A great writing day. Granted, a better day for lazing about in the sun but, still, writers can’t be choosers. So after lying awake in bed last night working the story out in my head, I finally found my Act II break! (I’d left it in the garage behind the recycling bin.). Thus armed, I sat down to write (actually, I stood but that’s neither here nor there) and banged out the second act in no time. 10 ¾ pages, by the time I was done I had hit the 26 page mark. And it was only a little after 3:00 p.m.! Of course the fact that I got up at 7:00 a.m. may have been a contributing factor. Anyway, I’m very pleased with my progress. If I can get Act III done tomorrow, Acts IV and V will practically write themselves (Not literally though. I’ve tried and it doesn’t work.). I’m aiming to complete rough drafts of both scripts by Tuesday, will go over them Wednesday and Thursday, and put them out on Friday when I will, no doubt, be relieved and overcome with euphoria that accompanies a job well done…until Monday when I receive everyone’s notes and they tell me to combine the two scripts into one.
Let’s celebrate like the peasants of yore. With pitchers!
- Martin Gero and Carl Binder, hosts of SyFy’s new Ghost Hunters Intergalactic.
- What the – ? indeed.
Oh, hey, speaking of Marty G. – a rectification on my part. I completely forgot that he was on hand to spin and break stories with us in the early going (I know because I had to provide photographic proof to the gals in accounting who were suspicious), so he IS a Consulting Producer for the first ten episodes.
Finish up The Speed of Dark book club participants. Tomorrow, I’ll be posting my thoughts on the book and starting to gather reader questions for author Elizabeth Moon.
Finally, the grand announcement! Around this time last year, I started work on something I called “my super, secret project”. As it turns out, it was a short story I was asked to contribute to an upcoming anthology edited by Lou Anders. What’s the title of the story? What kind of anthology is it? Well, head on over to Lou’s blog for the breaking news (http://louanders.blogspot.com/2009/08/look-up-in-sky-is-it-bird-is-it-plane.html) and I’ll follow up on this in tomorrow’s entry.
Hey, check it out! USC alumnus Carl Binder goes thought The 3 Stages of Crosstown Rival Grief upon spotting Producer John G. Lenic sporting a UCLA t-shirt.:
- Shock.
- Disbelief.
- And, finally – nausea.
Oh, hey, my sis sent me a link to some horrifically memorable ads: http://www.retrocomedy.com/2009/07/15-creepiest-vintage-ads-of-all-time.html For real! Gotta get me one of them styling eye-patches.
Mailbag:
Thornyrose writes: “If you’d done your “secret Project” on the same time scale, you’d have had time to write at least two more stories.”
Answer: Speaking of that super, secret project.
Nadine writes: “How are the dogs handling the heat? Do you keep them inside most of the day? Or are just careful to not let them get overheated?”
Answer: They love the sun but hate the heat so they’ll go outside for a while then head back indoors to cool off then head back outside for a while…
We interrupt this mailbag for an important doggy interlude:
- Jelly
- Maximus
- Lulu
- Brie
- Bubba
- Jelly
- Maximus
- Lulu
We now return to our scheduled mailbag already in progress…
JJ writes: “Will there be a trailer for SGU pilot release in september?”
Answer: Don’t know what MGM or SyFy have planned.
Anais33 a ecrit:: “1) Combien d’heures par jours passez vous à écrire vorte scripte?
2) Quand tout les épisodes de sgu seront finit de tournés?”
Reponses: 1) Ce weekend – 12 heures par jour.
2) En Octobre.
Translation: 1) This weekend, I’m averaging about 12 hours a day on the script(s).
2) We’ll season one of Universe in October.
Lynn writes: “Hi Joe: I was wondering on Stargate Atlantis if the idea was ever broached to have a religious advisor among the crew, considering how far away they were going and the odds about returning?”
Answer: Never on Atlantis but we did discuss it on Universe.
Tammy Dixon writes: “Jason M. put the SGA movie was a go (on his myspace page). Could they have talked to the actors first?”
Answer: No. I’m guessing that, like me, Jason is a glass half-full guy when it comes to the movie.
Matt Boesch writes: “ u said that Episode 19 will become episode 18 and your two scripts will become episode 19 and 20 so does that mean subversion is now episode 18?”
Answer: If my fellow writer-producers feel that I have two strong scripts then, yes, Subversion will become episode 18.
