Exclusive Agent Carter Set Visit and Interview
Agent Carter premiere last week on ABC and I spent the whole night bragging to my husband about where I’ve been on the set. Yes, my most recent blogger trip included set visits with ABC Television and one of those visits was an exclusive set visit for the new Agent Carter television show. At the time of our visit we were the first press to visit the set of Agent Carter. The location is top secret and before getting access we had to sign a NDA, we were escorted to the set and since it was a filming day we weren’t allowed to touch anything. Marvel took all the photos of us on set that day since we were’s allowed to take any cameras and we weren’t allowed to share any of them until today. Photo credit goes to Marvel
So after a few formalities all twenty five of us lady bloggers reported to the SSR Headquarters to learn more about the show and check out the set. We’d just seen the Agent Carter One Shot from out interview with the executive producers and in the one shot when the phone rang and the head of the SSR came out to pick agents for the tasks all the agents stand at attention. We wanted to recreate that scene. Here we are ready for duty.
Upon arrival the red light was still on so we had to wait before entering the set. Shhhh! Quiet on the set please. Once we got in we visited different parts of the set to learn more about Agent Carter and the show.
The agents are working on a top secret case, I wonder what they’re working on and who they are tracking down?
The case is Top Secret, I was curious about the files inside and some pages were blank but others had writing on them. I was surprised at how much details they put into creating a set that looked authentic as possible. Even though it’s a closed set, they create paintings and moving walls for outside the windows so then filming if you happen to see outside a window it looks like New York 1946.
To get vintage items like this filing catalog cabinet – that you would see in libraries and offices – are rented from vintage stores for us on set. Even the water cooler is a great vintage piece.
The first two parts of the eight part event has already aired, so if you’ve seen it you know that Howard Stark is under investigation and Agent Carter is working on a secret mission to help clear her friend’s name.
We took a group shot in the office before heading to the diner part of the set. This is the same diner that Agent Carter and Jarvis met on different occasions.
You can’t see any of the actors in our photos but they were there. When we first walked in none of them moved from their spots at all. Can you imagine paying 20 cents for a meatloaf meal back then? That’s just amazing. After taking a group photo at the diner we headed over to learn about creating the costumes for the show.
We meet with head custom designer Gigi Melton, is an award winning designer with lots of film and television show credits below her belt. She shared with us some of the process of getting the costumes done for the show. Melton has eight days to have costumes ready and that includes the first day she gets the script. She uses color swatches like the one on the board above to help her with the colors she’ll use for that episode.
We saw lots of different costume idea boards for the show and a vintage clothing catalog from that post World War Era. Melton uses that catalog to help her pick the different style of clothing she chooses for each cast member. During that time women rarely wore pants so you’ll see Agent Carter in lots of shirt suits but Melton did create a few pants suits for the agent.
This is the dress that Agent Carter wore in the club scene of the episode last week. Melton shared that there were three of these dresses do shot all the scenes they needed for the episode. Each costume is usually made in duplicates, some are full duplicates, while others are just bits and pieces of the costume. Melton and her staff really keep all the people in this show looking their best. They create all these amazing looks.
The suits in the show are very native to that post World War era. The tie in this suit is a vintage, it’s over 50 years old. Pieces like these are one of a kind and have to handled with special care.
We even got a close up of the ‘Red’ hat and blue suit that Agent Carter wears. You’ve seen this costume on the poster, online banners and all over the web advertising the show. It was great learning about some of the behind the scenes of costume design but our day ended on a very high note when we had the chance to meet Agent Carter herself – Hayley Atwell.
Hayley Atwell was super kind and great to chat with for the few minutes that we did talk to her. Since it was a filming day we didn’t get to talk with her long but she did share some cool things with us about working on the show. She shared that she did combat training in England when working in theatre so it really helped her with the fight scenes in the show. She said she loved working on a role where the character could be a role model for girls. Agent Carter is smart, strong and not just a “sex symbol”. She also shared that working on the show made her gain an appreciation for finer clothing and having her clothes tailor made. She joked about using her pay check to get her new clothing.
Fun Fact: Gigi Melton uses snaps in the crotch of Hayley’s shirt to keep them secure and in place, so she always looks clean and put together. This is a trick they use in wardrobe so the actors and actresses clothing stay in place. Hayley shared with us that she liked having the snaps in place and from keeping her shirts from pulling out of the back of her skirt.
Before leaving the set we all had a chance to sit where Agent Carter sits and take a fun photo. We had a great time on the set. I can’t wait to see all the parts of Agent Carter that’s set to air this season. Be sure to tune in on ABC to catch Agent Carter it airs on Tuesday nights at 9 PM ET/PT. You can also connect with the show on social media:
- https://www.facebook.com/AgentCarterTV
- https://twitter.com/AgentCarterTV (#AgentCarter)
- http://agentcarterabc.tumblr.com/
- http://www.pinterest.com/agentcarterabc/
- https://plus.google.com/+AgentCarter
- http://abc.go.com/shows/marvels-agent-carter
Related articles
- Interview with Hayley Atwell and Touring Marvel’s Agent Carter Set #ABCTVEvent #AgentCarter (mommyfactor.net)
- 4 Reasons Why You Need to Start Watching Marvel’s Agent Carter – #AgentCarter -#ABCTVEvent (5minutesformom.com)
Nickida
Nickida is a first-generation Trinidadian American wife and mother of four. She enjoys sharing recipes from her childhood growing up in Trinidad with her readers. Nickida has a son with Autism and shares posts around traveling with a child with special needs to help other families like her own. She loves television, movies and is a true 80's baby.
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