Shomeret's HLWW 8 Report
Shomeret
This post will deal with my arrival on Thursday which was more
involved than I wanted it to be, and Liz's Fan Kata workshop.
My flight on Thursday was held on the ground for an hour before it
departed. I was not amused. I was especially not amused because I
and a number of other passengers needed to use the bathroom and the
bathrooms were locked. The flight attendants said they expected to
get cleared to fly any moment, so they had locked the bathrooms in
preparation for departure. They instructed us to remain in our seats
(with bursting bladders) and wait patiently for the flight to get
under way. After a half an hour, a mother with a very young child
insisted that her crying child could not wait any longer to use the
bathroom. So the flight attendants opened a bathroom for the child
and allowed the rest of us who needed it to use the bathroom as well.
The pilot told us why we'd been held on the ground. It was the Blue
Angels. The Blue Angels are a flotilla of airplanes who do air shows
over the Golden Gate bridge during Fleet Week. Apparently, they
rehearse at San Francisco's airport. So they were rehearsing when I
was scheduled to take off. My flight was not the only one delayed.
All planes in the airport were held on the tarmac during the Blue
Angels rehearsal.
I was relieved to finally arrive at Vancouver airport. The Canadian
customs agent asked me where I was going. I specified the hotel and
said I was attending a convention there. "Highlander, right?" he
said. I asked him how he knew. He said "I must be psychic," and
wished me a pleasant stay.
One of my hotel roommates, Theresa Haycraft, was picking me up at
Vancouver airport. She called Air Canada and found out about my
flight's delay, so she was able to be at the terminal when I arrived.
After settling in my room, I went to registration. I had some
registration problems, but they were cleared up with the help of HLWW
staff.
The only event that night was the Fan Meet and Greet. I greeted the
fans from the SF Bay Area that I had met at Bay Area fan events and
others whose names I recognized from various online forums. Carmel
introduced the con committee and announced that Peter Davis would be
coming to present a memorial of Bill Panzer on Saturday. This would
lengthen the con schedule on Saturday.
Since I had already planned to attend a tour of Vancouver offered by a
private tour company not associated with the con on Saturday evening
between the end of the Q & As and Jim's concert, I thought I might
have to miss Bill Panzer's memorial, but it turned out otherwise.
More on that when I get to Saturday.
On Friday morning I attended the fan fiction track of programming
before Liz's Fan Kata Workshop. Since fanfic is not an area of
interest on ATH, I'm going to skip that part here. If there are
lurkers who are interested, I have already posted about the fanfic
discussions on Holy Ground Forum.
Liz's workshop was both a demonstration and a class. The
demonstration was lovely. Liz was very fluid, artistic and impressive
as she moved through the kata sequence.
She distributed a pair of fans to each of us. One was right handed and
the other was left handed. You could tell which hand it was
associated with by the way the fan opened. This was important because
if you opened it in the wrong direction, it wouldn't make the loud
snapping sound that is a crucial part of the martial arts fan
practice. Liz went from person to person telling people which was the
right hand fan. We were instructed to put the other one away. I told
Liz that I'm left handed. She said that I was still going to use the
right hand fan. "Why? Because I said so." Later when I told another
Fan Kata workshop attendee what Liz had said to me, he said that if I
had used the left-handed fan, I would be colliding with the other
attendees. So in retrospect I have to agree that it was a sensible
requirement.
But for me handedness is very ingrained. My brain is organized so
that my handedness and my sense of direction are tied together. If I
use my right hand for an activity like this one, I'm totally
disoriented because I no longer have an inner sense of direction. The
only thing I could do was copy what other people were doing. I
couldn't learn the kata sequence. Since I was copying, I was always
slower than everyone else and must have looked very clumsy.
Since I could see that Liz was using the Tai Chi form with fan
choreography added, I realized that I could theoretically develop my
own fan movements and add them to my Tai Chi practice. It wouldn't be
the traditional fan discipline, but I could work with the fan in my
own way. I haven't started doing this yet, but I really like the
idea.
Next, I'll be covering the first Q&A on Friday.
Shomeret
Jerri
> But for me handedness is very ingrained. My brain is organized so
> that my handedness and my sense of direction are tied together. If I
> use my right hand for an activity like this one, I'm totally
> disoriented because I no longer have an inner sense of direction.
I have no inner sense of direction and my handedness is reliant upon
the fact that I have a mole on the inside of my middle right-handed
finger. I have been the sorrow of several tai chi instructors ... and
the puzzlement of the instructors at ADL's SSW beginning sword class.
"I can teach *you*. I teach retarded kids." Nothin' more retarded
than a middle-aged woman who is *not* in sync with her own body. I
don't think I broke anyone's knuckles, but I sure rapped 'em a good
one.
I would have broken Ms Gracen's heart.
Jerri [whose brain isn't hardly organized at all]
Shomeret
This my second attempt. I tried to post about the first Q&A on Friday
in one post, but my session expired. So now I'm going to have to
divide my notes on it into parts like my HLCS lectures.
Before the Q&As we saw a video about the history of HLWW. Then Carmel
listed the guests for Friday and said they were all present except for
Gillian who was putting the finishing touches on a Flash Gordon
script, but would be with us on schedule.
John Mosby, who acted as the emcee for all the Q&As, introduced
Brandon Jerwa, the author of issues 0-12 in the HL comics.
Originally Lee Moder, the artist for the HL comics that have appeared
so far, was supposed to be in this Q & A , but Lee was ill and unable
to come to HLWW 8. So, David A., who has been the continuity
consultant for the HL comics joined him on stage.
David A. spoke about how the comics came to be. He said that Peter
Davis was approached by Dynamite Entertainment with a proposal for a
HL comics series. As someone who is interested in the idea of HL
comics, I know that other parties have approached DPP about doing a HL
comic in the past, and DPP has turned them down primarily because they
weren't convinced that they had a wide enough distribution network to
make the comic successful. Apparently, even though Dynamite is a
fairly new comics company, they did convince Davis, so he licensed
them. David A. was asked to be the consultant. He said that there
were a few minor things that needed to be adjusted in the comics
series.
If you read the comics discussion board on HLBB, you will see that a
number of fans disagree with David A's estimation of the comics'
adherence to canon. Every new manifestation of HL has veered away
from previously established canon in its own direction. The comics
aren't an exception to this rule. We can either ignore them in order
to adhere to the established canon that we accept or welcome the
comics as a new continuity in the growing HL multiverse.
Brandon Jerwa confessed that he initially wanted to write Battlestar
Galactica, but Dynamite asked him to make a pitch for HL. Brandon had
only seen the first movie, so at that point he had homework to do. He
took a crash course in HL:TS. Brandon also knows a comics writer who
is a HL fan and is much more familiar with HL. So Brandon invited him
to pitch too. Dynamite liked Brandon's pitch better. He said that
David A. was very constructive in his comments and that he had no
trouble with him. Brandon knew that he had to create a comic title
that would appeal to both HL fans and comic book readers. This meant
that the appeal needed to be both broad and specific.
John pointed out that the visual effects in comics can be limitless
because there's no special effects budget as there is in TV and
movies. Brandon said that he liked to play around with the effects.
He even had a mid-air beheading. Initially, he had two page
quickenings, but he scaled them back in later issues to make more room
for story.
A fan asked why another writer was being brought in after issue 12.
Brandon said this is common practice in the industry. They like to
try new things to expand the readership. He also said that Dynamite
was talking to him about doing a HL comic miniseries later,so he
expected to be writing for this title again.
To Be Continued...
Shomeret
A fan asked if issue #11 was intended to be a lead in to The Source
and if Brandon had seen The Source. Now I'd swear I heard Brandon say
very softly off-mike "It's bad," but he later denied having seen it,
so it could have been my imagination. David A. quickly intervened and
said The Source was a topic for Saturday. He described The Source as
a small nugget of gold that rolled downhill and got covered with so
many layers of dirt that no one saw the gold anymore. He summarized
the problems as an attempt to make HL into something it was never
meant to be, Bill Panzer's accident and subsequent death, and filming
in Lithuania. David A. called it a mistake and said that HL had been
injured by The Source, but not beheaded.
To indicate that HL is Immortal and would revive from The Source
calamity, David A started talking about the upcoming HL videogame. He
said that the scenario involves Methos as the teacher of a new
Immortal called Owen MacLeod. Owen turns dark because he desperately
wants to bring a mortal woman he loves back to life. There are
various historical backgrounds in the videogame--the eruption of
Vesuvius, the Scottish highlands and feudal Japan. Methos is your
guide throughout the game and he is going to be voiced by PW. The
videogame would be released in June 2008. David A called this a re-
invention of HL in a more positive direction.
Going back to the comic, Brandon said that there is a reference to The
Source in issue #12, but he hadn't proofread yet and could delete it.
David A. commented that The Source is as if your child has gone bad
and become a meth freak. I can see how David A. would view it that
way. He was called in to write a script for The Source, and it was on
the strength of his involvement that HL:TS cast members signed on. So
David A does consider The Source his child. Unfortunately, the child
was removed from David A.'s custody and the foster parents were
unsuitable.
John mentioned the TV Writer's Guild strike. David A. confirmed that
this would be happening in two weeks. He said that the main reason
for the strike is that the networks are deliberately understating
their income in order to avoid paying writers fairly. It's true that
their ad income has declined, but they also have income from DVDs and
product placements which they aren't talking about.
Mary (yes the same Mary who posts here) asked about whether Brandon
monitors the fan discussion of the comics on the HLBB message board.
Brandon says that he does. He noticed the complaints about his not
including Tessa since the events in his storyline take place during
Duncan and Tessa's relationship, but he said he had no narrative role
for Tessa to play. He did include Methos at the request of the
fans.
Mary then asked if Brandon thought the cover variance (issues being
released with a variety of covers) has a major impact on sales.
Brandon said that he doesn't think it does. Collectors really like
it, but collectors are a small minority, so their purchasing every
version of an issue has a relatively minor impact on sales.
Brandon then said that he has gotten to write Battlestar Galactica
recently. He didn't start out with the ambition of writing comics
about licensed properties, but he thinks it's fun to take established
characters in new directions while staying true to the original canon.
Brandon mentioned a fan who happened to be one of my hotel roommates
because it was such an unusual encounter for him. My roommate Khadri
is from Estonia. Brandon signed a batch of HL comics for her and then
talked to her about the situation for comics readers in Eastern
Europe. Brandon said that if he hadn't come to this convention, he
probably would never have had the opportunity to talk to a fan from
Estonia, and he really appreciated it. Let me add that Brandon Jerwa
was not the only guest to mention Khadri in a Q & A.
