lurkers-guide/ftp/Usenet/jms96-04-usenet

Date: 3 Apr 1996 15:58:51 -0500
Subject: Note From jms

Took AOL a while to show this group on their newsreader, but it finally
came through today.  Some preliminary thoughts tossed out for discussion,
for the record, for the heck of it.

Yes, the new group is now moderated.  But no, that should not be taken or
interpreted by anyone as inhibiting constructive criticism.  We learn by
doing.  That means sometimes we make mistakes.  When that happens, it's
not just a Good Idea to let us know, it's *necessary*.  If you can point
to something in an episode that doesn't work...then point.  If it's an
objective goof, then it's something we can learn from.  If it's a
subjective opinion, then it opens up discussion from all sides.  

During the whole moderation discussion, I tried to be as quiet as I
humanly could, to avoid influencing the decision.  People have to vote
their conscience, nothing more or less.  Those who voted for or against
the group did so because they felt it was the Right Thing To Do.  Nobody
should have a problem with that.  

This group, fundamentally, is for the users.  For all those who felt they
had to stop posting or just drop out of the prior group, and those who
stayed in the original group and want some options.  The purpose, as I
understand it, is to moderate those situations where you have someone who
is chronically abusive to other users, engaging in personal attacks. 
Simple truth is we're all gonna lose our temper from time to time, use
terms in the heat of an argument we probably shouldn't...but it's my sense
that this shouldn't be interfered with until and unless it becomes a
chronic problem.

That said, however, I leave these determinations to the moderators,
suggesting only that a light hand is better than a heavy hand.  If along
the way some of my messages get blipped as we feel our way through this, I
don't have a problem with that.  (This to those who said it would be a
problem.)

(An aside: I heard that some were arguing that this was about "control." 
And they were right.  But not the way they wanted to be right.  To control
means to limit your options.  The few who used this argument did so
because they knew that if you want to participate in B5 discussions on
Usenet, without paying for one of the commercial services, there's only
been one game in town.  You had to go there and listen to them, and put up
with their abuse.  That is as much a form of control as anything they were
railing against.  Now, users have options, choices.  You can go either
way, enjoy whichever environment you prefer.)

The purpose of this, from my side, is to continue the experiment in
interactive television that's been going on on-line for several years. 
I'd hope that folks take advantage of this to find out more about how
television is made, how this kind of story gets produced, to help
demystify television so that in the end we can get better choices by
knowing what to ask for, and understanding the medium.  In a way, the
answers and information I give are only as good as the questions that get
asked; I'll try and anticipate questions and areas of interest, but it's
up to you to mold this forum as you see fit.  Make it something that fits
your needs and interests.  Don't lurk.  If you have a great question, put
it out where everyone else can profit from it.  

The welcome mat is out, the porch light is on, and there's lemonade over
by the front rail.  I hope you'll all sit for a while and hang out.  Looks
like it's gonna be a nice night....

jms



Date: 3 Apr 1996 17:29:22 -0500
Subject: Re: WSBK

"First I would like to welcome JMS back"

Thanks, glad to be here. 

"...second I would like to know if it is true WSBK Boston has decided to
drop B5."

I don't actually know.  I heard this on the nets, but so far even WB
hasn't been apprised of anything about this.  (We called them as soon as
we heard, and it was news to them.)  I know it was posted during a flurry
of April Fool's jokes, but I don't know for sure if it was that or
something else.  We're looking into it, though, and as soon as we know, or
if anyone hears anything else, we'll go into it.

jms



Date: 3 Apr 1996 17:31:20 -0500
Subject: Re: Three Ages of Mankind -- Speculation

No, this isn't it.  What I'll say is that the issue is more philosophical
than technological in nature.  But you won't be able to figure the third
age yet because you don't have all the information you need to make that
determination.  After the end of this season, you'll have most of it,
however.


 jms



Date: 3 Apr 1996 17:30:20 -0500
Subject: Re: JMS: Video releases

We're still going back and forth on the video releasing question; there's
movement to do it ourselves, but if we go that route, it means doing only
limited editions since we can't handle huge orders; then there's some
movement on the notion of another video company licensing it from WB,
which means that more can be produced, probably at less cost to people
than a limited edition.  (Which is good.)  So we're still sussing all this
out.

The only problem with putting 3 or 6 episodes on a tape means either
taping at a slower speed, which means a drop in quality, or a larger tape,
which also raises the price and runs into the peril of more tape jams.  

BTW, we recently found out that for sure France is getting the widescreen
versions of the show starting this season, so we're looking into the
notion that whoever does the tapes will use those versions.  But this is
still preliminary.

jms

Date: 3 Apr 1996 17:48:26 -0500
Subject: Re: Severed Dreams *spoilers*

"...my favorite part, I must say was when Sheridan kissed Delenns hand. 
I've been waiting anxiously for this to happen and it finally did!  My
housemates all laughed at me but I guess I'm just an incurable romantic."

This is a problem?

We are in need of more romance.



 jms



Date: 3 Apr 1996 18:14:58 -0500
Subject: Re: What has Kosh/Delenn told Sheridan about Shadows?

I think it's fair to say that they've been holding back information from
Sheridan.  The question is what, and why, and for how much longer?



 jms



Date: 4 Apr 1996 01:13:35 -0500
Subject: Re: JMS: Series Artistic Design?

The way it usually works is this: when I write something new into the
show, a new alien race, a new costume, or a ship, the person who handles
that department comes to see me when the script is published.  They ask
what I had in mind.  I describe what I need it to do, or if I saw it
clearly in my head what it looked like. 

The person then goes away and comes back with sketches.  Sometimes it's
just one, sometimes a number.  If the latter, I go through the sketches
and pick the one that matches most with what I envisioned.  In either
case, I'll make whatever suggestions seems appropriate and not too stupid.
 Sometimes I'll modify the drawing myself, even though I can't draw for
sour owl poop.

When our original prosthetic designers on the pilot couldn't figure out
what to do with the Minbari crest, I went down to the place and literally
helped sculpt the original bone piece; I gave John Iacovelli a rough
sketch of the layout of the White Star; modified costume designs and other
stuff on Kosh and other characters.  That sort of thing.

Having said that, however, I have to emphasize that in the long haul, I
have to do very little in the way of course correction or revision.  Once
we discuss it, the folks around here know their craft, and the show, well
enough to hit it virtually every time.  And I try to leave plenty of room
creatively for them to play and have fun with it.  Usually the approval
process amounts to little more than "Yup, looks good to me."


 jms



Date: 4 Apr 1996 01:13:22 -0500
Subject: Re: JMS: You Babylon 5'ed you computer yet?

"I was curious if you've done your computer up any."

I'm not at *all* sure I know what you're asking.



 jms



Date: 4 Apr 1996 01:13:44 -0500
Subject: Re: Technical Gaffe? (**SD SPOILERS**)

I figured that they'd come in through the outer hull, secure the inner
hull area, then go up in and through a side wall, which would be faster
for purposes of a mass entrance.  If you blow a hole in the floor,
everybody has to crawl out one at a time; you blow a hole in the wall,
bunches can come through at once.  There was a fair amount of distance
between where they came in, and the hull.  


 jms



Date: 4 Apr 1996 01:13:30 -0500
Subject: Re: Marcon (was JMS: Series Artistic Design?)

"In fact, I think I'm advanced registering for Chicago ComiCon, which
sounds incredible."

Yes, it's great.  The Chicago and San Diego comic cons are both terrific;
if you've never been, go.



 jms



Date: 4 Apr 1996 01:14:42 -0500
Subject: Re: Technical Gaffe? (**SD SPOILERS**)

Damn...I think I put a spoiler in the top of the prior message...hope the
heading is some protection.  (And no, Jay, not a mistake, just figured
it's better tactically.)

 jms



Date: 4 Apr 1996 00:58:00 -0500
Subject: Re: UK calling

I don't know for certain the C4 situation, so I can't say, but there have
been, and continue to be discussions about the widescreen version, so it's
still a possibility.

 jms




Date: 4 Apr 1996 01:00:05 -0500
Subject: Re: Attn JMS, Re: show length

No, I think the time you cite is about right for the running time of the
show.

 jms




Date: 4 Apr 1996 01:13:17 -0500
Subject: Re: Jumpgates and StarFuries (possible spoilers for Severed Dreams)

If you're opening a jump point, usually you make it a habit to have all
your fighters on board or else risk leaving them behind.  A jump gate can
be more easily used and held open for fighters.  When you arrive at your
destination, you can launch your fighters as you emerge.

 jms


Date: 4 Apr 1996 04:14:59 -0500
Subject: Convention quickie from jms

The weekend of April 12-14, Patricia Tallman, Stephen Furst and I will be
at the SyndiCon syndicated television convention at the Cathedral Hill
Hotel in San Francisco, along with a batallion of other teevee folk.  Info
via syndicon@aol.com.

Also, the first weekend in May, Pat, Richard Biggs and I will be at Marcon
in Columbus, Ohio.  Marcon has its own web page for more info.



 jms



Date: 3 Apr 1996 17:43:21 -0500
Subject: Re: Severed Dreams Question

Garibaldi wanted to hold up, cut off the boarding party at a bottleneck,
but the Narns, *being* Narns, raced right into the battle.  At that point
Garibaldi had to follow them in or let them get wiped out for no good
reason.


 jms



Date: 4 Apr 1996 04:33:34 -0500
Subject: Re: On a different note, jms

Well...if you really want me to answer this question, I will...but in
general I try to stay away from this kinda stuff because it makes my head
explode.  I'll try to be calm and reasonable about this.

Re: the v-chip...see, when I was a kid, I knew what hours I was allowed to
watch TV, and what hours I wasn't.  I knew what programs I was allowed to
watch, and what programs I wasn't.  It wasn't done with a chip in a TV
set, it was done when my parents looked at me, the time, or the tube, and
said, "Okay, that's it, up to bed now."  For my money, for starters, the
v-chip is an abrogation of responsibility by parents.  It's the modern-day
answer to everything: build a chip, find a quick and easy solution.  

Never mind that the criteria are so vague that all kinds of stuff is going
to get through even with the chip set (when I was working with ABC, you
had censors and parents groups who considered a door slam to be an act of
violence, and counted it as such)...never mind that you're subordinating
your view of what your limits are to an unseen group of TV execs or
monitors who will decide what rating to give a show, a rating which you
might quite disagree with, on a ranger of scales that are *very*
subjective (they use about 5 levels of numerical values assigned to
suggestive language or action and the like), never mind that parents
should be watching TV *with* their kids (yes, I know that we have latchkey
kids, and single parents, but there are other ways of solving
this)...never mind ALL that....

