JMS CIS Digest: 03-Feb-96 01:30:55 through 03-Feb-96 21:16:26 (12 msgs)
b5jms-owner at cs.columbia.edu
b5jms-owner at cs.columbia.edu
Mon Feb 5 21:55:10 EST 1996
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From: jhardin at wolfenet.com (John Hardin)
Lines: 431
RFC 1153 Digest of messages from
J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
03-Feb-96 01:30:55 through 03-Feb-96 21:16:26 (12 messages)
WARNING: This digest may contain information about episodes
you haven't seen yet. Proceed with caution.
Subjects in digest:
New to Babylon 5
<Voices of Authority>
Administrivia:
Contact me (John Hardin) at <jhardin at wolfenet.com> with comments
and requests. I am willing to do limited retrieval of files from
the B5 archives on CIS and posting of messages to the CIS B5 forum.
I reserve the right to delete story ideas from messages I am asked
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Replies to this digest currently go to me.
obSpoiler-space...
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Date: 03-Feb-96 01:30:55
From: Sarah E. Heacock <102412.1400 at compuserve.com>
To: All
Subject: #New to Babylon 5
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.443716 at compuserve.com>
*waves* Hi!
My roommate and I just started watching Babylon 5. We've seen
the pilot and the first four episodes (through Parliamant of
Dreams) Then, since we're out of Babylon 5 until we get our sweet
sweet friend to record another tape full for us (We went through
the first in less than a week, and neither one of us a big TV
watcher!!!) Well, I am quite, quite addicted to Babylon 5, so I
have also read VOICES and went cruising around the net to every
Babylon 5 site I could find. (although I skipped the obvious
spoilers)
(My roommate decided she wanted to see Babylon 5 because our
friends enthused enough about its 5-year plot. Of course, that
intrigued me as well) In going over the stuff on the net, and the
book, I was also impressed by how there don't seem to be any
perfect characters. EVERY character makes mistakes and has the
same amount of potential to be a bad guy. (This is especially
pointed out since one of the episodes I saw over Christmas
flipflopped the state of things to what they are now in the first
season episodes I am watching. -- It.... changes my opinion of the
Narn-now to go back and see the Narn-then.)
Anyway, following this glut of information about Babylon 5, I saw
ST:Voyager on TV last night... and, even though previously I was
interested in Voyager, something has now changed. I don't know if
it is because Babylon 5 is such a better designed and everything
else show, or because Mr. Stracynski is on the net so there is so
MUCH behind the scenes type info out there, or because the Voyager
episode was so terrible (they break the Warp 10 barrier and the
episode goes downhill from there) but I have absolutely no desire
to watch Voyager anymore. Ever.
OTOH, I can't really watch current Babylon 5 either :( Not until
we catch up to present on tape (two advantages to watching Babylon
5 on tape 1) I don't have to wait a week for the next installment
2) Fast forwarding through the commercials. I don't have to wait 5
minutes either )
Anyway, some quick comments about the ones I have seen. I don't
like Delenn in the pilot NEARLY so well as her later look.
2) What is so horribly wrong with the pilot? I keep hearing that
the series was picked up in SPITE of the pilot, so was expecting
it to be really bad. And it wasn't. Anyone care to enlighten?
3) The tape I had said that Born to the Purple and Parliament of
Dreams were the two best, and Infection the only one that Mr.
Stracynski wishes had never ever been created. Again, though, I
wonder why. The main plot was hokey, but, overall, my roommate
and I agree that Infection was better than Born to the Purple. --
the sub plots, everything said in it. And the Captain's speech at
the end, even if it IS somewhat blantant and obvious, it is good
that it was said. Sometimes people need to be pounded into their
heads to get them to listen.
Anyway, Just wanted to say Thank you for creating Infection. I
don't think its NEARLY as bad as its beginning promises to be.
4) Parliament of Dreams was just lovely. One of the things I
really like Babylon 5 is the respectful way it treats religions.
Not preaching, but not ridiculing or ignoring that part of life
either. I especially enjoyed the ending. It was really
appropriate. Good to know that America doesn't totally disappear.
5) Soul Hunter was also a lot of fun, though I guess it could be
classified asanother religious episode. I hope the Soul Hunters
turn up again. I don't feel that Sinclair was very fair to the
poor guy. (the one that was not crazy. Even humans go crazy on
occasion.)
Finally, what I like about Babylon 5 is that sometimes it is just
hootingly funny!
