lurkers-guide/ftp/Usenet/jms95-09-usenet

Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Candle motif
Date: 5 Sep 1995 03:12:04 -0400

     Sherry...thank you.  The level of attention to detail is the *only*
way that this story will be told properly.  It means you sit down with the
director, and others, and you make totally clear -- there, and in the
script -- what you saw in your head when you wrote it.  As well as repeatd
verbal themes, cues, phraseologies, it's important (since this is a visual
medium) to incorporate visual cues that add to the thematic thrust of the
piece, that create a mood, or convey an emotion or a thought on an almost
cellular level.  The hardest part is being careful not to OVER use them,
because then they lose all meaning and impact.
 
                                                                    jms

Subject: Attn: JMS Fall Of Night Spoile
Date: 1 Sep 1995 01:50:50 -0400

     There was no deliberate homage, but the individual who helped design
that, working with me, was Steve Burg, who has worked on Abyss and T2.
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: ATTN JMS : Anwers on last 4 ep
Date: 1 Sep 1995 01:52:45 -0400

     Public questions will be answered if sufficiently vague or cloaked in
spoiler notice; private will be answered if brief.
 
                                                                       jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: WB/Turner = B5 on TB
Date: 1 Sep 1995 01:54:05 -0400

     No chance of B5 on DSS or Turner.
 
                                                                 jms

Subject: Were the Narns in Space?
Date: 1 Sep 1995 01:55:10 -0400

     The Raghesh 3 claim is only about 20 years old; the Centauri came to
Narn over a hundred years ago.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: Babylon 5 Trading Cards (detai
Date: 1 Sep 1995 02:09:59 -0400

     That list omits Sinclair, who is definitely in the set.
 
                                                                 jms

Subject: JMS:  Merger?
Date: 1 Sep 1995 02:09:35 -0400

     I doubt the merger will have any effect on us whatsoever.
 
                                                                    jms

Subject: ATTN JOE: Micro Machines and a
Date: 1 Sep 1995 02:10:24 -0400

     Let's see...the new MMs have Earthforce 1, an atmospheric shuttle,
a Narn heavy cruiser (from Coming of Shadows)...and that's all I can
recall just now.  I posted a full list on GEnie, but can't remember them
all now.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: Housecleaning Note from jms
Date: 4 Sep 1995 18:59:06 -0400

     A couple quick things I have to clarify for the record.
 
     1) I get over 500 messages a day, when the internet railway is
working (which it hasn't the last couple/three days).  No problem,
except when people send me 4, 6, or even 10 private email messages in a
day, asking questions that should more properly be asked in the public
forum.  Otherwise a) I end up answering the same question, privately,
over and over, b) I don't answer in which case I'm seen as snubbing the
person.  In particular, I'm often sent long, LONG messages requiring
very detailed discussions in private mail...and if I stopped to answer
all of those, nothing in the public forums would get answered, and no
scripts would be written.  And again I'm in the position of a or b above.
 
     If you have a question about story, or characters, or other B5
elements, unless there's some profound and overwhelming reason why you can
NOT let others see it, *POST IT IN THE PUBLIC FORUM* so that the discussion
can serve others who may have similar questions.  There is no reason why
that kind of discussion should be kept in private mail.  And if it's
public, it has a much better chance of getting a reply, or an in-depth
reply, than if it's private.
 
     Just trying to get some kind of handle on the huge incoming email
problem before I drown out here.
 
     2) Regarding the B5 snail-mail box...that address has been provided
as a drop for mail for the cast, primarily, and somewhat for myself.  It's
basically a fan-mail address.  But lately, more and more, people have been
sending in mail with story ideas, which my staff generally catch before I
see it.  The usual line in the letter is, "I know you said you couldn't see
story ideas in the public forums, so I thought I'd send this to you in
hard copy so you could consider it."
 
     NO, NO, NO, NO and, in case I wasn't clear....NO.
 
     One person even has begun sending *weekly packets* of stuff, and this
one's going to have to go to Legal Affairs to beat the crap out of him.
 
     The mail drop is provided, by me, out-of-pocket, as a courtesy to the
fans.  It is not to be abused.  If story ideas/outlines/scripts continue
to arrive -- they are currently being either round-filed or sent back
unopened, if we can tell what they are -- I will have no choice other than
to close the mail drop.
 
     I hate to be a grump about this stuff, but as more folks find the
show, correspondence-related matters threaten to spin out of control, and
it's important to kind of re-establish the ground rules a bit.  It's only
a relatively few folks who're not getting or haven't heard the message,
but it's worth stating for the record anyway.  So if this info could be
included in the faq, that'd be great.
 
     3) Quick aside...to the person who sent me the private mail about
candles...which I accidentally deleted and couldn't find again to reply...
the answer is yes, and thank you.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: !HEY JOE! - Bruce Campbell On
Date: 4 Sep 1995 20:54:55 -0400

     We're certainly open to Bruce C. on the show sometime.
 
                                                                jms

Subject: Comes the Inquisitor - no spoi
Date: 4 Sep 1995 20:55:18 -0400

     I don't think Wayne has done that much TV work before, he's primarily
a stage actor, but in any event, he's certainly brilliant as Sebastian.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: ATTN: JMS, a few questions abo
Date: 5 Sep 1995 03:11:58 -0400

     Suffice to say we will get into many of those questions in the final
four eps....
 
                                                                 jms

Subject: Attn JMS: B5 Audience Demograp
Date: 5 Sep 1995 03:11:38 -0400

     The demographic info is of little use to me, only to advertisers; and
in that respect, we have a large concentration in the 18-49 age range,
high disposable income, usually high school or college educated, so the
commericals have sold quickly and well for WB.
 
