Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Candle motif Date: 5 Sep 1995 03:12:04 -0400 Sherry...thank you. The level of attention to detail is the *only* way that this story will be told properly. It means you sit down with the director, and others, and you make totally clear -- there, and in the script -- what you saw in your head when you wrote it. As well as repeatd verbal themes, cues, phraseologies, it's important (since this is a visual medium) to incorporate visual cues that add to the thematic thrust of the piece, that create a mood, or convey an emotion or a thought on an almost cellular level. The hardest part is being careful not to OVER use them, because then they lose all meaning and impact. jms Subject: Attn: JMS Fall Of Night Spoile Date: 1 Sep 1995 01:50:50 -0400 There was no deliberate homage, but the individual who helped design that, working with me, was Steve Burg, who has worked on Abyss and T2. jms Subject: ATTN JMS : Anwers on last 4 ep Date: 1 Sep 1995 01:52:45 -0400 Public questions will be answered if sufficiently vague or cloaked in spoiler notice; private will be answered if brief. jms Subject: ATTN JMS: WB/Turner = B5 on TB Date: 1 Sep 1995 01:54:05 -0400 No chance of B5 on DSS or Turner. jms Subject: Were the Narns in Space? Date: 1 Sep 1995 01:55:10 -0400 The Raghesh 3 claim is only about 20 years old; the Centauri came to Narn over a hundred years ago. jms Subject: Babylon 5 Trading Cards (detai Date: 1 Sep 1995 02:09:59 -0400 That list omits Sinclair, who is definitely in the set. jms Subject: JMS: Merger? Date: 1 Sep 1995 02:09:35 -0400 I doubt the merger will have any effect on us whatsoever. jms Subject: ATTN JOE: Micro Machines and a Date: 1 Sep 1995 02:10:24 -0400 Let's see...the new MMs have Earthforce 1, an atmospheric shuttle, a Narn heavy cruiser (from Coming of Shadows)...and that's all I can recall just now. I posted a full list on GEnie, but can't remember them all now. jms Subject: Housecleaning Note from jms Date: 4 Sep 1995 18:59:06 -0400 A couple quick things I have to clarify for the record. 1) I get over 500 messages a day, when the internet railway is working (which it hasn't the last couple/three days). No problem, except when people send me 4, 6, or even 10 private email messages in a day, asking questions that should more properly be asked in the public forum. Otherwise a) I end up answering the same question, privately, over and over, b) I don't answer in which case I'm seen as snubbing the person. In particular, I'm often sent long, LONG messages requiring very detailed discussions in private mail...and if I stopped to answer all of those, nothing in the public forums would get answered, and no scripts would be written. And again I'm in the position of a or b above. If you have a question about story, or characters, or other B5 elements, unless there's some profound and overwhelming reason why you can NOT let others see it, *POST IT IN THE PUBLIC FORUM* so that the discussion can serve others who may have similar questions. There is no reason why that kind of discussion should be kept in private mail. And if it's public, it has a much better chance of getting a reply, or an in-depth reply, than if it's private. Just trying to get some kind of handle on the huge incoming email problem before I drown out here. 2) Regarding the B5 snail-mail box...that address has been provided as a drop for mail for the cast, primarily, and somewhat for myself. It's basically a fan-mail address. But lately, more and more, people have been sending in mail with story ideas, which my staff generally catch before I see it. The usual line in the letter is, "I know you said you couldn't see story ideas in the public forums, so I thought I'd send this to you in hard copy so you could consider it." NO, NO, NO, NO and, in case I wasn't clear....NO. One person even has begun sending *weekly packets* of stuff, and this one's going to have to go to Legal Affairs to beat the crap out of him. The mail drop is provided, by me, out-of-pocket, as a courtesy