The latest entry...

Well, quite some things have evolved since my last entry. To answer the very first question that I'm sure is on everyone's minds right now: Yup, I've bought a new remote control. That was quite a funny thing that day actually, because right after I had bought it and came home I realized I didn't have any batteries for it. Well, I did have batteries, but not the type of batteries that would fit into that particular remote control. It would probably have been good to check what batteries it requires while I was still at the store. Anyway, since I needed the remote control to adjust the video recorder in order to tape the All New Sci-Fi Friday, and since I had waited until the very last moment to buy the remote control, I was forced to go and buy some batteries.

Well, the battery thing wasn't too much of a problem. There's a nice little store very close-by, and fortunately I was able to acquire what I needed. So you'd think that's it, but nope, not quite. After I got back home again, I found myself confronted with the next...uh, thing to do. I had to figure out which of the endless possible codes for the remote control would work for my video recorder. But of course that wasn't too much of a problem, either. I did wonder, however, why there are six different codes listed for one and the same device. I suppose that's just to make it a bit more exciting; otherwise it would be way too easy. Okay, I assume there's some technical reason for that...at least I'd hope there is, because otherwise it would be kind of...well, strange. Anyway, I ended up getting the video recorder all up and running about TEN MINUTES before I had to turn it on. Wow! I did say I tend to do things last minute. I wasn't kidding.

Well, so now we're into the new seasons of both SG-1 and Atlantis. What can I tell you without giving away spoilers for those who haven't seen the episodes yet? Hm. I think I could tell you that I personally thought they were great. It seems SG-1 has managed to indeed start off a whole new chapter. In many ways the new season almost feels like another spin-off, while at the same time it isn't. I think that's a great thing. The new cast members are great, too. Ben Browder (who for some reason reminds me of Chase) and Beau Bridges manage to create some really interesting and likeable characters. I like how the writers and the actors managed to create characters that don't feel like a copy of previous characters. Colonel Mitchell is definitely not O'Neill, and General Landry is a very different character from General Hammond. I can't wait to see more of them. Then of course there's Claudia Black and Michael Shanks, who's characters just make a fun couple. We haven't seen too much of Dr. Lam just yet, but she looks like Lexa Doig, who is Michael Shank's real-life wife. And I like how the Jaffa storyline is developing; I think that will lead to some interesting things. Christopher Judge has even more hair as well as a whole new hair style this season, and I think it looks good. Well, I like the new story elements just as much as the new characters, and we've learned some interesting new facts about the Ancients. All in all, it's, like I said, great. I can't wait to see more of it, and, honestly, the way it looks now, I can easily see this show going on for many, many seasons to come. I can't tell you too much about Atlantis because that would be difficult without giving away spoilers. I can tell you that I also thought it was great, and that I also liked the new characters. One of them tends to speak in a mysterious language every now and then, and seems to be...not very tolerant when it comes to humans.

Now, I'm not one to complain easily; hey, in fact, I don't really complain all that much...most of the time, but when it comes down to the new opening credits, or I should say the so called new opening credits (that little 10 second add Sci-Fi put together), all I can say is: what in the world is that?! They replaced the wonderful opening title sequences of both shows with that...thing. And why do they do it? To show some more commercials. I just can't can't tolerate that. I can't. I tried...but I can't.

Battlestar Galactica also has a shorter opening title sequence, but at least it still has an opening title sequence. They are using the UK theme now; I'm still trying to figure out why they would use a different main theme in the UK than in the US. If anyone of you, who is reading this, knows the reason, feel free to fill me in. I'm just curious about that. Well, now regarding this show, I can't tell you too much either, because that would also give away spoilers. That's just the thing with these cliffhangers. I thought the new episodes were pretty good. Some interesting things going on. I haven't had a chance to listen to Ron Moore's podcast commentaries on the episodes yet, but I've downloaded them, and they're just waiting to be listened to.