                                                                    jms

Subject: Attn JMS: TCOS emperor analysi
Date: 5 Sep 1995 03:11:51 -0400

     The emperor said exactly what, in the hallway, Londo said he said.
 
                                                                    jms

Subject: Harlan Ellison
Date: 5 Sep 1995 03:11:54 -0400

     You're in luck: White Wolf Press has signed a deal in which they will
put back into print something like 25 of Harlan's books; they should start
hitting bookstores around the Fall.
 
                                                                    jms

Subject: !HEY JOE! - The Season III Ope
Date: 5 Sep 1995 03:11:42 -0400

     Haven't recorded the new open yet, but will soon.
 
                                                                 jms

Subject: Spoiler (tFoN): Jewish Themes
Date: 5 Sep 1995 03:11:45 -0400

     Moshe: an excellent analysis of the theme behind that scene, which
as you state ties directly into the theme of the whole episode, and
moreover, somewhat sets up the theme for the coming season...who will
determine your identity, the rules you follow, who will lead you, and
who you are...the question of, as you say, those who wish to accommodate
and give in to pressures from within and from without.
 
     Didn't want to be heavy-handed about it, so I figured those who got
it, got it; those who didn't, would see a nice candle scene which sets
the mood, even if they don't get the full thematic/symbolic aspects that
others would get.
                                                                    jms
 
     (not a Talmudic scholar, but I play one on TeeVee....)

Subject: Shadows and Numerical Progress
Date: 5 Sep 1995 03:12:01 -0400

     Give Tim Lynch a ceegar.  Yes, more ships are starting to appear,
as more ships become available.
 
                                                                      jms

Subject: B5 mentioned in latest Economi
Date: 6 Sep 1995 02:37:31 -0400

     Okay, fine, so what did the Economist SAY?
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: BLACK STAR
Date: 6 Sep 1995 02:39:43 -0400

     Minbari ships, representative of Minbari culture, also have the
three castes present (worker, religious, warrior).
 
	                                                        jms

Subject: ATTN JMS: Cdn connection to B5
Date: 6 Sep 1995 02:41:01 -0400

     There can be no issue of Canadian content, or connection, to B5
since B5 is not filmed in Canada, but is filmed in the general Los
Angeles/Valley area.  No canadian company produced EFX for us either.
 
                                                               jms

Subject: Re: !Dude(s)! - Here Is The B5
Date: 6 Sep 1995 02:41:36 -0400

     To all reading this thread: you don't have to buy the B5 font from
ANYone who says he has created one.  We use Serpentine Medium Bold, which
is freely available on most any decent font package.
 
                                                                       jms

Subject: JMS: You are an idiot with mus
Date: 6 Sep 1995 02:42:38 -0400

     Chris: before you go around calling people (viz: me) an idiot, you
may want to, perhaps, get your facts straight.  We had planned on having
Stewart Copeland (not John Copeland, who is our producer, though this is
the name you cite) do our series music, but he declined, wanting to take
the time to tour and try to work on an album.  He was not available to us.
 
     That said, I am *extremely* happy with Christopher Franke's work, and
think it adds immeasurably to the quality of the show.
 
     Idiot comments notwithstanding.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: JMS: Budgeting Question
Date: 6 Sep 1995 02:43:46 -0400

     Each show does have its own budget, but they rarely vary much from
the "pattern budget," which is the amount that overall each one should
cost.  If we do one episode that's a huge blow-out, of course, we'll try
to make the next one a little less huge, just to be sensible.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Messages from Ea
Date: 6 Sep 1995 03:09:16 -0400

     Whether it's "bland" or not depends on what the messsages might be,
yes?  The only thing I'll say for the episode is that it may be one of the
biggest whams of the first half of year three, and one of our most
ambitious episodes of the series.  Generally, my feeling is that titles
should augment the episode, or add something, or collapse something into
a thematic whole.  When you see what convictions are at hand, the episode
"Convictions" as a title works better; ditto for "Messages."
 
     Besides, a nice, quiet, inoffensive little title gives me a better
chance to sneak up behind you and whack the heck out of you....
 
                                                                  jms

Subject: jms            Ambient camera
Date: 6 Sep 1995 03:10:15 -0400

     I think that visual style, much as I like it, would probably get in
the way on a show like this.
 
                                                                   jms

Subject: The White Star (Season 3 Spoil
Date: 6 Sep 1995 03:11:29 -0400

     Actually, I don't believe I've said *anything* on any system about
this question.
 
	                                                                    jms

Subject: Re: I fondled a Celebrity!!!
Date: 6 Sep 1995 03:12:23 -0400

     At this stage, not having talked with Claudia, I don't know if the
escapade is true or not, but basically it's harmless, and I wouldn't be
at all surprised.
 
                                                                  jms

Date: 7 Sep 1995 20:34:27 -0400
Subject: jms - Advertising budget for 3

     There is an advertising budget for year three, but I don't yet
know what that is in toto.
 
                                                         jms

Date: 7 Sep 1995 20:34:29 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Season 3

     I am thus far *very* happy with season three; we've got three shows
in the can (edited, not yet scored or mixed), and shooting number four
as I type this.  I think we're already a notch above our general episodes
from year two, and "Convictions" is extremely intense, with a very
different look and feel from anything we've done before.  Has kind of an
NYPD Blue feel to it.
 
     Next week we start filming "Passing Through Gethsemane," directed by
Adam Nimoy, guest-starring Brad Dourif.
 
