Great Balls of Fire
Kate Barker uncovers the dangers of pyrotechnics on Xena in the episode Amphipolis Under Siege.
Official Xena Magazine: Issue 07
In the world of Xena: Warrior Princess, special effects are nothing new. Even so, it's not every day that the leading lady is chased down a very narrow tunnel by a real live ball of fire.
Part of the plot of Amphipolis Under Siege entails llainus (Musetta Vander), general of the goddess Athena's mortal army, attempting to use fire to seal a tunnel through which Xena and the Amphipolis townspeople are trying to escape. Special effects supervisor Ken Durey describes the action as it will appear on screen: “The barrels are spilling Greek fire as they roll down the tunnel. [Ilainus] throws in a flaming torch, the barrels ignite, and 30 seconds later, they explode, creating a fireball that comes down the tunnel.”
With today's advances in computer-imaging technology, faking a fireball is no big deal. But in the case of Amphipolis Under Siege, Durey and his effects team have created a literally explosive effect, for which the audience has absolutely no need to suspend its disbelief. In the scene where Xena rushes to escape the giant fireball, that’s the real Lucy Lawless, with real flames in pursuit.
“We’re doing it practically,” says Durey. “There'll be a mass of fire behind Lucy as she runs down towards the cavern... then she’ll dive out of the way.”
That would certainly seem the sensible reaction, considering the size of the fireball in question. “It’s about eight to 10 feet round,” Durey confirms, “it’ll fill the tunnel up.”
Every one of the crew here knows exactly what they’re doing. Durey explains the details of the effect in terms even a reporter can understand: “A simple method [of explanation] would be like blowing air through a straw. At the end of the straw, it’s rather like a firebreather, or some vapourised fuel, except that at the end of our straw there is a pressurised air tank with an electronic valve. If we increased the pressure, with the same equipment we could actually blow a fireball right out of the end of the tunnel.
“We’ve used this same principle many times over the last four years,” he reveals. “We installed this one a week ago, and in the next half hour we'll do another test with the effects crew. It’s very precise; the fireball will travel 25 or 26 feet, depending on how much pressure you pump it at. Its margin of error is probably two feet at the most.”
It still sounds - and looks - just a tad dangerous, and one would think that this is exactly the sort of reason why actors have stunt doubles. But in this scene, Xena is running straight towards the camera, so it has to be Lawless in the shot.
Everyone - Durey included - places great emphasis on the precautions taken for actors and crew during the setting up and filming of the scene. From the way he explains things, it is clear that any danger factor really is kept to a minimum. Inside the tunnel, he points out the way things will happen on the take. “The fireball will be piped out from slots on the sides of the tunnel, and come up to about that boulder there. Lucy will start her run from the boulder; she’ll take two paces before we let it go, so by the time it gets to the boulder, she’ll be four paces ahead of it.”
All well and good, but what happens as Lawless reaches the far end of the tunnel, where the camera is? Not to worry. Naturally, that’s been sorted out too. “We put a fan at this end,” explains Durey from near the camera, “and that drives the cool air down, so she's actually running into a stream of cool air. With the remnants of the gas - which is oxygen-starved because it’s burning in a confined space - the air is forced over it, so she doesn't breathe in any of the gas. She’s getting force-fed with clean air from this end.”
The script calls for the fireball to collapse the tunnel, then burst up through the ground, conveniently saving another character on the way. In reality it's mostly just a matter of turning down the valves. By Durey’s count, nearly one quarter of Xena’s last 100 episodes have involved some form of pyrotechnic effect, and Lawless has taken part in a considerable number of these. Although she does have stunt and body doubles, Lawless has stated in the past that she does enjoy taking part in the action scenes and will often do her own stunts - if they aren’t deemed too dangerous.
Naturally, though, when it's Lawless in the hot seat and not a double, more precautions have to be taken. For the fireball sequence, says Durey, things need to be right first time. “If I was putting a stunt person in there, their margin of error would be two to one. Lucy will be 15 feet ahead of the fireball, but still, her margin is six to one. Stunt people - because they are exactly that - are allowed to get hotter than Lucy.”
Some people might argue with that last statement, but we know what he means.
“We’ll test it until the margin is right,” finishes Durey. “With Lucy, it’ll work on the first take.”