Post by Inside Man on Apr 18, 2007 12:21:34 GMT -5
A great meditation on the key scene from "Back to One." Mrs. Horder-Payton is quickly becoming on of my favorite Television Directors.
This is gold.
April 17, 2007
Gwyneth Horder-Payton’s blog for ‘Back to One’
To me, Adam Fierro’s script, ‘Back to One’, was a masterpiece in pacing and rhythm, that led us organically, even gracefully, to a sequence so violent that I gagged every time I thought about it during prep.
This wasn’t your everyday stupid violence that makes us numb,
this was a violence so twisted up in everything that is tragic and
wrong in the Shield world that its history was more awful than the act itself. At least, that was the thinking that got me through
the filming of the sequence, because my other reoccurring thought was, will this become one of the most violent scenes in television history? And what does that mean to me as a woman directing it? Good question. All I knew was, I had a job to do.
I was proud to come up with a few details that intensified the
action, like asking for an eight foot chain so that Vic could
double it up. Then I wanted to use the real chain on our padded
stunt man, and everyone looked at me like I was insane. I said,
but the real chain wraps differently around the body on impact!
Daniel Arias, the stunt man, said “no problem, bring on the real
chain.” He also said no problem to the plastic chain on his head.
When it came to turning Guardo into ‘a piece of meat’, as the
script said, it was Michael Chiklis who finally said to me, enough
with the blood Gwyneth, and gently pulled the gallon of blood out of my hand. When it came to shooting the second beating part of the sequence that culminates in Guardo’s death, what ultimately worked was the opposite of how one normally shoots the most important scene of any piece, which is to over cover it. We basically shot it with one camera, in one and half takes without cutting, with the exception of the stunt shots. Shooting with one camera enabled the operator complete freedom of movement, without having to worry about getting in the way of the other operator. It was a method we had been experimenting with during this episode, with effective results. After covering a scene, we would let each operator have one try at shooting the scene hand held or with the steadicam in a way that would capture the entire scene - no need for cutting. If we had time, they would get two tries. In this case, only one operator had one try, because he, (Richard Cantu), Walton Goggins (Shane), David Snell (Ronnie), Luis Ramos (Guardo), and most of all Michael Chiklis (Vic), absolutely nailed the scene in one and a half takes. It was an amazing thing to watch, because, fueled by his own prolonged violence and his desperate need to avenge Lem’s murder, Vic went to a place even he had never been. Ironically, that place was so pure and true that there was no question in any one’s minds that we had the scene.
After completing that sequence, it was late, and we still had to dispose of Guardo’s body. Poor Luis had been bloody for hours, even through lunch, and now we had to strip him, and throw him into a dirt hole. The weight of the big sequence behind us, there was a general air of giddiness, and everyone felt free to express their opinion on how to dispose of the body. ‘No wait! Why do we have to strip him? Let’s just throw him in the hole, and bury him!’ ‘No, no, no. We have to burn all the evidence, so let’s strip him, burn his clothes, then burn him!’ ‘Can’t we just burn him with his clothes on?’ ‘But he looks better naked-’ and on and on. I don’t know why it felt more than usual like the parents were gone; maybe it was the fact that everyone’s pants were tucked into their socks because of the ticks, maybe it was the full moon, or maybe that, with the socks and the moon and the fire, it seemed like a Shield version of telling ghost stories around the fire after a rough day. Of course it was wrong, but that’s what we do best.
This is gold.
April 17, 2007
Gwyneth Horder-Payton’s blog for ‘Back to One’
To me, Adam Fierro’s script, ‘Back to One’, was a masterpiece in pacing and rhythm, that led us organically, even gracefully, to a sequence so violent that I gagged every time I thought about it during prep.
This wasn’t your everyday stupid violence that makes us numb,
this was a violence so twisted up in everything that is tragic and
wrong in the Shield world that its history was more awful than the act itself. At least, that was the thinking that got me through
the filming of the sequence, because my other reoccurring thought was, will this become one of the most violent scenes in television history? And what does that mean to me as a woman directing it? Good question. All I knew was, I had a job to do.
I was proud to come up with a few details that intensified the
action, like asking for an eight foot chain so that Vic could
double it up. Then I wanted to use the real chain on our padded
stunt man, and everyone looked at me like I was insane. I said,
but the real chain wraps differently around the body on impact!
Daniel Arias, the stunt man, said “no problem, bring on the real
chain.” He also said no problem to the plastic chain on his head.
When it came to turning Guardo into ‘a piece of meat’, as the
script said, it was Michael Chiklis who finally said to me, enough
with the blood Gwyneth, and gently pulled the gallon of blood out of my hand. When it came to shooting the second beating part of the sequence that culminates in Guardo’s death, what ultimately worked was the opposite of how one normally shoots the most important scene of any piece, which is to over cover it. We basically shot it with one camera, in one and half takes without cutting, with the exception of the stunt shots. Shooting with one camera enabled the operator complete freedom of movement, without having to worry about getting in the way of the other operator. It was a method we had been experimenting with during this episode, with effective results. After covering a scene, we would let each operator have one try at shooting the scene hand held or with the steadicam in a way that would capture the entire scene - no need for cutting. If we had time, they would get two tries. In this case, only one operator had one try, because he, (Richard Cantu), Walton Goggins (Shane), David Snell (Ronnie), Luis Ramos (Guardo), and most of all Michael Chiklis (Vic), absolutely nailed the scene in one and a half takes. It was an amazing thing to watch, because, fueled by his own prolonged violence and his desperate need to avenge Lem’s murder, Vic went to a place even he had never been. Ironically, that place was so pure and true that there was no question in any one’s minds that we had the scene.
After completing that sequence, it was late, and we still had to dispose of Guardo’s body. Poor Luis had been bloody for hours, even through lunch, and now we had to strip him, and throw him into a dirt hole. The weight of the big sequence behind us, there was a general air of giddiness, and everyone felt free to express their opinion on how to dispose of the body. ‘No wait! Why do we have to strip him? Let’s just throw him in the hole, and bury him!’ ‘No, no, no. We have to burn all the evidence, so let’s strip him, burn his clothes, then burn him!’ ‘Can’t we just burn him with his clothes on?’ ‘But he looks better naked-’ and on and on. I don’t know why it felt more than usual like the parents were gone; maybe it was the fact that everyone’s pants were tucked into their socks because of the ticks, maybe it was the full moon, or maybe that, with the socks and the moon and the fire, it seemed like a Shield version of telling ghost stories around the fire after a rough day. Of course it was wrong, but that’s what we do best.