TV Squad visits the set of Supernatural, part two

Make sure you don't miss the first part of the Supernatural set visit.

Smoke effects lazily float across a packed soundstage. Someone calls for quiet. The camera and sound get up to speed, and Kim Manners belts out a loud, "KICK IT IN THE ASS!" Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki power through a page of dialogue ... and a scene for Supernatural is shot. Wahoo!

Kim Manners is one cool dude. When you first meet him, his diminutive frame and long hair make you think "Wow, this guy must be laid back and mellow." Believe you me, he can turn on his drill sergeant voice and snap you in half if you aren't careful. That includes wasting anyone's time or not taking your work seriously. He's a pro and except the same out of the people he works with. But, he's also incredibly nice. He left me remarkably intact.

He's definitely no stranger to the television world, having directed everything from Charlie's Angels, to Mission: Impossible, to Baywatch, to The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. before he landed on the X-Files team and stayed onboard for the long haul. His brother Kelly has also directed episodes of Buffy and Angel, so it looks like their love for the supernatural (get it?) runs in the blood.

Kim took time out out of his busy directing and producing schedule to sit down and talk with a group of us between scenes. He was busy shooting and preparing Episode 22, which will be the season finale, and the second half of a two-parter. We really appreciate giving us the time, especially given the fact that this was a busy day for the entire cast and crew, and they were working on some big scenes between Jared and Jensen for the show.

Were there any shows or movies you saw as a kid that inspired you to get into the business?

Manners: Yeah, I was a horror movie freak. I loved Boris Karloff in Frankenstein; Lon Chaney, Jr. in The Wolf Man. Those two guys were my heroes, big time.

What are your responsibilities as a combination director-producer?

Manners: I took over for David Nutter, when David left the pilot. Now that I'm here, I'm working with Eric (Kripke) and Bob (Singer). I'm directing. I'm giving the show a certain look. I'm the guy who works with the guest directors (as we call them). I make sure I talk to them, go through their homework with them, scout locations with them, help them cast. So yeah, there are certain advantages to having a producing director on a show.

How do you choose which episodes you will direct?

Manners: I direct the first and the last, and I am supposed to do three in the middle. We just kind of space them out so that they don't kill me. I do also scout, and I help produce the show. It's luck of the draw. The season opener and this one -- Episode 22 -- are mine, because I'm kind of the head director on the show. The ones in the middle -- sometimes I get really great scripts, and sometimes I don't get such great scripts, and it's up to me then to make them great. We had a problem--I won't say which show it was, I'll let you figure it out...We had a script this year that I directed that myself, and Jared and Jensen didn't particularly care for. And we talked to Eric and Bob about it, and we had a long discussion and we made the determination that we would have to work that much harder to make it work. And we did. We had a great guest cast, and we had great performances. I don't think anybody noticed the flaws in the script, because we all worked extra hard. It worked out well.

When they're coming up with story ideas, it must help to have you there to say, "The X-Files already did that."

Manners: I don't tell them that, they already know that. We've done X-Files for nine years. You know, in 200 episodes, you're going to touch on certain moments. You have to. It's not like we're stealing ideas; they just evolved that way. Of course The X-Files was more conspiracy and alien-oriented, and this is more of the horror.

Did you have a lot of talks early on about what kind of tone you wanted to set? Was there any thought about playing it more tongue-in-cheek?

Manners: Every script, we have a tone reading with Eric. Whether I'm directing or another director, we do page-turning through the script, we talk about performance levels, where we want to go for the jokes, where we want to go for the emotions, where we want to go for the drama. We always want to go for the scare. That's really the toughest thing -- timing out the scare. Finding out how to pace your audience to the "Boo!" When you see it, you don't see the whole thing, just a piece of it; maybe that's scarier than eyeballing some of it.

Were there specific changes the network wanted when the show transitioned from The WB to The CW?

Manners: No, not really. As a matter of fact, Eric and Bob think that the support from The CW was a lot stronger than it was from The WB. In the notes, they're not as critical of the show and the scripts. They're letting Bob and Eric and the writers do more of what they want to do. So, down here in the trenches, we don't feel a change.

