Home and Away has never given a behind-the-scenes tour of its studios, until now, and the crew dropped some bombshells along the way.
If you’re a fan of Home and Away (like me), you may want to sit down for this one, because the team behind the top-rating show have revealed some truly shocking behind-the-scenes bombshells.
One thing I think most fans know about the long-running Aussie soap opera is that it has two filming locations – with studios in Redfern at the Seven Network for internal scenes and Palm Beach on Sydney’s Northern Beaches for external scenes such as outside the Surf Club, the Diner and restaurant Salt.
News.com.au was lucky enough to get a tour of the Redfern studios – something that has never been done before – to give fans a glimpse of what really goes on behind the cameras.
If you watch our video at the top of this article, both Lucy Addario, a prominent producer for the show and Greg Stone, the show’s reputable production designer, drop some pretty epic facts that may surprise fans.
One of them is about how they ensure continuity, such as going from filming inside the Diner to “walking outside” on the beach (given they are filmed in different locations).
“We have a continuity person that is across exactly that,” Lucy tells us.
Lucy, who has been a series producer for the iconic show since 2012, explained everything has to be the same from what they’re wearing, to their hair and makeup.
Former Home and Away star Laura Vazquez, who is now a makeup artist on the show, showed us what she called the “makeup bible”.
“Here Mackenzie has her hair up, it’s a work look,” she says as she points to a photo of the character played by Emily Weir.
“So if this has been established on location, the week after (or even four weeks later) we come into the studio, we have to recreate this look – so we need these photos,” she said.
“I think a few years ago there was a scene with one of our characters Willow (played by Sarah Roberts) and we had her hair out for something and we shot it with her hair up and had to reshoot it.
“And that can happen sometimes if a photo hasn’t been taken … we work so fast and mistakes happen.”
Greg explained the major part that links internal scenes to outside locations is the backdrops.
“These backdrops are the real photographs of what is at Palm Beach,” he told news.com.au. “We have the beach side where the Surf Club is and the flat side where the Diner is and our lighting guys blur it out a bit so it doesn’t give away the game too much.”
The crew also put fans near plants to portray a windy effect.
Greg said some outside scenes might not get filmed until three or even four weeks later – emphasising the importance of having photos taken of the actors.
Lucy said it’s challenging not only for the actors to have to keep continuity of performance but also for each of the show’s behind the scenes departments.
“We do some really crazy things, like sometimes we might shoot someone dying in the hospital set before we actually shot them dying,” Greg explained.
“So people have to gather around and be upset and emotional but we actually haven’t shot what we’re going to do.
“Each individual department knows what they have to do but it is very much continuity focused.”
Greg said of all the sets, the Diner is the only one that remains permanently built at the Redfern studios as it takes a while to put together.
All of the other sets are built as needed, with a crew working 24/7 to erect whatever sets are required for shooting that day.
Greg and Lucy shared some other mind-blowing facts including the “staircase to nowhere” in the Surf Club.
For the viewers watching on TV it leads to Salt, the restaurant owned by the character Mackenzie, but spoiler alert, it actually leads to a piece of scaffolding.
Another wild fact is about the characters’ homes – while viewers think they are going into their rooms, they’re actually just walking into another part of the studio.
For other behind-the-scenes bombshells you’ll have to watch the full clip.
Just make sure you watch to the end if you’re a fan of the character Tane Parata – played by Ethan Browne. To my shock, he may or may not have made a cameo appearance in the makeup room.
Home and Away attracts more than one million viewers each night – making it one of the highest rating shows on Aussie TV – and it’s set to skyrocket ahead of Brax (Stephen Peacocke) and Ricky’s (Bonnie Sveen) return.
The pair will make their highly-anticipated return to the show on March 9, in history-making episodes filmed in Western Australia.