Most of what is violent on TV is movies run on commercial networks, not so
much regular TV programs.  The majority of produced programs are still
sitcoms.  So for me, the whole thing is based on a false premise.  But
more than that, it seems outrageous for congress to on the one hand try
and repeal the assault weapon ban, then try and regulate TV violence. 
It's inconsistent.  

They're not dealing with the problem, they're dealing with the PICTURE of
the problem.  If we make the picture go away, the problem will go away. 
No it won't.  It will be solved by sane gun laws (I'm not against owning,
but registering seems a good idea), and dedicated assaults on poverty,
unemployment, crime, drug use and the eradication of hope.  It will be
solved by parents and kids spending time together, rather than letting a
chip determine what they watch on TV.  It will be solved by education for
the young, and firm punishment for the guilty.

But see, that takes nerve.  And it isn't easily done.  And may be
unpopular in some sectors.  So it's easier, and gets more coverage, to
attack *Hollywood* when things get bad.  It's fuzzy thinking, dead-catting
and scapegoating, nothing less.  When people were frightened by the Soviet
Union during the 50s, and the US couldn't actually *do* anything about
it...they turned on Hollywood and attacked all those commie sympathizers
undermining morality and creating a commie-ready society via words and
images.  We can't fix violence, so now we turn again to the pictures of
the problem as though they *were* the problem.

If every violent program in the nation were blipped off the air for 48
hours, and replaced by reruns of the Donna Reed Show, there would not be
one less death in South Central LA, not one less drug overdose in Bed-Stuy
in New York, not one less Freeman in Montana.  (At most you'd have several
more incidents of people shooting out their TVs.)

Here, for me, is the ultimate analogy.  A few years ago here in town,
there was an anti-gun group that came up with the idea of a protest march.
 They marched in front of a video store which had a big poster in the
front of it in which there was a huge picture of a gun.  They marched in
front of the video store.  Half a block down was a gun shop.  Nobody
marched in front of the gun shop.  


 jms



Date: 4 Apr 1996 04:36:28 -0500
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Question About Writing of Seasons 4 & 5

I haven't actually broken down how I'm going to do this next year, in
terms of what to assign and what to do in house.  I'll have a somewhat
better idea once I sit down with the outline, break out the various parts
of it for the period in question, see what I want to throw out or keep
from that based on things that I've modified this season or changed my
mind about....

At that point I'll have a solid notion of the stand-alones that can be
farmed out.  At this juncture, having just finished writing all 22 this
year, and almost finished with production, I'm still catching my breath. 
Check back with me on this closer to late May or early June.



 jms



Date: 4 Apr 1996 04:38:24 -0500
Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS, Claudia Christian on Sci-Fi Buzz.

"Last week's episode of Sci-Fi Buzz featured an interview with Claudia
Christian. During the interview, they showed clips from an episode
being filmed. Would you please tell me the name (or number) of that
episode?"

I believe, from what I saw, that it was a piece from "Grey 17 Is Missing."



 jms



Date: 4 Apr 1996 04:40:55 -0500
Subject: Re: ATTN. JMS:  Question Re: Ship Names

"...what company in their right mind would name one of their ship's the
"Marie Celeste"?

Dunno, but I'd bet good money that whoever it is, it's an Australian
company.  Nothing frightens those people; they're fearless.

 jms



Date: 4 Apr 1996 04:44:26 -0500
Subject: Re: galaxy exploration

Not that much of the galaxy has really been explored yet; it'd take
centuries for us to get even a small part of it all covered.

jms


 jms



Date: 4 Apr 1996 04:45:35 -0500
Subject: Re: Attn: JMS (*spoilers Voices of Authority)

Spoiler Space 







































"Just wondering if we would see the First Ones from Sigma 957 this season,
since there are supposed to be some direct confrontations the between 
Army of Light and the Shadows?"

No.  It isn't their time yet.

 jms



Date: 4 Apr 1996 04:50:35 -0500
Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS Question About Babylon 1-3

"What were the designs for Babylon 1-3. Were they based on the Babylon 4 
model or the Babylon 5 model? "

They were designed to eventually become what we saw in B4.  None of the
first 3 got much past the early stages of construction.



 jms



Date: 4 Apr 1996 04:51:54 -0500
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Norman Corwin on NPR

"Our NPR station in Chicago is planning on broadcasting "13 by Corwin,
a star-studded anthology of Norman Corwin's greatest radio plays."  
Any recommendations on particulars to watch for?"

Just sit back and enjoy a use of language like nothing you've ever heard
before.  You're in for a real treat.

 jms



Date: 4 Apr 1996 04:55:26 -0500
Subject: Re: JMS:  Drama and Romance

"Will we have a great romance??"

First you gotta buy me dinner and flowers.

Seriously...yes, I think there's a heck of a good romance looming just
over the horizon in the show.

 jms



Date: 4 Apr 1996 04:43:38 -0500
Subject: Re: Point of No Return  (* Spoilers *)

(* Spoilers for Point of No Return  *)


























Ok, at the end of this ep. Susan explains that 4 of the 5 cruisers with
Gen. 
Hague where distroyed. So did Earthforce get them or did Clark have the 
shadows do it?"


It was an ambush by Earthforce ships.  (Actually, only 3 were destroyed,
the other two took off separately, trying to throw off a united pursuit. 
But you know how ISN's been lately....)



 jms



Date: 4 Apr 1996 15:40:26 -0500
Subject: Re: JMS: Fan Reactions and Changing Assessments

"One thing I wondered about, while reading the CIS and occasional AOL
repostings here, is how JMS felt about the general fan reaction to
"Messages From Earth", "Point of No Return" and now "Severed Dreams"
(which I don't see until Saturday). 

""Messages From Earth", after all, was widely anticipated based on JMS's
own assessment that it was the best episode of the series to date. The
general reaction here was one of letdown, and looking back, I still see it
as the weak link in this important tryptch. Even if I see the three
episodes as essentially one huge episode, or a three-act episode, then
"Messages" is a weak first act.

"What I'm wondering, now that JMS is thankfully back in our neck of the
woods, is how much these kinds of general reactions surprise him or change
his own perceptions of episodes. Does he see "Messages" in a different
light now, judging from how many of us thought it had structural,
story-telling problems that can't be resolved, in the way that some other
misperceived 'problems' have been, by developments later in the arc?"


One of the problems in any discussion of this sort is the tendency to
accept one's own perceptions as the facts.  The reaction I saw from fans
when "Messages" hit was that it was one of our strongest episodes.  Okay,
you felt differently, and that's fair.  But it doesn't invalidate the
many, *many* people who felt otherwise.  I'm even willing to go out on a
limb here and say that it was very popular with the majority of viewers. 
It came out very high on the P5 survey as well.  I happen to like
raspberries more than strawberries.  Does that mean that raspberries are
objectively better than strawberries and that the producers of
strawberries should reconsider their position?  Of course not.

Which, in a way, is the answer to your question.  There has never, in the
history of TV, been one episode of any series which is uniformly hailed by
every viewer, and liked or disliked for exactly the same reason. 
Everybody sees the episodes differently.  If I were to start running after
10 million viewers to change my opinion of the shows, with 10 million
opinions, each of whom thinks that their opinion is right (and it is, but
it's right for *them*, it's not *objectively* right), each of which is
contradictory with every other view...you'd go mad.

You just can't tell a story that way.  

(BTW, what "story problems" are there in "Messages?"  None have been
pointed out to me so far of any substance.)

So anyway, I'm happy that you enjoyed "Dreams," and that it compensated
for any lack of spiffiness in your view of "Messages."



 jms



Date: 4 Apr 1996 15:50:34 -0500
Subject: Re: JMS: Season Finale (Title Classified)

"Or is it a matter of the title being a spoiler for an episode between now
and
then?"

Yes, that's my concern.

While I'm on the subject, an advisory: I gave a short interview to
Entertainment Weekly the other day for their story about cliffhanger
endings for various shows.  Now, the piece is going to run in May since
that's when most shows (most *sensible* shows) will be doing their
cliffhangers.  Ours won't run until July or October, depending on who you
talk to.  

There's a point where you have to decide between publicity (good for show)
and secrecy (good for viewers), in the process of keeping the show on the
air (also good for viewers).  So I let a few things out of the bag.  If
you don't want to be spoiled, then you may want to avoid picking up and
reading that story.



 jms



Date: 4 Apr 1996 15:54:26 -0500
Subject: Re: jms: Remember WENN?

Haven't run into Remember WENN yet, and don't know enough about the
current state of radio drama to comment intelligently.


 jms



Date: 4 Apr 1996 15:42:32 -0500
Subject: Re: MST3K ref in upcoming B5

	"I hear a rumor every now and then that there will be a reference
(sometimes a "major reference") to MST3K in an upcoming episode of B5.
Is there any truth in this?"


Nope.






 jms



Date: 4 Apr 1996 15:47:07 -0500
Subject: Re: Question about JMS participation

What I generally do when I log onto the group is look first for any
messages tagged ATT JMS; once I've run through those, I make my way
through the rest.  I tend to give first attention to main headers,
secondary to followup (RE:) messages, just for reasons of time.

So yes, the ATT still works, as long as it's used when appropriate.



 jms



Date: 5 Apr 1996 02:23:12 -0500
Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS *SPOILERS* Is it me

"Is it me or do the Vorlons seem scared to fight the Shadows. Or anyone 
that they dont know they can win against. You have said in the past that 
the Vorlons are not enough to take on the Shadows so I assume you meant 
it in military terms. But I am sure with all the other races they could 
take on the Shadows. But they seem to be massing up forces so that they 
dont have to. I would guess they have never actaully fought the Shadows
yet"

To your later question...yes, in a sense, you're onto something, but
you're looking in the wrong direction.  But you're close.



 jms



Date: 5 Apr 1996 02:26:07 -0500
Subject: Re: JMS or other -- CC at Syndicon?

Claudia couldn't make it, but Pat Tallman, Stephen Furst and I will all be
at Syndicon.


 jms



Date: 5 Apr 1996 04:53:22 -0500
Subject: Re: JMS: Larry DiTillio's initial reaction to the arc

What Larry was responding to was the totality of the storyline, not so
much any one particular item.  If you stop for a moment and look back at
just how *much* has been covered just in these first two-and-a-half aired
seasons, you realize how far the story has come.  It's the whole of that
tapestry that is kinda boggling sometimes.

 jms



Date: 5 Apr 1996 04:56:48 -0500
Subject: Re: Attention JMS

"If or when the video's are released, will they be letter boxed and
suround It just 
seems that if they are filmed in wide screen, they would be nice to see
them that 
way."

