Phase two of post-finale video extravaganza. Check out this peak behind-the-scenes as we run a test for our big ZeiraCorp crash stunt from last week’s Born to Run. I coerced Executive Producer James Middleton into playing the role of Narrator, but see if you can also spot Josh Friedman, director Jeff Hunt, or VisualFX guru Steve Galich hard at work.

It was important to test out the track (built right through Weaver’s office) with a harmless piece of plywood before the day of production when the actual, practical H/K got its chance to shine. And don’t worry, there’s more footage to come — including construction/finishing touches on the practical H/K.

During production of Born to Run, I stormed the set with a little flip cam to be able to provide you guys with footage of everything cool happening behind-the-scenes. I’ll be posting a few of these raw videos this week. Production value not guaranteed.

Here’s Josh’s first walk-through of the destroyed, post-apocalyptic Turk Room set.

Showrunner Josh Friedman recently spoke to Wired Magazine about grounding The Sarah Connor Chronicles in reality and the real relationships that anchor the series.

“…before I could actually start writing the show, I was diagnosed with kidney cancer. I had to have an operation to remove the tumor, which meant I couldn’t write it for that season. So I had a couple of months when I couldn’t do anything, and I was in pain. I had this crisis — I went to a therapist, and I said, ‘What am I doing? I’m going to write a fucking show about a scary robot? Who cares?’ But when she calmed me down, I started reflecting upon it, and I realized that this show really was about my life. It was about mortality. The first voiceover I ever wrote for the series started with ‘I will die. I will die, and so will you. Death gives no man a pass.’ That’s what the Terminators are — they’re death coming to get us.”

Meanwhile, he had this to say this morning about the ongoing visual FX development: “Man-oh-man-oh-shevitz…” (which was apparently him quoting an Ellroy novel he just informed me).

Like Josh mentioned in his big blog post, yesterday was our final day of production on season two. It was a sad but sweet day, with most of our cast working and our entire crew proud of the results of both the season finale and the season in general. We wrapped production around 11:00PM and proceeded to celebrate at Don Cucos, a neighboring Mexican restaurant/bar until the late hours of the night…

Lovely Writers’ Assistant Sandy Adomaitis brings you a sneak peek of some of the gang watching preparations for a big stunt, including — (from left to right) Executive Producer John Wirth, Line Producer Jill Danton, Stunt Coordinator Joel Kramer, Script Coordinator Mike Weiss, Staff Writer Dan Thomsen, Assistant Zvi Shapiro, Writers PA Nick Damski, and this goofy iPhoner/Media Consultant Hadley Klein. Don’t you want to see what’s on the monitors we’re looking at? Oh you will, and not too long from now!

Not only is he an expert flipcam videographer, Thomas has also been around set shooting cast and crew with his real camera. Here’s the full set of photos (new ones included) he’s graciously allowed us to share with you (now in a slideshow!)…

Lena Headey (Sarah Connor), February 2009
Mackenzie Smith (Savannah Weaver), January 2009
Kelly Leffler (Script Coordinator), February 2009
Shirley Manson (Weaver) and Lena Headey (Sarah Connor), February 2009
Hadley Klein (Media Consultant), January 2009
Jessica Lowery (2nd AD), January 2009
Richard T. Jones (Ellison) and Lena Headey (Sarah Connor), February 2009

Not only is he an expert flipcam videographer, Thomas has also been around set shooting cast and crew with his real camera. He’s graciously given us access to some of his amazing setside photos to share with you over the course of the next few days…

Lena Headey (Sarah Connor), February 2009

Mackenzie Smith (Savannah Weaver), January 2009

Kelly Leffler (Script Coordinator), February 2009

Okay, so it’s just a comedic prototype done up by our talented Propsmaster, Scott Buckwald, as a holiday gift for the writers. And sure, there are typos and it should probably be Allison’s Prison Camp Bracelet, but who’s counting. It’s fun anyhow, and besides — what else do you have to look at the night before our big premiere?

Even more, more, more! Tuesday we heard from the queen of the cyborgs in a special surprise vodcast, today the robot puppet himself — Garret Dillahunt. Who better to give you five more reasons not to miss the big Friday premiere than the guy who’s played the most characters in our series (John Henry, Cromartie, George Laszlo, and The Beastwizard)! He’s joined by Executive Producer James Middleton, who desperately wants to plug John Henry back in before he reveals too much from this Friday’s all-new, The Good Wound…

(Please don’t forget to check out any of the video podcast episodes you might have missed like Shirley’s Top Five, One Day with Dekker, or the special interviews).

Catch the podcast at it’s real home before it’s too late! And help a friend out! Post it everywhere — message boards, your blog, facebook page, forehead, etc, etc.

More! More! More! Ask and ye shall receive, fellow Chroniclers. Today’s special surprise vodcast features our lovely first lady of liquid metal, Shirley Manson, as she teams up with Executive Producer/Writer John Wirth to give you their top five (or so) favorite reasons to tune into this week’s all-new episode, The Good Wound.

Catch the podcast at it’s real home before it’s too late! And help a friend out! Post it everywhere — message boards, your blog, facebook page, forehead, etc, etc.

It’s Friday which means it’s time for another episode of our Video Podcast! This week’s edition features an exclusive look behind-the-scenes — no, not a prepackaged glossy video — raw and real.

Check out Executive Producer Josh Friedman introduce the footage, but spoilerphobes beware: this is a scene from an upcoming episode and may hold the key to a few things if you’re paying close attention…

Visit the Video Podcast at its home. And don’t forget to help us get the word out by embedding it everywhere!