lurkers-guide/ftp/Usenet/jms97-06-usenet

JMS (and coproducer George Johnsen) Usenet messages for June 1997.

Date: 30 May 1997 13:16:05 -0400
Subject: Re: No Surrender, No Retreat ( *Spoilers* )

"were these White Stars tired or something? I would've expected that a
couple of them could just go slice-slice, sever the rotating sections on
the EA ships and have 'em for breakfast."

Sure, if all you're interested in is slaughtering the opposition...they
were designed for "destroy"...when you have to pull your punches to avoid
just going in and killing EVERYthing in sight...which will only work
*against* you in the long run, it becomes more difficult.


 jms






Date: 2 Jun 1997 20:33:24 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: "In The Beginning" is *linear*???

Never said it was linear, only that it predates B5.


 jms






Date: 3 Jun 1997 16:00:19 -0400
Subject: Re: Att: JMS, George, MOJO, etc., about CGI, EFX, etc.

Gary-

As to what the process sounds like, I'll leave that to your imagination,
but the rest of the process goes something like this:

The script will dictate a direction to look.  Joe has some amazing
pictures in his head, and sometimes they actually pop out and leak onto
paper!  Other times it takes more help.  There is a discussion around a
table not unlike the one that you describe, where the general
characteristics of the race and their mode of conveyance are discussed
in detail.  The ideas that result are communicated to a designer
(creature specialist, futurist, technical illustrator, theortical
scientist, or animator- depends on the type of design required) for a
concept sketch.  Once that is adjusted and approved, a modeler builds
the object in the appropriate animation software, and the surfacing
begins!

At completion of that point, a move test is done, approved or rejected
by myself, John Copeland, and JMS, and the object is added to the
animator's arsenal.

Yes, it is collaborative, and fairly time consuming, but it does result
in some cool ships that no single vision could produce!

George Johnsen
CoProducer, B5





Date: 3 Jun 1997 16:06:32 -0400
Subject: Re: "Conflict of Interest" and PPGs (Mild Spoiler)

Seriously Mild Spoiler for CoI:



























PPG fire through an HVAC tube wall

This is substantially correct.  The PPG blast is extremely hot, and will
melt through the plastic coating and the metal lining inside the tube.
The entire energy of a PPG will not come through the tube (unless by
some coincidence the exact same area is hit twice or three times), and I
believe that this was propoerly portrayed in the sequence.  Even if it
isn't the entire energy blast, it will hurt like hell and de-mobilize an
individual meat packet (person) for the bad guys to come get later.

It did take a *very* long time to burn through the bulkhead door to
allow them access to the hallway, and said door did mildly glow in the
affected areas prior to melting through.  The station hull is even more
heat resistant.

George Johnsen
CoProducer, B5





Date: 7 Jun 1997 14:41:56 -0400
Subject: The Blooper Show Response


I recieved this letter from Dick Clark Productions the other day, and I
share it here with their permission:

 

Dear Mr. Johnsen:

We deeply regret any confusion or unintentional problems caused by the
deletion of the Babylon 5 bloopers from our last special.  Although we
had every intention of using the bloopers, last minute changes by the
network, and overall time problems with the show, forced us to eliminate
a number of good bloopers at the last minute.

Unfortunately, the TV Guide ad, which our production company was never
shown, was already put to bed at the time of the final edit.  Had we
been aware that the Babylon 5 bloopers were listed in TV Guide, we would
have made every effort to retain them in our show.  We hope to make this
up to you by including Babylon 5 bloopers in our next special.

Again, may we apologize for a situation that was not in our control.  We
look forward to a long future with mutual benefits to both of our shows.

Sincerely,

Al Schwartz, Executive Producer/Director
Barry Adelman, Producer/Writer





After all of the posting, we thought you should know.  

George J
CoProd, B5





Date: 8 Jun 1997 01:26:20 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN:  JMS

The schedule for 522 is separate and apart from the schedule for the
movies, so there shouldn't be a problem.


 jms






Date: 8 Jun 1997 01:39:00 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: lunchtime on the set

Lunchtime is one of the best times on set.  We have a large area set up
outside the back of the stage, a big picnic tent sort of arrangement, in
the open air, and the food is brought in, and it's kind of like a big
family picnic 5 times a week.  A lot of goofing around, laughter, hanging
out and BSing, big political arguments usually involving me (moderate to
left), Jerry (slightly to the right of Atilla the Hun) and Jason (acting
representative from Mars).  In the case of massive applied prosthetics,
they stay on because it would take too long to reaply them, and in general
they're not hard to work around; the background aliens just pop off their
heads.

