All language subtitles for The.X-Files.S08E18.1080p.BluRay.x264-ROVERS

Hello, my name is Rod Hardy
and I directed the episode

"Vienen" of X-Files
that you're looking at right now.

I see that fabulous oil rig sitting out there
in the middle of the water,

and it reminds me of our first visit
out to that thing for a location scout.

Big waves and trying to get on board

this particular thing
made it very difficult indeed.

This particular scene was in the studio,
we, in fact, made...

It was made up of three different places,
we built an interior.

Corey Kaplan, the production designer,
who was a fabulous production designer,

created the interior of the oil rig.

We then used a location
in South Central LA

which was a gas company,
an old oil refinery,

for some of the scenes with pipes, etcetera.

And then, we also used the oil rig

out on the Pacific, off Santa Barbara.

This episode, for me,
was probably one of my favorites to do

because it entailed the mythology

and I’ve always found
these episodes of X-Files,

the stuff that really draws me in.

Again, here we are in a studio set.

Still in the studio.
A lot of planning went into

combining both the studio
and the two different locations.

Bill Roe, director of photography,

some of the best looking television,
I think, creating an atmosphere...

Trying to establish
the setup of the story here.

We have our supposed worker on the thing,

who is about to lose his life
to a bad guy, we think,

but the thing
you'll discover about this episode

is that nothing is as it seems.

Very clearly, the "Who can you trust
in life?" theory works pretty well here.

And in this world, you can’t trust anybody.

We took some time in casting
of these extras, too.

As the story unfolds, and we discover
that the whole crew have been taken over,

their bodies now are being used as hosts,

and the black oil which is being mined here.

So, to get the right faces
and to make them interesting,

a lot of time was spent in casting
of the extras.

The visual effects also in these shows,
are terrific.

You can see that crawling worm-like thing
under the skin, very realistic.

This young man, playing the one
that's being strangled, as we speak,

terrific young actor,

no dialogue at all, but was able
to show the fear and the terror in his face.

Now, there's classic X-Files.

You’ve got to love this stuff.

Again, great visual effects,

and a really terrific teaser
for any X-Files fan.

As I hear this music, I
might say it reminds me that...

I actually was lucky enough to be involved
in three of the episodes of Season 8,

and this particular one was the first one
that David Duchovny came back into,

having spent some time out of the series.

And so, his arrival
was filled with much anticipation.

The dynamics were interesting,
Doggett was now in the series.

David had been out of the show
for some time.

And so, I kind of felt
there was a sense of anticipation,

and wondering what David would be like.

And I might say, it was an absolute delight
to work with the full cast.

They were all professionals,

and everybody worked
extremely well together.

A tricky one for Robert, I might say,
because David had set the series up,

and had certainly been there
as the leading player,

and then when he left,
Robert took over that role,

and suddenly, there was the leading player
back into it again.

But the ever pro,
our Robert, he is a terrific actor.

He really carried it off extremely well.

Now, this scene was one of the first
scenes to be shot in this episode.

And there's the good stuff, too,
there's the gory bits of X-Files.

The makeup was always a treat to do,

and in this particular one,
when anybody was affected by the oil,

or they were burnt,
there were bodies all over the place

as you'll see as the story unfolds.

This information coming out
from Robert now, I remember

was such a, it's a very...
If you listen to the dialogue...

Damn, what a mouthful,
and what a way he delivered that line.

I might say, it wasn't a simple one
for him to do first up,

but it was only a couple,
three takes maybe,

before we were able to get
the whole thing in one take.

Great chemistry on-screen these two, too.

I would have loved to have done more
episodes with both of them together.

I think they play off each other pretty well.

Miguel Sandoval was
the Spanish gentleman

that was here to tell the story of how

the oil well was having problems
and bodies were being found, etcetera.

Here 's Mitch Pileggi.
I worked with Mitch on a series after this.

In fact, just recently,
called The Mountain, up in Vancouver.

It was nice to see him again,
playing a totally different role.

This was actually
the very first scene of the episode,

and you have every player of the series
in the one room, David’s very first scene.

It was interesting dynamics.

The X-Files was the first episodic television
production that I did in the United States.

