Angel

An Evening On The Set Of Angel

Okay: this blog entry isn’t about Supernatural. Surprise! I’ve always enjoyed reading accounts written by others of watching shooting on films and TV shows, and I’ve sometimes mentioned the one and only night that I had the chance to spend several hours on the set of Angel back in November 2001. Enough people have expressed interest that I thought it was about time I wrote it up.

One of my neighbors kitty-corner across the alley back when I was growing up was an only child who was between my two older sisters in age. We all got on like gangbusters, and Brenda effectively became another sister to us. Years ago, she headed west to work in Hollywood, and I followed her career behind the scenes on TV shows and movies with great pleasure. Over time and with training, she worked her way up from production assistant to assistant director, working on everything from Simon & Simon to Star Trek: The Next Generation, and films including Paris Trout and Steel Magnolias. Knowing my tastes as many of you do, you can imagine my delight when I saw her name turning up on everything that Joss Whedon did, starting with Buffy, continuing with Angel, segueing into Firefly, and then returning to Angel again.

And so we come to 2001. I’m a senior career federal civil servant working in Washington, D.C. On 9/11, from my office in D.C., I watched the smoke rising from the Pentagon and F-16’s screaming air cover overhead. For the next few days, I looked at strangely empty blue skies and thought how wrong it was that no planes flew, and I made a resolution that at the earliest possible opportunity, I was going to make my own counter-terrorist statement by flying across the country. Flights returned, I put in for vacation leave, and I made my reservations to fly to L.A. My Mom, who was 77 then, asked if she could join me since we had relatives in southern California, and I made the arrangements. Studio tours, cousin visits, we planned it all. (For television and movie fans, by the way, I heartily recommend the behind-the-scenes tour at the Warner Brothers lot! I won’t talk about it here, but it was really worth the money.)

And I got in touch with Brenda, since seeing my “other sister” was definitely on the agenda. She was working on Angel at the time, and to my absolute, utter, and abiding delight, she invited us to visit her at work. Access to the Paramount lot was even more restricted than usual since the studios were concerned about possibly being terrorist targets, but she got us on the list to be able to enter and park on the lot, and told us the soundstage number. We were invited to show up around 4:00 pm, watch shooting, join the cast and crew for dinner, and watch some more.

What a thrill! Driving through the gates a little early, having the guard check our ID and match our names to his list, and then direct us on where to park, all felt like a dream, or as if I was watching my own little movie. Understand, I’ve been a fan for years, always fascinated with the nuts and bolts of how TV shows and films are made. I’ve read a lot about production, and seen many behind-the-scenes pictures and features from studios and shooting locations, soaking them up. And here I was on the Paramount lot, walking past doors and buildings that I recognized. (Roswell fans, do you remember the episode where Max went to Hollywood, and broke into a film storage facility? I walked past that door! It was right by the lot where we parked!)

Soundstages are massive warehouse-like buildings, featureless on the outside except for their number or letter designations and the red light outside each access door that starts flashing to warn people not to enter whenever filming is actually underway. I had a little map of the lot provided by the guard showing which soundstage we were heading for, which looked from the outside exactly like every other one. No one was around as we approached, and it felt very strange to just open the door and walk in, after ensuring that the red light wasn’t on, of course! (And yes, I laughed out loud watching Sam and Dean just mosey on into a soundstage during Hollywood Babylon, because based on my experience, that would have been entirely possible, once you got into the studio grounds!)

Angel used two cavernous soundstages, each separated into several parts. The one we visited held standing sets for the show, including the hotel lobby and Wesley’s office, Angel’s quarters, and a set that got redressed into multiple different hotel rooms. The hotel lobby was the active set for the night, and was a beehive of activity. The rest of the place was crammed with haphazard walls, furnishings, and props.

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