TV Squad visits the set of Supernatural, part one

I have a secret that I need to share. A guilty shame that I keep from people, and take pleasure in behind closed doors. I'm finally going to shout it to the masses and shed myself from the shackles ... I'm a big fan of Supernatural. There. I've done it. A great burden has been lifted!

I've been covering Smallville for TV Squad for awhile now, but have been watching it for years. When Jensen Ackles left the show and started doing Supernatural, I scoffed. The show didn't look that appealing to me, and the posters with Jared Padalecki holding a wicked curved knife and Jensen holding the rifle just didn't appeal to me. I thought it looked like a rough day on the set of The O.C.

Boy, was I wrong. At the insistence of several friends that I watch the show, I finally sat down with a few episodes and some paperwork I needed to finish. When those episodes were done, my paperwork hadn't been touched, and I was a converted fan of the show.

As a crash course for those of you who haven't seen the show yet: it's about two brothers whose mother was killed by a demon. They find out that their father was a "hunter" of demons, vampires, werewolves, and other things that go bump in the night. Brother Dean (Ackles) followed in their father's footsteps, while Brother Sam (Padalecki) decided to go off to college and live the good life. However, when his girlfriend is killed in almost the same manner as his mother, he joins up with Dean, and they go into the family business. It gets a lot more complicated, but that's it in a nutshell.

This past weekend, The CW and the cast and crew of the show were nice enough to invite us up to beautiful Vancouver to visit the set and talk to some of the key people on the show. When we arrived, it was chilly and rainy, which is a perfect setting for this spooky show. I noticed that the industrial business park they drove us out to wasn't exactly terrifying on the outside, but hey ... it's magic, folks.

We were treated to a tour of the set, and were treated very graciously by Cyrus Yavneh, the line producer, who took us through the production offices, showed us the art department, and talked about what goes into "making a movie every week." One of the highlights was meeting Lesley DeHaan, the 2nd Assistant Production Coordinator. She has the enviable task of handling all the fan mail that comes into the show, including their massive fan postcard collection, and the box of 1,000 origami cranes that someone sent into the show for good luck. Zowie!

We met with Ivan Hayden and Grant Lindsay from the visual effects department who showed us what goes into creating some of the gorier scenes in the show. We then toured through the wardrobe warehouse (literally) and talked to Diane Widas who creates the clothes for the show, and met with Shannon Coppin who is charge of the makeup department for the show, which not only includes making the actors look pretty, but is also responsible for creating on-set horror you see as well.

We watched them filming a scene involving a heart-to-heart between the brothers Winchester under the watchful eye of executive producer and director Kim Manners. Yes, the very same Kim Manners of X-Files fame. More on that in our interview with him, and our sit down with Ackles and Padalecki. Check out the pictures below (or check out my Flickr page with a lot more photos from the visit), and check back here on TV Squad for interviews Kim Manners, and the series stars


What's really supernatural is the amount of work that goes into building these sets.


Dad's tombstone, always a sobering thing to keep around.


The Roadhouse, stop by for a drink ... stay for the vampire killing tips.


A cemetery was being built right before our eyes.


Occult warriors, Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki


Fan created thank you art, framed and adored by cast and crew.


The Supernatural fan postcard collection that covers a complete wall.


Red's Rifle shooting game, only at the Roadhouse. Are those Winchesters?


1,000 origami cranes for good luck. Now that is one really dedicated fan.


The Impala, almost a character unto itself. Plus a sweet ride, to boot.