David Chapple writes: “What month are you going?
The winter months may be a littler busier because of the heat from the food.”
Answer: I’m going from late November to early December. I’m having the concierge at my hotel book most of the other restaurants on my itinerary so I’ll do the same for this one. Oh, and while we’re on the subject, have you heard of a restaurant called Kabukicho?
Kathy H. writes: “Do you use language books, or tapes, or…?”
Answer: I use both books and CD’s but prefer the Pimsleur language CD’s that I can listen to in the car on my way to and from work.
Greg writes: “How many hours does it take to write the typical script?”
Answer: About two weeks worth of hours.
2cats writes: “I thought you’d especially like this “pug” story Joe… poor Dexter, stuck in the middle.”
Answer: Yep, poor Dexter. It’s always the pets who suffer. Can’t understand why the judge just doesn’t give them joint custody. Shouldn’t be a problem unless one of them moves out of town.
SebiMeyer writes: “Answer: It means episode 19 will become episode 18, episode 18 will become episode 17, the story schedule to be episode 17 will disappear, and the two scripts I’m working on will become episodes 19 and 20.
And get paid twice?”
Answer: No, no. I only get paid once. For each script.
you are speed today.
hypothesis based on the trailer:
-The soldiers evacuate icarus hastly, whitout taking stocks.
-on the jungle planet, they are attacked
-the destiny is an ancient ship far far away of the earth
conclusion:
the earthman use fastly their ammunition.
Question:
What is the weapon who will be used by the soldiers when the P90s will be empty (probably at the end of pilot)?????
question 2:
what is the utility of the 10th chevron (ground chevron)???
because, he is actived when the gate is actived.
conclusion: totaly useless
PS: i forgot (sorry).
if you answer me on the comment (laziness to stay tomorrow)
les chiens ils sont tous a vous???
sa fait pas mal de croquettes xd
venez en france!!!!!! svp
Congratulations on what might be the closest thing to the perfect blog posting I’ve seen here yet. We have people pictures, dog picture, progress reports, and a mailbag. I take it Brie is now officially a full blown member of the household(you may have made an official announcement before, but if you did I forgot or missed it). Very excited about the super secret project now that I’ve seen the anthology title and theme. And impressed with the company you’ll be keeping in that anthology. So, do we get any clues on what Downfall is about, or do we have to suffer till the unspecificed release date?
Your response to Tammy Dixon suggests that you have less optimism about an Atlantis movie go-ahead? Don’t know if I’m being overly pessimistic and paranoid, but I detect a downbeat tone in your simple answer. It’s one of the two things that keep me from rating this as the perfect post. That, and the blog entry title, which indeed is a bit long. Oh, and a third thing. The fact that if I or others were to give you a perfect rating, I fear you’d break you supurb(perfect) posting streak, and would no longer feel a compulsion to reach for that illusionary goal. Thanks as always for the moments of pleasure and amusement your blog provides each day.
un dernière chose, vous semblez très bien parler français (a moins que le traducteur google soit devenu intelligent)
venez vous donc vous inscrire sur stargate-fusion , c’est un peu le gateworld français.
http://www.stargate-fusion.com/forum-stargate/
sa ferait plaisir aux fans français si vous veniez passez quelques coucous chez nous, papoter sur le forum, donner des interviews.
car actuellement c’est gateworld, toujours gateworld, toujours les americains ou les anglais
ici j’ai parlé français, montrez nous votre savoir en langues (pas grave si vous oubliez le japonais au profit du français).
désolé encore, les idées sa arrive comme ça.
vous devriez vraiment ouvrir un salon de discussion
who many dogs have you???
how many dogs you plan to adopt?
Congratulations on seeing the super secret project come to fruition!
Ok, that Marty G. & Carl B. picture totally reminds me of this.
And OMG!! The Destiny is haunted!! Actually, is that blurry pic the inside of the Shuttle?
It seems to me that, if you can output two full-length scripts, then it’d be just cruel and unusual for them to make you collapse them into 1 single script. How do you cut half of the story and still have it make sense, and without it loosing its SOUL?!
Oh, and Congratulations on finally getting your super secret project out in the open! “Downfall”, eh? And it’s about superheroes? Interesting. I might actually read this.
Who knows, this may be the gateway book that gets me into reading again!