Brandon was asked about his relationship with the artist, Lee Moder.
He said he was glad that he has an artist who speaks English. Many
artists don't these days, so communication between writers and artists
is becoming non-existent.
To Be Continued...
Shomeret
John Mosby asked both David A. and Brandon Jerwa about the status of
their respective industries.
David A said that TV is great, but movies are in trouble because the
studios expect so much profit from every project. Creative people
don't make decisions about movies anymore, so movies are much worse.
But the quality of TV has never been better. He praised Bionic Woman.
Brandon said that he thinks the comics industry is in great shape. The
genre of comic book movies has expanded the audience. The danger is
that the tail would start wagging the dog. The movie studios could
start dictating to comic book writers about the product that they feel
would be most profitable for them. This could happen. DC is now
owned by Time Warner. But fans have become writers and artists for
comic books. The industry feels to him like a fraternity of fans. So
he thinks that comics are still in the right hands. "So long as we
can keep the corporations happy, fans can still be the driving force
in comics," he said
Brandon was asked about the fact that this is the digital generation
and fewer young people were reading comics. Brandon said that digital
versions of comic books may be the wave of the future, but no one
wants to kill print media. The fans who scan comic books to upload
and post them online are pirates and very destructive. Piracy
disturbs him, but OTOH there is a new academic interest in comics. He
said that his mother, who went back to college, was given a graphic
novel as a text in one of her courses. This amazes him.
Brandon added that the first five issues of the comic would be
released in trade paperback in a few weeks. He tried to get Dynamite
to release it in time for HLWW 8, but there wasn't enough time.
John asked about whether HL comics would be more thematic like HL:TS.
David A quipped that if he wants to send a message, he'll call Western
Union. Writers of fiction can't be too heavy handed. Themes need to
be integrated with the plot. HL staff writer James Thorpe used to say
about soap box speeches that appeared in scripts "That's too beautiful
to live," and he would always be right. They would be removed from
the script and never aired.
Referring to Owen MacLeod in the videogame, someone asked David A why
there are so many MacLeods in HL. Why not MacGregors? David A said
that HL has always been associated with MacLeods. It's like a
signature element for the franchise, so that each manifestation is
recognizeable as part of HL. But he said that HL would be evolving in
the future, so that it would need to break out of the MacLeod
template. If you have a HL project focusing on an Immortal from
Samaria in 3500 B.C., he can't be named MacLeod. (Shomeret's
comment: But HL 1 had an ancient Egyptian Immortal named Ramirez.
The changes that Immortals go through during their centuries of
existence means that they switch names and sometimes cultural
identifications. An ancient Samarian Immortal might settle in the
Scottish highlands at some point become great friends with a MacLeod
Immortal, become Scottish identified as a result and then change his
name to Fergus MacLeod. It's as likely as Methos, from who knows
where in the Bronze Age, eventually becoming Adam Pierson.)
As the Q & A wound up Brandon said that he would be doing a comic book
with his own original characters in 2008. He invited fans to check
out his website at BrandonJerwa.com.
Next I'll be posting about F. Braun McAsh's Q &A.
Shomeret
AMc
Feels like old times!
Alicia
Denise
I went to Braun's knife class rather than the fan kata. I am also
coordinated impaired. My hands will work, my feet will work but
please don't ask me to do them at the same time. This is why I don't
dance.
Denise
Mordechai T. Abzug
"Shomeret " <JDChro...@aol.com> spake thusly:
> If you have a HL project focusing on an Immortal from
> Samaria in 3500 B.C., he can't be named MacLeod. (Shomeret's
> comment: But HL 1 had an ancient Egyptian Immortal named Ramirez.
> The changes that Immortals go through during their centuries of
> existence means that they switch names and sometimes cultural
> identifications. An ancient Samarian Immortal might settle in the
> Scottish highlands at some point become great friends with a MacLeod
> Immortal, become Scottish identified as a result and then change his
> name to Fergus MacLeod.
Or what happened in :HL: The Search for Vengeance." An ancient
immortal who is living with McLeod mortals is "adopted" by them and
takes on the McLeod name.
- Morty
It's just me...
> To indicate that HL is Immortal and would revive from The Source
> calamity, David A started talking about the upcoming HL videogame. He
> said that the scenario involves Methos as the teacher of a new
> Immortal called Owen MacLeod. Owen turns dark because he desperately
> wants to bring a mortal woman he loves back to life. There are
> various historical backgrounds in the videogame--the eruption of
> Vesuvius, the Scottish highlands and feudal Japan. Methos is your
> guide throughout the game and he is going to be voiced by PW. The
> videogame would be released in June 2008. David A called this a re-
> invention of HL in a more positive direction.
Jeezus! Just how many damn immortal MacLeods are there? Apparently
every other highland born MacLeod is a beheading machine. This makes
what? The fifth one if I'm not mistaken. The best approach for a
videogame would have been to have a set group of movie and series
immortals and the ability to make your own immortal character and
have the one you pick or create go on an adventure/quest of some
sort. It would also have been a damn good idea to have an online
multiplayer component as well sort of like Halo. Immortal death
matches sound like hours of fun.
> Brandon was asked about his relationship with the artist, Lee Moder.
> He said he was glad that he has an artist who speaks English. Many
> artists don't these days, so communication between writers and artists
> is becoming non-existent.
I don't know what comix industry he's working in but as someone
who's been on the fringes of it his whole all I can say is WTF?
I'm sure there may be some artists who don't speak english
especially if they don't reside in this country but every comic
artist I've ever known has spoken fluent english including those
rare few that weren't born here. Maybe it's because the company
he's working for is so damn cheap that they hire cheap crappy
artists from other contries? Apparently this is so for both
the artist and writer since in both cases they suck horribly
on the HL comic. The only good thing from these comix that
I've seen so far is some of the cover art.
Ivory
It's just me...
> David A said that TV is great, but movies are in trouble because the
> studios expect so much profit from every project. Creative people
> don't make decisions about movies anymore, so movies are much worse.
> But the quality of TV has never been better. He praised Bionic Woman.
This would be why more filmakers have to take control and start their
own studios. Robert Rodriguez has had the right idea for a long time.
He built his own studios and effects company much like Lucas did
because he got tired of the studios messing with him. He even
resigned from the Directors guild when they wouldn't allow him to
give Frank Miller a co-director credit on "Sin City".
> Brandon said that he thinks the comics industry is in great shape. The
> genre of comic book movies has expanded the audience. The danger is
> that the tail would start wagging the dog. The movie studios could
> start dictating to comic book writers about the product that they feel
> would be most profitable for them. This could happen. DC is now
> owned by Time Warner. But fans have become writers and artists for
> comic books. The industry feels to him like a fraternity of fans. So
> he thinks that comics are still in the right hands. "So long as we
> can keep the corporations happy, fans can still be the driving force
> in comics," he said
It hasn't really ever been an issue since Time Warner has owned DC and
they've owned DC for a very long time now. In all actuality some of
the best work DC has ever done has been during this time.
Ivory
Jette
> Shomeret wrote:
>> To indicate that HL is Immortal and would revive from The Source
>> calamity, David A started talking about the upcoming HL videogame. He
>> said that the scenario involves Methos as the teacher of a new
>> Immortal called Owen MacLeod. Owen turns dark because he desperately
>> wants to bring a mortal woman he loves back to life. There are
>> various historical backgrounds in the videogame--the eruption of
>> Vesuvius, the Scottish highlands and feudal Japan. Methos is your
>> guide throughout the game and he is going to be voiced by PW. The
>> videogame would be released in June 2008. David A called this a re-
>> invention of HL in a more positive direction.
>
> Jeezus! Just how many damn immortal MacLeods are there? Apparently
> every other highland born MacLeod is a beheading machine. This makes
> what? The fifth one if I'm not mistaken. The best approach for a
> videogame would have been to have a set group of movie and series
> immortals and the ability to make your own immortal character and
> have the one you pick or create go on an adventure/quest of some
> sort. It would also have been a damn good idea to have an online
> multiplayer component as well sort of like Halo. Immortal death
> matches sound like hours of fun.
Trust me - there's a shedload of MacLeods in Scotland. Thousands and
thousands and thousands of them. Bl**dy MacLeods - every time I have
to do a name search of the Register of Inhibitions (bad debtors) on
someone called MacLeod I've got pages and pages and pages of the sods,
and they're all different and none of them ever turn out to be the one
I'm looking for (which is *good*, but means the task takes me a long
time).
The MacGregors are even worse. The only other name that comes close
is Smith.
--
Jette Goldie
je...@blueyonder.co.uk
http://www.jette.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/
http://wolfette.livejournal.com/
("reply to" is spamblocked - use the email addy in sig)
It's just me...
Well yeah...but still..it's just one of those retarded "traditions" that
the producers have put in place that serve no other real purpose than
to make HL look even sillier with each new project or incarnation. It's
just like the moronic "tradition" of naming every damn villainous
immortal with a K name or cloning every sequel baddie's personality
from the Kurgan. At this point HL really can't float anymore because
of all the weight of seriously stupid things that its guardians have
unnecessarily burdened it with. You CAN conceivably have a main
character whose name isn't MacLeod and who does come from the Scot
Highlands and still call it Highlander. This would not confuse the
fan base. If it does then good god are we a stupid bunch. It was
fine the first time around when they did the series and actually was
handled well from a story perspective but beyond that it
has been increasingly stupid and in this fan's opinion it has been
increasingly offensive. As if the powers that be are saying
"they are obviously far too stupid to accept any main character that
isn't named MacLeod or a villain that doesn't have a K name. We
should treat them like children and take their lunch money." And
they wonder why the HL franchise is ridiculed by most people and
can't seem to dig itself out?
Ivory
Mordechai T. Abzug
"It's just me..." <Iv...@triad.rr.com> spake thusly:
> You CAN conceivably have a main character whose name isn't MacLeod
> and who does come from the Scot Highlands and still call it
> Highlander. This would not confuse the fan base.
You could even have a main character who is not from the Highlands at
all, but is an immortal, and even then, you might get away with
calling it Highlander. In fact, you could even make the character
female. Maybe base it on someone who was close to one of the
MacLeods. If she had black hair at some point, maybe you would call
it "Highlander: The Raven."
