Joseph Mallozzi's Blog! (SPOILERS For All SG Shows and Dark Matter)

[Linzi]

So is Hexed the name of an episode as well?

Well it will be if the writers can actually write the damn thing!

[Guest]

Well it will be if the writers can actually write the damn thing!

Well they wouldn't want to upset the Shep whumpers

[PG15]

So is Hexed the name of an episode as well?

Not yet.

[prion]

APRIL 18th

http://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/...t-sleeping-ha/

** Lots of photos + several videos! **

Oh, what a beautiful morning. The moon was shining, the birds were sleeping, and the streets were as clear as London after the zombie apocalypse. Bleary-eyed and bushy-brained, I rolled into work at a little before six, just in time for the fog test that, I was told, would take approximately three hours to complete. One hour later, and I was back in my office, eating my bran flakes and imagining what it might have been like to sleep past 4:30 a.m.

The test, by the way, went very well. Wray and Scott had the smoke machines going. The fog was fairly heavy in the village set, a roiling cloud that seemed to hang in place and do a slow, almost imperceptible rise before being dispersed by the electric fans. Visibility on its perimeter was very good, but one giant step forward and I was suddenly disoriented, surrounded by shadowy figures moving just beyond my line of sight. The tented area was even more oppressive, a sea of grey that swallowed me whole and instantly robbed me of my sight. Unable to even glimpse my outstretched hand, I turned toward what I assumed was the exit - only to have Will startle me by abruptly stepping into view like some stage magician perfecting his latest trick. Cool, huh?

Yeah. Cool. And spooky as hell.


Today’s pics: The fog test.
Today’s videos: The fog test!

http://s230.photobucket.com/albums/e...ifyougotem.flv

http://s230.photobucket.com/albums/e...=Flaretest.flv

http://s230.photobucket.com/albums/e...thefogtent.flv

Mailbag -

Darsy writes: “I’ve just found out I’m pregnant! Do you have any favorite names of characters in the Stargate universe that you might suggest as possibilities?”

Answer: Congratulations! Might I suggest: First, Borren, Zipacna, and Otho.

Fsmn36 writes: “It seems the SGA crew gets into football and college basketball, but only Carl is a hockey fan? Being up in Canada, it’s surprising to me. Does Carl have a favorite this year?”

Answer: Carl’s team is the Anaheim Ducks. Paul enjoys hockey as well. I’m more of a NCAA basketball and NFL fan. Martin prefers jai-lai.


Belouchi writes: “I was wondering sir, do you have any news on the renewal of Atlantis for a sixth season?”

Answer: I don’t expect news on a potential season 6 until Summer’s end at the earliest.

Rebekah writes: “So, I have been asked to ask (by my husband who is in love with Larrin) - will we be seeing anymore of the Travelers in Season 5?”

Answer: Tell him to be sure to check out the mid-season two-parter.


David writes: “I know that the episodes are shot out of order, but are they written in order?”

Answer: Not exactly. With five different writers working simultaneously, you’re likely to get some scripts sooner than others. It’s very rare for us to skip ahead in the schedule however.

Nika writes: “Actually to expand on that, how do you guys decide which episodes to slot at which point in the season?”

Answer: As always, it has to do with our overall season story arc, actor availability, production concerns (ie. access to certain locations), and our idea of where in the schedule a certain story will work best.

[prion]

Ohmygosh, NOBODY posted last night's entry??? I mean, I had an excuse of spending ALL day on my feet at ComicCon (worth the pain the day after). PG15?? Too much flocking snorting? Brian? Eegads, we're all falling down on the job!

Anyway, JM's APRIL 19th blog entry is at

http://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/...f-paul-wilson/

Oh wait, no SG references at all... okay, I see why

[Briangate78]

Ohmygosh, NOBODY posted last night's entry??? I mean, I had an excuse of spending ALL day on my feet at ComicCon (worth the pain the day after). PG15?? Too much flocking snorting? Brian? Eegads, we're all falling down on the job!

