|
 Smallville
At The William S. Paley Television Festival
Writeup by Wendi
Having attended
a
previous seminar with Al Gough and Miles Millar hosted by
the WGA, I already had a good idea that Smallville was
created by two men with a vision of how to bring a cinematic
feel to the small screen and the will to remake a modern myth
into a story that could reach an entirely new generation. Smallville's
night at the William S. Paley Television Festival only served
to prove that Gough & Millar have deliberately gone about
the business of assembling a team that supports that vision,
and makes it a reality on a weekly basis. On hand from the production
side of the show were Smallville creators Millar & Gough,
Jeph Loeb, Mark Verheiden, Ken Biller, Ken Horton, Joe Davola
(president of Tollin/Robbins productions), Mark Snow, Mat Beck
(who recently won a special effects awards for the show) and
director Greg Beeman. Tom Welling, Annette O'Toole and Sam Jones
III brought cast insights into an evening filled with humor
and the recurring theme of dedication to quality and mutual
respect on both sides of the camera.
 Once
the cast and crew were introduced, the audience was treated
to a large screen viewing of "Exile," largely in part,
because as Al admitted, they wanted to see this one on the big
screen. The episode was visually stunning on the cinema-sized
screen and the performances of the entire cast and the production
quality really did shine when seen on a larger scale. After
the viewing, the assembled crew took their seats on the stage
for the beginning of a wonderfully moderated discussion that
began with questions about how Gough and Millar felt about taking
on the Superman story and trying to make it new. While Gough
admits that it's a daunting task, he said it was also an honor
to take the myth and legacy to the next generation. Millar said
it became apparent from the beginning what aspects of the myth
worked and what aspects they needed to change. Gough explained
that things have always been added to the Superman mythos as
it continues to evolve. In the original radio broadcasts, the
actor who portrayed Superman was allowed a two week vacation,
and so another actor with a different voice had to fill in for
him (to which Tom Welling replied that he could use two weeks
off. Thus began a night of Welling's dry humor and a room full
of laughter). But to explain these obvious changes in voice,
Kryptonite was born.
Necessity
has always been the mother of invention with the mythos, and
Gough says the meteor shower is one example of how they changed
the story. There was no way a UFO was going to enter our atmosphere
in the age of satellites and radar without a cloaking device--thus
the meteor shower was born, giving a chance for Clark to crash
to Earth undetected and spawning the mutants in town that allow
Clark to use his super powers on a weekly basis. Another change
they created was to allow the friendship between Clark and Lex,
as young men still on the path to becoming their future iconic
selves. They wanted this to be not just the story of the journey
to good, but the story of the journey to evil, as well. Miles
quipped that this was also how Lionel Luthor became the model
of bad parenting, and then explained that John Glover was a
guest starring role in the pilot, but they kept bringing him
back and finally decided that they had to have him on as a regular.
The role was expanded for Glover's performance and continues
to shape Lex's future.
The questions
then moved on to the three cast members. Welling was asked what
his audition experience was like to win the role of Clark Kent.
Gough broke in to say that they saw a picture and wanted him
in it, but Tom didn't want to read for the role. He didn't want
to be type cast. There was much joking about how Mr. Big Shot
had done all of one other role, which Welling took with grins
and much good humor. Al said when they finally got Mr. Big Shot
in to read the script, it was a good reading, even though he
came in scruffy with facial hair and his hair a mess. By the
time they brought him in for a network reading, he looked completely
different, clean shaven with his hair brushed back. Miles remarked
that Al didn't recognize Tom on sight, but Al said Welling looked
"just as sexy" whether scruffy or cleaned up. While
the audience laughed, Tom took the opportunity to explain that
it actually all happened very quickly, and he was brought in
late in the casting process. He said everyone was very nice
to him, even though he clearly didn't know what he was doing.
