JMS on CompuServe (Sep 21, 1998) *POSSIBLE SPOILERS* (1/2)
bbarrett at johndelenn.com
bbarrett at johndelenn.com
Mon Sep 21 22:02:16 EDT 1998
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WARNING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The following posts may contain SPOILERS for
upcoming Babylon 5 episodes.
Continue at your own risk.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
P
R
O
T
E
C
T
I
O
N
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THE FOLLOWING MATERIAL IS THE COPYRIGHT OF THE
RESPECTIVE MESSAGE AUTHORS AND CANNOT BE
REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM WITHOUT THE EXPRESSED
PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR.
Note that JMS has expressed his public permission
that all of his messages may be reproduced freely.
I give permission for my summaries to be reposted in
any form, however I reserve all rights to them and
the right to revoke this permission at any time.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Archives of this material may be found at:
http://www.johndelenn.com/
**********************************************
[ Summary of subjects in this section: ]
Sb: #46589-#Dark Genesis standalone?
Sb: #46493-#Crusade Crisis??????
Sb: #46497-#Crusade Uniforms
Sb: #46657-#Crusade Uniforms
Sb: #46782-#Gideon Symbolism
Sb: Babylon 5 (general)
Sb: #47336-#Crusade Crisis??????
Sb: #47391-Crusade Crisis??????
Sb: #47399-Crusade Crisis??????
Sb: #47427-#Crusade Crisis??????
Sb: #47456-#Music
#: 46589 S7/Babylon 5 Novels
11-Sep-98 11:17:13
Sb: #46315-#Dark Genesis standalone?
Fm: MICHAEL J. KERSEY
I'm in the process of fininshing this book. I'm enjoying it particularly as a
background filler of your universe. In that regard, hope it is close to
cannon. (One of the reasons I don't touch any Star Trek book is the fact that
Paramount has said that the novels have nothing to do with their concieved
notion of that universe. Of course Paramount is also a big reason I lost
interest in that series. Long before B5 came along and completely yanked me
away. ;)) I would like to ask if maybe the thought of making these type of
works into a mini-series format ever crossed anyones mind. Nobody in the US
has ever thought about just using a created universe to tell shorter stries
that have no direct bearing on the original show (other than in the same
universe.) I have always wanted that type of format. "Tell me a good story
in a couple, three weeks or maybe even a dozen. I'll watch it." It worked
for me in Ken Burns "Civil War" documentary, how about fiction?
I'm not really talking about the two part movie format which is the current
idea of a mini series. I'm talking about weekly episodic piece with an
intentional short run. Just a thought.
Michael Kersey
#: 46608 S7/Babylon 5 Novels
11-Sep-98 16:35:10
Sb: #46589-#Dark Genesis standalone?
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Thanks, and yeah, it's pretty damn canon. The rest, we'll see.
jms
#: 46493 S9/Crusade:PreProductn
10-Sep-98 14:09:08
Sb: #46473-#Crusade Crisis??????
Fm: CARL CANTARELLA
>>Military uniforms do change periodically, especially after large-scale
military actions and/or political upheavals, both of which may well be
occuring in the five years between B5 and Crusade...<<
I thought it was three years, but regardless, it's still a waste of
money --now all those old uniforms are going to go to waste more than likely,
meanwhile, they're a hell of a lot better than that cheesier new design
they've come up with; a pity.
#: 46514 S9/Crusade:PreProductn
10-Sep-98 16:19:04
Sb: #46493-#Crusade Crisis??????
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
"...now all those old uniforms are going to go to waste more than likely,
meanwhile, they're a hell of a lot better than that cheesier new design
they've come up with; a pity."
Funny, everybody said that about our Earthforce uniforms when the first
pictures appeared. Now they're the preferred standard.
Further, those uniforms are specific to the mission of the Excalibur, as
uniforms vary within the real military. The regular Earthforce uniforms are
still very much in use in the Crusade universe.
Y'know, I'd've thought that, after learning the lessons on B5 about not
judging things too quickly -- the costumes are stupid, who's the guy with the
big hair -- that people would have learend to not prejudge things before they
actually see them on film.
Guess I was wrong.
jms
#: 46497 S9/Crusade:PreProductn
10-Sep-98 14:19:01
Sb: #46478-#Crusade Uniforms
Fm: CARL CANTARELLA
>>One word
U... G... L...
