Quiet on Set

By Brian Riley
Co-News Editor

On two separate occasions this month LIU has served as the set to two television productions. From March 2 to March 9, NBC’s crime/ drama television series, “Blindspot,” and on March 24 and March 25 “True Crime with Aphrodite Jones,” was filmed, which airs on Investigation Discovery. Most of the shooting was done in either Humanities Hall or Pratt Recreation Center.

Specifically for “Blindspot” throughout the days of filming there was simulated gunfire, and several other action sequences being recorded. Students were made aware of the action scenes being filmed on campus through an alert sent to students e-mail accounts. “Blindspot” is about a woman who was found naked in Times Square, her body is covered with tattoos, but she has no recollection of how she got them or how she got there, according to nbc.com. From there, the story unfolds as the woman, Jane Doe and the FBI follow a trail of clues found through her tattoos. The cast includes; Sullivan Stapleton from “300: Rise of an Empire,” and “Strike Back”, Jaimie Alexander from “Thor: The Dark World,” and Marianne Jean-Baptiste from “Without a Trace.”

On the other hand, “True Crime with Aphrodite Jones” only filmed for two days, and did not require any alerts. This show is about Aphrodite Jones, an acclaimed crime writer, who goes behind the scenes of famous murder cases. This is done partially though reenactments, which is what was filmed on campus. This particular episode is about a murder in the 1980s, where a man killed his best friend, which was also reenacted on campus, but according to production members was done in a very non-gore way.

“Blindspot” coming to campus was coordinated through Conference Services, who are responsible for handling campus space. This includes coordinating with admissions for open houses or for different departments when they host guest speakers. In 2013, Post also hosted the cast while filming “The Rewrite,” a movie starring Hugh Grant.