We're still discussing this; nothing's set yet.


 jms



Date: 5 Apr 1996 04:59:22 -0500
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Cast members and writing/directing

Insofar as I know, only Stephen Furst has any directorial background (and
he's quite good at what he does).  So far, none of the cast has made any
real noise about directing.  Frankly, I'd like to make sure it doesn't
come up, because if one cast member directs, then logically and
reasonably, you find yourself in a situation where you can't deny anybody
else.  Then they're *all* directing, and the acting slips.  Most of the
cast don't seem terribly interested in the notion anyway, so with luck
it'll be a moot point.


 jms



Date: 5 Apr 1996 05:05:47 -0500
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Is C&C a Corwin reference?

No, C&C is a standard military reference to Command and Control.

jms


 jms



Date: 5 Apr 1996 05:04:47 -0500
Subject: Re: JMS: Fan Reactions and Changing Assessments

The other thing to bear in mind in all of this is that the degree to which
we are affected by an episode depends to some measure on what we bring to
the experience.  Some elements are going to register more with some than
with others, due to our background and experience.  Some women reacted
*very* strongly to "Comes the Inquisitor" because of their feelings about
the whole male/female dynamic and the way it had touched their lives
previously.

We will never all agree on these things, and never should.  If we all
agreed we'd be the Stepford B5 Viewing Association.

(Oh, and one other thing...very often, viewers re-assess episodes after
the fact.  "And Now For a Word" being a good example.  When it first came
out, a number of folks weren't sure about it, because they were taken
aback by the narrative device.  Lately, on the rerun, a *lot* of them, on
various nets, said they'd watched it again and re-evaluated their opinion,
felt it was under-rated, and better than they'd first thought.  So, again,
which opinion do you listen to?  Fundamentally, you have to follow the
story where it takes you.  Nothing else makes sense.)



 jms



Date: 6 Apr 1996 04:48:48 -0500
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: "Severed Dreams": Opinion Without Spoilers

Yes, the number of commercials were the same; no idea if there were more
or less local spots than usual, but I'd doubt it.


 jms



Date: 6 Apr 1996 04:50:55 -0500
Subject: Re: ATT JMS: CGI Sign on hull?

I actually don't know what the sign says; I'll have to check it at a later
point.


 jms



Date: 6 Apr 1996 04:52:27 -0500
Subject: Re: Boneheads

"Is that bone head thing on Delenn part of her or is it a Minbari type of
hairband?"

It's a bone that grows from a small nub when born, as do antlers.

"And if it is part of her, how the heck does she do her hair?"

With difficulty but great patience.


 jms



Date: 6 Apr 1996 04:50:33 -0500
Subject: Re: JMS:  Hill Street Blues Fan?  (Possible spoiler for Point of No Return)

No, actually, the name was Pirello, Francis...hadn't realized it was a
sound-alike for Furillo until dailies came in.


 jms



Date: 6 Apr 1996 04:54:33 -0500
Subject: Re: Boneheads

"Is that bone head thing on Delenn part of her or is it a Minbari type of
hairband?"

It's a bone that grows from a small nub when born, as do antlers.

"And if it is part of her, how the heck does she do her hair?"

With difficulty but great patience.


 jms



Date: 6 Apr 1996 04:56:52 -0500
Subject: Re: Note From jms [SPOILERS for Severed Dreams]

Compliments not backhanded at all, and gratefully accepted.


 jms



Date: 6 Apr 1996 05:00:12 -0500
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Fathers (small spoilers)

spoiler stuff.....











spoilers have always been here....










"There is a certain sweetness between Sheridan and his father.  Sheridan's
father is certainly the one that I wish I had.  Is he yours, JMS?"

Not by the farthest stretch of the imagination, which is all I'll say on
this.




 jms



Date: 6 Apr 1996 04:58:17 -0500
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Widescreen Cost Effects

"It is my understanding that, with the exception of the pilot, B5 is
filmed in widescreen format;  episodes are then cropped to standard TV
size.  While I can appreciate the beauty and grandeur that widescreen
provides, I wonder if it also inflates B5's special effects, or
filming budgets."

Negative.  You have a *slightly* higher cost per foot for film stock, but
that's fairly minimal.  Once it's in the camera, it's no more expensive
than anything else.  The only cost factor comes in once somebody decides
to re-telecine all the film stock *back* to that format.  But that's a
one-time price.


 jms



Date: 6 Apr 1996 05:02:31 -0500
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS:  "Severed Dreams" episode title


Date: 6 Apr 1996 05:09:31 -0500
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS:  StarFuries -- *why*?

spoiler stuph















"What are all those StarFuries *for*?  What do they do in a big
battle, other than fill up the screen with cool action?

Every battle I can recall (I've seen every ep except B^2; but I 
have a life and haven't watched them all many times, so I could
misremember something) has had a lot of StarFuries flitting
around and shooting at each other, and occasionally getting caught
in the crossfire of the Big Guys who are also shooting at each
other.  

The issue is, however, finally decided by the Big Guys, one of 
which invariably blows the other up (or chases it off or whatever).

"The battle scenes in SEVERED DREAMS are perfect examples.  Opening
sequence -- Bunch of StarFuries flitting around; eventually one
Big Guy's main battery punches out the other one.  Defense of B5:
same basic concept; one Big Guy is torn to crap by another, while
the other two go down in a rammerjammer suicide run.

So whatinole were alla them StarFuries even out there for?"


A lot more ships came in with the Roanoke and the Agrippa, support ships
and others.  Probably more breaching pods.  They took out those.  They're
also used to keep the enemy starfuries from disabling the defense grid on
the station, leaving B5 free to use its weapons on the larger target/worse
threat.  They're often used to soften up the enemy, harrass them like a
pack of hounds falling on a prey.  In "Fall of Night," we saw a Centauri
vessel in large measure taken out by the Starfuries with some B5 support. 
So they definitely play a part.


 jms



Date: 6 Apr 1996 04:54:59 -0500
Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS- Severed Dreams (SMALL SPOILER)

spoilers...

















We shot that last scene with Garibaldi *after* we'd shot the sequence
showing his injured leg.  We don't shoot in sequence.  So we had to cover
it in the next episode.


 jms



Date: 06 Apr 96 17:17:25 GMT
Subject: cmsg cancel <4k5f0p$537@newsbf02.news.aol.com>

Article cancelled by denebeim@zaphod.

Date: 7 Apr 1996 04:46:13 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Severed Dreams (Possible spoiler)

No, the shot you refer to (won't elaborate to spoil anything) was its full
length, wasn't cut.  That's how it came from Foundation.  You end on
impact.



 jms



Date: 7 Apr 1996 05:00:28 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS- The Gloose is loose!

To be quite objective about it, from my admittedly subjective opinion
(have I qualified this answer enough?), there's much to commend
Hypernauts.  It's a show worth checking out.

For my money, however, I have to say that pound for pound, character for
character, I tend to *prefer* "Space Cases," because it's just a hoot to
watch.  A lot of fun.


 jms



Date: 7 Apr 1996 05:01:10 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Cliffhanger? Why bother?

Because the story calls for it.  Whether they show the cliffhanger three
months or two weeks before the fourth season (assuming renewal), this is
where the story goes.  It was constructed like a series of novels, a
multi-volume saga, and like any good series of novels, you end on
something big.

And this year, season three ends on something really honking big.


 jms



Date: 7 Apr 1996 05:00:07 -0400
Subject: Re: Will there be a Mac version of the screensaver?

Yes, I've been told that a Mac version will be out in a month or two.



 jms



Date: 7 Apr 1996 05:00:46 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Ivanova's Pierced parts

Claudia wears only one earring as a testimony to both her fictional
brother, killed in the Minbari war, and her real brother, who passed away
some time ago.

 jms



Date: 7 Apr 1996 05:00:56 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: So, we've seen two types of "Shadows?"

The one is a ship, the other is/are the aliens themselves.  


 jms



Date: 7 Apr 1996 05:09:17 -0400
Subject: Re: At The Midpoint (Spoilers for everything)

"It's all this stuff that I think really makes the show. The mystery
certainly helps, but the puzzles are no longer my main reason for
watching."

Aaron: exactly.  This was something I said a lot around the first part of
the second season, that this really *isn't* a mystery novel, in any
conventional sense, no more so than any novel whose ending is yet to be
revealed.

You picked up on exactly the themes that are present in the show, with
some more to come shortly.  Personal sacrifice for a cause -- perhaps a
good cause, perhaps not, depending on how wisely we make our decisions --
is probably the dominant theme at this point in the story.  

It's worth mentioning that this story was initially conceived in the midst
of the Me Generation, the decade of "I've got mine, jack, screw you all." 
Since then the culture has gotten increasingly factionalized, groups of
Me's pulling and tugging at the fabric not only of the country, bvut of
the planet itself.  The idea of personal sacrifice, of personal service to
a cause, seems to have become...passe.  Old fashioned.  Silly.

We have an obligation to one another, responsibilities and trusts.  That
does not mean we must be pigeons, that we must be exploited.  But it does
mean that we should look out for one another when and as much as we can;
and that we have a personal responsibility for our behavior; and that our
behavior has consequences of a very real and profound nature.  We are not
powerless.  We have tremendous potential for good or ill.  How we choose
to use that power is up to us; but first we must choose to use it.  We're
told every day, "You can't change the world."

But the world is changing every day.  Only question is...who's doing it? 
You or somebody else?  Will you choose to lead, or be led by others?

(Y'know, there are moments I look at the preceding paragraphs, and I
realize that it wa said more succinctly, and better, and more movingly in
"Lost Horizon," with this simple sentence: "Be *kind* to one another.")


 jms



Date: 7 Apr 1996 05:11:46 -0400
Subject: Re: On a different note, jms

Wes: sure, if there's anything in my post worth putting up on a wall,
assuming it isn't a Post Office wall...please, proceed.  Thanks.


 jms



Date: 7 Apr 1996 05:20:37 -0400
Subject: Re: JMS:  Documenting your experiment?

"Question:  There is no question that B5 is unique in many ways.  I
think I remember you once referring to it as an experiment in
television.  I'm wondering if you have considered, or maybe you are
already, documenting the experiment.  By this I mean documenting the
philosophy behind the show, what makes it unique, what works, what
doesn't, etc.  This way others who might want to work toward improving
the quality of TV might have a set of ideas from which to build their
own path.  It is clear that you have a commitment to make quality
television, might such documentation be valuable to others who have
such a commitment also?"