Having been a director in Australia
for some years,

I had moved to the United States to work
in movies of the week and miniseries.

Having had the opportunity
of working with some terrific actors

like Anjelica Huston and Michael Caine
and Pierce Brosnan and Kris Kristofferson

and a whole bunch of others,
Melanie Griffith, etcetera.

That to come to this show and work
with a cast of this caliber was just terrific.

But I'd never done episodic television
in the States before, I'd done it in Australia.

So, I was surprised
after having done an episode...

Sorry, a remake of High Noon,
the classic Western for TBS

that somebody saw it at The X-Files

and l was then offered a couple of episodes
to come and do.

As I said, it was the first television I'd done

and what a great opportunity
to work on a series

as large as this one was.

Maybe later in the series, but it was still...
Every episode was like a little movie.

And the attitude of everybody
working on the production

after eight seasons
was absolutely, fully professional.

From Bill Roe the DP,
right through the whole thing.

It was as if
they had just started making the series.

And I think that's what shows

on the screen very clearly,

the professionalism of everybody.

And trying to achieve the very best.

You know, an episode of this was
being made for the same amount of money

that we’re about to make
a feature film for in Australia.

So, that's an interesting challenge
for a one-hour episode.

So, here we are, arriving at the oil rig.

We did one day's filming on the oil rig,

which started at first light
and finished at last light.

There was a lot to be done,
but a lot of preparation went into it.

Including the chopper to chopper shooting,
and storyboarding sequences, etcetera.

And it was quite a challenge to take on

that we were gonna
get all this done in one day.

Hopefully, the weather
wasn't gonna turn on us

’cause that would make it
extremely difficult.

You're right out in the middle of nowhere.

And I might say,
standing up on this helicopter pad

was probably the most scary thing
I've ever done in my life.

And going down those steps,
just prior to these steps,

I gotta tell you,
I looked over the edge of that thing,

and it's like about 300-400 feet down.

It brings the chills to the back of my spine
as I speak, right now.

And particularly when the wind picks up,
you really are very vulnerable out there.

The challenge was always trying to find
ways of making this thing work.

As I said,
there were three different locations.

The studio, the oil refinery,
old gas place down at South Central

and then the oil rig out on the water.

And people were walking
in and out of shot.

So, trying to keep that continuity going,

and not just the normal continuity,
but the continuity of performance etcetera.

It seems to flow very well.

Nice tension
between the two characters here.

And I think,
that's what kept this stuff alive.

That you're watching
a story about the unknown,

but in fact, you really care
about each of these characters

and how they feel about each other.

Gillian spent most of the time
on this episode back at base.

So, there were very few scenes
where we were able to all be together in it.

Apart from that first scene I mentioned,
which was in the office.

When you looked at the episode
with the full dialogue, without me

talking over the top of it,
did you get the sense...

At the beginning,
did you know who were the bad guys?

Hopefully, that unfolded very slowly, so,
you were able to be drawn into the story.

But I thought
this guy's face and his whole persona

was something really interesting
that we were able to turn him into...

At the beginning, he seems
the very supportive foreman on the oil rig,

but at the end of the day, of course,
he's one of them.

These were my favorite moments, too.

You know,
watching those eyes change and turn.

So once again,
here we are out on this oil rig.

We had two cameras operating.

And to try
and get a sense of the whole thing,

we took dialogue scenes like this
and just got them to walk around the thing.

So, at least you got a feeling
of the whole location.

Steadicam used quite a bit
on this particular location.

'Cause you can appreciate

it's quite a dangerous place to be
out on one of these oil rigs.

And because of the oil, etcetera,
the floors can be fairly slippery.

But Steadicam seemed to, sort of,
fit and blend in quite well.

And some of the shots we were able to get,
I thought were quite amazing

considering the fact
that we had to rehearse them

probably once,
and maybe twice at the most

and suddenly have to shoot them.

That's one of the great lines.

"You could find a conspiracy
at a church picnic. "

I'll tell a story
about this particular dummy here.

Here 's a secret.

Underneath that sheet,
is a rather large rubber penis.