Curiously...and I consider this something of a psychological or
sociological study, albeit very informal...at lunchtime *almost
invariabley* the Narn extras sit with the other Narn extras, Centauri sit
with Centauri, Earth troops with Earth troops...it's interesting to see
how fast this sort of thing happens.


 jms





Date: 11 Jun 1997 06:42:34 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Writer's Block

This is probably going to honk off a lot of other writers, but...I've
never had writer's block.  Never.  Not ever.  Not in the 26 years since I
started writing seriously at age 17.  My problem has only been in getting
it all *down*, there's so much to work from.  If I dried up right now on
stories, what I have in notes alone could probably carry me through the
next 10 years.


 jms





Date: 11 Jun 1997 08:05:44 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS:  If S5 airs in January, what will happen to S5 on 

The S5 new eps and S1-4 reruns would be simultaneous...which would mean
that one could piggy back on the PR of the other.


 jms

Date: 11 Jun 1997 21:15:08 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: "Proceed with messing it up" (was Re: ATTN JMS:

There have only been a couple of very rare cases when a director has said
"Why did you do this?"  Usually we explain why -- we were running long, an
EFX shot didn't work out, whatever -- and it's never a problem.  There
have been, I think, about 3 cases when a director said it was really
important to him to do it a certain way in one shot, and if a director
feels that strongly about it, we tend to think we should go along with it.
 


 jms





Date: 12 Jun 1997 17:02:44 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: "In the Beginning" for newbies and vets

ItB contains surprises and turnarounds for many of the series veteran
fans, and it does a great job of laying the foundation for the first two
seasons for the newbies.

It's a most elegant dance...and I'm actually kinda proud of it.


 jms





Date: 14 Jun 1997 20:38:46 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Writer's Block

"That, I think, explains how you got so damn good (with "the tools", as
you've
put it) so damn fast. Practice, practice, practice, they say---and you
can't
stop."

Yep.  Especially the Can't Stop part.  I've written an average of 10 pages
per day, every day of the year but 3, since I was 17.  

I also think that working in journalism has helped a great deal; you can't
walk into the office, a story needed by noon, and say, "Y'know, I just
don't feel the muse today."  The next thing you'll feel is your butt on
the concrete sidewalk.  You learn a certain discipline there that has
helped me greatly over the years.




 jms





Date: 17 Jun 1997 03:45:17 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Directing

"Having read through this months edition of Starburst (I think), Claudia
Christian mentions that you enjoyed directing.  My question is a very
simple one:  would you do it again, and what part of the directing the
episode did you find the most enjoyable/rewarding?"

I really don't know if I'd say that I *enjoyed* it...my main concern every
day was somehow getting through it without embarrassing myself, or letting
down the crew or the cast or, ultimately, the viewers.  I wanted the
direction to the the equal to the performances I knew were waiting to be
unlocked.  I haven't commented on it much for the same reason you rarely
see me saying that a given script of mine is good...I'm too close to it
and too critical of everydamnthing I do.  But so far everyone of the crew
who's seen it, and a few others, were very much moved and satisfied by it.

I don't know if I'll do it again or not...my gut says probably not.  If I
*were* to even try it again, it couldn't be anything other than a final
episode of a season, given how much is involved in prep if you're going to
have a chance to get it right.



 jms





Date: 17 Jun 1997 14:27:49 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS:  I still love this show!

Thanks...and they have definitely become more chapters lately, one running
into the next, into the next...it's a lot of fun.


 jms

Date: 17 Jun 1997 20:49:14 -0400
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS/George - TNT Movies (videotapes?) in the UK

Christopher-

> But my question is this: for those of us who--on principle--don't have
> either cable or satellite (just terrestrial TV), are TNT likely to
> release
> the B5 movies on videotape at some point here in the UK, given the market
> success that the WB tapes of the B5 series have been over here?
> 

Nothing has been decided yet, but success breeds success, doesn't it?

George Johnsen
CoProducer, B5



Date: 19 Jun 1997 02:27:36 -0400
Subject: Re: Attn: JMS

I appreciate the interest...as for my birthday, I don't generally spread
that info around, mainly because I don't like to make a big deal out of
it, and prefer to just let it go.


 jms