Jensen, Jared and Robert Singer talk in interview about filming during a pandemic
Jensen, Jared and Robert Singer (who directed the last Supernatural episode) were interviewed by Variety, and they talked about the experience of filming the last two episodes during a pandemic.
The rules included wearing masks at all times, social distancing among the crew and enhanced sanitary procedures. Everyone was tested three times a week, according to Warner Bros. Usually, an episode takes eight days to shoot, but they filmed the two remaining episodes over nine days each to allow for delays. Their longest day was 12 hours.
If they were reckless, Padalecki said, “It would have been shutting down production and putting people out of work again, so everybody was more careful than they were required. We all felt the importance. We weren’t going out on weekends.”
Ackles agreed: “Everybody was taking it very seriously. I would say being on set was safer that going home to my apartment, because everybody’s getting tested, everybody was healthy and was checked on such a frequent basis you knew that there was nobody carrying the disease. I’m being very cautious, and I would have felt comfortable hugging the crew members, just because I know that everybody was so diligently safe.” […]
“If anyone had tested positive, the next day, they would have gotten a phone call,” Singer said. “What would have happened then? I don’t know. But we went through two episodes, and we didn’t have one positive test.” […]
[Singer] would work with the actors’ stand-ins to block the scene, and then leave so the crew could set up the lights. When they were done, he’d return to check everything — and the crew would leave. Finally, the actors would come in to rehearse and film. “Once we were ready to shoot, no one was allowed on the actual shooting set other than the actors and me and the director of photography,” Singer said.
“It’s a very family-oriented set,” Singer said. “It was different, in that the normal interactions between the actors and the crew just didn’t happen. Their interactions were really between the camera operator, our DP, and myself. And the makeup people. Other than that, everybody was sort of not around when they were there.”
Because of COVID, there could be no wrap party, nor any type of celebration of the show ending, which turned something Singer called “bittersweet” into a sad event. […] “As you passed people and said goodbye, you could see that it was emotional,” Singer continued. “And I think the guys were emotional.” The final day of shooting took place in a forest. Singer, Padalecki and Ackles addressed everyone there.
Leave a Reply