to the fans. It is not to be abused. If story ideas/outlines/scripts continue to arrive -- they are currently being either round-filed or sent back unopened, if we can tell what they are -- I will have no choice other than to close the mail drop. I hate to be a grump about this stuff, but as more folks find the show, correspondence-related matters threaten to spin out of control, and it's important to kind of re-establish the ground rules a bit. It's only a relatively few folks who're not getting or haven't heard the message, but it's worth stating for the record anyway. So if this info could be included in the faq, that'd be great. 3) Quick aside...to the person who sent me the private mail about candles...which I accidentally deleted and couldn't find again to reply... the answer is yes, and thank you. jms Subject: !HEY JOE! - Bruce Campbell On Date: 4 Sep 1995 20:54:55 -0400 We're certainly open to Bruce C. on the show sometime. jms Subject: Comes the Inquisitor - no spoi Date: 4 Sep 1995 20:55:18 -0400 I don't think Wayne has done that much TV work before, he's primarily a stage actor, but in any event, he's certainly brilliant as Sebastian. jms Subject: ATTN: JMS, a few questions abo Date: 5 Sep 1995 03:11:58 -0400 Suffice to say we will get into many of those questions in the final four eps.... jms Subject: Attn JMS: B5 Audience Demograp Date: 5 Sep 1995 03:11:38 -0400 The demographic info is of little use to me, only to advertisers; and in that respect, we have a large concentration in the 18-49 age range, high disposable income, usually high school or college educated, so the commericals have sold quickly and well for WB. jms Subject: Attn JMS: TCOS emperor analysi Date: 5 Sep 1995 03:11:51 -0400 The emperor said exactly what, in the hallway, Londo said he said. jms Subject: Harlan Ellison Date: 5 Sep 1995 03:11:54 -0400 You're in luck: White Wolf Press has signed a deal in which they will put back into print something like 25 of Harlan's books; they should start hitting bookstores around the Fall. jms Subject: !HEY JOE! - The Season III Ope Date: 5 Sep 1995 03:11:42 -0400 Haven't recorded the new open yet, but will soon. jms Subject: Spoiler (tFoN): Jewish Themes Date: 5 Sep 1995 03:11:45 -0400 Moshe: an excellent analysis of the theme behind that scene, which as you state ties directly into the theme of the whole episode, and moreover, somewhat sets up the theme for the coming season...who will determine your identity, the rules you follow, who will lead you, and who you are...the question of, as you say, those who wish to accommodate and give in to pressures from within and from without. Didn't want to be heavy-handed about it, so I figured those who got it, got it; those who didn't, would see a nice candle scene which sets the mood, even if they don't get the full thematic/symbolic aspects that others would get. jms (not a Talmudic scholar, but I play one on TeeVee....) Subject: Shadows and Numerical Progress Date: 5 Sep 1995 03:12:01 -0400 Give Tim Lynch a ceegar. Yes, more ships are starting to appear, as more ships become available. jms Subject: B5 mentioned in latest Economi Date: 6 Sep 1995 02:37:31 -0400 Okay, fine, so what did the Economist SAY? jms Subject: ATTN JMS: BLACK STAR Date: 6 Sep 1995 02:39:43 -0400 Minbari ships, representative of Minbari culture, also have the three castes present (worker, religious, warrior). jms Subject: ATTN JMS: Cdn connection to B5 Date: 6 Sep 1995 02:41:01 -0400 There can be no issue of Canadian content, or connection, to B5 since B5 is not filmed in Canada, but is filmed in the general Los Angeles/Valley area. No canadian company produced EFX for us either. jms Subject: Re: !Dude(s)! - Here Is The B5 Date: 6 Sep 1995 02:41:36 -0400 To all reading this thread: you don't have to buy the B5 font from ANYone who says he has created one. We use Serpentine Medium Bold, which is freely available on most any decent font package. jms Subject: JMS: You are an idiot with mus Date: 6 Sep 1995 02:42:38 -0400 Chris: before you go around calling