                                                                     jms

Date: 7 Sep 1995 20:34:31 -0400
Subject: JMS: Casting Suggestion: Edwar

     Woodward, we're told, generally doesn't do syndicated TV.
 
                                                                jms

Date: 7 Sep 1995 20:58:13 -0400
Subject: ATTN: JMS Please Keep Writing

     You learn to write by writing.  You learn to write better by never
settling or getting too comfortable with your own work.
 
                                                                    jms

Date: 7 Sep 1995 20:58:16 -0400
Subject: Attn JMS - Is con Con-Rad Real

     We've been contacted about an awards ceremony, but details are still
being worked out.
 
                                                                  jms

Date: 7 Sep 1995 20:58:18 -0400
Subject: Re: Shadows and Numerical Prog

     Never said you're seeing their entire fleet, you're seeing what they
can afford to send out at any given moment on relatively low-priority jobs.
 
                                                                jms

Date: 9 Sep 1995 02:59:12 -0400
Subject: ATTN: WB Legal Dept

     A is fine; B may get dicey since admission is charged...if it ain't
direct admission, that's different.
 
                                                                 jms

Date: 9 Sep 1995 03:31:58 -0400
Subject: Re: Attn JMS: TLTS battle (spo

     "Why didn't the fighters do anything?"
 
     They did.  Look more closely.  They engaged the Narn fighters in
dogfights all over the place.  They're hardly more than specks against the
huge ships, but they're definitely there.
 
                                                                 jms

Date: 9 Sep 1995 03:32:52 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Interplanetary Exped

     Interplanetary Expeditions will figure *prominently* in at least one
year three episode.
 
                                                                      jms

Date: 9 Sep 1995 03:34:07 -0400
Subject: Re: I fondled a Celebrity!!!

     <fweeet!>*  Okay, folks, look, I spoke to Claudia, and the story as
recounted is fairly accurate.  Claudia was in RenFair mode, which to her
is another role to be played, and it was just in jest, horsing around.  The
thing about Claudia is she doesn't back down from any kind of challenge,
a trait she shares with Ivanova, and when called upon, responded.
 
                                                                     jms
 
     (*ten credits to the comics fan who recognizes that cry)

Date: 9 Sep 1995 03:47:00 -0400
Subject: A Few Questions for JMS

     We'll see more of the Epsilon 3 complex this coming season, yes.
 
	                                                            jms

Date: 9 Sep 1995 04:01:43 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Request younger

     Excuse me, but I don't believe in ageism on either end of th
spectrum.  I don't hire old writers, I don't hire young writers: I hire
WRITERS WHO CAN WRITE.  Period.  Some, like Scott Frost, are in their late
20s/early 30s; some like Peter David and Marc Zicree are in their 40s;
some like David and Dorothy and Harlan are older.  Young writers are not
intrinsically better or worse than old writers, and vice-versa.  This is,
frankly, a dumb discussion; substitute "white" or "black" for young or
old, and the stereotyping and illogic of the discussion should be evident.
 
                                                                     jms

Date: 9 Sep 1995 04:06:09 -0400
Subject: Takishima -- SPOILERS for "Div

     Mike: your assessment is pretty much correct.  Laurel was to be the
traitor initially; as I noted long, long time ago, and you quoted, she was
not, in fact, acting entirely under her own volition.  There would indeed
have been an implanted personality there, acting without even her knowing
about it.  And it would've been this implanted personality that would've
shot Garibaldi.
 
     When I took Laurel off the board, elements of this were transferred
to other characters.  This is the kind of thing I mean when I say that even
with changes here and there, the story continues to go where I want it to
go.  We don't necessarily remember *which* general put the briefcase with
a bomb next to Hitler's chair in the bunker, only that it got done.  Some
chairs are moveable, some are not, as anyone who's ever written a novel
from an outline can tell you...you start moving the chairs around, but you
always keep going where you're going.
 
                                                                    jms

Date: 9 Sep 1995 04:18:59 -0400
Subject: Roswell Tape Rx

     I cannot have any kind of informed opinion about the Roswell films,
since I have no more information than anyone else, which is to say, just
that which was presented in the Fox special.
 
     I can only make one observation: whenever we have had an alien
character in the show get wounded, and bleed, it's a hideously difficult
process, and you run point-to-point tubes with blood; it spurts from one
location, the spot where the tube ends.  (Just getting G'Kar's hand to
bleed in one of the final four eps was a pain in the ass.)
 
     The body upon which they performed the autopsy bled smoothly from the
entire surface of each cut and incision.  Even with the best prosthetics
available to us right now, we couldn't do this.  So if it's a fake, it's
the most clever one in history, and uses technology nobody else has yet.
The person behind it could write his own ticket in the EFX/prosthetics
business *bigtime*.
 
	                                                                 jms

Date: 9 Sep 1995 04:19:40 -0400
Subject: JMS (or anyone else) -- Sex an

      "What kind of birth control do the Centauri use?"
 
      Conversation.
 
                                                                  jms

Date: 9 Sep 1995 04:33:35 -0400
Subject: jms - What time do you get up

     Unfortunately, in my case, I'm all over the map, depending on when
meetings are held...sometimes very early, sometimes later in the morning.
I'm usually up until at least 3 a.m. every night of the week, sometimes
as late as 4-4:30 a.m., so how much actual sleep I get is a very flexible
notion.
 
     As for the crew...crew call is 7 a.m. M-F, as a rule.  If an alien
is in the first scene, prosthetics crew can sometimes show up as early as
6:00 a.m.  Actors and crew actually hit the stage at 9 a.m.  (7-9 is spent
basically waking up, rigging lights, setting up cameras, other stuff.)
 
     We shoot until about 7 p.m., rarely any later.
 
