lurkers-guide/ftp/GEnie/jms92-03

Babylon 5 posts by JMS for March, 1992

This file includes a compilation of posts on GEnie by J. Michael
Straczynski in the Babylon 5 topic.  The posts are copyright by JMS
(and compilation copyright is by GEnie). 


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Topic 22        Wed Nov 20, 1991
SOARON [Bio-Dread]           at 19:41 EST
Sub: Babylon 5                          

TWCNBN has been been named!  J. Michael Straczynski has managed to bring a new
quality to television and promises to do justice to TV and SF with a new
action-adventure SF series of his own design.  (NO story suggestions, please.)
537 new messages.
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CaCategory 18,  Topic 22
Message 331       Sun Mar 01, 1992
STRACZYNSKI                  at 00:38 EST

     As I mentioned before, there's *official* commitment, and what you can
thus announce...and what you can't.  It is my understanding that all we have
to do is bring the movie in on budget, and we're go for the series, we'll have
proven that we can do the kind of show that we promised.  And we can.  And we
will.  The show will follow, trust me.


Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 341       Sun Mar 01, 1992
STRACZYNSKI                  at 23:08 EST

     David: where exactly did this article appear?  This is very troubling.

     From the beginning, B5 has always included a casino, the subtle presence
of a brothel, customs areas, a marketplace, business areas, a nightclub/bar
and so on.  If this latest has any semblance to reality, this may have gone
too far.

     Please indicate the source, and date.  Thanks.

                                                              jms
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Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 352       Mon Mar 02, 1992
STRACZYNSKI                  at 13:19 EST

     So let me see if I've got this straight

     BABYLON 5 (a name followed by a number) for four years was always a space
station headed by an unmarried commander, at a major transit point for travel,
with representatives from different races on board, with a shapechanger a
pivotal story point in the movie, and with a variety of facilities including a
bordello and a casino.

     And now...as the story emerges....

     DEEPSPACE 9 (a name followed by a number) has become a space station
headed by an unmarried commander, at a major transit point for travel, with
representatives from different races on board, with a shapechanger a pivotal
story point in the movie, and with a variety of facilities including a
bordello and a casino.

     ...

     I was going to leave a much longer message, but the heart just went out
of me.  Will come back on line later.

                                                               jms
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Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 365       Tue Mar 03, 1992
STRACZYNSKI                  at 01:26 EST

     All I can say at this point is that something will be done.  In the
interim, anyone who wants to drop Paramount a letter is welcome to do so.

     I think the reason that we're in this situation, as opposed, say, to a
novel, is that we're in the same media.  When it comes to TV, the Paramount
attitude seems to be, "But...WE own space!"

     Hang fire, folks.  And get the word out.

                                                          jms
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Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 374       Wed Mar 04, 1992
STRACZYNSKI                  at 00:24 EST

     Comalite; yes, that scenario has indeed occured to me.  And that is one
of the things I fear most...that people will see DS9 and think that WE ripped
off THEM.  Which is why I'm glad that the folks here saw how this has
progressed.  At least now I have witnesses.

     And to the message above...yes, it's not inappropriate to think that a
station might have a casino and a bordello.  The problem, to me, is the NUMBER
of items.  They are both a) deep-space stations b) positioned at primary
transit points beside travelers and businessmen c) presumably dead planets
that is a d) port of call for) features representatives from various
governments, with f) a casino and g) a bordello, which is run by h) an
unmarried man with the rank of i) commander, and that a j) shapechanger
figured prominently in the opening story about a station with a k) name
followed by a number....


     Oh, well...at least my 486 Megasystem arrived today, at last.

                                                          jms
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Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 388       Wed Mar 04, 1992
STRACZYNSKI                  at 21:02 EST

     Matt: if you can reassure me...do so.  Otherwise, yes, there are ways to
find stuff out, but they're more time consuming.

     And to the above note...yes, we're still slated to come up first, with
the airdate still solid at November 17th.