people (viz: me) an idiot, you may want to, perhaps, get your facts straight. We had planned on having Stewart Copeland (not John Copeland, who is our producer, though this is the name you cite) do our series music, but he declined, wanting to take the time to tour and try to work on an album. He was not available to us. That said, I am *extremely* happy with Christopher Franke's work, and think it adds immeasurably to the quality of the show. Idiot comments notwithstanding. jms Subject: JMS: Budgeting Question Date: 6 Sep 1995 02:43:46 -0400 Each show does have its own budget, but they rarely vary much from the "pattern budget," which is the amount that overall each one should cost. If we do one episode that's a huge blow-out, of course, we'll try to make the next one a little less huge, just to be sensible. jms Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Messages from Ea Date: 6 Sep 1995 03:09:16 -0400 Whether it's "bland" or not depends on what the messsages might be, yes? The only thing I'll say for the episode is that it may be one of the biggest whams of the first half of year three, and one of our most ambitious episodes of the series. Generally, my feeling is that titles should augment the episode, or add something, or collapse something into a thematic whole. When you see what convictions are at hand, the episode "Convictions" as a title works better; ditto for "Messages." Besides, a nice, quiet, inoffensive little title gives me a better chance to sneak up behind you and whack the heck out of you.... jms Subject: jms Ambient camera Date: 6 Sep 1995 03:10:15 -0400 I think that visual style, much as I like it, would probably get in the way on a show like this. jms Subject: The White Star (Season 3 Spoil Date: 6 Sep 1995 03:11:29 -0400 Actually, I don't believe I've said *anything* on any system about this question. jms Subject: Re: I fondled a Celebrity!!! Date: 6 Sep 1995 03:12:23 -0400 At this stage, not having talked with Claudia, I don't know if the escapade is true or not, but basically it's harmless, and I wouldn't be at all surprised. jms Date: 7 Sep 1995 20:34:27 -0400 Subject: jms - Advertising budget for 3 There is an advertising budget for year three, but I don't yet know what that is in toto. jms Date: 7 Sep 1995 20:34:29 -0400 Subject: ATTN JMS: Season 3 I am thus far *very* happy with season three; we've got three shows in the can (edited, not yet scored or mixed), and shooting number four as I type this. I think we're already a notch above our general episodes from year two, and "Convictions" is extremely intense, with a very different look and feel from anything we've done before. Has kind of an NYPD Blue feel to it. Next week we start filming "Passing Through Gethsemane," directed by Adam Nimoy, guest-starring Brad Dourif. jms Date: 7 Sep 1995 20:34:31 -0400 Subject: JMS: Casting Suggestion: Edwar Woodward, we're told, generally doesn't do syndicated TV. jms Date: 7 Sep 1995 20:58:13 -0400 Subject: ATTN: JMS Please Keep Writing You learn to write by writing. You learn to write better by never settling or getting too comfortable with your own work. jms Date: 7 Sep 1995 20:58:16 -0400 Subject: Attn JMS - Is con Con-Rad Real We've been contacted about an awards ceremony, but details are still being worked out. jms Date: 7 Sep 1995 20:58:18 -0400 Subject: Re: Shadows and Numerical Prog Never said you're seeing their entire fleet, you're seeing what they can afford to send out at any given moment on relatively low-priority jobs. jms Date: 9 Sep 1995 02:59:12 -0400 Subject: ATTN: WB Legal Dept A is fine; B may get dicey since admission is charged...if it ain't direct admission, that's different. jms Date: 9 Sep 1995 03:31:58 -0400 Subject: Re: Attn JMS: TLTS battle (spo "Why didn't the fighters do anything?" They did. Look more closely. They engaged the Narn fighters in dogfights all over the place. They're hardly more than specks against the huge ships, but they're definitely there. jms Date: 9 Sep 1995 03:32:52 -0400 Subject: ATTN JMS: Interplanetary Exped