> And they wonder why the HL franchise is ridiculed by most people and
> can't seem to dig itself out?
I haven't seen the franchise ridiculed. It's not producing much
that's new, but I think that's because of a paucity of ideas. Casting
a new immortal lead, named MacLeod or otherwise, is not going to
suddenly revive interest. For Highlander to really come back and be
successful, it will need a complete revamp -- much like the new
Battlestar Galactica and Bionic Woman are considerably more
sophisticated than their predecessors. HL doesn't need a new paint
job, it needs someone bright-eyed and eager to come up with a
revolutionary new show designed around HL-style immortality. I think
it will happen, sooner or later -- the HL concept has too much
built-in potential to lie fallow forever. But maybe not for a number
of years. It seems like 20-30 years is the magic window to bring back
a series, and we're only 10 years after the end of HL:TS.
- Morty
Donna...@gmail.com
>have unnecessarily burdened it with.
Yeah, 'cause that's what wrong with the current incarnations of HL --
the names. If the hero was just named John Smith, it would be a work
of friggin' genius.
Donna
(hey, it worked for Dr. Who <eg>)
Jette
Well, you'd never run out of John Smiths. It is just about the most
common name in the English language. ;-)
First Fallen
>
> Yeah, 'cause that's what wrong with the current incarnations of HL --
> the names. If the hero was just named John Smith, it would be a work
> of friggin' genius.
>
> Donna
> (hey, it worked for Dr. Who <eg>)
I vote for the further adventures of Peter Gaicus ;)
Shomeret
This post will be devoted to F. Braun McAsh's Q & A.
Braun was asked about his book on swords. He said that he'd put it
aside to work on a novel. He took all the HL elements out of a story
he'd submitted for Evening at Joe II which never appeared, and is
turning it into a novel. It's about a Hollywood scriptwriter who
moved to Alaska. <Shomeret's comment: Something along the same line
as Northern Exposure? I loved that series.> Then he put the novel
aside to work on a political satire book which would be released soon.
John asked Braun how he became a fight choreographer. He said he'd
been on a fencing team in school, so when he went on to study acting
he choreographed a few fights in theatre school. At Stratford Ontario
Shakespeare Festival Braun studied under fight master Paddy Cream who
had been Errol Flynn's stunt double. At one point Paddy was faced
with choreographing fights for three history plays at once, so he gave
some of the work to Braun. Braun said that he'd studied with fencing
masters in Europe and still considers himself a student of fencing.
He thinks he's starting to get the hang of it. <lol> Braun points
out that Bob Anderson is still working. Paddy Cream died at 93. Braun
thinks that fight choreography might extend his life since fight
choreographers are long-lived.
Braun was asked about the process of doing choreography for HL:TS. He
said that the first ep in Vancouver and the first one in Paris were
the only ones he had a chance to prep in advance. Otherwise he'd be
choreographing one ep while working with the actors in another ep that
was currently filming. Fortunately, AP could learn a fight in an hour
and did it on a regular basis including the Spanish dueling circle
scene in Duende. So much of AP's time had been taken up with flamenco
when he was working on that ep because he insisted on doing all the
dancing himself. The last fight scene in the series that he worked on
was the Methos fight in Indiscretions. After that, Braun had
exhausted all the possibilities for new sword moves in his arsenal,
but it had taken four years to do it.
An aspiring novelist asked for Braun's advice about writing fight
scenes. Braun said that in a novel a fight scene is like dialogue.
It needs to be part of the plot. One of the characters should be
changed by the encounter.
To Be Continued...
Shomeret
Braun was asked about his Vlad Dracul novel. This is a novel about
the historical Dracula. He said he was on Chapter 15. Braun told us
some historical facts about Vlad Dracul. He was a prince of
Wallachia, not Transylvania. He was supposed to have died in the
Battle of Bucharest, but he was beheaded and the head was never found
so there's no evidence it was really him. The castle called Dracula's
Castle never belonged to Vlad Dracul. His association with the blood-
drinking vampire legend may be due to a mis-translation. Wampyr in
Old High German meant bloodthirsty,not blood drinker. Braun also said
that contrary to many novels and movies, there are no vampire legends
in Romania.
When Braun was asked about his favorite fight scenes on film, he
talked about the original Three Musketeers movie. He said Oliver Reed
was a very fine swordsman. He is also fond of the classical Japanese
samurai movies which show how katanas really were handled
historically. Braun distinguished between fantasy movies and those
that are intended to be realistic. In a fantasy movie like Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon it doesn't bother Braun if the fight scenes are
equally fantastical, but if the movie is intended to portray real
life, then the fight scenes ought to be equally realistic. He said
that a film called The Musketeer was most egregious.
On HL:TS the fight scene he most enjoyed choreographing was the
Spanish dueling circle on Duende. He got to choreograph the most
intricate scene because he was working with two great swordsmen (AP
and ADL). Braun also thought the brutality of the final fight between
Duncan and Brian Cullen was amazing to work on, but we should see what
was removed. There was a scene that was judged too gruesome to air on
TV. When a fan pressed him about the content of the removed scene, he
said it was Duncan skewered by a sword and hanging from a fence slowly
turning. <Shomeret's comment: Yikes!>
Braun discussed his ability to improvise for con sword demos. I
wished that we could have seen one on stage at HLWW 8. I loved the
ones I saw at G5.
A fearful actor in a stage production of The Prisoner of Zenda was
made into a credible fighter by Braun when he convinced him that
fighting is really acting, He had a month of rehearsal to work with
him, however. He'd never get that much time in a film or TV.
Someone asked Braun how he deals with a klutz actor, and Braun didn't
really deal with that question. He spoke about connecting with the
actor in some way. <Shomeret's comment: On the stage, I don't think
a klutz actor who says "I can't dance, don't make me" would get very
far in the business. Stage actors really need to be more versatile.
But on TV actors who have "no physicality" as Donna has described it,
manage to have careers because they can always have stand-ins.>
Braun spoke about the gap between real fighting and fight scenes on
stage and screen. He said many came to fencing salles hoping to be
Errol Flynn. They need to re-examine their motivations. But OTOH he
also said that fencing's modern technology was removing it from the
real historical swordfighting styles that interest Braun. He doesn't
like the trend of such things as electrified weapons.
Next I'll be posting about the writing panel with Q&A subjects David
A., Gillian and Donna. I was hoping for James Thorpe to join that
panel, but it didn't happen.
Shomeret
Shomeret
Braun was asked about the Vlad Dracul novel. This is the novel about
the historical personage who was Dracula, not the vampire of fiction
and legend. Braun said that he is up to chapter 15 in that book.
There is no HL in it. Braun told us some facts about Vlad Dracul. He
was a prince of Wallachia, not Transylvania. He is supposed to have
died in the Battle of Bucharest, but since he was beheaded, and the
head was never found there is no evidence that it was him. The place
that is called Dracula Castle was not his. Apparently, one of the
reasons the vampire legend became attached to Vlad Dracul is because
of a mis-translation. Wampyr in Old High German meant bloodthirsty,
not blood drinker. Braun also said that contrary to a great many
novels and movies, there are no vampire legends in Romania.
Braun was asked about his favorite fights. Braun particularly liked
the fights in the original Three Musketeers movie. Oliver Reed was a
very fine swordsman. He also admires classical Japanese samurai
movies. They depict the way the katana was really handled
historically. He distinguished between movies that are deliberately
fantastical like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and movies that are
intended to be realistic. If it's fantasy, he can excuse unrealistic
fight scenes. But a movie that is intended to be realistic, should
have realistic fights. Braun thought that a movie called The
Musketeer was most egregious.
The fight scene on HL:TS that was he enjoyed working on most was the
Spanish dueling circle on Duende. He could create a fight of great
complexity because he had two such great swordsmen (AP and ADL)to work
with. Braun thought the brutality of the "Courage" fight between
Duncan and Brian Cullen also made it a favorite, but there was stuff
that was so violent that it was cut out. He was told that it was too
gruesome and couldn't be shown on TV. When a fan pressed Braun about
the deleted content, Braun said it was Duncan skewered on a sword and
hanging on a fence slowly turning. <Shomeret's comment: Yikes!>
Braun said that there was one PW and AP demo at a con where nothing
had been planned in advance, so they thought they could stymie Braun,
but Braun had studied improv so he had no problems.
<Shomeret's comment: My experience is that you can either think on
your feet or you can't. Improv was my weakest area in acting
classes.>
Braun discussed how he managed to get a credible performance from a
terrified actor in a stage version of The Prisoner of Zenda. He
showed the actor that swordfighting is a kind of acting. But he had a
month of rehearsal to work with him. He'd never have that kind of
time in movies and television.
When he's had problems with actors, he's found a way to connect with
them. He's showed them how the fight scene relates to their
characters and how it's relevant to their performance. He was asked
about klutz actors, but didn't really address the point. <Shomeret:
In stage acting, a klutz who says "I can't dance, don't make me"
wouldn't get far in the business. Stage actors need to be more
versatile. But a TV or movie actor with "no physicality" as Donna has
said, can have a stand-in.>
Braun was asked about the gap between fighting on stage and screen and
real life. Braun said that someone who comes to a fencing salle
expecting to be Errol Flynn should re-examine his motivation. OTOH,
fencing is becoming more high tech with electrified weapons and
becoming more removed from the historical fencing styles that interest
Braun.
As usual Braun was insightful and interesting. My next post will be
about the HL:TS writers with David A., Gillian and Donna.
Shomeret
Mordechai T. Abzug
"Shomeret " <JDChro...@aol.com> spake thusly:
> Braun points out that Bob Anderson is still working.
Speaking of which, one thing I've always wondered -- why wasn't Bob
Anderson with HL after Season 1?
- Morty
First Fallen
> "Shomeret " <JDChro...@aol.com> spake thusly:
>
>> Braun points out that Bob Anderson is still working.
>
> Speaking of which, one thing I've always wondered -- why wasn't Bob
> Anderson with HL after Season 1?
I believe, he didn't care for the grind of doing a tv series, and also
wanted to move on to do other things.
Shomeret
As a segue from Braun to the writers' panel, John asked about how the
writers would add context to a fight scene to make it interesting.
Gillian said that they would put in the script that someone is losing
and is scared. Braun would take notice and use it in his
choreography.
David A. said that on HL:TS he trusted the people who were executing
the product, and he had no ego involved in his exact words being the
ones in the aired episode. He figured that Ken Gord knew what was
important. Gillian said that she was often amazed at
what Ken Gord could do to bring the scripts alive. Donna said she
later worked on a show where the head writer thought her words were
sacred, and it was quite a contrast.