     Just returned from another meeting with our EFX and production guys.
  The team is getting bigger with each meeting, as more guys are added on in
various capacities.  Today was a discussion of prosthetics, makeup, ship
design elements and the like.  The preliminary sketches are REALLY
interesting, and have a look unlike anything I've seen before on TV.   We're
especially setting aside time to work out how the B5 station will work, and
look, and it's undergoing some radical design changes that make what's out now
on the tape look like nothing.

     Oh, yeah...and will post some new speific info as soon as I can; it
'sbeen nuts these last few days.


                                                          jms
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Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 394       Thu Mar 05, 1992
STRACZYNSKI                  at 01:34 EST

     At this time, there are no immediate plans for lawyers on B5.  We will
instead emphasize dealings with *civilized* life-forms.

                                                            jms

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Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 336       Sun Mar 01, 1992
STRACZYNSKI                  at 03:46 EST

     Oh...glad you reminded me.  I'd forgotten.

     Will post something in the next 24 hours or thereabouts.

     BTW...one amongst us here has seen much of what B5 is going to be
about...characters, the bible, artwork, all that stuff.  If he would like to
comment -- as an objective point of view -- he's certainly more than welcome
to do so.  My thought, always, is that anything I say has to be considered
suspect because I have a vested interest, whereas if it comes from someone
else, it carries more weight.  (I ask others always to PROVE IT when someone
makes a claim, it behooves me to do the same.)

                                                           jms
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tegory 18,  Topic 22
Message 153       Sun Mar 08, 1992
STRACZYNSKI                  at 16:39 EST

     Brad: in Washington DC, B5 will be on WDCA-TV.

     And yes, pre-production has begun on "The Gathering."  Production and
prostethics designs have started, most of the high-tech equipment we'll need
for computer design has been ordered and should be arriving this week, a
director has been selected (though he's not yet locked down contractually, so
I can't announce who at this time), some production assistants have been
hired, others have been put on line...so the actual, physical process has
indeed begun.

                                                               jms
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Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 164       Mon Mar 09, 1992
STRACZYNSKI                  at 03:41 EST

     Will investigate the Arkansas situation.

     And thanks re: the B5 video via Newtek.  And yes, it's going to be a LOT
more impressive.  Part of this comes from dealing with the technical and
scientific/extrapolational questions of such a station.  How would it really
*work*?  If you want a situation in which you have windows at eye level as
well as under your feet (required by centrifugal force), how would you do it?
How would ships dock?  How do you divide up sectors and arrange for various
rotation speeds (and thus gravities) without the whole thing tearing itself
apart at the seams?

     By hewing closer to the realities of such questions, I think we get a
very *authentic* looking show.

     The computer EFX station will be arriving within the week, and it's
REALLY something.  Newtek is working with us, and with our designer Ron
Thornton, to give us some amazing stuff, rewriting codes and coming up with
new ways to do things.  Though it will, alas, come too late for the bulk of
the EFX we're doing, apparently there's one additional component being
developed now that would, when plugged into our new station, give us the
capacity of a Cray computer times 1.2.  We might miss that for the movie, but
it'll definitely be available for the series.  As it is now, what we have now
will allow us to do REAL-TIME rendering...and those out there who understand
what that means will grasp how amazing that will be on a movie like this.

     On the plus side of Another Controversy, it's my understanding, from my
few sources, that DS9 and B5 -- though essentially the same in terms of format
-- will be vastly different in terms of approach and storytelling.  DS9 will
be, well, like TNG, just in a different environment, in terms of tone and
attitude and storytelling.  Which will make B5 *very* different by comparison.
I do take some comfort in that.

                                                              jms
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Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 171       Tue Mar 10, 1992
STRACZYNSKI                  at 00:44 EST

     Hmmm...y'know, that ain't a bad idea...arrange for a test screening and
stack the deck with SF fans, especially from here...hmmmmmmmmmm....

                                                                 jms
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Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 180       Tue Mar 10, 1992
STRACZYNSKI                  at 18:15 EST

     Could be....