Yes, it would.  And yes, I am creating such a document.

This is it.  This online interaction is that document.  And as of that
note, you're a part of it.

Between the Lurker's Guide and other archives, this is a *living document*
that chronicles every aspect of the show, good and not so good.  I've
already heard from professors and academicians who've archived the
material for use in classes on television production, students who're
doing term papers based on the material, even a few producers who've used
it as a resource in putting together shows using the Babylon Model, as
it's now being called, to do quality SF for television.

So to anyone looking on...keep up the great quality of the questions.  A
film student at UCLA in 2004 is reading this right now, and he needs the
information for his Master's Thesis.


 jms



Date: 7 Apr 1996 05:26:42 -0400
Subject: Re: The best girlfriend in the world...

"Severed Dreams had a line that was better than Ivanava's sex scene.  Wow,
do these women get lines!"

Can't help it.  I've always been vastly enamoured of strong, sharp, funny,
independent and strong-willed women.  (Well, me and 99% of the rest of the
male population, most of them just won't admit it.)

I love it when anyone -- male or female -- comes up with a killer line. 
Claudia and I are always going at it, each trying to top the other...and
I've found out the hard way that you don't challenge her on the theory
that she'll back down.  Won't happen.  Ivanova's just the same.  Mira is
also dedicated, fierce in her convictions, extremely bright and worldly.  

So why should their characters be any less than the women themselves?




 jms


Date: 7 Apr 1996 05:29:26 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Question about Morden

"Last year at the Chicago Comicon you mentioned that we'd be seeing more
about Morden, where he comes from and how he got where he is.  Is that
something that will be addressed this year or is that slated for farther
down the road?"

You'll learn a lot more about Mr. Morden by the end of this season.





 jms



Date: 7 Apr 1996 05:32:55 -0400
Subject: Re: Severed Dreams (No Spoilers) [NOT!  Spoilers]

Elayne:

"I *gasped* at this shot.  How was this done?  This was REALLY effective."




I'm always getting this confused in my own mind, but basically it's using
two contradictory moves with the camera.  You dolly in (push the camera
toward the object) and push out with the lens (or vice versa...that's the
part I'm forever getting confused about...like remembering battery
connections, is it positive to positive or positive to negative...?).  In
either event, you're basically going in and out/away at the same moment. 
It's a nifty effect.




 jms



Date: 7 Apr 1996 05:33:33 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS A Note and a Compliment

Mike: thanks.  I think this one is gonna cross a LOT of lines.



 jms



Date: 7 Apr 1996 05:33:14 -0400
Subject: Re: Honesty  *SD Spoilers*

spoiler response....














I was living in Delenn's head when she uttered those lines for the first
time.

She wasn't bluffing.

Delenn *never* bluffs.


 jms



Date: 7 Apr 1996 05:34:44 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS:  "Severed Dreams" episode title

This is very odd.  I did reply to it.  Guess the AOL system ate it.

Trying again...
















If B5 was a dream given form, and the EA had the potential to be something
more than it has become, and the two part ways, then you have severed
dreams.  (I had a much more elegant and interesting reply, but obviously
it entered Vorlon space and hasn't been allowed out again.)


 jms



Date: 7 Apr 1996 05:39:02 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS- Severed Dreams (SMALL SPOILER)

"I cannot imagine what it takes to track all of the pieces and snippets
filmed out of order!  This is a fascinating glimpse into what goes on
making a show..."


Cindy: that's why a producer must be a good multitasker.  You've got to
keep not just the one episode in your head, but more.  For instance,
dailies from the day's shooting before come in, for 5 scenes that are out
of sequence, and you have to be able to look at them, knowing what was
shot before in your head, and know intuitively if it's going to match. 
Then a CGI 8-second shot for another episode comes in, and you have to
know how it'll match up with the live action which is still being
edited...and the director has a question about scene 28 in the next
episode to be shot...the editor wants to know if you meant what you said
about reversing scenes 34 and 35 in last week's episode....

It can make you totally and completely nuts.

At that point, it's all Darwinian producing: evolve or die.




 jms



Date: 7 Apr 1996 05:43:10 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS Babylon Squared & War Without End

We did both; we reshot some scenes from B2, and used some footage directly
from that episode.  Some pretty elegant matches, too, I think.


 jms



Date: 7 Apr 1996 05:43:32 -0400
Subject: Re: Am I here, yet?

No, you're over there.

And you're going to *stay* there until you clean up this room, buster.


 jms



Date: 7 Apr 1996 05:46:22 -0400
Subject: Re: jms: How Different Will T(EM)CBoS Be?

Mainly, I tried to focus on the areas not covered by all the other books. 
And very few of them get into more than one area of scripting.

As for radio...I did include the revised chapter on radio drama, with the
proviso that the field itself is shrinking still, except for occasional
big projects which are off-limits to freelancers.  The main growth area, I
think, will be in audio books, which are getting more and more to sound
like radio dramas.



 jms



Date: 7 Apr 1996 18:40:35 -0400
Subject: Re: ATT JMS: Writing and visualization.

"You were talking about the process of writing a B5 episode.  You said
(IIRC) that you visualize a scene in your mind, get all the movements,
dialogue, camera angles, etc. locked down just so inside your head, and
then simply transcribe what you see."

That's correct.  I play it like a movie in my head.

"Do you use this approach for novels and stories, or just for TV?  Since
TV is a visual medium, I can imagine visualization working
beautifully...but novels tend to focus on the internal, the way people
work.   We get to see more than just what they look and sound like--we get
to see inside them, rather than _deducing_ what's inside them from what we
see and hear.  I ask because I've been trying your visualization approach
in my own writing, but I worry that it comes out like a transcript of a TV
episode--everything is vivid on the page, but it all seems so
externalized.  I feel like I'm missing opportunities for delving because
they don't show up on my two senses, and thus don't get included in the
blocking in my head."

I still visualize the scene, but I do it differently in a work of prose. 
The key there is to see it *from the perspective of the character*.  In a
TV script you're the omniscient camera.  I do a little of that, just to
know the movements, but the rest of the time I spend behind the
character's eyes.  How does the room look?  Can I smell the woodburning
fireplace from here?  Is the room hot or cold?  Where am I?  You have to
use all your senses in a novel.

"How the heck do you _remember_ everything that passes in front of your
mind's eye?  I get a scene going in my head, know the characters are
_here_, then move _here_, and the bathtub is _here_, and I take
notes...but then, when it actually comes to sitting down at the keyboard
and writing it, I discover that half of the little fillets have vamoosed. 
("Now what was I thinking about a llama?")  If I took enough notes to
capture them all, the note-taking would be equivalent to the
story-writing, and I'd have the same problem.  So...how do you do it? 
Train your mind to be more like a steel trap and less like a steel sieve? 
A new and different kind of note-taking?  Hooked on Phonics?  (For that
matter, how do you take notes?  What does a sheet of note paper look like
when you're done with it?)"

I don't actually take notes on scenes.  If a great line comes to me for a
scene I'm working on later in the day, I'll rip out a PostIt and slap it
on my monitor, but that's about it.  Sometimes I'll write down the act
breaks on a sheet of paper, but even that I haven't done in a long while;
I usually just sit down at the keyboard and start rolling the "film"
through my head, no outline, just a sense of where I have to go.

It's just a mental quirk; how does an actor remember every line of
dialogue in a play, plus all the stage movements, prop locations, stunts,
and the rest?  I've always had a very good visual memory.  If I go to your
house once, I can usually remember the layout years later.  Take me to a
strange city, drive me across town and drop me off, and as long as it's
light, I can find my way back again on foot with very little in the way of
errors.  

I was at the hotel in Manchester UK for only a couple of days for Wolf
359...but I can remember every detail of the hotel's layout: come in the
front glass door, to your right at 2:00 are steps leading down to the
restaurant.  Straight ahead, steps leading up to the lobby.  Check in
counter is to the left.  To the right is a metal grillwork area leading to
a second lobby and the smaller conference rooms along a hall which jogs
slightly to the left.  The B5 viewing room was just before the left jog. 
Back in the main lobby, there are benches and chairs along the right wall,
then there's a door on the right to the dealer's room, a pair of
close-able doors to another sitting area (sofa on the left this time),
then the elevators to the rooms (left side).  Turning right at the
elevators takes you to the stairs descending to another floor.  Keep going
in the hall and it brings you to the main hall at the end of the hall. 
White double doors.  At the far end of the main hall are curtained doors
leading to the street.  Additional doors to the hall are at the right
side, which can bring you back to the conference rooms.  (One of the door
hinges is slightly damaged.)  Four square support posts near the stage
area, and several more on the right angling around.  The first time I
walked in, to check out the area and rearrange the chairs around the
posts, there were approximately 10 people seated there, on the left-ish
side of the room.  More women than men.  One of the men had on a grey/blue
shirt and a cap.  He noticed me as I went about my business.

I picked that one because there are some Wolf-folks around here who can
verify if that's correct.  But I can go back 10 years of conventions and
do the same.  It's just a quirk.  I *never* get lost.  Once I lock onto a
place, I can go back 20 years after the fact and find everything there. 
Don't know if it's training, or  just a trick of genetics, but I have an
*extremely* visual memory.  

I remember the look on the face of the first woman I dated when she told
me it was all over.  I remember as a kid where my cat sat and looked at
me, very strangely, almost sadly, before it went out into the back yard to
pass away, there in the high grass.  I remember exactly where I was
standing, the time of day, the number of people on the school yard the day
I took down the school bully because nobody *else* would (age 10).  I
remember the exact shape and layout of the rose tattoo on the left wrist
of a woman I dated in college.  I can remember the phone number of the
parents of another woman I dated in college by visualizing the sheet of
paper I wrote it down on because it was raining and I was at a public
phone booth and the rain smeared the numbers.  I remember exactly where I
was standing, and what was going on in the background of the campus
newspaper when I learned that my friend Chris Parker -- a good man, a kind
man, a professor with the Psych Department who wore clown suits to staff
meetings to keep things in perspective -- had just been killed in a
motorcycle accident, and the gleep who said it happened because he was an
atheist and he had it coming...though I *don't* remember what happened
between that moment and the moment they peeled me off him.  I'm told I
vaulted over the desk and tackled him full-on.  I'll take that one on
faith.

