JMS on Genie September 1996 SFRT II RoundTable Category 18, Topic 1 Message 626 Tue Sep 03, 1996 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 01:14 EDT Thanks, all. We're very pleased and proud to have been recognized for the Hugo. It's a terrific validation of our work, and this is something that the fans made happen, and it's as much theirs as mine. It just reinforces that people can get together and accomplish something whenever they choose to do so Re: copyright infringement...no, you don't have to prove damages to win. Statutory fines exist, at $100,000 per infringement the minimum under the law. Additional penalties come from damages; the $100,000 is the minimum per. And one can argue that each distributed game would be an infringement...the math ain't favorable. jms ------------ SFRT II RoundTable Category 18, Topic 1 Message 644 Wed Sep 04, 1996 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 02:04 EDT Re: commercials...we don't make 'em, and have zero input into the construction of them. We're not allowed to get near it, that's strictly a Warnr Bros. thing. jms ------------ SFRT II RoundTable Category 18, Topic 2 Message 424 Tue Sep 03, 1996 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 01:16 EDT It's usually common for larger ships to drop their fighters just as they enter a jump point into normal space, so they can get an edge on the target rather than launching post-jump. jms ------------ SFRT II RoundTable Category 18, Topic 1 Message 647 Wed Sep 04, 1996 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:44 EDT Small corrections...the Hugo space ship is silver; 7 Hugos have been given previously to SF shows, 3 to the original TZ, 4 to ST (old and new). And yes, apparently the "Is There A God?" debate has become the con's #1 seller on tape, with Buzz Aldrin's speech second (I don't know whether to be pleased or chagrined), but we definitely didn't go to dinner afterward...we ended up at the same restaurant, but different tables on opposite sides of the restaurant. (Aside: I had to wolf down my food to get ready for the Hugo ceremony, and just as I was finishing, a fan had the waiter bring over a tray of food, christened spoo. I couldn't eat it, had to run, so I gave it to the fellow I'd been debating, explaining that it was "an act of atheist charity.") Aside to Mike Cooney...was there a message uptopic where you went over ways to more economically/reasonably portray, like, thousands of ships on-screen? Not that I have any reason for asking this question.... jms ------------ SFRT II RoundTable Category 18, Topic 31 Message 328 Fri Sep 06, 1996 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 04:19 EDT There's a term, for let's say England, when you're between rulers, one has passed along and the other is perhaps too young to rule, or they haven't yet decided on someone...a term for the person who's in charge in the interim, and I can't for the life of me think of that term. Anybody know what it is? jms ------------ SFRT II RoundTable Category 19, Topic 1 Message 16 Sun Sep 08, 1996 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:15 EDT Stims take a while to work out of your system, to get totally flushed out (as will be noted shortly), but when they're gone, it's unpleasant. My own take on "And The Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place," which airs tomorrow in the UK...I like it. The Brother Theo stuff is a tad stilted in a couple of places, but it's only a couple of minutes, and the rest works real well. It's a very subversive episode in its way, and a part of it still creeps me out. jms ------------ SFRT I RoundTable Category 44, Topic 5 Message 336 Sun Sep 08, 1996 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:17 EDT My guess is that for Necro, I'll be able to bring some clips from 4th season shows, the late 3rd season bloopers, some other stuff. jms (PS, Vampyr, good to meet you there...to put a face with the sharp analyses of stories. And thanks to all re: the Hugo.) ------------ SFRT II RoundTable Category 19, Topic 1 Message 22 Sun Sep 08, 1996 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 21:57 EDT Well, sometimes you go along making an episode, and when it's all assembled -- which is really the only time you ever know if it's turned out the way you want -- it's kinda late to change much. You're filming the next episode, you can't go back and refilm it or rewrite it. So there's really very little you can do at that point. jms ------------ SFRT II RoundTable Category 18, Topic 1 Message 738 Wed Sep 11, 1996 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 01:04 EDT There's always a danger in making the show about the New Alien of the Week, which we tend to try to avoid. As for Hypernauts, yes, they showed a lot more virtual environments...but the resolution of those shots were nowhere near the level of resolution needed for a show like B5. They looked more plastic-y, more obviously CGI. The only way they could render that much material was to go for low-res stuff, and do other tricks. It also helped that they shot that show on *videotape*, which is far cheaper than film. If you did the Hypernauts EFX tricks on B5, they'd look very chintzy, for the most part. That said, we *are* going outside the station more and more in the last batch of year 3 episodes, and even moreso in the initial episodes of year 4. We go to Narn, more time is spent on Centauri Prime, Minbar, Mars, Earth, and elsewhere. jms ------------ SFRT II RoundTable Category 18, Topic 1 Message 453 Thu Sep 12, 1996 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:43 EDT Foundation also did the majority or all of the battle stuff in last week's Voyager. Re: NDE...Doug was very happy with that name, which they arrived at after long, long discussions...and just after they locked it down, I pointed out that NDE is also a term for Near Death Experience, which has since become how some of us refer to it. (Or a Near Doug Experience, which is kinda the same thing, only without the light show.) jms ------------ SFRT II RoundTable Category 18, Topic 1 Message 473 Fri Sep 13, 1996 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 04:59 EDT Today John Copeland and I did our producer's cut on the first episode of year 4, "The Hour of the Wolf." Granted my opinion is subjective and biased...but of all the first-episodes we've had each season, this one is the best. I was searching for the right word after looking at the director's