He had a reading with Kristin Kreuk in front of a room filled
with people (the graveyard scene from the pilot), and a hush
fell over the room as they went through the scene. At which
point, Tom realized he had forgotten his line. He said Kristin
was waiting and her back was to the room, and she whispers to
him, "Are you okay?" Tom said his eyes were clearly
saying "No. . ." Kristin whispered his line to him,
and then the block cleared and the scene progressed. Afterwards
everyone complemented him on what a "great moment"
that was. "Uh-huh, it was," was all he could manage
to get out.
 Since
Annette O'Toole is actually a Superman movie alumni, her question
centered around what it was like to play two different roles
within the mythos. She asked if that was referring to Lana,
and said she actually never thought of it. (Again, Welling sends
the room into laughter with a wide-eyed look of paranoia and
"I don't think about it. Ever.") Annette spent most
of her time praising the rest of the cast and regretting the
fact that Glover, Schneider, Rosenbaum, Kreuk and Mack couldn't
be there as well, since they were actually working on the show
in Vancouver. She said she was in town because she likes to
spend the majority of her time in LA with her family and husband,
Michael McKean, who was also in attendance and received much
applause when pointed out to the audience (with much pride from
TPTB) as Perry White. Annette went on to explain that she initially
refused the role of Martha, because of her desire to stay in
LA with her family, but then she read the script and saw the
pilot and realized that there was something amazing going on
here with the retelling of the myth, and knew she had to be
a part of it, because she wanted it that badly. She also admitted
to being a lifelong fan of comics, and confessed that she vividly
remembers selling comics at school in third grade. Al said to
look for her on eBay.
 When
asked about his audition, Sam Jones III's story was unique.
He auditioned on a Sunday, during a break from filming a movie.
The audition was at Mike Tollin's house, and he described how
unusual the situation was, driving up to this big house to audition
for a show on a Sunday. He had recently told his father that
he wanted to do a series after the movie wrapped, but that he
didn't want to play a stereotypical character. His father told
him that's what he'd do, then, and Sam was amazed when it actually
happened, after he landed the role of Pete Ross. He said it
was surreal when Joe Davola pulled up behind him at Tollins'
house and came up to the car and told him how much they all
really wanted him to succeed with the audition, and even offered
to help run lines with Sam if he needed to before going in to
read.
Tom then
pointed out that he thinks that's part of what makes Smallville
a success. Of the three of them on stage, none of them had
to take the roles, they chose to take them, even after initially
reluctance, because they liked the project that much. He said
that has absolutely made a difference in the way the show works
and the great environment that they have up on the set in Vancouver.
Al then explained a little about the casting of Chloe and Pete
and how they proved tricky to pin down with just the right actors,
but how pleased they were with their end result. He then joked
about how poor Allison had been acting all of her life, since
childhood, and the first time she met Tom she asked what he
had been doing up to that point. Tom answered some modelling,
a role on Judging Amy, and now this. To which Allison
quipped "Tough year." Tom grinned and added "And
that was my first conversation with Allison." Watching
the three interact and talk about their fellow cast mates really
revealed the warmth they all have for each other and stories
continued to sneak into the discussion as questions turned to
the production side.
 Greg
Beeman discussed the look that he had helped bring to Smallville
and continues to help define. He said from the beginning they
knew certain things like Smallville should be warm, Metropolis
should be cold, and the colors and lighting reflects these aspects.
He tells every director coming onto the set for the first time
that everything visually works from Clark's point of view. His
home is the place where he feels safest and accepted, so it's
always shot with a gentle warmth of light and there are rings
of discomfort that radiate out anytime he leaves that environment.
School is a little sharper and brighter and by the time you
get to Metropolis the angles are extreme and the colors are
cold. Beeman also says that since it's all from Clark's point
of view, that it's a teenager's point of view--meaning that
everything is a big emotion. Whether it's love, anger, fear,
it's going to be big. These instructions help keep the original
vision alive. Miles also added that Greg brought their vision
of extreme close-ups to extraordinary reality. Al explained
that they had been told years before that the secret to a good
television show as to have something that when someone is channel
surfing, they'll stop for, because they haven't seen anything
else like it.
