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Need early B5 scripts for Captioning

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Cynthia

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Jun 8, 2002, 7:25:32 AM6/8/02
to
I work for the company doing the closed-captioning of Babylon 5 for
DVD release. We are reformatting the captions from the original files,
which were mostly done without scripts. We have the first six episodes
here already (I'll be doing 1 & 2 myself tomorrow) but alas, still no
scripts.

(Basically, I said to my boss, "Hey, JMS is a very cool guy, posts
online all the time -- someone ought to contact him and ask for copies
of the scripts." She, naturally, said, "Great idea! Go ahead!" LOL
Serves me right. However, I am NOT gonna just e-mail the man. Nuh-uh.)

Anyway, does anyone have suggestions as to where the best, most
authentic sites would be for verifying things like spellings of
names/places etc? Someone who might have had access to those scripts
and would therefore have it for-sure right? I'd REALLY like us to get
this stuff right.

Thanks,

Cynthia Delmar, Senior Caption Editor
National Captioning Institute
Burbank, CA

Moyra J. Bligh

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Jun 9, 2002, 1:04:01 AM6/9/02
to b5...@deepthot.org
On 8 Jun 2002 04:25:32 -0700, cde...@ncicap.org (Cynthia) wrote:

>Anyway, does anyone have suggestions as to where the best, most
>authentic sites would be for verifying things like spellings of
>names/places etc?

I'd go with Lurkers
http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/lurker.html

Guide to the first episode lives here
http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/guide/001.html

And may I be the first to say - Thank You! and Hurray!
You've just made a ton of peoples weekends by posting this.

Posted & emailed.

--
Moyra J. Bligh - mo...@zlatna.com
FAQ maintainer - alt.fan.mira-furlan http://www.zlatna.com/MFfaq.html
moderator mira-f mailing list - http://www.egroups.com/group/mira-f/info.html
===============================================================
Mira Furlan & Goran Gajic - come join The Celebration
http://www.zlatna.com/gold.html
===============================================================

Joseph DeMartino

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Jun 9, 2002, 1:31:18 AM6/9/02
to
> Anyway, does anyone have suggestions as to where the best, most
> authentic sites would be for verifying things like spellings of
> names/places etc? Someone who might have had access to those scripts
> and would therefore have it for-sure right? I'd REALLY like us to get
> this stuff right.

I'd be more than happy to verify this stuff for you. Just send me the
episodes on disc as you finish them and I'll get right on it. <g>

Slightly more seriously, there's always "The Lurker's Guide to BABYLON
5", which is probably the best "B5" info site.

http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/lurker.html

And, in all seriousness, feel free to send me anything you're not sure
of via e-mail at NOSPAMj...@bellsouth.net (Just remove the NOSPAM
from the link.) I am only working part time at the moment (somebody
forgot to tell people hereabouts that the recession is over) and have
way too much time on my hands. After four years of lobbying Warner
Bros. to get the DVDs released, it would be a real kick if I could
contribute in some small way to their quality.

Regards,

Joe

C W CHAN

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Jun 9, 2002, 7:32:43 AM6/9/02
to
cde...@ncicap.org (Cynthia) writes:

>I work for the company doing the closed-captioning of Babylon 5 for
>DVD release. We are reformatting the captions from the original files,
>which were mostly done without scripts. We have the first six episodes
>here already (I'll be doing 1 & 2 myself tomorrow) but alas, still no
>scripts.

Not that I'm complaining about this bit of news, and I am really
not trying to jinx this, but recalling JMS's cryptic post regarding
the news of DVDs:

JMS> There's nothing that I can share at this time that would not
JMS> preclude others in the food chain from doing the same on this
JMS> subject.

either:

This is a hoax (well, it may be lunchtime somewhere in the world,
but it ain't april anywhere)

OR

The studio heads has had their thunder stolen (the best laid plans...)


Please, please let it be the latter.

(Hey, maybe someone can ask really nicely about the transfer, extras,
and all that *grin*)

On another point, would anyone else offer to do the captions for B5 for
nothing (well, maybe room and board). Perhaps we should tell Cynthia
to watch it in order, and not to skip around the episodes? Who knows,
we may get a new fan?

Chuen Chan c.c...@uq.net.au
---------------------------------------------------------------------
'You can prove anything you want by coldly logical reason - if you pick
the proper postulates... Postulates are based on assumption and adhered
to by faith. Nothing in the Universe can shake them.' I. Asimov

Tim

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Jun 9, 2002, 8:58:47 AM6/9/02
to
Sounds like someones trying to have us on to me. 'Cynthia Delmar, Senior
Caption Editor'. Are we really ment to believe this is anything but someone
getting their jollies at our expense? Come on....

"Cynthia" <cde...@ncicap.org> wrote in message
news:a96ff9de.02060...@posting.google.com...

Brian O'Neill

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Jun 9, 2002, 10:11:07 AM6/9/02
to
Well, it's not absolutely for certain accurate, but I wrote it BASED in
either the existing captioning or what JMS has posted online, when
either was available. Some cases may not be 100% accurate, but I'm not
aware of any:

http://www.oinc.net/B5/Enc/

-Brian

Moyra J. Bligh

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Jun 9, 2002, 3:22:38 PM6/9/02
to b5...@deepthot.org
On 9 Jun 2002 11:32:43 GMT, zzcw...@fox.uq.net.au (C W CHAN) wrote:

>The studio heads has had their thunder stolen (the best laid plans...)

Methinks they've had their thunder stolen. <g>

Her e-mail address works, she's responded to me.

http://www.ncicap.org/
Is the National Captioning Institute.

Message has been deleted

Blair Leatherwood

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Jun 9, 2002, 3:13:40 PM6/9/02
to
Google is a marvelous thing. You can confirm that the National Captioning
Institute exists. You can see what they've done. You can even find Cynthia
Delmar listed as a shop steward for NCI as a member of NABET Local 53. You can
research just about anything on Google to get a really good idea if someone's
pulling your leg...or not.

The jollies I'm getting right now is that it looks like DVD is for real....

Jms at B5

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Jun 9, 2002, 9:05:43 PM6/9/02
to
>The jollies I'm getting right now is that it looks like DVD is for real....

Yeah, it's real...I was holding off saying anything until WB or someone else
could announce it, but since it's come up here via the captioning
institute...yeah, as noted, it's real.

Season One will be out in a boxed set this Fall, and they're going to be
including at minimum two commentaries from me, probably on Signs and Portents
and Chrysalis (it's a matter of how much time and energy I can give to it given
that there's no fees involved and I'm in the midst of Jeremiah), and if
possible, Babylon Squared, maybe Sky Full of Stars. They'd also like to film
an on-camera intro by me (but I guess folks will buy it anyway, even with that
particular horror included).

They're pulling together a lot of stuff on this release so that there are
plenty of extras this time around, now that the value of the DVDs has been
shown by the first release
.

jms

(jms...@aol.com)
(all message content (c) 2002 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)


Jan

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Jun 9, 2002, 9:33:28 PM6/9/02
to
JMS posted:

<,Season One will be out in a boxed set this Fall, and they're going to be


including at minimum two commentaries from me, probably on Signs and Portents
and Chrysalis (it's a matter of how much time and energy I can give to it given
that there's no fees involved and I'm in the midst of Jeremiah), and if
possible, Babylon Squared, maybe Sky Full of Stars. They'd also like to film
an on-camera intro by me (but I guess folks will buy it anyway, even with that
particular horror included).>>

YYYIIIPPPEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jan

Wesley Struebing

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Jun 9, 2002, 11:20:24 AM6/9/02
to
On 8 Jun 2002 04:25:32 -0700, cde...@ncicap.org (Cynthia) wrote:

>I work for the company doing the closed-captioning of Babylon 5 for
>DVD release. We are reformatting the captions from the original files,
>which were mostly done without scripts. We have the first six episodes
>here already (I'll be doing 1 & 2 myself tomorrow) but alas, still no
>scripts.
>

WOOHOO! (unoffically, of course...)
--
...and Stan took the other two...(Joe Haldeman - "Ballad of Stan Long")

Wes Struebing
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
str...@carpedementem.org
ph: 303-343-9006

Reed Snellenberger

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Jun 9, 2002, 10:28:16 PM6/9/02
to
Jms at B5 wrote:

> and Chrysalis (it's a matter of how much time and energy I can give to it given
> that there's no fees involved and I'm in the midst of Jeremiah), and if

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Do you take MasterCard?

--
Reed

WRWhite963

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Jun 9, 2002, 10:50:54 PM6/9/02
to
>
>Season One will be out in a boxed set this Fall, and they're going to be
>including at minimum two commentaries from me, probably on Signs and Portents
>and Chrysalis (it's a matter of how much time and energy I can give to it
>given
>that there's no fees involved and I'm in the midst of Jeremiah), and if
>possible, Babylon Squared, maybe Sky Full of Stars. They'd also like to film
>an on-camera intro by me (but I guess folks will buy it anyway, even with
>that
>particular horror included).
>

Much rejoicing!