Practical jokes were regular
on the scene of X-Files,

which was terrific ’cause they were
just like one big family, the crew,

they had been together for so long.

But they would tease
and play on Gillian quite a lot.

And I remember when it was first revealed,

this rather large, rubber device,

the look on her face was very funny,
and she dealt with it extremely well.

I'll leave it at that.

That question is always there in X-Files,
isn’t it? "Why?"

Keeps the story driving fon/vard.

That shot you just saw then
was something we shot

first up in the morning
as the sun was coming up.

We took advantage of
every moment of light to get something

because, as I said,
we only had the one day to achieve

the whole shooting on the rig itself.

And so, we’re about to see
the oil drip from his body.

Molasses, chocolate syrup,

all used to at least start the journey

of the oil coming out
of the mouth and eyes.

Mostly out of the eyes, the rest of it
is put in by visual effects at a later stage.

I might say,
the guy that had the oil dripping on him

had to put up with
a hell of a lot of that stuff

pouring down his throat, I can tell you.

It was about, I think, nine takes
to get the oil to spill in the right places.

And you think about the fact
that this oil rig

is set supposedly in the Gulf of Mexico,

and is some distance off the coastline.

You know, 100 miles,
200 miles off the coastline

where people actually do live
and work on these rigs.

A pretty lonely place,

and a fabulous type of place
to set a horror story like this one.

Because the isolation alone
sets up many things.

We're on a set...
We 're in the studio right now.

This is all still in the studio.

Just while this scene takes place,

I'm sure you've probably,
on other DVDs about The X-Files,

the series was

made with a seven-day
pre-production phase,

and then a nine-day shoot with main unit

and then up to two days with second unit.

Some episodes went on much longer

because of their involvement
and complication,

but this particular episode
was done in the 11 days.

And there's a lot involved

in doing this much work in those 11 days.

The work day was probably
between 13 and 14 hours.

So, we 'd start very early in the mornings
and work till very late at night.

And sometimes the locations
were an hour and a half out of town,

so you'd be on the road for 16 hours a day,
which was quite a feat.

The crew who did the series,

I don 't know how they kept doing it,
episode in, episode out.

But they did it with a smile on their face.

I'd love to see a reel of shots put together
of all the special effects makeup

that was done on X-Files
over the nine seasons.

There 's some stunning stuff.

They may not look like it
in this particular shot,

but just even coming up and
going down these steps was pretty hairy.

And the actors on this particular shot
probably did this four or five times.

It's a good 100—foot drop down there.

To be on board one of these things
during a big cyclone or something,

I would imagine,
would be quite an experience.

Keeping the crew together
and making sure that everybody was safe

and in the right place
so that nothing happened,

we had safety and security people with us.

But there it is,
everywhere you look, it's water.

Although, there is a part of it,
which is coming up very soon,

just on the right-hand side of this shot
that’s, in fact, the mainland.

So, we had to keep
moving the camera around

so that we didn’t see any of that land.

So, we just kept getting the impression
that we’re out at sea.

Of course, the occasional speedboat

in the background

that we didn’t want to see, all those things.

Now, we’re back at the oil refinery
down in South Central.

So, as you can see, the whole thing
blended together quite well.

Of course, if that's the Black Oil,
what’s gonna happen to him?

So, special effects department
were brought to the fore here.

And in the studio, we created the fire.

Obviously, we couldn't have any
naked flame out on the oil rig itself.

So, all this sequence
was filmed in the studio.

The set did almost burn to the ground,

but we had to keep as much as possible,

so it wouldn't burn down
because there were scenes to follow

that we would shoot
in six subsequent sequences.

Another great face.

This kind of character development
in X-Files works extremely well.

Each of the characters have a story
and a relationship.

And as much as we’re looking
at the science fiction, the horror,

the whatever else goes on in X-Files,
you really care about these people.

They've spent a lot of time together,
you can tell that.

Doing episodic television
is always quite interesting.

The shoots are usually
around seven, eight days.

X-Files having an extra day there, the ninth,

and then the second unit being two days,
ten and eleven.

But getting these shows shot on time
is really the key issue.

But X-Files in particular because of

all the visual effects etcetera,
usually uses that time up quite efficiently.

