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June 22, 2007
Then End of an Era.
Stargate SG-1 has its final episode tonight, and it's going to be a great… unending? You'll see! So this morning I went around the office and gathered some sound bites from the writers and producers about the end of Stargate SG-1, the television series. Here's what I got…
From Alan McCullough:
"What? Am I the first one? Do you have any examples?…" and then he realized I was writing it all down, so he added. "It's a real shame… I felt like there were still stories left to tell and the characters were really starting to gel."
From Kerry McDowell (Post Coordinator):
"So sad…"
From Paul Mullie:
"In my mind and in my heart the stories will continue." And then he turned to Joe and said "Top that (bitch)!"
From Joe Mallozzi:
"Now where am I going to store my chocolates?" (I personally think Joe is just hiding his emotions with this statement, because later I walked into his office without knocking and, although he tried to play it off by saying there was something in his eye, I think he might have been crying. Or maybe there was just something in his eye).
From Martin Wood:
"It's not done. I just finished the second movie, and I was talking to Brad about the next one." And I shouldn't forget to mention he was wearing a "Stargate Continuum" crew gift tee shirt.
Robert Cooper didn't have any parting words, but he did tell me about the last night of shooting. He was directing, and the day went quite late. He had arranged for the last shot to be a shot of the team going through the gate (see? unending!). It was about 1 a.m. and many of the office staff returned to the studio to be there for that last shot. Apparently it was a very emotional, even tearful moment. Rumour has it Christopher Judge choked up. Rob thought it was a fitting end for the family that SG-1 has become.
So enjoy tonight's SG-1 – I'm sure you die hard fans have already read a lot of the spoilers, so I won't repeat them here… But you'll definitely get to see some of the characters in a way you've never seen them before.
On Atlantis, you'll see "First Strike", written by Martin Gero and directed by Martin Wood. Both Martin's talked about the 90 second visual effects shot planned by Martin Gero. Martin Wood explained that nobody believed it would stay in the show. "Really?", they kept asking. And yet, in each draft, there it was. And it stayed. Martin Gero defies anyone (DEFIES!) to find a longer visual effects shot in the history of television.
"First Strike" also features the introduction of two mainstays: Dr. Jennifer Keller, played by Jewel Staite (formerly of "Firefly") who also played the Wraith child "Ellia" in a season two episode of Atlantis called "Instinct" and Colonel Ellis, played by Michael Beach (formerly of "Third Watch"). These are great actors who are going to make the show even better. Trust me on this one.
And that's it for me, at least until the new season of Atlantis starts up – currently scheduled to air in October. Keep the faith!
ATL
Posted by Alex Levine at 07:53 PM
June 14, 2007
And they said it couldn’t be done…
The powers that be (often referred to as “TPTB”) said it couldn’t be done. “You can’t make it cool”, they said. “It’ll end up being goofy!” And they spoke from experience, because as many of you know, so many “creature features” end up looking more like the Muppet Show than Aliens. So that’s all Carl Binder heard when he pitched the idea and wrote the script for the Atlantis episode “Vengeance.” And Carl, being the sort of person that likes to take on challenges, did what any good television producer would do… he challenged the director to make it happen. Yup, he passed the buck right over to Andy Mikita.
Andy explained the challenges he faced… the creatures – 7 feet tall in their rubber suit and wearing prosthetics – could barely stand. The rubber suit was so cumbersome it took three helpers just to keep the monster from banging into the walls. And these are supposed to be agile, fearsome creatures, as you will see. But, alas, with smoke and mirrors (more smoke than mirrors), talented set dressers and our crack camera crew, Andy did in fact make it happen. As Carl put it, he hit the ball out of the park.
Of, I forgot – lots of careful editing went into this one too. I recall one shot in dailies where the monster was supposed to be attacking someone who was lying on the ground. But the result was hilarious; it looked a lot more like the monster was rifling someone’s pockets, looking for his wallet. Of course that shot didn’t make the cut, but we had some good times watching dailies. Lastly, the show was shot in one of Vancouver’s best locations – the tunnels under the old Riverview mental hospital. It really doesn’t get any creepier than that.
