JMS: Writing continues, etc.
Jonathan Roy
Category 18, Topic 2
Message 434 Mon Jun 07, 1993
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 04:05 EDT
Y'know, every once in a while, I get somebody who comes up and asks what
it's like when the writing process becomes easier, and you just want to grab a
nearby 2x4 and whack 'em upside the head REAL hard. For those who wonder (and
who've noted my quietude here the last couple days) it NEVER gets any easier.
I mean, okay, sometimes a script just sorta falls out of your head and
lands on the keyboard. That happens. "Midnight on the Firing Line" was like
that. The second script (for which I have to hold back the title for the time
being) was a knock-down drag-out. I literally wrote the first draft, sent it
to some of the B5 folks for production review, realized it was stupid, and
yanked it, sending a note saying that the "only explanation I can come up with
for this script is that I was temporarily possessed by an idiot." Threw it
out completely and began anew...and THAT version sings.
So now I'm working on a script, tentatively entitled "Infection," and
it's going fine, except this isn't the script I started OUT writing. I'd
started on a story about a misadventure involving Londo...found it wasn't
working right, wasn't *good* enough...dropped it...started another, dropped
THAT one because it was stupid...and finally, FINALLY came up with a story I
like.
The thing that is at once maddening and wonderful about this show is that
it's making all of us push to the absolute limit. I know, from what I'm
going through, having done it before, that I'm "transitioning" (for lack of a
better term) from one level of writing to another. This happens all the time
with writers; suddenly what was okay 24 hours ago isn't satisfactory anymore.
I'm trying as hard as I can to write consistently at the best of my ability --
whatever the hell that is -- and that's tough, lemme tell you. You don't dare
settle for anything, especially when it's your own show, and your name's
plastered all over it, and if it sucks runny eggs it's YOUR fault.
Which is a long way of saying that it really never ever gets any easier,
if you continue to challenge yourself. So I'm here, honest (waving to the
Cat), checking in...I've just been wrestling with a bull moose for the last
couple of days. Fortunately all is now back on-line, and moving smoothly.
For now.
jms
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Second SF&F RT
Category 18, Topic 2
Message 445 Tue Jun 08, 1993
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:31 EDT
Actually, you DID see the alien sector being blown up. When the Minbari
assassin blows, we knew we'd have to sacrifice a set to make that work. And
that's the one we used.
Just to reinforce a point before...as someone noted, the "who did what to
B4" aspect isn't itself the point. We're going to build to one large story,
of which that is one part of the over-arching puzzle. The key, I think, is to
construct the thing like a Russian puzzle box; you finally manage to open it,
expose the puzzle...but in the process that leads inevitably to ANOTHER and
more intricate puzzle...and on and on until the last segment is finally
revealed. Once you know WHAT happened to Sinclair on the Line, you now have
to ask WHO did it...once you ask WHO did it, now you have to ask WHY...and
then determine where the answer to that question takes you. That is the very
nature of SF, to me: asking the next question.
jms
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Second SF&F RT
Category 18, Topic 2
Message 452 Tue Jun 08, 1993
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:29 EDT
Today I got the first look at a video image of Ron's first creation for
the series. Oh, man...I wish like hell I could tell you what it is, what it
looks like, how it works...but the Grey Men would come to my door and weld my
teeth together if I even tried. Suffice to say it's totally LETHAL.
jms
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Second SF&F RT
Category 18, Topic 12
Message 289 Tue Jun 08, 1993
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:35 EDT
No, that was staged for one of the news broadcasts shown in the viewing
corridor just outside the business section. (It's what G'Kar is looking at
just before he enters and tries to get into Lyta's genes.) You'll recognize
the silvery-looking alien from the photo.
jms
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Second SF&F RT
Category 18, Topic 2
Message 476 Wed Jun 09, 1993
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 04:18 EDT
Scott: don't shout.
If we were to do something like what you describe, my feeling is that
it's better to cast new actors in *new roles* (i.e., different names) than to
cast different people into the same roles. In a movie you can do that, at
least a little more easily, but in a film...it's more problematic since
they'll be shown together. Unless you want to explain such major changes in
appearance a la Dr. Who, it's best to introduce new people.
jms
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Second SF&F RT
Category 18, Topic 2
Message 494 Thu Jun 10, 1993
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:40 EDT
I should be able to pass along that information in the next couple of
weeks. In the interim, I can confirm Michael O'Hare and Mira Furlan
returning. Their deals had to be worked out first because of the relocation
from NY to CA, which will take time.
jms
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Second SF&F RT
Category 18, Topic 2
Message 504 Thu Jun 10, 1993
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 21:26 EDT
Say, here's a thought for you. I think that the first episode of Babylon
5: The Series should air around January 12th. It might be worth indicating
now, befor the Great Defection of July 1st, that all of the Regulars and
Irregulars and I and whoever else will reconvene here that evening to discuss
what you've seen. Shall we make it a date?