Here we are, after the fire.

Art department came in,
it wasn 't just a matter of burning the set.

Art department had to come in and spray
black paint, etcetera, to create the illusion

because we couldn't allow the sets to burn
because they would eventually.

They’re not real, it's not metal.

It was made with wood

and various other substances.

So, the art department would come in
and make it look like it's been burnt out.

l was saying before about these episodes
done in the times that they’re done,

it always is quite surprising that
there 's no rehearsal time allowed actually.

The rehearsal is done exactly
prior to shooting the scene.

So, I think the level of performance
works out extremely well.

And this is all about performance.

I mean, the scripts are very solid and
then the next thing is performance,

and this cast, I think,
worked together extremely well,

but more importantly,
they make something of these scenes.

They keep drawing the audience into it.

Some of the favorite bits of working
on X-Files for me was,

the script meetings one would have
with Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz

and the writers,

where you could see that this team that
had been working together for a long time,

just knew how to solve some of these
problems. "What’s this all mean?"

I would ask the question,
"What does it mean?"

And there was always
a solution to something.

Chris would sit on the floor in his office,

at the coffee table with his computer,

and every time there was
a question that you had, a difficulty,

suddenly, he'd be there, typing away

and up would come,
a solution to the problem.

Chris and Frank worked
extremely well together

and I had the fortunate opportunity
to work with Frank Spotnitz

on a follow-up series
called Robbery Homicide Division

produced by Michael Mann,
starring Tom Sizemore.

Frank was the producer on the
first part of the season of that series.

It only lasted one season, unfortunately.

But it was nice to work with Frank
on Robbery Homicide Division.

And Bill Roe,
who also was the DP on X-Files.

We 'd shot...
The X-Files is done on film, of course.

Robbery Homicide Division was 24p,
which is this... Digital images,

and it still is early days
with this technology

and it's getting better all the time,
but Robbery Homicide Division

was certainly up there as being
one of the earlier shows to do 24p,

and Bill's abilities to go from film
to digital is quite extraordinary.

We 're leading up to
the big finale of the stories.

They're now on the oil rig and they now
have to find their way off the oil rig.

And of course, the cavalry is on its way,
but will it make it in time?

This part of the sequence, I quite
enjoyed shooting because it revealed

as you'll see now, that the whole crew

are basically already taken over
by the Black Oil.

The conspiracy grows.

That would be the last shot
we ever shot on this particular story,

was the sunset shot you just saw then.

As I said, we started at first light
and finished at last light.

David has that wonderful ability
at delivering lines like that one.

He has a great sense of humor and
I think that's one of the reasons

why the character was able to be
so appealing to an audience.

It's that sense of irony, etcetera.

That classic X-Files lighting.

The smoke, the back-lit smoke

really is a signature of the production.

And you got to love it.

And now, we’re moving into a sequence
that was completely storyboarded

because we were shooting between
the three different locations once more.

So, the oil rig is about to blow up

and our heroes have to get off the thing
as best as they can.

The helicopters arrive,
but they can’t land because if they do,

these guys with the Black Oil
will obviously take them over.

So, our heroes
now have to find a way off it.

And as the oil rig slowly,
but surely gets destroyed...

Visual effects are creating
the flames, of course,

because we couldn't set a naked flame
on the oil rig.

Props men in the foreground rattling pipes

to create the illusion of the thing
about to blow up.

Green screen shots, actors in studio
in foreground with the green screen

and then, of course,
we add in the chopper aften/vards.

It's almost like Butch Cassidy and
the Sundance Kid as they jump off the cliff.

The effects that you see happening now,

a number of them were there
on the night when we shot this sequence,

and then, of course, like in this shot,
they were added in.

The oil rig falling apart, etcetera,

all added in at a later stage.

So, Mulder is back and then Mulder is gone.

Of course, the following episodes,
he found a way back in again

and was able to lead the story
to its conclusion.

My opportunity to work on X-Files,
I was very grateful for.

I did three episodes,
this one being one of my favorites as I said,

because of the mythology story.

But a great opportunity
to work on a great series

and I am pleased that I had that chance.

So, thank you for listening.