     Let us remember that the Medusa is a *legend*, the Minotaur is a
legend...legends are our way of dealing with things we don't fully understand.
Which ain't to say it ISN'T disinformation, or ISN'T in some way grounded in
some incident or other, only that all things are both possible and logical.

     More meetings today at Warners re: B5.  Tremendous enthusiasm for the
script.  Some money will begin flowing into the production budget from Warners
next week, and we figure on having the director locked down the first part of
the week.  Some discussion about whether or not we begin with a teaser...in a
way, a cold opening that grabs you up from the start, THEN later segues into
the opening titles ain't a bad idea.

     We're starting to get busy on this...memos flying around, lots of people
being hired and coming aboard, discussions about how many grips and sound guys
and wardrobe people and honey wagons we'll need...a show like this just sort
of sits around for a long time while everyone makes up his mind what to
do...and then when it begins grinding to life it REALLY starts to pick up
speed fast.

     One of our greatest concerns right now is the *look* of the show, now
that the script is finished.  We want something very unique, not quite film
noire but certainly a second cousin...texture, light against shadow...and the
whole concept of what the future will look like.

     Yikes.

     So what am I doing HERE?  I should be working!

                                                                 jms
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Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 197       Tue Mar 10, 1992
STRACZYNSKI                  at 23:42 EST

     Yeah, there's kind of a good break-point about 6-7 pages into the script
that can be sliced off and used as a teaser, ending as it does with a bit of
an action scene.

     Re: weapons, we're sticking with the blaster/laser style gun, rather than
a projectile weapon, for several reasons: 1) a projectile weapon is MUCH
messier, and 2) you can set the intensity on a beam-style weapon so that it
can cut through flesh but not the metal of the hull...whereas a projectile
fired in a closed, metallic space that MISSES will richochet all over the
damned place.

     The key, then, becomes to do the beam effect DIFFERENTLY.  And we seem to
have a cool way of doing that.  I've discussed it with the EFX people, and
they seem to think it's do-able.  What I need now is some more tech info from
a couple of folks I know who are into the more scientific stuff, one of whom
is a physicist, to find out, if there WERE such things, how would they act?
The answers I've gotten thus far are very interesting, and open up all kinds
of possibilities.

                                                              jms
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Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 198       Tue Mar 10, 1992
STRACZYNSKI                  at 23:44 EST

     Oops, cross-posted with KL...yes, I plan on doing a B5 presentation at
ComicCon, which with luck will include some rough footage.  In theory, I can
bring some test or rough footage to any convention I attend subsequent to
about August/September.

                                                              jms
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Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 203       Wed Mar 11, 1992
STRACZYNSKI                  at 02:56 EST

     There will definitely be varying degrees of technology, which is why we
have Tech-Runners ferrying embargoed or prohibited technology from one race to
another.  Some go to great lengths to CONCEAL their level of technology...only
to spring it on the "target" at the right moment.

                                                                  jms
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Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 235       Fri Mar 13, 1992
STRACZYNSKI                  at 13:23 EST

     Regarding language...yes, there will be some completely alien languages
spoken.  The generally used names -- Vorlons, Minbari -- are the nearest Human
equivilants in some cases, or have other backgrounds.

     In *general*, the resident language is English, or Terran, since this
station is, after all, nominally run by the Terrans.  And on average, you take
a little time to learn the language, just as you would if you knew you were
going to be visiting France for an extended period.  Hence, the ambassadors
are more or less fluent.  It's all downhill from there.  You have the alien
equivilant of the Ugly American, who doesn't bother to learn the language, or
the customs, and doesn't much care.  (And which can thus lead to some dicey
situations.)

     (Another reason behind this, btw, was the realization that one language
generally arises as the language of commerce.  Every commercial airline in the
world, whenever it approaches a control tower, wherever that tower may be in
the world, generally opens communications in English, just as once in our past
Latin was considered a "generic" language in commerce.)

