A Day in the life of Supernatural filming.
Possible Spoilers for Season 2.
By Trevor Wales
South Delta Leader
Sep 01 2006
Film crews from the TV show Supernatural descended upon Ladner this week to film several shocking stunts at local businesses for an upcoming episode of the show, which begins its second season Sept. 28.
The Warner Bros. Entertainment show stars Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles as Sam and Dean Winchester, two brothers who travel across America in a 1967 Chevy Impala investigating paranormal events and other bizarre occurrences.
The premise of the episode is that a man, possessed by the devil, convinces several everyday citizens to act in horrific fashion.
On Monday, Delta Automotive on Elliott Street was converted into a gas station, and while a woman fills up her SUV, she receives a call on her cell phone from the demon who instructs her to douse herself in gasoline and then light herself on fire.
Other stunts later in the week included a customer inside a converted Massey’s Marine Supply committing a murder-suicide, and a doctor jumping in front of a bus outside Delta Museum and Archives.
“It’s some heavy subject material, yeah, but these are the fun stunts to do,” said Russ Hamilton, location manager for Supernatural.
“It’s a little nerve-racking watching these things, but they look great on film.”
According to Hamilton, more and more shows are taking their filming out of Vancouver because shooting in the city is a more complicated process and makes it difficult to finish within the eight-day production period for each episode.
“It’s great to come out to someplace like Ladner because it’s a great community and the film office out here (in Delta) is really co-operative,” Hamilton said. “As long as you do your homework out here, you can shoot for less because we don’t need to build a set, and there’s still a lot of money coming into Delta.”
Chris Aziz, film liaison for the Delta Film Office, said that Delta is currently experiencing another wave of film shoots towards the end of the month.
“There’s definitely a resurgence out here locally,” Aziz said, which was confirmed by John DuMont, director of human resources and corporate planning with the Corporation of Delta.
In 2005, there was a total of 142 days of filming in the local community and $136,000 of revenue generated. To date this year, there have already been 143 days of filming, and $122,000 generated.
“Business has been picking up, which is good because we went through a little bit of a dip for a while there,” DuMont said.
Several different shoots are happening this week, including a Honda Civic advertisement and the motion picture sequel Are We Done Yet? starring Ice Cube. 2005’s Are We There Yet? grossed $82 million and sold 3.7 million DVDs.
The motion picture Marriage, which will feature Pierce Brosnan, Academy Award-winner Chris Cooper, and Canadian Rachel McAdams, also did a quick shoot in Delta during July.
And while you can occasionally spot the big-name actors in local coffee shops and restaurants, it’s shows like Supernatural and WB hit Smallville which are the recurring productions in Delta.
“Smallville is fabulous, the cinematography that they do for that TV show is beyond belief, and although Supernatural isn’t quite as established, I think people will find that it will be a great addition to the lineup,” Aziz said.
“Most of the local businesses are very friendly and seem to enjoy being part of the process. Most of them are very highly compensated if they shut down for shooting, so I’m sure that helps of course,” Aziz said with a laugh.
She did add that although there are always residents who aren’t pleased with the disruption caused by the productions, the film companies do whatever they can to keep people happy.
“Everybody’s making a little bit of money, and that’s great for the businesses and great for Delta.”
As Hamilton watches the stunt woman rehearse dousing herself in gasoline, he said, “I don’t think the local film industry is going to ever reach that same heyday that it had before, but it’s definitely coming back and is the best it’s been in the last five years at least.”
In other words, this is probably the only time that burning bodies, shotgun murders and bus crashes can be viewed as a positive.
The episode of Supernatural is slated to air Oct. 26. The show is on City TV at 9 p.m. on Thursdays.