ATTN: JMS Changes in the Story due to Actors

[B5JMS Poster]

Subject: ATTN: JMS Changes in the Story due to Actors
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 No. | DATE        |  FROM
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+  1: Apr 23, 1996: Dan Van Der Werken <DVanderwerken at InternetMCI.COM>
+  2: Apr 24, 1996: denebeim at deepthot.cary.nc.us (Jay Denebeim)
*  3: Apr 24, 1996: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
+  4: Apr 25, 1996: Cindy Collins <ccollins at earthlink.net>
*  5: Apr 26, 1996: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)

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From: Dan Van Der Werken <DVanderwerken at InternetMCI.COM>
Lines: 38

One of the nicest things about this whole Babylon 5 show
is the fact you've planned out the stories from the beginning
and we can look forward to episodes that consistently focus
on a main story arc.

I find great security knowing you, the producer and creater
of the show, have a plan you're following.  I'm counting on
seeing a show that won't undergo tremendous changes on a whim.

In my conversations with others and searching the net, I've
heard a few things that disturb me.

First, I've heard the actor who played General Hague was
supposed to continue with the show but ended up going some-
place else.

Second, I've heard the actress that plays Delenn was supposed
to remain fully Membari but didn't like the heavy make-up
and is now part-human.

Third, the Sinclair thing.  We all wonder if he's supposed to
be back or what (probably, "or what")--especially based on 
the "Babylon Squared" show where Sinclair is the apparent
leader of the Good Guys (tm).

I heard Bruce Box...(uh, I'm too stupid to spell his name 
correctly) isn't happy with the ratings, etc.

I'm wondering...how do you deal with these things and keep
the necessary consistency?  Are you just "rolling with the
punches" and letting the changes take place but keeping the
main story idea intact?  That's my guess.  Perhaps no one
actor or person is essential to the story?

How do you deal with actor changes and maintain the main story
intact?

---Dan---

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From: denebeim at deepthot.cary.nc.us (Jay Denebeim)
Lines: 90

In article <4ljjtr$1g4 at news.internetmci.com>,
Dan Van Der Werken  <DVanderwerken at InternetMCI.COM> wrote:

>In my conversations with others and searching the net, I've
>heard a few things that disturb me.

Well, you know how conversations with random people are...

>Second, I've heard the actress that plays Delenn was supposed
>to remain fully Membari but didn't like the heavy make-up
>and is now part-human.

You heard wrong.  Delenn was originally supposed to be male, or at
least androgenous.  They couldn't get the voice to the point where
Mira and jms were happy with it, so they made her female from day
one.  She was always supposed to turn into a female/human hybrid after
the first season.

>Third, the Sinclair thing.  We all wonder if he's supposed to
>be back or what (probably, "or what")--especially based on 
>the "Babylon Squared" show where Sinclair is the apparent
>leader of the Good Guys (tm).

O'Hare will be in the two parter that comes up in three weeks.

>I heard Bruce Box...(uh, I'm too stupid to spell his name 
>correctly) isn't happy with the ratings, etc.

This is probably as accurate as your other information.

>How do you deal with actor changes and maintain the main story
>intact?

When jms originally wrote the outline, he included escape hatches for
every major charactor.  (probably not Kosh though, since he's a prop
:-))

(* Spoilers for Severed Dreams *)




























>First, I've heard the actor who played General Hague was
>supposed to continue with the show but ended up going some-
>place else.

Foxworth signed a contract months in advance for the shoot of Severed
Dreams.  DS9 just happened to want him at the same time (funny that)
and offered him enough money to break his contract.  This demonstrated
that he can't be counted on.  What the heck did you expect jms to do
with him???

In any event, the character was very minor, and jms said he planned to
just let him 'fade away', so he went out in a blaze of glory instead.
Not a big deal.

Jay




-- 
* Jay Denebeim, Moderator, rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated   *
* newsgroup submission address:   rastb5 at solon.com             *
* moderator contact address:      rastb5-request at solon.com     *
* personal contact address:       denebeim at deepthot.cary.nc.us *

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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Lines: 71

"First, I've heard the actor who played General Hague was supposed to
continue with the show but ended up going someplace else."

