Bronze VIP Archive for January 17, 2001
Warning! Possible Spoilers!!
- -mere- says:
(Wed Jan 17 16:03:25 2001 155.229.70.5)
- okay. so i lied. but it was, like, Perjury 9.
KarenT(cutie): thanks. that means a lot, coming from someone who once read about me donning a leather catsuit and screaming "Bring me the head of Joss Whedon!" and Michael Grossman is different than Michael Gershman, who directed "Passion", and is also the Director of Photography for BTVS. both good directors, though.
and now i'm REALLY gone.
"Perhaps something by Cat Stevens..."
-mere-
sigJTT
^
- -mere- says:
(Wed Jan 17 15:59:32 2001 155.229.70.5)
- last post, then gone like a thing that is gone...
thanks, Extra Flamey.
Angelique's Faith and Lady of the Lake: hang in there, guys. spoilers are the only thing on this planet more evil than me. more evil than Joss even, and that's sayin' somethin'. avoid, avert, evade!
Lil Pia: i'll have to see if i can check out that Daredevil comic, then -- maybe Joss or Doug has a copy i can snake.
amberlynne: okay, see, now you're just going to the scary place.
Vilia: you want David Boreanaz to mention "wood"? WUWT? is there some bizarre tree-fetish going on here i don't know about?
pippistrell: (and boy, is your name hard to spell, buddy.) i haven't heard anything about Rudolph Martin's return to "Buffy" or appearance on "Angel" -- my gut feeling is that he was a one-shot deal. however, i also had a gut feeling that the United States would be smart enough not to elect a semi-retarded ex-frat boy alcoholic to the White House, and you see how accurate that prediction turned out to be. also, i don't think i'll be going to Dublin anytime soon, although i've always, always wanted to go to Ireland. maybe after the writer's strike, and if i make it through Season 3. [taking for granted they hire me back for Season 3, rather than garrotting me and stuffing my body in a trash compactor outside of Oxnard. at this point, it's a toss-up.]
NancyE: as an official Fox employee, i can tell you have i no earthly idea what you're talking about. as -mere-, i can tell you it was for time, and thank you. ;-)
OzLady: believe me when i tell you you don't wanna buy a vacuum cleaner from me. i only vaguely remember what they're used for.
monkey boy: just for you, i'm going to see if they can put Charisma in a body-suit made of Kevlar and feathers. why? i don't know. i got nothin'.
bye for now. must attend to "work". and how cool is it that i love my job so much, i can put "work" in quotation marks?
-mere-
sigJTT
^
- -mere- says:
(Wed Jan 17 15:14:13 2001 155.229.70.5)
- artemis: nothing like starting out a conversation with the words, "i really didn't want to like you." *laugh* seriously, thanks so much for your comments, and while i feel good about "Redefinition", i do have to point out that "Untouched" had a huge mess o'Joss in it (as all good things are wont to do). i'm still sorta finding my own voice as a writer, and hopefully i'll get better instead of worse ['cause, uh, i do it the other way and i end up selling vacuums door-to-door], so stay tuned, and i pray i don't disappoint!
Narrator: could you please clean up your own blood this time? mopping up belmont's gory remains wore me out.
Lil Pia: i haven't been asked to work on a comic yet, which i think is probably of the good, since i only recently started getting into them. Joss is a huge comic book freak, and he and Doug Petrie have been corrupting me with the likes of "Promethea", "The Dark Knight Returns", "Batman: Year One", and "Hardboiled". "B:YO" was actually a big inspiration for "Redefinition", but as for me writing comics myself? not yet. i'm still way outta my depth.
Lovely Poet: the very idea that something i wrote might have some kind of relevance in a college classroom is enough to make me cackle with malevolent glee. i'm influencing young minds! SUCKERS! but in all seriousness, i'd love to hear what your professor has to say about the ep. unless she hated it, in which case you can just tell me she died in a terrible bicycle accident and i'll believe you.
amberlynne: how 'bout we make a deal? i'll touch David Greenwalt's bicep for you, AND throw a scene into my next episode wherein David Boreanaz says the word "I". how's that work for you?
imminent bailage approaching...
-mere-
sigJTT
^
- -mere- says:
(Wed Jan 17 15:02:08 2001 155.229.70.5)
- oh, no -- i'm being harrassed! oh, save me, save m--*cough**cough*hurk* sorry. just can't do the damsel in distress jig. but the crushing skulls reel i'm familiar with...
janni: a shirt-free Wesley, huh? didn't you get your jollies from GWBG? how much MORE shirtless can he get?
hey elusio!
Lil Pia: Joss. all Joss. 100% Joss. all roads lead to Joss.
Allyson: what kind of beer? i don't know -- the kind made out of beer, i guess.
Rainbow: sorry about the UK laggage. just think of how you'll be able to lord your "new" episodes over the US after we've finished the series! you'll still have stuff to look forward to!
Frodo: yeah, the Greenwalt-firing--mere- story is a real corker, i'll grant you. except when you're me. in which case it's a real three-hour therapy session.