                                                               jms

Date: 9 Sep 1995 04:35:03 -0400
Subject: ATTN: JMS,  Star requests?

     If we has the money ST has to offer, we could get major stars, but
we don't; most of the guest stars we get are drawn by the quality of the
material.
 
                                                                       jms

Date: 9 Sep 1995 04:51:48 -0400
Subject: Attn: JMS B5 franchise

     I can only reply to one message at a time, so this has to be a
public note, Greg.
 
     Yes, WB owns the copyright to B5.  Could they continue it past the
fifth year?  Technically, yes, they could, without my participation (though
as indicated, there's always been a side-story/alternate series, and that
would be the way to go, though I think the odds on that ever going ahead
are doubtful.)
 
     Which is why I made sure we shoved a bomb down B5's throat in the
early stages.  It's got a self-destruct mechanism built right into it.
 
     See, usually, when you make series deals with actors an
sub-contractors (like Foundating Imaging, our prosthetics people, others),
you go for 7 year options.  TNG, for instance, had 7 year options; as do
the other ST shows.  This is fairly standard.
 
     When we made the deals for B5, we made them...for five years.
 
     During those five years, salaries and fees are all set ahead of time.
This serves you well, in the sense that Foundation's name is already
growing, and somebody coming in now would have to pay more than we are,
also in part since we helped them get going.  Actors, once freed from the
pre-set salaries, on a hit show, come back and renegotiate.
 
     The result of all this...is that if WB wanted to do a sixth season
of B5, the costs of going back and making deals with all these people and
sub-contractors and others would be SO hideous, so terrible, that it
couldn't be done for anywhere near the money available.
 
     So, as stated...the show is designed to fiscally self-destruct at
the end of the fifth year.  What other projects may follow will have to
be totally separate situations, assuming they're done at all, which is
highly doubtful.
 
                                                                     jms

Date: 11 Sep 1995 05:55:26 -0400
Subject: Is the President really dead?

     President Santiago is dead as a doorknob.
 
                                                             jms

Date: 11 Sep 1995 23:40:38 -0400
Subject: Attn JMS: M,SW/Night Fear

     Actually, yes, I do have a pet theory about who the Ripper was, but
I'm so embarrassed over the west end/east end typo in one of our episodes
that I don't know if I'll ever have enough courage to broach it to anyone.
 
                                                                    jms

Date: 11 Sep 1995 23:43:27 -0400
Subject: Attn jms: An Absence of Rabbit

     No problem there.  In life, we kinda get to know what to expect on a
day to day basis...but that doesn't stop crises from coming at us out of
nowhere (though if we'd been smart enough we could've seen them coming),
and sometimes the worst thing is that we DO see it coming, and are sure we
can somehow avoid it...and still get hammered.
 
                                                                       jms

Date: 11 Sep 1995 23:44:49 -0400
Subject: JMS: What would you do if....

     Doesn't matter what I'd write; they'd never let me shoot it.
 
                                                                  jms

Date: 12 Sep 1995 01:47:30 -0400
Subject: = ATTN. JMS:  Proper Vorlons?

     We will see them.  Eventually.
 
                                                                  jms

Date: 12 Sep 1995 02:01:34 -0400
Subject: Just how many people watch B5?

     I have it on good authority that we're watched by at *least* seven
people.
 
                                                                     jms

Date: 12 Sep 1995 02:03:53 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Where did Kosh go?

     First he returned to his encounter suit, then he went to his ship,
and stayed there for quite a while.
 
                                                                     jms

Date: 12 Sep 1995 02:04:50 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Doors and such

     You'll notice the doors are wedged, with overlapping, key-like
sections into which the doors settle.  When they close, the sound you hear
is the door sealing shut, and pins extruding into place to keep the door
shut (in the key-wedges).  That's also why they slide down, rather than
part in the middle; it's totally airtight in case of pressure falls.  So
yes, we *did* think of it, and took care of it, by thinking of a new way
to do the doors.
 
                                                                  jms

Date: 12 Sep 1995 02:05:55 -0400
Subject: ATTN: JMS:  Pres. Clarke's car

     No, telepaths are generally excluded from holding high public office.
 
                                                                      jms

Date: 12 Sep 1995 02:26:39 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Season 3

     Brad read the script, fell in love with the part, and dived for it.
 
                                                                      jms

Date: 12 Sep 1995 02:35:32 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS:  Titles (was Message

    No, sorry, the titles kinda have to be where they are....
 
                                                                 jms

Date: 12 Sep 1995 02:35:59 -0400
Subject: ATTN: JMS Crew Autographs

     To get autographs, send a self-addressed stamped envelope, and what
you'd like signed, to the B5 mail drop.  (Note: WB doesn't pay for any
photos, the cast pay for those out of pocket, so it's hard for them to
oblige on this.)  The address is:
 
     14431 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 260, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423, and make
sure you put ATT: (CAST NAME), C/O BABYLON 5
 
                                                                    jms

Date: 12 Sep 1995 02:36:20 -0400
Subject: *JMS* ATTN: JMS *JMS* JMS (or

     The definition of "conversation"....ah, of course, you mean oral
intercourse.
 
     Ain't the language just one great big lovely pinata of unexpected
wonders...?
 
                                                                      jms

Date: 12 Sep 1995 02:49:58 -0400
Subject: ATTN: JMS (one question)

     At this point it's too early for me to even *think* about what I will
or can or can't do with the side-story...just getting this puppy out the
door is a full-time obsession....
 
                                                                       jms

Date: 12 Sep 1995 02:51:14 -0400
Subject: Shadows and problems...