Y !!!<<
That, along with 'childish-looking.'
#: 46513 S9/Crusade:PreProductn
10-Sep-98 16:19:04
Sb: #46497-#Crusade Uniforms
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Let me suggest that the photo does not show the uniforms off to best
advantage. They are based strongly on West Point uniforms, with some
variation. The photo is an awful photo, it looks like a polaroid, and makes
them look pretty flat and unattractive. On actual film, lit well, they look
very nice.
jms
#: 46657 S9/Crusade:PreProductn
12-Sep-98 14:55:14
Sb: #46513-#Crusade Uniforms
Fm: DEONAHA M. CONLIN
Joe,
> They are based strongly on West Point uniforms,<
Well, THAT explains EVERYTHING! <g>
> The photo is an awful photo, it looks like a polaroid, and makes them look
pretty flat and unattractive.<
Not to mention Gary Cole looks downright unhealthy. BTW - how are YOU
feeling?
> On actual film, lit well, they look very nice.<
Oh, I hope so! These look a teeny bit garish. How long do we have to
wait now? <g>
Di Conlin, TUS , Wielder of the Lesser Salmon of Discipline
Supreme Dominatrix, RMES, your fearless leader
Sigh Corps - Jason Carter Division
GO NAVY!
#: 46717 S9/Crusade:PreProductn
12-Sep-98 21:00:05
Sb: #46657-#Crusade Uniforms
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
I've been looking at that photo some more, and the more I stare at it,
the more it bugs me, because it's just awful in how it was taken: you can see
the shadows from the flashbulb, it's not composed well, it looks like a
snapshot taken by somebody non-professional, and the more I think about it,
the more I'm not sure where the hell that shot came from. We sure as heck
didn't provide it.
jms
#: 46782 S9/Crusade:PreProductn
13-Sep-98 22:53:04
Sb: #Gideon Symbolism
Fm: BRENT BARRETT
Joe,
I know that this must seem obvious to most people, but I only just became
interested in the origins of the name of your new captain in Crusade. I
recalled that you often chose names for their meaning, so I did some quick
searching on Gideon, and came across The Gideons home page (www.gideons.org).
In their history section, I found this:
"Gideon was a man who was willing to do exactly what God wanted him
to do, irrespective of his own judgment as to the plans or results.
Humility, faith, and obedience were his great elements of character.
This is the standard that the Gideon association is trying to
establish in all its members, each man to be ready to do God's will
at any time, at any place, and in any way that the Holy Spirit leads."
So was the biblical reference related to the genesis (pardon the pun) of
this character's name? :-)
Thanks,
-- Brent
#: 46784 S9/Crusade:PreProductn
13-Sep-98 23:48:11
Sb: #46782-#Gideon Symbolism
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
There are certain reasons for that name choice, yes, which is all I'll
say for now.
jms
#: 47272 S2/Bab 5: General
17-Sep-98 20:04:03
Sb: Babylon 5 (general)
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Wasn't any kind of particular inspiration, just hard work on a concept
until it made sense.
jms
#: 47336 S9/Crusade:PreProductn
18-Sep-98 16:11:06
Sb: #47302-#Crusade Crisis??????
Fm: CARL CANTARELLA
>>Does anybody know how much control of the show JMS has?<<
So far Joe has kept pretty mum about the whole ordeal; however serious
it may or may not be, we just don't know yet.
#: 47385 S9/Crusade:PreProductn
19-Sep-98 16:38:09
Sb: #47336-#Crusade Crisis??????
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
The TNT memo was apparently real; however, the egregious points have now
been withdrawn, and on top of that, TNT has allocated a big chunk of change to
let us build some new sets and expand stuff.
jms
#: 47391 S9/Crusade:PreProductn
19-Sep-98 20:18:14
Sb: #47385-#Crusade Crisis??????
Fm: MARTIN ROTH
>> The TNT memo was apparently real; however, the egregious points have
now been withdrawn, and on top of that, TNT has allocated a big chunk of
change to let us build some new sets and expand stuff. <<
<tremendous sigh of relief from the entire forum>
Joe, how is everything going with production? I know you've said that you're
going to be pulling back a lot from the online world, but it really seems
strange not seeing little periodic status tidbits from you in here. After
five-plus years of constant information, it's really hard to go cold turkey.
<g>
And, more importantly, how are you feeling?
