It takes a lot of crazy bastards to capture the fuckery of Season 11, and we are lucky to have a hard-working group of crew dicks to help make Trailer Park Boys a reality.
In the first instalment of this series, we met a make-up artist, prop master, and the set liaison. Let’s keep rolling through Sunnyvale!
Hannah Giffin – Electronic Press Kit
The behind-the-scenes shit hawk takes a break from circling.
Hannah Giffin has been with SwearNet and Trailer Park Boys for just over three years, and she is in charge of the Electronic Press Kit (EPK). If you’re not in the film world, you’re probably wondering what the fuck that entails.
“In a normal day, I just shoot the behind-the-scenes material,” says Giffin. “Whatever happens, maybe the Shitmobile breaks, you know, anything that’s interesting that’s happening while we’re shooting.”
Luckily for Giffin, finding interesting things is not a difficult thing to do, when you’re a fly on the shit wall of Sunnyvale.
“The crazy shit is self-made from the crew,” reminisces Giffin. “All the crew are all unhinged, special people. (1st Assistant Director) Preston Hudson is the most special. One year he wore a lady’s see-through top for money. He charged quite a bit, maybe $400, and the pooled money from the crew because everyone wanted to see it. It was a mesh shirt, nipples coming through.”
Click this picture to watch Giffin’s GREASY behind-the-scenes video of Preston’s nipples poking through this shirt.
Mark Kenny – Lighting
The man responsible for lighting the dark side of Randy’s gut.
Mark Kenny has been shining a light on the Trailer Park Boys since Season 8. The gaffer needs to make sure everything on the show has natural lighting, and though there are a lot of outdoor scenes in sunny Sunnyvale, he must also squeeze his lighting gear into greasy trailers and tiny sheds. Thankfully over the years, they’ve been able to get two birds stoned at once — Kenny gets more light, and Bubbles and company get some DECENT renovations.
“The great thing about this is the lighting department, along with the grips, work very closely with the art department,” explains Kenny. “For example, in Bubbles’ shed, we never had a skylight there, but we put one in and it brings in light. The trailers have changed over the years too, they’re a little more wide. We might ask the art department to put a window in, to help bring light further into the trailer.”
Which member of the Sunnyvale community does Kenny most identify with? That was an easy question.
“Probably Randy. I don’t walk around with my shirt off, but I do love me some fuckin’ burgers.”
James Kennedy – On-Set Dresser
James Kennedy has been making Sunnyvale look like shit for a decade.
James Kennedy has been working with Trailer Park Boys since Season 6 and handles set dressing. If Lahey pounds a bottle of Liquormen’s Ol’ Dirty Canadian Whisky, but leaves just a little sippy-poo for tomorrow, Kennedy needs to make sure that the sippy-poo is there for the next scene.
“I represent the art department and the set-decoration department on set,” says Kennedy. “When shots are determined, I rearrange the dressing – pictures, furnitures, whatever – so that it looks good on camera. If things are in the way, where the camera needs to be, or where they need to set lights up, I remove them and then I put them back in exactly the same place to preserve continuity.”
Working for the Boys means he has to move around some uniquely fucked items.
“I have to take care of weed plants, liquor, hash, bologna sandwiches with mustard — I fed one to Gord Downie once, he enjoyed it.”
Adamm Liley – Director of Photography
It’s really fucking intimidating to take a picture of a Director of Photography!
Adamm Liley is the shit wizard that controls the very shit lens through which you view the shitiverse of Trailer Park Boys. As the Director of Photography, he is in charge of the overall look of the series, including the shooting style, the shot set-up, the lighting, and just about everything to do with cameras.
Liley has been with the show from the very beginning — Season 1 — and he’s been hoping to return there ever since.
“In Season 8, when we came out of the hiatus period, the Boys wanted to go back to the Season 1 original style, which was dirtier and rougher,” says Liley. “I think Season 11, which we’re shooting right now, is actually the closest to it. Even though it’s a dirty style and it’s ugly, it takes a lot to make it look that way. I think Trailer Park Boys pioneered that mocumentary style; there were shows and movies like it, but certainly the show really invented that style.”
A shit-tag-team of epic proportions!
When asked about the most fucked-up thing he’s ever had to shoot, for Liley it’s like choosing his favourite fucked-up kid — he can’t.
“Everyday there’s a fucked-up a thing,” says Liley. “Everyday there are so many crazy, funny things. I’m blessed to be on the show and to be around these guys. The nature of the crew, it’s like a giant summer camp. Everybody goes away, then we meet back the next summer, and it’s like you haven’t missed any time.”
The Boys got themselves a few DECENT sample cans of Freedom 35 and they’re cracking into them on the latest Trailer Park Boys Podcast — even Julian thinks it’s “good, for a beer!”
