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This article's subject relates to Season 6 of 24.This is a production article written from an out-of-universe perspective

24: The Official Companion: Season 6 DVD was released as part of the Season 6 official companion book on DVD in the United States on February 26, 2008. It compiles three behind-the-scenes documentaries about the show, which were previously released separately as retailer-exclusive bonus discs with 24: Season 5.

Contents[]

Changing All The Rules[]

Shots of action sequences from the first five seasons of 24 begin the feature. Joel Surnow, the show's co-creator, explains how he came up with the idea of the show. Robert Cochran, the other co-creator explains how each episode works. Surnow asks the question; what would keep a man up for 24 hours straight? They begin to talk about writing the show, and Surnow says that on average they block out the first four episodes, then begin to write them. He says that when they start shooting, they then just do two episodes at a time. He says that for most seasons, six episodes are planned, fourteen are improvisations, and the last four are sorted out to summarise the season.

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Howard Gordon pictured with Evan Katz, talks about the show

Howard Gordon and Manny Coto, two executive producers, explains the writing process to a further extent. Coto says that they have to "travel the line between 'having done it before' and 'ridiculous', so it's getting harder and harder to navigate that". Cochran talks about how storylines are chosen, and says that very little is prepared before the season begins. Gordon says the hardest part is knowing where to begin. Jon Cassar explains about how the storylines change every year, which he thinks is one of the best things about the show. Coto and Gordon talk about making sure they don't go too far and "jump the shark".

Surnow says that the first season will always be the best as they were proving the concept. He then says that the show became something else after Season 1, as the Counter Terrorist Unit was not really dealing with terrorism as we know of now during the first year. Cochran expresses his happiness with Season 2. Surnow says that with Season 4 they chose to be "chaotic" and not to be organised as they had before. He said they wanted to be unrealistic and have more things happen than ever before. Gordon says that this technique was carried on into Season 5, and Cochran says that as long as you have an emotional connection with Jack, it doesn't matter as much about the nature of threat.

Coto and Gordon talk about developing the characters, and say that the mistakes they make are necessary. Cassar says that 24 is good because it really explores the characters. Cochran complements the casting of the show, saying that a certain type of actor is needed to work on 24. They explain that Gregory Itzin (Charles Logan) did such a good job for them during Day 4 that they decided to bring him back for Day 5. Cochran says that they were tired of Logan appearing weak and thought it would be interesting if he was actually behind everything. Cochran talks about George Mason, who he says was a favourite character of his. Surnow then talks about Chloe O'Brian, who is like the "strange person in the office, who is annoying yet talented".

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Jon Cassar talks about killing off characters

Cassar talks about killing off characters, saying that they know the audience will be upset, but that is part of it. He says that he is just as surprised as the audience at some of the deaths that come out of nowhere. Gordon says that he thought killing David Palmer was going to turn out badly because he was so beloved. They all talk about the opening to Season 5, with the deaths of Palmer, Michelle and the bomb that critically injures Tony, and they hoped that people were sat there questioning what just happened as it was an intense way to start a season. Cassar says that Edgar Stiles was hard to kill as he was so innocent. Cassar says that everyone who is killed has a connection to Jack, and for all the good that he does, Jack still has to suffer with everything that ends up happens.

All the crew begin to talk about Jack Bauer, and how many wish there was a person like him in real life. Gordon says that the show is a tragedy of the life of Jack, and he can never stay going in a positive direction. Cochran says that he gets pulled into it because he is the one guy who can do what nobody else can. He says that Jack is "a knight, and goes out and saves the world, but at the cost of his own personal life".

Keepin' It Real: The Stunts and Special Effects of 24[]

Robert Cochran and Joel Surnow explain the concept of the show. Jeff Cadiente, the stunt coordinator, and Stan and Scott Blackwell, the special effects supervisors, all talk about their roles on the show. Jon Cassar says that with all the action and stunts, 24 is very different from most shows. He says that adding stunts and effects into scenes makes them a lot more complicated than when they are not used.

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Stan and Scott Blackwell talk about creating the gunshots-laden death scene of Marshall Goren

The Blackwell brothers talk about how Jon Cassar will request things from them and they will go away and prepare them. They say that their role is very good because they just get to blow things up all day. Stan explains an encounter with James Morrison, who came up to him and asked what he did, and Blackwell told him that he is the effects guy, and if he comes it usually means you are going to die. Cadiente says that all the stunts he has tried to pull off has gone according to plan. He says that every explosion, car crash and fight scene is real, and hardly any CGI is used. Cadiente talks about how sometimes stunts written in the scripts aren't possible because of the location, and so they make other things work. He also talks about points where Jack uses other instruments as weapons, referring to a scene during Season 5 when Jack kicks a table at an assassin posing as a doctor, while in the medical clinic with Tony Almeida.

Cassar and Cadiente talk about the scene at Wilshire Gas Company where Jack runs away from the explosion, and both comment about how Kiefer Sutherland's back was after the explosion. They then discuss Chloe O'Brian's shooting of a terrorist during Season 4, an event where an actor is not used to shooting a gun. Cochran talks about the FA teams exploding Stephen Saunders' helicopter during Season 3. Howard Gordon and Manny Coto talk about the scene on the Russian submarine during Season 5. Stan Blackwell talks about when the rocket flew past Kiefer Sutherland during Season 4. Scott Blackwell talks about the scene in Season 5 when James Heller drove his car off the cliff and explained how the scene worked. Gordon and Coto talk about the plane landing on the highway during Season 5. Cassar then mentions the shooting of David Palmer and how they went about creating it.

Stan and Scott Blackwell talk about Kiefer Sutherland and how well he does to do his own stunts. Cadiente says that he likes to use Kiefer as much as possible to make it look more real.

24 and the War on Terror: Can Truth Learn from Fiction?[]

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The 24 panel L to R: Gregory Itzin, Jean Smart, Kiefer Sutherland, Evan Katz, Howard Gordon, the host, Joel Surnow.

This feature is footage of a public conference held in Los Angeles in 2007, entitled "24 and the War on Terror: Can Truth Learn from Fiction?". Featured at the conference is Jack Weiss, LA City Council in charge of terrorist threats, David Crane, Former JAG and war crimes prosecutor, Morten Halperin, former government official, and the Director of Security and Peace Initiative, Brian Jenkins, RAND terrorism expert, Joel Surnow, co-creator, Howard Gordon, executive producer, Evan Katz, executive producer, Kiefer Sutherland, Jean Smart, and Gregory Itzin.

The panel talk about 24 and the different political views that are present in the show, how relevant CTU is to real life, reactions to things on the show and others. Afterwards, they are asked questions by audience members.

See also[]


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