Remember last month when Jonathan and I filmed 6 new episodes of The 7 O’Clock News? The remaining 5 episodes that were filmed that night are going to be released soon! Episode 41-45 will be released within the next month. And while we are releasing new episodes we will be busy filming more new episodes. And this spring we have a BIG episode on the way… more details to come. In the meantime, enjoy the new episodes!

Pedro

Hey everyone,

Just thought I’d make a quick post before filming starts on the most epic day of filming in the history of The 7 O’Clock News. To illustrate how much we will be filming tonight, here’s a picture of the 6 scripts we will be filming tonight. I’ll post another update after we finish filming tonight. Hopefully I’ll have some behind the scenes pictures to share.

Pedro

Hey everyone,

Just thought I would bring you up to speed on the latest stuff happening behind the scenes on The 7 O’Clock News. As I am writing this I just finished filming scenes for Episode 40 and 41 and there is still one more scene left to film for Episode 39. Hopefully that episode will be out before Christmas. Tomorrow I plan to write 2 or 3 more episodes and then Wednesday will be a VERY long filming day. It will be the most filming we will have ever done in the history of The 7 O’Clock News. On Wednesday we will finish filming everything for 6 different episodes simultaneously. But for now, I am taking it easy after filming for 3 hours and I am watching playback from the footage that was filmed tonight.. here’s a picture. I’ll post an update Wednesday night after the most epic day of filming of all time.

Pedro

Hey everyone,

Well, i just realized that I had promised everyone that after the relaunch i would post a picuture of the set… Been so busy lately that i forgot to do it. Until now that is. Hopefully this can hold u over til Episode 37 next week

Pedro

Hey everyone!

Episode 37 is still a few days away but I thought I’d go ahead and post a behind the scenes picture from the filming of the episode. Check back soon for the actual episode!

Pedro

The earthquake originated as a 5.9 in DC and was felt as far as New York and North Carolina.

Here is our exclusive footage of the earthquake that happened while we were filming.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gB-i4hCq6Uc

No injuries were reported other than from Andy Salmon. Johnny Jones ran around screaming and Tony D ran into a wall.

More information on the earthquake can be found at Google News.

As I am writing this I am watching back a roughly 80% complete Episode 36. This episode features some cool special effects. Definitely different from any episode we have ever done. I don’t want to give too much away but I will say this… Mega Ghost Punch… make of that what you will. Stay tuned for more updates!

Pedro

Here it is! This is the new logo for The 7 O’Clock News. Once the new episodes start coming out notice how many places we incorporate the 7. Whether that be on the graphics or even the set itself

Pedro

What could this be? Perhaps some raw footage showing our first use of the new green screen set? Or maybe it’s a funnel cake…. there’s no telling for sure.

Pedro

Here’s another picture from behind the scenes

Ok, so here’s what we’re doing. Everyday until the release of episode 35 we are going to release a picture from behind the scenes of the new set and potentially work in progress shots from the episode itself. Make sure to check back everyday to see a new image.

Pedro

Tonight marked the beginning of filming of new episodes! Tonight we filmed scenes with Andy and Shades on the set for two episodes, 35 and 37, as I am writing this I am going back and looking at the footage that we shot and first impressions are that it looks great! Still gonna work on doing some more filming tonight and possibly some more writing tonight and starting to get a bunch of new footage so that we can release alot of new episodes back to back. Check back here for more updates.

Pedro

Just thought I would let you all know that last night I finally managed to get all of the pieces of the set assembled. It looks fantastic! Gonna work on lighting and camera testing today. After that it should be done and ready to go! Hopefully we will be filming new episodes very soon!

Pedro

I have good news! The set is almost finished! I have spent the last 2 days painting and staining and all of that fun stuff and I just finished the backdrop! It looks incredible! All I have left to do is just put a clear finish on the main piece and then put the two frames on wheels and it will be done! Now eventually we will have 2 halves for the set, but right now due to cost and time, we will have one incredible looking piece ready to go while I work on the second one which could be ready anytime from a week to a month. It will depend on time constraints I guess. That’s all for now. Just thought I’d post another progress update especially after missing one yesterday. Stay cool.

Pedro

Time for today’s progress update. Well, tonight I have gotten quite alot done. I got the first of two front panels all put together then as I am writing this am in the middle of putting primer on what will eventually become the background for the set. I did film a short video update tonight that I hope to have online within a day or two. Tomorrow I am going to look at getting the paints and stain that I will need to finish this thing up before finally putting all of the pieces together and figuring out the lighting and whatnot. Hopefully by this time next week we will be filming new episodes! Well, one can hope right? Stay cool peeps!

Pedro

Just thought that I would make a quick post before going to bed tonight and give you an update on how things are going behind the scenes with building the new set. Today I went and picked up all of the materials I need for HALF of the set and I have been working on putting that together tonight. Two of the four frames have been built and built the wheels that the frame will sit on. Tomorrow morning I hope to be able to go to the store to look at paint… gonna have to do alot of painting this week. But I what I can say is that I am just glad that this thing is finally becoming a reality! It is something that we have wanted for years but have never been able to do until now. Well that’s all for now. Check back every once in a while for more progress updates. I’m gonna try my best to keep everyone up to date. Stay cool.

