Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, the showrunner of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, has detailed how the series has developed over time.
This weekend, Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina returns for a third season. The show’s popularity has been clear right away with Netflix immediately ordering four seasons of the show.
But how has the series developed and what tactics have they used to bring this magical world of horror to life? Well, speaking to ComicBook.com, showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa shared some details.
Explaining the filming approach to the show’s magical scenes, where everything apart from the character in the centre of the frame is out of focus, he said: “That was something that the director of the pilot, Lee Toland Krieger, really thought would be a great way to shoot the supernatural elements. It’s something that started in the pilot and that we still use when we shoot the more heightened moments of witchcraft. It was his idea, for sure. And I think we’ve really refined how we use it and it’s become a kind of our hallmark.”
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He also commented on how things have changed since his original plans for the series: “It’s a really good question. I think we are always thinking about what happens next with the characters. Or where do we go next? For me, I would think about what’s at the core of a character. And I think for Sabrina, to need what’s at the heart of her character, is her duality. And we explored that in Part One with Sabrina. Really trying to hold onto her humanity and her mortal friends. And then in Part Two, we explored her witchy side and went a little bit into embracing and exploring that. And for Part Three, when we were talking about it, it felt like, ‘Oh, it would be really good if Sabrina got in deeper both in the mortal world and in the horror infernal world.’
“So we very early on landed on the idea of a cheerleader by day, queen of Hell by night. And I love pagan horror and folk horror like The Wicker Man or, even more recently, the movie Midsommar. That was always the kind of horror that I wanted to get to play with and infuse into Part Three. There was an evolution that always happens, but a lot of the stuff that we set out to explore, we explored even from the early days. We knew that we wanted Sabrina to be in the cheerleading uniform. We knew we wanted her to be on the throne of Hell. And so that was something that we talked about.”
It’s going to be fun to see how these changes and influences manifest in season three. Fingers crossed it will be as entertaining as the seasons that have come before it.
“Part Three finds Sabrina reeling from the harrowing events of Part Two. Though she defeated her father Lucifer, the Dark Lord remains trapped within the human prison of her beloved boyfriend, Nicholas Scratch. Sabrina can’t live with herself, knowing that Nick made the ultimate sacrifice and is suffering, burning in Hell under Madam Satan’s watchful eye. So with an assist from her mortal friends, “The Fright Club” (consisting of Harvey, Rosalind, and Theo), Sabrina makes it her mission to free him from eternal damnation and bring him back into her arms. However, the Dark Lord’s unseating has sent shockwaves through the realms—and, with no one on the throne, Sabrina must assume the title of “Queen” to defend it against a challenger, the handsome Prince of Hell Caliban. Meanwhile, in Greendale, a mysterious carnival rolls into town, bringing with it a threat to the Spellmans and the coven: A tribe of pagans looking to resurrect an ancient evil…”
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Part 3 arrives on Netflix on January 24th.
Originally published January 24, 2020. Updated January 23, 2020.