Interplanetary Expeditions will figure *prominently* in at least one year three episode. jms Date: 9 Sep 1995 03:34:07 -0400 Subject: Re: I fondled a Celebrity!!! * Okay, folks, look, I spoke to Claudia, and the story as recounted is fairly accurate. Claudia was in RenFair mode, which to her is another role to be played, and it was just in jest, horsing around. The thing about Claudia is she doesn't back down from any kind of challenge, a trait she shares with Ivanova, and when called upon, responded. jms (*ten credits to the comics fan who recognizes that cry) Date: 9 Sep 1995 03:47:00 -0400 Subject: A Few Questions for JMS We'll see more of the Epsilon 3 complex this coming season, yes. jms Date: 9 Sep 1995 04:01:43 -0400 Subject: Re: ATTN JMS: Request younger Excuse me, but I don't believe in ageism on either end of th spectrum. I don't hire old writers, I don't hire young writers: I hire WRITERS WHO CAN WRITE. Period. Some, like Scott Frost, are in their late 20s/early 30s; some like Peter David and Marc Zicree are in their 40s; some like David and Dorothy and Harlan are older. Young writers are not intrinsically better or worse than old writers, and vice-versa. This is, frankly, a dumb discussion; substitute "white" or "black" for young or old, and the stereotyping and illogic of the discussion should be evident. jms Date: 9 Sep 1995 04:06:09 -0400 Subject: Takishima -- SPOILERS for "Div Mike: your assessment is pretty much correct. Laurel was to be the traitor initially; as I noted long, long time ago, and you quoted, she was not, in fact, acting entirely under her own volition. There would indeed have been an implanted personality there, acting without even her knowing about it. And it would've been this implanted personality that would've shot Garibaldi. When I took Laurel off the board, elements of this were transferred to other characters. This is the kind of thing I mean when I say that even with changes here and there, the story continues to go where I want it to go. We don't necessarily remember *which* general put the briefcase with a bomb next to Hitler's chair in the bunker, only that it got done. Some chairs are moveable, some are not, as anyone who's ever written a novel from an outline can tell you...you start moving the chairs around, but you always keep going where you're going. jms Date: 9 Sep 1995 04:18:59 -0400 Subject: Roswell Tape Rx I cannot have any kind of informed opinion about the Roswell films, since I have no more information than anyone else, which is to say, just that which was presented in the Fox special. I can only make one observation: whenever we have had an alien character in the show get wounded, and bleed, it's a hideously difficult process, and you run point-to-point tubes with blood; it spurts from one location, the spot where the tube ends. (Just getting G'Kar's hand to bleed in one of the final four eps was a pain in the ass.) The body upon which they performed the autopsy bled smoothly from the entire surface of each cut and incision. Even with the best prosthetics available to us right now, we couldn't do this. So if it's a fake, it's the most clever one in history, and uses technology nobody else has yet. The person behind it could write his own ticket in the EFX/prosthetics business *bigtime*. jms Date: 9 Sep 1995 04:19:40 -0400 Subject: JMS (or anyone else) -- Sex an "What kind of birth control do the Centauri use?" Conversation. jms Date: 9 Sep 1995 04:33:35 -0400 Subject: jms - What time do you get up Unfortunately, in my case, I'm all over the map, depending on when meetings are held...sometimes very early, sometimes later in the morning. I'm usually up until at least 3 a.m. every night of the week, sometimes as late as 4-4:30 a.m., so how much actual sleep I get is a very flexible notion. As for the crew...crew call is 7 a.m. M-F, as a rule. If an alien is in the first scene, prosthetics crew can sometimes show up as early as 6:00 a.m. Actors and crew actually hit the stage at 9 a.m. (7-9 is spent basically waking up, rigging lights, setting