Is that a blurred picture of the new shuttle? (Y’know, The super-sized Puddle Jumper)
Or does the Destiny have a control room we havn’t seen yet?
Cool! Congratulations on the story in the anthology!
When will we find out Whether or Not Lou Diamond Philips (“Colonel Telford”) is a Main Cast Member or a Recurring Cast Member?
Joe, have I ever told you I am easily distracted?
By the way, love the Carl photos…what’s in the Fedex box?
If you cold write for any television program on television currently, which one would you choose? Besides StarGate, that is.
Patricia
That picture, a meteor shower, sparklers, inside the set. with an eerie alien spectre on the side. polterCarl?!?
–Carl is such a cut up, do you pay him to pose for you? (sorry if I gave him any ideas..)
-The dogs, what precious things, and photogenic, good thing coz their dad likes to snap,snap,snap, and great for us, he likes to share. Tell sis thanks, those are a bit wacky..
-the follow up-to the Lou Anders blog, sooner than 2010?? although that is not far away, just seems like it…. P.S.Congrats on the story in the anthology!
Ok,OK, ok, I am past ready for that pitcher you promised, bring it on!!
If the MySpace page that Tammy Dixon is refering to is the one I think it is – it isn’t actually Jason’s page. It’s a fan page *for* Jason. It even says that it is fan run if you read the page. It’s very well done and can be mistaken as Jason’s page, the person running it has definately put in some work on it. I don’t think Jason actually has a page there himself.
for the picture, i am sure for the shuttlepod
the windows is incurved , like the small ship.
and we see the console nav and a chair.
it’s the interior of the ancient shuttle pod
Congrats Joe on the upcoming anthology piece, “Downfall”. I shall definitely be purchasing Lou’s book as the other authors/titles also look fetching.
And good for you writing your little heart out this weekend (and all other times as well), we, your viewing & reading audience appreciate your efforts.
Aside, @Thornyroseagreed, almost “perfect” blog post today. And yes, I’m getting nervous about the expected SGA film too. Always good advice not to believe everything found on unofficial fan sites too. Trust our Joe.
I, on the other hand, despair of finding a new job, so have decided to digitize a mid-sized box of old family photographs, circa 1940’s through 1980’s. Soon discovered I need a new scanner, ’cause the faded photos do not show up well on my old Canon LiDe v30.
At least it’s a productive thing to do. Maybe our Prez can find me a job as a photo digitizer expert, as I’m sure I will be after I finish this stack-o-pics!
G’night all…
2cats
Lou Anders says he hopes the anthology will be out in time for next year’s Comic-Con. Will you be traveling there to promote it, or was that just a convenient date that everyone would understand?
Regarding the “What the-? Indeed.” picture: it rains in space?
Well, I guess with Lou Anders’ announcement, that makes it official. Congratulations soon-to-be published short story writer! I bet it feels good to have your story written and now you just sit back, relax and wait. Makes me wonder if all the stories must be written before the Anthology can be announced?
You can’t fool me. Gero and Binder are not really intergalactic Ghost Hunters! Where is their equipment? No infrared camera, no ghost sensing motion detectors, no EVP recorder to pick up dead voices. Not even a flash light. Or did they get scared and drop it all while running away?
Glad to finally hear more details on the anthology. Speaking of the printed word, what news is there on the comic book? Do we have a green light?
Congrats on the big announcement. Although I’m not a big reader of Superheroes maybe I’ll check it out…
Love the doggy pictures….Maximus is just so cute. Was watching a “It’s Me or the Dog” episode today featuring pugs…
Hey I got a new car, just before my birthday tomorrow…
I’m a loving it!
I’m plugging my way through “Ender’s Game” and an anthology called “Extreme Science Fiction: New Generation Far-Future SF”
I used to read lots of SF when I was a kid. Kinda lost it as an adult and been trying to get back into it. But, as I’ve mentioned, I’m a teacher, so end up reading more kid’s lit than anything else…just finished “Lightening Thief”, next will be “Chasing Vermeer” Gotta find new things to read aloud each year…
@ytimynona
It’s not rain, but an trembling effect,
@thor94 OH!!! Those are STARS shot with a slow shutter-speed. Wow. I feel sooooo stupid.
me too.
i find maximus so cute!!!!
I like his.