     In any event...yes, there will be a multiplicity of tongues, in varying
situations and to varying degrees, depending on who's involved.   Good
thoughts on the beam weapons, btw.  Fairly close to what we have in mind.

   (Btw...and I hate to repeat this from my other topic, but I've been asked to
do so...my last episode of MURDER, SHE WROTE for this season airs this Sunday
night.  Just FYI.)

                                                                  jms
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Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 253       Sun Mar 15, 1992
STRACZYNSKI                  at 21:30 EST

    Thanks.  I kinda had fun with that M,SW episode, and trying to get the
flavor and language of the Irish dialect was both challenging and a great deal
of fun.  (It looks like I'll be writing a follow-up Irish episode for next
year.)

     And re: virtual reality/cyberspace...I was the first to commission a
virtual reality/cyberspace episode for television *ever*, on POWER, and be
assured I'll eventually get into that on B5 as well.

                                                                jms
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Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 256       Mon Mar 16, 1992
STRACZYNSKI                  at 00:22 EST

     Yeah...it was a decent show, all things considered.  (Just curious, how
many tapes did you find?  To the best of my knowledge, only six were
commercially released...about 1/3rd or 1/2 of the total of 24 episodes.)

     As for a being that is an actual *shapechanger*...screw it, let the Other
Guys have him/it.  Who says I'm not reasonable?

                                                                  jms
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Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 259       Mon Mar 16, 1992
STRACZYNSKI                  at 18:02 EST

     Okay, here's an updated station list.  The only one we've signed that I
don't have in front of me is Pittsburgh.  There are still more to come beyond
that.  Meanwhile, here's the latest:

NEW YORK -- WWOR LOS ANGELES -- KCOP CHICAGO -- WPWR PHILADELPHIA -- WPHL
BOSTON -- WSBK SAN FRANCISCO -- KBHK WASHINGTON DC -- WDCA DALLAS -- KTXA
DETROIT -- WXON HOUSTON -- KTXH ATLANTA -- WATL CLEVELAND -- WUAB SEATTLE --
KSTW TAMPA -- WTOG MINNEAPOLIS -- KMSP MIAMI -- WDZL ST. LOUIS -- KPLR
SACRAMENTO -- KRBK PHOENIX -- KUTP DENVER -- KDVR BALTIMORE -- WNUV HARTFORD --
WTXX ORLANDO -- WOFL SAN DIEGO -- XETV INDIANAPOLIS -- WTTV PORTLAND, OR --
KPTV MILWAUKEE -- WVTV CINCINNATI -- WSTR KANSAS CITY -- KSMO RALEIGH -- WLFL
GRN-SPR-ASH -- WHNS NORFOLK -- WGNT SAN ANTONIO -- KABB OKLAHOMA CITY -- KOOB
HARRISBURG -- WPMT W. PALM BEACH -- WTVX SYRACUSE -- WSYT ROANOKE -- WJPR DES
MOINES -- KDSM PORTLAND, ME -- WPXT SPOKANE -- KAYU BATON ROUGE -- WGMB WACO --
KWKT SANTA BARBARA -- KADY MONTEREY -- KCBA AUGUSTA -- WFXG LAFAYETTE, LA --
KADN COLUMBUS, GA -- WXTX YAKIMA -- KCY ODESSA -- KPEJ

     Phew...all those letters, I think I got them right.

     More info as it becomes available.

                                                                jms
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Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 265       Mon Mar 16, 1992
STRACZYNSKI                  at 23:50 EST

     Well, I think Herman Melville might have a word or two to say on his work
being quoted being a STAR TREK riff...he predates them by just a tad.

                                                                 jms
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Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 268       Tue Mar 17, 1992
STRACZYNSKI                  at 15:08 EST

     Well, all I can really suggest, if your area isn't covered, is to write
to the programming department at your local *non-network* TV station(s).
Those are the ones who are either being, or have been approached by Warners.
Suggest that they contact Warners, or indicate your interest in seeing the
program, based on what you've heard.