As for the intro, we'd love to hear your thoughts on B5 - no horror there. We
saw you at least once in Sleeping in Light - the camera doesn't hate you, Joe.
(Now I'm reminded of a classic Animaniacs toon - paraphrased: (german accent)
"Repeat after me: The camera doesn't hate me. The camera is NOT a big
schpider..."

And I'm relieved they're not skimping on extras (although they should pay you
*something*...) I'd feared the eventual sets to have a "poor cousin" quality
about them, compared to releases for other shows...

Have they decided on aspect ratio?

Thanks again!
Walter R. White

Jms at B5

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Jun 10, 2002, 12:05:28 AM6/10/02
to
>Have they decided on aspect ratio?
>

Widescreen.

jms

Christian Smith

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Jun 10, 2002, 3:24:16 AM6/10/02
to
On 10 Jun 2002 01:05:43 GMT,jms...@aol.com (Jms at B5) wrote

>>The jollies I'm getting right now is that it looks like DVD is for real....
>
>Yeah, it's real...I was holding off saying anything until WB or someone else
>could announce it, but since it's come up here via the captioning
>institute...yeah, as noted, it's real.
>>

Wooohoo!!!


>Season One will be out in a boxed set this Fall, and they're going to be
>including at minimum two commentaries from me, probably on Signs and Portents
>and Chrysalis (it's a matter of how much time and energy I can give to it given
>that there's no fees involved and I'm in the midst of Jeremiah), and if
>possible, Babylon Squared, maybe Sky Full of Stars. They'd also like to film
>an on-camera intro by me (but I guess folks will buy it anyway, even with that
>particular horror included).

Just keeps getting better...


>They're pulling together a lot of stuff on this release so that there are
>plenty of extras this time around, now that the value of the DVDs has been
>shown by the first release
>.

And better...

And widescreen too!!!

My bank is going to hate me!

Any idea of the release schedule for the rest of the seasons?

Christian

--
"Every new beginning is some other beginnings end..."

ICQ 45494039
(E_Mail: Remove "NOSPAM" from e-mail address when replying)

Tlsmith1963

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Jun 10, 2002, 5:01:53 AM6/10/02
to
Yes! Yes! Yes! I was ready to jump up in the air & yell loudly when I read
your post, Joe! This is *fantastic* news! :)

Tammy
B5 New Beginnings
http://hometown.aol.com/tlsmith1963/myhomepage/babylon5.html

PÃ¥l Are Nordal

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Jun 10, 2002, 5:44:20 AM6/10/02
to
Jms at B5 wrote:
>
> Season One will be out in a boxed set this Fall, and they're going to be
> including at minimum two commentaries from me,

Any chance of comentaries by any of the other writers? Or some of the
cast or crew?


Jay Denebeim

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Jun 10, 2002, 11:13:22 AM6/10/02
to
In article <advecr$637$1...@bunyip.cc.uq.edu.au>,

C W CHAN <zzcw...@fox.uq.net.au> wrote:

>Perhaps we should tell Cynthia to watch it in order, and not to skip
>around the episodes? Who knows, we may get a new fan?

Um, judging by the fact that she knew to post here and she called Joe,
Joe, I'd say you're a little late. She's already a fan.

Jay
--
* Jay Denebeim Moderator rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated *
* newsgroup submission address: b5...@deepthot.org *
* moderator contact address: b5mod-...@deepthot.org *
* personal contact address: dene...@deepthot.org *

Sue

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Jun 10, 2002, 12:59:54 PM6/10/02
to
On 10 Jun 2002 04:05:28 GMT, jms...@aol.com (Jms at B5) proclaimed:

>>Have they decided on aspect ratio?
>>
>
>Widescreen.

My question: True widescreen? The DVD of "The Gathering" and "In the
Beginning" that we have is cropped at the top and bottom. I.e. -
there are bits that are missing. I don't want the episodes with
things missing. But if it is *true* widescreen, I'm there!

Sue


Mac Breck

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Jun 10, 2002, 1:08:30 PM6/10/02
to
"Sue" <vam...@attglobal.net> wrote in message
news:3d04dac5...@news1.attglobal.net...


I'm there, regardless, if only for the extras.

Mac Breck
------------------------
http://www.scifi.com/crusade/ http://www.b5lr.com/

"Nothing much good on TV tonight anyway." (Captain Gideon, Babylon 5
Crusade - The Memory of War)

Mac Breck

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Jun 10, 2002, 1:34:06 PM6/10/02
to
"Jms at B5" <jms...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20020609210543...@mb-ca.aol.com...

> >The jollies I'm getting right now is that it looks like DVD is for
real....
>
> Yeah, it's real...I was holding off saying anything until WB or someone
else
> could announce it, but since it's come up here via the captioning
> institute...yeah, as noted, it's real.
>
> Season One will be out in a boxed set this Fall, and they're going to be
> including at minimum two commentaries from me, probably on Signs and
Portents
> and Chrysalis (it's a matter of how much time and energy I can give to it
given
> that there's no fees involved

They're not paying you, ...anything? ???

> and I'm in the midst of Jeremiah), and if
> possible, Babylon Squared, maybe Sky Full of Stars. They'd also like to
film
> an on-camera intro by me (but I guess folks will buy it anyway, even with
that
> particular horror included).
>
> They're pulling together a lot of stuff on this release so that there are
> plenty of extras this time around, now that the value of the DVDs has been
> shown by the first release
> .
>
> jms
>
> (jms...@aol.com)
> (all message content (c) 2002 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
> permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
> and don't send me story ideas)

Regarding the extras, YAY!!!!!!! :-)

Paul McElligott

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Jun 10, 2002, 1:42:42 PM6/10/02
to
PÃ¥l Are Nordal <dr...@spamcop.net> wrote in message news:<3D0474F4...@spamcop.net>...

I think a commentary track by Jerry Doyle would be most entertaining.

It would also be great in the guys from Foundation Imaging could have
a commentary track.

Paul McElligott

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Jun 10, 2002, 1:44:34 PM6/10/02
to
jms...@aol.com (Jms at B5) wrote in message news:<20020610000528...@mb-fk.aol.com>...

> >Have they decided on aspect ratio?
> >
>
> Widescreen.
>
> jms
> jms
>

Little bit of a stutter there, Joe?

Anyway, I hope I don't need to ask if the episodes are in ANAMORPHIC widescreen.

Paul McElligott

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Jun 10, 2002, 1:47:02 PM6/10/02
to
jms...@aol.com (Jms at B5) wrote in message news:<20020609210543...@mb-ca.aol.com>...

>
> Season One will be out in a boxed set this Fall,

Between B5 and the Star Trek: TNG boxes, I'm going to need to float a
second mortgage this fall.

Too bad I don't own a house.

PÃ¥l Are Nordal

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Jun 10, 2002, 1:51:48 PM6/10/02
to
Paul McElligott wrote:
>
> It would also be great in the guys from Foundation Imaging could have
> a commentary track.

Judging from the Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers DVDs they'd certainly
be willing.

Personally, I'd love to see Larry DiTillio do a couple.


Paul McElligott

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Jun 10, 2002, 2:44:35 PM6/10/02
to
jms...@aol.com (Jms at B5) wrote in message news:<20020609210543...@mb-ca.aol.com>...
> >The jollies I'm getting right now is that it looks like DVD is for real....
>
> Yeah, it's real...I was holding off saying anything until WB or someone else
> could announce it, but since it's come up here via the captioning
> institute...yeah, as noted, it's real.
>
> Season One will be out in a boxed set this Fall,

Oh, yeah. One other question.

What about the sound? Will they make me happy (and my neighbors mad)
and give me Babylon 5 in Dolby Digital 5.1?

It is all about me, of course.

Paul McElligott

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Jun 10, 2002, 2:54:55 PM6/10/02
to
"Joseph DeMartino" <jdem...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message news:<000401c20f76$e2c564e0$a8045141@kosh>...

> I am only working part time at the moment (somebody
> forgot to tell people hereabouts that the recession is over) and have
> way too much time on my hands.

Sorry to hear. I was out of work for the first quarter of last year,
so I know a little of what you speak.

Unfortunately "the recession is over" only means that we've stopped
going backwards. It doesn't NECESSARILY imply forward motion yet.

The job market is usually the slowest to recover. These companies
that are so quick to cut people loose are usually pretty gun shy about
hiring again, but that will change with time.

I just wish that these companies would realize that hiring and
retraining are usually a hell of lot more expensive than biting the
bullet and standing by their employees through rough times.

Best of luck.

Tlsmith1963

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Jun 10, 2002, 3:09:11 PM6/10/02
to
I was waiting to see what Mac Breck would say about the DVD news. Pretty cool,
huh Mac? :)

Tammy

PS--I would *love* to see the bloopers included with the B5 DVDs!

BoredGuy

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Jun 10, 2002, 3:05:57 PM6/10/02
to

"Mac Breck" <macb...@access995.com> wrote in message
news:i25N8.18378$fM....@nwrddc01.gnilink.net...

