| Jane Espenson: [[Jane Espenson|Espenson]]. Welcome to my podcast for the [[Season 4 (2008-09)|Season 4]] webisodes [[The Face of the Enemy]]. These were co-written by me along with [[Seamus Kevin Fahey|Kevin Fahey]] also known as Seamus Fahey. One of the other writers on ''[[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Battlestar Galactica]]''. I should point out these episodes were his idea. It was- we all enjoyed the [[Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance|original webisodes]] that were written by [[David Weddle]] and [[Bradley Thompson]] and Kevin had the idea that we would do another set and he took the idea to [[Ronald D. Moore|Ron Moore]] and he liked the idea and so the two of us wrote these together. I'm watching them with the sound- with the audio turned down so you're not going to hear my audio, but I will tell you that right now I'm watching the little sequence of images that are [[Felix Gaeta|Gaeta]]'s memories that also serve us of a preview for what you are going to see in, in the webisodes. It's beautifully cut together. A little [[w:Lower third|chyron]] just came up three days earlier and we're seeing our beautiful [[The Fleet (RDM)|fleet]] looking very very nice. This was an extremely difficult project for a number of reasons one of which was that we had very limited access to the ''Battlestar'' sets. This was being filmed at the same time that the [[The Plan|movie]] was being filmed and so the the sets were being torn down as the movie "The Plan" finished with each set cause the series had been - completed its run. So they were literally coming in with bulldozers and sledgehammers and tearing these sets down. So the scene you just saw uh with Gaeta and [[Saul Tigh|Tigh]] was filmed on a set that was torn down as soon as they were done shooting that. This corridor was also one of the last things that were standing of of ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]]'' if I recall. There there were really literally by the time we finished the webisodes nothing was left but but the little [[Raptor 718|Raptor]] on which we were filming this. This decision to make Gaeta and [[Louis Hoshi|Hoshi]] a [[Sexuality in Battlestar Galactica (RDM)#Homosexuality|couple]] is one that I’m very pleased with. I think it plays very well. It was [[Wayne Rose]] who directed these who did this fantastic job and he was the one who in a production meeting as we were- we already had the script- we were all ready to begin shooting and he pointed out that he was having a very hard time scheduling these scenes because we were spending so much time on that one set: the Raptor, and and wouldn’t it be interesting if we could cut back to some other location and he suggested that what if someone were out looking for Gaeta and that made my wheels turn and the first thought was that we could cut to a [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] in which [[Noel Allison|Narcho]] would be looking for him. Narcho’s one of our established [[List of pilots|pilots]], and I thought that would be an interesting couple if: Gaeta and Narcho. That ended up- we couldn’t get Narcho, and we ended up uh going with Hoshi which means of course we were still cutting to from a Raptor to another [[Raptor 1029|Raptor]], but at that point we had- we were committed to the idea and I loved the job that Hoshi did I have no regrets that we lost Narcho. I think either either combination would have worked well but in terms of story-telling for Season 4 this actually worked out better, and I think Hoshi does a fantastic job. I could not ask for better. Looking here at our two [[Number Eight#Other Copies|Eight]]s, these in script these are Pilot Eight and Sweet Eight and in a production meeting I suggested that maybe the makeup team could do a slightly different effect uh with Sweet Eight’s makeup than they were doing with Pilot Eight’s to sort of emphasize the softness of one character and the hardness of the other and everyone sort of laughed and said: “With [[Grace Park]], you do not need to do that. That you will be able to see from just the way she holds her face which character she’s playing.” And and it is true. It- everyone commented on it. It’s absolutely true. That you can just- she just makes her face sweeter or harder or whatever. She’s really really incredible. I’m very please. That was the end of [[The Face of the Enemy#Episode 1|Webisode 1]]. Where is the fleet?
