DAY ONE ON THE SET OF CRIMINAL MINDS

I was picked up on Wednesday morning by my CBS benefactor and driven to the Criminal Minds set. On the way there she explained to me proper set etiquette. Such as: No opening doors, talking or moving when the red filming light is on, no taking pictures of anyone without their permission, no taking pictures of anything that would give away spoilers to those seeing my pictures, etc. The first thing we did when we arrived was pickup the schedule for the day. This was their last day of shooting "Ashes and Dust". Then we walked around the studio until we found the set the cast was filming on. There infront of me was Mandy, Shemar, Thomas, Matthew and Paget. I wanted to faint. When they took their first break I was introduced to Mandy who was sitting closest to the door we had been standing in. He rose from his chair, welcomed me to the set and then gave me a hug. It was a magic moment but the best was yet to come. Within a few seconds they were ready to start shooting again so we backed into the doorway to watch. Watching them shoot is amazing. There are dozens of various people all over the place staying out of camera view and you are standing behind the director watching the monitors while you are watching the action. They shoot every scene over and over again until they have every shot and angle they need. By the time a scene is finished everyone in the area knows every word, gesture, mark and camera view. It was really a wonderful start to day one but the best was yet to come.