Speaking of episodes, I've finally, finally managed to finish a first draft of "Condition One", formerly known as "A Time To Rise, Part 2". I've mentioned before that the title might still change, so be prepared for that. Anyway, this is one of those rather challenging episodes. It's pretty safe to say it's one of the biggest episodes we've ever done. Well, and those big action sequences are fun to watch/read, but they're just as hard to write sometimes. Basically just because everything has to make sense. Each action sequence and scene has to be perfectly thought through, and even in script stage it has to be choreographed. You need to know what exactly each of the characters involved is doing at which point in time, and you need to make sure it all comes together right.

"Condition One" is definitely the biggest episode we've done with regard to stunt sequences. In this episode we have some people flying through the air, being smashed against walls, or being caught up in some pretty challenging fights with a pretty huge blue alien creature...with gills. So if we were a television show, our stunt and fight coordinator would have his or her hands full with this episode. Grant finds himself flying through the air various times actually.

As most of you probably know by now, the Season Two premiere will be a special length 90 minute episode called "A Time To Rise". This wasn't originally planned; we were actually going for a regular two-parter. However, part two, which is now "Condition One", would have turned out way too long, so the decision was made to make the first part a special length 90 minute event, and to move parts that were originally supposed to be in part two into part one. Now, the funny thing is, part two is still on the verge of being too long. On television and virtual television shows the length can be your greatest adversary at times. Well, I've have managed to get the first draft down to a regular length; however, some small parts that were supposed to be in the end of this episode will just have to be moved into the next episode, which is called "Disconnected". In many ways the first four episodes of the season will be almost like a four episode arc, so moving parts around like that isn't a problem at all.

This week I'll be busy re-writing and revising "Condition One". I haven't even turned in the first draft yet. I want to go through it once more before doing that. "A Time To Rise" has been pretty much completed; I've been looking at the current cut/version in PDF format, and I think it's looking really good.

Now, I think tonight I'll be watching one or two episodes of 24. I'm still re-watching Season Four, by the way (on tape). I'm only up to episode 11, so episode 12 is next. It'll be getting dark pretty soon...in the episodes that is. Episode 12 of Season Four takes place between 6pm and 7pm. I know, I'm repeating myself again, but I'm just loving this show. Joe Hodkiss just recently started watching it, and he tells me he's become a regular viewer now. Of course. How could you not be hooked after watching one episode. I secretly think Joe might have checked it out because, well, I keep talking about it...at least every now and then I might mention something about it. It's not like I bring it up in every blog entry or something like that. Anyway, this isn't the first time that I've introduced new people to the show. In fact, believe it or not, about five people I know have started watching 24 through me. I think I should be getting credit for that.

My latest movie experience is Fantastic Four. I saw that last week, and I thought it was pretty good. It seems different from most super hero or comic book movies (at least from the ones I saw), because it seems to be much more of a lighter film. I thought it was pretty entertaining. I also saw the last ten minutes of the first episode of Firefly. I've actually never seen the show, but I've heard it's pretty good. Well, after all FOX (I believe it's FOX) has invested money into a feature film version of it, which is coming out by the end of August, I believe. That doesn't happen too often after a network decides to not continue a show. Firefly is one of the sci-fi shows I plan to eventually watch the whole way through; the other two would be Farscape and Babylon 5. I've only seen a few episodes of those, but I liked what I saw. The problem with Babylon 5 was, I started watching it somewhere toward the end of its fourth season. Well, and since it's all an ongoing story, I ended up having a bit trouble fully following all of the storylines. It was similar with Farscape actually. I guess it's just better to start watching a show from the first episode.

Well, eventually, you know, when my career gets up and running, I'll be adding lots of stuff to my DVD collection. I also recently saw parts of a mini-series on TNT, called Into The West. Here, again, I haven't seen all of it, but from the episodes that I did see I thought it was pretty good. And not only because one of our Horizon main cast members is in it (which naturally would be reason enough to watch something), but because I also thought it's a really great story. I found out it will be coming to DVD in October, so I think that's when I'll be watching all of it.

Additional DVDs to acquire from October thru December are Stargate SG-1 Season Eight, Stargate: Atlantis Season One, and 24 Season Four. That's the order in which they'll come out.

Well, that would be the latest for now. I'll be back soon with more.