You mentioned you like returning to favorite destinations, like Tokyo, but I encourage you to try Kyoto some day. B/c it’s full of national treasures, the allies didn’t bomb it in WW2. When I was there (in the 90s) there was a restriction on the height of new buildings, so that they wouldn’t compete with traditional temples and the natural views. (Though there was talk of ending that, so I’m not sure what the situation is now.) Tokyo to me was just another large city, but Kyoto was quintessential Japan.
I can’t wait to hear more about your short story, with a short title, but an intriguing one!
I finally finished watching Quantum of Solace today, slowing down the bloody action sequences so I could actually see what the heck was going on. With so much money spent on a film like that you’d think they’d want to linger a bit on those shots.
In general, is there a certain editing style for Stargate? Any changes for SGU?
Great pup pics! For some reason, every time I see a picture of Lulu, she’s got a Yoda “thing” about her. Jelly, Max and Bubba are so sweet, and Brie is still such a puppy. And then there’s Carl…
@ytimynona: it’s really trembling-effect, see the shuttlepod console, their light are trembling too.
@joe.m:
encore et toujours des questions!!!
Can we see a best and not trembled photo of the interior of shuttlepod?? and an external view??
While you are, publish a beautiful photo of destiny external view.
thanks
Aha! super secret… Now, at last, too late, I get it. (Which is how I usually get it, when I ever do.)
Looking forward to the discussion of The Speed of Dark–a great book, and Moon’s a marvellous writer.
Nous allons tourner une petite série amateur avec des amis. Des conseils à nous donner sur l’organisation Joseph ?
Is Brie yours now? I thought she belonged to someone else…
5 dogs? You collect pugs like I collect dust bunnies..
Coucou Joseph!!!
ça va aujourd’hui???
Merci d’avoir encore répondu à mes questions^^! Vous êtes adorable!!!
O_O vous avez travailler 12 heure à écrire!! Vous êtes trop fort!! Aller courage encore 3 mois de travail!!!
Lol on dirait que thor94 essaye de vous attirez vers la communauté des gaters Frenchis^^…..je lui dit bon courage, car de mon coté, site,blog, forum, wall,email,carte d’anniversaire…rien ni fait….de toute façon la prochaine étape je l’ai dit c’est la statut de Joseph dans le jardin lol XD
Alalala inaccessible joseph, c’est sa qui vous rend aussi irresistible=)
Bonne journée!
Bisou.
Is there anything SGA fans can do at this stage to make it more likely for the SGA movie to be made?
Do you and Paul still have the title/responsibility of being Producers/Executive Producers on SGU or is it just Brad and Rob?
Is it ok to have favourites if the dogs aren’t mine? I LOVE JELLY!
Hi, I woudl be glad if you could post some pictrures of the dial home device that is used in “on planet” locations in SGU 🙂
Hi Joe, per chance, did you watch “Defying Gravity” last night, and if so, what did you think of it? It’s my new “better than nothing”, at least until October 😉
Bonjour,
il est très instructif de vous lire sur les douleurs d’accouchement d’un script ( ou de deux !). Encore une fois, cela nous permet de prendre conscience qu’un bon épisode dépend d’abord d’un bon scénario et d’une histoire bien racontée. Ensuite, la qualité du jeu des acteurs ne fait qu’ajouter les couleurs à un paysage déjà existant, comme la lumière au levé du soleil.
Cela me permet de relativiser l’imortance, parfois trop grande, que nous spectateurs attribuons aux acteurs.
Question:
Quand vous rédigez un dialogue, le lisez-vous à voix haute pour vérifier si les phrases sonnent bien à l’oreille, pour entendre les répliques afin de vous assurer qu’elles sonnent naturelles?
Good morning Joe.
Nice blog. Great pictures. And, ya know, I’m going to be renovating my kitchen and I think I need to include chevrons like the one in the picture in my decorating scheme. Maybe a nice big one in the tile backspash behind the stove…
Congratulations on the story!
And good luck with the script.
I think I missed the “creepy ads” you mentioned in the blog title.
Off to work I go.
Bummer on the SGA movie news (or no news). I was really hoping J.M. had inside knowledge. I catch D. H.’s tweets and he hasn’t mentioned anything about a deal. I’m thinking good thoughts, though.
From the pictures, I’m guessing Carl is still speaking to you after the photo caption incident? He must be a great guy to let that public humiliation go 😛 .
