lurkers-guide/ftp/Usenet/jms98-10-usenet

JMS (and coproducer George Johnsen) Usenet messages for October 1998.


Date: 8 Oct 1998 17:37:30 -0600
Subject: Re: JMS: Anti-VORcon?


It should be noted that both Sierra FX and Precedence Publishing are taking
steps to make it clear that while they are sponsoring *events* at the
convention, they do not *endorse* this partuicular convention, distancing
themselves from it.  Signs will appear at their booths further reinforcing
this.

Additionally, Tracy Scoggins will not appear, Bruce may or may not be there
depending on what happens with a movie he's shooting in Toronto, Optic Nerve
will not be bringing down an exhibit, and WB is this week putting VorCon on
official notice about the showing of ANY copyrighted videotape material from
the show.


 jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com





Date: 8 Oct 1998 20:42:49 -0600
Subject: from jms: crusade update


It's been kinda hectic here, between the new sets under construction, meetings,
and other stuff, some of which has been hinted around by others.  At this
point, we're still on target for filming to start up on October 19th.

One of the issues brought up by TNT had to do with a decision we all made early
on that the first episode up, Racing the Night, would just jump right into the
story, without doing the usual pilot-episode thing of showing the team coming
together, which was our other option.  

On reflection, TNT figured that the best thing might be to do that "coming
together" episode after all, to set the stage for all that follows.  It's a
lateral change, really, you could have it or not, either way, it's dealer's
choice.  But if we're going to do that, we may as well get the sets and other
stuff ready to go for that first episode and the ones that will immediately
follow.  We're also making some adjustments to the wardrobe (and I've come up
with a pretty funny way to make the transition in the story).  All of the prior
produced episodes are still in, and still going to be broadcast, nothing's
changed that as far as I know.

Anyway, things continue to progress, the script for the alternate first ep is
in, and all should be cool from this point on.  Which is not to say there
haven't been some knife-fights...but we seem to have reached some
understandings....


 jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com





Date: 10 Oct 1998 20:01:11 -0600
Subject: Re: from jms: crusade update (mostly humor)


More on the costumes in another thread, but suffice to say...skin tight they
ain't.  We're going for a more conventional military look in terms of jump
suits and cargo pants, something a little rougher looking...but that elsewhere.

 jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com





Date: 10 Oct 1998 20:37:00 -0600
Subject: from jms II: more crusade


My newsreader was down for a couple days, and I've been hunkered down writing,
so I'm just now getting a chance to get out and address some of the stories
going around.  Best way to do that is with a quick overview....

We're still set to go back into filming on October 19th.  As I mentioned in a
prior post, TNT felt the need for an actual introductory episode, one that sets
the story by bringing together our characters together for the first time, more
of a conventional pilot in that respect.  "Racing the Night" was written to
take place about 5 months after the Drakh attack, so that we got right into
things.  The "bringing people into the story" story will, therefore, take place
shortly after the Drakh attack, two-three days later, to be precise.

Since we're doing a first introductory episode, TNT kinda wanted to have the
new sets in place for the first few eps (though they can't appear in the first
one for story reasons), and since we're making some wardrobe adjustments, they
figured they may as well have those in place as well.

Nothing in the story has been changed.  The five episodes already made will be
aired, and you will see that the characters, the story, the feel of the show is
*exactly* the same between those first 5 filmed, and those that follow.  What
it comes down to are some cosmetic changes, some new sets, and an episode that
sets things in place.  

As we come back, the first two episodes up to be shot will be scripts we
already had in hand, then the new introductory episode, "War Zone," another one
we already have, one new one, then another one from on-hand, which will take us
through into the Christmas break.

No scripts are being thrown out, no episodes are being scrapped...none of that
has taken place, or is taking place.  The show is the show is the show.

(And on the costumes themselves...no, they're not going to be "skin tight"
things; we're actually kinda going in the opposite direction.  They're more
typically military jumpsuits, black, neatly tailored, similar to some Air Force
or Marine uniforms.  And the only people who will be wearing these are the
basic technical crew, Captain Gideon (Gary Cole) and Lieutenant John Matheson
(Daniel Dae Kim); the others are civilians, and thus are not affected.

Regarding air dates...we have thus far not been told if they want to push for a
January airdate or not.  Part of the complication to all this is that if we
make #8 in shooting order the first aired, we have to do a hideous amount of
post-production on CGI to get it ready in time.  Rather than make us rush it,
they have said they might consider waiting until the February sweeps.  Another
option is to go in March, if they don't want to go up against the Network
sweeps period (which is traditionally death for basic cable)...but the problem
*there* is that you can only air 4 episodes and then TNT would go into the NBA
playoffs, which means it would be another 6 weeks or so until any new eps could
be shown.

So on that score, nobody's decided anything yet, we don't know and haven't been
told because they haven't decided where will best serve us, so we hit the
ground with the least network opposition.

Anyway, that's where things are.  Hope this puts to rest some of the rumors out
there.

 jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com





Date: 12 Oct 1998 00:19:57 -0600
Subject: Re: from jms II: more crusade


>How much of the CGI could be done "speculatively", concurrent
>or even before the filming of the episode?

Zip.  Because until it's edited, you don't know how long to make the shots, or
how they'll intercut with the live action...and there's all the stuff from
other eps to deal with as well.

 jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com





Date: 12 Oct 1998 22:51:03 -0600
Subject: Re: Starting on Harlan?


>You should have seen him whining on Sci-Fi's StarTrek Special Edition.
>
>His story may have been butchered, but complaining 25yrs later isn't going
>to help.

Better then that lies should triumph?