| | [[Jane Espenson|Espenson]]. Welcome to my podcast for the [[Season 4 (2008-09)|Season 4]] webisodes [[The Face of the Enemy]]. These were co-written by me along with, uh, [[Seamus Kevin Fahey|Kevin Fahey]] also known as Seamus Fahey. Uh, one of the other writers on ''[[Battlestar Galactica (RDM)|Battlestar Galactica]]''. Uh, I should point out these episodes were his idea. Uh, it was- we all enjoyed the [[Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance|original webisodes]] that were, uh, written by [[David Weddle]] and [[Bradley Thompson]] and, uh, Kevin had the idea that we would, uh, do another set and he took the idea to [[Ronald D. Moore|Ron Moore]] and, uh, he liked the idea and uh so the two of us wrote these together. Um, I'm watching them with the sound- with the audio turned down so you're not going to hear my audio. Uh, but I will tell you that right now I'm watching the uh the little sequence of images that are [[Felix Gaeta|Gaeta]]'s memories that also serve us of a preview for what you are going to see in, in the webisodes. Uh, it's beautifully cut together. A little kairon (?) just came up three days earlier and we're seeing our beautiful [[The Fleet (RDM)|fleet]], uh, looking very very nice. This was an extremely difficult project for a number of reasons one of which was that we had very limited access to the ''Battlestar'' sets. This was being filmed at the same time that the [[The Plan|movie]] was being filmed and so the the sets were being torn down as the movie "The Plan" finished with each set cause the series had been - completed its run. So they were literally coming in with bulldozers and sledgehammers and tearing these sets down. So the scene you just saw uh with Gaeta and [[Saul Tigh|Tigh]], uh, was filmed on a set that was torn down as soon as they were done shooting that. Uh, this corridor was also one of the last things that were standing of of ''[[Galactica (RDM)|Galactica]] if I recall. Um, there there were really literally by the time we finished the webisodes nothing was left but but the little [[Raptor 718|Raptor]] on which we were filming this. This decision to make Gaeta and [[Louis Hoshi|Hoshi]] a [[Sexuality in Battlestar Galactica (RDM)#Homosexuality|couple]], uh, is one that I I’m very pleased with. I think it plays very well. Uh, it was [[Wayne Rose]] who directed these who did this fantastic job and he was the one who in a production meeting as we were- we already had the script- we were all ready to begin shooting and he pointed out that he was having a very hard time scheduling these scenes because we were spending so much time on that one set: the Raptor. Uh, and and wouldn’t it be interesting if we could cut back to, uh, some other location and he suggested that what if someone were out looking for Gaeta ah-and that made my wheels turn and the first thought was that we could cut to a [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] in which [[Noel Allison|Narcho]] would be looking for him. Narcho’s one of our established [[List of pilots|pilots]]. And I thought that would be an interesting couple if: Gaeta and Narcho. Um, that ended up- we couldn’t get Narcho, and we ended up uh going with Hoshi which means of course we were still cutting to from a Raptor to another [[Raptor 1029|Raptor]]. Um, but at that point we had- we were committed to the idea and, uh, I loved the job that Hoshi did I I I have no regrets uh that we lost Narcho. I think either either combination would have worked well but uh in terms of story-telling for Season 4 this actually worked out better. Uh, and I think it-and I think it Hoshi does a fantastic job. I could not ask for better. Looking here at our two [[Number Eight#Other Copies|Eight]]s, these in script these are Pilot Eight and Sweet Eight and uh in a production meeting I suggested that maybe the, um, the makeup team could do a slightly different effect uh with Sweet Eight’s makeup than they were doing with Pilot Eight’s to sort of emphasize the softness of one character and the hardness of the other and everyone sort of laughed and said: “With [[Grace Park,]] you do not need to do that. That you will be able to see from just the way she holds her face which character she’s playing.” And and it is true. It- everyone commented on it. It’s absolutely true. That you can just- she just makes her face sweeter or harder or whatever. Um she’s really really incredible. I’m very please. That was the end of [[The Face of the Enemy#Episode 1|Webisode 1]]. Where is the fleet? |
| Here we go with [[The Face of the Enemy#Episode 3|Webisode 3]]. Webisodes 1, 2, and 3 and the three at the other end [[The Face of the Enemy#Episode 7|7]]- before here- 7, [[The Face of the Enemy#Episode 8|8]], [[The Face of the Enemy#Episode 9|9]], [[The Face of the Enemy#Episode 10|10]] were the ones that changed the least in the rewrite process. It was those ones in the middle [[The Face of the Enemy#Episode 4|4]] [[The Face of the Enemy#Episode 5|5]] [[The Face of the Enemy#Episode 6|6]] that I found myself rewriting many many many times during leading right up to when production started. There was just for some reason I think that's a natural thing went in a script is that the beginning and the ending are sort of like you know they're tied to the hammock posts; the middle is where it gets saggy (laughs) and you have to go in and do more work there but we got it in shape. These webisodes before even we got to that stage of rewriting there was a huge amount of rewriting from the very beginning. First off we had to find our story and then we had to find out which cast members we had and at first, our first thought was that we would have both [[Tricia Helfer|Trish]] and Grace. We would have both a [[Number Six|number Six]] [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylon]] and a number Eight and the webisodes were broken and written with that in mind. Kevin made a first pass through and then I did rewriting of him and we worked together to find that original shape for our original script and it was- by the end of those webisodes- by webisode 7 or 8 of that original configuration the characters who were left alive on the ship were the two Cylons: the Six and the Eight and Gaeta and there was a whole webisode in which Gaeta was asleep and it was just Six and Eight talking about the murders they had committed on board and it was very interesting version of the script and it was very- it was less of- it had less of a [[w:Horror film|horror movie]] feel than this current version does but it had- it was much more cerebral and a little slower maybe. It was very good and we were really excited about it and that was my favorite chapter was that webisode 8 where the two of them just talked. When we realized that we didn't have both actresses, at first we thought we just- we were going to have two Sixes. Later on, we realized we didn't have Trish; we did have Grace; we had two Eights.
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