Looking Back at Season Zero (VI) – The Storyboard Part 2

Every time I dig through my stash of MacGyver-Reboot-related folders, I stumble over material about the Unaired MacGyver Reboot Pilot, filmed in Spring 2016. I’m trying to put all the necessary information together for interested readers – especially since many of you accidentally landed on my blog after looking for information about it by using search engines.

If you missed previous posts about the Unaired Pilot, here’s a quick overview:

• Part 1 (about the Unaired Pilot’s Origins)
• Part 2 (about the Promo Material)
• Part 3 (with the BtS photos, Part 1)
• Part 4 (with the BtS photos, Part 2)
• Part 5 (about the Storyboard, Part 1)

 

Unaired Pilot Storyboard (via Aaron Sowd)

(Note: If there’s no link to the material I’m writing about, that means either the social media account has been set to private or been disabled or that the material has been deleted.)

 

Recap of the latest Unaired Pilot Storyboard Post
A storyboard is a graphic representation of how film material will unfold, shot by shot. It’s made up of a number of squares with illustrations representing each shot. Think of it as sort of a comic book version of a script.

The storyboard for the Unaired Pilot was created by Storyboard Artist Aaron Sowd. In the excerpt from scenes 31-33, we got to see MacGyver scouting the Kresson building.

Mac gets caught
The next Storyboard scene available is No. 49. A lot must have happened in between, because we get to see MacGyver (Lucas Till) tied to a chair and being unconscious. Apparently, he got caught, and Lincoln (George Eads) is nowhere to be seen.

Unaired Pilot Storyboard (via Aaron Sowd)

While Mac comes to and tries to escape the duct tape bindings, some chemist named “Jaws” is working in the same room. According to archived cast lists, Jaws was played by Torrey Vogel, who has a lot of stunt credits.

Since Jaws is occupied with his vials, Mac tries to cut the bindings by snapping off a clamp on the pipe between the chair and the duct-taped wrists. As you can see, Aaron Sowd sketched the same scene twice, but with a different focus.

Unaired Pilot Storyboard (via Aaron Sowd)

Between his attempts of getting rid of the bindings, Mac gets punched and pistol-whipped by a bad guy named “Redwood”. Judging by the Storyboard notes, it looks like we didn’t get to meet Redwood earlier, but he might be important later.

Unaired Pilot Storyboard (via Aaron Sowd)

Later, some guy labelled “Kieth” (must be a spelling error) comes in, carrying a high tech cooler containing two cannisters. Without having read the script or seen the Unaired Pilot, we can assume that this is bad stuff inside those cannisters; probably a bio-weapon like in the rebooted Pilot (Episode 1×01: The Rising).

In the Storyboard, we see Jaws opening the cooler and taking out a small vial from one of the cannisters.

Unaired Pilot Storyboard (via Aaron Sowd)

While these scenes look like they’re set in a sterile-white lab room in the Kresson building, it wasn’t as squeaky clean in the Unaired Pilot. We actually have a set photo by John Mott that reveals this scene happens in some dark underground lab that is much more fitting for a bad guys lair.

Secret Lab; built on Location (via John Mott)

The Explosion
Of course, Mac finally manages to escape his bindings (once the bad guys have done their talking and “interrogating”. Here’s how it goes.

Unaired Pilot Storyboard (via Aaron Sowd)

He noticed earlier that the pipe behind him very conveniently follows along the ceiling and over the lab table. Also, the pipe is dripping and ends directly over some kind of powder that will go boom when mixed with water. So by rocking back and forward on his chair, he can move the pipe he’s tied to and get it to drip more water.

Unaired Pilot Storyboard (via Aaron Sowd)

All Mac has to do is to wait until the water drops onto the powder underneath so he can rip his bindings when the bad guys are distracted by the explosion. As you can see, Aaron Sowd suggests to show the fall of the waterdrops in slow-motion.

Unaired Pilot Storyboard (via Aaron Sowd)

The “big explosion of light” knocks Jaws out. After ripping the tape, Mac slaps the ripped tape from his wrists onto his leg, grabs the vial and puts it in his shirt pocket as he runs to the escalator.

The Fight
Of course, MacGyver just getting away would have been too easy. So he gets stopped by Redwood, and there is a fight scene with Mac getting kicked around from different angles. Whump galore!

Unaired Pilot Storyboard (via Aaron Sowd)

Mac gets kicked again and barrel-rolls into a wall of graffiti; knocking over a pile of spray paint cans and finding other things he can use for his next MacGyverism.

Unaired Pilot Storyboard (via Aaron Sowd)

He grabs one of the paint cans and a nail. As Redwood drags him away, Mac inserts the nail into the can, throwing it ahead like a grenade.

Unaired Pilot Storyboard (via Aaron Sowd)

The camera follows the arc of the can in a close up. The paint can explodes in front of Redwood, and he stumbles and falls backwards. Too bad that they weren’t on the ground floor.

Unaired Pilot Storyboard (via Aaron Sowd)

While Redwood falls over the edge, Mac runs to the escalator. So I guess Byebye Redwood, at least for now (because baddies always show up twice, right?).

Unaired Pilot Storyboard (via Aaron Sowd)

 

(More Storyboard Info coming soon. You can also check the MacGyverOnline forum for more BtS photos, promo material and info about the Unaired Pilot.)