OMG. This is so great Cory! Thank you!

So they hide out in the props sections huh?

That's pretty cool how they put all the storylines up on index cards- this expains alot as far as TV shows go.

CA? Hmmm... Where is Absolute? She lives in CA. We need some dirt. We should send her on a mission to check out the props department at Disney.

Chapter 5: Double Life

Ok..on to chapter 5. This discusses the different aspects of double lives throughtout Alias. First they talk about how alot of the time, the cast and crew don't even know what's coming up until the read the script. Sounds like things are kind of hush-hush. And how your all excited that Sydney is going on a mission, but it's actually for SD-6, so you don't want her to succeed at it...she needs to succeed at the counter-mission. Plus, how Abrams in constantly answering questions, but is always raising new ones.
Evidently, Francie was going to marry Charlie in the season finale, but Merrin talked Abrams out of it. She wanted to have a stronger character and if she was married, she wouldn't be in Sydney's life as much. Hence, the Charlie cheating on Francie and bye-bye Charlie!
How Sydney is constantly having to hide her "real life" from her friends...mainly Will. With him investigating Danny's death, it makes it very difficult on her.
And here's something interesting. Abrams orginally didn't have Vaughn and Sydney have an attraction together. He said the thought never crossed his mind until he was writing the scene when Sydney goes into the CIA and Vaughn just looks at her and realizes she is beautiful. Thank you JJ for giving us that!
Cotta Vaz also talks about the differences in SD-6/Sloane. How it's shown as a part of the CIA and really isn't, but everyone working there believes they are doing good for their country. Sloane is basically a villian, but he's kind and affectionate to Sydney and Emily. (until he KILLS her!) Anyway, he's human. And how Dixon believes he's working for the CIA and at the end of the season thinks Sydney is betraying their country.
The CIA: Abrams basically decided to give them a good rep since the X-Files kind of cast them in a shady light. He also went with the potential love interest with Vaughn. But because of protocol, Vaughn and Sydney can't be together. Kind of a modern day Victorian romance.

I see the mission. I choose to accept. Props Studio at Disney? Is it at the theme park? Or at the place where they shoot all the movies? If I go will I get to see this Michael-dude who Cory says is a god? Can I keep him if I see him?

Chapter 7: The Mission:Live Action

This chapter goes over what all goes into the live part of the action we see every Sunday. The writer's main goal is to have a great story line that is plausible. They do a huge amount of research on everything that goes into the show. They eve have their own internal Web site with all the research on it. So they can access photos of locations, weapons information, technology, and intelligence agencies. The stunt coordinator for Alias is Jeff Habberstad, who has work in alot of big movies...Spider Man. He says that Jennifer is a natural when it comes to the physical action. She actually parachuted into that party and landed it by herself in Mea Culpa! They also discuss how the costumer had to work with the outfits. They had to be funcitional for the fight scenes, but beautiful as well.
It discusses in detail the turning point episode of Q&A. The episode when Sydney drives off the pier and realizes that her mother is probably alive. They shot the pier scenes in San Pedro and the actual underwater scenes in a tank of water. Jennifer did those underwater scenes herself and had to actually sit in the car while it was filling up with water and act like she was calm! "The first take was freaky," Garner recalled. "What was scary was it was mental. I had to sit very calmly, buckled up in the car, as it completely filled up with water, and if you take your last breath too early and run out of oxygen you're almost hyperventilating because you're freakiing out. But once the first take was over, I loved the rest of the day. It was like being a fish in the water." (pg.110)
All the remote locations we see Sydney at are actually all production. The only time they've left LA for a shot was to go to Vegas for a weekend shooting. Evidently, alot of their scenes are filmed either at the ABC lot or at the Disney lot. Like the underground tunnels that Disney had created to walk between buildings to avoid bad weather.

Chapter 9: Post-Production

This chapter is all about how they put the episode together for us to all enjoy. Abrams is a big fan of showing us the ending first and then starting from the beginning of the story working it's way back to what we saw...the end. The pilot is a perfect example. The first scenes were of Sydney in her red wig being tortured. Then we come to see how she got there.
Mr. John Eisendrath edits the film and gives a rough copy to Abrams. From this, Abrams decides what will work and what needs to be changed. This is where Abrams does alot of rewriting evidently.
Music...the man is charge of the music for Alias is Michael Giacchino and he has a studio in his garage that he does alot of his work in. The majority of the music we hear each week is from an actual orchestra recorded in the studio that week. There is some techno aspects thrown in the mix however. And Abrams himself came up with the theme we hear every Sunday!

Chapter 11: The Last Episode

This chapter goes into detail of what it took to film the last episode of season one, "Almost Thirty Years." Cotta Vaz went in to specifics regarding three major scenes in this episode...The Will torture scene, the club scene, and the explosion of the Mueller device/hallway scene. He said that Cooper (Will) was so convincing in that torture scene that alot of the crew had to actually look away. They couldn't watch it. Ric Young, who plays, Suit and Glasses is back as that torturer. He's come full circle...from the pilot to the finale. They have a buffet dinner that evening in between shots...so, Cooper is walking around eating dinner looking like he actually got the crap beat out of him from the wonderful work of the make-up department. Cotta Vaz just goes through each part of that scene that we've all seen.
The Mercury Club...a warehouse full of extras dressed in punk and bondage apparel. This is the famous blue wig scenes. They actually said that it didn't work until they got the make-up on Garner and then the look was perfect. But just the wig... Cotta Vaz just walks through this scene as well...Vaughn and Sydney stride through the club, a man approaches Sydney, and Vaughn pushes him away. (my favorite ) It's all one continuous shot. It's after midnight when they finish.
The Exposion of the Mueller Device...Cotta Vaz goes into great detail about what it took to build the device we all saw explode at the end of the season. They have a 2,000 gallon water tank, at Barwick Studios,so when the water does flow down the hallway they've designed...it flows straight out into the Los Angeles River. This is how they get the scene of the water roaring after Sydney and Vaughn. The actual explosion scene is being filmed back at Disney's Stage 1. The actual image we all saw on the finale was computer generated of course, but the explosion is real. They had a generator that Sydney had rigged with explosives. The actual shot was filmed at 3am and everyone not important to the shot was asked to move away from the area. The gentlemen that is "blown-up" in the shot is, John Koyana, and he is given protective gel to protect his head from the heat. He is hooked to a cable through the ceiling. So, when the generator explodes...the cable is yanked on and he looks like he is being thrown from the explosion. Garner was there to film her running from the expoding device towads the camera. Once they blow up the generator...they're done. Season One is over and Garner, Vartan, and Sarah Caplan (Producer) is there to celebrate with Abrams.

Well...that's it. The book is done. Hope you all liked my little book report. Any questions?

Glad you liked it! I started watching the DVD that came with it, finally. I haven't finished it yet...keep getting interrupted. They have short little interviews with each of the characters about their characters and the story. So far, that's all I've gotten to watch.

Ah yes...those script pages.

Oh...I'd die without my spoilers!