I logged onto sitemeter this morning to discover a whopping 2900 visits for yesterday’s blog entry. Martin Gero clearly has some fans! Or it could have been the legions of Evil Kenny’s supporters presenting. Or, more than likely, it was the hundreds of German fans who seem to have discovered this blog overnight. Wilkommen!
A bit of a miserable day today as this chest cold (or whatever the hell it is) left me feeling a little “out of it” and just a tad grumpy. Still, I did manage to squeeze in my morning run and make it to work in time for the playback and visual effects meeting where we discussed the Ancient script on the tablet, the balcony overlooking the city, and that flickering force field (Of course it has to flicker otherwise you wouldn’t know it was there!).
Will complains that he is terribly unphotogenic, but I told him the problem is he poses for his pics. I left his office, then leapt back into his room and took a couple of candid snaps. Not the pic of Will, literally nose-deep in the Reunion script. Camera loves him!
More shipments arrived today: Martine’s, Vancouver’s own DC Duby Wild Sweets, and Pierre Marceline (that I had to drive to Richmond to pick up from Canada Customs in order to ensure I had it in time or Saturday night). Producer John Lenic also made a contribution for the Saturday night in the form of a box from New York’s Mariebelle, some drinking chocolate, and two chocolate bars (one of them, pictured, a divine chocolate and cookie creation that, uh, happened to find its way into my mouth).
After lunch, we headed over to Norco for a tour of the Reunion set. Check it out. Once the episode is wrapped, I think I may try to salvage some of these builds for my place. The bug motif would work perfectly in the dining room.
Everyone read the first draft of This Mortal Coil and, while I was initially dreading the notes, I was very much pleased with the input I received. Lots of great ideas from the guys.
We spent the last hour or so of the afternoon scrambling to come up with a story to replace the “other story” that is getting bumped. Anytime after 5:00 p.m. is probably the worst time of day to start spinning ideas, especially if you have a chest cold and have spent the morning and afternoon in meetings or out trying to track down an errant box of chocolates. Still, despite the fact that everyone is exhausted (Paul spent half the session with his face buried in his arms folded), we manage some progress. “How about an episode,”I offer, “where Atlantis…” And I wait for someone else to jump in. No one does. “Atlantis what?”asks Carl. “I don’t know,”I respond. “I came up with the preamble. The least you lazy bastards can do is come up with the rest!” Eventually, amidst the somewhat inane notions, we do come up with something we don‘t hate. However, chances are good we will after a good night’s sleep.
Some quickie questions –
Peter writes: “ Ack! The photos, they be x’s!”
Answer: Why are you talking like my mother? Sorry about the pics. There was a problem with blogger last night that thankfully rectified itself.
Smiley Face06 writes: “ In addition to Christina Aguilera, who else do you listen to?”
Answer: I happened to catch a Christina Aguilera song on the drive home. Technically, I suppose you could say that I “listen to her”, but it was quite by accident, I assure you.
M.K. writes: “As a project with school, we have to create an adaptation of Romeo & Juliet (an example is that a group set up the story with the Matrix).”
Answer: I’d do it as a musical-western.
M writes: “ Do ya reckon we’ll see anymore stick fights in S4?”
Answer: I reckon so, pardner.
Anonymous #1 writes: “Eh, it may take me a minute to get going, Joe. I’m still a bit dizzy from all the spinning going on.”
Answer: So, let me get this straight. Yours is an informed opinion worthy of respect while my opinion, which just so happens to run contrary to yours, is nothing but spin?
Anonymous #1 also writes: “NBC Universal’s stated future goals include eliminating non-NBC Universal produced programming thereby hopefully strengthening the weakened network.”
Answer: If that’s the case, the network had a wonderful opportunity to cancel Atlantis as well and free up room for original programming. The fact that they didn’t, and ordered a fourth season, leads me to believe that they still support the show.
Anonymous #1 also writes: “if Dresden Files, Eureka, and Painkiller Jane all can pull the same 1.3-1.6 ratings that the Stargate shows seem to pull, then those shows probably seem more attractive to Scifi.”
Answer: There’s a fairly sizable difference between a show averaging a 1.3 and a show averaging a 1.6.
01 writes: “Who would you say is going to be spending the most time in the infirmary season four? And don’t say Keller!”
Answer: Kell- damnit! Just looking over the episodes so far, I’d say that Sheppard has a slight edge.
Allison writes: “What’s in the container with the yellow lid? I’m guessing it’s yours because there’s water instead of coffee next to it.”
Answer: Nice detective work. That is my breakast: all natural low-fat yogurt with chocolate protein powder, All-Bran, ground flaxseed, and strawberries. Yum!
JohnManzione writes: “Are any of the producers, actors, directors, who are put off whenever they are reminded of fan’s desire to have RDA back on any level?”
Answer: Not at all. Rick did a lot for the franchise and it was great having him back. It’s nice to see many fans still support him.
Anonymous #2 writes: “I’d still like to know if Shanks was able to make it back for filming for the beginning of the movie.”
Answer: Yup. We were just watching the sandy Daniel, Teal’c, and Vala dailies at lunch today.
Anonymous #3 writes: “Regarding your little “spell” after exercise, have you considered having your blood sugar checked?”
Answer: Sure – after the chocolate party.
Stephanie Fan of Claudia&Ben writes: “ Do you read all comments you get? Can you tell us what do you think about working with both Claudia Black and Ben Browder?”
Answers: I do. And I enjoyed both Ben and Claudia’s work on Farscape and really pushed for them to make some sort of appearance on Stargate. The Vala character is a lot of fun to write for. Mitchell is a great character as well and Ben Browder is one of the nicest, down-to-earth fellows you’d ever hope to meet. He swung by my office the other day and we spent a good hour chatting about writing and Friday Night Lights.
UberAmandaFan writes: “1. What is a Blue Draft and who are the characters on the cover art of the script? Is it generic art or episode-specific? 2. What does “doing a pass” mean? 3. Will fans be able to buy those cool watches eventually? 4. RE: The first concept drawing under the watches…would I be too far off in assuming that what is depicted is in some way related to the iratus bug? 5. Can I have some chocolate? (sorry…I couldn’t resist)
Answers: 1. After writing a Writer‘s Draft, the writer receives notes from his fellow writers, revises the script and puts it out as a Revised Writer’s Draft. After the second set of notes – usually from the network – changes are made and, to keep track of these changes, pages that contain changes are printed in blue to differentiate them from the unchanged white pages. If a fair amount of changes have been made, we’ll often go with a complete Blue Draft. Following the concept meeting, after the various departments have weighed in, other changes are made. For instance, I will be working on Pink Pages for Reunion tomorrow. 2. Doing a pass essentially means re-reading the script and making some minor adjustments/changes before putting it out. 3. Doubtful, but I’m sure one or two will find their way onto some online auction sites. 4. You would not be far off. 5. Sure, knock yourself out.
SMB Books writes: “What’s the most popular snack in the break room?”
Answer: Well, today Martin Gero was singing the praises of some kitchen “trail mix” made up of nachos, Doritos, and pretzels.
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