We're going to make the EFX of the guns move as fast as possible, to
match even slightly the real speed that would be involved (which in complete
reality would probably be too fast even to see, but one does what one can).

We've also tried to be fairly rigorous on the question of security. On
other shows, they only call up security guys when there's a problem. If you
watch the pilot, there are about 7 or 8 security people at the customs
scanner, and you *constantly* see them moving down the corridor or through the
bazaar...armed. Not a big presence, but as you say, with 4 other stations
lost or destroyed, you have to be careful.

jms

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Category 18, Topic 22
Message 681 Thu Oct 01, 1992
STRACZYNSKI [Joe] at 01:23 EDT

In my copious spare time, and obviously unofficially, I've been laying
out the first season or two, sketching out which episodes would hypothetically
go first, where to lay in the saga, and I find that I keep getting dragged
more to saga-episodes rather than the stand-alones. It's as if, having had
this thing waiting to be told for so long, there's the overwhelming desire to
just GET IT ALL OUT...sort of projectile storytelling. But you can't do that,
you've got to parcel it all out a bit at a time, just like the information
here (which, he reminded himself, I've generally released far more quickly and
in more detail than I'd originally anticipated).

What interesting is how some things expand in your mind once you've
filmed a pilot like this. Here's Character X, who you always saw a certain
way, had a few stories in mind...and suddenly the *performance* and the
casting makes you realize that there's a MUCH broader potential here than
you'd originally thought...a character likely to steal the show...and now
suddenly you begin spinning out new stories for that character...but if you
emphasize THAT person, how does it affect a) the over-arching storyline, and
b) the other characters?

My first impulse is to give every major character an episode right up
front, give everyone a chance to establish him- or herself. But on the flip
side of the argument, that means (since we have 9 regular or recurring
characters) spending as many as 8 episodes with our PRIMARY character,
Sinclair, less involved or held at some remove. Which seems counter-
productive.

Telling the stories...that ain't hard. Putting it all in the right
sequence, now that we have the benefit of having cast, THAT's the challenging
part.

BTW, for those who are curious, there are two photos of Yr Obdnt Srvnt in
the new Hollywood edition of WRITER'S DIGEST. And if, as they say, every
picture tells a story, these tell quite a story (though one I just can't look
at any more, it's too painful).

jms