Behind the Scenes

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It's now three-quarters into season four and Steve has been responsible for all or part of a whopping six episodes. A conspiracy to kill the newbie? "Apparently, yes," Steve laughs. He isn't expecting to be assigned anymore scripts before the finale. "At the moment, 'No' but you never know. On the [writer's] board, someone asked on episode twelve [Calvary], which was written by me, Jeff Bell and Mere Smith, 'What, it took three people to write this?' He wearily laughs and adds, "If you ever see more than one writer on an episode, unless it's a writing team like Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain, it purely means we didn't have enough time for one person to do it. We basically had a Saturday and Sunday to write that script." Due to those time constraints this season, collaborating on scripts has been common which can be hard to accomplish if writing styles are disparate. "In that case, we were all really surprised how well it all fit together. It took very little work to smooth out the transitions from one writer to the next." He adds, "Sometimes, it doesn't quite match up. Usually, from a writer's standpoint, it's a lot easier to write an act and a half than to write all four acts because it is a pretty grueling schedule. We seldom have more than five days to write an entire script. You have to write more than ten pages a day and it gets pretty draining." Steve continue, "One of the easiest and most pleasurable experiences I had this year was co-writing episode ten [Awakening] with David Fury. It was about two and a half days of work and I got to work with Fury, which is always a pleasure."

All hell breaks loose in Steve's Apocalypse Nowish!

The dynamic of writing for a Joss show is unique in that Joss is clearly the captain of the story ship. Everything from seasonal arcs, character motivation to minute details all stem from Joss' big frontal lobe. With such a strong vision, it's a wonder the individual writers have any flexibility in adding their own personal stamp to the scripting process. Steve explains, "You get quite a lot of flexibility especially on Angel. We have even more flexibility because Joss, despite loving the show, has priorities elsewhere. He gives us the broad general idea or sometimes we pitch him the general idea and then he'll approve the final product in stages." He adds, "We do most of the stuff ourselves. The stories are made in the breaking process, where everyone has a voice, but it's whoever's episode that is at the time who really takes the lead on it. Often times we'll break a story and, more often than we'd like, there will be parts where we'll just put "WP" on the board, which means "writer's problem." So, you go off and figure that out. Within any show, you want to stay within the voice of the characters but the voices on Buffy and Angel are both so cool that's not a problem."

Intense fan reaction has followed Steve to his new home as well. Season four on Angel has been out of the ordinary in that the episodes have been less about individual stories, rather they have all been building one huge arc that is just starting to pay off now for audiences. Due to the slow process in revealing details, fans have been beside themselves all season heatedly questioning the actions of several key characters this season. Steve explains, "One of the biggest things this year, has been the reaction to Apocalypse Nowish, (and that is the title of the episode rather than Rain of Fire regardless of what The WB says. They just couldn't promote it with that title due to legal issues.) But everybody loved the show, basically giving it five stars then taking three away because of the very end. [People asked] "Why would Cordy do that?" [sleep with Angel's son] Well, based on episode twelve, I think we have started to see why she is doing that. And there is a bigger reason for it that will become apparent as well. But it's stuff like that which can really agitate you. [The fans] have to remember it's a long story arc."

Since the huge arc approach is really a new for Angel, the writing staff has been happy with the experiment. "I will confess occasionally, we do slow the story down where perhaps we shouldn't or it takes a little too long to get to the point. I don't think that's been the case this season on Angel but it was an issue last season on Buffy. We were trying something new and it didn't 100% work but kudos to Joss for trying something different. This year on Angel has been flying. We've just done this huge arc and it's pretty much been nothing but the arc. There's been no room for anything else." And the story developments coming out each week have been more and more surprising. In particular, Steve loves the "evil Cordelia" twist. "I believe it was kind of a combination of our wonderful new writers who had this idea for a villain, which hasn't been entirely revealed yet and Joss saying, "Oh! Let's make it Cordelia! How cool would it be to make her evil?" We were so excited by making Cordelia the bad guy." He also enthuses, "We were all thrilled as well when Joss said, "Let's get Eliza [Dushku] to come in and be Faith."

