OK, how did they film this?

Cafe Society
1

Unless someone happens to know, I assume this will be speculation.

I just saw an episode of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer on DVD. This episode was filmed in 1998, so let’s use the tech level of that time.

In the scene in question, several of the kids are fighting vampires. Xander is pinned to the ground on his back, holding a stake upright. A vampire is on top of him.

Now, in a single shot, his girlfriend Cordelia falls on top of them, pushing the vampire down onto the stake. Vampire turns to dust, and Cordelia falls onto Xander (somehow the stake has vanished or moved), stares at him for a moment, then starts kissing him. You could clearly see her “suspended” by the vampire briefly, then fall the rest of the way.

The question is: how did they film it? I think you see the vampire actually struggling with Xander a moment before Cordelia lands, but it’s a quick take, and it’s just barely possible that the vampire is entirely CG – although that would have stretched the technology of the time. Even if he was, CG vampires are notoriously bad at holding up real people.

Best I can come up with is that the vampire was completely CG, and Cordelia was on wires to suspend her “fall” briefly. But that seems unlikely given the tech level of the time. Anyone have better ideas?

2

I don’t think there would have to be any CG involved. They could have done it in two or three takes. I’ve never seen the scene in question nor have I ever watched the show. I’m not a filmmaker nor have I ever taken a class in filmmaking. But, I think the scene you described could be done by first shooting the scene with the vampire.

Next, using the same camera angle shoot the actress suspended by wires. Then composite the two and fade out the vampire shots slowly. The turning to dust was probably computer genrated, though. The third shot would be the girl falling onto her boyfriend and then smooching (technical term).

I really have no idea.

3

I hadn’t considered compositing, although I’d guess that the vampire was the one filmed separately and inserted later, since “his” interaction was just to be a physical object in the middle for a bit.

If if was composed, they did a good job. (And yes, I imagine the turning to dust thing was, in fact, CG, since it didn’t leave any residue, and they use that effect a lot.)

4

Say, I thought I was posting this in CS. Could a mod move it for me (either there or GQ – I’m pretty sure it’s wrong for this forum).

5

The former will work.

Moved from IMHO to CS.