Behind the Scenes of Supernatural: Bloodlines

Created by:     Andrew Dabb

Starring:          Lucien Laviscount
                         Nathaniel Buzolic
                         Danielle Savre
                         Melissa Roxburgh              
                         Sean Faris
                         Stephen Martines
                         Bryce Johnson

We all knew that Supernatural’s spin-off series Supernatural: Bloodlines would be based in Chicago. We knew the “back-door pilot” would air on April 29, and that the filming dates would be sometime in March. The big question, though, for Supernatural’s Chicago-based fans was… Where would it film? Would they bring the cast and crew of Supernatural to the Windy City, or would they film it largely in Vancouver with some exterior and background shots of Chicago thrown in for appearances?

Fans posed these questions to the people involved in the project, but we received only vague answers in reply. All we could do was wait. Then the information started to leak out. The first thing I saw was a Tweet from Nathaniel Buzolic on March 24, saying simply “Welcome to Chicago”. Then the next day, he tweeted “Going out in Chicago. Hello Ladies” and “Game Time! Chicago Bulls”. He was in Chicago, and if he was here, the filming was taking place here! On the same day, Jared tweeted that he was having a rough time flying on American Airlines. Why would Jared be flying in the middle of the week, and more to the point, not be on Alaska Air (Vancouver) or some another airline that he frequently flies? He was on American – which is a major carrier into Chicago. I went on high alert. Jared was flying to somewhere beside Texas or Vancouver. Then the confirmation I had been waiting for finally came. Jared tweeted “So excited to be in Chicago!!!! First time I’ve filmed in the United States in six years!!!!”

Now I don’t usually swear, so let’s just say that my reaction was something like “#%&@*$!!!” Not only was Supernatural filming in Chicago, but the BOYS WERE HERE!  Time to activate the “Baker Street Irregulars”! SPN Family, we’ve got work to do!!

The next three days were a whirlwind of messages and calls, all trying to find out where, and when, our Show would be filming. Eventually, through Twitter accounts dedicated to filming and casting in Chicago, a newly formed network of fans and friends on Twitter, one reporter, two very nice people at the Chicago Film Office and a large filming studio in Chicago, and one extremely confused hotel manager, I found where the show was not filming, or where they had already finished filming, always being just one step behind them…until…Thursday morning, March 27, around 7:30 a.m. The tweet I had been waiting for: The address the Show would be filming at all day.

This is the story of what I found that exhilarating day, watching the filming of Supernatural: Bloodlines in Chicago!

[During the coming Hellatus, I will write a longer version of this adventure, revealing a more detailed account of the long three days when the Chicago fans tried to catch up with Supernatural. I have so much more to say about what happened, who showed up, who tried to throw me off the trail, and who found, and who missed, Jared and Jensen. This story, though, is about my behind-the-scenes look at Bloodlines, so we can all say “I saw that!” when it airs on Tuesday!]

 

10 a.m. I arrived at the address tweeted out by the Chicago location spies! The street was completely deserted – no cars, no equipment trucks – nothing. So I double parked my car and checked out the signs posted on the trees…

Well, this is a good sign! (*cough*) Someone will be filming here…but the times were all wrong. Oh NO! Please tell me I don’t have to wait all day for a night shoot! Well, I had come this far and I wasn’t about to turn back, even if it meant I had to suspiciously loiter for the whole day. I decided to find a place to park (not easy in a neighborhood that is very close to Soldier’s Field, McCormick Place, and the lakeshore). I got lucky and found a spot 3 blocks away. Walking back to the address I was given, I saw a different set of posted notices…

Hurray! Supernatural: Bloodlines would be filming here! Better yet, this sign said it would be a daytime shoot. No other fans were around (although several were glued to their Twitter accounts waiting to hear what I found). I felt rather silly hanging out on a street corner…but it said there would be filming…

3:49 p.m. Mysterious, unmarked trucks (which had showed up a few hours earlier) opened their doors and began to wheel out equipment. This was getting exciting! The “word on the street” was that this was only going to be exterior and background shots. I was told the “boys” had left town already and there would only be extras filming. It didn’t matter – I was staying anyway.