Sarah Heacock
------------------------------
Date: 03-Feb-96 21:16:14
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
To: Sarah E. Heacock <102412.1400 at compuserve.com>
Subject: New to Babylon 5
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.444185 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.443716 at compuserve.com>
Bless your heart...thanks....
jms
------------------------------
Date: 03-Feb-96 11:19:02
From: John McAuley <100260.412 at compuserve.com>
To: Sarah E. Heacock <102412.1400 at compuserve.com>
Subject: #443716-#New to Babylon 5
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.443869 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.443716 at compuserve.com>
> Anyway, some quick comments about the ones I have seen. I
> don't like Delenn in the pilot NEARLY so well as her later look.
Me too. I hope Mira doesn't feel insulted by this, but I think
she looked best with her first season Minbari look. She looked
really beautiful.
> 2) What is so horribly wrong with the pilot? I keep hearing
> that the series was picked up in SPITE of the pilot, so was
> expecting it to be really bad. And it wasn't. Anyone care to
> enlighten?
I don't understand this myself.
Although...
I don't understand how the assassin could detain Londo at the
casino _and_ kill Kosh at the same time.
Why did he bother with Londo? What if Londo had caused a scene
and "Varner" got detained by security? He ran the risk of not
being free to kill Kosh.
Did someone else, with another changeling net, try to kill Kosh?
Was Lyta's mental vision faked by Kosh?
Will we find out in the very last episode of B5?
Stay tuned...
-John
------------------------------
Date: 03-Feb-96 21:16:15
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
To: John McAuley <100260.412 at compuserve.com>
Subject: New to Babylon 5
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.444186 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.443869 at compuserve.com>
Actually, it was stated in the pilot that the assassin gave
Londo a line of credit (later canceled) which Londo used to continue
gambling, not that he personally stayed there the whole time.
jms
------------------------------
Date: 03-Feb-96 17:04:24
From: Neil Blevins <102226.3566 at compuserve.com>
To: Jon Wolf <76103.2541 at compuserve.com>
Subject: #443876-#<Voices of Authority>
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.444027 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.443876 at compuserve.com>
> Take another look at that scene. Draal is huge compared to
> Delenn.
I know draal looked large, but I think I'd attribute it more to
his robes and girth than a special effect problem. It was really
obvious in TLTS, but now the effect is becoming more transparent.
Look at the scene when ivannova walks past draal. There had been
a cut since he had appeared, so they had plenty of time to put the
real actor in the scene instead of the CG effect, and yet when she
walked past him, he's huge.
- Neil
------------------------------
Date: 03-Feb-96 21:16:17
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
To: Neil Blevins <102226.3566 at compuserve.com>
Subject: <Voices of Authority>
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.444187 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.444027 at compuserve.com>
If you're talking about the conference room scene...Draal wasn't
put into the scene digitally. You do a split screen, with the camera
locked off. In one Delenn walks over to a point just short of the
line; in another you get a shot just of the wall; then Draal walks up.
You then use a dissolve technique to fade him into the room on his side
of the split screen. But he's not being put *into* the room, he's
already there, so he's neither bigger nor smaller than he is in real
life, since he IS in real life there, not added in.
jms
------------------------------
Date: 03-Feb-96 13:08:13
From: Randy Upshaw <75464.1275 at compuserve.com>
To: Neil Blevins <102226.3566 at compuserve.com>
Subject: #443854-#<Voices of Authority>
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.443921 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.443854 at compuserve.com>
> You probably missed half the effects in that show, didn't you
No I watched the whole show twice as I usually do.
I work with computers also and I am sure that there was much
effort spent in putting those effect together. But I am not
watching the show from the technical angle of wow how did they do
that.
> First, when Draal appeared and disappeared, I thought the
> compositing with him and the background was much better. They
> got the shadows right, so you couldn't tell anymore that Draal
> was just a person in front of a blue screen. I applaud Ron for
> his work
Wow that may have been great but we have seen Draal appear
before. The fact that it may have been done better this time is
not relevant to the story.
> And the whole sequence with ivannova looking at the planet, and
> Earth force 1 exploding, and the warp gate that the first ones
> used, the show was full of CG stuff, and although not the best
> stuff I've ever seen, I was very impressed.
Again we have seen planets before and we have seen Earth Force 1
exploding. Lets get on with the story.
> Do you have anything positive to say?
I have said before and today that B5 is the best SiFi currently
on and maybe the best that has ever been on but I think that if
you are telling an ongoing story line that it is WAY TO SLOW.
I am looking at the last schedule posting that I have seen. It
indicates dates for 4 more episodes, Dust to Dust (which has been
refferd to as a teaser), Exogenesis, Messages from Earth, and
Point of No Return. After that everything else is listed TBD (To
Be Determined??). So does that mean we have 4 more episodes untill
a rerun cycle and how many of these will deal directly with the
story line?