The scene in which Joe almost died in "Judgment Day" was given as an
example where an improvising actor (JB) made the scene far more
powerful than it had been in the script. Another example was the
fight between Methos and Amanda in "Methuslah's Gift" which turned out
to be far more than what had been written on the page.
John asked the writers about how they ended up in the TV script
writing business.
David A. said that he'd been singing in bars in Los Angeles and was
getting tired of it. So he started writing scripts and was introduced
to a Warner Brothers VP. This introduction allowed him to become an
apprentice to an established writer who told David that if he could
get a show on the air, he'd open the door for his apprentice. All of
this happened and David A. started working on network TV.
Gillian said that she had done an internship at Universal Studios in
college. She got job leads during the internship and became an
assistant on Jake and the Fatman where David A was working. When
David A became the head writer for HL:TS, he found there was no
permanent writing staff. He decided to hire Gillian.Gillian said that
this shows that how you get trained affects the rest of your career.
HL:TS was her first staff position. It was different and better than
other shows that she has worked on since then.
Donna said that she met Gillian on a bus on the way to Worldcon.
Gillian was working on HL:TS for David A and they needed another staff
writer. Donna says she learned everything she knows about the writing
business from David A. and Gillian.
The writers were asked when they knew that HL:TS was special. David
A. quipped that he knew when he was contract was renewed, but in a
more serious vein he said that he knew when he saw the dailies and
realized that what they had created was more than the sum of its
parts. He said that because it was a co-production, the money men
backed off and the show got on a roll. By fifth season the episodes
had become like feature films. David said the actors were great. You
could write just about anything for them. He also thought HL:TS was
special because Gillian and Donna worked so hard. He recalled another
show where a writer working under him bowed out of a script meeting
because she had an appointment with her masseuse. Gillian and Donna
didn't bow out of script meetings.
David said that Gillian got very emotionally involved with her
scripts. At one point she asked David to go to bat for her over a
script that had been altered in filming. She asked him to threaten to
resign. David A. said to her: "This is business. Quit over a point
of honor? I'd have to sell my house!" After a while Gillian realized
that the episodes were fine even if they weren't exactly what she had
written. Sometimes they were better than the original script. Donna
said that David could convincingly turn a sow's ear into a silk purse
in speaking to producers. David A., who could give lesssons in
diplomacy, said that you learn to say to the people who sign your
paychecks things like "That's interesting," even if you completely
disagree with their perspective and "It was all because of you," even
if they had nothing to do with the success of the project. You never
say to them that their ideas are stupid. That's how a writer stays on
the payroll.
To Be Continued...
Shomeret
David A. said that his diplomacy wasn't always successful. There was
a producer who always insisted on getting her way. He'd think he was
communicating with her and had gotten her to concede on a certain
point, but then she'd go back to the same issue later and he'd realize
that the issue hadn't been satisfactorily settled at all. She just
had to win.
The writers were asked about scenes that weren't used. Gillian said
she had originally written a scene in which Kalas beheaded Methos.
She thought it could have been very interesting to see Duncan dealing
with that. But PW impressed everyone so much in the dailies that
plans were changed. "So we killed off Richie instead," said David A.
The audience applauded.
Someone asked about an episode that never got made about Amanda as a
black widow. Gillian said that Liz was unavailable at the point when
they wanted to use that script, so another script was substituted.
<Shomeret's comment: But they did use that story line in NTB and I
wished they hadn't because it wasn't interesting and I don't agree
that Amanda would have been so uninfluenced by Rebecca in the
alternate continuity that she would have become a black widow.
Apparently Liz agrees with me that the black widow premise wasn't
interesting. She told Maureen Russell in her interview for
Highlander: The Complete Watchers Guide that she thought it might have
been more interesting for the alternate Amanda to have a ruthless
lawyer. David A. said that there was a story line about an Immortal
puppeteer that was never aired. It was very dark. The puppeteer was
presenting a show with Darius and Grayson as puppets. He turned out
to be a pedophile and went off with Kenny. Of course Kenny gave him
swift justice. But this was considered too dark to air on TV.
<Shomeret: Very interesting. This and other possibilities involving
the character of Kenny can only be pursued in fanfic now.>
The writers were asked if they monitored fan reactions. David A. said
he was suspicious of fan reactions in the beginning. He wanted a free
hand with the series and didn't think the fans were representative.
Gillian and Donna paid more attention to what the fans were saying.
Gillian said that ATH had some very intelligent posters who were
writing essays about HL. She passed on the more thoughtful criticism
and praise that she found online. Donna said that they knew
newsgroups weren't representative of the audience. There was one
genre show that called the newsgroup devoted to it "the angry ten"
because it was always the same ten people posting.
Someone asked David if he had untold stories about HL:TS characters.
David said that he wanted to write more about Darius. He'd originally
written Darius as deformed, but having a pure heart. He was intended
to be a Yoda character with humor and dignity. Werner Stocker was
cast because the German investors didn't want the only German
character on the series to be deformed. David A had always wanted to
bring Darius off holy ground. Donna said that in the original script
of The Hunters it was Darius with a quarterstaff who assisted Duncan
against the Hunters, not Richie on a motorcycle.
A fan said that one thing that made HL:TS special for her is that HL
staff writers Gillian and Donna were on AOL answering the fans'
questions and explaining how things worked on a TV series. Donna said
that she first realized that HL fandom was special when she went to
her first con in Denver. She told David A. that he should go because
she could "pick the love off the ground". Gillian said that she had
long ago fallen in love with the character Peter Wimsey from the
Dorothy Sayer mystery novels and found that there was a thriving
fandom for those novels long after Sayers died. Gillian had always
wanted to create something that would have such a devoted fandom and
HL:TS turned out to be the project that did that for her. It's
Immortal.
John asked David A. how you manage to make dramatic changes in the
series when TV is such a collaborative process. David A. said that
when he first arrived he couldn't do that because he had no scripts
and was too busy just producing material. <Shomeret's comment: During
this period when he was just producing material, the Watchers were
introduced which was a radical change to the HL mythos. One that I
very much appreciate.> In second season AV wanted her character to
play an equal role with AP's. She wanted a Duncan and Tessa show.
Since AV couldn't become an action hero, this wasn't possible. So she
asked to leave and needed to be written out. This was a big change in
the series. Later there were other big changes when Methos became a
continuing character and Duncan had a dark quickening. By third
season Bill Panzer was the only David A. needed to convince when he
was introducing a big change, and he usually said yes. When they had
to kill Richie, Gillian wanted him to live. The scene she wrote in
which Duncan nearly killed Richie remained as an appendix to
"Archangel" for a while, but eventually they had to drop the alternate
ending.
John asked how long it normally took to get an episode written. David
A. said that it was normally six weeks from idea to completed script.
It could go quicker. There was a great deal of time spent waiting for
approvals. It's really inadviseable to go ahead with a script without
them because if you don't get it approved and you've done all the work
on script, it can break your heart.
Someone asked how often an actor said no to a script. David A. said
that if it was AP he'd discuss it. Anyone else would be too low in
the pecking order to say no with any authority. David A. said that if
the star has a problem with you, a writer can be fired. This happened
to him on Jake and the Fatman. So it was important to David that AP
remain happy with him. Every four or five episodes, AP would have a
problem with a script. David A. recalls Adrian calling him up during
the Northridge earthquake, which was destroying his house at the time,
and saying that he had a script emergency with the fight at the end of
the third act. David A. told him that he was in the middle of a
genuine emergency, but they worked it out. Most of the time AP won.
David said that there was one instance when he thought he should have
won. In "Unusual Suspects" AP wanted to show off his comedic
abilities and asked for re-writes that would allow him to do that.
David said that he thinks AP is a wonderful actor, but that he isn't
particularly successful at comedy.
John asked whether the writers, who were working out of an office in
Los Angeles ever wanted to be on set in Vancouver or Paris. Gillian
said that she always wanted to be on set, but she only got to visit
occasionally during HL:TS. Bill Panzer had warned her that she could
end up confusing the characters with the actors if she didn't keep her
distance from them. Donna said that David Tynan was the writing staff
representative in Vancouver. He relayed last minute requests for
script changes to David A. and put out small fires. David A. said he
didn't like being on the set at all. He's afraid of getting in the
director's way and he knows nothing of the technical aspects of
filming. It also makes him nervous to be on the set because then he
has to worry about any emergencies that develop during filming. If
he's not there, he figures that it's Ken Gord's problem and doesn't
worry about it. David A. likes to be in the writing room and the the
editing room.
John asked Gillian about the status of the TV industry. Gillian said
that there are two many shows, so the viewers were fractured into
smaller and smaller segments. It used to be that everyone was
watching the same shows. Now with cable there are different viewing
experiences.
John commented that HL was one of the first shows to have great extras
on DVD. Donna said this is because Gillian saved all the outtakes and
deleted scenes. There were other shows that had DVD extras before
HL:TS, but none of them had anyone as obssessive/compulsive about
saving that material as Gillian was. Gillian said that there were only
a certain number of minutes on a DVD so they had to make decisions
about what footage to use. When it came to a scene that was as
compelling as the Jimmie scene, they could include all nineteen
versions on the DVD, but she didn't get to include all the deleted
scenes and outtakes in the DVD extras.
Next time I'll be dealing with a few experiences I had that weren't on
the con schedule before I begin posting about the Saturday scheduled
events.
Shomeret
First Fallen
:)
"Shomeret" <JDChro...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1193701034.8...@t8g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
It's just me...
As usual, missing the point. Is it the main problem? Not even close.
Is it a problem? Yes it is. It makes something that has already
become sort of a joke even more ridiculous. No one knows what the
Doctor's real name is. He is an enigma and he'll likely remain so.
That's part of his long standing appeal, unlike Highlander. While
we may learn small tidbits with almost every tiny answer we get
far more questions. John Smith is likely just a name he uses as
an obvious joke. We'll probably never know and that's just fine
but I highly doubt a Gallifreyan would have such a name. Of
course his mother was possibly an earth woman and his granddaughter
was named Susan...
Ivory
It's just me...
> In article <471be0c0$0$16460$4c36...@roadrunner.com>,
> "It's just me..." <Iv...@triad.rr.com> spake thusly:
>
>> You CAN conceivably have a main character whose name isn't MacLeod
>> and who does come from the Scot Highlands and still call it
>> Highlander. This would not confuse the fan base.