This week on SG-1, you’ll see “Dominion”. And check the credits people, because this one was conceived by a young and talented, up and coming writer who goes by the name of …. (drum roll, please)… ME. Yup, the kernel for this one was an idea that came to me late last season, like a flash of light.
The process of pitching is usually a bit gut-wrenching and this was no exception. The general rule of thumb is, the more people that are in the room when you pitch, the steeper the climb. It’s like threading six needles at once. So on this occasion, I ambushed Rob in his office, gave him the 25 word pitch and watched and waited. He was quiet for a moment, staring off into the distance. Then he said those four words every young writer is hoping to hear: “I don’t hate it.” A month later, after letting me spin my wheels on an outline for a while, he merged my concept into some other story ideas of Alan’s and set Alan to work on the screenplay.
I really hope you like it. But if you don’t, definitely send your complaints to Alan. Kudos letters can be sent directly to me.
Enjoy!
ATL
Posted by Alex Levine at 11:57 PM
June 08, 2007
Working titles and the battle of the blogs...
There’s a white board in the writer’s room that the writers use to break stories, and on one side of it is the list of this season’s episodes. It’s always fun to take a look at the working titles on there, which, in my opinion, are often better (well, definitely funnier) than the real titles. Right now there’s such notables as “My Deepspace Friend”, “Rise of the Googlions”, and “Send in the Clones.” Who wouldn’t want to watch those awesome episodes?
Also notable is that 19 of 20 episode slots are now filled in… We’re actually shooting episode 11 now (Spoils of War) and prepping episode 12 (Miller’s Crossing). That leaves just one story to come up with to complete Season 4. As some of you may know, I came up with a story last year that became SG-1’s “Dominion” (I’ll talk about that more next week) and although the writing staff has been kind enough to let me pitch some new ideas this year, unfortunately none of them have stuck; a couple were non-starters, one was too expensive, and another was too similar to a previous episode…
Meanwhile, I discovered that Joe Mallozzi is winning the eyeball war in the battle of the blogs. It seems that at least 1900 more of you are reading Joe’s blog than mine! I mean, I know he has pictures and that “producer’s inside knowledge”. I know he teases you with fun riddles and stuff… but I give you… some of that stuff too. Don’t I? I guess not the pictures. Okay, whatever… read us both!!!
This week you’ll see “Submersion” on Stargate Atlantis and “Family Ties” on SG-1.
I spoke with Joe Mallozzi about “Family Ties.” I remember the many discussions we had about casting for the role of Vala’s father. It was finally decided to put an offer out to Fred Willard – notably of the Christopher Guest mockumentaries. And the gang was thrilled to get him. Joe knew Fred Willard was going to play the part before he actually wrote the script so he was able to write Jacek’s dialogue with Fred’s voice in mind. Of course there are also many scenes in which Fred improvises (most notably the goodbyes after the Bingo game – that stuff is hilarious). Joe also said the final scene of the show – a brilliant comic riff on a well-known feminist play – was initially just a gag for the writing staff. But as the production progressed, everybody liked it and a grassroots campaign began to keep that scene in. I’m really glad they did, because I was a fan from day one and it is hilarious.
I remember that Brad Wright’s initial idea for “Submersion” was in reference to “The Exorcist.” But now that I think of it there are also a lot of “Abyss” elements in this episode as well. And that’s because most of the show takes place in an underwater drilling station at the bottom of the Lantian ocean. I spoke with James Robbins, our Production Designer, about the sets. He said they had to build twelve foot pool where our villain makes her first appearance, very similar to the diving pool in “Abyss.” They also built their version of a Lantian underwater control room for the drilling station. Finally, they rented these amazing deep water “Newt Suits” – sort of like space suits but for deep underwater diving. The arms sockets on these things are ridiculous, but the look is very cool. This is a visually stunning episode.
Enjoy!
ATL
Posted by Alex Levine at 07:04 PM
