Spoiler Slayer

Alphabet Soup or SNAFU

Just an FYI, my ISP's DNS server is having problems translating the DN's to their IP's. While I've been able to get to some sites, I'm SOL when it comes to others. FWIW, I tried my best to link with the original posts at the Kitten Board, but since BBOvenGuy posted them also at the BC&S, I decided to use those instead.

Location Shoot

From today's location shoots. Posted by BBOvenGuy at the Cross and Stake (though they are likely available at the Kitten Board as well)

There were two Buffy location shoots going on today. The primary unit was at the Korean Friendship Bell at Angel's Gate Park in San Pedro. You can find out more about that here:

http://www.sanpedrochamber.com/champint/korenbel.htm

The second unit was at the Los Angeles County Arboretum in Arcadia. You can find out more about that here:

http://www.aabga.org/memberpages/losangeles/

With two shoots going on, I had to team up with some people from other boards so we could all get everything covered. I received word that Alyson Hannigan and Nick Brendon were in San Pedro, so I drove down there first.

The Korean Friendship Bell sits on top of a large hill. The Buffy crew wasn't at the Friendship Bell itself, but was down the hill a bit, at the edge of a steep slope near a really funky looking pointy-statue thing. I'm not exactly sure what that was. There were all sorts of fake trees and shrubs there, and trucks were bringing in large amounts of dirt. Another truck was bringing in large pieces of stunt equipment.

In the midst of it all was Alyson Hannigan, dressed in a very dark blue top, black pants and brown hiking shoes. Her hair was jet black, and she was wearing black lipstick and the all-black contact lenses. It was overcast and windy when I first got there, and she was huddling in a big coat whenever the cameras weren't rolling. Also there was Nick Brendon, dressed in the same clothes he was wearing last week near Stoner Park.

There was a major VIP presence. David Fury, Jane Espenson, Marti Noxon (waddling around looking quite pregnant) and Joss himself were there. Joss looked like he was "helping" the director a great deal.

So here's the scene. Willow is standing on the edge of a cliff. Xander comes up to her. Judging from the body language Nick was using, it looked to me like Willow had put up some kind of energy barrier that wouldn't let Xander get near her. They argue. Xander gets blown backwards. They argue some more. Again, judging from body language, it looked like Xander was trying to talk Willow into something, or perhaps out of something. Willow makes a motion with her arm, and Xander turns his head quickly and brings his hand to his face - did Willow just zap him? It wasn't that bad if she did, because Xander doesn't fall down again or anything. He does walk away, though.

We were pretty far away, so hearing dialogue depended largely on which way the wind was blowing or whether we could lip-read what we were seeing on the video feed (yes, it's possible to pick up the video feed on a portable TV if you know the frequency). Since they weren't filming the scene sequentially, I can't tell you what order the following lines go in, and I also can't guarantee their accuracy 100%, but here are the few snippets we heard:

Willow

"I can't take it any more."

"...the only way to stop... {unintelligible} ... is to..."

Xander

"Well, this carpenter can drywall you into the next century..." (This was during a rehearsal, so it might have just been Nick goofing around.)

"Well, I was just going to drop you over this cliff." (This was said in typical Xander joking style.)

"I love you."

"If I'm going down, it's going to be right here."

Meanwhile, the stunt crew had set up several mats and rigged up this really cool little catapult-thing. This was for the shot where Xander gets blown backwards by Willow. Since Willow's stunt double was also there, I'm guessing there's some kind of Willow stunt coming up as well, but I don't know what that might be.

One other amusing incident - some couple who were apparently friends of the VIPs was there, and they had a toddler with them. During a break, Nick and Aly went up to meet them, and Aly scared the toddler with her black eyes and lips. "I don't always look this scary!" said Aly with a pout.

Watching Aly running back to the base camp when it was time for lunch was an amusing thing to see, too.

By 3:00 we had gotten word that the Arboretum shoot involved Sarah Michelle Gellar, Michelle Trachtenberg, Danny Strong and Tom Lenk. There were also rumblings that Adam Busch was part of the shoot, but that couldn't be confirmed. Supposedly the shoot in the Arboretum was taking place up on a hill, near a waterfall. Eager to see if I could confirm the Adam Busch sighting, I left my co-snoopers to keep watching the San Pedro shoot and hustled through traffic back to Arcadia.

By the time I got there, the shoot inside the park was over. SMG and Michelle had gone. The crew was still shooting in the parking lot. Danny and Tom were in the cab of an 18-wheeler (not the same one as the one that was chasing them in Van Nuys), along with this big trucker-guy. It looked like Jonathan and Andrew had hitched a ride with the trucker. I watched that for about half an hour, and then they wrapped for the day.

The shoot in San Pedro is supposedly going on for another couple of hours, so I might get more word later tonight. Given the LA traffic at this time of day, I think by the time I got back down there I'd arrive just in time to see them wrap. Cross your fingers and hope I hear from some people.

and from the shoot from last week...

Here's some more info on last Friday's shoot at the Rosedale Cemetery. I heard it today when I was in San Pedro.

The night shoot at cemetery involved Nick Brendon, Michelle Trachtenberg, Danny Strong and Tom Lenk. Some of the flats and set pieces normally used on the graveyard set at the Buffy lot were set up as well.

The scene apparently involved Xander, Dawn, Jonathan and Andrew running through the graveyard and trying to get into several of the crypts. Spike's crypt - or rather, the same set pieces used for Spike's crypt, which may or may not have been representing another crypt - was locked, and Jonathan and Andrew were trying to pick the lock with their swords. Finally Xander got fed up and started yelling at them about what nerds they were.

That's all I was able to get.