That's correct.  He bailed at the last minute, even though we had first
dibs on him.  Not much point to forcing an actor to stay if he wants to
go; you just get an unhappy set and a less than stellar performance.  That
situation led to changing a grand total of 3 lines.  Anything in Hague's
situation is what's called a "moveable piece," meaning it can be easily
assigned to others.

"Second, I've heard the actress that plays Delenn was supposed to remain
fully Membari but didn't like the heavy make-up"

Nope.  That was never the intent.  She was *always* going to make this
change.
and is now part-human.

"Third, the Sinclair thing.  We all wonder if he's supposed to be back or
what (probably, "or what")--especially based on the "Babylon Squared" show
where Sinclair is the apparent leader of the Good Guys (tm)."
 
Watch the two-parter.  We'll talk afterward.

"I heard Bruce Box...(uh, I'm too stupid to spell his name correctly)
isn't happy with the ratings, etc."

Point being...?  Bruce is happy with the show, and staying with it; like
the rest of us, he wishes the show got more attention here in the US on a
par with what it gets overseas, particularly in the UK.

"I'm wondering...how do you deal with these things and keep the necessary
consistency?  Are you just "rolling with the punches" and letting the
changes take place but keeping the main story idea intact?  That's my
guess.  Perhaps no one actor or person is essential to the story?"

As a writer, doing a long-term story, it'd be dangerous and short-sighted
for me to construct the story without trap doors for every single
character.  Because Stuff Happens.  An actor can get hit by a meteor, walk
off, whatever.  So I deliberately and very carefully constructed this
puppy to be more or less airtight no matter what happens.  You want to
drive from LA to San Diego.  You figure on taking the 5 freeway all the
way down.  Only when you get to the Slausen Cutoff (insert joke here),
there's a traffic jam...so you get off, take some alternate streets, and
come back again right back on track.  Same thing here.

That was one of the big risks going into a long-term storyline which I
considered long in advance; you can't predict real-world events, so you
have to compensate for them and plan for them in advance.  Otherwise you
could paint yourself into a corner.  

Similarly, there are story changes that come up at me by surprise, which
make total sense, which result in actor changes.  As a writer, you have to
be flexible enough to recognize a stronger, better path when it presents
itself; to be so rigidly locked into your prior structure eliminates
spontaneity and the chance to explore new routes.  This is exactly the
same thing that happens when you write a novel; you learn things 1/2 way
through writing a novel you can learn no other way.  

I've been writing and selling since I was 17.  In all that time, I've
never once followed an outline beat-for-beat once I got into the main
writing, whatever the final venue.  No outline survives contact with the
enemy.  It's a *guideline* that keeps you on track when you waver, and
serves as base camp, providing security when it strikes you to go off and
explore a path you hadn't noticed before.





 jms


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From: Cindy Collins <ccollins at earthlink.net>
Lines: 25

Jms at B5 wrote:

Lots and lots of good stuff on flexibility in writing.  Plus:

> That was one of the big risks going into a long-term storyline which I
> considered long in advance; you can't predict real-world events, so > 
> you have to compensate for them and plan for them in advance.  > 
> Otherwise you could paint yourself into a corner.
> 
> Similarly, there are story changes that come up at me by surprise, > 
> which make total sense, which result in actor changes.  As a writer, > 
> you have to be flexible enough to recognize a stronger, better path > 
> when it presents itself; to be so rigidly locked into your prior 
> structure eliminates spontaneity and the chance to explore new routes. 
> This is exactly the same thing that happens when you write a novel; 
> you learn things 1/2 way through writing a novel you can learn no 
> other way.

	Or when writing nonfiction, for that matter.  I hope you don't 
mind if I read your comments to my (college writing) students.  I try 
telling them these things myself, but they are more likely to believe  
someone who writes for TV than someone who writes mainly for print 
media.

--Cindy Ruth Collins

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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Lines: 9

Cindy: absolutely, pass along anything here you think may be of any value.

There's a lot of misinformation and bad mythology about how writing works,
and how TeeVee works...anything that helps to clarify those areas is
nothing less than terrific.


 jms

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