You have questions. I have some answers.
Q: My question is not so much an entertainment question as a technical one. When a movie has the actors in a car, the glass seems so clear — no streaks, etc. How do they do this? I would sure love to get the glass in my car to look that good.
A: While you can find some complicated-sounding explanations, independent filmmaker J.R. Bookwalter says the answer is “an easy one, and fairly inexpensive too.”
The man behind the classic “The Dead Next Door” and many other movies says the process “just requires a polarizing filter on the camera lens, which does all kind of cool things like remove glare and reflections from windows as well as increase contrast in the sky. Similar technology is used in modern eyeglasses to cut down on glare.”
Q: Can you tell me if “Midnight, Texas,” will be back? I love the books and was really enjoying the show.
A: The series based on the books by Charlaine Harris begins its second season Oct. 26. There will be some changes. Sarah Ramos and Yul Vazquez, who co-starred in the first season, will not be regulars in the second. They may be back as guest stars. The series will also have new showrunners in Eric Charmelo and Nicole Snyder, who had been consulting producers on the first season.
Q: Please, please, PLEASE let CBS know that there are many followers for “Code Black” and we will be heartbroken if it is cancelled. It is such a good show and the thought of it being cancelled is SO sad.
A: Sorry, but I must break your heart. The series is coming to an end, with the finale set for July 18. But the show will try to wrap things up in that last episode. Showrunner Michael Seitzman said on Twitter that “We always suspected this would be the last season. We wrote it to end that way.”
Fans of the show have already been asking me if another network might pick up the show. I don’t know of any plans at this writing. That sort of thing happens just often enough to get fans’ hopes up (this year, “Last Man Standing,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and “Lucifer” have found new homes at Fox, NBC and Netflix respectively), but many shows are done when their networks say so.
Q: In our local newspaper, there was an article about a Berlin bomb squad concerned with Second World War-era unexploded bombs. I seem to recall there was a TV show about a squad of men who defused bombs in London after World War II. I believe the show was called “UXB.” Am I correct?
A: First, thank you for still reading a newspaper. As to your question, you are probably remembering “Danger UXB,” which aired on “Masterpiece Theatre” in 1981. (UXB, of course, is shorthand for “unexploded bomb.”) The 13-episode drama concerned a bomb disposal unit in England during, not after, the Second World War. There was a DVD release of it, but you can also see the old episodes on YouTube.
Q: When is Dreamworks’ “How To Train Your Dragon 3” going to be released? According to the DVD of the second movie, the story is a trilogy, so there should be one more instalment.
A: There is. “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,” to use the official title, is currently scheduled for release on March 1, 2019. Here’s one description: “Now chief and ruler of Berk alongside Astrid, Hiccup has created a gloriously chaotic dragon utopia. When the sudden appearance of female Light Fury coincides with the darkest threat their village has ever faced, Hiccup and Toothless must leave the only home they’ve known and journey to a hidden world thought only to exist in myth.”