Pedro

It’s been a couple days since the last post and I am glad to report that things are moving along well. Here’s where we stand as of right now. There are 3 awesome new scripts that are ready to go. But we can’t start filming yet. Why is that you ask? Because as we speak, I am in the process of making an actual set for The 7 O’Clock News! That’s the big news! For the first time in almost five years The 7 O’Clock News will have a legitimate set. I have spent the past several days drawing up a design for it, going to the hardware store and looking at different materials to use for the set, marking out the footprint in the studio etc. It is going to take the show to whole new levels of awesome… or not.. guess it all really comes down to the writing. Tomorrow I am going to go and pick up all of the material to finally start building this thing. OH! and before I forget! other big news! Say goodbye to the logo that you have come to know. I have also created a new logo for the show and I gotta say, it looks pretty cool. I can’t wait til everything is put together and ready to go so that you can all can see all of the awesome new things that we are working on! Til then… stay cool.

Pedro

It’s been a LONG time since there have been any new episodes of The 7 O’Clock News but that is all about to change. Within the past week there have been some things starting to take form behind the scenes. It may still be a little while before the new episodes are online, we still have to figure out those details. But what I can say is that when the show return later this summer, it is going to be quite different. A reboot of sorts. There are still alot of details to be sorted out but as of right now there are 3 new scripts that have been written and possibly new sets… the only thing I can say now is stay tuned!

Pedro

It’s almost here! Episode 33 premieres tomorrow! I finished post production on the episode last night and it is all ready to go. We’ve had so many episodes in production lately that it has been difficult at times to remember what episode I am working on, but now all that is left to do is finish filming episode 34, but at this point I am not sure exactly when it will be released. Right now I am looking at either a December 14th or December 21st release date. I guess it all matters on how quickly production wraps and how quickly I am able to get the episode through post production. But all of that aside, make sure to check back tomorrow for episode 33!

Pedro

It has been a very busy few days. Filming the rest of episode 32 and then doing some filming for episode 33 and 34 as well. Then there was the busy holiday and then last night I was finally able to put episode 32 together. With that being said the episode should be live within the next few hours! While i’m writing this I might as well announce that Episode 33 is going to be released on December 7th. Make sure to check that out! Check back for the episode as well as more updates!

Pedro

I just finished the script for Episode 34, aka, part 2 of the Christmas episode. It is going to be one of the most epic episodes we’ve ever had! With that being said, the next few weeks are going to be kinda crazy with filming and editing and all that awesome stuff, but I am just so excited about whats to come that I couldnt keep it a secret for long. Check back for more updates!

Pedro

Today is going to be a very busy day for TNIWWT. Later on today we are going to finish filming Episode 32, and then possibly shoot some of Episode 33. Also, I have spent the morning updating the news banner for Thanksgiving and Christmas. One of which you will see very soon. I’ll probably post later about how filming goes today. Until then, check back for more updates!

Pedro

Hope everyone had a good weekend. I spent my weekend working on episode 32, which is tenetively going to be released on Thanksgiving day. As of right now about half of the episode has been filmed and right now I believe that the plan is to film the rest tomorrow. But the new episodes don’t stop there! I finished the script for episode 33 last week and depending on how filming goes tomorrow, we may film some of episode 33 too. Wish I could say the same for episode 34 but… I kind of have to still write that one first, but don’t worry, it’s on my to do list. Check back for more updates.

Pedro

I bring good news! There will be 4 new episodes before the year is over! The thanksgiving episode is coming soon, then we have a two-part christmas episode planned and to top it all off, we also have a new year’s episode in the works! I just finished the script for the thanksgiving episode yesterday, also yesterday we pitched the christmas and new years episodes and it looks like we are going ahead with both. It’s exciting! But with all of these great ideas it means that there is alot of writing in my future so I should probably be getting to that. Check back for more updates!

Pedro

I just put the finishing touches on the script for Episode 32, aka, the thanksgiving episode. Production is gonna be starting soon and the episode will either be out the Tuesday before or the Tuesday after thanksgiving, right now its a little too soon to know exactly when the episode will be out. But I can promise that is gonna be one of the best episodes we’ve had this year. I know, one of the best episodes? Yes, of the three episodes released this year, Episode 32 is going to be the best! It kind of my fault that this is only the fourth episode we’ve had this year but I’m trying to fix that. Check back for more updates coming soon!

Pedro

Pedro

Pedro

Pedro

In the meantime, you can watch SuperBug Take 2.

-Pedro

Production on Episode 30 is currently under way.. the script is just about complete and we’ll be shooting this week and next week… this one is gonna be great! More comedy! More Scandal! More Action! we’ve got it all! Look for more updates as the episode gets closer to completion… it should be out in about 2 weeks.

-Pedro

Tonight is the premiere of the new season of The 7 O’Clock News! We’ve got all new graphics too! And maybe a character you havent seen in a while… you’ll find out in just a few hours!

