Michael R. Brehmer <75303.2242@compuserve.com> asks:
> If the Vorlons are now hell-bent to destroy the Shadows, why
> nibble around the periphery and not blow-up Zhadum first? If the
> Vorlon "parenta" approach has been used for so many eons, why
> start destroying everything in their path now? Morden must know
> that that the Centauri are no match for the Vorlons; so why ask
> them to send up their ships as a defense shield? I wonder if there
> is a "Peace party" among the Shadows? Is Earth a Vorlon target?
> Is B5 a Vorlon target?
> How can the AoL stand up to both the Vorlons and the Shadows?

Excellent questions to which I, alas, can only reply, "wait and
see."

jms

Michael R. Brehmer <75303.2242@compuserve.com> asks:
> In writing your scripts, do you have a conversation with each
> character and he/she tells you what's happening; or do you see
> the action the character is in from their point of view; or do
> you see the action much as the camera sees it from a third person
> point of view, but focusing on that character?

I see the episode in my mind the same way it's seen by viewers.
I watch it from the camera's point of view. It's just once in a while,
as I'm watching it, that one of the characters will lean into camera,
bang on the side of it, and say "Listen, shmuck, you're not doing this
right."

jms

Scott Baker <76072.1744@compuserve.com> asks:
> Is there any particular character who bangs the camera more often
> than not? And how often does the finished product match what you
> "saw"?

The finished film comes startlingly close to what I saw in my
head at least 85% of the time. The other times, it falls below, or
goes beyond.

jms

Scott Baker <76072.1744@compuserve.com> asks:
> So how do you convey to the director and actors what you see in
> your head? Do you make notes on the script, or do you talk it out,
> or what?

We have tone meetings where I go over every scene with the
director, so we both know what's required, what the subtext is, and so
on.

jms

{original post unavailable}

Yes, that's Andreas' head, which I personally moved over to
where it would be beside Peter...who complained (in jest) that Andreas
was again stealing the scene from him.

jms

Scott Baker <76072.1744@compuserve.com> asks:
> I assume that you don't make comments during filming then
> directly to the actors, so what do you do if you see something
> during filming that needs to be changed?

I will, on *rare* occasions, address a note or correction
directly to an actor while we're shooting, but in general I give any
notes to the director on the set, who passes them on to the actor.
There really can't be a multiplicity of voices talking to actors on the
set...it can become confusing, and they can get contradictory
directions. They can get skittish and lose concentration.

One occasion where I *did* do this recently...in the scene
where Londo explains to Cartagia why he shouldn't be killed for being
late, the director had Londo playing that scene submissive and nervous
in rehearsals, didn't understand that the whole point of the exercise
was Londo standing up to Cartagia, but doing so in a very sly way, not
giving him any room to maneuver. Cartagia likes Londo because there's
intelligence and steel, in a very manipulative fashion..."you think the
same way I do," Cartagia says. So before we shot the scene, I pulled
Peter aside and gave him the correction, and that's how we shot it.

But, again, those incidents are fairly rare.

jms

SUSAN F. KIRN <76262.2013@compuserve.com> asks:
> Joe, On the flip side of the coin, do the actors ever come to you
> for clarification or advice on how a scene is to be played?

That, yes...very often, while the actor is prepping, they'll
come by my office, or at lunch ask about a particular passage, for
clarification on my part, as opposed to an adjustment on their
performance.

jms