Writers are living compilations of moments, which they reinterpret and
revisit, carving them into characters and stories.  The more you can
remember, the more you can recreate how you felt, the better you can turn
around and invest those same feelings and reactions in your characters. 
The problem is that all too often, we go through our lives unaware of so
much that goes on around us, we don't *pay attention* to our lives.  And
we miss the moments.  And in the end, the moments are all we have.




 jms



Date: 8 Apr 1996 01:33:01 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Your Comic Arc

I'll probably use the Marcus-arc story somewhere in the show now; it's too
good to waste.


 jms



Date: 8 Apr 1996 01:39:56 -0400
Subject: request from jms

Today I got online and found nearly 100 new email messages in my AOL mail
box.  Most of them were of two types: asking general questions that could
just as easily be asked in public forum, so that others could benefit from
the discussion, or copies of public replies also sent to me privately.

Please please please please *please* use the email address ONLY for
personal or confidential correspondence.  If my email gets flooded, I
won't be able to reply to anybody after a while via email, because I won't
be able to *find* anything.

Thankyew.


 jms



Date: 8 Apr 1996 01:31:55 -0400
Subject: Re: Thank you JMS!!!

Thanks.  Any writer hopes that his work will touch people.  I cannot tell
you how much it means to accomplish that from time to time....


 jms


Date: 8 Apr 1996 04:25:27 -0400
Subject: Re: ATT JMS: Writing and visualization.

"Do you find that music or sounds can have the same effect? Hear a line
from a song and lock into a moment in time? Remember not only the
visuals but the emotions of that moment?"

Absolutely.  I think everyone has that experience.  If you want to get
technical about it, it's probably a version of state-related learning.




 jms



Date: 8 Apr 1996 04:57:40 -0400
Subject: Re: Bester in future episode/s ??

You'll be seeing Bester again in about 4 weeks.



 jms



Date: 8 Apr 1996 04:57:51 -0400
Subject: Re: JMS, where did it all come from?

Where it came from was really a thought experiment...how would I design an
SF saga *specifically* for television, that could really be told no other
way (except for maybe a 5-volume series of novels).  I considered the many
quality mainstream shows that had a base of operations where the story
came to you (St Elsewhere, LA Law, others) instead of going off in search
of the new planet of the week.  That led me to the notion of a space
station.

Then I kinda got into some of my thoughts on where we've come from as a
people, where we might be going, some political, social and historical
extrapolation, and one day...bang...it just slammed into my brain like a
.44.

And now here we are....


 jms



Date: 8 Apr 1996 18:46:59 -0400
Subject: Re: Attn JMS:  Ceremonies of L & D -- whew! (Spoilers)

I'm sure the title of the last episode this season will eventually leak
out, but no, I'd like to keep it down for now.



 jms



Date: 9 Apr 1996 03:40:48 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Haig, Talia contracts? (spoilers for Severed Dreams)

"I'm tired of getting used to characters only to have the actors leave the
show.  Can't you get better contracts with these actors?"

Regarding Talia...our contract was ironclad.  If we had wanted the
character to continue, it would have.  

Regarding Hague...it's much harder to hold an actor on a once-in-a-while
basis.  Every show is hostage to that.  It's a reality of life.  We don't
have contracts with folks who play one or two parts a year.  Screen Actors
Guild doesn't allow that; you make deals as they come up.  You can't stop
an actor if he wants to jump ship under those conditions; and if you try,
you have an unhappy actor on your set who'll just walk through it because
he or she doesn't want to be there.



 jms



Date: 9 Apr 1996 03:43:24 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS:  De-Mystifying Television

The process is quite a bit more elaborate than that, hence the cost.  You
have to back to the original negative stock and re-develop every frame of
film print to the proper perspective, then adjust all the CGI to match.

However, this is being done already, with France preparing to show season
3 in the widescreen version.  It just takes a while, and it costs.


 jms



Date: 9 Apr 1996 03:48:52 -0400
Subject: Re: B5 Cancelled?

Just to clarify this...yes, somebody posted that to the official WB
site...but it wasn't anybody in *ANY* way associated with Warner Bros. or
any of the stations.  

I've been saying for months now that PTEN seemed to be fading, and that we
would eventually end up in direct syndication.  This is months-old news. 
I can only assume that somebody here is getting his info wrong or is
deliberately distorting it.

We have not -- repeat, NOT -- been canceled.  For starters, the meeting at
which that decision will be made won't be held until the end of April,
first part of May.  The decision *cannot be made* until the execs finally
meet to assess everything at that time.  So any messages before then
should be dismissed.

Also, be sensible, look around...WB is spending a large amount of money,
well over a quarter million dollars, buying radio spots, and TV spots, and
the covers of newspaper TV magazines in over 80 major cities to promote
the coming batch of episodes.  Many TV stations are announcing that
they're returning to airing the show twice a week now.  WB is doing its
contest for B5.  If we were canceled, this would all stop *instantly*. 
But it's all going ahead.

And, finally, no one's said boo to us about it.  The day Kung Fu was
dropped, they were notified within 24 hours.  You *have* to be notified at
that point to make various financial arrangements, deal with sets, return
any deficits, and so on.  And again, no one has said anything of that sort
to us.

Have there been ups and downs?  Of course.  The syndicated TV market has
all but imploded over the last 2 years, thanks to WBN, UPN and Fox
swallowing up almost all the available time slots on indie stations.  But
we're still here....



 jms



Date: 9 Apr 1996 03:49:27 -0400
Subject: Re: Sky full of leftovers?  (SD spoilers)

"After any encounter like this, the sky around B5 is going to be littered
with debris, especially around the jumpgate, which falls neatly into the
"bad things" category for a station with such high traffic.  Who gets the
job of cleaning up?"


We've previously shown a hazmat platform that goes out into local space to
clear up debris and any toxic fuel cores and the like.  It's standard
operating practice.



 jms



Date: 9 Apr 1996 03:50:09 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Blooperlon 5

We've discussed doing a blooper reel via the fan club; we'll see.



 jms



Date: 9 Apr 1996 04:02:26 -0400
Subject: Re: ATT JMS: Writing and visualization.

"Does our brain work like a computer putting tasks into background mode?
How many times do we rack our brain for an answer that eludes us, only to
have it pop out sometime later when we've totally forgotten that we were
ever thinking about it in the first place? Like the chemical messages have
taken the round trip to Jupiter to get to where the answer's stored. Like
the core story of B5 just popped into JMS' head one day. The way I go home
from work with a nagging problem and find the answer pops into my head
when I wake up the next day."


Absolutely.  Often I'll hit a snag in a script, and I'll go away and
deliberately *not* think about it, letting the subconscious chew at it
like a dog worrying a bone.  Then, usually about the time my head hits the
pillow -- having finally relaxed -- the answer comes back as if of its own
volition.  Same thing happens in the shower.

I nowhere "saw" this process at work more clearly than when I fell prey to
Tetris (from which I'm still trying to recover).  I'd often play it late
at night, just before going to bed.  As I closed my eyes to sleep, I'd
still be seeing those damned green and yellow L-shapes, the blocks and
lines...my brain was still adjusting the pieces, seeing ways of making
them fit that I'd overlooked before.  Because my brain had a visual
referent, I could *see* it happening behind my eyelids.

Which is exactly what we all do in problem solving.

Humans is funny critters....


 jms



Date: 9 Apr 1996 04:04:51 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS:Internet Influences

"Just how much has reading the newgroups affected your writing style for
the show?  Do you think interacting with us on the Internet has been a
positive affect or could you have turned out B5 without us?"

My writing style is pretty much my writing style.  (Minus adjustments made
for the different ways characters talk on the show.)  

Yes, the interaction has been positive, in the sense that I get asked a
zillion questions about the show, the universe, the characters, their
history and the tech involved.  As a writer, it's your job to ask, and
then *answer*, every question conceivable about your story and characters.
 The more questions you've asked yourself, the better the job you can do.

Now, there's a finite number of questions one can ask oneself.  But on the
nets I get all KINDS of questions.  In answering those, I think about new
areas of the B5 universe, and the whole thing becomes stronger.


 jms



Date: 9 Apr 1996 04:04:14 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Directions to Hollywood

I'd say that the first edition, written and published in 1981, should now
be set aside now that the new version is coming out, which is a lot more
up to date with the changing marketplace and other trends in the media.

It's also a much better book in general.



 jms



Date: 9 Apr 1996 04:10:30 -0400
Subject: Re: JMS: related question on writing (was Re: ATT JMS: Writing and visualization. )

"do you ever find your characters almost outright refusing to go where you
 want them to?  this happens to me from time to time, where I want her to 
go one way, and she decides to go another.  It's rather annoying."

Yes, but it means you're doing it *right*.

Yeah, it happens.  Every once in a while, a character will go left instead
of right in my head, and I'll try to yank him back, and he'll refuse to
go, and I'll get into this sort of weird mental dialogue trying to find
out what the hell's wrong and what's going on.  I've now created the
characters sufficiently well now that they're alive, and I've come to that
point now where, if a character says "I want to do X" in a script, I'll
tend to go with it, figuring it may work and take me in some new
directions.  Every once in a while, we'll get to the end, and it won't
work, and I'll have to backtrack to where we went off the road...and,
natch, the character just sits sullenly in the back of the car, refusing
to admit he read the map wrong.

But when it *works*...the character surprises me, and if I'm surprised,
the odds are good that you're going to be surprised.




 jms



Date: 9 Apr 1996 04:10:53 -0400
Subject: Re: ATT JMS: B5 and Lord of the Rings?

All the elements you point to are just tools that recur in any saga of any
size.  The dark forces, the one who turns, the source of ancient
wisdom...it goes back all the way to the Illiad and the Odyssey.  Compare
Kosh to the Oracle at Delphi and you'll have a pretty close match.

LoTR and B5 use the same tools, which have taken on different names over
the last 6,000 years.  That's all.



 jms



Date: 9 Apr 1996 04:12:14 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Renewal Status

"Do you have any information that you can pass along concerning the
renewal of B5 for a 4th season?"

Nope.  We won't know anything until the execs gather for their meeting at
which this will be decided.  That meeting will take place late April/early
May.




 jms



Date: 9 Apr 1996 04:12:34 -0400
Subject: Re: ATT JMS:New cast pictures (potential spoilers)

No, the map is more conceptual than anything else; for any kind of detail
work, other screens are used.



 jms



Date: 9 Apr 1996 05:25:59 -0400
Subject: OFFICIAL B5 FAN CLUB NEWS!

The following information about the OFFICIAL BABYLON 5 FAN CLUB was
just released by B5FC coordinator Jim Lochett, and is now available.  (The
address given should now be used for convention information sent to cast.)