(I'm talking RTC here, obviously, but since I didn't say it, I thought
I'd better clarify.)
jms
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Second SF&F RT
Category 18, Topic 2
Message 523 Fri Jun 11, 1993
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:46 EDT
Just to break up the Andreas thing...I haven't said word one about
Andreas one way or another. Someone made a comment about Andreas, and
suddenly a concern was born via spontaneous generation. We have every reason
to believe that Andreas will be with us. Let's finish the process and then
take the results.
jms
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Second SF&F RT
Category 18, Topic 4
Message 226 Wed Jun 09, 1993
R.BUTLER18 [Helmsman] at 00:56 EDT
Joe, how did Garibaldi stop drinking? Was it force of will? One on one
therapy? AA? If it was through Alcoholics Anonymous will we be seeing
Garibaldi going to meetings or going through the 12 Steps? I'm sure that AA
will still exist in the 23rd century. I would be interesting to see what it
would look like in the future and what Aliens would make of 12 Step programs
in general. The do have some aspects of a religion.
Oops that should be "They".
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Second SF&F RT
Category 18, Topic 4
Message 227 Wed Jun 09, 1993
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 01:54 EDT
It was pretty much an act of will.
Which at some future point in our story, will falter. Badly.
jms
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Second SF&F RT
Category 18, Topic 4
Message 239 Thu Jun 10, 1993
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 21:22 EDT
By the way...Walter Koenig will be appearing in two episodes as a
character code-named "Knight One" in this season, and will appear from time to
time thereafter. Walter may also write an episode along the way.
jms
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Second SF&F RT
Category 18, Topic 4
Message 246 Fri Jun 11, 1993
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:35 EDT
Walter is not appearing as Chekov. He is an actor who had done far more
things than that. He is appearing in at kind of role, very unusual, very dark
in ways. A definite departure from what you're used to seeing. So there is
NO "other universe" cameo here. Walter was on earth long before there was a
Trek.
jms
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Second SF&F RT
Category 18, Topic 4
Message 253 Fri Jun 11, 1993
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:47 EDT
I commented before that there were a number of folks who I'd like to see
do the show, who I'd spoken to about it...and now this has been made official.
There's a difference.
jms
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Second SF&F RT
Category 18, Topic 4
Message 264 Fri Jun 11, 1993
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:26 EDT
Actually, Koenig and Knight One *is* a coincidence, and I hadn't even
noticed it until you mentioned it. Which means I either need more sleep, or
less, I can't decide....
jms
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Second SF&F RT
Category 18, Topic 25
Message 151 Wed Jun 09, 1993
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:31 EDT
I've been given some info on NVN, but haven't had the chance to
personally look into it...things are kinda hectic just now.
jms
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Second SF&F RT
Category 18, Topic 2
Message 542 Sat Jun 12, 1993
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 05:56 EDT
three a.m....twelve hours at the keyboard...just finished "infection" ...
nice...real nice. going comatose now...
jms
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Second SF&F RT
Category 18, Topic 2
Message 564 Sun Jun 13, 1993
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 02:50 EDT
In the light of day...the script looks pretty darned good. You want
action? You GOT action.
As for names for people/groups...the only one that kinds ticks me off is
"Anglo" to describe caucasians. Anglo, or Anglo-Saxon, is a very specific
group and region of origin. My people, from Eastern Europe, don't know from
Anglos. I really think it's every bit as odious as calling all hispanics
Puerto Ricans.
jms
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Second SF&F RT
Category 18, Topic 2
Message 574 Sun Jun 13, 1993
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 19:58 EDT
A couple of incidental thoughts...first, did I mention that we're taking
steps to shoot the series in 16:9 aspect ratio, for translation to high-
def/letterbox down the road?
Another note...I was talking to some folks involved over at Paramount,
who had an interesting take on some stuff that might be of interest. It's
been known for some time in town, it was in the trades and elsewhere, that
this coming season of TNG is the last, now that DS9 has been shown to get the
required ratings. The theory is that there'll be a couple of TNG movies after
they've "rested" the show for a little bit. And the word on the street is
that there'll be a *third* ST series down the road to run parallel with DS9
for a while, as DS9 is currently running parallel with TNG.
