All The World’s A Stage: City of the Dead
Exclusive on-set reports from the latest episodes
Official Xena Magazine: Issue 01
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
City of the Dead
On a dark Egyptian evening amidst the rough stone of an unfinished pyramid, there’s an impressive fight taking place. Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) and Prince Ramesses (Toi Iti) battle for possession of the Necronomicon Book of the Dead, a tome of ultimate and deadly power. This is the climax of City of the Dead, the first episode of Hercules, sixth season. In this episode of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Hercules and Iolaus (Michael Hurst) must stop the assassination of peace-seeking Queen Nefertiti (Gabriella Larkin).
Impressive as it is, of course, this battle is nowhere near as dangerous as it seems. It’s not Egypt, not the moonlit heights of an ancient pyramid, and most importantly, not a matter of life and death. Like every fight and scuffle in Hercules and Xena: Warrior Princess, this scene involves actors, body and stunt doubles, stand-ins, production crew, and detailed planning by stunt co-ordinator Peter Bell.
In the enclosed space of an interior sound studio, Bell watches from the sidelines as Sorbo and Clint Elvy (Iti’s stunt double) block the fight sequence in slow motion.
Sorbo checks the moves with Bell as actor and double move through them: “Come in here… turn… grab his head…” For the next move, Sorbo simulates Hercules kneeing Ramesses in the groin; Elvy obligingly reels backwards as his headdress flies off.
Pausing, Sorbo looks to Bell for confirmation. “Yeah… that works, doesn’t it?”
This particular portion of the fight sequence - the last of the big three in City of the Dead - takes over half an hour to film. But the job is far from complete. Once both cameras have captured the shot to director Chris Long’s satisfaction, the whole thing must be filmed again, this time from the other character’s point of view.
Firstly, though, Long makes a point of congratulating Sorbo on his work. “This is Kevin Sorbo’s last shot for this episode,” Long announces; the crew applaud as Sorbo leaves the set.
The crew prepare to shoot the fight scene again. This time it will be shot from the opposite angle, using Iti as the ‘real’ Ramesses and Sorbo’s body double Patrick Kake standing in as Hercules. Filming this way is common practice; every fight scene is shot at least twice, over the shoulder of each double for close-ups, and from several angles if it’s a larger scene.
Filming the fight doesn’t take long. Although the entire sequence took Bell almost half a day to plan, the participants have been doing stunts like this for years. According to Bell, a short skirmish like this will only need to be run through with the actors and doubles two or three times before they are ready for the cameras. Conversely, says Bell, a longer stunt may take two or three days to plan out and prepare. Even so, the actors and stuntmen are quick to pick up the moves.
Filming continues with yet another part of the Hercules/Ramesses face off. This time the area is reset with extra sand, props and lighting. Crew hang from scaffolding on the ceiling as they measure distances from actors to cameras to reflective surfaces. A mirror is hung to brighten to the effects and suddenly the previously dim sound stage is much more sharply in focus.
The first shot is filmed from Hercules’ perspective, so Kake doesn’t need to be seen from the front. Cameras film over Kake’s shoulder as he gives the cue line and Iti as Ramesses raises a hand menacingly, simulating a magic fireball which will be digitally added later.
Ramesses and Hercules face off yet again, as director Long takes them through the action one more time. “... and then Herc rushes you. Herc! Rush him, baby…!”
Filming fight scenes on Hercules sometimes seems like a lot of work. If the antics on City of the Dead are anything to go by, it also seems like a lot of fun.