     And if, by the way, as an aside, you liked the look of THE EQUALIZER,
that kind of texture...the director we think we've settled on was largely
involved in that look, and did considerable directing work on that series, as
well as others...nice shadows, textures, profiles...as well as work on many
features.

                                                                   jms
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Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 272       Tue Mar 17, 1992
STRACZYNSKI                  at 23:25 EST

     Actually, one of the things we're going to be playing with, once we get
to series, is the idea of weather.  If you're in a station like this, which is
basically an enclosed, self-contained world,  you're going to want some
variations in weather, particularly in the inner section.  So there are plans
for a Bio-Environmental Engineer type whose job it is to vary the weather a
little here and there, and to look out for issues of resource conservation and
the like.

     And there will be some aspects of that "smoky" photography at time...the
main thing, as the director put it, is that so many SF shows "light and shoot
the walls; what we want to do is light and shoot the ACTORS."

     With the director taken care of, we're now setting up our wardrobe
person, casting director, and line producer.  Hope to have those nailed down
in the next week or so.  Should also be getting the revised specs on the New
And Improved B5, and some of the ships we'll be seeing, in the next few days.
Our EFX guy, Ron Thornton, is cooking up some strictly wonderful and strange
stuff, chuckling over the guys who were so blown out over what was on the
original NewTek tape..."If THAT blew their brains out," he said, "wait until
they see *this*!"

                                                                   jms
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Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 283       Wed Mar 18, 1992
STRACZYNSKI                  at 23:51 EST

     That's a good idea, and one that's been discussed.  Look for an RTC
somewhat closer to airdate than the present, to make best use of it.  So
figure around September-ish....

                                                               jms
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Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 288       Thu Mar 19, 1992
STRACZYNSKI                  at 03:04 EST

     Fox network stations can carry it because it's on a Tuesday night for
starters, when Fox isn't sending out a network lineup.

     In perhaps the longest delayed-reaction in a while...if you have cable,
and get WOR, and none of your stations locally carry B5, you can pick it up
off WOR.  It's only when WOR brings the show into a local area where another
station carries it that it gets blacked out.  So you can either lobby your
local stations to carry it, or be sure that your cable operator carries WOR.

                                                                 jms
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Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 290       Thu Mar 19, 1992
STRACZYNSKI                  at 16:17 EST

     Tuesday is the night we're lock into at this stage, which is why November
17th (a Tuesday) was chosen.  Now, it's *possible* that the series might end
up on a different night, should the consortium decide to add another night to
the schedule, but that's still *very* much up in the air.

                                                               jms
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Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 296       Fri Mar 20, 1992
STRACZYNSKI                  at 02:55 EST

     Not officially, Jay.  Not yet.  I'll announce as soon as I can, which
can't be until after papers are signed.

     Lawrence: yes, it *is* a substantial burden.  Which is why there will be
a slight shift in responsibilities once the series gets going.  The screenplay
has a line from Sinclair indicating that there *was* an Earth ambassador on
the station, but the ambassador fell ill and had to return home, during which
time Sinclair is nominally filling that role.

     So now he's wearing two hats, as it were, and Laurel is wearing one.
When the series gets going, he will be wearing one hat, and she will be
wearing one hat...and a lot of SF fans are going to get something they've been
asking for for a long, long, long time.

     At least, I *think* that's what I'm going to do...though I'm still
working out some of the permutations...it's a fairly recent decision, and I
have to look over the 5-year storyline to make sure it doesn't compromise
anything...if it does, then I'll have to find another solution.

     Was this at ALL helpful?

                                                                jms
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Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 310       Sun Mar 22, 1992
STRACZYNSKI                  at 17:23 EST

     English became the dominant EA language because the EA started out and
has always been pretty much an extension of the main Terran government and its
respective colonies.  English is already pretty much the prime language of
commerce and economy and diplomacy, and this is pretty much an extension of
that thought.

