Twists of Fate
The episode When Fates Collide sees the return of some familiar faces to the Xenaverse, including Rome's most famous Emperor and an old foe of the Warrior Princess. In a rather brutal scene currently being filmed, the latter is causing death and destruction with gay abandon, as Kate Barker witnesses…
Official Xena Magazine: Issue 19
You have to watch those Roman emperors. They'll do anything they can to try to get one over on fate (or in this case, the Fates). When Fates Collide deals with the results of just such a dirty trick…
Somehow, Julius Caesar (played once more by Karl Urban) has managed to twist the time lines contained within the life threads of the Fates, thus preventing his own death and altering the past, present and future of our heroes and their adversaries. For instance, at one point in this parallel timeline, we witness the return of the evil Shamaness Alti (Claire Stansfield), who is throwing her weight around Caesar's throne room by tossing around a couple of visitors from Chin as if they were puppets. “We have these Chin Ambassadors,” my guide tells me as we wander into the appropriate studio, “who are getting killed as we speak.”
In fact, the stunt actors playing the unfortunate emissaries bear a remarkable resemblance to marionettes. On the throne room set, the stunt doubles are wired up to specially designed flying rigs with several wires protruding from different directions so that they can be lifted and tossed around quite easily, and, of course, safely.
The rigs - and the stuntees wearing them - are checked constantly when the cameras aren’t filming, for both technical and safety reasons, and from a non-technical point of view the system seems quite complicated. There are rig wires attached to the stuntees’ upper arms and torsos which reach back to the sides of the set where the rig crew are managing the wires, along with ropes and pulleys, from the other end.
The basic shot involves Alti (or at least her double) standing directly behind the two victims, grabbing them each by the backs of their necks and lifting them a couple of feet above the ground, seemingly with no effort at all. The men jiggle about a bit and are then thrown forcefully to the sides of the room, appearing to have been killed. This is filmed a few times from various angles, some with the camera on a vertically adjustable platform, as well as filmed downwards for a dramatic overview effect.
One could be forgiven for thinking that being tossed around on set - even with the use of wires - could be a tad uncomfortable. However, when the make-up department comes in to retouch the blood on their faces, the two stuntees are all smiles. There is even the obligatory comment while the rigs have them briefly suspended that they look perfectly comfortable just hanging around...
There is more than one section to this shot; at one point the camera cuts in from the ambassadors being raised and then tossed limply to the side (“There's no toss down this time, guys,” director Paul Grinder tells them in the first shots, “just the rise”). In the next piece, however, the ambassadors are no longer on wires but standing on boxes positioned below the camera frame. The frame just captures Alti’s hands around their necks as they now throw themselves over to the sides without the use of wires at all. This will be mixed with the previous shots using the wires, which will be taken out later in post-production.
Once this series of shots is over, the crew starts moving all the filming equipment to the other side of the set for a “lighting turnaround”, in which they will film the same part of the scene from the opposite angle. While this is happening and things are being moved across, it's possible to fully appreciate the layout of the set. The walls of the throne room are a rich dark red, almost burgundy, colour. Meeting them are the ornately designed patterns in the floor, in turn connected by grey ‘marble’ pillars and flaming torches outlining the majesty of the chamber. A crew member walks past with a broken marble-coloured statue, and while we know it’s actually painted foam rubber, it looks as real as can be. This palace and its contents are a far cry from the non-descript and therefore perfectly camouflaged standard grey warehouse in which the studio is hidden.
The costumes match the visual grandeur of the set, as we see extras in Roman attire of deep purple, red and black, not to mention the Caesar double in the same basic colours, only much more impressive. As previous scenes are played back on the monitors for reference, Xena appears in a sexy black silk and satin number, more than a match for the Roman royalty. While this goes on, there is some discussion about another scene involving Xena in a fight on the balcony of Caesar’s bedchamber. This is followed by the view of a previously screened flashback scene, in which Xena appears to drive her sword right through Callisto’s upper chest, resulting in Callisto glancing down at the damage and looking rather peeved. These are just a few of the slightly odd moments in an episode that plays around with the timelines as much as it possibly can.
It’s also worth mentioning that this particular point in the proceedings is run by the Second Unit, the film unit that does all the stunts, double work and virtually anything that doesn't involve the audience seeing the actors' faces. The schedule is just as tight, yet on set it seems to be slightly more relaxed.