-the highly unfunny mere-
sigJTT
^
- -mere- says:
(Wed Jan 17 14:53:43 2001 155.229.70.5)
- Hallett. Hallett. Hallett. i know how to spell it. Hallett. Hallett. crap. sorry, Andy.
^
- -mere- says:
(Wed Jan 17 14:49:40 2001 155.229.70.5)
- amberlynne: uh... i guess i should've made it clear that i was sitting next to David Greenwalt, not David Boreanaz. not that that makes it any less exciting, 'cause you know, Greenwalt = hottie, but i have a feeling that's not the picture you had in your head. and while i'm on the subject, PLEASE don't tell me about the picture you had in your head.
Sarah's carl: "Lady Marmalade", aka "Voulez Vous Couchez Avec Moi". for more information on Andy "I'm Just So Freaking Cool" Hallet, go ---> here. and oh my heavenly jujubes, i hope i got that tag right. been a long time since i linked anything.
...but that's another story entirely.
BCangel: well, if you want to write for TV or the movies, i gotta tell ya: move to L.A. some inhuman freaks of nature can have a career from New York, but the vast majority of us are in L.A. as for particular areas that are more conducive to job-getting: hey, if you find one, let me know. i don't think it has so much to do with where you're living, as what you're doing while you live there. you have to write. and write a lot. and write some more. and then, more writing. it's all about the work, babe -- intra-Los-Angeles geography is meaningless. in re: "Buffy" and "Angel" spec scripts, it is generally true that the folks at Mutant Enemy don't read B&A specs, just as most shows don't read specs of their own programs, simply because story ideas are so hard to pin down as commodities -- and lawsuits abound regarding who thought what when, who put this twist on it, who came up with what plot variation, yadda yadda yadda. your best bet is to write a "West Wing", a "Sopranos", a "Practice", an "Ally McBeal", or any other one-hour show instead. next, you gotta find an agent that'll pimp your spec (hey, i realize it's a family board, but call a pimp a pimp, know what i mean?). lots of steps, lots of time, lots of hard work, lots of frustration -- but ultimately, and i speak from experience, ALL WORTH IT.
-mere-
sigJossTyTim!
^
- -mere- says:
(Wed Jan 17 14:17:59 2001 155.229.70.5)
- sorry about the delay -- was watching episode 13 with David and Tim. i think y'all're gonna love it.
PROBABLY SOME SPOILERS BELOW. I WOULDN'T DOUBT IT.
CYMru: where do i get my inspiration? easy. his name is Joss. and he is God.
Maeve: no spoilers! bad Maeve!
Terry: i don't really know anything about the cast touring the US to promote anything. last i heard, they were shooting this little show called "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". maybe you've heard of it?
NancyE: okay, so maybe it wasn't entirely a logistical error. i thought about explaining it away with the "he was really just gonna snap the vamp's neck" ploy, but then i figured i should suck it up and admit to being a dumbass. hey, i mean, it's worked so far...
Circe: yeah, i have to admit i really loved the fire-as-bookends. i'd pitched the part about Angel burning Darla's pictures early on in the story breaking process, then it got discarded. then later, when we decided to torch the girls, we put it back in. but you know what the best part is? think back to episode 8, "The Shroud of Rahmon". you know how Angel is kinda driven toward Angelus by the box that makes you crazy? well, i kinda saw the shroud representing his vampire nature, the evil part of him he wanted to destroy, and what does he do with it? sets it on fire. how cool is that? of course, that's one of those things that when you look back, you think, "oh my god! they've been planning this for ages!" but in reality, it was just fortuitous luck. anyway, i just thought that was kinda neat.
Cathedral: the vast majority of credit for the visual imagery goes to Michael Grossman, who directed the show. some shots, like seeing Angel through the flames of the incinerator, or craning up to find him crouched on the pipes in the tunnel, i had in my head, and wrote into the script. but the truly gorgeous moments, like the long shot of Dru and Darla crouched under the spray of the fire hydrant, or the slo-mo shot of the fire racing toward them -- Michael Grossman, ladies and gentleman. methinks we'll be seeing more of him in the coming years.
Angelalex242: i do think that the "Martial trance" you're talking about applies. Angel has moved away from his mission, which, of course, involves caring about the people he saves [or doesn't save, i.e. the wine cellar massacre]. and fittingly, i think his withdrawal from humanity makes him less human -- more of a death machine, you know what i'm saying? same thing goes for all those soldiers that committed atrocities like My Lai -- they become less human because they have to, because doing the things they "need" to do is far too painful to experience as a human being. so they disconnect, disassociate, and i definitely agree that Angel is disconnecting at this point. setting the girls on fire is a particularly distanced way of hurting/killing them. that's another thing we talked about a lot with "Redefinition", ideas of distance and closeness, and how W&H plays their game at a distance, while Angel is usually all hand-to-hand angsty personal wars. the D&D flambe was a move away, away from Darla and Dru, away from humanity, and, more importantly, i think, a move away from Angel, himself.