                                                       ***

Join today and you will receive the Official Membership Kit, including:

     A Subscription to The Universe Today: The Official Newsletter of the
     B5FC filled with exclusive interviews, news about Babylon 5, and
     exciting merchandise offers.
     An 8x10 Cast Photo
     Full Color Babylon 5 Mini-Poster (13"x20")
     B5 Fan Club Button & Full Color Sticker
     Membership Certificate (Signed by the show's Executive Producers, J.
     Michael Straczynski and Douglas Netter)
     Membership ID Card granting you discounts on merchandise,
conventions,
     etc., as well as access to the Members Only section of
TheStation.com,
     the B5 Fan Club Web-site (to be up May 1996).
     Plus as a bonus, the first 100 people to join get:
     A Limited Collection Sticker of the alternate B5 Logo as designed by
     artist Peter Ledger.
================

To Give a Membership as a Gift, simply make a copy of the entry form, fill
in the name of the person you wish to make a member, and send it off.
(Don't forget to include your name on the Suggestions line, so that we can
include a gift card.)

Each year the Renewal Kit will offer new and different goodies, savings,
and of course another year's subscription to The Universe Today.

Remember, this is more than just your run of the mill fan club; the
Babylon
5 fans time and time again have gone that extra step for the show, and the
Babylon 5 Fan Club is our way of giving something back to those who've
been
so loyal to us.

------------------  CLIP OR COPY AND GIVE TO A FRIEND 
--------------------

YES!  I want to join The Official Babylon 5 Fan Club.  Please send my
membership kit to:

Name:     ________________________________________________________________

Age:      __________

Address:  ________________________________________________________________

City:     _____________________________ State:  ___________ ZIP:  ________

Country:  _____________

e-mail address:  _________________________________________________________

Local Station you watch B5 on:  __________________________________________

Suggestions:  ____________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________


_____ I am already on the mailing list.

_____ I got this form from a friend.

Enclosed is $12.95 for a U.S. membership; $14.95 for a Canadian
membership;
and $19.95 for Foreign memberships.  Orders must be in U.S. funds. Send
check or money order (DO NOT send cash) made payable to:

Babylonian Productions/Fan Club

Mail to:  The Official Babylon 5 Fan Club
          PO Box 856
          North Hollywood, CA 91603

Please allow 5-6 weeks for delivery.  Foreign and Canadian orders are
shipped surface, please allow additional time for shipping.

All returned checks are subject to a $15.00 service charge.

----------------  CUT HERE FOR THE END OF THE FORM  -------------------

Date: 9 Apr 1996 04:57:46 -0400
Subject: Re: Rumors of Cancelation flying, are they bogus?

Yes, it's bogus.  The message sent to the B5 web was sent by a user, not
from anyone associated with B5 or WB.  


 jms


Date: 9 Apr 1996 19:51:07 -0400
Subject: Spoiler Warning in VIR .avi/trailer

Just an advisory...I finally saw the trailer for "Sic Transit Vir," and
I'd suggest anyone who wants to enjoy the show *not* watch the trailer, as
it gives away stuff that shouldn't be given away.

I.e., if the trailer for The Maltese Falcon said, "...and see the surprise
when the black bird is discovered to be an imitation."

jms


 jms



Date: 15 Apr 1996 05:27:39 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS:  Question about "Interludes"  (BIG, HUGE SPOILERS!)

In general, under certain kinds of circumstances, this being one, I would
go for a more stylized scene; some things can't be conveyed in too literal
a fashion.  



 jms



Date: 16 Apr 1996 04:50:17 -0400
Subject: Re: JMS: Your views on Star Trek?

Re: the hiring of Walter Koenig and Majel Barrett...in the former case,
this is a very talented actor, who is also a friend, and has never been
given the chance to showcase his real skills.  We provided that chance. 
In the case of Majel, she wanted to appear in the show to help eliminate
some of the division between B5 and ST fans.


 jms


Date: 17 Apr 1996 06:52:54 -0400
Subject: Re: JMS: Any information on Harlan's heart attack

He's doing much better today, up and about.  But we're advising everyone
to give the family some space and quiet time for a bit.


 jms



Date: 17 Apr 1996 06:52:56 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Question about writing

"When you sit down to write an episode, what form is the initial draft? 
Is it 
in script format?  The reason I ask this, is because I've begun writing
short stories for a comic book, but I've found that when writing the first
draft, writing it in script format takes up too much time and hinders the
creative process of storytelling.  It's much easier for me to write in
short-story form, then convert it to a script format.  Do you find this a
similar problem or does the conversion from *story* to 
*script* take place in your head?"

It pretty much happens in my head.  When I sit down to write, I generally
have a good notion on where it's going, some notes on post-its, and from
my overall outline.  Then I just open up the script program Movie Master,
which provides the right margins for dialogue and narrative and the like,
and just start writng the actual script.  There's no interim level; I
think in script terms.



 jms



Date: 17 Apr 1996 06:52:43 -0400
Subject: from jms: I'm here, sorta

To all who've inquired...I'm here, just not as much lately.  I was out of
town and offline from Friday through Sunday, and returned to Harlan's
situation.  We've been doing all we can to help at this end, and things
are looking good now in that regard, but it's taken time and concern, on
top of still being a bit swamped with post production, and there are a LOT
of messages here to catch up on, which can be a bit daunting.

Give me a bit of time to catch my breath, clear the decks and otherwise
get stuff in order, and I'll be able to catch up here a bit.


 jms


Date: 17 Apr 1996 06:53:06 -0400
Subject: War Without End (* Spoilers *)

(* Spoilers for War Without End *)


























As Sinclair notes when he arrives at B5, his status as ambassador is
pretty much gone after the coup.



 jms


Date: 18 Apr 1996 01:19:11 -0400
Subject: Re: JMS, about role playing?

"what is your experience with role playing games and how has it affected
your writing?"

I've actually taken part in at most two RPGs in my time, and while they
were interesting, I don't think I'm overmuch interested in doing them
again, nor did I walk away from the table with anything more than, "Well,
that was fun, sorta."  



 jms



Date: 18 Apr 1996 19:37:55 -0400
Subject: Re: A Gun on the wall.

It's fair to say that you will be seeing that Narn cruiser again; it's
still out there.



 jms


Date: 19 Apr 1996 05:01:22 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: New uniforms and the cast

In general, it's my understanding that the cast really like the new
uniforms.  They're lighter, easier to move around in, cooler under the
lights, and they like the styling, the rogue element to it, and the
Minbari aspect.



 jms



Date: 19 Apr 1996 07:59:49 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: who said "not now!" (ItSoZ)

No, I don't believe anyone is actually saying "not now" in that scene.



 jms



Date: 19 Apr 1996 08:01:06 -0400
Subject: Re: for JMS

But if I answered your question, you'd know before the episode aired, and
where would the fun in that be?



 jms



Date: 19 Apr 1996 08:01:44 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS Series Bible

No, the series bible is really a very general thing and was only really
used much in the first year; it's now very much out of date.


 jms



Date: 19 Apr 1996 08:01:54 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Who else?

Folks I'd still like to see on the show: Patrick McGoohan, Patrick Macnee,
Tom Baker, Penn Jillette, Meatloaf, Alice Cooper, Kevin McCarthy.



 jms



Date: 19 Apr 1996 08:00:33 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Making episode script(s) available?

This is something we've discussed doing, and may indeed do at some point. 
In the interim, the tentative plan is to have the script for "The Coming
of Shadows" included in the new edition of my writing book, due out in the
fall.  

What would make all of this even more interesting is the fact that *every
single script* has at least something that's been trimmed out of it;
sometimes just a few lines, sometimes a couple of small, expendable
scenes.



 jms



Date: 19 Apr 1996 07:59:37 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Is Ikara 7 connected to the last Shadow War?

There is a connection between the Ikarran situation and the shadows, but
only a tenuous one.  They had heard of the great enemy rampaging all over
the place, and had cobbled together a very primitive source of organic
technology that would kill anything and anyone that was not pure Ikarran
(which, of course, led to their destruction).  Sinclair, at the time, hit
it dead on..."When you become obsessed with the enemy, you *become* the
enemy."

                                    

 jms



Date: 19 Apr 1996 08:01:36 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Music and ComiCon

Yes, I am planning for now to attend San Diego ComicCon; it's my one big
chance to go nuts buying Cool Stuph (tm) every year.

As for the music I listen to...that just got hashed over on CIS, and
reposted here, so I'm loathe to go into it all again.  The short version
is that I listen to just about anything and everything except hardass
Country/Western, which I just can't get into.  I couldn't warm up to Garth
Brooks if we were cremated together.  Not to say it's bad, only that it
doesn't work for me.

In general terms, the music I listen to while I work tends to be of the
harder, more driving or intricate sort; if it's too soft, I fall asleep
and tip over in my chair, making an awful clatter as I hit the deck.


 jms



Date: 19 Apr 1996 04:54:59 -0400
Subject: Re: JMS' absence & Harlan in hospital

Correct.  I spent almost all of Wednesday with Harlan at the hospital, and
he's doing MUCH better.  I'm obliged not to say much more than that, but
as stated, he's doing amazingly well post-surgery.


 jms



Date: 19 Apr 1996 04:46:38 -0400
Subject: Re: Attn JMS: "War Without End" title inspiration

Actually, the quote is usually "world without end," and no, that wasn't
the inspiration for the title...it's just very descriptive of the story.  

Have tried 3 times to order the t-shirt from Land's End, and they're still
back ordered.


 jms



Date: 19 Apr 1996 05:06:35 -0400
Subject: Re: direction of written Narn?

The computer was a goof; Narnish is written right to left.


 jms




Date: 20 Apr 1996 00:52:01 -0400
Subject: Re: JMS, you tease!  (STV spoilers)

Me?  A tease?  Moi?  I just report the news, I don't make it.

The kiss is coming.  But I wanted to do it in such a way that it somewhat
unexpected, in a way that would have even more weight than under any other
possible conditions.  How do you turn a kiss into a wham?  (Aside from
kissing the right person, natch.)  Stay tuned....



 jms



Date: 20 Apr 1996 04:41:49 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS  'Process or result'

Probably the one person who's had to know the most of what's coming is
Peter Jurasik, because we've had to flash forward to his future the most
of anyone, and he kinda needed to know what it meant and how he got there
in order to play it properly.  After that...probably Mira, then Sheridan. 
The rest are on a need to know basis.


 jms



Date: 21 Apr 1996 20:23:36 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTM:JMS is the reincarnation of......