>
> You could even have a main character who is not from the Highlands at
> all, but is an immortal, and even then, you might get away with
> calling it Highlander. In fact, you could even make the character
> female. Maybe base it on someone who was close to one of the
> MacLeods. If she had black hair at some point, maybe you would call
> it "Highlander: The Raven."
Yep, and because this hypothetical show would be so god blessed
awful it would probably be cancelled after limping through one
painfully depressing season. Of course I seem to remember oh
about a billion "spin offs" that were successful that didn't
contain any nod to their parent show in the title. Some even
far surpassing the original and some also starring a female
hero. I somehow think "Hercules: The Xena" might not have fared
quite as well.
>> And they wonder why the HL franchise is ridiculed by most people and
>> can't seem to dig itself out?
>
> I haven't seen the franchise ridiculed. It's not producing much
> that's new, but I think that's because of a paucity of ideas. Casting
> a new immortal lead, named MacLeod or otherwise, is not going to
> suddenly revive interest. For Highlander to really come back and be
> successful, it will need a complete revamp -- much like the new
> Battlestar Galactica and Bionic Woman are considerably more
> sophisticated than their predecessors. HL doesn't need a new paint
> job, it needs someone bright-eyed and eager to come up with a
> revolutionary new show designed around HL-style immortality. I think
> it will happen, sooner or later -- the HL concept has too much
> built-in potential to lie fallow forever. But maybe not for a number
> of years. It seems like 20-30 years is the magic window to bring back
> a series, and we're only 10 years after the end of HL:TS.
>
> - Morty
If you haven't seen or heard the franchise ridiculed then you must
be living in a bubble. Even amongst the fans it's not unusual for
it to be laughed at. Outside of its fandom it is considered a big
joke by this point and as far as movie critics and the like you
don't even wanna go there. You are right about HL needing to die
for a long time though and be revamped at a much later date.
I can't see the people in charge letting their main (and as far as
I can tell only) meal ticket lie dormant though. Its been made
painfully clear that as long as they can squeeze a plug nickel
out of it they will continue to make it jump through flaming hoops
wearing a pink tutu if need be.
Ivory
Jette
the Doctor is first called "John Smith" when he's exiled to Earth and
joins up with U.N.I.T - the Brigadier needs to get him an identity, so
he uses "John Smith" (the most common name in the English speaking
world, apparently).
Since then it's been an ongoing joke.
It's just me...
> the Doctor is first called "John Smith" when he's exiled to Earth and
> joins up with U.N.I.T - the Brigadier needs to get him an identity, so
> he uses "John Smith" (the most common name in the English speaking
> world, apparently).
>
> Since then it's been an ongoing joke.
Don't remind me. I've been itching to watch the Pertwee run again
for ages. I've very fond memories of it from my teenage years and
of course they don't show the classic shows in any form in these
parts anymore. I'd kill for them to release the original show in
complete season (series) format instead of the smattering of odd
stories here and there. I've been downloading Pertwee's run for
awhile now but at over 40 gigs of content it has been slow going.
I was overjoyed to see the first story of the new series had the
Autons as they were always one of my faves from that era.
Ivory
Jette
UK TV Gold won't stop showing them. It was "The Daemons" yesterday.
Shomeret
I've had a nasty ongoing case of RL as I've said on another thread.
Sorry I'd stopped posting about the con. Here are some more
installments.
On Friday evening I went out to dinner with two of my hotel roommates,
Theresa and Deborah, and we had a very interesting discussion.
Theresa likes to play chess and had heard that AP also plays chess.
She wants to play a game of chess with AP and asked what I thought the
chances were that it could happen.
I had not yet seen AP at this con. So my most recent memory of AP was
at G5 which happened a number of years ago. At that point, AP had
recently had a problem with a stalker. He had bodyguards following
him wherever he went, and didn't seem very comfortable with the fans.
Given his experience with the stalker, I could completely understand
where he was coming from. There was a fan at his Q&A at G5 who
definitely didn't help matters. She aired her delusional fantasy of
the destined eternal relationship she thought she had with AP
publicly. He probably saw her as a potential stalker. I remember
posting about this when I did my G5 con report. I told Theresa about
this history and asked her to put herself in AP's position.
Deborah, who is a Barry Manilow fan, told us about Barry Manilow's
history with stalkers, fan harassment and even a home invasion. She
told me that she believed that the fans who followed Barry Manilow to
every concert and appearance he made should be considered stalkers. I
disagreed with her. I said that they're dedicated fans, not
stalkers. There's a difference.
As an example I mentioned ATH's own Jette Goldie and how many frequent
flyer miles she has probably logged in order to see JB. "Jette," I
said to Deborah, "is not a stalker." She's a very dedicated fan who
really appreciates Jim's work, and Jim appreciates Jette too. Jim is
not threatened by his more dedicated fans.
I think the difference between a stalker and a dedicated fan is mind-
set and intent. A dedicated fan my cherish private fantasies about
the performer she admires, but she knows the difference between
fantasy and reality and respects the necessary boundaries between
performers and fans. A stalker has lost the distinction between
fantasy and reality and has also lost all sense of boundaries. A
dedicated fan wants to experience the power of performances. A
stalker wants to intrude into the performer's personal space.
Would AP see a chess game as an intrusion into his personal space? I
thought it might be possible given what I saw of him at G5.
When I did see AP at his Q & A on Saturday, I realized that G5 had
been a number of years ago and AP had recovered from the trauma of the
stalking incident. He seemed very relaxed and much more comfortable
interacting with fans that he had been at G5. He had no
bodyguards following him around everywhere at HLWW 8. I think that
the atmosphere at this smaller, more intimate HL con also made AP feel
more secure.
Theresa asked AP if they could play chess in return for a donation to
Peace. Carmel suggested that it could be an auction item. She said
that they would discuss it. A chess game was therefore on the table,
so to speak. It appeared to be a possibility.
Next I'm going to post about an unfortunate incident at HLWW 8 with a
con member who went home dis-satisfied.
Shomeret
Shomeret
On Saturday morning I got up early to go to a pre-arranged breakfast
in the hotel restaurant with Holy Ground Forum members. I sat with
Merrie Gail,a ST:TOS fan and we enjoyed talking about our experiences
in Trek fandom. It was an expensive breakfast, but a very good one
that I very much appreciated over the course of the day since I ended
up not having time for either lunch or dinner. Though I did manage to
purchase a couple of bags of beef jerky at a convenience store. I
lived on beef jerky at this con.
After breakfast I made inquiries about a woman who had promised me a
ride to the airport after the con. I was told that she had gone home
completely dis-satisfied with her con experience. The fan who told me
of her departure said that none of the UK HL fans she knew had been
in attendance at HLWW 8. She also felt that her volunteer experience
had not been positive. Two of my roommates, Theresa and Khadri, had
volunteered to work at the con as this other fan had. They had made it
clear that there were certain times that they would not be available
to work because there were events that they wanted to attend. The
woman who went home claimed that she was not given time off to attend
the Guest Meet and Greet which she had paid for. I thought this was
very strange. It occurred to me that this fan hadn't communicated
very well with HLWW staff. When I told Theresa this story, she said
that she thought the fan who went home is the sort of person who
doesn't speak up for herself. She might have been waiting to be asked
if she needed time off. She might have been waiting for a fan to show
up and say that she was relieving her. But staff can't create proper
volunteer schedules without input from the volunteers.
I don't want anyone to misunderstand me. I think that HLWW 8 was a
very well run con, but even the best run conventions can experience
problems through miscommunication which isn't at all the fault of the
con committee.
I think that this incident should be taken as an object lesson for
inexperienced con attendees. You will not have a good con experience
if you don't take care of your own needs. Don't expect other people
to take care them for you. They aren't mind readers. You are your
own best advocate.
Next I'll be posting about the first Q&A on Saturday morning which was
David A on Ken Gord on the production end of things.
Shomeret
Shomeret
Before the Q&A began we were treated to a HLWW video which was a
montage of scenes from the series with a sound track of Queen songs.
When David A. and Ken Gord came on stage after the video, Ken said
that the video was a hard act to follow.
David and Ken tried to defer to each other. Ken said that Canadians
always defer to others. David said that they can't defer to "guilt
ridden Jews". Then David A told us that Ken is the one who was on the
set, so he knows everything.
Someone asked Ken how he got the hundred monkeys that were used in the
Horseman ep Rev 6:8. Ken said that he doesn't recall that obtaining
the monkeys was a problem. They were ordered, and the next day they
were on the set. <Shomeret's comment: No doubt a hundred monkeys
typing the works of Shakespeare would have been a more difficult order
to fulfill.>
Ken said that he normally got the script a week before filming, then
he got what he could obtain that the script called for while still
staying within budget.
Someone asked what had been the most difficult production problem.
Ken said that wardrobe had ongoing problems. He remembers when they
had 1642 costumes coming from England and Fedex was late. Wardrobe
was constantly in a panic. David A. said that Ken never displayed any
panic over costumes or anything else.
Ken said that director Dennis Berry wanting things that weren't in the
script was another ongoing problem. He remembered when Dennis Berry
wanted Ken to make flat bottomed boats for an American Civil War
flashback. Well, there wasn't time to make those boats and the script
didn't call for them. The scene in question took place on a bridge.
David A. interjected that it also originally wasn't an American Civil
War flashback. This was definitely a sore point with David A. It was
supposed to have been a Culloden flashback, but Dennis Berry couldn't
pronounce Culloden and had never heard of it. <Shomeret's comment: I
can't refrain from saying that having heard of the Battle of Culloden
should be a prerequisite for directing a show called Highlander, but
maybe I'm asking too much. It's a good thing that Dennis Berry didn't
direct "Forgive Us Our Trespasses" which was directed by Paolo
Barzman.> David A. had to re-write the flashback so that it took
place during the American Civil War. He was furious at Dennis Berry
over having to make this revision. They almost came to blows over
it.
John Mosby asked when Ken realized that HL:TS was special. Ken said
he realized during his first year which was second season. He
remembers that he was amazed by a letter from a fan that was a
diatribe about Tessa's death. The fan had been so passionate about
this character that Ken decided to phone her and she was just as upset
about Tessa as she had been when she wrote the letter.
David A. said that from the point of view of sets it's obvious that
HL:TS was very different from an ordinary cop shows. They didn't have
to deal with requests to create an entire Mayan village, for
example.
