A goofy but lovable detective is what everyone loves. But have you given thought to how an episode of TPC is actually made? In this BTS feature, we take a look at what goes on during the making of these quirky little cases. Keep reading to find out.

Each TPC episode starts with an idea. Usually a pretty flimsy one. Sometimes it’s a joke (The second story is based on a joke Pat made while he and I ate lunch planning the first story) sometimes an image (The third is based on this mental picture I have of Hans as a Goth) and every so often a crime of some sort.

The first step is hammering out the story between us. Then we figure out how many actors we’ll need, and who we can cast. Once we have the people locked in, we have a production meeting. This is usually getting all the cast to a location (so far, my apartment) and talking through the story, their characters and when and in what order we will shoot.

Then we go out and film. Now the idea is that each 2-parter will take no longer than 1 weekend to shoot, with pickups occurring a few weeks later if necessary. Good in theory, but a lot of work. By Sunday night we’re often pretty tired.

Over the next few days, I will do the first edit of the story, to get a feel of what we might need. After pickups are done, I edit down to a tight line, adding in the credits and usually getting Pats voice over. This version is then rendered, and given to Darryl Watkins, who handles our music chores. While he composes and produces the score, I bring the actors in to re-record their dialogue and then add the special effects. Sometimes in this phase scenes are cut down again, but not often (since Darryl is now making music for the cut I’ve handed him). Then Darryl brings in the music, we mix it in and then go over the levels to make sure all is well. Once done, the version is rendered to DV tape, and then handed to David Milne for Compression and uploading!

After the main release of the episode, David takes the two parts of the episode and re-edits them into one long case (usually by removing the end credits of part one and the title sequence of part two). This longer version is then compressed for viewing on the Sony PSP.

Generally speaking, we try (Or will be trying) to be at least 2 filmed episodes ahead of what is currently released on the web. If all goes well, this will be a trend we continue.

- Craig Moore (Director TPC)