3 November 2011
Live Tweeting by Simon & Matt during airing of 4.07 Blinking Red Light
Tweets about the episode
Simon: Trust your instincts... most important element of this scene. Motivating Lisbon to use her intuition.
Simon: commercials are a real bummer.
Simon: there was the joy of a perfectly executed plan coming together
Q: Plz, ask Simon if he chose this episode to direct or it was Bruno's decision?
Simon: basically random, but definitely able to influence the script... great collaboration with Ken Woodruff
All of our suspects on the board are crew members!!
Back to Lisbon learning from the best, Jane inspiring Lisbon to get in touch with her intuition.
The fridge note is a warning from Lisbon to keep the kitchen clean!
Haibach played by William Mapother, very interesting actor who Simon has known for many years.
'Karen you flatter me' was an improvised line.
Special, special? Lieutenant/agent.... that line was a actually a mistake on set that Simon went with
Q: ask simon if Jane is proud of Lisbon for picking up some of his skills
If it means more days off for Jane, he'd rather his team pick up their game!
The actor on the screen is the brilliant Mr. David Paymer.
We shoot at Warner Brothers and the on location scenes were shot in the Echo Park area of LA.
The use of blue screen helped us bring San Francisco to LA
Blake Neely did an amazing job with the score, he took a different approach.
Q: did the blinking red light show up more than once?
red light in the dark room, and the camera
idea behind Lisbon looking through glass was that she was reflecting upon her self.
Q: Did you mainly just focus on camera angles and script as director or is there more to it?
Simon: Every single detail from wardrobe to casting is covered and planned
Simon had to ask Bruno if it was okay to say 'Crap' on network television...
Q: I loved the way you built up to the ending with the body in the background of your frame. Did you come up with that camera view?
Simon: Yes. That last shot took 3 hours to capture. Since it is all one shot, it took forever to light evenly and keep all the elements in check.
(Scene where Lisbon is talking to Haibach’s lawyer)
Simon: Really revved up Robin to get pissed off in this scene
The scene with Panzer and Jane talking in his apartment while Wonderful World is playing.
This is Simon's favorite scene in the episode.
Q: Who's the amazing girl dancing?
That is the talented Kelsi Cullimore
(Scene with body of girl with eyes cut out)
It was Simon's choice not to show the body here as he thought the imagination is more powerful.
Q: Simon, did you have trouble saying the "not knowing that you know more than you know" line. Seems like a tongue twister
Simon: No trouble at all with that one, worked harder on it because it was a troublesome line.
Q: What's the biggest thing you changed or added to this episode as director?
Simon: Can't really go into that, but had my hands all over it
Q: When Jane is on the TV show he looks to the camera because he knew that RJ was watching, right?
Correct.
Q: How did you direct scenes you were in? Jumping back and forth from the frame to behind the camera?
just had to do it by feel more than anything
Welcome Catherine Dent as FBI Agent Darcy!
No special effects on that reflection shot!
Tried to model the Karen Cross Show off of a Charlie Rose type talk show to lend an authenticity to it.
The theory behind it is that SMART bad people are SCARIER bad people...
How great is David Paymer in this scene?
Q: Simon, did you have a part in casting guest actors in this episode?
Simon: Yes, was in every casting session.
Q: Did Jane smile when he saw the crying smiley???
Yep : )
Q: How is the ending of 4.07 not be a bigger shocker to Lisbon?
Simon has stepped out for the night, but my assumption is that she got to the scene much earlier than Jane did. Time has passed
Other Simon tweets
Q: Simon, this was an absolutely BRILLIANT episode! Will the rest of Season 4 be as amazing? How can u top what u've already done?
Simon: It starts to get very, very twisted...
Q: Did directing give you a whole different perspective on the making of the mentalist
Simon: not so much a newer persepective, just more freedom creatively
Q: simon, i hv a feeling that red john is patrick's self. He has a psycho illness abt it. But im not expecting it. Wat do u think??
Simon: I like that you are thinking about that.
Q: I heard in an interview today that you like directing better than acting? Why is that?
Simon: more fulfilling and multi-dimensional.
Q: Simon ... Say you are on FB?
Simon: Ah, no Facebook
Q: Simon will you be directing any more epis this season
Simon: they want me to do another, but it is too exhausting
Q: Have the writers already planned out this season's finale?
Simon: I've got some pretty good ideas...
Q: Is it very difficult to act & direct at the same time?
Simon: It's like hitting a golf ball and being the golf ball at the same time ... but fun
Q: Was it easier to direct this one than the one you did in Season 3?
Simon: None of them are easy, but it was just as much fun. Season 3 demanded more in production, this one demanded more in pre-pro
Q: What do you think is the most important event in Jane's life as far as episodes go: killing red john, realizing it's not rj?
Simon: Hmmm, actually it depends where it leads...
Q: Plz, ask Simon if he has a favorite Jane/Lisbon scene from this season?
Simon: Yes, but it hasn't aired yet... : ) Episode 10
Q: How did directing affect your work schedule?
Simon: It was madness!
Q: Do you add input when writers are creating episodes?
Very much so, more so in the ones I direct
Q: Do you think Jane will ever fall in love on the show?
Simon: I hope so.
Q: Would you say you have learned all the ropes to directing by now?
Simon: No, absolutely not... I don't think you ever can. But I do feel more comfortable than 12 months ago
Other Matt tweets
This was all completely spur of the moment!
Q: Did he just bust in and go "I feel like tweeting, pull out your laptop?"
That is actually exactly what happened. Was his spontaneous idea. Was fun...
Q: What do you do as Simon's assistant?
I do everything I can to keep the busy man he is organized and one step ahead of the game... there is no typical day! Love my job!
Thanks everyone! Hope you had as much fun as we did! If we couldn't get to your questions, we apologize, but hopefully this won't be the last opportunity!
Hey everyone, it has been a long day on set, and I'm ready to call it a night. Thanks again for tuning in, Simon appreciated it greatly!
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