What Not to Wear shot in Salem

Finally! I've been holding these pictures since September when the TLC show, What Not to Wear, came to Salem to ambush Salem psychic Leanne and give her the transformation of a lifetime.

I had the pleasure of working with the show's producers for the weeks leading up to the shoot, and then I got to be on set during the day of the shoot. We scouted locations all around Salem for the shoot, and the producers ultimately chose Old Town Hall for the bulk of the show, The Hawthorne Hotel for the "Reveal" party, and The House of the Seven Gables for Leanne's "After" shots. One of the opening scenes of Stacy and Clinton was filmed in the Charter Street Burial Ground, as well.

Kudos to the cast of History Alive! which performs Cry Innocent: The People Verses Bridget Bishop. They made themselves available for the day-long shoot, and they did a great job. If you missed the episode, it will re-run throughout the weekend, and you can see the preview video here.

Here are my pictures from "behind the scenes" of the What Not to Wear shoot in Salem:

Setting up in Old Town Hall for the "secret footage" showing. The plasma TV was brought in later.

Here's the cast of Cry Innocent getting instructions from Skye and Meghan. At this point, they think they are being filmed for a documentary about the Salem Witch Trials. You should've heard the screams of excitement when they found out it was for TLC's What Not to Wear!

More instructions - this time outside of Old Town Hall, preparing to film the "chase" scene for the show opener.

Filming the arrest of Bridget Bishop on Essex Street. This scene wasn't used, but it was part of the "set up" of Leanne, who thought she was participating in a documentary about the Salem Witch Trials. (You can participate in Cry Innocent's arrest and trial of Bridget Bishop during the summer season. It's an interactive way to learn about the Salem Witch Trials.)

Heading back into Old Town Hall to film the trial and Leanne's ambush.

Filming the trial. Leanne is standing up on the aisle... in the black pointy hat!

Filming interviews with the friends and family outside of Old Town Hall.

And, back into Old Town Hall to film the "Secret Footage" segment.

Stacy and Clinton filmed the show opener in the Charter Street Burial Ground.

This is producer and site-coordinator-extraordinaire Meghan. She was responsible for getting the secret footage of Leanne, which took over a week. It was impressive how she could go into stealth mode to get shots of Leanne. At one point, Meghan said she blended into a group tour walking down Essex Street and aimed her camera at Leanne and Hex (where Leanne worked) like a tourist.

Time out for autographs.

The after-shots were done in the gardens of the House of the Seven Gables. Leanne looks fabulous!

Congratulations, Leanne, on a fantastic make-over. And thanks to Leanne and the crew of What Not to Wear for including Salem in the spotlight!