Ken said he had the most fun casting Immortals. In his experience,
actors either had what it took to appear as if they were Immortal or
they didn't. He would ask them if they'd seen the show, and if they
hadn't he would sit them down with a tape. He impressed upon them
that playing an Immortal made them a part of an elite group and that
they needed to take it seriously.
David A. started talking about the rock stars who had been cast in the
series at the request of the Japanese money men. He was surprised by
how good some of them were, but Ken always tried to put them in roles
that were close to the rock star's personality. They tried to get
Adam Ant, but he wasn't available.
Someone asked how Roger Daltrey became an ongoing character on HL:TS.
David A. said that he originally had a minor role on "The Hunters" but
they got a call at 2 am saying that Werner Stocker was very ill.
<Shomeret's note: The actor who played Darius had a brain tumor and
passed away soon after "The Hunters" was filmed.> People were talking
about shutting down production, but David A. refused to allow it.
Instead he re-wrote the script to expand RD's role even though he
didn't know how well RD could handle it. RD rose to the challenge and
became a fan favorite on HL:TS.
There was more to this Q&A, but I'm running out of posting time. So
I'll continue when I can.
Shomeret
Mordechai T. Abzug
"Shomeret " <JDChro...@aol.com> spake thusly:
> I think the difference between a stalker and a dedicated fan is
> mind- set and intent. A dedicated fan my cherish private fantasies
> about the performer she admires, but she knows the difference
> between fantasy and reality and respects the necessary boundaries
> between performers and fans. A stalker has lost the distinction
> between fantasy and reality and has also lost all sense of
> boundaries. A dedicated fan wants to experience the power of
> performances. A stalker wants to intrude into the performer's
> personal space.
Amen.
"Stalking" means repeatedly seeking the actor/actress at their home,
place of work, or other location to which the public is not invited.
Professional appearances don't count unless the stalker is already
stalking the GoH's private life.
- Morty
Jette
> Post 9
> As an example I mentioned ATH's own Jette Goldie and how many frequent
> flyer miles she has probably logged in order to see JB. "Jette," I
> said to Deborah, "is not a stalker." She's a very dedicated fan who
> really appreciates Jim's work, and Jim appreciates Jette too. Jim is
> not threatened by his more dedicated fans.
>
I must admit, there were times when I've deliberately "stepped back"
for fear of being taken for Jim's stalker.
> I think the difference between a stalker and a dedicated fan is mind-
> set and intent. A dedicated fan my cherish private fantasies about
> the performer she admires, but she knows the difference between
> fantasy and reality and respects the necessary boundaries between
> performers and fans. A stalker has lost the distinction between
> fantasy and reality and has also lost all sense of boundaries. A
> dedicated fan wants to experience the power of performances. A
> stalker wants to intrude into the performer's personal space.
>
Boundaries are important.
Shomeret
Civil War flashback revision that was such a source of conflict
between David A. and Dennis Berry must have been for "The Lamb", the
first Kenny episode. It's the only episode that I can think of with
an American Civil War flashback that contains a battle on a bridge.
Shomeret
Shomeret
David A. said that he wanted to mention the script for "The
Valkyrie". It was written by James Thorpe, who at that point was an
outside writer. David A. was so impressed by that script, that he
hired James Thorpe as a staff writer. David A quoted a line from
James Thorpe's original script for "The Valkyrie". "Maybe if I die a
little bit today, God will forgive me." <Shomeret's comment: In some
ways this line does encapsulate Ingrid's character. She never
recovered from failing to assassinate Hitler.>
Ken was asked to talk about the differences between filming in
Vancouver and filming in Paris. Ken said that filming in Vancouver
was very scheduled and organized. Filming in Paris was more ad hoc.
He said that the French techs were very talented, but could be "kind
of whimsical" about requests for things. Ken said that the French
authorities treated HL:TS with respect because there was a French
studio involved. But Paris was still a difficult city to film in
because you couldn't film in the streets.
Ken was asked how he found the five minutes for the Eurominutes.
<Shomeret's comment: I thought that was done in post-production by Don
Paonessa and others doing the final edit.> Ken said extra scenes
would be requested when the episode came up short. So David would
write the extra scene and the actors would be brought in. They were
sometimes scenes that didn't really play because they weren't
dramatic.
Ken commented that he wished that the Kalas monastery flashback had
been in a Paris episode, but instead it was in the last Vancouver
episode of season 3. In France they could have had their pick of
monasteries, but this was Canada so they had to build a monastery
set. <Shomeret's comment: I suspect there are monasteries in Canada,
though not in the environs of Vancouver B.C. Theoretically, I would
imagine that there would be at least one monastery in Quebec. Of
course, they would have had to fly to Quebec to film there which
wouldn't make sense at all from a budget perspective.>
Someone asked about shooting in St. Julien's. Ken said that there
were no problems at that site. The French crew facilitated.
Someone asked about Christopher Lambert's involvement in HL:TS. David
A. took this question even though he wasn't head writer for HL:TS at
that point. Ken Gord wasn't a producer for HL:TS from the beginning
either. David A. said that the French production company thought CL
was asking for too much money, and therefore they didn't want to use
him. Actually, CL was asking for a fraction of what he would get for
a movie role. So when the German money people said they were pulling
out of HL:TS if they couldn't have CL, CL said he now had to get four
times as much. Ken joked that this was why there was so much fog in
"The Gathering" . They couldn't afford a set.
Then we got some still shots from the Highlander computer game that
David A. is involved in. David A. said that he wanted to show us the
medeival Japan images, but they weren't sent. He said that in the
Roman scenario, Owen MacLeod fights a gladiator in Pompeii. Methos is
training gladiators and meets Owen in Roman times. PW's image and
voice is used.
John asked David A. the difference between writing for a video game
and television. David A. said he isn't responsible for the finished
product with the game. He just wrote the script and consulted. He
thought it was lots of fun. He also said that he learned something
about the technology involved. There are interactive environments used
in this game for which the technology didn't exist before the HL
game's designers created it. So it's all cutting edge technology.
John asked Ken the question about the state of the TV industry. He
said that there is much better TV now, but it's tougher to get a show
on the air because there aren't co-productions with European studios.
The European studies want to do their own productions.
Ken was asked what he's doing now. He had just finished working on an
independent movie about a woman who hit a homeless man and he died in
her garage. It's based on a true story. The film is getting good
reviews. His next project is a miniseries based on a French graphic
novel. Val Kilmer is the villain, so it's high profile.
Next I'll be posting about AP's Q&A.
Shomeret
Shomeret
I've been having a family crisis due to my mother having declining
health. Then my social calendar got busy for the holidays, so that's
why I haven't had time to post about the con.
This is AP's Q& A.
Before AP arrived on stage we saw a Horseman ep. montage to a Warner
Brothers cartoon music sound track. The audience laughed through it.
Unfortunately, that meant that they laughed through Cassandra's rape.
I have a sense of humor and I appreciate creativity, but I thought
this montage was in poor taste.
AP had a beard and was dressed very casually in jeans that appeared to
be paint spattered. He asked how many of the 40 HL con newbies were
from Vancouver. It turned out that there were three of them. "I'm
glad the whole city turned out," AP said snarkily. He then said that
Vancouver weather is like English weather which means it's
unpredictable. This turned out to be true. It rained later in the
day.
When no one lined up at the microphones to ask questions, AP said that
he would just sit there and smile. Then a woman strode up to the
microphone and said that she just had to know what AP smelled like. I
consider this invasive and braced for AP to refuse, but AP said "I
think I smell pretty good this morning," and allowed the woman to come
up on stage and sniff him. "Eau de Highlander," commented emcee John
Mosby. "A non-smelling question please," John requested.
Someone asked AP about his prediction in Lithuania that The Source
would be the best HL movie ever. John told him to respond brieftly
because there was going to be a panel on The Source. So AP said that
it wasn't the best HL movie. He also promised to cover The Source
extensively later.
Someone asked AP for a hug and a kiss. Carmel intervened and said
that this could be an auction item.
Next AP was asked about his upcoming project. He said that he was
about to go to Bulgaria to star as Sir Francis Drake in another movie
for the Sci Fi channel. He said that he had other projects on the
pipeline and that the next six months should be interesting.
Someone asked about AP studying the Brazilian martial arts form,
capoeira. He confirmed this and said that he had done capoeira on the
beach in Brazil. He also said that he was studying Shaolin Kung Fu in
Los Angeles and New York, but he had ripped a hamstring which placed
him at beginner status temporarily. He said that Kung Fu had
acrobatic tumbling like capoeira, and he wanted to be more acrobatic.
Then he reminded us that he is older by saying that this is "young guy
stuff". AP said that capoeira was originated by African slaves who
were trying to hide the fact that there were practicing martial arts
by using dance moves. <Shomeret's comment: With AP's background as a
dancer, capoeira should be a good direction for him.>
Someone asked about Ghosts of Roanoke, a Sci Fi film where AP starred
as British colonist Ananias Dare, who was the father of the first baby
to be born in the colony, the famous Virginia Dare. AP said he went
back to an English accent for that movie. He said that he had a
monologue in the rain at 4am which needed to be looped in post-
production because the rain had overcome the monologue. Many things
went wrong with filming. It had to be rushed because people were
late. His last scene was shot at 7 am the next morning as people were
leaving.
To Be Continued
Shomeret
gift. <g>
Someone asked AP if he ever felt typecast as Duncan MacLeod. AP said
he had this problem a couple of times in the past, but he's
diversified since then. He said he even played a Homeland Security
officer. He considers this ironic because he had to deal with a
Homeland Security search before he played the role. AP joked about
hiding explosives in his underwear, then added that he wasn't wearing
any. <Shomeret's comment: For me this was TMI, but I imagine that
there were a number of AP fans in the audience who were pleased to
learn this.> Getting back to the kind of roles he's been playing, he
said that he still needs a breakout role, but he assured us that he's
doing what he wants to do. Sometimes it's for the money, and
sometimes it's for art. He's happy that he can pay his rent and has a
girlfriend.
Someone asked about the episode that was most difficult for him to do
from an emotional perspective. AP agreed that some were more
difficult emotionally than others. He said that after he did the EDM
scene with Stan in the dojo in "Something Wicked", he was still in
character. <Shomeret's comment: Was this more difficult for AP or
for the people who were around him being in character for EDM after
filming was over? I'd think that it would have been most difficult
for the people who were relating to him off the set.> AP said that
Tessa's death was difficult because he had worked with AV for some
time. She was leaving, so he really was losing her.