     I would not create a race as potentially unstoppable as the shadowsx
(shadows) without making sure they had one -- but only one -- Achilles'
heel.  Though it may take our characters a long time to figure out what
that is...almost *too* long....
 
                                                                      jms

Date: 12 Sep 1995 02:51:45 -0400
Subject: Attn: JMS B5 Walking the Talk

     Correct; while one cannot deny the effects of poverty, and drugs, and
crime, and illiteracy, there's something numbing and destructive about the
death of myths, of a broader social mythology, and we're working hard to
provide that.
 
                                                                      jms

Date: 12 Sep 1995 02:52:12 -0400
Subject: Is Sheridan an Atheist?

     Basically, Sheridan believes in a lot of things; he's very eclectic
in his views, can incorporate lots of different perspectives, and has a
respect for all views.  In one of the early season 3 eps, in fact, one
character upbraids him for having "no clearly defined pattern of faith,"
to which Sheridan replies, "I'm eclectic, open-minded."
 
                                                                     jms

Date: 12 Sep 1995 02:52:28 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS - How to Keep New Vie

     Of course, that would require lopping a minute or so of program
content to make room for that synopsis...and I don't think I want to do
that.
 
                                                              jms

Date: 12 Sep 1995 02:52:49 -0400
Subject: JMS:  "Messages" Move?

     Both 7 and 8 would both be seen in the second round of episodes;
we did the switch to pair up the right episode with the right director.
 
                                                                    jms

Date: 19 Sep 1995 02:17:00 -0400
Subject: JMS: Closing Speech in "TLTS"

     Certainly, Sheridan is slowly growing more into a leader who must
be able to step to the front in this kind of way, yes.
 
                                                                   jms

Date: 19 Sep 1995 02:17:24 -0400
Subject: Attn: JMS - Cameo and other st

     No, I have no plans to ever make a cameo appearance on B5....
 
                                                                   jms

Date: 19 Sep 1995 02:18:04 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: British editors on r

     I'd only heard about the one G'Kar scene being chopped; there were
more?   Sigh...
 
                                                                        jms

Date: 19 Sep 1995 02:18:25 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: "Time On Target" (mi

     It's an actual military term for launching a lot of stuff, so that
even though it's launched at different times, it all arrives at once.
 
                                                                   jms

Date: 19 Sep 1995 02:18:46 -0400
Subject: Attn JMS: Londo's believabilit

      He's as believeable as any person would be under those conditions; we
often go off the far end, come back, screw up, make up...it's what we do,
we're a mass of contradictions.
 
                                                                       jms

Date: 19 Sep 1995 02:19:20 -0400
Subject: Canadian TV GUIDE 16-22 Sept

     Would love to get a copy of this article, if at all possible.
 
                                                                 jms

Date: 19 Sep 1995 03:20:20 -0400
Subject: Fweeet! (Was:Re: I fondled a C

     <fweet!> is what they used in the comics when the silver age Hawkman
spoke to his birdie-buddies.  (Some of you got this.)
 
                                                                     jms

Date: 19 Sep 1995 03:33:11 -0400
Subject: JMS: Slow motion? <CoS & Chrys

      Slow-motion (or camera overcranked) is almost always indicated in
scripts.  I like slow-mo.  It can add a dreamlike quality to a shot, and
prolong a sense of imminent trouble.
 
                                                                     jms

Date: 19 Sep 1995 03:33:36 -0400
Subject: Re: MO'H's Departure (was Re:

     I can't believe this discussion has come back again.
 
     Okay, this to Robert Holland and all the other jerks who can't
seem to get it right.  This is the only thing I'm going to say on thi
issue because everything I have to say, I've said elsewhere, repeatedly,
and despite everything, this keeps coming up.
 
     Quite simply...what the fuck business is it of yours?
 
     What happens between Michael, or any other actor on this show, and me,
is my business, and theirs, not yours.  You have no right to an
information otherwise.  Fuck off.
 
     Every time this comes up, I tell the person who drags it out of the
mud, "Okay, give me the name and address of the last couple of employers
from whom YOU parted company.  Let me start speculating about that on the
nets."  But they always decline.  Because they're goddamn cowards who like
to speculate on how somebody ELSE left their job, what *really* went on,
because well, that's FUN and it's their BUSINESS and why NOT...but when it
comes THEIR turn, well, that certainly isn't right, that's not fun, and
it's nobody else's business.
 
     (And don't give me the "public persona" crap either; by posting here
ad infinitum you're just as public as anybody else in this discussion.)
 
     What infuriates me most about this is that I just got back from
spending 4 days in the company of Michael O'Hare...we were on panels
together, we had dinners, lunches and breakfasts together, we hung out
(all, I hasten to point out, in the company of witnesses), we had a great
time because we know and understand the situation, and we're both
comfortable with it.  And then I come back here to find THIS shit going
on again.
 
     Why don't you guys just get a frigging life that doesn't involve
sticking your snout into other people's business, and maybe tend to your
own...or give us the same opportunity to do the same to you, and your
employer/employee history.
 
                                                                      jms

Date: 19 Sep 1995 04:10:07 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Theo (the name)

     Finding character names is sometimes easy, sometimes hard; it really
does vary.
 
     And Theo was named for Vincent's brother.
 
                                                                    jms

Date: 20 Sep 1995 15:30:36 -0400
Subject: The dancer and the dance

     What I love is when I hear somebody say, "Well, if Patrick Stewart
were playing this role, nobody'd say HE was wooden."  I wish those people
had a better sense of history, because when the reviews of TNG's first
season came out, just about every reviewer around called TNG's acting --
Stewart included -- wooden.
 
