VIDEO QUALITY:
Region 1 formatting (U.S. and Canada only), Angel's Aspect Ratio (1.78:1), as presented in Season Four continues in Season Five with Anamorphic Widescreen on this DVD set. Although the overall look of series changed slightly in season five with lighter and more open spaces, the video representation continues its exceptional quality throughout the set. The dark mood comes through with radiant overtones even in the limited scenes. The behind the scenes footage allows for good viewing especially the exterior stunt shots for viewers, including footage from the cast & crew parties. The set is in full-color, and provides closed-captions. Running time 990 minutes.

AUDIO QUALITY:
Layers: 1. Available languages: English, Spanish and French. Available subtitles: English and Spanish - all in Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Sound, duel layered in up to 5.1 channels. Sound quality within the set continues it high standards, covering all ranges of tone and special effects. In a full home theatre stereo system, the range of pan and punch allow for exciting viewing. Highs and lows intermingled with just the right amount of mix and fade. Combine the output quality with the series composition of underlying and score production offers the perfect atmosphere.

FILM IT AND THEY WILL SPEAK

Disc One: Conviction - Episode 1 with commentary by Joss Whedon

On what would become the premiere episode of the final season of Angel, Joss begins his commentary by explaining the similarities to the series opener. "It begins as the very first episode (City of...) began, with Angel in a dark alley saving a damsel in distress from a vampire. We did this deliberately because we really wanted to call back what the essence of the show was. Angel is the kind of guy who goes into a dark alley, saves the woman, doesn't say what his name is and takes off." However this season, of course, was a little different. One of the stipulations from the Network was that they wanted things to stand along and be resolved; that was their mission statement. "We are going to work for Wolfram & Hart, the evil company we've fought all this time, and it simply means we can't be what we were, so all of his heroism is falling by the wayside and he's a little bit pathetic," Joss jokes. In the first scene, Joss tells how the mail cart represented what will be about a 4 1/2 -minute Oner, a Stedicam shot that just never stops. "This is an interesting piece of work for a lot of reasons, inevitable one actor is always going to have trouble with their lines, and it's usually going to be the one who's at the end of the take, because that's just my fate." They had built a new set with balconies, offices and everything interconnected and this shot allowed them to show it off starting with Wesley and Fred and the introduction of Knox. Alexis who had a semi-paralyzed face could only be filmed in 1/2 and 3/4 shots the entire episode. Continuing the shot, Lorne takes us to Angel stepping off the elevator which ends with the introduction of Eve. Joss compliments newcomer Sarah Thompson with, "Nice to put a face on Wolfram & Hart who wasn't completely evil." This 'oner' was accomplished in just 27 takes.

"She was long overdue to get into the mix, and we needed a blond, let's face it." ~ Joss on Mercedes McNab

Director of Photography, Ross Berryman, lit the scenes so well; very specific, very creepy and shadowy within the space to give Joss frames that were dynamic and visual without going over lowered budget. "The other big element obviously, besides J.'s fabulous hair, was the decision to bring in recurring Mercedes McNab as Harmony. Mercedes has worked for us for as long as I've worked on the show. She has been tirelessly funny, and engaging, and sexy, and delightful and it was very nice to bring her into the fold. She was long overdue to get into the mix, and we needed a blond, let's face it," he jokes. Joss's favorite Harmony line, "The secret ingredient happens to be Otter." Another element in staying true to the mythos of the series was keeping Cordelia a part of the show who would return for the 100th episode. In the scene which introduces viewers to Fred's lab, she and Knox are hanging a Dixie Chicks poster which has a great deal of resonance for Joss. Besides being a huge fan, a look inside their CD is a photo of a sign that reads, "We are changing the way we do business." The episode title, Conviction was the pun for Joss, Angel was trying to get someone off at trial but at the same time, they all were losing theirs as in the progression of Gunn. "We didn't often know what to do with J.'s character. He had a real sense of feeling out of place, so I wanted to show something from J. that people hadn't seen. Plus he looks really good in a suit."