-Pedro

And with the change in the year comes several changes to the show. As you saw in the last post, we are adding a new graphic. But now here’s the good stuff. We are completely overhauling all of the graphics that we use and we are adding cool new ones as well. For starters, we have completely redesigned the news banner, and created a new intro sequence. There will also of course be brand new stories and all the other basic stuff, but I thought that went without saying. It is all very much a work in progress but you will get to see all of our new graphics when we return with all new episodes in January.

-Pedro

We are always making changes to the show and today, I have a sneak peak at a new graphic that you’ll be seeing along with the news banner…

The new graphic

And due to the fact that we are adding this new graphic, the news banner is going through a make over that will debut with our first show of 2010… as will the new graphic. We’re still working on figuring out what all we could possibly do with the new graphic, but we will learn as we go.

Happy Holidays

-Pedro

It’s Christmas time again! And we’ve got a BRAND NEW Christmas special coming your way. Jonathan and I just finished writing it and filming is starting immediately… it’s gonna be epic… funny, and all of your favorite characters will be there too… ok, maybe I lied about that… but there are a few good ones there… ok… maybe I’m just trying to trick you into liking it… nah… you’ll like it. And it’s all happening December 22nd!

-Pedro

Visit the 7 O’Clock News store now!

Kids, don't do this at home!

Setup for the final shot

Not without sacrifice.

Just another look into what goes on behind the scenes to bring YOU The 7 O’Clock News!

-Jonathan

Just thought I’d make a post letting all of you know that Episode 28 is coming next Tuesday… Jonathan just came over to the studio and we filmed most of the episode just a few minutes ago…. he’s walking out to his car as I write this, but most of it was shot this afternoon, there is only one more scene to do and I’ll probably get around to doing it on Saturday, but rest assured, there WILL be a new episode on Tuesday.

-Pedro

I thought I would tell you about how an episode of The 7 O’Clock News, goes from an idea, to a brand new episode every Tuesday. First off, every episode starts with the script. Most of the scripts for the show are written at some point during the beginning of the week ( Monday-Thursday). Once a script is finished it gets sent off to all of the people who are involved in the episode.

The next step is filming. Once a script is finished, whoever is involved will go and film their parts, this has been done in a ton of different places, whether it be down in either of the two studios ( Studio C & Studio T), or off on location. More recently we have been using a method of sending footage to each other that way we can save ourselves a good 15-20 minute drive across town to shoot 30-60 seconds of footage for an episode. Filming usually happens, at least in the studios during the end of the week ( Friday-Sunday).

Once everything has been filmed and all of the footage has been gathered, the episode is edited. Depending on how much is going on in an episode, it can take anywhere from 1-4 hours to edit. Editing is where we make the episode look like what you see when you watch the finished episode. Alot of times, the footage that was shot originally has to be modified or enhanced to make it look good. Whether that be adding a camera move, or even using the green screen. An example in which an episode was EXTENSIVELY touched up during editing was Episode 17. More than half of the scenes in that episode were shot on a “black screen” which was used to make it appear as though the charcters were kind of in an endless space, but it also feels like a tiny room at the same time. The image you see in that episode has been darkened substantially from the original footage and a light blue tone was added to make the scene seem cold. So editng can be quite detailed at times. Editing usually happens the Monday night before the episode is released the next day.

So it may seem that it is a pretty simple show, but when you really look at it, there’s alot that goes into making just a single episode of The 7 O’Clock News, but thanks to the talented people who work to bring it all together, it is possible to bring you new episodes every week!

The BRAND NEW episode of The 7 O’Clock News premieres tomorrow! Make sure to watch!

First off I’d like to apologize for not having a new episode of The 7 O’Clock News in a while. But to make it up to you there is a BRAND NEW episode coming next Tuesday. It’s gonna be great! Any questions involving Andy’s injury, the show’s budget cuts, or questions for Shades McGraw will all be answered… hopefully. Either way it’s going to be a great show! Well, I gotta get back to working on the episode, there’s still a lot of work to be done!

-Pedro McDonald

Now onto the subject of Andy Salmon. You may remember an episode 25 where Andy Salmon tripped as he was leaving the set. Well Andy is now unconscious and is lying in a hospital bed. He got a nasty head injury and we are working to revive him. Until he’s back, we have to put up with no pay-because our producer thinks EVERYONE loves Salmon. The truth is, no one likes Salmon. Ok, maybe that one guy who sleeps on the bench outside our office likes Andy, but other than that NO ONE with any sanity likes Salmon. The guy on the bench thinks he’s Newton and he keeps telling me about how the Apples on the tree keep falling on him, but they are actually squirrels throwing acorns at him. Where was I? OH yeah, people hating Salmon. Did you know there’s an Andy Salmon Hate Club? I’m the president of it and our newest member is the Killer Baglady!

Have I rambled too much? Sorry, this blog thing is so much fun because I get to air my opinions and you might not like them, but who cares? I’m in charge! I need a life….

-The News Banner Guy

Andy is still unconscious and the show still has no money! Wahoo!! You might ask why I’m still posting to this blog if I’m not being paid…well….my life is so sad and depressing that I find enjoyment out of tearing down other people….I need to go order some food from Chipotle on my iDevice…if only I had an iDevice like Jeff McClarken….

-The News Banner Guy