> "Sue" <vam...@attglobal.net> wrote in message
> news:3d04dac5...@news1.attglobal.net...
> > On 10 Jun 2002 04:05:28 GMT, jms...@aol.com (Jms at B5) proclaimed:
> >
> > >>Have they decided on aspect ratio?
> > >>
> > >
> > >Widescreen.
> >
> > My question: True widescreen? The DVD of "The Gathering" and "In the
> > Beginning" that we have is cropped at the top and bottom. I.e. -
> > there are bits that are missing. I don't want the episodes with
> > things missing. But if it is *true* widescreen, I'm there!
>
>
> I'm there, regardless, if only for the extras.
>
I'm in the queue for them as soon as Region 2 get released...my tapes are
starting to get a bit warn down!!

BoredGuy

Jms at B5

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Jun 10, 2002, 3:26:59 PM6/10/02
to
>ny chance of comentaries by any of the other writers? Or some of the
>cast or crew?

They're currently investigating all possibililties.

Jms at B5

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Jun 10, 2002, 3:30:03 PM6/10/02
to
> (it's a matter of how much time and energy I can give to it
>given
>> that there's no fees involved
>
>They're not paying you, ...anything? ???

No. It's WB's policy that they don't pay to have people do commentaries. The
problem here is that there's so *much* that they want...an on-camera interview,
two to four full commentaries, and further analyses on the races, technologies,
politics, all that stuff...it's a huge amount of work. But their response was
that if it wasn't done for free, across the board, they'd just deliver a
foreshortened version, little to no extras, no publicity, little to nothing
without my commentary, which they feel is essential to the set. Rather than
have a lesser version go out to the fans, I figured I'd just bite the bullet
and do it.

Jms at B5

unread,
Jun 10, 2002, 3:30:45 PM6/10/02
to
>
>What about the sound? Will they make me happy (and my neighbors mad)
>and give me Babylon 5 in Dolby Digital 5.1?

The sound is being remastered to 5.1.

Jms at B5

unread,
Jun 10, 2002, 3:31:40 PM6/10/02
to
>My question: True widescreen? The DVD of "The Gathering" and "In the
>Beginning" that we have is cropped at the top and bottom. I.e. -
>there are bits that are missing. I don't want the episodes with
>things missing. But if it is *true* widescreen, I'm there!

The only things that I'm aware of that were cropped in those were the CGI and
composite scenes, since we can't go back and re-render all that stuff.

Mac Breck

unread,
Jun 10, 2002, 4:01:28 PM6/10/02
to
"Jms at B5" <jms...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20020610153140...@mb-mj.aol.com...

> >My question: True widescreen? The DVD of "The Gathering" and "In the
> >Beginning" that we have is cropped at the top and bottom. I.e. -
> >there are bits that are missing. I don't want the episodes with
> >things missing. But if it is *true* widescreen, I'm there!
>
> The only things that I'm aware of that were cropped in those were the CGI
and
> composite scenes, since we can't go back and re-render all that stuff.

"Can't" because the materials, that would be needed to do a re-render
(whatever those are, I don't know), are gone (misplaced, thrown out, or
destroyed), ..*or*.. because there is no time and/or no money to do the
re-render?

Mac Breck
------------------------
http://www.scifi.com/crusade/ http://www.b5lr.com/

"Nothing much good on TV tonight anyway." (Captain Gideon, Babylon 5
Crusade - The Memory of War)

>

Mac Breck

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Jun 10, 2002, 4:09:05 PM6/10/02
to
"Jms at B5" <jms...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20020610153003...@mb-mj.aol.com...

> > (it's a matter of how much time and energy I can give to it
> >given
> >> that there's no fees involved
> >
> >They're not paying you, ...anything? ???
>
> No. It's WB's policy that they don't pay to have people do commentaries.
The
> problem here is that there's so *much* that they want...an on-camera
interview,
> two to four full commentaries, and further analyses on the races,
technologies,
> politics, all that stuff...it's a huge amount of work. But their response
was
> that if it wasn't done for free, across the board, they'd just deliver a
> foreshortened version, little to no extras, no publicity, little to
nothing
> without my commentary, which they feel is essential to the set.

Reminds me of a line that a soul hunter once said to Sinclair about Delenn
and the Minbari. Three words, and you know what they are.


> Rather than
> have a lesser version go out to the fans, I figured I'd just bite the
bullet
> and do it.

Thanks. I appreciate it. It'll be the main reason for me buying all the
DVD sets.

Mac Breck
------------------------
http://www.scifi.com/crusade/ http://www.b5lr.com/

"Nothing much good on TV tonight anyway." (Captain Gideon, Babylon 5
Crusade - The Memory of War)

Dirk A. Loedding

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Jun 10, 2002, 1:12:40 PM6/10/02
to
In article <20020609210543...@mb-ca.aol.com>,

jms...@aol.com (Jms at B5) wrote:

>Season One will be out in a boxed set this Fall, and they're going to be

[snip]

Abso-fraggin-lutely wonderful!

--
Thought for the day:

I wasn't fired...I was vocationally re-assigned.

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Dirk A. Loedding <*> ju...@america.net |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Paul Harper

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Jun 10, 2002, 4:29:31 PM6/10/02
to
On 10 Jun 2002 19:30:03 GMT, jms...@aol.com (Jms at B5) wrote:

>I figured I'd just bite the bullet
>and do it.

Well done. Personally, I think it's effing cheeky of a company like WB
that's already made a lot of money from B5 *not* to give something
back to those people giving up their time, but there you go. That's
Hollyweird for you :-)

Paul.

--
A .sig is all well and good, but it's no substitute for a personality

JMS: "SFX is a fairly useless publication on just about every imaginable front.
Never have so many jumped-up fanboys done so little, with so much, for so long."

Aphelion

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Jun 10, 2002, 12:25:15 AM6/10/02
to
> Widescreen.
>
> jms

But doesn't that mean cropped SFX shots? If I remember correctly only the
live action was shot in WS, the CGI was composed for full frame. Personally
I'd rather sacrifice the live action WS for the majesty of the SFX, since
the performances and writing shine either way, and the full frame live
action doesn't detract from the product at all. My two cents (my $100 or so
to the box set anyway).

Aphelion


Joseph DeMartino

unread,
Jun 10, 2002, 12:12:05 AM6/10/02
to
> Yeah, it's real...I was holding off saying anything until WB or
someone else
> could announce it, but since it's come up here via the captioning
> institute...yeah, as noted, it's real.

> They're pulling together a lot of stuff on this release so that there


are
> plenty of extras this time around, now that the value of the DVDs has
been
> shown by the first release

Yes! Yes! Yes! YES!!!!!!

I've only been lobbying Warner Home Video for this since about 1997,
having written countless letters through I-don't-know-how-many changes
in personnel over there. To finally get "B5" on home video the way it
*deserves* to be seen is something very close to a dream come true.
Most important of all is that fact that they are involving *you* in the
project, the one point I've always stressed above all in my
communications with them. (On the theory that if you were keeping an
eye on things, I'd get everything else I wanted. <g>)

Congratulations. I know this release is going to be even better than
what you'd envisioned when you first talked about an eventual widescreen
collector's edition on laserdisc all those years ago.

Regards,

Joe

KBTibbs

unread,
Jun 10, 2002, 3:58:28 PM6/10/02
to
Right now, my entire neighborhood is doing a "Lennier" (i.e.
Woohoo???) ;)

Ok...entire season of DVD's... :::check da wallet::: hmm. Need to cut
back something. Cable TV? can't cut that. Broadband internet. Not
that either. Hmm... That leaves gasoline, food, lights, and the A/C
that gotta go. Guess that settles that ;) Now all I need is a high
quality DVD player (not this DVD/toaster oven I got), a 32 in.
Widescreen HDTV (instead of this 20 in 19 year old and once struck by
lighting literally), and Dolby 5.1 surround sound (instead of barely
stereo...the left is starting to go out).

Any idea on Price yet? (crosses fingers for $29.95)

Well, I gotta go find a buyer for one of my kidneys...

Timothy A. McDaniel

unread,
Jun 10, 2002, 4:41:40 PM6/10/02
to
In article <20020609210543...@mb-ca.aol.com>,

Jms at B5 <jms...@aol.com> wrote:
>Season One will be out in a boxed set this Fall

How many episodes per disk (and, thus, how many disks per season)?

I'd ask "How much?", but the answer is
- "Too much."
- "NEVER ASK THAT!"

--
Tim McDaniel is tm...@jump.net; if that fail,
tm...@us.ibm.com is my work account.
"To join the Clueless Club, send a followup to this message quoting everything
up to and including this sig!" -- Jukka....@hut.fi (Jukka Korpela)

Jay Denebeim

unread,
Jun 10, 2002, 4:45:40 PM6/10/02
to
In article <c926b0f.02061...@posting.google.com>,
Paul McElligott <mcell...@cox.net> wrote:

>Unfortunately "the recession is over" only means that we've stopped
>going backwards. It doesn't NECESSARILY imply forward motion yet.

Who told you that? It's a rumor as far as i can tell. The tech
market is as bad or worse as it's been. NorTel is laying off another
3500 employees, so is IBM, and Lucent is still dying. These are just
companies I've got friends working at.