cut, and finally came to it...maturity. It has a depth we've only skated through before, all meat, no filler. This one and the next batch are also all over the map, literally...B5, Narn, Centauri Prime, elsewhere...so it's a real challenge. But it looks great. jms ------------ SFRT II RoundTable Category 18, Topic 1 Message 482 Sat Sep 14, 1996 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 01:16 EDT Mike...on the one hand you keep asking for big battle set pieces, then you say you don't want a war story...you'll forgive me if I note that you're sending out mixed signals. You may also want to wait to see what we *do* rather than worrying now about what we *might* do. jms ------------ SFRT II RoundTable Category 18, Topic 1 Message 509 Sun Sep 15, 1996 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:44 EDT Also, what tends to happen is that a message of mine gets paraphrased or misremembered, and someone says, "Well, back in 1993, jms said..." and if they get it wrong, and I don't catch it, it becomes part of what's assumed is actually happening. It's like playing telegraph with 25,000 of your best friends.... Small correction: my first on-line service was actually Compuserve, back around 1984-1985. I was one of the first to hit that service, I think, and certainly the first TV writer I knew over there. Re: the crew...nothing else has changed. We've still got John Flinn III as our DP, Ann Bruice-Aling as costumer, John Iacovelli as Great Maker of All Things Art, Chris Franke on music, optic nerve...they're all still here, all still doing great stuff. Directors for the fourth season include Mike Vejar, Jesus Trevino, David Eagle, and some new folks we're trying out, Kevin Dobson (not the actor), John Macpherson, and we may even let Stephen Furst do an episode, since he has a long background as a director for smaller films and theater. jms ------------ SFRT II RoundTable Category 18, Topic 1 Message 513 Sun Sep 15, 1996 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 03:22 EDT Actually, "Alas, Babylon" is a terrific book by Pat Frank, which came out in the late 60s, which I recommend to anyone. Great reading. Since first reading it as a kid, I must've reread it a dozen or more times over the years until the darned thing fell apart. (Paperback.) While at Worldcon, I picked up a first-edition hardcover of the book, and started reading it again while I was there...and fell right back into it again. jms ------------ SFRT II RoundTable Category 18, Topic 2 Message 527 Sun Sep 15, 1996 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 00:47 EDT The thing about "Believers" is that, really, nobody's right, and in their own way, from their point of view, everybody's right. jms ------------ SFRT II RoundTable Category 18, Topic 2 Message 536 Sun Sep 15, 1996 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 16:48 EDT Kwicker: exactly. Interestingly, one fan I ran into at Worldcon made the point that rather than moralizing or giving messages, B5's strength is in providing "meaning without judging." Kinda interesting.... jms ------------ SFRT II RoundTable Category 18, Topic 1 Message 600 Sat Sep 21, 1996 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 18:52 EDT You ever get one of those pieces of news that leaves you at once vaguely amused and horribly chagrined? Turns out in the October issue of BUZZ Magazine -- the high-style, fancy, New Yorker-in-aspiration LA magazine for rich folk -- they have the 100 Coolest People in LA. How do I know this, even though I don't subscribe? I got called by a friend. Yep...for the first time I am now officially cool. Still processing this one. jms ------------ SFRT II RoundTable Category 18, Topic 2 Message 588 Fri Sep 20, 1996 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 01:50 EDT More episode titles: #5, "The Long Night," #6, "Into the Fire," #7 "Epiphanies," #8 "The Illusion of Truth." jms ------------ SFRT II RoundTable Category 18, Topic 1 Message 619 Sat Sep 21, 1996 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:50 EDT Mike: you give me an extra million dollars an episode, and you can' have those scenes. We make this show for under $900,000 an episode. We're dancing as fast as we can. What they spent on ID4 is more than we've spent on all three years of B5. jms ------------ SFRT II RoundTable Category 18, Topic 1 Message 620 Sat Sep 21, 1996 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 23:55 EDT And just so you understand...it's not just a question of building sets. Yes, you start with that expense. Now add extras to populate the scenes. If you're going to have people being killed or even bumped around, you need stunt people, and that's very expensive if you start having more than 2-3 of them in a scene. Now there's the CGI. Now there's the cost of the pyrotechnics. And the staging. Crashes or big action (live, not CGI) scenes can take an entire day to set up. Yeah, you can get a 15 second BIG SCENE, but it'll cost you hideously, and it'll add an extra day to production, and you'll have to throw out other stuff. We save our big hits for where they will make the most impact, but again, this is TV, not a major feature film. The ST shows get about $1.2-1.4 million or more per episode, depending on circumstances. S:A&B cost $2 million an episode on average. Our budget is limited to under $900,000. We do the best we can with what we've got. jms ------------ SFRT II RoundTable Category 18, Topic 1 Message 650 Mon Sep 23, 1996 STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 01:47 EDT Mike: okay, I've been quiet, even though others have noted it, but you're straying again and again into story suggestions, how the next season should be done, what the environment should be like, even titles; stop it. I can't be blunter than that. Well, actually, I *can*...but the situation is born out of enthusiasm, and more or less forgiveable. As for GROPOS, that one episode was so far over budget that I had to write 2 smaller ones to make up for it, and the many people you saw were really just one small group that took forever to digitally composite into looking like a much bigger group. Mike, your suggestions on production are all well and good for a big budget movie. That's where your mindset is at. But this is a TV show. We have TV limitations. We have a budget below any other SF show around. We do the best we can. Please stop gigging us for things that we can't do, and no other TV show can do. jms ------------