Jeph Loeb
was asked how you balance action and storytelling to deliver
a successful product. Loeb said Al, Miles, Ken and Mark head
the up the writers, and that basically they write like you see
writing happen in the movies--which isn't the reality of how
most television shows are written. Usually, individual stories
go to individual writers to tell, but on Smallville,
they all sit around and work out ideas and outlines in the creative
process. Al explained that they did this intentionally, because
it brings all kinds of strengths to the writing table for a
show like this. They have four essential show elements: Heart,
Hero, Mystery and Family. Those are the recurring themes that
ground the show and then they can take storytelling risks like
the "Biller Thriller".
Ken Biller
then went on to further explain the process of how an episode
is created. He said there's usually ten or so people in the
writer's room at any given time. They toss out ideas, come up
with one that works, like--Clark gets infected with Red Kryptonite
and acts out. Then they have to get the idea approved by Al
and Miles before it can go any further. Once approved, it can
take anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks to
create the episode itself, depending on the time frame they
have to work with. All of the episodes have a theme, and the
best episodes tie the B plots to the A plot with that theme.
They'll build on the theme and the idea, and begin to fill up
four large boards in the room with ideas and actions for Clark
and Lana and Lex. Jeph said by the time the four boards are
full of notes, it looks like a serial killer's been loose in
the room. The notes are then compiled into an outline that's
sent to Al and Miles, then on to the network. If the outline
gets approval from both tiers, it then goes back to the writers
and either one writer or a team of writers (some work individually,
some work in duos) takes the outline and writes the teleplay.
After it's written, the other writers will critique and edit
and revise, which is one of the show's strengths. The show works
because everyone has a lot of input. Mark Verheiden mentioned
that the remarkable thing that results from this writing style
is that you actually can see bits of your input as a finished
product onscreen in any given episode, so they're all very proud
of the scripts. He said it's a very much a collaborative effort
and that keeps things creative, because sixty episodes into
the show for him, it's still just as fresh.
 Jeph
also brought up the fact that another thing that keeps it fresh
is the mythology itself. He said the greatness of the Superman
mythos is that it can stay fresh after sixty years of retelling,
and that the trick in making the same story over and over is
having someone like Millar and Gough who have distilled it to
a single vision that stretches over five years, with definite
beginning and ending points in every season. He says the challenge
is to tell the story that everyone knows the ending of, already.
You already know that he puts on the tights and cape and flies
away someday (Welling sat up in shock and Al covered his ears.)
It was also pointed out that the brilliance of the story retelling
is that it's not just the tale of the rise of Clark Kent, it's
about the fall of Lex Luthor.
Mat Beck
was then asked what he finds challenging about working on Smallville.
Beck said that the real challenge is that everything has to
look good. On the X-Files, he had the luxury of being able to
hide things in shadow or disguise imperfections behind blindingly
bright lights. On Smallville, everything is always clear
and you can't take short cuts. He says that the best thing about
working on the show is that everyone in the Santa Monica production
office feels a sense of protective ownership of Smallville.
They want it to look good and one of the ways that do this
is to keep an open dialogue with the writers. Sometimes this
results in him giving them a call to say he needs to do a cut
away after an effect for it to work, and sometimes the writers
call him and ask him to work some visual magic because they've
got nothing for him to work with in the scene and it needs something.
He said post-production plays a large part in what he does,
and that Ken Horton tells him on the backend what they need
pulled off by the Wednesday night viewing, and Beck said that
dedication to quality is what keeps the visual team up into
the early morning hours so that they can deliver a tape on Tuesday
that's ready to go on air for the network on Wednesday.
