It looked like snakes and ladders.įAWCETT | We probably rehearsed that scene – full-on rehearsals stand-ins, our visual effects guys, the camera guys – three times prior to getting to set. MANSON | You should have seen the tape on the floor required. It was definitely a huge technical challenge. It was actually all shot as one shot and then, in the end, because it’s a little long and we’re trying to shorten it up, we intercut it and gave it a bit more pace. In truth, there was one long shot that was done and designed for the dance party, in which Felix cleverly begins with Cosima, then interacts with Alison and then finally interacts with Sarah. TVLINE | And Felix is interacting with all of them, too, at the same time.įAWCETT | That was all part of the technical challenge of doing the dance shot. RELATED Eye on Emmy: Orphan Black Star Tatiana Maslany Gender Bends, Gets Kinky and Improvises Rage in Season 2 So every time Tat changes, the other girls change, also. Three different doubles, and everyone’s changing at the same time. And then the next day, we came back and she started as Helena, and we shot all the layers and bits for that with three doubles. Then she switched to Alison, and we shot Alison for the meeting Helena scene and the dance party. The way that was done is the first day, I think Tat began as Cosima, and we shot all of the Cosima parts for both scenes. The scene where Helena shows up in the loft and meets Cosima and Alison, Sarah’s there, Kira jumps into Helena’s arms – that scene and the dance party took two full days to shoot. It was certainly the most complex thing that we had undertaken to date. It was an intensive couple of days to shoot that.įAWCETT | We had never done a four-clone scene before, let alone a dance scene. So we started planning and pitching that scene very early in the season, actually, to be able to pull it off near the end. It was a scene that required a lot of planning and required a lot of buy-in for the networks for the extra time required to do it. It became quite clear to us that it could be a tremendous emotional climax for the season, and it would be a great technical challenge for John to direct. We had this clone dance party concept going from the beginning. After having the clones apart for most of the season, was it important for you to bring them together and have that as a little reward for the fans at the end? TVLINE | The dance party scene was so great.

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Below, Manson and Fawcett reveal how they captured that clone dance party - we’ve got video below, if you somehow missed it - and discuss the behind-the-scenes of Sarah and Cosima’s, literally, touching moment in bed.

Orphan Black, Vol. 1 by John Fawcett