#: 47401 S9/Crusade:PreProductn
19-Sep-98 22:59:11
Sb: #47391-Crusade Crisis??????
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Things are going well overall; we've filmed 5 episodes, and have just
extended a planned 1 week production hiatus (we take two such hiatuses --
hiati? -- every year, one in the fall, one in the spring) and added three paid
weeks in order to allow time for construction on a number of new sets.
jms
#: 47399 S9/Crusade:PreProductn
19-Sep-98 21:28:13
Sb: #47385-#Crusade Crisis??????
Fm: PHILIP HORNSEY
>>The TNT memo was apparently real; however, the egregious points have now
been withdrawn, and on top of that, TNT has allocated a big chunk of change to
let us build some new sets and expand stuff.
This wasn't some king of sick joke among the TNT people was it?
Actually, did they get someone new on board recently. I have these visions of
some pinhead with a shiny new job all puffed up and full of himself banging
out a memo to show those amatures what to do.
All that said, there is an implication in what I read that human colonies
would be affected socially by some kind of ultimate threat back home (though
that seemed to be a pretext for gratutious sex), but the idea of examining
what forms the turmoil surrounding the crisis would take is interesting.
What actually were the egregious points? I ask this for a specific reason. The
nets are so upset that a point by point of what was withdrawn would go a long
way to putting the matter to bed. I for one, noticed a lot of weasel words
coming out of TNT on their site, though I could be hypersensitive living as
close to the White House as I do...
Have we thanked you recently for your unremitting honesty?
Phil^^^^
FREE MARS!
#: 47400 S9/Crusade:PreProductn
19-Sep-98 22:59:11
Sb: #47399-Crusade Crisis??????
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
I think that to dwell on the thing would be to just open wounds that are
better left healed.
jms
#: 47427 S9/Crusade:PreProductn
20-Sep-98 07:57:07
Sb: #47385-#Crusade Crisis??????
Fm: WIZOP WES MEIER
Joe,
>> The TNT memo was apparently real; however, the egregious points have now
been withdrawn, and on top of that, TNT has allocated a big chunk of change to
let us build some new sets and expand stuff. <<
Hey! That's WONDERFUL news!
- Wes
#: 47451 S9/Crusade:PreProductn
20-Sep-98 15:07:09
Sb: #47427-#Crusade Crisis??????
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
>>>> The TNT memo was apparently real; however, the egregious points have now
been withdrawn, and on top of that, TNT has allocated a big chunk of change to
let us build some new sets and expand stuff. <<<<
>>Hey! That's WONDERFUL news!<<
What we've done is to try and expedite this so we can have the new stuff
in hand for the maximum number of episodes as quickly as possible. We always
take a one-week hiatus in every block of episodes we shoot, all the way
through B5's history and now. One week around the start of October (depending
on the start of filming), then the Christmas break, then another one-week
hiatus midway through the last 10 episodes.
So what we did here was to add on three weeks to the hiatus, starting
Tuesday. Well, three paid weeks off for most of the crew directly involved
with the actual filming, anyway. Construction, art department, props,
wardrobe and other departments will still be working away to build and dress
the sets and stuff so we can get right back into shooting on with the new
stuff in place.
We're talking here improvements to the corridors, to the quarters to
enlarge them, adding a wardroom/mess hall, an exercise area...other stuff. We
generally add sets each season, and wanted to do these down the road, but now
we have the chance to do them now.
jms
#: 47456 S9/Crusade:PreProductn
20-Sep-98 16:46:04
Sb: #Music
Fm: CARL CANTARELLA
Joe,
I haven't heard anything yet about who will be handling the musical scores for
Crusade. Is Christopher Franke still part of the team, or do you bring in
someone new?
#: 47479 S9/Crusade:PreProductn
20-Sep-98 22:22:14
Sb: #47456-#Music
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
We haven't yet set a composer for Crusade; we're giving a shot to Evan
Chen, a chinese-born classical composer with a strong jazz background, on A
Call to Arms. How that turns out will determine much that follows.
jms
[ Continued in next section -- BB ]
-***
-*** B5JMS SUBSCRIBERS: Replies to messages go to the list maintainer,
-*** <b5jms-owner at cs.columbia.edu>. If you want to reply elsewhere, adjust
-*** the "To" field. See http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~ezk/b5jms/ for all
-*** other information about this list.
More information about the B5JMS
mailing list