reading.<\/p>\n<p>Larry Engel<br \/>\nDirector and Director of Photography<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Filming Alan Alda\u2019s conversation in motion, Director of Photography Larry Engel is guided backwards by Producer Graham Chedd. Today was the first day that I worked with Alan Alda. All I could do was keep thinking of his work on M*A*S*H, one of those TV shows that sticks with you over time. We packed a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[267,505,34],"tags":[572,726,725],"class_list":["post-50","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behind-the-scenes","category-blog","category-featured","tag-alan-alda","tag-filming","tag-larry-engel"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Spark Blog: Initial Thoughts on Filming with Alan Alda | The Human Spark | PBS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/humanspark\/featured\/spark-blog-initial-thoughts-on-filming-with-alan-alda\/50\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Spark Blog: Initial Thoughts on Filming with Alan Alda | The Human Spark | PBS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Filming Alan Alda\u2019s conversation in motion, Director of Photography Larry Engel is guided backwards by Producer Graham Chedd. Today was the first day that I worked with Alan Alda. All I could do was keep thinking of his work on M*A*S*H, one of those TV shows that sticks with you over time. We packed a [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/humanspark\/featured\/spark-blog-initial-thoughts-on-filming-with-alan-alda\/50\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Human Spark\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-08-01T15:31:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2008-08-01T19:27:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/humanspark\/files\/2008\/08\/hs_610_blog3_01.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tanner vea\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"tanner vea\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" 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