Supernatural has such a distinctive feel -- the classic rock, the muscle cars, even the Winchesters' clothes. How long did it take to establish that?

Manners: That was kind of established before the pilot. We've had some struggles with The WB, and now The CW. Some people have wanted the show to be brighter, more colorful. We keep saying: This is a horror movie -- they're not bright, and they're not colorful. They're dark, and they're edgy, and they're scary. So we still have those struggles, but I think we found the show after the first 13 episodes of the last season. The first 13 shows were a little all over the map. I think on the back 9 -- starting actually on Episode 11, "Scarecrow" -- is where we really found the rhythm of the show.

What made you decide to switch directions at that point?

Manners: We didn't switch directions. It just took that long to find our feet, if you will -- to really understand what we're trying to do here;. [It was] the crew, the writers, the actors, and myself really figuring out how to define the show -- what is was going to be and where it was going to go. In "Scarecrow," we introduced Meg. It was a very scary show. We did a great monster, and I think that's when we finally went, "Aha! Now we know. Now we've got it."

Has there been much discussion about how many episodes should be devoted to building the show's internal mythology?

Manners: That's really Eric and Bob's job down in Los Angeles, working with the writers. For myself -- we had a character last year named Meg, who I thought we should have kept alive, though we killed her off; because I thought Meg was the kind of modern-day Supernatural version of Cigarette Smoking Man. I think she could have been a great emphasis. I personally think the mythology of a series like this is what really keeps the fans glued.

I also have a theory that the reason Supernatural is working is for the same reason that The X-Files worked. If the shows are so silly, so unbelievable based on human emotional reality, then the shows won't work. People will believe and be frightened of this world if there is an emotional connection, to even the bad guy. You've got to somehow feel an emotional connection with the bad guy or this stuff just doesn't work.

How much time do you spend online? Do you read the fan sites and message boards?

Manners: I never had a computer until I did a project in Rome in 2004. My computer was a yellow stick with the number two on it. I don't go online much and talk to them. Eric checks it out now and again. It's very interesting to me that there's so much interest on the Internet, and I think it's what's helping keep the show on the air. Personally, I think there's a lot more people watching this show than the Nielsens reflect. I met one fan a couple of weeks ago, who said that she watched the show every Thursday night, and has 12 or 13 of her friends come over. Nielsen doesn't know that.

Obviously, Sam and Dean want to avenge their father's death, or get him back. What motivates the other hunters?

Manners: All of these people believe in the occult. They know that the supernatural exists, and they hunt evil. That's what they do. They're all, basically, undercover. I mean, if you murder a werewolf and that werewolf turns back into a human being, if you get caught for that murder, you're going to prison. So they live on the run. They rid the world of evil and things that are killing people in the night. These urban legends -- say they existed. Wouldn't you want somebody to wipe them out before they got your butt?

Have you heard anything about chances for a third season?
Manners: I guess it's as good as the second. Personally, I think we'll be back. I know they're talking to me about doing two more years. So, my agent is negotiating. That doesn't mean anything. But we're spending a lot of money here. I think if the network knew this show wasn't going to be coming back, they wouldn't let us spend this much money. So, take that for what it's worth.

Do you have an exit strategy, just in case -- a way to wrap up the story at the end? Is there a sort of overall vision for where the story's headed? Let's say it had to end tomorrow.

Manners: We'd all walk home, and Episode 22 would be the last one that you saw.

But do you know the ending of the story?

Manners: I do know the ending of the story, yes.

Any hints? (Laughter)

Manners: Nope.

Does Episode 22 of this season end on a cliffhanger?

Manners: Of sorts, yeah. I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.

Special thanks to the folks over at MeeVee for helping us with this interview. My recorder managed to tape about 15 minutes of the sounds of ... nothingness. I haven't yet checked it for that EVP white noise thing, to see how spooky it is, but it creeped me out. Check them and their pictures out for more Supernatural goodness.