Mac Breck

unread,
Jun 10, 2002, 4:59:50 PM6/10/02
to
"Aphelion" <pre...@dreamscape.com> wrote in message
news:ug8a8ed...@corp.supernews.com...

> > Widescreen.
> >
> > jms
>
> But doesn't that mean cropped SFX shots?

Yes. He answered this further down the thread.

Claudia Mastroianni

unread,
Jun 10, 2002, 5:41:39 PM6/10/02
to
KBTibbs <KBT...@yahoo.com> wrote:
: Ok...entire season of DVD's... :::check da wallet::: hmm. Need to cut

: back something. Cable TV? can't cut that. Broadband internet. Not
: that either. Hmm... That leaves gasoline, food, lights, and the A/C
: that gotta go. Guess that settles that ;) Now all I need is a high
: quality DVD player (not this DVD/toaster oven I got), a 32 in.
: Widescreen HDTV (instead of this 20 in 19 year old and once struck by
: lighting literally), and Dolby 5.1 surround sound (instead of barely
: stereo...the left is starting to go out).

And then all you need is to plug the player, TV and sound system into a
source of electricity dependent neither on your electric bill nor a
gasoline supply, since you zapped those already. ;-)

I'm very interested in how many episodes per disc. Gotta start
reserving the shelfspace.

Claudia
--
"Even if we never talk again after tonight, please know that I'm
forever changed because of who you are and what you've meant to me,
which - while I do appreciate it - I'd never need a painting of birds
bought at a diner to remind me of." -- Holden, Chasing Amy

Cedara

unread,
Jun 10, 2002, 5:52:04 PM6/10/02
to
Hi,

curious question - will it be for other regions than R1 too? (It
doesn't matter as long those aren't RCE dvds.)

Thanks.


Manuela

Paul McElligott

unread,
Jun 10, 2002, 9:42:25 PM6/10/02
to
Well, the recession applies to the whole economy. Even if the tech sector
is still contracting, other sectors of the economy may be making up for it.

I never said I agreed that the recession was over. It may be "over" in
purely technical terms (i.e. the GDP didn't shrink last quarter) but we're
still a long way from recovery.

And "recovery" will probably NEVER equal the euphoric heights of the late
'90s.

"Jay Denebeim" <dene...@deepthot.org> wrote in message
news:ae335k$k8h$1...@dent.deepthot.org...

Paul McElligott

unread,
Jun 10, 2002, 9:47:29 PM6/10/02
to
Oh, yeah! Woof! Woof! Woof!

If you hear any reports of man arrested for standing naked on his roof
screaming Celtic pagan war chants.... don't worry. I'll be out of jail by
the time season 1 ships.

"Jms at B5" <jms...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20020610153045...@mb-mj.aol.com...

Scifi451

unread,
Jun 10, 2002, 5:52:56 PM6/10/02
to
<< No. It's WB's policy that they don't pay to have people do commentaries.
The
problem here is that there's so *much* that they want...an on-camera interview,
two to four full commentaries, and further analyses on the races, technologies,
politics, all that stuff...it's a huge amount of work. But their response was
that if it wasn't done for free, across the board, they'd just deliver a
foreshortened version, little to no extras, no publicity, little to nothing
without my commentary, which they feel is essential to the set. Rather than
have a lesser version go out to the fans, I figured I'd just bite the bullet
and do it.

jms
>>


I just want to say THANK YOU JMS!! You could have opted out and not done any
extras, but you care for the fans, THANK YOU!!


Cynthia

unread,
Jun 10, 2002, 7:08:46 PM6/10/02
to
zzcw...@fox.uq.net.au (C W CHAN) wrote in message news:<advecr$637$1...@bunyip.cc.uq.edu.au>...

> Not that I'm complaining about this bit of news, and I am really
> not trying to jinx this, but recalling JMS's cryptic post regarding
> the news of DVDs:
>
> JMS> There's nothing that I can share at this time that would not
> JMS> preclude others in the food chain from doing the same on this
> JMS> subject.
>
> either:
>
> This is a hoax (well, it may be lunchtime somewhere in the world,
> but it ain't april anywhere)
>
> OR
>
> The studio heads has had their thunder stolen (the best laid plans...)
>
>
> Please, please let it be the latter.
>
> (Hey, maybe someone can ask really nicely about the transfer, extras,
> and all that *grin*)
>
> On another point, would anyone else offer to do the captions for B5 for
> nothing (well, maybe room and board). Perhaps we should tell Cynthia
> to watch it in order, and not to skip around the episodes? Who knows,
> we may get a new fan?
>
> Chuen Chan c.c...@uq.net.au

I promise it's not a hoax! LOL Honestly, the National Captioning
Institute in Burbank is hard at work on the eps. [www.ncicap.org for
you suspicious types *g*] We don't have any "extras," though, just the
episodes themselves. I have no clue as to whether there will be
extras, I'm just a worker bee. Although I'll be sure to let the boss
know how many offers I've had for free QC checks!

And alas, I don't have the luxury of watching them in order, or even
of watching ALL of them that come in, although I intend to watch as
many as I can during dinner breaks, etc. I never watched the show when
it originally aired *hanging head in shame* but as a longtime Chris
Carter/X-Files fan I gained a respect of JMS as a human being (that
rarest of breeds in H'Wood) during the "World on Fire" debacle, which
was when I first lurked on this board. My respect has grown over this
past weekend.

Cynthia


Cynthia

unread,
Jun 10, 2002, 7:34:10 PM6/10/02
to
jms...@aol.com (Jms at B5) wrote in message news:<20020609210543...@mb-ca.aol.com>...
>
> Yeah, it's real...I was holding off saying anything until WB or someone else
> could announce it, but since it's come up here via the captioning
> institute...yeah, as noted, it's real.

Whoa, jeeze -- am I in duck soup for pre-announcing? You guys won't
rat me out will ya???

The good news is, after himself e-mailed me some info (which was
enormously helpful, thank you!) I talked to the woman who coordinates
our work for Warner. Seems she never ASKED for the scripts, because we
are reformatting the original caption files we did waybackwhen. What
she didn't realize was that we never had the scripts in the first
place, nor Internet access to do research or ask the fans. She is
contacting them to request the scripts, so hopefully we will get
everything right. (I would cringe to admit how many errors were in the
ep I worked on the other night. To say nothing of the fact that at
that time we did not caption verbatim -- we condensed lines into what
would encode in the old, old software. Ugly.)

Believe it or not, captioning ain't as easy as it looks -- despite
being essentially paid to watch TV all day. And without scripts, we
have to go by what we hear, and with a show with created jargon, such
as most scifi shows use, we end up spelling things phonetically. Again
... ugly. I'd much rather have the writers' own version!

And yes, I really do work at NCI and am one of the shop stewards.
Jeeze, you guys must have been burned by a good number of pranksters
-- I'm sorry I stirred that up! But I hope the end product will be
worth the anxiety, if not the wait.

JMS, thank you again. My boss was mighty impressed. There isn't
another client who would have stepped up to the plate the way you did.
I hope our tiny corner of the B5 world can measure up to your
professionalism.

Cynthia Delmar
Senior Caption Editor (really!)
NCI (honest!)


Aaron Malchow

unread,
Jun 10, 2002, 8:25:06 PM6/10/02
to
JMS wrote:
"No. It's WB's policy that they don't pay to have people do commentaries. The
problem here is that there's so *much* that they want...an on-camera interview,
two to four full commentaries, and further analyses on the races, technologies,
politics, all that stuff...it's a huge amount of work. But their response was
that if it wasn't done for free, across the board, they'd just deliver a
foreshortened version, little to no extras, no publicity, little to nothing
without my commentary, which they feel is essential to the set. Rather than
have a lesser version go out to the fans, I figured I'd just bite the bullet
and do it."


I'm very appreciative of your willingness to do this, given the rather unfair
situation. Hopefully, one day WB's policy will change to compensate people for
setting aside time to offer their commentary.

Take care,
Aaron Malchow


Jay Denebeim

unread,
Jun 10, 2002, 10:09:37 PM6/10/02
to
In article <a96ff9de.02061...@posting.google.com>,
Cynthia <cde...@ncicap.org> wrote:

>I promise it's not a hoax!

Ah, don't mind the inhabitants. Whenever you make a post on usenet
*some*body is going to tell you you're wrong. You just basically have
to learn who knows what they're talking about from who's a Cliff
Clayborne wannabe by reading them for awhile.

Sometimes it doesn't take very long :-) You seemed like a hoopy frood
who knows where her towel is from your first post.

>And alas, I don't have the luxury of watching them in order, or even
>of watching ALL of them that come in, although I intend to watch as
>many as I can during dinner breaks, etc.

Well, so hurry up with the closed captioning so that you can buy the
set. Then watch them. In order...

BTW a friend of mine wanted to get into B5 while it was around half
way through the second season. She didn't want to start watching
until she caught up, so I took tapes up to her, she watched a season
and a half straight, over a weekend. I was impressed.