Ken Horton
is given credit for bringing post-production up to parr after
a wildly schizophrenic first season (universally called Hell
Season by the production staff). Horton says his job is like
being Tiger Woods' caddy--he just stands there and watches for
the most part, but every once in a while says you don't want
to do that. Use the eight iron. Horton said basically he tells
the production office what works and what doesn't work. Egos
get thrown out and everyone fixes things, and in the end it's
that collaboration that makes it all work. He said for example,
his notes might say it doesn't really have to be raining in
the final climatic scene of Crisis when Adam tries to shoot
Lana, they could've had a rain machine. But thirty-one degrees
and raining worked for them, so it was all good. ("It didn’t
have to be raining?" Welling quipped. "We should have
these notes." More laughter from the audience and crew.)
Mark Snow
was asked how he came to work on the show and said it was a
strange thing, because initially he thought Al and Miles were
one guy. He had no idea who they were. But David Nutter explained
to him that basically the idea was to take John Williams' score
and put a modern edge to it, to use in the pilot. He said it's
been a great job, no one ever bothers him (Al says they're the
anti-Chris Carters). Snow says he never has to attend any meetings
and every six months or so they give him a call and tell him
he's doing a great job. He said there are times when he thinks
of how surreal it is to be copying John Williams' on electronics--at
which point Al interrupted to say Mark was selling himself short,
that he's actually reinventing the music for the show all the
time. (Welling adds that the cast thinks of him all the time.
Whenever they're shooting a scene that they're all skeptical
of it working, the general consensus is, oh, they'll throw some
great music over it and it'll all work out.)
Joe Davola
was asked how he came on board and mentioned that he was initially
behind the idea of a young Bruce Wayne series, but when that
got nixed by the studio, he came on board Smallville. Everyone
credits him for being the savior of Hell Year, when the Vancouver
production was doing insane things (for example, Clark's inexplicable
haircut between the pilot and Metamorphosis, which is supposed
to happen the following day. No one thought not to let Welling
get a hair cut. Tom calls it the half million dollar haircut,
because it caused such a production hassle. Beeman said he learned
a great deal about hair weaves that weekend, as they worked
to resolve the problem.) Everyone also gave props to Beeman
for saving them. Al said it was a disasterous production until
Beeman sowed up for Hothead. It was the first episode that they
watched all the way through, without wanting to throw things
at the screen. Al said he agonized over how they'd never convince
Beeman to stay, but one day on the way to work, he got a voice
message from Beeman saying how much he'd enjoyed working on
Hothead and if the opportunity ever opened. . . Al said within
the next minute he was on the phone to Beeman's agent to get
him on board ( to let you know how crazy things were--Metamorphosis
actually had five directors--which Al says outnumbered the writers
at the time).
Beeman solidified
the vision, but says part of the reason that the show looks
so good is that they have some gorgeous places to film in, up
in Vancouver. The farmhouse was brought up, which was initially
chosen as a location by David Nutter because of the great barn
it had. The house was originally green, but the farm couple
that it belonged to were more than willing to let them repaint
it yellow, create what we see as the Kent driveway today, that
didn't exist before, and they let them come around every few
weeks and blow something up. Beeman says he loves the farm,
and that the farmer's wife always bakes them butter cookies
when they come on location to shoot.
With the
initial discussion finished, the panel moved on to an open Q&A
for the audience. The first question by a very young girl was
for Annette, who was asked how does it feel to be an actress?
Annette said it's hard to describe, because she loves it so
much and it means so much to her. She said she wanted to be
a singer and dancer when he was the girl's age, but by the time
she was seventeen, she wanted to act and it's all she's ever
wanted. She said it's amazing to be able to be anyone and anything
you want to be, just by doing this job and that she still loves
it, every day.
 Next,
Al and Miles were asked if they had plans of continuing the
series into the college years? Al confirmed that they absolutely
would continue the show if it was still going strong. They said
they've really avoided showing Clark in school besides the hallways
or Torch office, because it interferes with the suspension of
disbelief to show a guy Tom's age in a desk in school. Al and
Miles then went on to explain that when they first started with
ideas for casting, they had planned to cast teenagers in the
roles, but the network told them to aim a little older, because
you want characters that the younger viewers can look up to,
so they've never had any problem with the age or complaints
about it.