     Revisionism...it's a lovely thing....
 
                                                                jms

Date: 21 Sep 1995 20:38:25 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS - Wolf359

     Majel Barrett-Roddenberry and I got on quite well, as you note; we
set aside any prior misunderstandings and got on with it.  We hung out,
joked a lot together during autograph signings, had a late dinner (along
with Michael O'Hare and Ed Wasser), and she told the audience at her
presentations that she considered B5 the only other intelligent SF show
now on the air, suggesting that fans support the show.
 
     It was, overall, a very pleasant experience, problems with air
conditioning (or the lack thereof) notwithstanding.  The attendees were
great, polite and friendly and enthusiastic about the show...a most
impressive experience.  And the clips from upcoming year 3 episodes went
over *very* well, including a scene with Londo and G'Kar that is likely
my favorite of the series to date.  (Another scene with Londo and Lennier,
btw, contains a small nod to the online fans of the show; we can't and
won't use story ideas, but there's been so much humor, reams and reams
of it, every imaginable kind of joke, that I dropped one of these jokes
into an episode...one that's come up at a lot of conventions and on the
nets endlessly.  Just to acknowledge the fans in the only way I can.)
 
                                                             jms

Date: 21 Sep 1995 21:01:54 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Thanks

     Thanks; the initial perception (oh, look, another ST ripoff) is
something we really had to fight hard to overcome, so you're not alone in
that.  Thanks for being open to checking us out.
 
                                                                     jms

Date: 22 Sep 1995 03:40:09 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: WB and UPN to merge?

     If the WB network and UPN merge it'll have little to no effect on us,
since PTEN is a different arrangement altogether.  That's my suspicion,
at least, until I hear otherwise.
 
                                                                     jms

Date: 22 Sep 1995 04:03:38 -0400
Subject: ATTN: JMS - SCRIPTS

     I always leave a fair amount of flexibility in the series/season
outlines; to do otherwise seems foolish.
 
     We don't generally do a lot of revisions.  Once in a great while
you'll get something that goes through 4 colors (drafts are color coded),
but they're rare.  And invariably *all* such drafts after the first are
mainly revised to handle set changes or production requirements, not
story, dialogue or other creative stuff.  This season, in all but one
case, I write the first draft, clean it up a bit for the second/final
draft, it goes into production, we adjust for sets ("Can we make this
the conference room instead of Sheridan's office so we can do it on the
same stage and avoid a camera move to stage in the middle of the day?"),
and it's filmed as written.
 
     There's often a perception -- I saw it again at Wolf 359 -- that
lots and lots of people have input into the writing of the script.  Not
so.  I write it alone.  Nobody sees nothin' until the first draft is
finished.  I then show it only to WB (which hasn't given me a single
script note since episode 4, year 2), producer John Copeland (who looks
at it for any possible production headaches, too many extras or sets,
other physical elements), my partner Doug Netter (who doesn't generally
give creative notes, as per our tradition), and if necessary, Ron at
Foundation, Optic Nerve, and the director.  A couple of cast members
like to look at first drafts, just out of curiosity to know what's
coming next, but don't give notes or suggestions.
 
     Once I have in hand any production hiccups, I clean up the draft a
bit, adjust the production, EFX or prosthetics elements, make my last
minute personal revisions on the script (dialogue, structure, whatever),
then it's published as a Final Draft which goes to everyone in the cast
and crew.  The various departments then begin work on realizing what's
in the script.  We have meetings to discuss it to make sure everyone's
on the same page.  I meet with the director to make the same assurances.
Last minute production-oriented changes are made ("Do we have a Ranger in
among the extras here?  Do we need 12 Narns or will 8 do?").
 
     And then the script hits the stage, and we shoot it.  As written.  If
an actor has a problem with a particular word, it can be changed after
checking with me to make sure that word isn't there for a very special
reason (a clue, foreshadowing, whatever).
 
     The scripts are extremely detailed, with inserts, camera angles,
slow-mo indications if necessary, lighting notes, you name it.
 
     Some scripts I tinker with a lot before issuing that first draft;
others blow right out of the printer as though pre-written.  Sometimes
the most important ones are the ones that need or get the least revision,
because I see them the most clearly; and often it's the more trivial
episodes that seem to require lots of finessing.
 
                                                                    jms

Date: 22 Sep 1995 21:06:41 -0400
Subject: Re: MO'H's Departure (was Re:

     I've stopped reading this thread, for obvious reasons, but thought
I'd reply to one of them in the box just to let you all know: I spoke
with Marc Zicree today about other stuff, and in the course of the
conversation, mentioned this whole situation.  He was, quite frankly,
aghast and appalled.  He offered to post a note here stating his position,
which is: that he had no first-hand information at all about the O'Hare
situation, and was operating off what he'd assumed to be the case (we had
never really discussed it, as he'd moved on to other projects long before
any of this happened).
 
     He asked me to apologize on his behalf to anyone who might have been
caught up in this because of his speculations.  Anyone who wants
confirmation of this can drop him a note, or as stated, he's willing to
come in and say this publicly.
 
                                                                jms

Date: 22 Sep 1995 21:07:06 -0400
Subject: JMS: Why Theo?

     I've always liked the name Theo, from Vincent's brother, so there
was the sound of it; also the sense of it, in that Theo was a guide, a
counselor, a confidante, which Theo might come to be in this; and, finally,
Theodore means (I just lapsed on the actual definition) but either chosen
(favored) of god or messenger of god (have to check my dictionary of names
again), which is appropos.
 
                                                                 jms

Date: 22 Sep 1995 21:34:30 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Nervous Breakdown

     Thanks; it can get difficult to continue some days, but the other
options are not a possibility for me.
 
