LogFAQs > #913996512

Warren Ellis's notes on Season 2 (from his weekly mailing list)

October 21 - It is, in many ways, not like season 1. There is, for instance, space for people to have conversations. There is more than one plotline. The last two episodes are so visually complex that they almost killed all the animators, and they did not love me for a long time. I expect there will be a lot of bad reviews because it's not as breathless as season 1. It's a different thing.

Also it's made a lot of people cry. (Leila, I am so sorry you watched it on the plane without me warning you first. The director almost dehydrated himself twice that I know of. Hi, Sam. Sorry, man.)

The animators have knocked it out of the park, Trevor Morris has produced a wonderful score, and the actors have not only surprised and amazed me but also made me sound ten times better than I actually am. This obviously includes our core cast of Richard Armitage, Alejandra Reynoso, James Callis and Graham McTavish.

But also, since IMDB have released the cast list, Jaime Murray, Ade M'Cormack, Theo James and Peter Stormare. And I wrote that part with Peter's voice in my head and if he hadn't agreed to do it I would have been fucked.

I'm the sole writer on the show, but I'm also the co-producer, so I'm in all the voice recording sessions with our brilliant casting and voice director Meredith Layne, working with the actors. (And occasionally rewriting lines on the fly when they don't sound good as written -- that's a whole craft thing I should get into sometime.) I have learned many things about writing from working with my actors. Also, that after an hour or so of being made to swear constantly, something in Richard Armitage's brain breaks and he starts ad-libbing new additional swears. Also, that I really like working with actors.

Anyway. I'll talk about it more next week. October 26. Please watch to the end. Netflix's robot spies know if you don't complete the whole season and if you don't I will have an "accident" resulting in the sort of injuries that news services usually describe as "life-changing."


October 28 - I had all my social media on for twelve hours during the launch of CASTLEVANIA season 2, because Netflix likes it when we're around for that. And then I switched it all off and it's not going back on until next year.

We won't hear from Netflix for a little while as to whether we launched okay or not, but the internet chatter I saw suggested things aren't too bad. The Powerhouse people watch it all a lot more closely -- I'm not sure if Sam and Adam actually slept -- and they seem to think people are generally happy.

My abiding memory of recording season 2 was getting Jaime Murray to giggle during one particular action scene, which she made into the creepiest, wrongest, most funny-horrible thing, to the point where I had to mute my mic because I was cracking up.

The weirdest part of doing this show is that I've discovered that I really enjoy working with actors.

Little known fact: the original plan was for season two to be four episodes, like season 1's order. I was partway through working it all out when everyone decided I was packing too much in, and then Netflix got on the phone and doubled the episode count to give me more room. Netflix have been absolutely amazing to work with.

This is where I should actually apologise to everyone at Powerhouse and MUA for episode 6. That episode almost killed everyone on the art and animation side.

I also apologise to all the people who tweeted things like, and I quote, "CASTLEVANIA GAVE ME DEPRESSION" and "Castlevania had no right to do that to me I didNT ASK FOR THIS"

All those comments led me to a beautiful and terrifying realisation: this is what it's like to be Kieron Gillen.
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"Ring me mother!" -- Max 'Leather Jacket Guy' Byrne