The following
question was for Tom and addressed his plans for after Smallville,
since he's been on a successful television show and in
a successful film. Does he have a preference for which he'd
like to do after the show's run? Tom said actually he's been
so busy that he's usually trying to figure out which script
they're shooting next, that he hasn't given any real thought
to the future. He did go on to elaborate that he's found that
he likes the directing and producing aspects of the show, but
that he doesn't really think about it, because he's so busy,
now. Beeman took the opportunity to spotlight the tremendous
learning curve that Welling has undergone in the past three
years. He said that Tom really came into the role of leader
of the cast and crew in this third season, that he gets the
importance of what he's doing and that he wants the product
to be the best it can be, and that it's very impressive for
a young actor his age. Al added that Tom was open to learning
even as early as the pilot. He would play a scene and ask them
if they wanted it angrier, constantly looking to improve the
work. They've always told him if you want another take, then
do another take and that Tom's come to embrace that so much
that he was doing it on the set of Cheaper by the Dozen--both
in his own scenes and scenes with others (Tom: That doesn't
work so well. More laughter because his delivery is so wry and
he's very good natured with the teasing).
 Tom
said that in the beginning, he literally had no idea what he
was doing. He said the first day he came on set knocked on the
door of hair and make-up and when he went inside he just kind
of looked around, lost and asked "Where do I go?"
And luckily, he had people around him who were great to learn
from. The first season was so busy that he can actually watch
episodes now and not remember them at all, and it was really
a community effort that got him through the first year. He said
Rosenbaum in particular. . .At which point, he had to pause
and laugh and say "Rosenbaum . . .is not Lex Luthor. He
has his own discipline and he's a per--perfectionist" Annette
doubled over in her chair laughing, then explained, "I
thought you were going to say pervert!" Tom laughed. "That,
too!" Then he went on to explain that Rosenbaum really
keeps you there in a scene, and won't let you off the hook in
a performance. Obviously, the cast has a wonderful sense of
family about it, with all the jokes and teasing shown in that
display, and the rest of the good natured ribbing going on throughout
the evening.
The next
question addressed the question of Chloe's future, and whether
or not Al and Miles had a definite plan for her, or if they
were figuring it out as they go. He said at first, we all thought
she was marked for death and that somehow her death would lead
Clark to take up the mantle of justice as Superman, but then
DC comics talked about working her in as a character. Has she
taken on a life of her own? Al and Miles admit that they don't
know where Chloe's going, much like Lionel, and that the real
fun and freedom of working with those characters is that neither
are constrained by the mythology. Chloe is obviously the outsider
who notices that weird things happen in the town and she provides
a certain chemistry that Clark will later have with Lois Lane,
professionally. Al elaborated that Chloe, Lana and Martha all
combine to make up Clark's ideal woman, because usually you
wind up forming these traits from past relationships with women
into what you look for in a future mate and that they all are
influencing who Clark Kent becomes. They plan to keep her on
an interesting journey.
Someone
commented that it was great seeing Smallville on the
big screen, and asked if they had any hopes of any of the Smallville
people getting cast in the Superman movie that everyone keeps
talking about? Al said at the moment, no. The movie is an entirely
different production and that they haven't even seen the scripts,
but that it doesn't involve their take on any of the characters,
and there's no talk of any movie that does. The understanding
is that they'll finish their run of Smallville and the
movie will do its own thing.
Another
audience member asked if Clark owned any other colored shirts
besides red and blue and why do we see him in them all the time?
Al explained that it's a very deliberate decision on their part.
Every character has a color palette and a style book on the
show, and that their looks spring from these style books.