Narrator: i can't have shirtless Angel in every episode, you know. i mean, for crying out loud -- i'm not Marti Noxon.
Muffy: no, not writing my scripts with a black Flair pen -- they have these newfangled machines called "computers" now, and i've found them immensely useful. [for example, i now have somewhere to put all my Post-It notes.] and did you catch my little shoutout to you from Merl?
a random note for everyone: Merl is the informant demon with the avocado-like head. The Host is the name of the karaoke bar demon, played by the inimitable (as well as generous, funny, kind, and staggeringly talented) Andy Hallet. "Lady Marmalade" is a signature song of his, and we were trying to figure out a way for him to be able to sing it. luckily, i got to have it in my episode. so NEENER, Tim Mineener!
SPOILERS ABOUND UP THAR. WATCH OUT!
"You dead guys are so insensitive." -- Cordelia, in a line that got cut
-mere-
sigJossTyTim!
^
- -mere- says:
(Wed Jan 17 12:10:13 2001 155.229.70.5)
- hey, y'all!
i gotta say, it's been peculiarly gratifying to see all the discussion about "Redefinition" -- even 'stina's back! it reminds me of the endless (ENDLESS!) discussions we had back in Season 2, and that alone gives me a warm tingly feeling of... well, one doesn't want to use the term "sublimated sexual ecstasy"... actually, one does.
no, come to think of it, one doesn't.
but it's been fabu reading all the theories and possible explanations -- i was telling Tim earlier today that i find it positively COOLIO (bastardized slang, not pokey-haired rapper) that ideas that were pinging around in my brain are now pinging around in someone else's brain. which, ordinarily, i'd say, "ooh, poor them." but it's pretty frickin' neat, i gotta tell ya.
LOOK OUT BELOW! SPOILERS AWAY!
to answer a couple Q's and clutter up the ether:
1) first of all, the logistical error i was referring to yesterday was, indeed, picked up by someone over on Salon.com's Table Talk, in the "It's All About The Coat" thread -- i think the poster's name was Dana (apologies if it's not). Dana picked up on the fact that the demon in the Bite Club [that's what we called it -- we're so snarky and hip] puts the vampire he's battling in a choke hold. now, realizing that a choke hold ain't gonna do a whole lot of damage to someone who doesn't need air to breathe... that's one of those moronic epiphanies that occurs to you AFTER you've written "demon puts vampire in choke hold", AFTER they've shot the footage, AFTER you've seen about a dozen rough cuts, and AFTER you see the finished product the night before it airs. in other words, i = big fat dumbhead. anyway, that was the error i was referring to.
2) interesting quirky sidenote: the reason Merl refers to "Godzilla, Darcilla, whatever", is actually somewhat of an inside joke. while breaking the stories for 10 and 11, we (obviously) had to keep mentioning the names "Darla" and "Drusilla" -- and time and again, the tongue-twister "DarlanDrusilla" kept coming out "Darcilla", which i very creatively appropriated (i.e. stole shamelessly) and pretended was mine so as to appear cleverererer than i truly am. the only other option was "Droola", which, while it makes me giggle, didn't work quite as well. hence, "Darcilla".
3) everybody seems to be wondering how Darla and Dru got into W&H without the vamp detectors going off. have to give the hats off to Polgara here for realizing that the vampire Lindsey sees in the hallway ("What are you looking at?") was there to establish that there were already vampires in the building, so that the detector wouldn't be an "issue". however, my pet theory (and here i caution you to heed Joss's "Trust the tale, not the teller" warning -- 'cause this is way far away from canon) is that the uppity ups at W&H knew damn well that Darla and Dru were waiting for Lindsey and Lilah in his office. even Hunt Acrey, the guy who promotes L&L at the end, knows about the visits -- which, to me, says that W&H are less concerned about the safety of their employees than they are about simply keeping tabs on everyone and everything (big duh). if Darla and Dru had killed the two lawyers in Lindsey's office, i think the party line would've been, "damn. (beat) oh, well. time to find some new lawyers." like i said, though, that's just my .02, and the mythology could disprove me later. we shall see.
4) as for Darla's "I was without Angel for 250 years" line: mind your logical reasoning, kiddles. she's vamped circa 1600, dies circa 2000. that's 400 years, 150 of which she spent with Angel. which, consequently, leaves 250 years without Angel -- regardless of the fact that the first 150 years were prior to Darla's knowing Angel at all. she still spent those years without him, see? i'm not numerically challenged. i'm numerically capable.
5) re: the blood on the sword after Angel decapitates the vamp. here's how it goes: you decapitate someone, you're bound to get some blood on your Instrument de Decapitation. even if said decapitatee turns to dust seconds later, you're still cutting through something, and that something has some blood in it. and gee, all of a sudden i really have no craving for lunch of any kind.
LOOK OUT ABOVE! SPOILERS AHEAD!
"Take it like a man."
-mere-
sigJTT
^