>I never watched the show when it originally aired *hanging head in
>shame* but as a longtime Chris Carter/X-Files fan I gained a respect
>of JMS as a human being (that rarest of breeds in H'Wood) during the
>"World on Fire" debacle, which was when I first lurked on this board.

Debacle? I don't think we've heard about what happened with that.
Care to enlighten us?

>My respect has grown over this past weekend.

Past weekend???

Jay Denebeim

unread,
Jun 10, 2002, 10:15:20 PM6/10/02
to

>Jeeze, you guys must have been burned by a good number of pranksters

Yeah, up to and including a fairly well pulled off death of jms hoax.

Chris Adams

unread,
Jun 10, 2002, 10:43:52 PM6/10/02
to
Once upon a time, Jay Denebeim <dene...@deepthot.org> said:
>Ah, don't mind the inhabitants. Whenever you make a post on usenet
>*some*body is going to tell you you're wrong. You just basically have
>to learn who knows what they're talking about from who's a Cliff
>Clayborne wannabe by reading them for awhile.

Cliff Clayborne? Who's that? I think you mean Cliff Clavin.

Sorry, couldn't resist. :-)
--
Chris Adams <cma...@hiwaay.net>
Systems and Network Administrator - HiWAAY Internet Services
I don't speak for anybody but myself - that's enough trouble.

Aisling Willow Grey

unread,
Jun 10, 2002, 10:44:05 PM6/10/02
to
>>Paul McElligott wrote:

> Oh, yeah! Woof! Woof! Woof!
>
> If you hear any reports of man arrested for standing naked on his roof
> screaming Celtic pagan war chants....<<

Sounds like an average night in my neighborhood...

:-D

Aisling Grey
Former Philadelphia SciFi carwrap victim
(Don't tell them I left G'Kar on the back left window)

John Hudgens (Fenn)

unread,
Jun 10, 2002, 10:46:20 PM6/10/02
to
The B5 CGI was *composed* for a widescreen image, but had to be
rendered at 4:3... the tops and bottoms of those shots are meant to be
cropped, just like any film that is shot flat (1.85:1) and the matted
and projected in a theatre...
Don't worry about it....

Fenn

Aisling Willow Grey

unread,
Jun 10, 2002, 10:47:13 PM6/10/02
to
>>Timothy A. McDaniel wrote:

> In article <20020609210543...@mb-ca.aol.com>,
> Jms at B5 <jms...@aol.com> wrote:
>
>>Season One will be out in a boxed set this Fall
>>
>
> How many episodes per disk (and, thus, how many disks per season)?
>
> I'd ask "How much?", but the answer is
> - "Too much."
> - "NEVER ASK THAT!"<<

Too much? Nah, these things are _priceless_. Whatever they cost, I'll
pay. Woo hoo for plastic!

Aisling Willow Grey

unread,
Jun 10, 2002, 10:56:15 PM6/10/02
to
Having LOTS of trouble getting this one through, after MANY tries last
night and today. Help, moderators, help!:

>>Jms at B5 wrote:

>>The jollies I'm getting right now is that it looks like DVD is for
real....


>>
>
> Yeah, it's real...I was holding off saying anything until WB or
someone else
> could announce it, but since it's come up here via the captioning
> institute...yeah, as noted, it's real.
>

> Season One will be out in a boxed set this Fall, and they're going to be

> including at minimum two commentaries from me, probably on Signs and
Portents
> and Chrysalis (it's a matter of how much time and energy I can give
to it given
> that there's no fees involved and I'm in the midst of Jeremiah), and if
> possible, Babylon Squared, maybe Sky Full of Stars. They'd also like
to film
> an on-camera intro by me (but I guess folks will buy it anyway, even
with that
> particular horror included).


>
> They're pulling together a lot of stuff on this release so that there are
> plenty of extras this time around, now that the value of the DVDs has
been
> shown by the first release

> .
>
> jms
>
> (jms...@aol.com)
> (all message content (c) 2002 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
> permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
> and don't send me story ideas)<<


JMS,

As I sit here convalescing with my two broken shoulders, barely able to
type (cue the violins, please), this poor, devoted injured fan of yours
struggles diligently at the keyboard to painstakingly peck out the one
question uppermost in my mind tonight: will we get an alternate track
for MotFL, with the beloved teapot included??

Fingers crossed (ouch!),

Aisling Willow Grey

unread,
Jun 10, 2002, 10:41:12 PM6/10/02
to
>>Jms at B5 wrote:

>>The jollies I'm getting right now is that it looks like DVD is for real....
>>
>
> Yeah, it's real...I was holding off saying anything until WB or someone else
> could announce it, but since it's come up here via the captioning
> institute...yeah, as noted, it's real.
>
> Season One will be out in a boxed set this Fall, and they're going to be
> including at minimum two commentaries from me, probably on Signs and Portents
> and Chrysalis (it's a matter of how much time and energy I can give to it given
> that there's no fees involved and I'm in the midst of Jeremiah), and if
> possible, Babylon Squared, maybe Sky Full of Stars. They'd also like to film
> an on-camera intro by me (but I guess folks will buy it anyway, even with that
> particular horror included).
>
> They're pulling together a lot of stuff on this release so that there are
> plenty of extras this time around, now that the value of the DVDs has been
> shown by the first release
> .
>
> jms
>
> (jms...@aol.com)
> (all message content (c) 2002 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
> permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
> and don't send me story ideas)<<

Having LOTS of trouble getting through, so am re-posting this one from
last night:

*********

Chris Patterson

unread,
Jun 10, 2002, 11:37:47 PM6/10/02
to
jms...@aol.com (Jms at B5) wrote in message news:<20020610153003...@mb-mj.aol.com>...

> The problem here is that there's so *much* that they want...an on-camera
> interview, two to four full commentaries, and further analyses on the races,
> technologies, politics, all that stuff...it's a huge amount of work. But
> their response was that if it wasn't done for free, across the board, they'd
> just deliver a foreshortened version, little to no extras, no publicity,
> little to nothing without my commentary, which they feel is essential to the
> set. Rather than have a lesser version go out to the fans, I figured I'd
> just bite the bullet and do it.

Joe, you're too cool. You *know* we're all gonna buy the discs no
matter whether the extras are included or not, and you're still making
the time to do it. *Please* don't let this affect your health too
much!

Is there any way the fans or others can help? For instance, would WB
consider having you do short introductions for other people, who then
use info from the Lurker's Guide? Even though there'd be fewer new
tidbits of information for the fans who are already familiar with the
LG, I think it would be worth it if it kept you from getting too
strung out.

Oh, one little request -- could you include that chronology from the
B5 magazine on the discs? :)

--
====================================================================
Chris Patterson
A one-question geek test: If you get the joke, you're a geek.
Seen on the license plate of a VW Beetle: "FEATURE"

Tlsmith1963

unread,
Jun 10, 2002, 11:46:36 PM6/10/02
to
>Yeah, up to and including a fairly well pulled off death of jms hoax.
>
>Jay

Someone just tried to make everyone believe that Claudia Black had died over at
a Farscape site. The jerk!

Of course, it wasn't true.

Tammy
B5 New Beginnings
http://hometown.aol.com/tlsmith1963/myhomepage/babylon5.html

Paul McElligott

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 12:11:27 AM6/11/02
to
Neighbor!!!

"Aisling Willow Grey" <ais...@fjordstone.com> wrote in message
news:3D0564A4...@fjordstone.com...

Eric Eufusia

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 12:12:15 AM6/11/02
to
Thanks Much!!!


> Rather than
> have a lesser version go out to the fans, I figured I'd
> just bite the bullet
> and do it.
>

Jeffrey MacHott

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 12:33:56 AM6/11/02
to

"Paul McElligott" <mcell...@cox.net> wrote in message
news:c926b0f.02061...@posting.google.com...
> "Joseph DeMartino" <jdem...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:<000401c20f76$e2c564e0$a8045141@kosh>...
>

<snip>

> I just wish that these companies would realize that hiring and
> retraining are usually a hell of lot more expensive than biting the
> bullet and standing by their employees through rough times.

Southwest Airlines has a reputation for never laying off employees, IIRC.
I've heard that they've been known to employ their pilots in jobs such as
baggage handlers during rough times, but they've never done layoffs such as
the other major airlines have done.

Also, they save money by not giving the passengers food on flights :*)

--Jeff

>
> Best of luck.
>
>


Jeffrey MacHott

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 12:36:22 AM6/11/02
to

"Claudia Mastroianni" <cma...@fas.harvard.edu> wrote in message
news:ae36ej$4na$1...@news.fas.harvard.edu...
> KBTibbs <KBT...@yahoo.com> wrote:


> And then all you need is to plug the player, TV and sound system into a
> source of electricity dependent neither on your electric bill nor a
> gasoline supply, since you zapped those already. ;-)
>

Get a very hyperactive dog (or a small child) and a giant hamster wheel.
Connect that to a generator. Enjoy. :*)

OR... connect a generator to a stationary bike, and stay in shape while
watching B5!! (I may be onto something here! :*)

--Jeff

Jeffrey MacHott

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 12:55:26 AM6/11/02
to

"PÃ¥l Are Nordal" <dr...@spamcop.net> wrote in message
news:3D0474F4...@spamcop.net...

