They Don't Call it the Change for Nothin' February 27, 2003 - 12:03 p.m.

Ginger Snaps article from Ami's local paper.

EDMONTON - The light is low and flatly yellow near dusk, the eerie almost-spring light that makes northern Alberta seem warmer than it really is at the end of February. When the sun finally sets on this secluded range road near Cooking Lake, east of Edmonton, a massive spotlight replaces it.

Men in snowsuits are in the bush, clearing sticks away and perfecting the bark on real trees. Others are sweeping the snow. Women with headsets on over their tuques seem to talk into the darkness. Some wear sunglasses.

There is an atmosphere of organized chaos here at the set of Ginger Snaps -- the Sequel. Somewhere, hidden in a cabin, is a werewolf.

In the craft tent, director Brett Sullivan kicks the heater. "Stupid thing," he says. Sullivan, a young-looking man in several layers of micro-fibre, has creative control of all this, these hundreds of people, these trailers and sets and headphones and monsters.

"It's a huge challenge, keeping all this in line," he says. "I haven't slept a full night in the last four months."

This is Sullivan's feature film debut as a director, after working in Toronto for 15 years as an editor. "The producers had faith in me. They liked my story sensibility and they liked my taste. I've been blessed that I've been able to jump a few levels."

Sullivan edited Ginger Snaps, the surprise hit Canadian horror movie that earned respectable money at the box office in 2001 and has since gone on to become a worldwide cult hit on video and DVD.

The production budgets for the sequel, shooting now, and the prequel, which begins shooting at Fort Edmonton Park next month, are significantly higher than the original. This extra money accounts for the presence of the most experienced person on set, and one of the only Americans, special effects artist Howard Berger.

Berger is in the cabin, fitting and combing his werewolf. The man in the bulging costume of muscle and bone, spandex and yak hair, is called Jake. As Berger yanks the werewolf boot onto Jake's foot, he speaks in a Brooklyn accent to keep the monster laughing. "I know you're good about this," Berger says, "but if you start getting cold, tell me immediately."

The werewolf suit and the two heads are Berger's creations, and he tends to them like they are his children. Berger looks distraught after the monster attacks a couple of young men in the snow for two and a half hours. "The suit took a beating tonight," he says, "and we only have this one suit."

Even though the Ginger Snaps sequel and prequel are, at $6 million each, expensive Canadian films, they are low budget movies by American standards. Berger has worked on far bigger films recently, Minority Report and Vanilla Sky with Tom Cruise, Austin Powers in Goldmember (he built Fat Bastard) and the upcoming Quentin Tarantino film Kill Bill.

"If this was a bigger budget film, we'd have four werewolf suits," Berger says, as he tends to the werewolf's head. "But since there's no time and no money, we just have to be more resourceful."

As Jake the werewolf attacks the male lead in the film, Eric Johnson, Sullivan looks into the monitor and nods his head. "Looks good."

In the adjacent chair, director of photography Gavin Smith rubs his chin. "Are you OK with the amount of blood in this shot?"

Sullivan nods and points at Johnson's shirt. "There's blood on him. But it's not flying.

"Digital," says Sullivan, and sits back comfortably in his director's chair.

Vancouver actor Emily Perkins, the co-star of the original and star of the sequel, is covered in fake scars and shadows. This hasn't been the most glorious month of weather in Alberta, and film acting requires a lot of standing around, but she's stoic.

"I could be warmer," Perkins says, "but so far I haven't gotten frostbite. Everyone tries to keep me really warm, so I get lots of attention."

Her stand-in, Meghan Heffern, stuffs her gloves and boots with chemical warmers that you shake up. If someone around her is cold, Heffern pulls a pile of the warmers out of her jacket pockets and offers them. The night previous, Heffern had to kneel in front of some fake deer guts and pretend to eat them. "They looked so real," she says. "And the head was moving."

Another stand-in, local actor Jennifer Tayler stands behind the director's chair and eats rice out of a little styrofoam bowl. For two and a half hours she watches two brief shots wrap, a total of eight or nine seconds in the final movie. Taylor says she's learning a lot about real movies, but not doing much. "I mostly just stand around and wait," Tayler says. "I don't know if I'm patient enough for this, but the money's good. And someday I hope I won't be just a stand-in, waiting and eating."

I was worried when it said that this was the director's first film. But seeing as he has been an editor for fifteen years, I have faith that he could do a great job. Having been an editor for so long, he knows what it takes to create certain looks and get particular shots, so he may even be better than someone who had been directing for ages.

And I'm glad to hear that both the movies have been given a higher budget, while still being low so as not to hinder creativity.

I'm so excited about these movies... I just can't wait.

Also, here's another article on the demise of BtVS.

Happy movie, sad conclusions... I'm a bundle of mixed emotions.

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