Revelations
Xena Magazine's set reporter since the magazine
launched back in October 1999, KATE BARKER, has had the enviable task of reporting
the show's production ever since. In mid-March, however, she stepped onto the
Xena soundstages for the finale time to watch the historic filming of
the last episode, A Friend In Need...
"I
guess it's no secret now," says executive producer Rob Tapert, director
of this particular Xena episode.
Tapert is actually referring to the fact that this double episode
is set in Japan, but by the time you read this, all the secrets of the episode
will have been revealed. To the studio and the actors, it's all over, but our
heroes' fate won't be known until 18 June, just days before this magazine hits
the newsstands.
Tapert, taking time off from directing A Friend in Need,
can't tell us anything more about the episode than what we can gain from snippets
of watching the action on the set, as he show's producers and distributors have
nade a conscious decision to keep the events op secret in order to prevent the
fans from having the plot spoiled for them in advance.
Before reporting on the filming of this climactic finale, let's
take a look at what possible lot points have been revealed to find out if any
of these predictions and mysteries have actually come to light.
Right up until its screening, rumoursalbout the events of the
final Xena episode had reached every corner of the world's Xena
fan base. Some media reports told of a supposed "insider" at Pacific
Renaissance who unsuccesfully tried to sell a story that the final episode would
see Xena killed at the hands of Samurai warriors. The setting may have been
right, but Renaissance would neither confirm nor deny this particular speculation,
giving "the enigmatic comment that scripts and storylines constantly alter
during the production of a series.
This was also the official answer to many further rumours,
including the muchpublicised (and much played up to) point of contention as
to whether Xena and Gabrielle are actually lovers. With fans worldwide keen
to have the issue of the subtext finally made clear once and for all, especially
in light of the unconclusive ending of You Are There, there was speculation
in the press that this would be resolved.
Although fans the world over have been more than a little disappointed
at the announce ment of the show's demise, Lawless has not been shy in saying
she needs a break from the show. The actress has been quoted as saying that
she won't miss the very physically demanding aspects of Xena, such as
filming in the New Zealand winter and doing "drowning action" in particularly
cold water. Lawless has also commented on the fact that after finishing Xena,
she wants to take advantage of her time and energy and devote herself to her
family and community.
It's no rumour, however, that Lawless has loved being a part
of Xena, and that she has been "overwhelmed at this awesome experience."
Right up until the end, Lawless wouldn't reveal anything about the final two-parter,
except to say that she wanted Xena and Gabrielle "to go out on a glorious
note,"
Lawless'
co-star and colleague Renee O'Connor was also looking forward to a future career,
despite her sadness at the show's end given how much of a positive influence
it has had on her life and career. "It's been wonderful," she told
Xena Magazine a few months ago (in Issue 19). Given her recent announcement
that she is expecting a child later this year, however, it's understandable
that the actor now has things other than Xena on her mind...
Despite being sworn to secrecy about the storyline of the finale,
O'Connor has been keen to talk about her own thoughts and feelings about the
show's demise in recent interviews, including her own desire for the resolution
of the characters' story arc. "I'd like to see [them] grow old together,"
she told Xena Magazine, adding that she'd like to see that they are,
in the end, "extremely happy."
Well, the episode has now aired, and the truth is out there. So, without further
ado, let's go behind the scenes on the nail-biting conclusion of Xena and Gabrielle's
journey and find out just how much of this has come true...
It's 9am on the morning of Tuesday 13 March, and wearing my
official visitor's badge I'm led by my Renaissance guide through a maze of studios
to a very enclosed set in the middle of a large and otherwise empty studio.
Gone are the remnants of other sets that might have been here before, waiting
to be used in future productions. Hardly any evdence remains of how monumental
this production has been...
As usual, there's a lot of bustle and activity as the crew
move around to set up the various camera angles and shots. This is quite obviously
an Asian setting, yet it's nothing at all like the sets of Chin used in the
show's founh, fifth and sixth seasons.
The set is stunning: 'man-made' sunlight streams in through
ornately patterned windows; Chinese lanterns highlight other forms of the light;
and a huge, intricately decorated sculpture of a dragon adds a touch of magic
to this amazing place. Also contributing to the atmosphere—literally—is
the presence of smoke, which accentuates the lighting and creates a very aesthetically
pleasing image on screen. As one of the lighting crew points out, to see the
effects of the great lighting there needs to be something for it to shine through.
This particular scene from A Friend in Need features,
amongst other people, a nasty villain complete with Fu Manchu-style moustache
and combination Samurai/Ninja guards. But before you jump to the conclusion
that that rumour about Xena being killed by a Samurai warrior is about to come
true, I can assure you that this particular bad guy doesn't look like much of
a match for the Warrior Princess.
At this point, the extras playing the guards are sitting back
behind the cameras watching the goings-on with immense interest. While the crew
continues tweaking the set, the guards are having finishing touches added to
their costumes, such as their head coverings being literally sewn into their
ponytails to make certain that they don't slip off during the upcoming fight
scene. Then there are their leather masks (which are also being tied into their
head scarves), gauntlets and even the odd staple pressed in to keep the whole
thing together.
One
of the members of the wardrobe department is walking around with a bunch of
polaroids hanging from her belt. Like those in Second Unit who need snapshots
of sets that have been destroyed, wardrobe and make-up need photographs to enable
them to remember how every character should look in order to be able to dress
and make them up exactly the same way for their upcoming scenes.
For the filming of this part of the fight sequence, the guards
will be standing on some oriental-style carpets which are cleverly concealing
something which will help break their falls during the action. "We always
arrange any carpets or floor rugs like this," says Tapert dur- ing a break
in shooting, "so that we can hide mattresses under them for the stunt guys."
Sound mixer Graham Morris adds with a smile, "It improves
the sound quality, too."
