“Hey, Gero’s about to blow something up!”I was informed. “Five minutes!” I set aside my work, grabbed my camera, and made my way down to the far end of the lot where Marty G. was directing this year’s trio of Superfan Promos. In the pouring rain. I found him umbrella-less and standing by while the FX crew ran through their final preparations for the stunt – measuring, discussing, adjusting. The ambulance idling by the Viz building was no doubt meant to be reassuring, but it ended up having the opposite effect.
“Clear the area!”came the call. We scrambled back, beyond the safety perimeter and behind the big plexi-glass shield and watched the monitor as Scott from the SFX department scurried up behind the cannon as if he were sneaking up on it, lit the fuse, then bolted for cover.
The flame burned all the way down and…petered out. Great, I thought. Now who the hell are they going to convince to go out there and re-light the damn thing? I heard Carl give a nervous chuckle and then – KABLAM!!! A chorus of car alarms rose up to fill the post-explosive silence.
I poked my head around the corner as the other producers came out of hiding. Crew members were already on the scene, putting out the spot fires with their handy extinguishers. “That was great!”enthused Carl, ever a fan of careful planning, skillful execution and blowing shit up.
A great time was had by all (especially Carl), and the promos turned out great. I’m just sorry I wasn’t around later that afternoon when they set BamBam on fire. Interestingly enough, James was voted “Most Flammable” in his graduating year.
Oh, and more big news on the BOTMC front. K.J. Bishop got back to me this morning (I believe she resides in Bangkok) to say: a) She’d love to come by and do a guest blog when we discuss The Etched City in July, and b) She’s an SG-1 fan (I can only assume that Atlantis has yet to make it’s way to Thailand). So, 3 for 3 on July’s book of the month club discussion: Jennifer Pelland, Kage Baker, and K.J. Bishop. Start your reading engines!
Today’s blog is dedicated to Chris Ashcroft for finishing what he started. Namely – his exams.
Mailbag:
Amy writes: “Do you listen to music when you write?”
Answer: I don’t.
Patricia writes: “Hey are you ever going to get that new Male Pug and name him Kobe?”
Answer: Don’t give my wife any ideas. She’s already making noise about a second frenchie
Dori writes: “Have you read any of the Wheel of Time books Robert Jordan?”
Answer: I haven’t.
Paloosa writes: “As you wrote “Whispers”, were you also thinking as an editor, or were you able to completely separate those creative processes?”
Answer: As I wrote Whispers, I was thinking as both a director and an editor as well.
Nika writes: “Do you have the opportunity to keep the longer version for the future DVD releases?”
Answer: Nope. The version released will be the version that airs.
Nika also writes: “Have you ever read The Big Eye by Max Ehrlich?”
Answer: I haven’t.
Fsmn36 writes: “Is 45 minutes your absolute most, so that Whispers is 45 minutes exact (with that 35 seconds down)? Or does SGA have a different time limit?”
Answer: “All of our episodes clock in at exactly the same length. Last year, it was 44:47.”
Gilder writes: “Here’s a photo of the first dog I walked at Animal Defense League. Finally followed through on the pledge to volunteer.”
Answer: You are a good person. It breaks my heart to see all of those little faces in desperate need of a home.
Demon Hunter writes: “Is there any particular chocolate that Carl Binder likes??”
Answer: Christopher Elbow Café chocolate bar.
Tina writes: “On a chocolatey note……what chocolate has Paul got in that pic?”
Answer: Christopher Elbow White Harvest chocolate bar.
Pilgrim writes: “If I recall correctly a while ago you said that Martin Gero would be directing an episode in the second half, is that still the case? And, if so, which episode will it be?”
Answer: He’ll be directing episode #15.
TBA writes: “Is the extreme Sheppard-whumpage episode still scheduled for season 5?”
Answer: It’s still floating around.
A.A. writes: “Sorry if this is sorta old news, but just read why Torri Higgison declined to participate in season five. This is her answer…[…]”
Answer: As I already mentioned, the last time Torri was on the show late in season four, she seemed genuinely excited at the prospect of the new storyline (and the fact that we hadn’t closed the door on Weir). Based on that reaction, we went ahead and wrote Ghost in the Machine. In the interview cited, Torri states she didn’t want to commit to a guest appearance because “it was very unclear as to what it was going to be, what they’re going to ask you to do, and it was unclear as to if it was going to be a tidying up of her or if it was gonna to continue to be a vague ‘is she here, is she not there.” Surprising given that she did receive a copy of the script. She followed up with a request for some sort of closure for the Weir character. After some discussion, we let her know we would accommodate that request. But, in the end, she decided to pass anyway.
Ptarmigan writes: “Have you read The Carpet Makers by Andreas Eschbach (SF)?”
Answer: I haven’t.
06untouchable writes: “Is any explanation given in Whispers as to how the all-female team came about within the context of the story?”
Answer: Yes, there is.
LadyConure writes: “It’s been a L O N G time since I’ve been able to do anything more than a quick “read through” of your (or anybody else’s!) blog.”
Answer: Welcome back, Alice. You’ve been missed.
Jenn writes: “1. Will there be any sort of epic episodes in S5 with big (space) battles, explosions and the like? Like BAMSR and The Return and such? 2. What’s the outlook on Shep whump for the back half of the season? Any word on Hexed yet?”
Answer: 1. Daedaus Variations will be big. 2. As I said, still floating around.
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