To mark our last day in the office, we watched not one but TWO mixes – a Day 2 mix of Pain, and a Day 1 mix of Subversion. You know what I really love? The cute that plays over the previously on segment. Love. It. Joel Goldsmith did his usual spectacular job and I was particularly impressed with the moody and unsettling score for Pain. It really ratchets up the tension. And, speaking of tension, what happens to Volker…it’s enough to give me nightmares. Actor Patrick Gilmore’s performance was terrific – in a creepy, frisson-inducing way. Also – it’s the little things. While you’re watching Pain, make a point of noting Wray’s wardrobe. Subversion, meanwhile, is a real winner: Jack, Daniel, Rush in deep, the Young-Telford showdown, and a few surprises including a guest spot but franchise fave and past blog guest Mike Dopud.
I worked on those first eighteen pages of my script and, after several re-reads and tweaks, I’ve gone from “hate” to “mere dislike”. I hope that further rewrites will improve my opinion to “firm ambivalence” before I leave for Montreal. In the meantime, I’ve forged ahead with the next scene – a toughie – and hope to be out of Act II by the weekend. Hopefully inspiration strikes and I can roll through Act III in time for my Montreal departure next week.
Hey, speaking of inspiration, I just did an impromptu liquor cabinet count. 90+ bottles ranging from cloying root beer schnapps to throat-stripping grappa! Mighty impressive for someone who isn’t much of a drinker. A potential new hobby?
I feel inadequate as an international emailer. My friend Akemi has been sending me emails from Tokyo studded with the most elaborate of emoticons – flying pigs, dancing teeth, wizards engaged in resplendent duels – and all I’ve got in my arsenal are: :-), :-(, and ;-). How mortifying. I’m practically a Luddite in comparison.
Today’s entry is dedicated to blog regular Suziesbluefeather and Karen Ford. Happy Birthdays!
Sukoshi mailbag:
Crayonbaby writes: “Assault Girls II? Now I have to look this up because I’ve never heard of this movie. And I probably don’t ever want to hear of this movie, right?”
Answer: Oh, you do. Trust me. The trailer is available on Youtube.
Cody writes: “Was writing easier with SG1 or SGA? Why does being angry help?…. it usually slows me down because I’m too pissed to concentrate.”
Answer: Actually, I do some of my best writing when I’m angry. Alas, I’m not angry enough. As for the first question – I recall struggling when I was writing for SG-1 and Atlantis, though maybe not quite as hard.
Beaudacious writes: “Hey Joe… Any chance we’ll get any detail’s on Destiny. Like size , number of weapons.A technical schematic? Just a curious tech-head.”
Answer: We’ll be filling in the details as the series progresses, but nothing in the way of publishing a manual or online reference guide. Which really wouldn’t be a bad idea. So long as I didn’t have to do it.
PG15 writes: “1. Ok, so you told us that, when your season finale got expanded to 2 episodes, the concept for episode 17 was scrapped to make room for it. Will that episode 17 show up in Season 2 now?
2. Since you guys have the finale figured out, will you guys start planning how to get there from here on out? I.e. plan a series-long arc? Or will you guys keep the middle of the show fairly blank so you can fill it up with spur-of-the-moment inspirations?”
Answers: 1. Yes. A drastically modified form of the story will figure into the first half of season two.
2. Let’s just say we know where we’re going and leave it at that.
Black Panther writes: “I don’t remember if this has been asked before or not, but will Stargate Extinction be what would have been the premiere of season 6 or is it something else you’ve come up with as a series finale?”
Answer: Extinction is a fleshed out version of what would have been the season six opening two-parter.
Dasndanger writes: “Why not try some other places to eat around the world? Paris? London? Rome? Istanbul?”
Answer: That’s like asking me to date other women when I’m deeply committed to someone else. Tsk tsk tsk.
Dasndanger also writes: “More than once you have expressed a desire to have all of the Atlantis series explained away as a dream – the ‘it never really happened’ scenario. Do you really hate it that much?”
Answer: I believe it was a joke I made twice regarding the same set-up. I’m particularly fond of the last two seasons of the show.
Shirt ‘n Tie writes: “Finally, how is your Mom? Is she recovered from her op?”
Answer: She’s fine but may have to go in for another eye operation. She’s not enthused.
Deni writes: “Hey, I KNOW I’m a pain in the ass with this, but whatever happened to Joel’s Q&A?”
Answer: No idea. I just send out the questions and let the guest turn their around at his or her leisure. Last time Joel checked in, he assured me his responses were on their way. Of course, that was six months ago…
Michelle writes: “If you want to see what’s slowing down your MacBook, open a Finder window, go to Applications, then Utilities, and start up “Activity Monitor”. It will show you all the applications that are running, sorted by CPU usage. Sometimes Firefox gets very hoggy and has to be restarted. Other times it’s anti-virus software running in the background that goes crazy. You can quit the apps from the Activity Monitor, then restart as necessary. Or just tell us what you see.”
Answer: Thanks, tech wiz. Yep, Firefox and Word were major hogs. Thanks.
Swedish Guy writes: “Cold, you say. How cold is Vancouver in December? Here in Sweden we’ve had a bloody freezing -25 degrees celsius today. How was it over there? Hotter? Colder?”
Answer: Okay, not that cold. But I still reserve the right to complain. And welcome to the blog.
dodaida writes: “1) What was the very first scene you were filming on SGU?
2) What the crew did with that “time” alien creatures, they had captured on the Jungle planet? Did they kill them because of cure or meat? I wish they have them as a pets…
3) Are you going to post some “behind the scene” photos from Justice? Especially from the desert planet? Where were these scenes filmed?”
Answer: 1) Don’t recall. It may have been the shipboard Eli-Rush scenes from Air I.
2) Yeah, they were adorable but, no, they killed them and made use of their medicinal properties.
3) Sorry, no. I wasn’t on location for this shoot.
SSJPabs writes: “When Destiny is dialing planets, where are they? Just somewhere in space they can reach gates or do they emerge in a single solar system that has multiple gates? Some people got an impression that they dialed the gate to a planet they were orbiting which seems incorrect.”
Answer: No, if the ship was actually orbiting the planet, they’d take the shuttle down.
Bailey writes: “Reading about your script woes and post-Japan ennui makes me wonder if you’d just like to chuck it all and head out on a jet plane somewhere to live a new life – mysterious recluse or international playboy?”
Answer: Uh, if I had a choice I’d go with B. Do you have a jet I could borrow?
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