I have promoted the show heavily to some SiFi fans at work who
have not seen it due to the scheduling problems and they since
have seen a few eps but are unimpressed because they do not know
the story line.
Anyway I do not wish to start a flame war and will continue to
watch but I have a hard time believing that I am the only fan who
is frustrated by the painfully slow pace of the main story. I
would suggest that if the special effects demands are so high that
they be put to better use.
Randy
------------------------------
Date: 03-Feb-96 21:16:21
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
To: Randy Upshaw <75464.1275 at compuserve.com>
Subject: <Voices of Authority>
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.444188 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.443921 at compuserve.com>
Randy, I honestly don't think, after episodes 8-10 have aired,
that you're going to have any problems with how fast the main story is
progressing. And do bear in mind that the "main story" isn't just the
war; if you wanted to do that, you'd just do Space A&B. It's operating
on a whole lot of other levels. Nonetheless...this entire season is
much faster overall in developing than the two before. The first two
seasons we were mainly putting the guns into position. Now we're
pulling all the triggers.
jms
------------------------------
Date: 03-Feb-96 17:04:27
From: Neil Blevins <102226.3566 at compuserve.com>
To: Randy Upshaw <75464.1275 at compuserve.com>
Subject: #443921-#<Voices of Authority>
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.444028 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.443921 at compuserve.com>
> Again we have seen planets before and we have seen Earth Force
> 1 exploding. Lets get on with the story.
So what you're really saying is that there were impressive
effects, but none that advanced the plot too much. Well, I can't
fight that.
As to your comments about the speed the plot is traveling at,
that's your opinion, my opinion is it's doing just fine. As for
the rerun schedule, everyone agrees there are too many reruns. But
I think of B5 as a piece of art. If it takes them longer to make a
quality piece of art, so be it. I don't want them to rush because
they feel they have to, and release a crappy show that has plot
advancement for the sake of plot advancement, instead of because
the story demands it.
And if it's all WB fault that there are so many reruns, well,
write lots of letters. What more can we do?
- Neil
------------------------------
Date: 03-Feb-96 21:16:22
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
To: Neil Blevins <102226.3566 at compuserve.com>
Subject: <Voices of Authority>
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.444189 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.444028 at compuserve.com>
It takes us no longer to make the episodes or the EFX really
than it did before. But PTEN will not air shows out of sweeps periods,
for the most part. The episodes on hand now were finished weeks, and in
a couple of cases over a month ago. They sit on the shelf until PTEN
decides to air them. The only thing we did was swap "VoA" with
"Passing Through Gethsemane" to give that one a little bit more time.
That's it.
jms
------------------------------
Date: 03-Feb-96 18:13:10
From: David DeRubeis <75221.2351 at compuserve.com>
To: Randy Upshaw <75464.1275 at compuserve.com>
Subject: #443921-#<Voices of Authority>
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.444073 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.443921 at compuserve.com>
> Anyway I do not wish to start a flame war and will continue to
> watch but I have a hard time believing that I am the only fan
> who is frustrated by the painfully slow pace of the main story.
> I would suggest that if the special effects demands are so high
> that they be put to better use.
In fact, you *are* the first person I've seen make that
complaint. If you want an example of a novel that takes a looong
time to really get the main plot going, try "Lord of the Rings".
Or how many *years* was it before Frederic Pohl's Heechee series,
Roger Zelazny's Amber series, or Poul Anderson's Flandry stories
played out? In those cases, and in the case of B5, even though it
takes a while to advance the main story line, a lot happens in the
mean time.
In B5, we really didn't even know that there *was* a story arc
until late in the first season; it just seemed like an episodic
show with hints thrown in that there might be more to it. It took
a long time for the Shadows to be revealed, but in the mean time
we got the plot with psi-corps and the assasination of the
president, and the Narn-Centari war, as well as a lot of good
individual stories.
Sometimes you have to just sit back and enjoy the ride. When we
get to the destination, it *over*. I'm in no rush for it to end.
David DeRubeis
------------------------------
Date: 03-Feb-96 21:16:26
From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644 at compuserve.com>
To: David DeRubeis <75221.2351 at compuserve.com>
Subject: <Voices of Authority>
Message-ID: <forum.sfmediaone.444190 at compuserve.com>
References: <forum.sfmediaone.444073 at compuserve.com>
RE: the arc...the way it's always been structured, given the need
to ease viewers slowly into it, is that season 1 had maybe 4-5 really
strong arc episodes; season 2 had maybe 8; season 3 is almost equally
50/50; season 4 will have an even higher number of arc episodes; and
season 5 is nothing BUT arc stories.
jms
------------------------------
End of JMS CIS Digest 03-Feb-96 01:30:55 through 03-Feb-96 21:16:26
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