And I'd suggest Shatterday as a good place to begin with Harlan.


 jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com





Date: 13 Oct 1998 14:23:05 -0600
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: CGI Re: from jms II: more crusade

>BTW how are you planning those CGI parts? Are you providing exact
>storyboards with ships and beams or do the CGI people just create
>something along your script or do you check it prior rendering in
>wireframe form or similar

Pretty much all of the above, depending on the complexity of the sequence.

 jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com





Date: 21 Oct 1998 21:23:05 -0600
Subject: quickie update from jms

To the gazillion or so folks who've asked in email...yes, we began shooting
again on Monday the 19th, as scheduled, making the show we desired to make, and
we're cranking along just fine.  Actors are happy, crew are happy, everybody
happy but Zathras...but Zathras never happy...Zathras happy once, had friend
once, but wheels fell off, very sad....

 jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com





Date: 26 Oct 1998 16:58:07 -0700
Subject: computer games and comic - jms

I posted this accidentally to the UK group, had meant to post it here:

For a while now, every once in a while, one computer game company or other will
drop me an email note, and ask if I'd be interested in lining up with one or
the other to design games for them.  I haven't said yes to any of them because
a) I'm not as familiar with the scene as I'd like to be corporately, c) I've
been busy mounting Crusade, and c) I've been busy working on the Sierra B5 game
to make it as good as possible.  But the thought keeps occuring...hell, I could
put in the same amount of time I'm putting on the B5 game on a game of my
own....

So I figured...what the heck.  Everybody I know who's in computer games is
online, and so I thought, all right, let's say I'm open to the possibility. 
The B5 game is nearly finished from a design perspective, so that time is now
open.  The filming on Crusade is going fine, we're ahead on scripts...it's a
good time to have some talks, broaden out the work a bit.

So to those who've inquired before (your info is long, long gone, I'm afraid),
and anyone who's looking on from one of the game companies, who might be
interested in a jms line of games...lemme know.

Also, I'm also pleased to announce that I have a new comic title of my own
coming out next year from Top Cow (a division of Image Comics, publisher of
Witchblade and Spawn)... something I've been quietly working on for the last
three, four months...and which I think may have a fairly considerable impact on
the field.  

(It's the way I'm hardwired...if I don't have 2-3 projects going at the same
time, whether a book or a story of something else, I just get nuts....)

More info has been posted about the comic in various places, including
mania.com.  The comic is called RISING STARS, and it's set to debut next April.
 I've just turned in the first script (for the preview issue), and will be
getting down to writing issues 0 and 1 shortly.
 
The story follows the events after the small town of Pederson, Illinois, is
struck by a mass of energy from an unknown, but non-terrestrial source. 
Everyone who was in utero at the time of the flash   is affected, resulting in
113 individuals who develop abilities of a most unusual and highly individual
form.  (The power is to some degree shaped by who they are, just as they are
shaped to some degree by the power.)
  
It is set in a realistic universe, timed to real-world events (it covers a span
of about 60 years, starting in about 1969), where there have never been
super-powered individuals before.  It looks at how the world reacts to them,
and how they react to the world.  We follow these characters through their
early years, into adulthood and to the ends of  their lives, mapping all the
changes they go through, and how they change the world.
  
It's an extremely ambitious 24 issue miniseries (with the potential to go back
and further develop any of the stories presented earlier along the way).

 jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com





Date: 27 Oct 1998 01:08:18 -0700
Subject: Re: Two more days

This is a devastating episode, by the way...so much happens in this that it's
kinda staggering, actually.

Of the final 5, this one, and the last two, are my favorites.  And I like 'em
all.
 jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com





Date: 27 Oct 1998 01:15:05 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Top Cow?!

I'd actually heard a lot of good things about Top Cow, and my understanding
going into this was that I would have total creative freedom, and it would be a
writer-driven book.  The artist they've talked to is someone whose work I've
admired, and this book is going to have a very different look from the rest of
their titles.  The folks over there seem to really have their act together. 
They only launch about 2 new titles a year, and that means they have to be
special...and they want this to be that kind of project.

 jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com





Date: 27 Oct 1998 18:32:37 -0700
Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Top Cow?!

>How closely do you plan 
>on collaborating with your penciller--will he have much leeway in 
>layouts/"camera" angles/etc. or do you script a page pretty tightly?

I script pretty damn tight...as much as a half-page to describe a panel, in
great detail.  I'm doing those pages the same as I do my B5 and Crusade
scripts: hideous amounts of detail.

And yeah, we want to go for a much more realistic look to this book, because
it's essential to making the story work.

>if you seriously plan on bucking the System and 
>producing a book that operates on the assumption that dialogue and 
>characters are *not* interchangeable, I can guarantee you at least one 
>regular reader.

Done and done.

 jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com





Date: 27 Oct 1998 18:32:44 -0700
Subject: Re: computer games and comic - jms

>I'm not "tearing it down" as you put it.  I am simply
>pointing out the fact that the idea is not original.
>In fact, it sounds like a direct copy from the films,
>although I'm sure JMS will make a LOT more
>interesting story of it than the films.
>

Sorry.  Ain't the case.  Damned was about a colonization effort by aliens,
achieved by getting human female pregnant, and the kids were strictly
telekinetic, and died at about age 7.

There is no alien colonization thing going on in the story, it only affects the
women who are already pregnant, and it follows their whole lives.  You may as
well say that the Three Mile Island story is a Damned story because it charts
the effect of outside forces on pregnant women and their offspring.


 jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com





Date: 28 Oct 1998 00:55:43 -0700
Subject: Re: Two more days

BTW, there's a couple of nifty reviews of the final 5 episodes by Glen and by
Robogeek on ain't-it-cool-news...very touching stuff.

 jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com