Someone asked if there were roles that he really wanted that he hadn't
gotten. AP said he had auditioned for Aragorn in LoTR, and had really
wanted that role. He had also read for the villain in The Mummy for
which he would have needed to shave his head. This didn't bother
him. He would have been willing to do that. Many Shaolin Kung Fu
practitioners shaved their heads. Carmel said that if AP got a role
that required him to be bald, she would auction his hair.
Next AP was asked about what happened to Tracker. AP said that it was
supposed to be a series about an alien trying to figure out human
ways, but became a bad guy of the week show. Then the syndicated
market changed and the ratings declined, so it was pulled. The last
episodes were better, but there was less funding. AP said this
happened to HL:TS too after the first season. The episodes were
better, but they had less funding.
Someone asked AP about his work with audio books. AP said that George
R. R. Martin had requested him to read one of his books because he had
appeared on the TV series Beauty and the Beast. (Shomeret's note:
Known to his fans as Railroad Martin, George R. R. Martin is an award
winning fantasy writer and the creator of the TV series version of
Beauty and the Beast which starred Ron Perlman and Linda Hamilton.)
AP said he did the work three or four days at a time at a studio in
Los Angeles. He got to try different voices and accents including a
hissing fox voice. He thought it was a great deal of fun. Some of it
had to be re-done for pronunciation, but he would be open to doing
more audio books. John wondered if readers got to move around. No,
said AP, he was just sitting there and working with his voice. He had
to warm up his voice before he started.
At that point Liz arrived and she was applauded. She complained about
the Ugly Duncan Mugs that they were expected to drink from.
<Shomeret's note: For those who don't know, these were HL Store
merchandise. They were notorious and were thought to be cursed.>
Liz said they had a unibrow and that their expression was too
serious. Someone shouted from the audience that they had the teeth
that AP had as a vampire in The Breed. AP changed seats with Liz
because he said that they had placed the microphone on the wrong side
for her. "Always a director," Liz teased.
Someone asked AP about whether he was considered for James Bond. AP
said he'd wanted the role, but he wasn't considered. He never met the
production team. He said that he thought they believed that he, AP,
is an American. (Shomeret's comment: This implies that James Bond
TPTB isn't furnished with bios by the actors' agents or that they
don't bother to read them.) Liz commented snarkily that she'd like to
play James Bond too. AP said he guessed that it isn't role that he
was meant to play. He added that Daniel Craig was very good, and that
James Bond had evolved over time. AP said he met Roger Moore at the
Monaco Film Festival. Roger Moore was upset that his wife wasn't
allowed to sit next to him. He said that he didn't tolerate people
disrespecting his wife. AP said that he had agreed with this
attitude.
Someone asked AP about the movie Seance. AP said that this is the
darkest role he'd ever played. He was a serial killing ghost. AP
said that he researched serial killers for the role. While he was
doing this research, he saw a shadow at his window and panicked. He
said that serial killers seemed like completely normal people. Liz
then asked if AP still had a stalker. She added that there is a
stalker who follows both her and AP who is mainly after her. He
thinks that Liz belongs to the CIA. AP said that he didn't have any
stalkers right now.
At this point it transitions into Liz's Q &A which I will post later.
Shomeret
Shomeret
Here is Liz's Q&A.
Someone asked Liz if she's writing stories based on Raven. She said
that project was derailed because she had a baby. She has some ideas
and has talked to Bill Panzer and Peter Davis about her writing Raven
books. It's on her list of things to do.
She said that her daughter thinks that AP is "the bees knees", but Liz
tells her to stay away from AP. She also said that her husband is a
formidable former rugby player but their daughter has him wrapped
around her finger.
Someone asked what scene was the most fun for Liz. She said it was
stealing the cross from the museum in The Cross of St. Antoine. She
said that she and AP came up with what they did. The rappelling was
fake because the rope hadn't been strong enough to hold their weight.
The cross was made of styrofoam.
Liz said that the Sandra Bernhard outtakes from Dramatic License were
very funny, but they have never been shown. They wouldn't dare.
(Shomeret's comment: I'm very curious about this. I would theorize
that either Sandra Bernhard or her agent won't allow them to be shown
and that there would be litigation if they were shown.)
AP said that Liz and PW had the best scene. Liz said that everything
she and PW did was fun. AP said that he made her cry when he was a
director. "You were a jerk," said Liz. AP told her to stop acting
and she started crying. Liz said that she and PW had a swordfight
involving trains and it was difficult for her. "Welcome to my world,"
said AP (Shomeret's comment: This would have to be during the
filming of "Methuselah's Gift".). She remembers telling AP that she
could do this, and he didn't have to make her cry. She said that PW
had been a "cool cat" and he had calmed her down. Liz said that in
retrospect those were some of the best days of her life. AP said
that a scene is better when it's difficult. When you're tired, you
lose control and it's better.
Liz said that she wanted the Ugly Duncan Mug to put pens in. She
asked where Big John was. (Shomeret's note: Big John is a major fan of
Liz who was an important presence on the Rysher Forum and on Holy
Ground Forum. He used to assist Liz at conventions.) Someone said
that Big John couldn't make it this time. Liz said to tell him she
said hello.
Someone asked Liz about her best lines. Liz said her best lines were
unscripted and off camera.
Someone asked AP and Liz to pose together. They did and flash bulbs
went off as fan photographers took advantage of the opportunity.
"Damn papparazi!" joked AP.
At that point AP left and reminded Liz to sit in the right place for
the microphone.
To Be Continued...
Shomeret
This is Liz's Q&A continued.
Liz wondered how long she could use her child as an excuse for not
completing projects. "Forever!" shouted someone in the audience. "Oh
good!" said Liz. She said that she hasn't had time for art, but she's
written some spells. She spent four days in the desert and that had
been the first time she'd been away from her daughter since she was
born.
Then Liz read the introduction from her booklet Handbook For A Would
Be Witch. The introduction was autobiographical and dealt with her
grandmother who had been a fortune teller. (Shomeret's comment:
Liz's style is both colorful and immediate. I have read this book
and I recommend it. As a practitioner of Wicca, I thought Liz's
approach was a fresh one.)
Liz was asked about the chemistry on Raven-- Liz said that when she
compares her chemistry with her co-star on Raven with what she had
with AP, she has to say that it was awkward with PJ. Her connection
with AP was immediate and very natural. But then the set up for Raven
was a will they/won't they Moonlighting concept. On HL:TS the set up
was that Duncan and Amanda had always loved each other, so she and AP
needed to display that intimate familiarity as Duncan and Amanda right
away. That wasn't the case with Raven. Liz thinks that if they'd
been given another year, she and PJ could have pulled it off. Liz
said that she, AP and PJ are all control freaks. This means that if
she wants to establish a relationship with either AP or PJ, they would
have to find a way to compromise with each other and cede territory.
This is very difficult. It's especially difficult if the parties
involved don't like each other, and she didn't like PJ when she worked
with him.
Someone said that she had purchased a plate painted by Liz's mother at
Walkabout in Los Angeles, and it was now that most talked about item
on display in her home. Liz thanked her on behalf of her mother.
John asked about Liz's photography. Liz said that she has lots of
ideas for photography projects, but photography had been something
else that she had put aside when the baby was born.
Someone asked whether Liz plans to tell her grandmother's story.
Instead of answering this question, Liz said that her friend Contessa
was planning a cookbook for witches and that she is going to write a
spellbook as a companion volume. (Shomeret's comment: This sounds
like a wonderful idea.)
Someone asked about pictures of her daughter. Liz said there were
tons of pictures of her, but there would never be enough.
Next she was asked if she kept in touch with Patricia Gage who had
played Lucy Becker on Raven. The questioner said that Amanda and Lucy
had great chemistry. Liz agreed and said that she and Patricia did
keep in touch from time to time. (Shomeret's comment: According to
IMDB Patricia Gage was born in Glasgow Scotland though her citizenship
is Canadian. She has had a long and distinguished career.)
John asked Liz about her favorite place to go. Liz said that it's
Venice. In her Amanda stories, she has a villa in Venice because Liz
wishes she had one. She also likes France. She loves to travel.
Someone asked why Amanda had wanted Zachary Blaine dead in The Lady
and the Tiger. He had been played by Jason Isaacs. Liz said she had
no idea, but Jason Isaacs had been great to work with. Someone
reminded Liz that she had stolen his quickening. Liz replied "I'm
not bad. I'm just written that way."
Next is PW's Q&A which I hope to post soon.
Shomeret
Shomeret
PW sat down, looked at the Ugly Duncan Mug and said "What the hell is
that?! No doctor can save it. I'm not drinking out of that!"
Then he said that the hotel has good coffee. He'd been swimming in
the pool and added that they have a nice steam room. His son Edan had
called the steam room "very stinky".
Someone asked about Holby City. He said he'd been playing a doctor on
it for a year. He would also be playing a doctor on Men in Trees.
He has no information about the character. When they learned that
he's British, they asked for a British accent. They said that would
be interesting. But the character could be anyone. "Wow anyone with
a British accent!" PW marveled. PW considers Holby City training for
Men in Trees and his five years in medical school as training for
Holby City. (Shomeret's comment: What about Dr. Helm and Dr.
Benjamin Adams?) He said that his family has seen on Holby City what
sort of doctor he would have been. So his having left medical school
is now viewed as a good decision. There is widespread laughter in the
audience. PW then said that the character on Holby City is
entertaining. The fact that he's a doctor is incidental. It's just a
setting. The style and the character interactions are what make the
role unique. He said that Holby's is remarkably authentic in its
portrayal of medical practice. There is very precise terminology.
The camera is above the operating theatre, so you can't do fake
surgery. The camera would see it. He said he had lots of technical
help. His father, who is a surgeon, thought that Holby used stock
footage of real surgery. PW said it wasn't footage. It was live, but
he's working on rubber. (Shomeret's comment: Doing incisions in
rubber must seem strange. I'd imagine that more pressure would have
to be used to make incisions in rubber because of rubber's
durability.)
Then PW started talking about the way doctors think. Life and death
isn't a big deal for them. Those decisions can be very routine.
Doctors can be very casual about it. They employ dark humor.
PW said that he believed that he was a surgeon when he watched the
Holby City dailies, though he knows that he actually doesn't know what
he's doing. He considers himself very convincing in the role.