The reasons for stopping TNG after this coming year are two: 1) the
stations don't really like being choked by big packages anymore, and 2) money.
Every year a show stays on the air, in first-run, salaries go up across the
board. This is generally guaranteed in contracts. Once you're past 5-6
years, it just gets so prohibitively expensive that common wisdom says you
stop it. But what do you do if the show's a hit because of the characters?
Now you get into what the fellow I was talking with felt was a curious
situation.
A lot of ST fans like TNG more than DS9, but feel that they have to
support DS9 in order to support ST (and some genuinely like it; I'm not trying
to stack the deck here). But in a way, you could look at DS9 as a test of the
audience...do they watch the show for the characters, or will they watch it
because it's Star Trek? (This isn't my feeling about it, I'm only passing
along what I heard.) DS9 succeeded. Which meant that a) it could now carry
on the Trek franchise, and b) that TNG could safely be canceled. Had DS9
*not* worked, while TNG continued to do well, then you might have someone
hesitating to pull the plug.
But now, both shows have been shown to work. And good for them. And
when TNG is pulled, DS9 will run for a while alone, then the new Tre series
(whatever that is) will come along, both will run for a while, and then DS9
will likely go away, and the new show will run for a while, until the next
version comes along...basically, he felt, they'll keep making shows --
replacing them when the costs and cast get too expensive -- for as long as
they keep getting reasonable ratings. It's a franchise, a license to print
money. And they feel that the success of DS9 proves that it doesn't much
*matter* who's in it...as long as the Trek name is on it, it'll pull in the
ratings.
All of which is neither good nor bad, doesn't make any show good or bad,
it's all what you do show-by-show...just thought it was an interesting
perspective on how the business -- and I do mean Business -- works.
jms
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Second SF&F RT
Category 18, Topic 3
Message 224 Sat Jun 12, 1993
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 05:57 EDT
Ron just got/created some software that'll let us do that kind of stuff.
Heh....
jms
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--
F F Jonathan Roy, of the Free Access Foundation Email: ni...@faf.org
A Mail f...@halcyon.com for information, or FTP to halcyon.com: /pub/faf/
F F Vorlons, of the Galactic Bloodshed Development Team GEnie: J.ROY18
"Everything that has transpired has done so according to my design." - _RotJ_
Allen J. Newton
>
>Second SF&F RT
>Category 18, Topic 4
>Message 239 Thu Jun 10, 1993
>STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 21:22 EDT
>
> By the way...Walter Koenig will be appearing in two episodes as a
>character code-named "Knight One" in this season, and will appear from time to
>time thereafter. Walter may also write an episode along the way.
>
> jms
>----------
>Second SF&F RT
>Category 18, Topic 4
>Message 246 Fri Jun 11, 1993
>STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:35 EDT
>
> Walter is not appearing as Chekov. He is an actor who had done far more
>things than that. He is appearing in at kind of role, very unusual, very dark
>in ways. A definite departure from what you're used to seeing. So there is
>NO "other universe" cameo here. Walter was on earth long before there was a
>Trek.
>
> jms
One thing I think might be helpful, here, is since Koenig is playing an
"unusual, dark character" AND the last thing JMS wants to do is bring
Trek to mind, I think they should do Walter's hair differently. Like,
give him a modern, cool hip "tough" hairdo.
I saw a movie whose name escapes me at the moment (about going to the
moon to prevent an invasion of little shell-shaped automatons who
create bodies for themselves out of "spare parts" (mechanical or
human), etc. Totally stupid movie, by the way, I can't believe they
made a sequel (which I haven't seen -- maybe it was better, but I doubt
it, as the local moviehouses never carried it), but the one thing I
couldn't get away from was thinking "Chekov" because his hair was
exactly the same.
Take other actors and their roles, for instance. I don't think I've
ever seen Robert DeNiro with the same look (hair or otherwise) in any
of his movies. In all cases, he was totally believable, and I didn't
have any tendency to link him to other roles in my mind.
I saw Chuck Norris (who usually DOES have the same look) in one movie
which starred him as an assassin (undercover cop) with a totally cool
'do! It definitely had the effect of making me think of him
differently than in his other roles (this particular character had a
very "dark" side to him as well, definitely not the squeaky-clean hero
type).
--
-AJN (ane...@basis.com) *** standard disclaimers apply ***