4:10 p.m. Ok, I’m star struck! Bob Singer and Jim Michaels (Executive Producer and Co-Executive Producer respectively for Supernatural) appeared on set and began comparing notes on the location (at least, that is what I’m assuming they were talking about!). At this point, I knew my trip was worth all the waiting. If no one else showed up, I got to see Bob and Jim!!

4:13 p.m. Extras started to show up and equipment was moved into place. Hey, wait! That’s Jerry Wanek, Supernatural’s Production Designer Extraordinaire talking to Jim! Oh this was getting good! …but why was there a dog in the middle of all this activity?

4:19 p.m. Jim Michaels and Jerry Wanek came over to talk to the fans. I was thrilled! Surprisingly, there were only about ten of us who were lucky enough to find the right location! It was so nice of Jim and Jerry to acknowledge us, though. That’s a mini video village tent set up behind them. Bob Singer eventually disappeared into there for most of the shoot.

Really? Director’s chairs with the Bloodlines logo? All that was missing were the stars to fill these chairs…

4:33 p.m. …then First Star Sighting!! Nathaniel Buzolic showed up already in “costume”.  His first order of business? Meet with Jim and Bob, of course! There was someone to Jim’s left but I couldn’t quite see him…and who was this woman? She had been close to the action all day, but I don’t recognize her! Can anyone help me out?

 
There was a great deal of standing around, drinking coffee, laughing… I’m sure they were having deep conversations about the scene that would soon be filmed….

Notice that everyone’s hands were in their pockets. Oh yeah…it was a down coat day. It was in the 40s but very damp. At least the rain was holding off. If you ever think an actor’s job is glamorous, consider that Nate was only wearing a jeans jacket this entire time!

Dear man-with-the-backpack, would you move just a little bit more so I can see you, please? You are always in the middle of the important crowd, but I can’t quite get a good look at you….

Oh, that’s Andrew Dabb, Supernatural writer and creator of Bloodlines! He’s on set too! (I actually caught Andrew in a wide-angle shot above. I just didn’t notice him at the time).

4:52 p.m. Everyone took their positions and the filming was ready to begin! Oh, the dog was part of the shot! He was supposed to walk past the house with his owner, to make this look like a normal afternoon in a Chicago neighborhood!

Then, believe it or not, someone actually yelled “Quiet on the set! Rolling! Action!”

Nathaniel walked up the staircase, rang the doorbell (or knocked, I couldn’t tell)…

…and went inside the house.

They shot the same scene several times to ensure they got everything they wanted! Nate did a great job each time (as far as walking, climbing stairs, and opening a door goes). The dog was a little less cooperative.

After I think three takes, they must have gotten all the footage they needed because it was smiles all around! Nate hugged Bob Singer (who had a great talent for putting his back to my camera!) and finally, an unobstructed shot of Andrew (now if they would all have just stood still!)!

Someone else joined the crowd, and he looked important, too. Red-coat-guy began talking to Andrew and Nate, but I couldn’t see who he was…

4:54 p.m. Second star sighting! Lucien Laviscount was on set! This was turning into a party! Finally, these guys cooperated and faced my camera (well, most of them!). From left to right, Jim, Nathaniel, Bob Singer’s back (again!), Andrew, Jerry, and Lucien.

4:59 p.m. Oh, this just keeps getting better and better! That blurry man (he never, ever stood still!) was Serge Ladouceur, the Cinematography genius behind Supernatural!

 
For quite a while, I watched while people did various technical things…taking readings…talking on headphones…talking to each other (there was a lot of that).  I could tell that the shoot was winding down. Fans wandered away. People got into cars. I was bummed that the shoot was over so soon (and no Jared or Jensen), but thrilled that I saw any of it at all…

Then someone yelled “We’re on the move to Union Station!”

What???

All our scouting, snooping and eavesdropping had led us to believe there was only going to be one shoot that day. Really?? More shooting? Should I go? What was going to happen there? And most importantly, would I get a place to park?? Well, no regrets, so I ran to my car and battled downtown Chicago, rush-hour traffic!

6:35 p.m. I arrived at Union Station, walked into the Great Hall, and saw…this!!

At least half of Union Station’s Great Hall was filled with filming equipment that had obviously been staged there for quite a while.

