From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
Subject: Again, congrats
To: CIS
Date: 4/25/1999 9:37:00 AM
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Message 1 in thread
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Rebecca Eschliman <76072.2345@compuserve.com> asks: > Any chance you'll be squeezing in dropping in on Book Expo > America in Anaheim before you head out to receive the SFWA award?
"I've seen the grousing (as you undoubtedly have) that "SiL" received the nomination only because it was impossible to give the nomination to the entire series and that it doesn't stack up against the other nominated works for brilliance in advancing the SF in SF dramatic works."
My response would be two-fold: first, that I didn't know that advancing SF in SF dramatic works was the requirement, only that it BE SF. The Truman Show, also nominated, doesn't present any new ideas...heck, I did a TWILIGHT ZONE episode in 88 that had *exactly* the same story and structure (simultaneous creation, I'm not saying it was cribbed, it wasn't). ST:Insurrection likewise doesn't exactly advance the field of SF by bringing in new ideas...it's another ST movie, and the core is the fountain of youth idea, not exactly innovative. Pleasantville has its roots in the Purple Rose of Cairo, the Last Action Hero and others. Of all the other entries, I'd say only Dark City really does anything really innovative.
But all are equally in the genre, and thus equally viable candidates.
As to what SiL might bring that advances the SF in SF dramatic works, I'd say that it brings something quite new: an ending. This is the preplanned ending toward which the 5 years of B5 have been working. We said at the beginning that B5 has a beginning, a middle, and an end. All SF shows have a beginning, most have a middle...but this is something new, an ending toward which all has been leading. This really hasn't been done before in SF TV. B5 introduced the concept of the 5 year arc to TV...this is the end of that arc, to which all has been pointing.
(Funnily enough, I think this is the first time that a Hugo nominated entry has actually had a Hugo visible *in* it.)
jms |
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From: J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com>
Subject: Again, congrats
To: CIS
Date: 4/26/1999 8:17:00 AM
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Message 2 in thread
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{original post unavailable}
In the opening of act one, the camera pans around Ivanova's desk to reveal her. In foreground in that shot is a small area with several of what look like medals or frame. In the midst of that is a long rocket pointing upward, on a round bronze disk. That's the Hugo. The camera continues on past it to reveal her, so it's in the first few moments of the act.
jms |
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