> Jms at B5 wrote:
> >
> > Season One will be out in a boxed set this Fall, and they're going to be
> > including at minimum two commentaries from me,
>
> Any chance of comentaries by any of the other writers? Or some of the
> cast or crew?

Just a crazy/stupid idea on my part... have a commentary by Lt. Corwin. Not
the actor. The actual character, who has been running around in the
background on the show for most of the series :*)

I can relate to Corwin, we're both what I call "Background Characters",
rarely in the center of things, but often there :*)

--Jeff


Robert Perkins

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 12:39:11 AM6/11/02
to
On 10 Jun 2002 19:30:03 GMT, jms...@aol.com (Jms at B5) wrote:

>No. It's WB's policy that they don't pay to have people do commentaries. [...]


> But their response was
>that if it wasn't done for free, across the board, they'd just deliver a
>foreshortened version, little to no extras, no publicity, little to nothing

>without my commentary, which they feel is essential to the set. Rather than


>have a lesser version go out to the fans, I figured I'd just bite the bullet
>and do it.

Your doing it is just another example of the attention and loyalty
you've always expressed to your fans and viewers. But it still feels
like WB is getting away with "something for nothing."

I wonder: is there money for writers in DVD releases like this, some
kind of residual? Is there a residual for any of the original
production people, the actors, directors, producers?

If not, well, why not? CD's cost less than a buck to press and label,
and not terribly much more to distribute. We still pay up to $20 at
the music store for them, and we've been told the artists don't see
all that much of that. Is it the same for video productions, when they
get moved to video/DVD?

Finally, what could we, as viewers and consumers, do to support
writers other producers of the good stuff we want, in order to see you
get paid properly, so there's none of this holding the spectre of a
botch job over your head the next time they want work from you for
nothing? Could we, for example, write to someone during contract
negotiations, or something?

Rob

Pelzo63

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 2:18:27 AM6/11/02
to
cdelmar wrote:

> What
>she didn't realize was that we never had the scripts in the first
>place, nor Internet access to do research or ask the fans. She is
>contacting them to request the scripts, so hopefully we will get
>everything right

one thing i wish to add is that it's been pretty well known tha joe is a
stickler for detail and actors rarely if ever ad-libbed anything in b5, so i
don't know how often it is in other shows, but in B5, the script is almost 100%
what you will hear on screen.

And let me add my own little
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)

now..to scrap together the $...

....Chris

Roseann

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 7:29:05 AM6/11/02
to
Joe,

Thanks for being willing to do this for us. You must be hip deep in a lot
of stuff. Maybe the fans can pay you back for being so generous. ;-)
Somehow that sounds scarier than I meant it. Anyway, I'm willing to take
over the cooking. Who wants to do laundry? j/k

Roseann


Mac Breck

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 7:45:24 AM6/11/02
to
"Jeffrey MacHott" <RaguL...@netzero.net> wrote in message
news:U4fN8.194$hm1...@newsread2.prod.itd.earthlink.net...

>
> "Paul McElligott" <mcell...@cox.net> wrote in message
> news:c926b0f.02061...@posting.google.com...
> > "Joseph DeMartino" <jdem...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
> news:<000401c20f76$e2c564e0$a8045141@kosh>...
> >
>
> <snip>
>
> > I just wish that these companies would realize that hiring and
> > retraining are usually a hell of lot more expensive than biting the
> > bullet and standing by their employees through rough times.
>
> Southwest Airlines has a reputation for never laying off employees, IIRC.
> I've heard that they've been known to employ their pilots in jobs such as
> baggage handlers during rough times, but they've never done layoffs such
as
> the other major airlines have done.

And then on the other hand, there are the businesses that downsize at the
first whiff of a downturn by letting workers go, and immediately giving
managers a hefty bonus. Always a nice touch. <s>

Yeah, we're a TEAM alright. <s>


Mac Breck
------------------------
http://www.scifi.com/crusade/ http://www.b5lr.com/

"Nothing much good on TV tonight anyway." (Captain Gideon, Babylon 5
Crusade - The Memory of War)

Birgit Schindlbeck

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 7:55:48 AM6/11/02
to

Jms at B5 schrieb:


>
> >The jollies I'm getting right now is that it looks like DVD is for real....
>
> Yeah, it's real...I was holding off saying anything until WB or someone else
> could announce it, but since it's come up here via the captioning
> institute...yeah, as noted, it's real.
>

(snip)

Really? *getting all excited*
Whoo-hoo!!!
*calms down and goes checking her account to see how much money she's
got on it*
*nods*
Should be 'nuff to buy it.

*huuuge grin*
Great!

See you!
Birgit

Birgit Schindlbeck

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 7:59:42 AM6/11/02
to

> Oh, one little request -- could you include that chronology from the
> B5 magazine on the discs? :)
>
Good idea, I missed one or two parts of that... :)
Ok, so I WAS lucky getting all those magazines from a friend who just
GAVE them to me. And I WAS lucky she had so many, but... :-)))

See you!
Birgit

Birgit Schindlbeck

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 8:05:38 AM6/11/02
to
> I figured I'd just bite the bullet
> and do it.
>
> jms
>
Great! Really!

Thanks from Germany, too!
And btw you all can bet that I'll get that stuff. Even if i have to buy
one of those rather rare multi-channel DVD-players to be able to watch
it... If I ever had a reason to do so... ;)

See you!
Birgit

Mac Breck

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 8:21:28 AM6/11/02
to
"Cynthia" <cde...@ncicap.org> wrote in message
news:a96ff9de.02061...@posting.google.com...

> jms...@aol.com (Jms at B5) wrote in message
news:<20020609210543...@mb-ca.aol.com>...
> >
> > Yeah, it's real...I was holding off saying anything until WB or someone
else
> > could announce it, but since it's come up here via the captioning
> > institute...yeah, as noted, it's real.
>
> Whoa, jeeze -- am I in duck soup for pre-announcing? You guys won't
> rat me out will ya???
>
> The good news is, after himself e-mailed me some info (which was
> enormously helpful, thank you!) I talked to the woman who coordinates
> our work for Warner. Seems she never ASKED for the scripts, because we
> are reformatting the original caption files we did waybackwhen. What
> she didn't realize was that we never had the scripts in the first
> place, nor Internet access to do research or ask the fans. She is
> contacting them to request the scripts, so hopefully we will get
> everything right. (I would cringe to admit how many errors were in the
> ep I worked on the other night. To say nothing of the fact that at
> that time we did not caption verbatim -- we condensed lines into what
> would encode in the old, old software. Ugly.)
>
> Believe it or not, captioning ain't as easy as it looks -- despite
> being essentially paid to watch TV all day. And without scripts, we
> have to go by what we hear, and with a show with created jargon, such
> as most scifi shows use, we end up spelling things phonetically. Again
> ... ugly. I'd much rather have the writers' own version!

Better have the last revision of the scripts. Even then, everything might
not be verbatim between the script and the aired episode.

> JMS, thank you again. My boss was mighty impressed. There isn't
> another client who would have stepped up to the plate the way you did.
> I hope our tiny corner of the B5 world can measure up to your
> professionalism.

Glad to hear you're not in hot water.

Paul Harper

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 9:31:35 AM6/11/02
to
On Tue, 11 Jun 2002 14:05:38 +0200, Birgit Schindlbeck
<Kh...@megami.de> wrote:

>rather rare multi-channel DVD-players

They're very cheap over in the UK - import one! Last one I bought was
GBP85 (or roughly $120) - and that had macrovision disabled as well.
Major high-street store, too, not some hidden back street place.

There are more mutli-region DVD players over here than single-region
ones.

Trust us Brits to wave two fingers at the Hollyweird coding system :-)

Paul.

--
A .sig is all well and good, but it's no substitute for a personality

JMS: "SFX is a fairly useless publication on just about every imaginable front.
Never have so many jumped-up fanboys done so little, with so much, for so long."

Chris Adams

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 9:43:26 AM6/11/02
to
Once upon a time, Jeffrey MacHott <RaguL...@netzero.net> said:
>OR... connect a generator to a stationary bike, and stay in shape while
>watching B5!! (I may be onto something here! :*)

Then you can wait for the Soylent Company to bring out your favorite
foods (and it won't be strawberries)!

Claudia Mastroianni

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 11:00:43 AM6/11/02
to
Jay Denebeim <dene...@deepthot.org> wrote:
: In article <a96ff9de.02061...@posting.google.com>,
: Cynthia <cde...@ncicap.org> wrote:
:>I never watched the show when it originally aired *hanging head in

:>shame* but as a longtime Chris Carter/X-Files fan I gained a respect
:>of JMS as a human being (that rarest of breeds in H'Wood) during the
:>"World on Fire" debacle, which was when I first lurked on this board.

: Debacle? I don't think we've heard about what happened with that.
: Care to enlighten us?

I'm pretty sure we did, from one of the horse's mouths.

World on Fire was going to be a series Chris Carter and JMS would
develop together, but after Harsh Realm flopped ...

