All The World’s A Stage: Hot Stuff
Things warm up for Kate Barker as she reports direct from the set of the season five episode Amphipolis Under Siege.
Official Xena Magazine: Issue 08
Now that Xena has given birth to baby Eve, the Twilight of the Gods is looming just that little bit closer. Olympian deities are coming out of the woodwork left, right and centre, and life in the Xenaverse is really starting to heat up.
In Amphipolis Under Siege, we get to meet Athena (Paris Jefferson), Goddess of Wisdom, War and for some reason, Weaving…
Anyway, Athena sends an army of silver-corseted mortal archers to Xena’s home town of Amphipolis. Their goal is to wage war on the hapless townsfolk in an attempt to “persuade” them to hand over Eve.
The ensuing action leads to caverns under the city, where the phrase “turning up the heat” has never been more appropriate. Imagine flaming torches, flammable barrels and gigantic fireballs… then imagine trying to film it.
Some film sets aren’t the easiest places to move around in, especially if they’re made up of low and narrow tunnels with poor visibility. Luckily, these tunnels are just one of the many temporary interior sets that are always being built and rebuilt at this particular Pacific Renaissance film studio. A few months ago, this studio was home to a gothic castle set, used for the Hercules episode Darkness Visible. The week before this job, it was used for Cleopatra 2525 with, according to one crew member, “full-on sci-fi foil.”
Today, at least one part of this studio is made up to be some very effective rock formations, impressive even to those who are used to it. Setting up cameras and lighting equipment mid-tunnel, one of the crew comments, “There are some really big spider webs in here.”
“That’s okay,” comes the reply, “they’re only out of a can.”
So what’s going on here that’s making the scenes of Xena and company running through a cave such a big deal? One of the reasons could be that in these shots, actors and crew alike are going to be sharing some very narrow spaces with some very hot stuff… and we’re not just talking about Xena…
Firstly, there are a lot of rather high flames in some seemingly precarious close up shots. As one particular scene is very carefully rehearsed, a ‘flame bar’ is turned on and a line of flames bursts into the foreground of the shot. “Let’s light those torches please,” instructs director Mark Beesley. “Let’s have those flames up higher!”
After the safety checks are completed, the shot is captured to Beesley’s satisfaction - or half of it, at least. In this part of the scene, Athena’s general, Ilainus (Musetta Vander), is attempting to seal off the tunnels with Greek fire, and naturally Xena is trying to stop her. In the far-right portion of the three-tunnel set, the crew is filming from Xena’s point of view - so the camera picks up when Ilainus drops the flaming torch to ignite the fire, and a burst of flame shoots up frighteningly close to Vander’s face. It’s all perfectly safe, of course, and stunningly effective… and that’s even before it’s been edited into the sequence.
After two takes (and some last-minute discussion over which way the first lot of extras should be running), the shot is completed, and the crew begins to set up in the far-left tunnel for a complete reversal of the same shot.
Sometimes filming uses ‘cheat’ shots, where two characters facing each other are filmed separately against the same piece of set, with just a small portion of the background altered to look like two different directions. For these underground scenes, however, three exact replicas of the tunnel set have been made. Now, the crew will film the same shot from the point of view of Ilainus; more fire, different extras, and a close up on Xena as she realises what is about to happen…
While more setting up and safety checking is done, Beesley and the special effects team go over the big scene with Lucy Lawless. “We’re got two air cannons in here,” special effects supervisor Ken Durey tells Beesley, “and a flame bar.” There are also 12 oxygen tanks and a large fan. In this shot, there won’t be a stunt double to rely on, and safety is paramount. Why, one may ask?
“When you get to here,” Beesley directs Lawless to a particular point in the tunnel, “you’ll have a fireball after you.”
Lawless looks rather bemused. “I can’t wait…”
But before braving the big flames, they first have to finish with the little ones. Blocking and run-throughs can take a long time, especially when the playbacks and camera angles need to be constantly checked. “We’ve got an unbalanced frame,” comments Beesley at one point, after studying the shot via a video monitor connected to the camera. “We need to choreograph some of those villagers.” Naturally, the tunnel needs to be well cleared of any extra bystanders before any fireballs can be let loose on our hero, which is why the villagers need to be told exactly which way to move when the action starts.
Safety is not the only issue, either. Even the most minute details must be dealt with, such as sweeping away sandy footprints on the floor of the set, and clearing up pieces of the tunnel’s artificial ‘wall’ that have chipped off and left unpainted areas exposed. The crew must set up each part of the scene as quietly and efficiently as possible while filming is going on, only a few metres away.
Once the reverse shot is successfully filmed, there is a well-earned break for the actors while the crew finishes setting up for the fireball sequence. There are a few blocking runs for the extras (without the use of flame), and more crew discussion over the shot’s last-minute details. “Can I get a little bit closer with the fire?”
“No, but I’ve got this cunning plan…”
Well, you’d have to be cunning when planning an effect like this. According to Beesley, it will take over two hours to fully set up for the shot. At 11:15am, he states confidently, “We definitely won’t get to shoot it before lunch.”
Heading off-set for a breather, Lawless and her body double find themselves crossing paths as the double practises sword movements in the air. “I’m back in my old cozzie,” says Lawless cheerfully, using local slang to refer to her original costume. Lawless and the double are both dressed in that familiar brown leather and copper, and from a distance it’s almost impossible to tell them apart. But, of course, that is the idea.
Spliced together on film, the final few seconds preceding the sequence involving the fireball chasing Xena up the tunnel will definitely help to make a heated episode even hotter. Turn to last issue to find more details about this exciting film sequence.