     Right now, in this country, anyone from any ethnic group has to pretty
much know two languages...the language of his or her ethnic background
(assuming that it is different from English) and the language of the dominant
culture, necessary to find work.  (As a sidebar to this,  not long ago here in
L.A. there was a Latino study group that looked into this whole question,
because there are two very different sides, such as those who support the idea
of Black English, that Latinos shouldn't HAVE to learn English.  The results
of the report were pretty straightforward: if you never intend to leave the
Barrio, then no, you don't have to learn standard English.  If you do intend
to go beyond the Barrio, then you do have to learn the language of the
economy.  Which is hardly anything new, it is traditional in Jewish culture
that you pretty much have to know not one, or two, but three
languages...Hebrew, Yiddish, and the dominant economic language of the culture
you live in.  In my family, the situation was much the same; around some
people you spoke Polish, around the house you spoke White Russian, and to do
business, you spoke English.)

     As the world becomes smaller, I think that this situation will apply more
and more to other cultures.  Already, most other countries and cultures
require courses in English (which is why it's always easier to find someone
in, say, Sweden or Japan or Germany who speaks English than it is to find
someone here who speaks Japanese or Swedish or German, a sad commentary on our
own poor emphasis on learning foreign languages.)   I think that what will
happen over time is that everyone will be more or less multilingual or bi-
lingual...you'll speak the language of the country you were born in, or live
in, and then the language of world economy when traveling outside your
country.  I think that language will be English for the reasons given.  Also,
it's more convenient for our show than havaing everyone speaking Dutch.  I
think it would have an adverse effect on our ratings.  (That's a joke, I say,
a joke, son.)

     As for the alternate languages...yes, there will be a range of sounds and
clicks and sort-of words.  Not so much in the movie, but in the series.
 As each new race is introduced -- and there are basically 20 that we'll be
building for the first season -- I'll decide on a case-by-case basis what they
should sound like, and begin taking the language used in each case and saving
it to a file for that race.  In this way, I'll gradually develop a sort of
dictionary for each species.  As for subtitles...yes, in some cases it'll be
subtitled...but I think that there are times when you don't want to do that,
and rather let the emotions behind the language carry it, or in cases when the
action is fairly obvious (such as asking a bartender for a drink).

                                                                  jms
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Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 323       Mon Mar 23, 1992
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 02:39 EST

     Ah, I mistook your Roanoke comment for something else, to do with
speculation about B4...guess that means I'll have to retract my comment that
you were closer to the truth than you knew...(sly smile).

     BTW...just in case anyone's interested...there's a piece in the Arizona
Speculative Fiction Society's publication, CONNOTATIONS, about B5, courtesy of
Lee Whiteside that talks about B5, drawing from notes here.  Also, if you get
(or your library gets) Broadcasting News Magazine, there was a two-page color
ad from Warners to announce the four projects of the new consortium, which
includes B5.  (I believe that was the February 24th issue.)  It bills all four
as Commencing Production.  There are a few more articles due out soon, will
try to advise all of them closer to publication.

                                                                   jms
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Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 326       Tue Mar 24, 1992
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 04:00 EST

     Nope, just busy with production details.  More meetings scheduled, and
being scheduled for this week...sound, casting, EFX and the like.

     I think we've got the weapons question fully licked; and the solution is
neither one, nor the other, but *both* (and I'll let you chew on that one for
a while).

     As we get closer to rolling film, I'll be skewing my "reports" here
slightly more toward production information and away from creative stuff, for
a variety of reasons, though from time to time we'll get into some of that.
At the moment, our main concern is getting the new, revised B5 onto film and
out of the computer.  We should have the first segments out and onto film in
the next 10 days or so.  (For those who are interested, there's as much
"surface" in the first one-fifth of the station as there was in the original
total B5 shown on the earlier demo.  That will literally enable us to get
within 100 feet of the thing with perfect clarity.)

     More as I can release it.

                                                                  jms
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Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 328       Tue Mar 24, 1992
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 20:25 EST

     ...yes?  And?  What does it say?  I mean, HONestly....