                                                                 jms

Date: 23 Sep 1995 05:51:22 -0400
Subject: Attn JMS: B5 Card question <wa

     I'd kinda wanted to do more backstage shots, but was told there
wasn't room.  Next time.
 
                                                            jms

Date: 23 Sep 1995 05:51:32 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS - SCRIPTS

     Yes, it was "A Distant Star," and as I recall, the note was mainly
that the teaser needed a snappier hook than it had, just the arrival of
the Cortez.  Agreed with it, but there wasn't much we could do with the
structure of it.
 
                                                                    jms

Date: 24 Sep 1995 20:43:40 -0400
Subject: Mira Furlan in LA Play

     Mira Furlan, best known here as Ambassador Delenn, is currently
starring in a production of Sophocles' classic play ANTIGONE.  This
modernized version is directed by Mira's husband, Goran Gajic, and adapted
by Deanne Stillman.  It's a chance to see Mira out of makeup, and in a very
different kind of role than you've seen before.
 
     The play is currently running at the Hudson Guild Theater, 6543 Santa
Monica Boulevard, in Hollywood.  Performances are Thursdays-Saturdays at 8
p.m., Sundays at 7.  Tickets can be acquired by calling 213-660-TKTS.
 
                                                                     jms

Date: 25 Sep 1995 03:38:03 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS:What if the show does

     This is a question I can't even allow myself to consider.
 
                                                                jms

Date: 25 Sep 1995 03:37:46 -0400
Subject: Attn. JMS Naive query about se

     The script never technically leaves my hands.  Once the final draft
is written, it's given to every department, which breaks it down in terms
of set, extra, day-player, EFX, music, sound and other requirements.  We
have visual effects, art department and other meetings to go over what's
in the script and make sure we all understand what's required.  Any new
designs for prosthetics, costumes, EFX, ships, or other episode-specific
elements are drafted, and shown to me for approval.
 
     The script department breaks down the script in terms of shooting
schedule, timing of scenes, and arranges a production board indicating
which scenes will be shot on which days  (Based on which sets are being
used; you don't shoot in sequence...you do all the C&C scenes done on day
1, then move into the Zocalo for all those scenes, and so on.)
 
     The director and I have a tone meeting to go over the script page by
page.  At this time, the director sometimes suggests changes in locales
for production purposes, though this often happens earlier in the process.
 I make sure we both understand what each scene is about, context and
subtext.  Then there's a production meeting of all departments, where we
all go through one last time and break down each scene of the script by
what's required.
 
     The director then takes the script to the stage, and shoots what's
written.  Dailies arrive each day thereafter, and go to post production,
where an editor does a preliminary assembly of the episode.  If the
episode appears to be coming in long, we have the option of trimming a
scene here or there in shooting...or expanding if it's coming in short.
 
     After 7 days of shooting, the raw film is complete, and the editor
gives the director his assembly.  The director then comes in and takes
about 3-4 days making his or her cut.  The director's cut then goes to
me, and John Copeland and I go in to make the producer's cut, often
re-editing every single frame, though sometimes less, depending on many
different factors.  This is done on computers, the Avid.
 
     This final edit is then used to assemble the actual film (we take the
Avid computer disk and turn it over to a supercomputer which assembles the
film overnight).  Using this online copy, I now sit down with the composer,
and sound people, and watch it again, going through it and noting where
sound effects and music are required, and what kind I have in mind.  "In
at 03:13:18 (three minutes, 13 seconds, 18 frames), out at 04:14:22.  I'd
like something soft, strings mainly, underscoring that doesn't get in the
way...with a tone change at 04:05:13, into the action, and since we've got
a lot of combat going on there, we need you to clear out the low-end for
the battle stuff."
 
     Composer and sound EFX people then do their thing, and a couple weeks
later, we do the audio mix.  (During this time, Ron and company have
delivered the last of their CGI.)  At the audio mix, all of the final
elements are inserted/layered in, including any last-minute looping or
dubbing.  This done, the episode is delivered to PTEN about 5 days later.
 
     Total time to complete an episode (after the last day of filming per
se): 52 days.
 
                                                                  jms

Date: 25 Sep 1995 03:50:04 -0400
Subject: ATTN: JMS - More on Scripts

     "So why do you rush your work out the door?"  I don't.  The script
takes the amount of time needed to get it right.  Sometimes I take 7-10
days to write a script.  Sometimes I do it in just a couple of days; and
often, the 2-3 days jobs are actually better because it's done in white
heat, with the image clearest in my mind.
 
     In television, you can't take 6-8 weeks or even 2 weeks to turn in a
script; it's got to be done on a schedule; remember, you're using up one
script every 7 days, and you have to have scripts in hand 3 in advance
minimum for proper prep work.
 
     "I find input from my writing group to be very helpful."  I don't.
I've been writing professionally for 23 years now (started at 17), full
time for the last 17.  I know what I want to say, and how I want to say
it.  Does a sculpter go to a sculpting group and say, "Y'know, I think I
see a horse in this bit of clay, but I'm not sure, what do the rest of
you think?"  An artist follows the dream or the vision that is in his or
her head.  There's this notion that writing is somehow different; it ain't.
 
     Nothing decent has been done by committee since Stonehenge and the
pyramids.
 
                                                                    jms

Date: 25 Sep 1995 04:02:22 -0400
Subject: Ivanova shackled to buffoon (w

     At the start of year one, Claudia came to me and said she'd love to
do more funny stuff in her role; don't change anything in the story, just
let her have some fun here and there before All Hell Breaks Loose in year
three.  I let her have that.
 