up cameras, other stuff.) We shoot until about 7 p.m., rarely any later. jms Date: 9 Sep 1995 04:35:03 -0400 Subject: ATTN: JMS, Star requests? If we has the money ST has to offer, we could get major stars, but we don't; most of the guest stars we get are drawn by the quality of the material. jms Date: 9 Sep 1995 04:51:48 -0400 Subject: Attn: JMS B5 franchise I can only reply to one message at a time, so this has to be a public note, Greg. Yes, WB owns the copyright to B5. Could they continue it past the fifth year? Technically, yes, they could, without my participation (though as indicated, there's always been a side-story/alternate series, and that would be the way to go, though I think the odds on that ever going ahead are doubtful.) Which is why I made sure we shoved a bomb down B5's throat in the early stages. It's got a self-destruct mechanism built right into it. See, usually, when you make series deals with actors an sub-contractors (like Foundating Imaging, our prosthetics people, others), you go for 7 year options. TNG, for instance, had 7 year options; as do the other ST shows. This is fairly standard. When we made the deals for B5, we made them...for five years. During those five years, salaries and fees are all set ahead of time. This serves you well, in the sense that Foundation's name is already growing, and somebody coming in now would have to pay more than we are, also in part since we helped them get going. Actors, once freed from the pre-set salaries, on a hit show, come back and renegotiate. The result of all this...is that if WB wanted to do a sixth season of B5, the costs of going back and making deals with all these people and sub-contractors and others would be SO hideous, so terrible, that it couldn't be done for anywhere near the money available. So, as stated...the show is designed to fiscally self-destruct at the end of the fifth year. What other projects may follow will have to be totally separate situations, assuming they're done at all, which is highly doubtful. jms Date: 11 Sep 1995 05:55:26 -0400 Subject: Is the President really dead? President Santiago is dead as a doorknob. jms Date: 11 Sep 1995 23:40:38 -0400 Subject: Attn JMS: M,SW/Night Fear Actually, yes, I do have a pet theory about who the Ripper was, but I'm so embarrassed over the west end/east end typo in one of our episodes that I don't know if I'll ever have enough courage to broach it to anyone. jms Date: 11 Sep 1995 23:43:27 -0400 Subject: Attn jms: An Absence of Rabbit No problem there. In life, we kinda get to know what to expect on a day to day basis...but that doesn't stop crises from coming at us out of nowhere (though if we'd been smart enough we could've seen them coming), and sometimes the worst thing is that we DO see it coming, and are sure we can somehow avoid it...and still get hammered. jms Date: 11 Sep 1995 23:44:49 -0400 Subject: JMS: What would you do if.... Doesn't matter what I'd write; they'd never let me shoot it. jms Date: 12 Sep 1995 01:47:30 -0400 Subject: = ATTN. JMS: Proper Vorlons? We will see them. Eventually. jms Date: 12 Sep 1995 02:01:34 -0400 Subject: Just how many people watch B5? I have it on good authority that we're watched by at *least* seven people. jms Date: 12 Sep 1995 02:03:53 -0400 Subject: ATTN JMS: Where did Kosh go? First he returned to his encounter suit, then he went to his ship, and stayed there for quite a while. jms Date: 12 Sep 1995 02:04:50 -0400 Subject: ATTN JMS: Doors and such You'll notice the doors are wedged, with overlapping, key-like sections into which the doors settle. When they close, the sound you hear is the door sealing shut, and pins extruding into place to keep the door shut (in the key-wedges). That's also why they slide down, rather than part in the middle; it's totally airtight in case of pressure falls. So yes, we *did* think of it, and took care of it, by thinking of a new way to do the doors. jms Date: 12 Sep 1995 02:05:55 -0400 Subject: ATTN: JMS: Pres. Clarke's car No, telepaths are generally excluded from holding