True Blood Set Tour

Fans of the show will know what I mean when I say how cool it was to walk around in Merlotte's and Fangtasia. When I arrived at The Lot, for the Set Decorators Society of America's Day with the Set Decorator, I wasn't sure what to expect. After some quick refreshments, we were off ... we walked around a big warehouse with lots of plywood and cables, turned a corner and saw a large fabric backdrop of a woods scene and a couple of dusty cars in a 'parking lot.' We walked into a nondescript set to suddenly find ourselves in Merlotte's -- the bar which is a main location for the show. We learned that since HBO doesn't have commercials, they don't have to worry about blocking brand names and such like network tv. There were real brands of beer and even two working taps that a beer guy comes to refill. Also, a couple of companies did not want their brands used because they didn't like the content of the show! Ha! We saw some of Sam's office and the restrooms too. We also toured the Stackhouse house which still had mud on the walls from Maryanne's rampage from Season 2. The set had to be made and remade with the mud since one of the actors got sick. Once the house can get cleaned up, the wallpaper and everything has to be restored. There were lots of antiques and tchotchkies from a set member's recently deceased older mother-in-law. The kitchen seemed dingy but they said that a white wall appears too washed out so they have to darken it slightly because of the lighting -- they use a Navajo White. The floor looked especially dark but they said that the lights make it look much lighter when filming.

We saw Bill's house, which was based on a historic house shot briefly in Lousiana. The owners of the house didn't like the content of the show so they had to make a recreation at The Lot. We saw the dungeon where poor Lafayette was kept prisoner as well as awesome Fangtasia, a bar for vampires and vampire lovers. As far as art in the sets went, if it wasn't 'cleared', it couldn't be used, even if it was super old from a thrift shop. Other behind the scenes info... the Stackhouse house is recreated in a field in a large Malibu ranch where lots of grass is grown to simulate lush Louisiana. Some scenes have been actually filmed in Louisiana, but most of it is done around LA. How crazy since it looks like the show is straight outta L'ana! There was a Q&A where all the set heads talked about getting into the business and the union, etc. They came from theater, architecture, design backgrounds and then became PAs, worked on different shows like Deep Space Nine, Cheers, Six Feet Under. It sounded quite interesting and very competitive! Personally I thought the most fun job would be shopper/buyer! There was a lunch and tour of the prop house but it was time for me to peace out at that point. What fun!