Alex

Tomorrow, tomorrow...

So tomorrow is the day. That one special day. Zero Hour. The moment of truth. The day on which all that we've come to know is about to change. The day where you get up in the morning, and you realize: "Yeah, that's today". That Friday in July. The one day...okay, you think I'm going to far with this? Maybe you're right.

What I'm talking about is that tomorrow the new seasons of both Stargate SG-1 and Stargate: Atlantis, as well as Battlestar Galactica, premiere in North America. The day. Tomorrow. I think after the episodes have aired, I might offer one or two comments on them in this blog, but don't worry, they will be completely spoiler free. Hey, as if I'm actually going to give away spoilers. I never do that. Never have, never will.

A funny thing happened this week. It kind of was a strange timing actually. You should know that the remote control of my video recorder is broke. Wouldn't be too big of a deal, if I wouldn't have to re-program it in order to get all the channels back on it, because I accidentally pulled the plug the other day. For some reason, whenever the electricity is gone (which it is if you pull the plug), you have to get all the programs back on the video recorder, in order for being able of taping something. That also wouldn't be too big a deal, if you were able to do that without the remote control; but you need the remote control for that, because the necessary controls aren't on the video recorder itself. That would be way too easy.

So you might see where this is going...Obviously I will be recording these new episodes tomorrow; however, it seems I will be forced to buy a new remote control first. That's no problem because I'll have to buy empty video tapes tomorrow anyway (I kind of do things last minute sometimes). But even if I weren't to buy a new remote control, I could just borrow the one my grandparents have, because they happen to have the same video recorder I have. But I figured...why not spend some more money, and buy a new one. Well, that's kind of a funny story, but it's the truth. I'll let you know how the new remote control thing turns out.

Now, I've been asking myself recently: why is it that every now and then you think you might have come up with a really good concept for an episode, and a second later you realize that something quite similar has been done on Star Trek before? Well, it happens every now and then. It actually happened this week, as I thought of a possible concept for a Season Two episode of Horizon. Those were only some very early thoughts for a possible story in which we learn a bit more about the fate of the Draque. But at the same time I noticed a bit of a parallel to a really great DS9 episode. As I was talking to Joe about it, he also realized the parallel, and we both realized: "Okay, it's too similar". It's a bit of a shame, because we do like the basic concept. Maybe in time we'll find a way to change it, spin it in a different direction in order to make it work. Either way, this does not mean we don't have a really nice idea for the Draque (there might even be a chance this idea involves our favorite Draque character, Sivok). So "Draque Story" is definitely an episode we will be seeing throughout the first half of the second season.

We've also been having some thoughts on an episode, which should just be some great fun. It will be a light-hearted comedic episode, and let's just say...two familiar characters (Horizon or Stargate in general) will be in that episode, and they will be "haunting" Chase. I can't say too much about it, but honestly, alone the thought of the episode makes me laugh. That's the "Fabulous Three" idea, which no doubt has the potential of turning out to being the funniest episode of Horizon yet. And humor has always had quite a presence on our show, just as on our fellow televised cousins.

I'm still working on the new version of "Condition One" (f.k.a. "A Time To Rise, Part Two"). The title might be changing because it focuses only on one of the two storylines of the episode. But there are two major storylines going on parallel to each other. I mentioned this in the previous post, condition one refers to something that's going on inside Vorian space. It's basically a code, letting people know...well, that something is about to happen any second now.

In addition to our new main character D.C., who I think is turning out to being a wonderful character, we also have a new recurring character, who's a great addition to the show as well. I'll be letting you about more about him soon. Suffice it to say that he brings in a lot of humor just because he's...well, kind of a strange guy, but he's also there, on Horizon, for a very good reason. He's from Earth. Eventually I'll also let you know a bit more about our new sets which we will be introducing in Season Two. You'll be seeing some parts of the station we've never seen before because they haven't been in use during Season One. You'll definitely get a much better idea of the enormous scale of Horizon; it's a gigantic station, after all.