                                                               jms
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Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 337       Fri Mar 27, 1992
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 03:11 EST

     Y'all might want to check out Message 602 in my topic (Cat 11, Topic 25)
for a preliminary schedule of some of the conventions that I'll be hitting
over the spring/summer.  Will add more as they're confirmed.

                                                              jms
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Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 338       Sun Mar 29, 1992
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 05:54 EST

     My apologies for the long silence here...you hit a stage in the
preproduction process where, at various points, you fall off the face of the
earth...a lot is happening awfully fast, and the press of all that tends to
wipe out everything else.  (M,SW has also kept me busier than usual, finishing
off one outline, and getting the premises approved for two more...one of which
is going to be just a *knockout* in the ratings, it's something so nifty that
I can't even talk about it just now.  If you thought the Psycho house
crossover was promotable, wait till you see what is coming down the pike this
time!)

     I should be able to see the new, revised B5 rendering on screen this
coming week, probably the first part of the week.  Will also be finalizing
certain aspects of the revised budget, and meeting some of the new members of
the production crew that've been added, including the director of photography,
camera operator, line producer and the like.

     Have decided to bite the bullet and commission a limited number of B5 t-
shirts that'll be given out at conventions where I'm appearing.  I figure
it'll be a fairly small order, maybe 500 or so to start with, and see where
that takes me.  It'll probably end up with the B5 logo on the front (either
small, over the left breast, or full-size in front) with the possible addition
of ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES on the back.  Those of you who've seen the logo, how
does silver on a black T sound?  The other choice would be black on a grey T
shirt.  (I *hate* white T's and just won't wear them, let alone inflict them
on others.)

     At this point, there won't be enough (or time or resources) to mail out a
bunch at this time...but I give you my word that when we have a large order
made up, the Loyal And Faithful Few here will be first to hear about them.
(Hmm...just had a funny idea...maybe when the rest are made up from the big
order, I could pay to have an altered set made up for the GEnie-ites who
supported it...with everything else on the shirt the same, except for the
words "I Was There At The Beginning" added in front or back...hmmm...I'll have
to play with that notion for a while.)

     Anyway, as stated, try not to take silence as any indication of lack of
movement.  As a rule, the more I can write here, the more time I have, meaning
that the faster things are happening, and the more that's going on, the more
I'll tend to fall silent here unless provoked by a message of my own
conscience.  One tends to get very tunnel-visioned about these things....

                                                                 jms
 ------------
Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 350       Sun Mar 29, 1992
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 18:02 EST

     Okay, black and silver it is.  Will go for the full-size logo in front,
in silver, and red slogan in back (I hadn't thought about the use of
red...cool idea).  Thanks for the input.

     BTW...for those interested, there's a decent-sized notice about B5 in the
current issue (#163) of STARBURST magazine, on page 7.  It gives some of the
background stuff as well as some good words about how it'll do.

     Onward.

                                                                  jms
 ------------
Category 18,  Topic 22
Message 360       Sun Mar 29, 1992
STRACZYNSKI [Joe]            at 23:40 EST

     Actually, on the M,SW subject, I checked with some computer folks, and
the scenario as presented would work.  1) A number of people do leave their
computers on 24 hours a day, partly because the biggest problem with computers
is blowing a power source due to lots of turning on/off, and partly because
more and more computers are coming with internal fax cards, and thus they're
leaving them on to catch late-night or early morning faxes.  I imagine that
Jessica Fletcher would go for about the same modem setup I just bought, a
14,400 v32 bis that could exchange a LOT of information quickly.  In addition,
if the program slipped into her computer operates like my Windows or Norton
backup, it can be set to send out ONLY the newly-created or edited files...so
the whole process could take place in about 5-10 minutes.

     So NYAH!

     As for B5 casting...we'll be starting that in a few weeks, probably
around the 3rd week of April or 1st week of May, depending.  So figure on some
sort of announcement here around middle or late May.

                                                                jms