The script for this episode called for Will (Chris Carmack) and Gunnar (Sam Palladio) to 'play chicken' with a CSX freight train while driving in a pickup truck. The producers knew this was potentially a very dangerous sequence and needed to plan it down to the last detail. The pickup, with Will and Gunnar inside, would be seen driving at high speed down a road toward a railroad crossing while a CSX train was about to go across the road. The pickup would then jump the tracks a split second before the train could smash into it. In addition to the potential danger, it takes a long time to get a train back to number one to shoot another take, and the production had a limited time frame to keep the road and rail tracks closed to traffic.
I visited the location and drew a plan of where I would suggest camera placement so cameras would be out of shot when shooting from the reverse angle. This would allow the simultaneous use of multiple cameras, reducing the number of re-sets. Many of the shots of the truck could be handled without being in real proximity to the train. Quick-cut editing in post-production could make the truck/train encounter look closer and more dangerous than it really was. Fortunately, the shoot went ahead without any injuries to the talent and looked very realistic onscreen!