Well, here it is:

http://www.swd.net.au/cgi-bin/geos/news.cgi/article/127

Claudia
--
"The universe considers me its personal cat toy.
(You have ANY idea what it's like to go through life
covered in cosmic cat spit?)" -- jms

Claudia Mastroianni

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 11:01:43 AM6/11/02
to
John Hudgens (Fenn) <f-s...@usit.net> wrote:
: The B5 CGI was *composed* for a widescreen image, but had to be

: rendered at 4:3... the tops and bottoms of those shots are meant to be
: cropped, just like any film that is shot flat (1.85:1) and the matted
: and projected in a theatre...

Eh. People say that, but when a lovely Minbari warship is missing its
top and bottom fins, I feel a lack.

Claudia
--
Do not underestimate the power of a drunk man with climbing gear. -- kemiller

Tlsmith1963

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 12:07:09 PM6/11/02
to
>Sounds like an average night in my neighborhood...
>
>:-D
>
>Aisling Grey

Sounds like an average night in my workplace--a casino. It's true, because we
get some really strange people in there...

Kathryn Huxtable

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 12:16:08 PM6/11/02
to
Claudia Mastroianni <cma...@fas.harvard.edu> writes:
> John Hudgens (Fenn) <f-s...@usit.net> wrote:
> : The B5 CGI was *composed* for a widescreen image, but had to be
> : rendered at 4:3... the tops and bottoms of those shots are meant to be
> : cropped, just like any film that is shot flat (1.85:1) and the matted
> : and projected in a theatre...
>
> Eh. People say that, but when a lovely Minbari warship is missing its
> top and bottom fins, I feel a lack.

I'm with Claudia. I'd rather have the 4:3 version. I'll buy the
widescreen, though, and complain at the lousy screen composition in
the CGI shots, where they've been cropped.

And there's no good way to turn the CGI into true anamorphic
widescreen without a lot of work.

-K

Andrew

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 3:02:19 PM6/11/02
to
"Cynthia" <cde...@ncicap.org> wrote in message
news:a96ff9de.02061...@posting.google.com...
> jms...@aol.com (Jms at B5) wrote in message
news:<20020609210543...@mb-ca.aol.com>...
> >
> > Yeah, it's real...I was holding off saying anything until WB or someone
else
> > could announce it, but since it's come up here via the captioning
> > institute...yeah, as noted, it's real.
>
> Whoa, jeeze -- am I in duck soup for pre-announcing? You guys won't
> rat me out will ya???

Why would we do that?

> The good news is, after himself e-mailed me some info (which was
> enormously helpful, thank you!) I talked to the woman who coordinates
> our work for Warner. Seems she never ASKED for the scripts, because we
> are reformatting the original caption files we did waybackwhen. What
> she didn't realize was that we never had the scripts in the first
> place, nor Internet access to do research or ask the fans. She is
> contacting them to request the scripts, so hopefully we will get
> everything right. (I would cringe to admit how many errors were in the
> ep I worked on the other night. To say nothing of the fact that at
> that time we did not caption verbatim -- we condensed lines into what
> would encode in the old, old software. Ugly.)

So is this just the closed captioning data, or will your work also be used
for the subtitle track on the DVDs?

<snip>

> JMS, thank you again. My boss was mighty impressed. There isn't
> another client who would have stepped up to the plate the way you did.
> I hope our tiny corner of the B5 world can measure up to your
> professionalism.

Well, from the dedication that you're showing, I at least have no doubts
that it will.

--
Andrew
========================================
"Human scholars have a tendency
to overexamine literature that goes
well beyond the pedantic."
--Ambassador Worf,
_Diplomatic Implausibility_,
by Keith R.A. DeCandido (p173)

Mac Breck

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 10:59:56 AM6/11/02
to
"Jms at B5" <jms...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20020609210543...@mb-ca.aol.com...

> >The jollies I'm getting right now is that it looks like DVD is for
real....
>
> Yeah, it's real...I was holding off saying anything until WB or someone
else
> could announce it, but since it's come up here via the captioning
> institute...yeah, as noted, it's real.
>
> Season One will be out in a boxed set this Fall, and they're going to be
> including at minimum two commentaries from me, probably on Signs and
Portents
> and Chrysalis (it's a matter of how much time and energy I can give to it
given
> that there's no fees involved and I'm in the midst of Jeremiah), and if
> possible, Babylon Squared, maybe Sky Full of Stars. They'd also like to
film
> an on-camera intro by me (but I guess folks will buy it anyway, even with
that
> particular horror included).
>
> They're pulling together a lot of stuff on this release so that there are
> plenty of extras this time around, now that the value of the DVDs has been
> shown by the first release
> .
>
> jms
>
> (jms...@aol.com)
> (all message content (c) 2002 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
> permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
> and don't send me story ideas)

*fingers crossed*

Any news on the remaining movies (***A Call to Arms***, **Thirdspace**, The
River of Souls, and To Live and Die in Starlight), ***Crusade episodes***,
or Special Editions of The Gathering and In the Beginning (e.g more than
bare bones discs) coming to DVD in Region 1?

steve.s...@marconi.com

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 4:21:41 PM6/11/02
to
Jms at B5 <jms...@aol.com> wrote:
>>Have they decided on aspect ratio?
>>

> Widescreen.

Anamorphic Widescreen? Pretty please??? :-)

--
Steve Snodgrass * steve.s...@marconi.com * Marconi Network Engineer
Geek Code: GCS d? s: a C++ US++++$ P+++ L+ w PS+ 5++ b++ DI+ D++ e++ r+++ y+*
"If you want to be somebody else, change your mind." -Sister Hazel

Kathryn Huxtable

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 4:53:19 PM6/11/02
to
steve.s...@marconi.com writes:
> Jms at B5 <jms...@aol.com> wrote:
> >>Have they decided on aspect ratio?
> > Widescreen.
> Anamorphic Widescreen? Pretty please??? :-)

I don't see how they can do that when the CG shots were all rendered
at 4:3 NTSC resolution. They'd have to *very carefully* size up the
resolution, with who knows what crummy results.

-K

Robert Perkins

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 3:23:23 PM6/11/02
to
On Tue, 11 Jun 2002 04:55:26 GMT, "Jeffrey MacHott"
<RaguL...@netzero.net> wrote:

>Just a crazy/stupid idea on my part... have a commentary by Lt. Corwin. Not
>the actor. The actual character, who has been running around in the
>background on the show for most of the series :*)

That would be fun. But, given that Warners won't pay him, how would
you get Joshua Cox to basically act Corwin, lines and all, for the
commentary?

I'll bet SAG has a couple of rules about that.

Rob

Glen <Wiley> Wilson

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 4:57:33 PM6/11/02
to
On Tue, 11 Jun 2002 02:44:05 GMT, Aisling Willow Grey
<ais...@fjordstone.com> tempted fate with:

> >>Paul McElligott wrote:
>
>> Oh, yeah! Woof! Woof! Woof!
>>
>> If you hear any reports of man arrested for standing naked on his roof
>> screaming Celtic pagan war chants....<<
>
>
>

>Sounds like an average night in my neighborhood...
>

Except for the roof part. In my neighborhood, we do it
in the middle of the woad...

Glen Wilson

Kay Shapero

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 5:29:40 PM6/11/02
to
In article <a96ff9de.02061...@posting.google.com>,
cde...@ncicap.org says...

>
> Whoa, jeeze -- am I in duck soup for pre-announcing? You guys won't
> rat me out will ya???

Who, us?

>
> Believe it or not, captioning ain't as easy as it looks -- despite
> being essentially paid to watch TV all day.

Judging by what my Dad has to say about most closed captioning
now that he has to rely on it, I should imagine it is quite
difficult to get right. I'm delighted to hear it's in the hands
of someone who cares about the results. The show deserves the
best, and it sounds like it's getting it.

(Ok, only the best butter. :->) Thanks very much for posting on
this; it's good to know the DVDs are finally in the works.