So I guess this means I should cancel my plans for writing "A Tale of Two
Kitties"....


 jms



Date: 21 Apr 1996 20:25:02 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN:JMS

Yes, I read the Foundation books, but it was a while ago; it *could* be
done for TV, but it'd be tremendously difficult and hideously expensive
from a production standpoint.  For now, anyway.  In, say, another 10-15
years, with more changes in the technology of television, it might be more
feasible.


 jms



Date: 22 Apr 1996 11:08:39 -0400
Subject: Re: Attn JMS: "Gone Native" (*Slight spoiler for Sic Transit Vir*)

No, when Londo goes to Delenn earlier this season to ask about having Vir
appointed to the Centauri diplomatic mission, he mentions then that the
mission has been closed for some time, "some trouble I believe with our
previous liaison."  This just paid that off; those Minbari are just a
darned bad influence, I guess.


 jms



Date: 22 Apr 1996 11:08:42 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Source of Minbari Prophecies?

A number of the Minbari prophecies were written down by Valen himself, at
the time when he called together the Grey Council and led the last great
war against the shadows.  They have somehow tended to be quite
astonishingly accurate.



 jms



Date: 22 Apr 1996 11:08:31 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS I heard that with you writing the entire season, you will be the 1st in tv history?

Thanks.  And yes, I'll be the first in American TV to do so; when you get
into the UK, however, you've got Terry Nation, who wrote all 16 (18?) of
Blake 7's first season, which represents some pretty nifty writing on his
part.



 jms



Date: 23 Apr 1996 04:43:21 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Something to consider

No, the missing scenes and lines blipped out of episodes can't be put back
in again later without totally rescoring everything, and they'd be of
varying lengths; it's not do-able in any sense (unfortunately).


 jms



Date: 23 Apr 1996 04:43:17 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS - Cynthia Torqueman

Yes, the Torque- part of her name came from Torquemada, that's correct. 
Just seemed appropriate since we were shortly doing an episode with an
inquisitor.



 jms



Date: 23 Apr 1996 22:09:19 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Will TNT edit reruns?

Usually, you get big cuts in shows going from network to cable because the
restrictions on the number of commercials are greater for the former than
the latter.  However, the number of spots in syndication are about the
same as for cable, so there shouldn't be any need for cuts.  Also, once
the show hits TNT, you won't be using the Kung Fu (certainly) or B5
(probably) promos anymore, which frees up another 30-45 seconds for
commercials.

So overall, I shouldn't think there'd be much need for editing.



 jms



Date: 23 Apr 1996 22:10:47 -0400
Subject: Re: JMS, you tease! (STV spoilers)

"Has anyone told you lately what an evil, evil man you are?"

Why, you old sweet-talker you....


 jms



Date: 23 Apr 1996 22:09:53 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Has B5 been renewed yet?

We'll know sometime next month, after the PTEN committee meets again.


 jms



Date: 23 Apr 1996 22:13:18 -0400
Subject: Re: Attn JMS: three behind the scenes

The foreign mailings were initially going to be ground; we're
investigating whether or not we can afford, without raising the price, to
do airmail instead.

We're taking other steps to see if we can make things easier for the UK
fans.

As for where I am, I'm still kinda all over the place, here, CIS, GEnie,
AOL primarily.


 jms



Date: 23 Apr 1996 22:14:24 -0400
Subject: Re: Did Delenn TELL A LIE to Sheridan?  [spoilers Sic T.V.]

It's been established that Minbari can and do lie when it's done to save
the honor of another.  Here, Delenn saved face for Sheridan at dinner.



 jms


Date: 23 Apr 1996 23:28:28 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Means of Foreign Payment for Fan Club

We just had a meeting today about the fan club, and in response to some of
the questions here about the UK, we're investigating how best to handle
this to make it easier for folks outside the US to get involved.  We hope
to have some answers soonish, so UKers might want to wait just a bit
before sending in their subs.  



 jms



Date: 24 Apr 1996 04:08:02 -0400
Subject: Re: Attn JMS: Airing Dates

Start with a correction: the final 4 from last season aired in October,
not November.  That aside...

No, it didn't take that long to finish the CGI, since they'd already aired
months before in Britain.  We will have all the CG and incidental stuff
finished for S3 in July, in time for the August UK airings of the last
batch of episodes.  But PTEN sometimes holds back a handful of episodes to
put on prior to the new season to help ramp up the ratings and get a
running start.



 jms



Date: 24 Apr 1996 04:04:40 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS Changes in the Story due to Actors

"First, I've heard the actor who played General Hague was supposed to
continue with the show but ended up going someplace else."

That's correct.  He bailed at the last minute, even though we had first
dibs on him.  Not much point to forcing an actor to stay if he wants to
go; you just get an unhappy set and a less than stellar performance.  That
situation led to changing a grand total of 3 lines.  Anything in Hague's
situation is what's called a "moveable piece," meaning it can be easily
assigned to others.

"Second, I've heard the actress that plays Delenn was supposed to remain
fully Membari but didn't like the heavy make-up"

Nope.  That was never the intent.  She was *always* going to make this
change.
and is now part-human.

"Third, the Sinclair thing.  We all wonder if he's supposed to be back or
what (probably, "or what")--especially based on the "Babylon Squared" show
where Sinclair is the apparent leader of the Good Guys (tm)."
 
Watch the two-parter.  We'll talk afterward.

"I heard Bruce Box...(uh, I'm too stupid to spell his name correctly)
isn't happy with the ratings, etc."

Point being...?  Bruce is happy with the show, and staying with it; like
the rest of us, he wishes the show got more attention here in the US on a
par with what it gets overseas, particularly in the UK.

"I'm wondering...how do you deal with these things and keep the necessary
consistency?  Are you just "rolling with the punches" and letting the
changes take place but keeping the main story idea intact?  That's my
guess.  Perhaps no one actor or person is essential to the story?"

As a writer, doing a long-term story, it'd be dangerous and short-sighted
for me to construct the story without trap doors for every single
character.  Because Stuff Happens.  An actor can get hit by a meteor, walk
off, whatever.  So I deliberately and very carefully constructed this
puppy to be more or less airtight no matter what happens.  You want to
drive from LA to San Diego.  You figure on taking the 5 freeway all the
way down.  Only when you get to the Slausen Cutoff (insert joke here),
there's a traffic jam...so you get off, take some alternate streets, and
come back again right back on track.  Same thing here.

That was one of the big risks going into a long-term storyline which I
considered long in advance; you can't predict real-world events, so you
have to compensate for them and plan for them in advance.  Otherwise you
could paint yourself into a corner.  

Similarly, there are story changes that come up at me by surprise, which
make total sense, which result in actor changes.  As a writer, you have to
be flexible enough to recognize a stronger, better path when it presents
itself; to be so rigidly locked into your prior structure eliminates
spontaneity and the chance to explore new routes.  This is exactly the
same thing that happens when you write a novel; you learn things 1/2 way
through writing a novel you can learn no other way.  

I've been writing and selling since I was 17.  In all that time, I've
never once followed an outline beat-for-beat once I got into the main
writing, whatever the final venue.  No outline survives contact with the
enemy.  It's a *guideline* that keeps you on track when you waver, and
serves as base camp, providing security when it strikes you to go off and
explore a path you hadn't noticed before.





 jms


Date: 24 Apr 1996 14:58:52 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Melissa Gilbert on B5??

Yes, Melissa pops up in two episodes toward the latter part of the season.
 The part is a good one.  That's all I can say for now.



 jms



Date: 25 Apr 1996 00:43:48 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Public knowledge of last episode title.

Well, there's what one would *prefer*, and there's that which is
*sensible*.  And the sensible answer is that no, once the last S3 episode
airs in the UK, there's no way on earth you're gonna keep that out of the
public eye, and there ain't much sense to protecting it or hitting it with
spoiler regs.  I'd let it go at that point.  

(And, frankly, it'll probably slip out some time before that; when it
hits, it hits, I've decided to let it go at that point...you just ain't
gonna hear it from ME, that's all.)


 jms



Date: 25 Apr 1996 00:53:10 -0400
Subject: from jms: to support B5

I've noted, and been sent, a number of messages asking how folks can best
support or coordinate support for B5 among the stations, which are the key
to keeping the show going and healthy.

Just in the last few weeks, Warner Bros. has set up a web page designed
specifically to assist in this area, noting the fan interest in aiding the
show.  It contains email and snail mail addresses and phone numbers and
contact names for all the stations now carrying B5, broken down by state
and city, with suggestions on letters, and a new gif and jpg image of the
revised B5 symbol (sword and B5 logo) which can be put on other web pages
to link them in.

As has been noted, WB wants to continue the show, and the key right now
are the stations which are being pressured to limit time to other shows in
deference to UPN, Fox and others.  (Lonseome Dove, for instance, was just
canceled, even though it was getting good ratings, because the producers
just couldn't find enough stations to make it worth it for the national
advertisers.)  

So if you're looking to coordinate B5 support, I commend to you this web
page:

                      http://www.babylon5.com/support



 jms


Date: 25 Apr 1996 18:50:52 -0400
Subject: Re: B5's acceptance (NO spoilers)

I think this is fairly accurate; I've long felt that this show wouldn't
really take off until, ironically, it was over and in long term
syndication.  Which is okay by me...


 jms




Date: 26 Apr 1996 01:35:42 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN Moderators, JMS, Everyone: A Proposal for all of the many questions to JMS

Good hearted an idea as it might be, I'm not sure it's necessary.  Now, if
it's a question we've seen a thousand times before, and I've answered lots
of times before, if anybody wants to kick in with that answer, that's
fine, but overall....

I guess part of this is that very often the ATT JMS notes aren't really
questions, or advance a particular thought that doesn't seem to lead to a
response.  When a very specific question is asked, about writing or the
show or the like, then I tend to answer.  If someone uses ATT JMS and
says, as is often said, "I was thinking that the Minbari are an advanced
species, and maybe because of this they don't have the same approach to
justice we do, so we shouldn't judge them," my usual reaction is to nod
and move on, because they've expressed their opinion, and there really
isn't much I can add to that...it's their feeling about something.

As opposed to, "What, historically, have the Minbari done about the
question of justice?" which leads to a discusssion.  To some extent, like
any conversation, the quality of the answers you get depends on the
quality and specificity of the questions asked.

