JMS on CompuServe (Jan 18, 1998) *POSSIBLE SPOILERS* (1/2)
bbarrett at speedlink.com
bbarrett at speedlink.com
Sun Jan 18 16:01:14 EST 1998
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WARNING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The following posts may contain SPOILERS for
upcoming Babylon 5 episodes.
Continue at your own risk.
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THE FOLLOWING MATERIAL IS THE COPYRIGHT OF THE
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PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR.
Note that JMS has expressed his public permission
that all of his messages may be reproduced freely.
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[ Summary of subjects in this section: ]
Sb: #15217-Starfury Question
Sb: #15186-Space Battle Scenes
Sb: #15187-Season 5 Title Sequence
Sb: #14967-<In The Beginning>
Sb: #15208-ITB and The Gathering
Sb: #15209-Season 5 Uniforms
Sb: #15209-Season 5 Uniforms
Sb: #15241-Formulaic Television
Sb: #15288-#Vorlon's Attitude.
Sb: #15222-<In The Beginning>
Sb: #15442-Commercials and TNT
Sb: #15356-<In The Beginning>
Sb: #15355-ITB and The Gathering
#: 15217 S2/Bab 5: General
15-Jan-98 20:31:11
Sb: #15042-#Starfury Question
Fm: CARL CANTARELLA
>>If you want to own a starfury, folks, now's your chance.<<
Joe,
What's the story with these ..."models"? Are they available through
order over the internet?
#: 15235 S2/Bab 5: General
15-Jan-98 22:53:12
Sb: #15217-Starfury Question
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
I dunno...you'd have to check with Revell on that one.
jms
#: 15186 S2/Bab 5: General
15-Jan-98 17:58:02
Sb: #Space Battle Scenes
Fm: SHAWN D. RATNER
Mr. Straczynski,
I am a big fan of Babylon 5! One of my friends, who is also a big B5 fan, was
wondering have any of the CG artists ever considered fully mapping an entire
space battle for an episode, if you follow. Not just parts of what happens,
but designing the entire thing from start to finish, so that full continuity
was acheived all through it. Granted, this might be quite a feat to acheive,
but it could certainly be the most interesting space battle ever.
Thank you,
Shawn
#: 15236 S2/Bab 5: General
15-Jan-98 22:53:12
Sb: #15186-Space Battle Scenes
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Given that a long battle would range all over the place, with multiple
ships acting simultaneously, sometimes miles apart from one another, I think
it would be nearly impossible to do.
jms
#: 15187 S2/Bab 5: General
15-Jan-98 17:58:03
Sb: #Season 5 Title Sequence
Fm: SHAWN D. RATNER
Dear Mr. Straczynski,
Today I downloaded Season 5's title sequence from the TNT Web page. Wow! was
my first impression of it. It really had alot of feeling in it. Having the
years come up with clips for that year was great! I liked the idea of it
showing clips from seasons 1 - 4, also the voices from key moments in the
background gave it lots of feeling as well. I also liked how you used a voice
from the pilot. I noticed the music was different too. Its different than
other season's title sequence in terms of style. I think the new music is very
fitting, since season 5 is the end of your story. It looks like a perfect
title sequence for the final season. It makes us reminisce over the entire
series. Again, great job on the Season 5 title sequence!
I also wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed, "In the Beginning" and "The
Gathering" special edition, on January 4th.
I have been watching Babylon 5 ever since the orginal pilot aired. Now I have
been watching the Babylon 5 broadcasts on TNT. Its great to see these episodes
over again.
Looking forward to January 21!
Thank you,
Shawn
#: 15237 S2/Bab 5: General
15-Jan-98 22:53:12
Sb: #15187-Season 5 Title Sequence
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Thanks...in about two dozen comments so far about the S5 title, only one
has been negative, the rest loving it. It helps to place each season for the
new viewers, recaps things, hits the high points, and the new music gives it a
more mature sound. I'm pleased. (Since I designed it, I guess I'd better
be....)
jms
[ Summary: Considers the order to kill Sinclair should he remember anything
a plot hole in the series. ]
#: 15233 S5/Seas. 5 SPOILERS
15-Jan-98 22:37:00
Sb: #14967-<In The Beginning>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
"At the end of A Sky Full of Stars which aired tonight, a Minbari tells Delenn
Sinclair must be killed if he remembers the encounter. One of my friends
considers this the greatest gaffe in the series."