6:50 p.m. Quite by accident, I had entered Union Station through the doors that are in the back center of this picture. When I walked in, I realized I was behind the roped off area! The extras (actors) were already staged on the stairs! I was horrified!! I couldn’t move fast enough to get out of the way, but the actor closest to me told me I could take my time. They weren’t going to start shooting for probably a few hours! So why were they already staged??

When I got on the outside of the ropes, I spent a long time trying to understand and process everything my eyes were seeing. What a fascinating scene to absorb! This was an indoor shoot, so a great deal of the equipment was very different from this afternoon’s outdoor scene. Lighting, sound, cameras, crowd control…everything was different.

 
6:51 p.m.  I’m pretty sure the guy to the right, center of this shot, facing me in the “PH” hoodie, is Nate. The clothes match the tweet he sent out at 6:10 from Union Station (I didn’t know that at the time, though).

6:58 p.m. We had again been told this location would have only extras and background shots…nothing important was going to happen (was I ever going to stop believing this line?). So when I saw an actress getting made-up, I had to do a double take. Was this Melissa (at this angle, I couldn’t see clearly enough to tell for sure), and why was Lucien here too??

7:29 p.m. The extras on the staircase and the actress on the balcony (again, Melissa?) were ready to shoot the scene. This must have been labeled the “walking staircases” day, because once again, the shot was of people walking up and down stairs and through doors. The concept was to create “normal” pedestrian traffic in and out of the station, walking just past the real action happening on the balcony.

7:45 p.m. Ironically, everyone had been waiting for the sun to go down so that they could control the light streaming through the windows! We were all waiting for it to get dark so that there could be daylight!

Yes, Jim was there, and that’s Nate talking to him while everyone else watched the balcony scene.

The important shot on the balcony had to do with a close-up of the actress’ hand, which I could follow on the monitors. Hard as I tried, all my shots of the live action were blocked by camera booms or blurred by distance.

8:03 p.m. Finally satisfied with the staircase shots, the assistant director called a meeting off to the right, in another part of the Great Hall. They were starting to set up the next scenes.

The lighting on this side was bright enough to wake the dead (I couldn’t resist!). There were screens in this hallway and in the adjoining room.

Very soon afterward, the crew broke for “lunch”. I asked around and they said there would only be boring stuff happening later (I think their definition of boring is very different from my definition!), so after 10 hours of chasing this lot, I called it a day and went home. I later saw two Tweets from Nate with pictures of Lucien at Union Station, so I know they were both there until at least 9:30 pm. I later found out that they shot until 3 a.m.! I never would have lasted that long!

The few crew members who talked to me said that all this work would probably warrant a few seconds in the final cut of the episode. I found the whole process fascinating. When the outdoor shoot was finished in the morning, Nate yelled out to fans “Now, that’s how we make magic!” It might have been pretty routine to them, but seeing the amazing talent behind Supernatural, and seeing its future stars – Nate, Lucien and Melissa (I think) – in action, was pretty magical to me. Now that you’ve seen the preparation, I am hoping you can spot these scenes in the show! I know I will be looking for them!

I hoped you’ve enjoyed a small taste of my exciting day following the filming of Supernatural: Bloodlines. This was a small subset of my pictures, and a very small part of the story of the whole week of filming in Chicago. In a few weeks, once we have entered that tortuous time called Hellatus, I will write a full account of my experiences chasing Supernatural. There is the story of my midnight excursion to Wacker Dr. to try to catch the boys on location…and when I was on South Michigan Ave watching filming, but a picture was tweeted of Jared and Jensen shopping on North Michigan Ave (frustration beyond imagining!)…and the tweet that I read once I got home at 9:30 p.m. that said the boys had just stopped by Union Station and were talking and laughing with the fans there (there really isn’t a word for the anguish I felt thinking that after 10 hours, I had missed J2 by just a few minutes)…and how Jim Michaels saved the day for me…

So much more to come.

Join me in watching Supernatural: Bloodlines Tuesday night. I will be live tweeting it as @Lsangel2, aka Nightsky. Let’s watch for the Chicago scenes together!

All pictures were taken by me.  If you’d like to share, please give proper credit to Nightsky at The Winchester Family Business.

Copyright, 2014