Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Now in its seventh and likely final season, with lead actress Sarah Michelle Gellar quitting the show, UPN’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer has a well-earned reputation for witty tales of the undead, sophisticated special effects, and even the odd musical number. What’s less widely celebrated is its status as one of the smoothest-running shows in the business. “It’s the best-oiled machine I’ve ever been a part of,” reported associate producer Denise Pleune, whose credits include stints on The X Files and who was “a big Buffy fan” before she joined the show. “And that is due in part to the fact that so many of production team and crew on this show have been with it since the very start. Everyone knows exactly what they’re doing, and in the high-pressure world of TV production and deadlines, that gives you a big advantage.”

The show is shot on soundstages in Santa Monica, with additional location work done all over the L.A. area, and then posted at Hollywood Digital. “It’s always been shot on 35mm, which we then transfer to Digibeta,” noted Pleune. “It used to be that we could just transfer 4x3, but we have to make room for 16x9 safeties now that HD is in play. They need a widescreen version as well.”

The production rotates around an eight-day-per-shoot schedule for the first unit. The film is then processed at Deluxe, transferred at Hollywood Digital and edited here at the show’s Santa Monica production office. “We have a regular team of three editors: Peter Basinski, our lead editor, and Louise Innes and Josh Charson,” says Pleune. “Some shows are a bit tighter than others in terms of schedules, but they usually get about two weeks to work on their cut and then the director also comes in during that time and does his cut before we have to lock it.”

The final cut is onlined at Hollywood Digital after the show’s extensive visual effects shots have been added during the editing process. “As soon as we get approval of certain shots and how long they’re going to be, we send them over to Zoic, our visual effects house,” explained Pleune. “They’re based in Culver City, which is convenient for us, and although Zoic is a new company, it began life as Radium, which did all the effects work on previous shows. So again, it’s all the same people who’ve been working on Buffy since the start, in addition to doing the effects work on spin-off shows like Angel. So there’s a lot of experience and continuity there, too.”

Over the years, the show has seen many changes, particularly in terms of new technology. “For instance, audio has always been a key ingredient in the show, and now we can use OMS audio files which really helps shorten the editing time,” she noted. “You used to have to give a list, and they would then assemble it from DATs. But now we load it into the Avid and after they’re done with the cut they just send an OMS drive over to Todd-AO in Santa Monica where they add in all the effects.”

Again, the show relies on a team that has worked on Buffy for years that includes sound supervisor Cindy Rabideau. “She’s the one who, during the spotting sessions with the producers, makes sure that certain notes get addressed, whether they’re fights with special sound effects or visual effects that are described,” said Pleune. “So overall, the audio side has become much quicker and more efficient, which is a big plus as that is key in post-production. Everyone wants to save money there.”

The show’s effects work has also greatly benefited from recent advances in technology. “We use at least 10 to 15 visual effects shots for every show - and sometimes a lot more - which is a lot for a TV production, and so much more is possible now,” Pleune noted. “We can model a person or creature if we need to or if a certain visual effect can’t be done by a stuntperson. And then we can also do a lot of enhancing of existing effects, and the entire process is much faster and more flexible than it used to be.”

The Zoic post team, headed by visual effects supervisor Patti Gannon, uses a mixture of Inferno and Maya for 3D imaging, and Maya and some Lightwave for CG work to create and polish Buffy’s extensive eye candy. “We have a team of six artists, including a rotoscoper, a morphing expert and a 3D guy,” she said. “So depending on what each show calls for, we let them know what we want, and that then goes through a series of approvals and notes, and then we get the final effect shot back.”

Looking back, much of the effects work on the earlier shows “definitely looks a little crude compared with what we can do today,” conceded Pleune. “This season we’ve been bringing back some of the older characters, and after looking at many of the older episodes, we quickly realized that we can do a lot of stuff far better. Green screen work is so much better now, and you can’t see the green glow around people anymore, whereas there was always a slight green tint there before. That’s really improved a lot and we don’t allow for any imperfections now. We want a scene to look like it’s actually happening for real.”

The shows legions of fans have also played a role in the team’s quest for excellence. “They’re far more picky and demanding now,” said Pleune. “We have a Web site and we check out all the comments about visual effects and story lines as well as characters, and so do the writers and actors. Fans are the number one priority on this show, because it’s got such a huge, loyal following. So they’re a definite influence on the end result.”

Pleune’s duties include coordinating and supervising all aspects of the post production process, “so I’m back and forth between our offices, Zoic, Todd-AO and Hollywood Digital,” she noted. “And after working on a show like The X Files I’ve really been able to help streamline the process on Buffy. We worked through a lot of different visual effects issues and problems on The X Files, so now I can offer a lot of suggestions about other ways of doing things that might be easier and more efficient. But ultimately it’s a very collaborative process. Luckily, everyone really cares about the show and what they’re doing, which is why so many have been here since the very start. We love the characters, we love the writing, we love the way the show looks and sounds, and we want each show to be as good as we can make it.”