Also, right now, since we're not shooting, in a way during the hiatus
period I become something of a balloon sans air.  There isn't that much
interesting to talk about at this end, we're not doing anything but post
production; the sets are all dark, awaiting word.  And, finally, I do tend
to get somewhat quiet each season while we wait for word on renewal.  This
brief period between April and renewal are really my own down-times on the
show...and I'm kinda like Marcus, if I don't have something to say, I
generally don't say anything rather than waste people's time filling up
space.


 jms


Date: 26 Apr 1996 07:39:09 -0400
Subject: Re: ALDFA (**NO** Spoilers)

I agree, I think Chris did a great job on this one (he's done some
spectacular work overall this season, on Severed, Interludes, Ship and
others later this season).  What I'd told him in this case I wanted was as
much as possible in the way of natural instruments as opposed to synth, so
that it fit more with the feel of the episode.


 jms



Date: 26 Apr 1996 07:39:14 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS Books and TV Plot

My theory is that *in general* the novels and comics tend to be canon, but
the details may not always be, mainly because it's virtually impossible to
ride herd on every single line of all this the way I do the show.  It
physically can't be done.  But where possible, we keep it as close to
cointinuity as possible.


 jms



Date: 26 Apr 1996 07:39:11 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Entertainment Tonight?

No, that wasn't me in the shot.  I generally stay out of camera range when
they come to talk to our cast; I prefer they have their time in the
limelight rather than horn in on it.


 jms



Date: 26 Apr 1996 07:39:24 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Borrowed Characters

"I've noticed a few instances where the Star Trek progeny have borrowed
specific ideas from print SF with some changes to make story plots.  The
Dyson sphere and a ruined arms-dealer planet are specific examples and I
vaguely remember others.  I'd like to see some of the better SF characters
visiting B5 such as Slippery Jim DiGriz (alias Stainless Steel Rat) who
are never going to see the movie screen for technical reasons.  Can this
sort of thing be done?"

No, not here.  I generally consider that sort of thing to be too close to
the line bordering plagiarism for comfort.  Somebody went through a great
deal of work to create certain characters; I'd rather not poach on their
turf.


 jms



Date: 26 Apr 1996 07:39:23 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS Changes in the Story due to Actors

Cindy: absolutely, pass along anything here you think may be of any value.

There's a lot of misinformation and bad mythology about how writing works,
and how TeeVee works...anything that helps to clarify those areas is
nothing less than terrific.


 jms


Date: 28 Apr 1996 05:07:49 -0400
Subject: on moderation from jms

Over the last several days, I've received a fair amount of email on the
subject of the moderated group, and the question of messages...present,
slowed, deleted and adjusted.  I've sent a number of notes to Jay
inquiring about the situation, and giving my thoughts to him.  On the
theory that conversations in public serve the commonweal more than
conversations in private, I wanted to take one moment and reiterate my
feelings on this subject...which were stated very clearly in one of the
first messages on this group, and my very first overall.  But as someone
once noted of recurrent themes in literature, "Of course everything has
already been said.  But since no one was paying attention, we begin
again."  Nothing is lost by clarification.

(Preliminary aside: I'm told that apparently some messages that folks
thought were being cut were, in fact, simply held up in the system by the
software or may not have been showing up in their local system for
whatever reason; this seems to be true, insofar as I can tell.)

The moderated group, as I understand it, is designed to primarily control
three problem areas: spoilers, excessive personal attacks of a chronic
nature (especially libelous or defamatory material), and story ideas.  The
second is what drives out other users, the last is something which cannot
be where I am for legal reasons. 

Not for content.  Not for language.  Not for unpopular opinions.  Not for
opinions of controversy.  Not for critical opinions regarding this show. 
If somebody wants to say, "Joe, I'm sorry, but 'Avalon' just really
sucked," he should be perfectly free to do so.  Others may be perfectly
free to disagree, and allow the two sides to discuss the reasons for their
viewpoints.

I said it in my first message here, and I'll repeat it: from time to time,
somebody is going to lose their temper, or say something less than
prudent, or explore some of the more colorful aspects of the English
language.  From where I sit, there is nothing wrong with this.  We all
have momentary lapses.

Note the penultimate word: *momentary*.  If someone is *chronically* and
consistently engaged in this stuff, ongoing personal attacks, then you
warn, you warn a second time, and then and ONLY then do you delete.  A
blipped message should be the tool of last resort, not the instrument of
first choice.  

When I was first approached about the moderated group, I expressed this
very clearly, as well as my own willingness to be moderated when and if I
might ever cross the line.  I said that I would be more than glad to be a
part of a moderated group *as long as* everybody felt comfortable speaking
freely, that moderation would only be implemented for the extreme cases,
the chronic abusers, the trolls and the flamers and the fabricators and
those who exist only to bring grief to other users.  That was my position
then, and it remains the same now.  A lighter hand is always better than a
heavier one; always better to err on the side of letting something
through.

Sometimes, you can only get pertinent information by asking impertinent
questions.  And as I scan through the group as it stands now, there are a
lot of impertinent questions lined up.  Which is great.  There are also a
few questions about some of the material on the edge of that.  Those need
to be addressed, or at least discussed openly.

For the record, I think the moderated group is performing well overall. 
In just a few short weeks by my counter it's logged about 7,000 messages,
and will shortly pass the unmoderated group in volume.  The atmosphere is
friendly, and the questions and discussions good.  A nice mix of critical
messages and positive ones, and almost always in the spirit of
constructive criticism.  

So this is not a flag on the play, only an advisory and a restating of
what I noted here in the beginning.  The moderators have a hideously
difficult task ahead of them in the sheer volume of posts, and they are
doing an exemplary job.  That doesn't mean mistakes won't be made. 
Mistakes are inevitable as we all learn the feel of this place, and grow
together.  If they have not been made yet, and I'm not sufficiently
conversant on the whole situation to say they have, then they will most
certainly be made in future.  That's simply the nature of any new process
being implemented; there is trial and error.

We learn, we adjust, and we move on.  It's what humans do.


 jms


Date: 28 Apr 1996 19:09:25 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: ALDFAvalon Music question

No, we can't use any outside music; it all has to be done via our composer
(unless we purchase the rights, obviously).  Here, though, it's all Chris.
 We had a long conversation about the kind of music I wanted, I encouraged
him to think in terms of Celtic music, natural instruments primarily
instead of synth or electronic instruments, that sort of thing.  But no,
no Claanad was used.


 jms



Date: 28 Apr 1996 19:10:30 -0400
Subject: Re: ATT JMS: I *liked* ALDfA (& a ?)

The ability to forgive is certainly one of the foremost principles of
sentient life, even Draal would agree with that.  

 jms



Date: 29 Apr 1996 01:19:37 -0400
Subject: Re: Forces of light?  (SPOILERS up to "Interludes")

Just to be sure on spoilers....





























"In other words, it seems like our heroes have been more or less sitting
on their thumbs, embroiled in internal problems, waiting for the war to
start.  Next week, I suspect they'll start to pay the price."

The former part of this is not entirely true.  Some stuff has been going
on in the background, but it's been very secretive...which is why you
don't know about it yet.  They've been working like the dickens, getting
some stuff ready...and you'll find out what that is in an episode later
this season.  They needed to buy time, and now that they've had it,
they've used it well.




 jms



Date: 29 Apr 1996 01:29:11 -0400
Subject: Re: Att: JMS

It's down there...possible spoilers.
















You basically had two large convoys meeting one another.  Two Minbari
ships were hit and destroyed, a third damaged badly; this was the one
carrying Dukhat and the Grey Council, including Delenn.  

Just for the record, what happened after that...the Minbari ships opened
fire, and a number of the Earth ships were fragged.  The rest fled as the
Minbari ships hesitated, waiting to see what happened to Dukhat.  When it
was learned that he was killed, they took off and pursued the ships back
to an Earth base.  Initially, one of the Earth captains explained that
they had encountered hostiles (trying to cover his ass), and when the
Minbari ships appeared, all hell broke loose.

It was shortly after this "cowardly attack" on their ships, and the
assassination of their leader, that the Minbari declared what is in
essence a jihad, a holy war, against Earth.  The worker class went along
with it, even though the religious caste was unsure...but divided, they
couldn't raise sufficient objections to the war to stop it initially.


 jms


Date: 29 Apr 1996 20:08:09 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN: JMS

Well, they're interesting speculations, and obviously I can't say one
thing or another about them at this time.

But on another level, you're right; if the clues are properly placed, and
the story proceeds in a logical, consistent fashion, about 20% of the
people will guess correctly on where it's going (this from my years on
Murder, She Wrote).


 jms


Date: 29 Apr 1996 21:23:06 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: End of A Late Delivery From Avalon

The references given (he said vaguely, to avoid spoiling anybody) were
first and foremost intentional to the story and to set up stuff...but as I
wrote it, the way this stuff has been discussed online did come to mind,
and on some level it was probably a slight *plink*, yes.

Sort of a "yeah, well, TWO can play at that game, and most of you missed
THIS particular analogy, so THERE."

I am in serious need of a vacation, I think....


 jms



Date: 30 Apr 1996 04:11:37 -0400
Subject: Re: JMS: Was this the original plan?

The curious thing...the interesting thing...is that in just about
everything I've ever written, yes, I generally follow where I want to go,
end up where I want to end up, but once I get *into* it, once the
characters come alive on the page, I inevitably find better ways of doing
things, stronger and more muscular paths to the story, more interesting
side roads.  

Also, this original story was worked out in 1986/87; that's nearly ten
years ago.  In those ten years, I've become -- or like to think I've
become -- a better writer, learned more, written more, picked up some new
tools I didn't have then.  So you have a situation where the writer in
1996 looks at the writer in 1986 and says, "No, listen...there's a better
way.  Yes, we'll still get to Disneyland on time, you'll still have plenty
of time to ride the haunted mansion...but if we go *this* way, we can stop
off and also see Knotts Berry Farm, and the Winchester Mystery Mansion,
and maybe even Hearst Castle on the way."

The destination is still the same..but I've found a *lot* more interesting
ways of getting there.  Which, after all, is what an outline is for: a
safe home base that allows you to wander off, knowing that you can always
return to it if you get lost.


 jms



Date: 30 Apr 1996 04:14:11 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Why five years?

Knowing the syndication marketplace, I figured five was about the best you
could do before being canceled as new shows came in and the marketplace
changed.  At least, for a new show.  Six felt too long, four could be done
but I kinda wanted a little breathing room if at all possible.



 jms



Date: 30 Apr 1996 04:12:21 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: The stats (was: Re: on moderation from jms)

"One minor correction Joe.  The moderated newsgroup surpassed the
unmoderated one's daily volume since the *second* day it came on line."

kewl....

Now to go pass out from overexposure to math....



 jms