Sam was
congratulated on being let in on the secret, and asked what
it was like to be a periphery character on the show? Sam said
actually the reason he was allowed to learn the secret can actually
be attributed to the fans who wanted it. He said Al and Miles
called him in before the season started and told him that the
fans had asked for him to be given a bigger role, so they were
giving him the keeper of the secret. He took the opportunity
to very graciously thank the fans.
Of course,
the question of Bruce Wayne was brought up, in spite of the
fact that there is a young Bruce Wayne movie now in production.
Al said that the movie sealed the fate of the Bruce Wayne hopes.
 The
question was asked if the WB has ever shut down any ideas? Miles
said no, they're really very flexible, that most of the mandates
they've had have been from DC, especially with the new Superman
movie coming into play. Al and Miles both agree that they were
given the rights to work with Superman because no one really
expected the show to be a hit, and that now that it's a success,
the movie franchise resents that the opportunity to reinvent
the tale was given away.
Tom was
asked if he had any funny stories regarding working with the
special effects on the show? Tom admitted that the only thing
funny that came to mind was how he felt funny sometimes when
they do the scenes. He said the 360 degree shots you see where
the camera pans all the way around a character are actually
the most difficult, because the actors themselves are moving
in slow motion while the camera moves really fast. They've had
to learn to act in slow motion for effects like that, and some
cartoonish exaggerations were given about how Tom literally
has to do the jaw flex and slow head roll if he's struck with
something across the face/head. They try to do 15-20 takes of
a special effects scene so that they give Beck and his crew
plenty to work with when they start adding effects in, later.
Beeman said
they have fun with the special effects, sometimes. He told a
story of a recent shoot where Jonathan falls from a roof, and
they put Schneider in a harness and hauled him up in front of
a green screen to let him dangle while giving him instructions
of 'you're falling backwards now. . .okay, you're falling forwards,
now!'. Meanwhile, the crew on the ground decided to prank Schneider,
and after the final take, Beeman called for a print and told
everyone to head home for the day and they left Schneider dangling
(While the crowd laughed, Welling scoffed with a grin "That's
not funny." Many jokes were made about the discomfort of
dangling in a harness). The production crew is so open about
special effects that literally anyone on the crew that has a
good idea of how to make a scene look better, can have input
in how it's finally produced. They've recently had stunt guys
offer suggestions on how to make a stunt look better, etc. They
said it doesn't matter who the advice comes from, if it's good
and it make the finished piece stronger, they'll retrofit an
idea for the new take.
 Horton
said that this is the magic of Beck's special effects: he always
gives them what they ask for, and then he usually gives them
more. For instance, in "Insurgence" when they were
faced with the prospect of making Clark's leap seem to be a
forward motion. The idea came about to show a flock of doves
taking off from the roof at the same time and flying out behind/around
Clark. When they got the finished product, Beck hadn't just
stopped with the doves taking off with Clark, he showed the
doves beside Clark and from behind, flying alongside him. Tom
took the opportunity to point out that the great thing about
the show is that they use the effects to enhance the storytelling,
not to distract from it.
The evening
ended with the requisite declaration of love for Tom and proposal
of marriage--to which he pulled out a phone and said he'd have
to call his wife, first. The panel ended and Tom and Sam left
to catch a late flight back to Vancouver. Annette stayed for
a while and signed autographs, as did most of the production
crew.
A friend
of mine remarked to me on the ride home that after attending
the Paley Festival night for The O.C. the prior week,
she had been wary of what would happen at the Smallville
panel. The O.C. panel had turned into a question and
answer session for the cast primarily. Smallville's panel
was a wonderful balance between production insight and values
and the creative journey of the cast. It was great to see just
how collaborative the effort is to bring us each episode, and
how open and unassuming everyone is, all throughout the process.
It's clear to see that there is a single vision for Smallville--to
make a high quality show that redefines the heart and the wonder
that has made the Superman legend endure for so many decades.
My sincere thanks to everyone on the panel for this rare insight
into their collective passion for Smallville.
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