Buffy: Day 8

The documentation of the making of Buffy continues with Day 8 of work!

Mood: Excited, with a touch of nerves.

I met with the majority of the cast and we continued our work on the opening credits. It was a great day, though long and cold. It was the first time that the actors playing Xander and Willow and I were all together (I've decided to proceed with using actors instead of waiting for the original cast to reply; if needed, we will do re-shoots using original members). I'm happy to report that I think the three of us definitely have the chemistry needed to portray such close friends. Though I didn't manage to grab any pictures with my friend Amy (playing Willow) or the 3 of us together, I'll be sure to post some next time, along with some fun costume photos. Dressing for the 90s is an awesome task; Velvet has a SuperGirl baby-tee that I'm dying to wear.

We filmed quite a bit of action shots for the montage; including a sword-wielding scene in the park, Buffy swinging on a soccer goalpost and kicking a demon, Willow & Xander exploring an attic (ahem, crypt) and a graveyard candlelit demon-raising. You know, an entirely average day.

Let's check it out!

Here we are between shots. Velvet's inspecting my hair and makeup while Jordan and Zak set up for the next take.


Your first look at Giles: Andrew (standing in until we hear from Anthony Stewart-Head) and I begin to develop our Watcher/Slayer relationship. Here Andrew instructs me on a move while I learn. Andrew's wearing the "casual Giles" sweater.



Jordan was again our go-to demon for the shoot. Velvet made him into a gray-faced suit demon (as a loosely based homage to the demons in Buffy "Hush"). I then promptly kicked him in the chest and pushed him into the ground. Sorry Jordan; life of a demon. Here he is relaxing between takes.



Watcher/Slayer/Red Velour Pants



These are some shots from the night-time action scene, which included us huddled around a gravestone chanting and running through the thick smoke (fog machine) on our way to stake something (or someone...).



Xander, Giles and Buffy, just chilling before heading to the Bronze. (Fun fact: it was actually very cold this night, but you could never tell it by looking at us--that's called acting).



XANDER ACTION SHOT!



You should probably also know that we filmed these scenes (and last week's) in my backyard, which opens up to an entire row of condo windows. So far we've only witnessed two (strangely human-like) cats at a window watching us film, but I'm guessing that lots of neighbors are raising their eyebrows at us chanting Latin over a makeshift tombstone, holding a cat up to the heavens in sacrifice and running at full speed while clutching wooden stakes (see below).





Little does Velvet know the grave peril she's in. I like to routinely test my cast/crew by doing random stakings in order to weed out any vampire infiltrations. Velvet passed (this time).



This action sequence took about 20 minutes to film. It involved me throwing both Jordan and Zak into piles of leaves after fending off attacks from them. Don't worry, both of them ended up battered and bruised. This scene also marked Velvet's first time filming in the project. I think she did a great job--it was a hard scene with lots of angles and fast-paced action. Look for it in the opening! It's got her personal touches all over it.



So that's the latest batch of pictures (thanks again to Heather Trollope, our set photographer) chronicling the adventures of our Buffy episode. It's been great fun so far, but I'm realizing that scheduling is going to be an issue. As with any large cast, gathering people together for rehearsals/shootings is becoming quite difficult. I would love to film for a week straight and finish it before January, but I don't think it will be possible. Our "Sunnydale" may have to include lots of snow and winter coats. We still haven't had a full cast read-through, which worries me a bit. However, we're filming again this weekend and will hopefully see our first glimpses of Drusilla and Cordelia.

As always, stay tuned for more updates. Any thoughts or suggestions? I wanna know.

PS--My cameraman informed that the REAL Drusilla, Juliet Landeau (an apparent gothic princess), will actually be in town THIS SATURDAY, at the Silver Snail comic shop signing autographs. Hmm--is this the perfect opportunity to personally hand over her script and do a little PR magic? She's charging $25 for an autograph, so it seems like she means business. Perhaps I'll stop by if I can work up the nerve, and cash. She knows she'd be working pro-bono for me, but my offer of 2 stacks of magazines still stands. We'll see if she accepts.