Someone asked PW to tell us a little bit about his role in 24. He
said that the character is in the 2nd episode of the upcoming season.
He said there was no info about the character in that script, but he
could tell where the character was heading by the characters to which
he is linked. By the fourth episode PW thought the character was
really cool and he was glad that the character was still alive by the
last page. The nature of the character becomes clear over the course
of four episodes. There are three more guaranteed and an option for
three more. But his character could be dead at any time. He said "I
think this this guy has to die," but he doesn't know how soon. He's a
significant character with big scenes. If the episodes he's
guaranteed go well, there could be more. The character is an American
with a background in Special Forces. He's comfortable with that type
of character. Someone asked if his character is trying to kill Jack
Bauer or is he on Jack's side. PW gave us that Methosian smirk and
said "Yes." So we can assume that PW's 24 character is a man of
mystery like a certain ROG. He said there isn't much on the page, so
he's trying to suggest that there's a lot going on that the audience
doesn't know.
To Be Continued...
Shomeret
This PW's Q &A continued. BTW, when I heard that it's likely there
will be no more HLWW cons, I decided to join PWFC so I could attend
their road trips.
Someone asked about how PW felt about finding out that Methos had been
a Horseman of the Apocalypse. PW said that he thought it was really
cool that he was getting to play that. He didn't know how to ride a
horse, but he figured that it was TPTB's problem that he can't ride
because he didn't have to audition for the role. He found out that
Methos was a Horseman before seeing Comes a Horseman.
Commenting about his portrayal of Methos, he said that he changed the
character from the way it was orginally conceived through the way he
played it. The writers caught on from watching what he did and then
write for that.
He said that didn't get a chance to happen on Holby City until
nearly the end of his time there. They filmed six episodes at once
and the writers didn't get to see him until they had already written
the next six episodes. So no script was impacted by his performance
until 12 episodes into the season. The Holby writers were all regular
staff people . They invented his character in a script meeting. They
produced scripts for the next 6 months and there was a huge variation
on the nature of his character. Once they got a handle on him, his
contract was almost over and he was leaving. His agent had told him
that he needed three years to get his character established on Holby
City, but he only signed for one year. He sees now why three years
would be needed, but he'd really rather do 24.
Someone asked PW why his character didn't wear a surgical mask in the
operating theatre. PW said that was the director's choice. The
Union Jack hat was also the director's choice. He said that everyone
else got to stumble over their lines and loop them later because they
were wearing masks, but he had to get them right the first time
because he wasn't. He also didn't like the fact that his character is
supposed to talk fast. This isn't the way PW likes to be. He's a
slow paced guy. So he would have liked to be able to change the way
his character spoke. PW said that masks really aren't medically
necessary in surgery. Germs move in and out within 12 seconds and
masks can't prevent that. His character also didn't scrub before
surgery. PW observed that the evidence is that scrubbing once for ten
minutes is good for the rest of the day, but he knew that masks and
scrubbing are preparation for the role in a medical drama. Actors get
into the character space by doing those things. The medical
consultants got mad about PW's character not wearing a mask or
scrubbing before surgery. So PW figured that his character wasn't
doing those things in order to annoy people. "Want to make something
of it?" PW demanded in a challenging tone. (Shomeret's comment:
Another version of Michael's cousin Greg House? I'm with the medical
consultants. I think that super-staph infections that are drug
resistant and can kill patients make it imperative that medical
personnel wash as often as possible to avoid spreading super-staph.
Promulgating the idea that doctors need not scrub before procedures
seems irresponsible to me. Remember Ignaz Semmelweis. He was the
first doctor to advocate scrubbing and he was ridiculed for it even
though so many hospital patients were dying from infections.
Semmelweis was an important figure in the history of medicine.)
Someone asked if he enjoyed working with the Holby City cast. He said
that there were 15 people in the cast, and not one of them was
difficult. There were several people in that cast and that he had
loved working with. Phoebe the nurse was hysterically funny. They
were laughing so much between takes. He had also loved working with
Luke Roberts. He's an Americanophile and they had worked together
very well. PW thinks that one of the reasons there were no tensions
on Holby is because everyone had a contract, so they all got paid
regardless of whether they were in the episode. No one had to fight
to raise the profile of his or her character in order to stay
working. But they were all disciplined professionals. He remembers
going for champagne and oysters with Holby cast members. They all got
sick, but they all appeared on the set anyway and worked.
Someone asked if Methos knew Cleopatra. PW said that he thought
Methos would have been in the background, but he's sure Methos knew
her. Those would have been his formative centuries--Cleopatra's Egypt
and the ancient Greeks. "Not in the Roman world?" asked a
questioner. (Shomeret's comment: Cleopatra was during the Roman
period.) PW said Methos would have been everywhere. "He's a people
person," said Methos. "He does the monastic thing for a while and
then wants to find the party."
Someone said that she thought Methos in The Source was very hot. PW
said that he hasn't seen the version that aired on SciFi. He saw the
Russian cut and was amazed to learn that it was better than what
aired.
Someone commented that PW's character on Medium was very intimidating
and that he had given nightmares to people. Had PW been disappointed
that he didn't have lines? No, said PW. The producer on that show re-
writes everything. His character originally did have dialogue, but
scenes vanished and scenes were added. Sometimes he spoke and
sometimes he didn't. PW thought at the time that his character would
be disturbing and that it would be a stronger performance with no
dialogue. He said he felt very complimented that people were affected
by it.
John Mosby commented that The Last Sin Eater had similar silent
scenes. PW said that silent scenes are technically harder, but much
better. He said that it's tempting to be yourself when the character
is like you or closer to who you are. But it's very clear that the
Sin Eater was not him. He lived in a cave cut off from human society
for twenty years. PW thought the character should have an animal
quality and that viewers should see that in the way he moves. You
don't see his face until the end. The character in Medium was a
similar sort of thing.
PW commented that British actors are normally too verbal and he's very
conscious of that. He makes sure that he has a physicality. But in
roles like the one in Medium and the Sin Eater, it's as if he's
possessed by another spirit. He said that the role of the Sin Eater
was a tough place to live.
Someone asked if Holby City TPTB had known about his medical training
when they hired him. PW said they hadn't. They were looking for
whether he had ease with terminology and could be comfortable in the
medical setting. They watched him in his audition and that's what they
wrote for, not his medical school background.
Someone asked when he was starting the audio work as Methos for the HL
video game. Next Wednesday, he said. David A. wrote the script. He
hadn't read the whole thing yet. The Methos character leads you
through the game. David A. had really wanted Methos for that role and
the game's makers had liked that idea. He said that it's like a
movie. But then he said that he'll need to remember how Methos
sounded. PW is more Americanized now and he has to remember. The
longer he goes without playing Methos, the more he forgets who Methos
had been. He has to find the character again, so he intends to re-
watch himself on DVD.
To Be Continued...
Shomeret
At this point JB's Q &A was supposed to start. Liz arrived on the
stage and said "We've lost Jim." "Mayday mayday," said PW. Then he
said that Jim could get away with telling the same joke over and over
because people laughed every time he told it. John said that Jim was
en route.
Liz asked for the cute redhead from Estonia. (Shomeret's note: That
was my roommate Khadri who made quite an impression. She told me
later that she was in the audience, but hadn't responded because she
felt uncomfortable with being singled out.)
PW spoke to JB via cell phone. "We're waiting for you," he said.
"Jimmy!" the audience shouted. "Doesn't that make you feel loved?" PW
said to JB.
Liz said she got in an elevator with a bunch of PW fans and they
hadn't cared. PW said "She's 8' 6" in those shoes. How could you not
notice her?" PW then said that he got kicked off the set on Holby
once for being naughty, but it didn't compare to what he and Liz got
up to on HL:TS. "Now that was naughty!" PW said that Liz has very
soft skin. He felt up her leg. Liz asked if he was coming on to
her. "As if I would in public," he said laughingly.
Someone asked if Methos and Amanda had a relationship. "Of course
they did," said PW. Liz said "They always had you flirting with me.""I
don't flirt with her," said PW with pretended innocence. PW said that
Amanda is a one man woman, but he thinks that a Methos/Amanda romance
is a rich vein to be mined. "That's so naughty," said Liz.
"Everything you say is naughty." Then PW said "Did Methos and Amanda
do it? Of course they did it." Liz mentions slash. PW pretends not
to know what it is, so Liz explains. PW said that Duncan/Methos
wouldn't be a big deal for Methos. "He would have been with him
<Duncan> for weeks." (Shomeret's note: Weeks! LoL! I love it.) "I
don't think there's any furrow Methos hasn't planted," PW added
mischevously. Then he said "Everyone under 18 leave the room."
John wanting to bring the discussion to a safer topic asled what
historical period PW would have liked to have seen Methos do that
wasn't done on HL:TS. PW said he would have liked to do Cleopatra's
Egypt and "Caligula and all those guys". Liz said PW would have been
great in the Rome series. "You were made for that job,' she said to
him. She then said that Amanda liked being a flapper, but she wishes
Amanda could have been in Paris during the 1920's.
Then, since JB still hadn't shown up, they decided to move up The
Source discussion, but they took a break first.
So I'll be posting about The Source discussion next time.
Shomeret
Annie
here. They do make me a bit nostalgic for HL... and ATH in the old days when
you couldn't keep up with all the posts and have a life too. Anyway, keep
them coming.
Annie
Jette
> Post 17
>
>
> He said that his family has seen on Holby City what
> sort of doctor he would have been. So his having left medical school
> is now viewed as a good decision. There is widespread laughter in the
> audience. PW then said that the character on Holby City is
> entertaining. The fact that he's a doctor is incidental. It's just a
> setting. The style and the character interactions are what make the
> role unique. He said that Holby's is remarkably authentic in its
> portrayal of medical practice. There is very precise terminology.
> The camera is above the operating theatre, so you can't do fake
> surgery. The camera would see it. He said he had lots of technical
> help. His father, who is a surgeon, thought that Holby used stock
> footage of real surgery. PW said it wasn't footage. It was live, but
> he's working on rubber. (Shomeret's comment: Doing incisions in
> rubber must seem strange. I'd imagine that more pressure would have
> to be used to make incisions in rubber because of rubber's
> durability.)
>
>
The BBC prosthetics department are quite the experts - the "rubber"
used isn't exactly car tyre stuff. Holby and Casualty (the original
medical drama show that Holby is a spin off from) "special effects"
are on the cross over between props and make up, so the "rubber"
bodies feel remarkably ... realistic.