> And yes, I really do work at NCI and am one of the shop stewards.
> Jeeze, you guys must have been burned by a good number of pranksters

A few. Dozen... :->

--
Kay Shapero
kaysh...@nospamearthlink.net
Remove the obvious spamblock to reply
filk FAQ http://home.earthlink.net/~kayshapero/filkfaq.htm
http://home.earthlink.net/~kayshapero/index.htm

Voxwoman

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 10:26:43 PM6/11/02
to
I must have seen your (or your colleagues') work... When B5 was running
at 6 AM on TNT (remember those days???), I would change the channel from
the newsfeed to B5 while I sweated on the stair-stepper in the gym, and
read the captions since all the tvs are muted. (and they have "work out
music" on the house system... very weird mix...)
-Wendy of NJ

Cynthia wrote:

> jms...@aol.com (Jms at B5) wrote in message news:<20020609210543...@mb-ca.aol.com>...
>

>>Yeah, it's real...I was holding off saying anything until WB or someone else
>>could announce it, but since it's come up here via the captioning
>>institute...yeah, as noted, it's real.
>>
>

> Whoa, jeeze -- am I in duck soup for pre-announcing? You guys won't
> rat me out will ya???
>

> The good news is, after himself e-mailed me some info (which was
> enormously helpful, thank you!) I talked to the woman who coordinates
> our work for Warner. Seems she never ASKED for the scripts, because we
> are reformatting the original caption files we did waybackwhen. What
> she didn't realize was that we never had the scripts in the first
> place, nor Internet access to do research or ask the fans. She is
> contacting them to request the scripts, so hopefully we will get
> everything right. (I would cringe to admit how many errors were in the
> ep I worked on the other night. To say nothing of the fact that at
> that time we did not caption verbatim -- we condensed lines into what
> would encode in the old, old software. Ugly.)
>

> Believe it or not, captioning ain't as easy as it looks -- despite

> being essentially paid to watch TV all day. And without scripts, we
> have to go by what we hear, and with a show with created jargon, such
> as most scifi shows use, we end up spelling things phonetically. Again
> ... ugly. I'd much rather have the writers' own version!
>

> And yes, I really do work at NCI and am one of the shop stewards.
> Jeeze, you guys must have been burned by a good number of pranksters

> -- I'm sorry I stirred that up! But I hope the end product will be
> worth the anxiety, if not the wait.


>
> JMS, thank you again. My boss was mighty impressed. There isn't
> another client who would have stepped up to the plate the way you did.
> I hope our tiny corner of the B5 world can measure up to your
> professionalism.
>

> Cynthia Delmar
> Senior Caption Editor (really!)
> NCI (honest!)
>
>
>

Febo13

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 10:39:34 PM6/11/02
to
>
>Congratulations. I know this release is going to be even better than
>what you'd envisioned when you first talked about an eventual widescreen
>collector's edition on laserdisc all those years ago.

The widescreen aspect concerns me. I have been watching the widescreen reruns
on scifi channel and I find the cropping of CGI and composite shots to be very
distracting. It is sometimes impossible to see what is going on in space
shots, and frequent people's bottoms and/or tops get cut off. Unless the CGI
can be rerendered in widescreen, I think that the standard aspect ratio would
be preferable.

Tlsmith1963

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 11:46:16 PM6/11/02
to
Thank you, JMS, for deciding to do the commentaries, anyway. Are other
companies (such as Fox) paying people to do DVD commentaries? If so, it seems
stupid that Warners doesn't do this, since they are part of that big AOL
Time-Warner mega-corporation & should have the money.

Jms at B5

unread,
Jun 12, 2002, 12:49:58 AM6/12/02
to
>I wonder: is there money for writers in DVD releases like this, some
>kind of residual? Is there a residual for any of the original
>production people, the actors, directors, producers?

Writers, actors and directors get residuals on DVDs based on the VHS residuals
formula which was put into place a number of years ago before the videotape
boom and the Writers Guild didn't think there was any money in it.
Consequently, the studios got a deal wherein basically the writers get
something on the order of a penny a copy (or nothing, since it's based on net
profits).

The guild, gotta love 'em....

Jms at B5

unread,
Jun 12, 2002, 12:51:44 AM6/12/02
to
>Are other
>companies (such as Fox) paying people to do DVD commentaries? If so, it
>seems
>stupid that Warners doesn't do this, since they are part of that big AOL
>Time-Warner mega-corporation & should have the money.

Many do, some don't, there's no industry standard on this. It's just one of
those things, I'm not (too) bugged about it.

Pelzo63

unread,
Jun 12, 2002, 1:42:43 AM6/12/02
to
jms wrote:

>someone else wrote:

>>Are other
>>companies (such as Fox) paying people to do DVD commentaries? If so, it
>>seems
>>stupid that Warners doesn't do this, since they are part of that big AOL
>>Time-Warner mega-corporation & should have the money.
>
>Many do, some don't, there's no industry standard on this. It's just one
>of
>those things, I'm not (too) bugged about it

to play devil's advocate for a bit, could it simply be that warner wants to
give the commentary tracks an appearance of un-bias by not having paid
commentators? one of the biggest complaints about sports commentators is how
they never speak poorly of the "home team", because that's who pay them.

...Chris.

WRWhite963

unread,
Jun 12, 2002, 2:57:45 AM6/12/02
to
>to play devil's advocate for a bit, could it simply be that warner wants to
>give the commentary tracks an appearance of un-bias by not having paid
>commentators? one of the biggest complaints about sports commentators is how
>they never speak poorly of the "home team", because that's who pay them.
>
>...Chris.
>

Feh. How is it in anyway possible to be impartial when all of the commentaries
involve only those who made the films? The closest I've ever seen to a
critical commentary was with the Superman DVD, but there it didn't matter much
as all of the suits were no longer associated with the rights to the thing.
Even then, Richard Donner held his tongue more often than not.

They don't pay up because they're cheap buggers who love lining their pockets,
and use the creators' passion for their work against them to get a freebie.

If this weren't true, we wouldn't be paying 20 bucks or more for a DVD package
that cost a couple of bucks per disc to manufacture and advertise.

I'm not against the principle that they can charge what people are willing to
pay for a final product - but when they skimp on things, it's only to add extra
increase their already well-supplied coffers. It wouldn't perceptibly dent
their profit margin to pay *some* nominal fee for contributions to the
commentaries.

Then they complain about lost sales from piracy - even though they're given
kickbacks on sales of recordable media for "perceived losses"; even though
people aren't going to buy one or two songs from an artist at the expense of
15-30 bucks (for one or two CD's, as an example), or a video they only tape off
the air because it's there - they wouldn't bother getting a retail copy, even
if consumer recordable video didn't exist.

Not that I condone piracy - of course I don't. And I'm not saying people have a
right to copy things. What I'm condemning is inflating the calculated "loss in
revenue" to include every single person who ever copied anything, as if they'd
buy this stuff were no other means possible. It simply isn't true. Case in
point: B5 DVD's. Even though most of us have taped most of the episodes, we'll
still pick them up on DVD. There are very few who tape the shows who wouldn't
- and in those cases, it's mostly because they don't have the funds to shell
out for the DVD's, in which case, there's *still* no loss in revenue. If
anything, there's a greater loss in revenue achieved by pricing these things
out of the ability of people to buy them (not so much on a single DVD or CD,
but when one considers all of the CD's/DVD's one would like to have, it becomes
an issue for a great number of people.)

Which is all addendum to the main point - they don't pay commentors because the
suits are profit-hungry and bottom-line focused to the point of obsession. If
they didn't put the commentaries on, they'd still be charging the same price
for the discs anyway.

WRW

Mark Private

unread,
Jun 12, 2002, 6:38:47 AM6/12/02
to
On 10 Jun 2002 19:26:59 GMT, jms...@aol.com (Jms at B5) wrote:

>>ny chance of comentaries by any of the other writers? Or some of the
>>cast or crew?
>
>They're currently investigating all possibililties.
>
Including Harlan?

Or perhaps it would be better to save him for "A View from the
Gallery". Personally, I'd love to hear both of you on a commentary for
this episode.

Thanks for all your pro bono work on the DVDs - Mark


KBTibbs

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 2:32:04 PM6/11/02
to
>>I figured I'd just bite the bullet and do it.

And that is why you have fans so dedicated that they will throw
themselves on a grenade, dive in front of a speeding car to push you
away, get wisdom teeth pulled for you, and yes! even pretend to be you
to save you from jury duty!

Uh...I'm going to take my medicine now, and then head over to the
county courthouse.

Joseph DeMartino

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 12:09:55 PM6/11/02
to
> If not, well, why not? CD's cost less than a buck to press and label,
and not terribly much more to distribute. <

I always laugh when I read this. Yes, the physical CD costs about a
buck to crank out. But producing the *album* costs a ton of money, and
royalties have to be paid to the composer, lyricist and others. All of
this has to be made up in the sell price. If you wanted to buy neatly
labeled CDs with no music on them, the record companies could probably
sell them for $1.50 or $2.00 and make a small profit. If you want
actual *content* you have to *pay* for that.

Regards,

Joe

Rob Scott

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 1:34:54 PM6/11/02
to
"Kathryn Huxtable" <kat...@kathrynhuxtable.org> wrote ...

If there was a bigger budget for the DVD, it would be possible to put in
alternate angles to include the 4:3 versions. Not likely to happen though.

<bluesky>
The only thing that *might* happen someday is that
(1) Someone finds the lost CGI files
(2) The DVDs sell like hotcakes
(3) High-definition DVDs become popular in a few years
(4) WB made so much money the first time around that they spring for
high-definition re-rendering of the CGI and composite shots and release the
series on HD DVD.
</bluesky>

Okay, it's against the odds, but then it was against the odds to B5 to last
all five seasons.

Rob Scott

Aphelion

unread,
Jun 11, 2002, 9:44:39 PM6/11/02
to
> I'm with Claudia. I'd rather have the 4:3 version. I'll buy the
> widescreen, though, and complain at the lousy screen composition in
> the CGI shots, where they've been cropped.

Same here. I never cared for B5 in WS, I didn't think it added anything.

Aphelion

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