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