STEVE: UNPLUGGED

With Steve writing up a storm and adjusting to his new position, which would be more than enough work for most, it's not for Steve. Episode seventeen entitled, Inside Out [airing on April 2] is his directorial debut. "Those mad fools actually let me get behind the camera!" he exclaims and laughs. Explaining his motivation to direct, he says, "I think if you are a writer, at some point, you spend so much time in the editing rooms complaining, 'Where's this shot?' and 'Why didn't they get this?' that you want to give it a shot. It was something I've always been interested in but unfortunately, I had never directed anything, not even a student film. So nobody was more surprised than I when they said, "Yes" to my request to direct an episode." Preparation was key and the producers helped by giving Steve a chance to practice. "They gave me one day of Second Unit to film some full scenes to make sure I wasn't a complete idiot. The scenes were in episode 14. Then three weeks later, they threw me behind the camera to do the full on job."

Steve & his "Fine, fine lady," Mere Smith

Considering the enormous undertaking of directing a full episode in eight days with only one day of shooting under his belt, it must have been terrifying to some extent. "Absolutely! Luckily, we have just a fantastic crew. We have the best crew spearheaded by producer Kelly Manners who really could not have been nicer to me. He guided me through the process, helping me and chewing on my ass when it needed to be chewed on," he laughs. "It was an exhausting process. I don't know how professional TV directors do it job after job because it is just non-stop." When asked about the particular challenges, Steve takes a second to muse and then laughs saying, "I learned from the moment you step foot on the set you are two hours behind schedule, regardless." He adds, "Most of the stuff I learned was purely technical involving numbers of setups and how to get multiple shots in one set-up with one camera. It's like a runaway train - things are happening so fast and yet so slow." As difficult as it may have been, Steve is immediately enthusiastic when asked if he would do it again. "I can't wait to do it again! I think I can do much better next time, not to say there is anything wrong with it but I just learned a lot. I could do it better with less effort next time." He excitedly adds, "It was just a wonderful process."

Of course, Steve does have a life outside of the show even though that line is a little more blurry now considering his "fine, fine lady" is fellow Angel writer, Mere Smith. "Mere Smith and I have been dating for about a year. I had grave reservations about dating anyone that worked in the same office building and this was when I was on Buffy at the end of the season." Steve continues, "We had been dating for about three weeks and we were keeping it "hush, hush" just in case it didn't work out. Then Joss popped into my office and asked, 'How would you like to work on Angel?' I'm thinking 'Uh, that could put a crimp in my relationship.'" Asked if it's tough working together as competitive writers, Steve answers sagely, "We're both very passionate about ideas and stories and sure we don't hold back. When we are in the room breaking a story, if you walked in you would never guess we were dating." With the end of the season looming, the couple hopes to relax and view a backlog of movies. "I'm a huge movie fan. I've got my big TV and my surround sound so I love to throw in a DVD. I have a pile to catch up with." He admits to another pastime as well, "Sad to say, I'm reverting to my fourteen-year-old self - the X-Box has sucked me in." Favorite titles include the Buffy X-box game. "I think they did a great job on the Buffy game! I enjoyed that game and I was surprised because I thought it was just going to be kinda crappy. It has a great story and great game play." He also recommends SSX Tricky and Halo.

The conversation then turned to how he got his infamous nickname, "Pantsless" Steve DeKnight. He laughs loud when asked about the origin. "When I used to hang out with the fans [on The Bronze Beta Website], I joked once about my hula boxers. And then it became a whole thing about not wearing pants and this game of "Guess What Boxers I'm Wearing Today?" Friday was often the day Steve logged onto The Bronze - hence the boxers game degenerated into "Pantless Fridays with Steve." Steve laments, "One of the sad things about this year is that I haven't had time to be on the posting board talking to fans because down on Angel, we basically have four writers compared to Buffy's eight." But he hopes to be back by the end of the season, so fear not Bronzers and start laying bets on the boxers now.