With the mattresses in place, it's time for Xena to get in
a little more rehearsal with her latest adversary; Tapert suggests to Lawless
that she practise the fight with the guards, who also happen to be stuntees.
"Okay boys," Lawless smiles, walking over. "Teach
me the fight."
After camera and lighting rehearsals and a great deal of bustling
about, it's time to film the introduction to the fight sequence. Lawless, the
villain and the guards take their starting positions and the crew scuttle back
to their required positions as the action starts. First of all, Xena disables
the villain. Then she turns to the guards in order to deal with them.
At the same time as voicing her familiar cry (sounding something
like, "Sheeee-ha!"), Lawless steps and leans back, looking as if she's
about to launch into one of Xena's famous back flips. However, in this case—and
as always whenever we see Xena doing one of her back flips—this pre-flip
pose is all that Lawless will do. Later on in post-production, footage will
be spliced into the scene of the Xena stunt double, Zoe Bell, performing the
bulk of the stunt herself, most likely with the aid of a flying rig.
Lawless does however get to fight with the guards for a while,
which makes those hidden mattresses very handy indeed...
The
actors rehearse and film some of the fight, after which the crew agree to film
the main fight sequence of the episode after lunch. This gives Lawless and the
stuntees a little more time to go over their moves and the crew a bit longer
to get the set absolutely perfect.
In many ways, this is just like any other Xena episode. The
cast and crew are working just as hard, and the same things need to be done
to produce the (literally) final product as would normally be done. As an example,
the actors and crew members currently on set have been doing this same filming
sequence all morning, while A Friend in Need has encountered the same
types of production problems as any other episode: after one of the takes, sound
mixer Graham Morris makes a reluctant observation about noise outside the studio
in the real world. "We had a plane right through that," he says, sighing.
It's clear from the jovial mood on the set that this really
isn't like any other episode, however. Director Rob Tapert takes the opportunity
to throw in a playful dose of sarcasm when responding to Morris' concerns. "I
thought that was what I heard," he muses. Although there has to be another
take,
Morris is clearly calm about the situation. "They're surprisingly
audible, planes," he responds dryly.
Amidst the flurry of activity on the set, Tapert walks over
to Lawless to give her a couple of notes about the episode. "Hi!"
the actress says cheerfully to her director and husband, clearly brimming with
excitement and energy about filming this final episode.
That same energy has driven this series through six spectacular
years, and as if things have turned full circle, A Friend in Need takes
on 'new' flashbacks to the earliest of Xena's days as a warlord. In the current
scene, our hero is dressed in disturbingly familiar duds: those dark leather
fur hides and breeches and moccasin boots; while she sports her old trademark
wild hair with those blood-red streaks. Also present in this scene is Xena's
accomplice and former lover, the warlord Borias (played by Marton Csokas).
The fur and hides make a great costume, and although it may
be a little uncomfortable, Lawless is in such a great mood that she really doesn't
mind. "Isn't it awesome?" she says between fight practices with the
guards, grinning from ear to ear.
Even Xena has to rest sometimes, however, and because the costume
is so hot, a small fan (the cooling kind, not the groupie!) is organised to
be placed by Lawless' chair off-set. Of course, whirring fans make noise, so
there has to be a check-in with Morris, who is operating only about a foot away
from Lawless' resting place. "This is for Lucy because her costume's really
hot," the First Assistant Director explains to Morris, torn between her
concern that the noise may affect the sound quality of the on-set recording
and her desire for Lawless to be com- fortable given the hot, heavy costume.
"Shall we plug it in here?"
Still
in a jovial mood, Morris replies, "Yeah. They're much better when they're
plugged in..." From the tone of his voice, however, it's obvious that the
sound of the fan won't be picked up by the boom microphone being used on set.
It's worth mentioning here thai it's not only the actors who
need to be kept cool. On an enclosed set like this, the lights can become quite
hot, too, so the crew keep things cool by closing shutters on the lights when
they're not in use and actually physically fanning the equipment manual. ly.
It's kind of amusing and rather surreal to watch, even when you are aware of
just how hot things can become on set.
Of course, it's a hot story, too. But then, as Tapert himself
says, this is the series finale, and the final episode of Xena can't
possibly go out without a bang.
Throughout this visit, when he is not directing the action,
the show's director and executive producer is feeding me exclusive snip- pets
of information, such as the secrets of those stunt carpets and the fact that
only last week this same part of the studio was not decked out as a]apanese
throne room but instead housed Aphrodite's pink-covered bedchamber for the episode
Many Happy Returns.
There
are other interesting things to note, such as the latest incarnation of that
one Grecian sailing ship, which has not only been used in Xena, but also
in Hercules, Young Hercules and Jack of all Trades. For
A Friend in Need, Tapert tells me, the set designers were required to
turn the boat into a sampan (an Asian boat, also known as a junk). It's been
reported but this particular piece of information has not yet been substantiated
by Tapert that in honour of the show's executive producer, the boat was named
Rob's Folly...
While Tapert is happy to reveal these tricks of the trade,
he remains tight-lipped about this last storyline. The security and secrecy
surrounding the studios and workers of Renaissance is tighter than Fort Knox,
and this reporter is all too aware of the repercussions of this kind of information
leaking to the media.
When pressed, Tapert does say that the episode has a
back-story not dissimilar to the fourth season double episode The Debt,
but that coupled with the scenes, costumes and characters I've seen today are
quite enough to satisfy my curiosity until I can personally enjoy the fruits
of this final labour of love from Renaissance.
Scans from the pictures used in the magazine article:
Revelations Official Xena Magazine August 2001, Jim Smith, p10-16.
All articles are copyrighted to their repsective owners.
These articles are purely for reference and entertainment purposes only.