I'll leave you with the notion of that. Now, to all of you who live inside North America, may you too be aware of the incredible significance of tomorrow. To everyone who has to wait a little while longer, I'll say don't worry; very soon "tomorrow" will come to you. Can I say it like that?

Well, that's it for now. I'll be talking to you all later.

Alex

Last week...

When thinking of last week, one of the first things that comes to mind is naturally the devastating events that occurred in London on July 7th. Naturally I was shocked by that when I heard about it, and it is sad to see that these kind of things are happening. A lot of our regular readers (not to mention half of the current four member writing staff) are from England, and I was glad to see that so far everyone seems to have been alright. However, my heart goes out to all the people who are affected by these kind of tragic events.




Well, on the more positive side last week as well as this week so far has been really seeing some great developments of the episodes we are currently working on. I'm just finishing giving some final notes on Eric's outline for "Providence". After everything is cleared, he will be starting to write the script. I believe I've stated previously that I'm really excited about this episode; it's a great story, and has a classic Stargate feel to it. It's also an episode in which we will get to see more of Christine, and we get a sense for how her character has developed since the early days of the show. In fact, she pretty much turns out to be the main hero throughout the episode, and she gets to save the day. I think it's a great episode for her character.

Over the weekend I've had some ideas for "Troika", and Sam is currently in the process of completing the outline. There have been some speculations about this episode in our forums, and all I can say is...interesting.

The only episode we still have to work out some major things on is "Disconnected". What Joe has gotten down of the outline so far looks great; now we'll have to figure out how to make the ending work. That's something we should have done by the end of the week.

I've been working some more on "A Time To Rise", and there have indeed been some length problems coming up. Briefly we considered changing the whole thing into a three-parter, but that wouldn't necessarily be the best solution. The problem was really that the second part seemed a bit too rushed; there was too much going on in the second half of the second part. So what we ended up doing is move up the cliffhanger of part one, and by doing so...you guessed it, we will end up having a special length 90 minute season premiere episode. Fortunately Sci-Fi, Fox, and MGM were kind enough to let us do that...uh, no wait...we didn't even ask them. We just...well, we just did it. But that's okay for us to do...really, it is...Well, anyway, as I was saying the season will indeed kick off with a special length premiere event, and even though I thought "A Time To Rise" was looking good as a regular one hour episode, changing it into a 90 minute version has even made it better (it really has the length of about one and a half regular episodes). I think it's a great way to kick off the new season, and, boy, what a cliffhanger.

Considering that "A Time To Rise" will be known as a 90 minute episode, I realized that it might be appropriate to change the title of part two, and give it a whole new name instead. I think that might work better; that makes " A Time To Rise" solely the second 90 minute Stargate episode after SG-1's "Threads" (I know we're a virtual series, but still). So it's possible that part two will end up having a new name. Currently I've called it "Condition One", but for now it's a working title, and might still change. What is condition one you might ask? Well, that refers to this major development inside Vorian space. Suffice it to say the whole sector is affected by this.

That's the latest on the Horizon front. The screenplay story I'm working on looks good up until the end of the first act, but after that it gets a bit more complex. Well, eventually I'll figure those parts out, too. There are a lot of things going on in terms of plot arcs as well as character arcs, and it all has to be juggled somehow. I know exactly what will happen in the end; it's just a matter of getting there. Writing scripts is in some ways very much like composing a musical score. You have to be able to look at all the elements as individuals. In screenplays or teleplays it's the various plot or character arcs, the important plot points, and combining it all into a perfect structure; with composing it's the various instruments on their own, getting the overall music to capture the spirit of the project, and in the end combining it all into an orchestral score.

I've had some nice ideas for the television concept as well. In time I can tell you more about that. Today I'll be spending the rest of the day working on some Horizon related things; I'll be turning in my final notes on "Providence", and I'll be working on the new outline for "Condition One". The great thing with that episode is that since we've moved up the ending of "A Time To Rise", I'll be able to really play out all the beats in this second part. Basically what used to happen in half of an episode, can now be expanded over an entire episode. Oh, and I should mention that because of these changes our Serakkin guest character will now make his first appearance toward the end of the first part, in the 90 minute version of "A Time To Rise".