GOING FORWARD

As the Angel season prepares to come to a production close by mid-April, the outstanding question hot on the lips of both fans and staff is whether The WB will renew the series for a fifth season. As of press time, The WB expressed they would make their official decision in May. "Nobody knows anything basically," Steve says sighing. "We alway talk about how we're not sure if we are insulted about being moved around so much or if it's a compliment. [The WB] seems to move us around and throw us against huge shows. We were convinced being up against Alias [on Sunday nights] would crush us and then we got the same numbers. So, we pretty much feel that anywhere you move us, we'll get the same numbers. We always joke, 'We're number 101 with a bullet!' he laughs. "Our ratings are never going to be stellar but it's a solid show. We all feel the show really deserves at least one more season. We've got some really cool stuff planned."

"Anywhere [the WB] move us, we'll get the same numbers. We always joke, 'We're number 101 with a bullet!'"

Internet rumors as well as comments made by Joss and staff to the media seem to suggest some major changes indeed could be coming if a season five happens. One would question "Why?" especially considering that almost universally, fans and critics alike think Angel has really come into its own creatively in the last two seasons. Steve agrees but adds, "We would love to have more space to do some more stand-alone episodes to mix it up. We would love to do some funnier episodes, some scarier episodes and some action oriented episodes. Basically, I think the real feeling is that in the Joss-universe, we have had the biggest story arc ever. I think definitely shaking it up means we're not planning on doing exactly the same thing next year. It's almost been a little bit of 24 on Angel this year because it's all the same arc. I think the entire season pretty much happens over two or three weeks. Next season, I think we'd like to open it up and if The WB blesses us with one more there will be some major shifts and major surprises."

"I wore a pair of boxers just like these when I was writing Dead Things. Slip them on and feel the love!"
signed: Steven DeKnight

If Angel doesn't return, Steve is already working on his future and thinking about what he wants to do. "I can't imagine not directing again, another reason I hope the show comes back so I get a chance to do it a couple more times. I ultimately want to head towards developing my own show down the line or a couple of them following Joss' example." He laughs adding, "I think I'll keep it at two though, I know my limitations." As for TV writing jobs, "I would definitely stick with one hour dramas. There are some great shows I would love to work for: Alias, 24. There are some great pilots out there especially a fantastic pilot by a brilliant writer named Bryan Fuller called Maid in the Mist. It's the coolest thing ever!" He has almost completed writing on a screenplay for Disney updating Robin Hood with Maid Marian as the heroine. "Good experience, loved working on the script but Good Christ! What was I thinking about writing a feature when I'm working on a television show where I was going to be directing? There were a lot of late nights of getting home at 9 or 10 o'clock at night and having to put in three or four hours on that script."

Regardless of what happens in May, Steve is just incredibly happy for his three years on the job with Joss Whedon as his boss. As with most of the Mutant Enemy team, Steve waxes enthusiastically about what lessons he will take with him when he leaves the Whedon creative team. He pauses in thought then readily brings forth his answer. "Early on when I did my first freelance with Joss and I was being a little too flashy, he said something and it's always stuck in my mind. He said, "Emotion and clarity above all else", and that was such a great thing to learn. It's something I keep reminding myself of everyday and someday when I have my own show, I'll tell my writers the same thing. It's great to have that cool turn of phrase or to be funny but emotion and clarity are the most important things." Wise words and concepts that Steve DeKnight has certainly made his own.

Written by CoA Writer, Tara DiLullo

CityofAngel.com would like to extend our thanks to Steven S. DeKnight for taking time out of his insane schedule to talk with us about all things Steve and Angel.

Visit Steve DeKnight's Fan-run Website at: DeKnights Raiders

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