high public office. jms Date: 12 Sep 1995 02:26:39 -0400 Subject: ATTN JMS: Season 3 Brad read the script, fell in love with the part, and dived for it. jms Date: 12 Sep 1995 02:35:32 -0400 Subject: ATTN JMS: Titles (was Message No, sorry, the titles kinda have to be where they are.... jms Date: 12 Sep 1995 02:35:59 -0400 Subject: ATTN: JMS Crew Autographs To get autographs, send a self-addressed stamped envelope, and what you'd like signed, to the B5 mail drop. (Note: WB doesn't pay for any photos, the cast pay for those out of pocket, so it's hard for them to oblige on this.) The address is: 14431 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 260, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423, and make sure you put ATT: (CAST NAME), C/O BABYLON 5 jms Date: 12 Sep 1995 02:36:20 -0400 Subject: *JMS* ATTN: JMS *JMS* JMS (or The definition of "conversation"....ah, of course, you mean oral intercourse. Ain't the language just one great big lovely pinata of unexpected wonders...? jms Date: 12 Sep 1995 02:49:58 -0400 Subject: ATTN: JMS (one question) At this point it's too early for me to even *think* about what I will or can or can't do with the side-story...just getting this puppy out the door is a full-time obsession.... jms Date: 12 Sep 1995 02:51:14 -0400 Subject: Shadows and problems... I would not create a race as potentially unstoppable as the shadowsx (shadows) without making sure they had one -- but only one -- Achilles' heel. Though it may take our characters a long time to figure out what that is...almost *too* long.... jms Date: 12 Sep 1995 02:51:45 -0400 Subject: Attn: JMS B5 Walking the Talk Correct; while one cannot deny the effects of poverty, and drugs, and crime, and illiteracy, there's something numbing and destructive about the death of myths, of a broader social mythology, and we're working hard to provide that. jms Date: 12 Sep 1995 02:52:12 -0400 Subject: Is Sheridan an Atheist? Basically, Sheridan believes in a lot of things; he's very eclectic in his views, can incorporate lots of different perspectives, and has a respect for all views. In one of the early season 3 eps, in fact, one character upbraids him for having "no clearly defined pattern of faith," to which Sheridan replies, "I'm eclectic, open-minded." jms Date: 12 Sep 1995 02:52:28 -0400 Subject: ATTN JMS - How to Keep New Vie Of course, that would require lopping a minute or so of program content to make room for that synopsis...and I don't think I want to do that. jms Date: 12 Sep 1995 02:52:49 -0400 Subject: JMS: "Messages" Move? Both 7 and 8 would both be seen in the second round of episodes; we did the switch to pair up the right episode with the right director. jms Date: 19 Sep 1995 02:17:00 -0400 Subject: JMS: Closing Speech in "TLTS" Certainly, Sheridan is slowly growing more into a leader who must be able to step to the front in this kind of way, yes. jms Date: 19 Sep 1995 02:17:24 -0400 Subject: Attn: JMS - Cameo and other st No, I have no plans to ever make a cameo appearance on B5.... jms Date: 19 Sep 1995 02:18:04 -0400 Subject: ATTN JMS: British editors on r I'd only heard about the one G'Kar scene being chopped; there were more? Sigh... jms Date: 19 Sep 1995 02:18:25 -0400 Subject: ATTN JMS: "Time On Target" (mi It's an actual military term for launching a lot of stuff, so that even though it's launched at different times, it all arrives at once. jms Date: 19 Sep 1995 02:18:46 -0400 Subject: Attn JMS: Londo's believabilit He's as believeable as any person would be under those conditions; we often go off the far end, come back, screw up, make up...it's what we do, we're a mass of contradictions. jms Date: 19 Sep 1995 02:19:20 -0400 Subject: Canadian TV GUIDE 16-22 Sept Would love to get a copy of this article, if at all possible. jms Date: 19 Sep 1995 03:20:20 -0400 Subject: Fweeet! (Was:Re: I fondled a C is what they used in the comics when the silver age Hawkman spoke to his birdie-buddies. (Some of you got this.) jms Date: 19 Sep 1995 03:33:11 -0400 Subject: JMS: Slow motion?