                                                                     jms

Date: 25 Sep 1995 04:14:19 -0400
Subject: Space: AAB First Impressions:

     Finally managed to catch SPACE tonight (on tape, working late), and
overall I thought it was very promising.  The production values alone are
amazing, and it's clear that every dime is right there on the screen.  It
has a lot going for it, and I wish them the best of luck.
 
                                                                    jms

Date: 26 Sep 1995 23:16:41 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Followup to naive qu

     We usually have most of the CGI in place when we do the edit, yes;
and yes again, we have about 9 episodes at all times simultaneously in
varying stages of production and post-production.
 
                                                               jms

Date: 29 Sep 1995 06:35:05 -0400
Subject: Re: Ivanova shackled to buffoo

     To the question raised: yes, if Sheridan had shown the Lumati around,
the request would have been made to him, as it was to Ivanova.
 
                                                                      jms

Date: 29 Sep 1995 06:34:51 -0400
Subject: ATTN: JMS How's the fan club?

     We hope to have the fanclub officially announced within the next 10
days or so (after 3 years of bugging WB about it, which couldn't see why
there'd be enough interest in the show).  Not a big fan of anime, I'm
afraid.
 
                                                                  jms

Date: 29 Sep 1995 06:35:57 -0400
Subject: JMS: Your musings on SPACE

      I think Space shows a great deal of promise, and I'll certainly try
to keep an eye on it over the next several weeks to give it a fair shot.
 
                                                                  jms

Date: 29 Sep 1995 06:35:17 -0400
Subject: ATTN:JMS Babylon 5 soundtrack

     Not actually familiar with the legalities of .wav uploadings; you may
want to drop a note to Chris Franke on his web page from Sonic Imagaes and
inquire directly of him.
 
                                                                   jms

Date: 29 Sep 1995 06:35:29 -0400
Subject: Attn JMS: Dailies?

     Dailies are prints of the film shot the day before, transferred to
videocassette for easier viewing.  It's the raw footage shot from every
angle (master, two-shots, singles, close-ups), which is also given to
the editor, who begins to create a rough assembly of the episode.
 
                                                                 jms

Date: 29 Sep 1995 06:37:04 -0400
Subject: B5 and ST: the men

     Christine...ah, Christine...where the hell were you when I was
looking...?
 
                                                                jms

Date: 29 Sep 1995 06:35:46 -0400
Subject: attn JMS: "Gajic"?

     Actually, it was Christy Marx, who wrote Grail, who named Aldus after
Mira's husband.
 
                                                                    jms

Date: 29 Sep 1995 06:36:52 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS - More on Script

     The group critiquing process may be, and likely is, useful when one
is an art major or learning to write or draw.
 
     Then you have to leave that nest and fly on your own.  The whole
PURPOSE of workshops and critiquing should be to help you find your own
voice (for a writer) or your own eye and style (if an artist).  It should
help you make the work more muscular, and less artificial...peeling away
the layers until just the individual stands there, saying *exactly* what
he wants to say.  The group isn't there to make you write like the group,
or please the group; it's there as a means of finding your own voice.
 
     Once you've found it, you have to walk away.  Otherwise the whole
endeavor has been for nothing.
 
     Back in college, I took two writing workshops led by Richard Kim, a
transplanted Korean novelist, very well regarded.  I learned a *hell* of a
lot.  I signed up for a third semester.  Now, mind, I liked  the class,
we liked each other, it was good.  FIrst day of class, he looked out,s aw
me, and said, "Go.  You've learned all you can learn.  Don't take any more
workshops, from me or anybody else here.  You have the tools, now find your
voice.  If you stay here, you'll risk losing it."  At the time, I felt
as though it were a rejection, but over time I began to understand what he
was talking about.
 
                                                                     jms

Date: 30 Sep 1995 04:51:42 -0400
Subject: Re: Jeannette announces JMS' B

     When we first announced casting Walter Koenig on B5, lots of people
moaned, "Oh, no, not Chekov on B5."  What you got was Bester, who has
become one of our most noted and discussed characters.  It's unfortunate,
but some people confuse the role with the person.  "...the worst character
ever in the entire ST universe" has nothing to do with the person, or the
role she will be portraying: the Lady Morella, Emperor Turhan's third
wife, a prophetess and seer.  It's a *very* serious, significant role,
absolutely unlike anything she's done before.
 
     This, btw, is called "typecasting," which is one of the primary
reasons why so many talented actors who helped to create Star Trek and
other series couldn't get work for so many years...they did so good a
job that they forever *became* that character.  Let's not be guilty of
that crime here.  Majel's character will no more be Troi than Bester is
Chekov.
 
                                                                  jms

Date: 30 Sep 1995 04:51:43 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Will you write B5 af

     The question is a bit like asking someone climbing Mount Kilimanjaro
"Think you'll do more of this again later?" when he's at the halfway
point, the ledge is half an inch across, the ice is slipping and the wind
is biting his nose off.  When I've recovered, I'll think about it....
 
                                                                     jms

Date: 30 Sep 1995 05:37:57 -0400
Subject: Re: Mira Furlan in LA Play

     BTW, yesterdays' LA Times gave Mira's play a glowing review, very
positive, which is terrific.
 
	                                                               jms

Date: 30 Sep 1995 05:37:58 -0400
Subject: ATTN JMS: Uk TV Listing!!

     Oh, that's *wonderful*...could you send me a copy of that piece?
The address here in the US is as follows:
14431 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 260, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423.  Send it to
my attention; I'll post it on the B5 stage wall for others to
appreciate.
 
                                                                   jms