The dog pictures are awesome, like usual.
Good luck with your projects and Thank you for the links.
Tam
@Deni, thought it was pretty good- Defying Gravity- did you see who was on it – Christina Cox!! Wow she is getting around. How’s the pup? Getting better i hope. I CAN’T STAND THE HEAT ANYMORE!! Will someone please turn on winter already!! Hi Joe. sheryl
Just looked outside and it seems to me that you are now posting from an alternate reality because all we have is lashings of rain, rain and oh more sodding rain with blustery winds and…rain. In an effort to maintain my sunny disposition (?) I’ve put the heating on full, got all the lights on, spread sand around the living room floor and have got my bathing suit on and am quaffing pitchers of margaritas.
@Sheryl: No kidding, we’re melting up here, and with the rain comes more humidity, more mosquitoes and more misery. I’m staying indoors with the a/c set on FREEZING, everything else can wait. Elway seems better today, thanks for asking! Hoping that reducing his potassium bromide for a while will do the trick.
James Enge is here! Authors supporting authors. Gotta love it!
Hey Joe,
Great post, as usual. Those ads are so disturbing I feel like I need to go wash my eyes out with bleach… Can you *un*see something? 😀 I think the worst was the clown.. (shudder). And I’m not even scared of clowns! Ok, maybe I am now a little bit.
Bella does the same thing in the sun: goes out and sunbathes, comes inside and flops down on the cool floor panting, goes back outside, comes inside…
Do your little ones like swimming?
Oh, and love all the doggy pics!
Nadine
Hello Joe,
Since everybody appears to be curious about you writing process, I‘ve decided to take advantage of this momentum to ask questions about the series’ episodes creative process.
Before I proceed with my questions, I’d like to mention that I’m a very big fan of the Science-Fiction genre. I feel like it’s one of these rare genres where the boundaries of imagination can be pushed to its most extreme limits.
Unlike all the others usual categories such as what I like to refer to as “the real world” action, adventure, comedy, crime, drama, horror, western, etc…, which always end up exploiting similar ideas at one point in time, a Sci-fi project in addition to exploring avenues beyond reality, collects most of its well deserved merit from the novelty and the originality of the ideas it presents. In addition to this, the more credible or believable the story is portrayed, the greatest satisfaction you get, as a viewer or reader , at your inability to find a single reason as to why the situation presented could not really happen in real life.
That being said, allow me to refocus my entry on my questions of interest. Now I’m well aware that you’ve briefly brushed this subject in an earlier entry, but I’m hoping that you’ll be able to expand further on the subject. I’d also like to specify that I’m not necessarily looking for a procedure or technical answer to these questions and I understand that the answers to these questions might not necessary come from you.
1.How does the production team comes up and decide on ideas for each episode of the series?
2. I can imagine easily how a movie idea can be developed into a 3 hrs film, but when it comes to a TV series that runs for several years, how do you manage to keep ideas coming?
3.Since you are several writers working on the series, how is it decided who writes which script?
4.Have you ever faced a script idea that you were simply not able to work on?
5.What would you say has been for you the hardest part of writing a script in general?
6.Can you explain what an “act break” is?
Waouw Joseph…les frenchis ont envahis votre blog aujourd’hui!!
Demain c’est le 4 Aout!! et qui y’a t’il le 4 Aout? éhéhéhé réponse demain!
Great selection and range of “pitchers.” Thanks.
The ads were disturbing – ditto, Nadine.
Climbing on soapbox – so many were sexist, demeaning, and so on. Good grief! climbing off soapbox.
The chaplain couldn’t pass the security clearance and is co-located at Ft. Carson with the American Red Cross Service to Armed Forces Office. *heeheehee*
Hey Joe,
I’m a college student — a hopeful someday TV writer. And I’m working on a spec pilot these days. I don’t know how much you know about the “spec market” out there, but I was wondering what you thought about this: I want the pilot to ultimately be a cable series (ie HBO or Showtime) should it ever come to fruition. (Yes, I’m aware 99% of spec pilots don’t make it to production, not to mention being picked up as a series — it’s more of the “showing what I can do” script). The content clearly suggests it’s meant for cable (sexuality, violence, language, themes, et al). However, as I’m not writing on assignment I wasn’t sure if I should be writing it in cable-format (without act-breaks) or if I should include the breaks. Any thoughts?
