Tribal Build

Behind the scenes of Survivor China: Tribal Build

Video:

Transcript (thanks to James Barber): 

Jeff: Alright. This piece is gonna be a little behind the scenes on Tribal Council, what it looks like during the day when you can actually see it, and all that. One of the biggest disappointments for me with shooting Tribal Council at night is you never get to see all the details, which are some of the things I want to show you. All the little details. These are steps that nobody will ever see because it's the middle of darkness when they get up here, but they matter to us, because it's all part of the experience. Even things like the finish on these beams - again, this is something you'll never even end up seeing on the show, but when the guys in the art department build it, everything matters to them. They build it as if it's a real temple that has been here for thousands of years. That's the idea, that's the feel we want people to have.

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Jeff: Jesse, you've been on the show since season 1. How does this one rank in terms of Tribal Council?

Jesse: I think it's #1 for me. It's the biggest, it's the realest looking. The inside's beautiful. There's so much to work with with Chinese culture. It took a long time to build and it cost a lot of money. It's one of the most fun projects I've ever done. 

Jeff: What kind of construction materials did it take to build?

Jesse: Oh, it's a big one. It took 7 weeks to build, about 75, 80 people, locals, except the one Australian construction manager and a translator. About 6 or 7 tons of tiles, another 5 ton of concrete holding them on, 20 ton of steel and about 30 ton of timber. Just plywood and lumber to build it. 

Jeff: Why is it so important - even looking over your shoulder, at the concrete wall here - you age it. Everything looks old and authentic. Why, 15 seasons in, is this still important?

Jesse: Well, we have to keep it real for the contestants. We want them to think the experience is real. We want them to walk in and actually believe they're in a temple. We have to do the whole thing. If we're doing a film or a movie, that side would just be flats of plywood, but...I don't know, just keep it real. Try to make the experience as real as possible for the contestants. 

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Jeff: Andy, we're trying to give people a little sneak peek into Tribal Council. You're responsible for all the fire involved with Survivor. Tell me about Tribal's firea.

Andy: Well, at this particular location, we have roughly 10 exterior fires, 1 interior center fire, and then we have an accent fire we call a flame barbs (?) on the outside.

Jeff: For me, one of my favorite parts of arriving on location every season is finding out what the snuffer looks like, since that is my weapon of choice. Mark Powell is the designer of all things that are snuffers. Give me the lowdown on this one. 

Mark: Well, it's the Chinese dragon. A nice jade ball here - the dragon always has the ball. With the whiskers wrapping around the ball, and the smoke from the dragon's breath here. 

Jeff: Always a lot of detail. After this many seasons, you could show up and slap together something or buy something from a local shop, and call it a day. You never do that. Why? 

Mark: It's my favorite thing to make, actually. I like to spend a good couple of weeks making it. 

Jeff: And the person who takes it home (points at himself)...me. Thanks, Mark.

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Jeff: There's the construction of Tribal Council, which you just saw. What you aren't seeing at home is this is the one point on Survivor where we actually have a control room that is similar to other shows. We have so many cameras and we have producers who want to sit in and see what everybody's saying. Thank you Mr. Kerhoffer. This is the Tribal Council control room. With our director, assistant director, David Scott. (one of the guys waves) These are all the cameras. You can see here Camera 1, Camera 2, all your different shots you have. Which is my camera, Dave? 

Dave: Right here. (points at the camera with nothing on the screen)

Jeff: Camera 1. I like that. Of course it's blank. Camera 1 is blank. That's not a good sign, 5 minutes before Tribal.

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Jeff: Alright, we are now just a few minutes away from Tribal Council, so I gotta wrap this up. I just want to say before every Tribal, I try to remind myself that for the person being voted out, this is the end of their dream, this is the end of their pursuit of a million dollars. Regardless of what's going on with production, or in my own life, we try and bring a level of respect to Tribal Council in honor of the person who's fought so hard to be in this game. Alright, that's it. I hope you've enjoyed your tour of Tribal Council of Survivor: China.