I've completed re-watching Season Three of 24, and I've moved straight into re-watching Season Four. Unfortunately I had to switch to video tapes, because Season Four won't be out on DVD before December. But I think having it on tape will make it possible to wait all the way until December, and of course January when Season Five premieres. It'll still be a long wait, but...well, I guess if you don't have another choice you can make it. I've said this before and I'll say it again, I think it's a great show. Even though I know exactly what will happen, I'm loving it. Well, the bottom line is, I'm a 24 addict, and I don't hide it. That's just the truth.

That's it for now. I haven't had lunch yet, so I'll be doing that very soon, too.

That breakthrough experience...

Well, I said I was going to update this blog a little more than once every other month. I know, I know, it's still taken me two weeks to make a new entry. But, believe it or not, here I am. And I'm as inspired as always.

So let me begin this new entry with a question: Have you ever had a moment of sudden clarity? A moment in which you've just suddenly got that one idea that seemed to put everything into perspective? A really breakthrough experience, and suddenly everything seemed so clear to you? Well, I've had one of those moments, actually several of them during the past few days. What I'm talking about is that I'm finally starting to make some progress with a feature film screenplay I've been working on. Don't worry. I'm very much busy with Stargate:Horizon, and I'll have some latest news and updates for you about that, too. But if you want to make it into the business it's good to have various things in your screenwriting resume. Actually my attention often bounces around between three different projects: Horizon, which I believe will really be finding its footing in this upcoming second season; this movie concept; and a concept for another sci-fi series. Horizon is obviously for fun and for the entertainment of fans all around the world, and I'm very excited about the episodes we're currently working on. These other two projects I actually hope to see on the screen at some point in the future. Well, I'd like to see Horizon on the screen, too. But let's put it this way, the other two projects could make it to the screen without me getting sued by MGM.

Anyway, this movie idea has been something I've been kicking around for quite some time. I won't be going too much into it because it's in its earliest stages, and it will no doubt continue to change around, but I think it's safe to say that it's unique. I think that's one of the reasons it's been taken me so long to really get anywhere with it. I really want things I come up with to be different and unique, and as I said, suddenly I've been having some ideas which should really help getting the story off the ground. I guess the basic concept could be described as a mystery thriller with some sci-fi elements (hey, anything I come up with seems to be sci-fi in one way or the other). The story deals with one of my favorite subjects, a subject which also plays quite an important part on Horizon. I'm talking about destiny and purpose. It's kind of a fun theme for me to play around with. So it shouldn't be that much of a surprise that the Nebulan Woman on Horizon keeps referring to destiny. Well, but that's only one of a couple of underlining themes of this story. It also reflects my personal love for philosophy, and it should raise some interesting questions. What I'm hoping to do is come up with a screenplay and eventually movie that will stay in people's minds after the end credits roll over the screen.

I'll give you some updates on the project as it evolves. I might have had some breakthrough ideas, but the story is far from being completed; well, and I'm far from having a first draft. But by the time I'll be moving to LA next year, it should be there. Yeah, we're very confident about that, aren't we?

So what else is new? Season Two of Horizon is in full production, and I've completed the pink draft of the first part of the season opener "A Time To Rise". Pink draft just means in other words the third draft. There's a color code system that you use instead of just saying second draft, third draft, etc. I'm about halfway through the first draft (which is the white draft) of "A Time To Rise, Part Two" and it's looking good. We've been working on fleshing out a couple of ideas lately, and currently every member of the writing staff has something to work on. There's the third episode of the season for which it's taken us a while to come up with a strong enough plot to make it work, but I'm very happy with what we've managed to come up with. Currently the story is being called "Disconnected" and Joe is the one writing it. We should have an outline pretty soon.

Episode four of the season will be dealing with some pretty large scale events, and originally we were going to call it "United". But then we realized: hey, that's the title of an Enterprise episode. So we decided that we would need to come up with a more original title; a title which hadn't come up anywhere else recently. One of the reasons for that is that we have a story idea we're currently calling "Twilight", and you guessed it, that's another Enterprise title. So, the rule is you can only have a certain number of familiar episode titles over the course of half a season, and this one required changing. Maybe we'll come up with an alternate name for "Twilight" once we get to that episode. We'll see. Anyway, now pull out your dictionaries, the current title of episode 2.04 is "Troika", and Sam is the one writing it. Here we should also have a completed outline very soon.