Here's the reasoning on this.
First, understand that Minbari believe in reincarnation.
Second, as noted in ItB, if the Sinclair/Valen/soul issue got out, it
would likely tear Minbari society apart. The repercussions would be
devastating on every possible level, if it came before they could be prepared
properly.
In light of that, with or without a Minbari (or Valen's) soul, better to
sacrifice Sinclair (who will be reborn anyway, and maybe next time in a proper
Minbari body) than see Minbar damaged. Remember, they don't know about the
time loop, they see it as a straight-line progression.
jms
#: 15208 S5/Seas. 5 SPOILERS
15-Jan-98 19:50:08
Sb: #ITB and The Gathering
Fm: EDWIN CHAN
JMS,
Okay, I really have to bug you about this ... :P In ITB, when I watched it
again ... I noticed that they used that hand comm thing, but in TG, they used
that wrist comm thing ... since ITB took place before TG, why didn't you asked
that they film ITB using the old (TG) uniform and that wrist comm thing? Are
we suppose to pretend that TG happened differently? I suppose the PPG was
different too ... Also read something about Delenn was suppose to be gender
ambiguous ... if that was true, then Sheridan and Delenn wouldn't be together
now, would they?
sorry,
ec in nyc
#: 15238 S5/Seas. 5 SPOILERS
15-Jan-98 22:53:13
Sb: #15208-ITB and The Gathering
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
The shipment of com links from Earth to the new B5 was delayed, and --
Look, a comet!
jms
#: 15209 S5/Seas. 5 SPOILERS
15-Jan-98 19:51:10
Sb: #Season 5 Uniforms
Fm: EDWIN CHAN
Greetings JMS,
Saw a clip of Season Five on Regis and Kathie Lee ... We see Sheridan in his
new President outfit ... Delenn, well, whatever <g> ... and then Franklin, the
only one still wearing the uniform Delenn made for them ... Ivanova is gone,
and Garibaldi is in civilian clothing ... Also saw an ad on TNT for the new
season ... see Corwin walking next to Lochley ... but he's not in uniform
either.
Is it going to remain like this? Just curious ... wouldn't Franklin feel
weird, being the only one still with the "Delenn" uniform? :P
ec in nyc.
#: 15239 S5/Seas. 5 SPOILERS
15-Jan-98 22:53:13
Sb: #15209-Season 5 Uniforms
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
It's a mix-and-match world this season, showing the disparate parts of
the B5 world after the various worlds as they have kind of blown apart, as
they gradually come back together again.
jms
#: 15240 S5/Seas. 5 SPOILERS
15-Jan-98 22:53:13
Sb: #15209-Season 5 Uniforms
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
PS, Zack is also in the black uniform.
jms
#: 15241 (C) S2/Bab 5: General
15-Jan-98 23:35:50
Sb: Formulaic Television
Fm: BRENT BARRETT
Joe,
I have what I feel is an ironic question for you.
I believe that Cinefantastique has, in its latest issue, an article
on Babylon 5 which describes what it believes is your prototype for future
television creations. In this article, they give a step-by-step guide
to how to make a successful program using your "formula."
You probably cringed at some point in that last paragraph, and I think
you can see my question coming... What do you think about the possibility
that Babylon 5, a program that dared the throw away the industry formulas
and cliches, is becoming a new industry formula and cliche?
I realize that you are a believer in always doing new things, always
growing and advancing in your technique and style, so I'm certain that
you aren't going to find yourself in a rut, creatively speaking. But how
do you feel about the possibility of so many others emulating your style,
not because they want to be creative, but because they want to jump on
the bandwagon of what is looking to be a successful concept and
application?