Watch James Marsters and Joss Whedon discuss Spike arriving on Angel
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Joss loves to have two actors working in a frame rather than isolating them, as with Fred and Knox researching the virus. "The scene shows Fred is in fact very good with leading, just when you think she's going to be sweet she turns on you which is what you need in a leader," explains Joss. And this turns out to be her arc for the season. A mini-arc for the season is Harmony's insight that she is useful and is part of the team from the beginning. While Angel fights the bad guys, Gunn's makeover is presented with the legal jargon. Joss, a big Law & Order fan, wrote the scene making facts up, when the scene was sent to a legal consultant they only made a few tweaks. They thought McCraken vs. the State of Maine, was a real referenced case, in fact, "Never happened," Joss admits. "My one moment of writing, what I call, grown up television. But I found out I don't have to know how the world works if I can make it up convincingly." Joss confesses he has one disappointment in shooting the first episode, "I didn't get to work with James Marsters. I wanted to earn his return, of Spike after his death on Buffy, that his death not be a simple thing. The energy he brought with him to this cast and to this set was priceless in our fifth season."


Disc Three: Soul Purpose - Episode 10 with commentary by David Boreanaz, Christian Kane and Brent Fletcher

In David Boreanaz's directorial debut, he openly comments about his experience with cast and crew and gets right down to the experience with all the technical insight as if directing for years. He explains the episode was first filmed at high speed and then slowed it down in postproduction. He began with slow camera movements in the beginning dream sequence with Spike and Angel as David explains, "It came out the way I wanted. It was a nice moment here with the chalice and the light and shooting it down real slow. It's pretty introspective of what's going on in Angel's mind. And then Angel burns as he usually does, and wakes up." The episode was 10-minutes over in production time which is a lot in episodic television so unfortunately there was some necessary trimming. "You're an old pro though, it looked like you'd directed forever," Christian complimented David. Christian goes on to explain his introduction to the episode, "This was actually the first time you saw me after the revealing of two episodes previous." Brent, who wrote the episode, confesses, "Originally we started calling him Shawn. And then we started calling him Doyle after we shot it." The leak came out that Christian was going to be on the series and his part as Shawn was scripted. Quickly his return got all over the Internet, then Joss came in and put in Doyle and the punch was landed when the show aired. David explains, "I tried to keep the camera moving as best as I possible can in this show, because I wanted to get inside Angle's head. It's more of his perspective of what's going on, we don't know what's real and what's not real." He used tight shots on the actors to keep the tension. This episode was shot shortly after David had knee surgery so it was focused with him being as immobile as possible. "It was hard, acting and directing at the same time," admits David. "After I'd scoot out of scene and watch the end of a scene and see how it progresses. Entrances and transitions were very important for me to set the tone for the type of episode this is."

David is not shy to admit, "You learn a lot when you're actually do it and the crew was just fantastic. Kelly Manners, the producer on these shows, really allowed me the opportunity to do some thing that a first time director wouldn't normally be allowed to do. I was fortunate to get some cranes and stretch my five seasons of work on this to do certain things." David minimized takes by keeping either the camera or the actors moving. He also got to use a handheld camera in the scene where Fred enters his suite while he's in bed. "I really love point-of-view when they're done effectively," he admits. The bed was a cut out with a prosthetic torso and the first time they did the scene they couldn't stop laughing. The Jaws call back was David's idea when Fred pulls out a license plate. "It was hard to keep a straight face," David confesses. "I like low angles, I love propping the camera down low and using wide angle lens. As a director you have to go in and let the actors do their thing. Really allow them to create and I think that if you give them that space then they're going to give back more to you as a director. It's really a give and take relationship." Chris compliments David, "Good job first time directing, I'm proud to be working with you." As does David on Brent's writing, "Congratulations to you too Brent for writing it!"