Eric Pasternak is a new writer who has joined the staff this season. And ever since he's been on staff he's been pitching episode ideas on a regular basis. A very inspired fellow, to say the least. I just like being complimentary in these blog entries. Yup, I know, I know, I'm a very generous person. That's just great, isn't it? I'm sure everyone will just have to agree with that assessment. Actually I can already hear Eric fully agreeing with me if he were to read this entry. Anyway, so, uh...let's...let's get back on topic. So Eric has been put to work on one of the ideas that he came up with. And I'm also very excited about this episode, because it will deal with some interesting issues. It's called "Providence", and it's been slated episode five of the season. We've already been through two drafts of an outline, and last week, as we were discussing it, there were some notes for some minor last changes before the script will be written. So once this revised outline is done, work on that script should be commencing very soon.

We also have an interesting episode concept revolving around a certain ship of ours, and some aliens, and some trouble, and some more trouble, and some more...uh...a situation involving this certain ship of ours, and some more...well, that's all I can tell you right now. Seriously. I also like this episode concept very much. It's an idea which has been pitched by Aaron Percival, a freelance writer. A freelance writer is someone from outside the staff, who's been submitting some ideas to us. Once some of of the major plot points have been worked out, Aaron will be writing the outline and then the script for that episode.

So that's the latest; hope you're all paying attention, as some episode titles are being unveiled here. As I mentioned there's a concept which we're currently calling "Twilight". That title might or might not change. It's a story concept I'm also pretty excited about; once we've worked out some things it should turn out to be a unique episode. I personally think it's a great sci-fi concept. There have also been talks about a "D.C./Son Story". Yup, D.C. has got a son. Now all you need to know is what D.C. stands for. Maybe we just call him D.C. because he's from Washington. Yeah, that's where he's from. But wait, it's already been said that he's a Vorian officer. Well, there goes the Washington rumor that I was planning to set up.

Well, more information will follow over the weeks. This character name should be revealed pretty soon, too. And there should be a surprise coming up; something we're quite excited about.

Now what else can I say? Recently I've been re-watching some movies, which I think are great. One of them is I, Robot. It think that's a really great story. It's a traditional sci-fi story, which in subtle ways comments on our society. Eventually I'll have to read the book on which the movie is based on. Because, shame on me, I've never read it. Another movie I've been re-watching is Collateral. That's also a great movie. It's a movie that reminds me that I should never take a job as a taxi driver, because, man, that's one dangerous job there. I'm planning to watch the original War of the Worlds movie before watching the new version. Again, shame on me, I've never seen the original. I have seen The Day The Earth Stood Still, and I think that's also a great movie. Now, I can hear those who would say: "But that's a movie from the fifties." And I would have to say that's true, but it's still a great movie. One of the great classics in my opinion. Another recent DVD activity of mine is that I've been re-watching Season Three of 24. I think I'll also be re-watching Seasons One and Two, and of course Season Four on tape, as I look forward to it coming out on DVD in December. You guessed it, I'm a huge fan of 24. I think it's a great show. I can only recommend to those who've seriously never watched it to check it out. Hey, you also get to see three actors from our virtual cast on Horizon on 24. What an interesting coincidence...or not?

Naturally I'm also looking forward to July 15th, when the new seasons of SG-1, Atlantis, and Battlestar Galactica premiere. And believe it or not, I've been pondering whether or not I should pursuit a six week acting course since I've spotted this certain add online. Acting has also always been an interest of mine, but except for a school project ages ago, I've never really pursuit it. At least not to such an extent, but you know, I might just be doing that. To be more precise, I will be doing that. I'll keep you informed. Can't help it. I've just got too much to do. My interests have no limits.

Well, that should conclude this week's entry. I'll be back with the latest updates very soon.