Just curious. :-)
Thanks,
-- Brent
#: 15311 S2/Bab 5: General
16-Jan-98 12:51:05
Sb: #15241-Formulaic Television
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
I don't feel we've yet achieved sufficient visibility on the Hollywood
radar screens for that to be much of a problem at the moment, and at this
point I only have time for problems of the moment....
jms
[ Summary: Asks why Kosh said the Vorlons have no interest in the affairs
of others if the vorlons were tinkering with the younger races. ]
#: 15312 S4/Seas. 1-4 SPOILERS
16-Jan-98 12:51:05
Sb: #15288-#Vorlon's Attitude.
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
It's a cover. They want to seem aloof and disinterested, because they
want to hide their activities.
jms
[ Summary: Believes that the order to kill SInclair was a plot hole
because if would've changed history if it had happened. ]
#: 15445 S5/Seas. 5 SPOILERS
17-Jan-98 17:49:03
Sb: #15222-<In The Beginning>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Yes, it would change history, if it happened...but since it did not
happen, history was unchanged.
jms
#: 15442 S2/Bab 5: General
17-Jan-98 16:41:13
Sb: Commercials and TNT
Fm: SYSOP_DUPA_T_PARROT
Joe,
I've noticed that B5 episodes tend to run about 58 minutes on TNT. Does TNT
run fewer commercial minutes per hour than the PTEN stations did?
-SysOp Dupa T. Parrot, Technical Consultant
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/dupa
OzWin 2.14 O-
#: 15484 S2/Bab 5: General
17-Jan-98 22:10:02
Sb: #15442-Commercials and TNT
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
I think they may run fewer, yes, but haven't done a precise comparison
to be sure.
jms
#: 15356 S5/Seas. 5 SPOILERS
16-Jan-98 21:07:04
Sb: #15233-<In The Beginning>
Fm: PHILIP HORNSEY
>> In light of that, with or without a Minbari (or Valen's) soul, better to
sacrifice Sinclair (who will be reborn anyway, and maybe next time in a proper
Minbari body) than see Minbar damaged.
May we assume that if he were in a Minbari body they would not have even
*considered* this remedy (leaving aside for a moment that it wouldn't have
been necessary).
Phil^^^^
FREE MARS!
#: 15485 S5/Seas. 5 SPOILERS
17-Jan-98 22:10:03
Sb: #15356-<In The Beginning>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Absolutely.
jms
#: 15355 S5/Seas. 5 SPOILERS
16-Jan-98 21:07:02
Sb: #15238-#ITB and The Gathering
Fm: PHILIP HORNSEY
>> Look, a comet!
OK, Now you've done it.
You've insulted my entire waterclan. I'm gonna get you after my 4 year
purification...waitaminute...I'm not Brakiri...
OK
Anyway, I am *certain* that *YOU* (not me) answered these questions a couple
of days ago. In fact there is no evidence *whatsoever* that I or anyone else
made them up so they must be cannon.
1) The uniforms were an attempt to play down the military component inherent
in having a line officer as both commander of the station and ambassador. EF
came up with a "subdued" version of the uniform with different insignia and
briefly considered splitting off a branch which would have been called the EF
Diplomatic Corps. Then, someone with a brain interceeded and reminded them
that the military exists to kill people and break things.
2) The Station was always a test for hybrid alien-human gadgets, some of which
soon became ubiquitious on Earth (e.g. Crystal Ports). The wristcomms were one
such development, and were bulkier than the links as the contained a *much*
more powerful powercell and could transmit the length of the station even
given the disruption from all the high tech stuff in the environment. The EF
personnel *hated* them, so repeaters were installed all over the station and
everybody went back to the links when the uniforms changed.
3) In the aftermath of the E-M war, Delen underwent an operation to change her
appearance as shee feared that her face might re-awaken memories in Sinclair
(she was the only one he pulled the hood off of. When she became convinced
that he had not only a hole but a canyon in his mind, she had the changes
reversed as she thought they looked stupid (and made her look more like those
neanderthal Windswords). She explained the change to Sinclair as being part of
a several year long Minbari mourning ceremony that had just ended.
I think these answers should be *widely* reposted. Any seconds?
Phil^^^^
FREE MARS!
#: 15486 S5/Seas. 5 SPOILERS
17-Jan-98 22:10:03
Sb: #15355-ITB and The Gathering
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Yeah...that's the ticket...that's what I meant to say...doubleplus good.
jms
[ Continued in next section -- BB ]
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