I appreciate any input. 😀
-The Bald Soprano
I am so glad it’s winter.
Our time will come, my Southern Hemisphere brethren, so enjoy it while it lasts –
Or do you prefer, heat, mosquitoes, sweat…?
Nah, didn’t think so. 😀
Joe,
First I want to say I really enjoy your puppies on twitter. They are fabulous. Second and please forgive me for this dumb question. I assumed all your doggies were pugs but Lulu and Brie look slightly different, they aren’t all the same breed are they? What is the difference? Besides slightly longer snouts.
Tracy
Re : Captions , ,
The ones I thaught of are all used up .
1 *> So when your Snow Boarding , you’ve got to bend your knees and Streach your arms out like This …
2 *> This is how Tall The Asguard should be …
3 *> He is about to Conduct an Orcestra …
____________
Just watched “Vegas” for the second time. I kept saying to GeekBoy “Wow, these guys are so good!” The writing, how it was shot, the performances, the wardrobe…we’re so used to the quality of SGA that we forget, I think, how much talent goes into it. The CSI homage was nicely done, without being overdone. The music was amazing. The characters we’re used to seeing were familiar, but not the same, right down to Keller and Zelenka. Almost, but not quite, the people we expect. Flanigan and Hewlett did a fabulous job of taking their characters a little sideways.
Seriously, I’ve got to watch it a couple more times.
Thanks for the puppy pictures! And the Carl pictures (he ranks right up there with Lulu…).
Now…about that super secret project…
…modern narratives of superhero adventure, by and for today’s sophisticated comic book reading public.
Yeah. See…I read Wolverine. That ‘sophisticated’ part just kinda leaves me right out. 😛
(Any albinos in these stories… 😉 )
Speaking of which…I would hope my comments about my obsession du jour never offend anyone with albinism. Sometimes…ya know…you (meaning, ‘I’ 😳 ) say things without knowing who’s in your ‘audience’. I’m aware that the term ‘albino’ is offensive to some, though I’ve never thought of it in a negative way (perhaps because of my own exposure to those with albinism at an early age, and their free use of the word ‘albino’). And it is never my intention to joke about the condition – I’m only making light of my own obsessiveness. So I hope my comments never come across as insensitive…or too pervy. :p
das
Empty corridors. I like them, very elegant and so full of promise. I’m just weird that way.
Are you Brie’s foster daddy? That would explain a lot of things.
I’m very excited, the theme camp placements for Burning Man have posted. I’ll be living at 5:00 and Extinct, although the official address of Hushville is 5:00 and D.N.A.. Oh. Wait a minute. Right. Y’all don’t care. I’m still uber-psyched.
Congrats on the super secret project. I can’t wait to read it.
Hey for the caption contest…
…and tomorrow we tackle wax on, wax off!
Congrats Joe on the short story announcement. This looks really awesome. I look forward to reading the whole Anthology when it comes out.
I am also looking forward to Elizabeth Moon’s Q&A. What a great book.
das – I view the word albino as descriptive. Seems to me that Dan Brown used an albino character in the DaVinci Code and as we all know- he made a whole shit load of money on that book. Not too many people seemed offended by that.
One last caption for Carl:
“I’d like the bidet – here; and the waterjet jacuzzi – here.”
Quick question. Why is Justin Louis, well, Justin Louis on the SyFy videos, etc, but Louis Ferreira (his true name) on the MGM site?
Think this will cause confusion down the road for many fans, especially if they check the latter name on IMDB and get, well, the credits for a fieldwork advisor…
Sounds like the scripts are coming along very nicely. Oh, and thanks for answering my question about where they will fit in the season. Nice to know we will get both of them!
I’m glad to see the dogs looking so cute, although they do look a bit tired from the heat (or just tired, either way).
Can’t wait to chat about The Speed of Dark either, not sure when I’ll have time to post all my thoughts, but I’ll try and make the time.
Cheers,
Amz
Joe (and especially set design and dec…)
Wow.
Lovin’ the new sets, thanks Joe for the sneak preview pics. I can’t wait for October. Here’s hoping you all have managed to capture that special magic in casting you did for SG1.
Hey Joe, fairly random question, but I was curious-
Has the show every had problems with animals while off shooting in more wild areas of Vancouver?