Anyway, JM's APRIL 19th blog entry is at

http://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/...f-paul-wilson/

Oh wait, no SG references at all... okay, I see why

Well I post the blog entries on SCI FI.com, if there is no SG mentioned I don't post at all.

[PG15]

Ohmygosh, NOBODY posted last night's entry??? I mean, I had an excuse of spending ALL day on my feet at ComicCon (worth the pain the day after). PG15?? Too much flocking snorting? Brian? Eegads, we're all falling down on the job!

Anyway, JM's APRIL 19th blog entry is at

http://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/...f-paul-wilson/

Oh wait, no SG references at all... okay, I see why

Hilariously enough, I was spazzing over Comic Con as well (you're talking about the New York Comic Con, right?), though in the comfort of my own home in front of the computer waiting for info from con-goers to roll in.

[prion]

Well I post the blog entries on SCI FI.com, if there is no SG mentioned I don't post at all.

Figured that

Hilariously enough, I was spazzing over Comic Con as well (you're talking about the New York Comic Con, right?), though in the comfort of my own home in front of the computer waiting for info from con-goers to roll in.

Yup, NY Comic Con. check out Google blog for lots of entries on the con, and FLickr.com - I stuck up the photos I took of the SGA series 3 action figures on my LJ. The Ronon action figure is pretty cool.

[prion]

APRIL 20th

http://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/...est-post-ever/

Smoky pics and videos.....

Whenever I want to fire a zat blast, morph a replicator, or blow up a spaceship, I call on visual effects wizard Mark Savela and his gifted crew. If, on the other hand, I’m looking to gun down a wraith, backhand someone through a railing, or torch a hapless Jaffa, then I go to the masters of practical effects: Wray Douglas and Scott Stofer.

While, on the surface, flinging someone across the room and into a wall may seem straightforward enough, the truth is setting up and executing such a stunt demands intricate planning and careful execution. Truth be told, specialists in the field of practical effects require great patience, an eye for detail, and an affinity for blowing things up. Wray and Scott possess all three. Marty G. tells of an incident during the filming of a season three episode that required a fireball-like explosion. The director yelled action and the explosion was triggered, an awesome blast that shook the stage and engulfed the corridor in an astounding fireball. The director yelled cut. The cast and crew stood, stunned, the detonation still reverberating through the set. At which point Martin glanced over and spotted Wray, off to the side, laughing away like a supervillain who’d just wiped Paris off the map.

These guys love their work. And it shows.

Take Friday’s fog test for instance. Wray and Scott were the guys who made it happen, getting up at 2:30 a.m. in order to set up the machines and ensure the stage was suitably fogged-up for when us lazy laggards rolled in at a sweet 6:00 a.m. Then, when it came time to test some squib hits, Scott was there to take the bullet.

“What’s a squib hit?”you may ask. Well, a squib is a tiny explosive device used in film and television to simulate a bullet hit. In the case of Whispers, we wanted to test a variety squib hits to find out which showed up better in the fog.

We set up for the shot and gathered around the monitors. “Loud bang coming up!”warned Scott. Everyone covered their ears (except me since I was holding my camera, sacrificing my hearing for your edutainment). 3-2-1. Scott triggered the squib. Bang! Alas, the first test proved near unreadable. We went again, this time with the white dust hit. 3-2-1. Bang! Better, but still not quite what we were looking for. Finally, we tried the black dust hit. 3-2-1. Bang! Great. Taken down to a third the impact, it will prove a perfect bullet hit for what we have in mind.

Today’s pics: Setting up for the squib test.

Today’s videos: Squib hits. 1. Regular squib hit. 2. White dust hit. 3. Black dust hit.

http://s230.photobucket.com/albums/e...arsquibhit.flv

http://s230.photobucket.com/albums/e...itedusthit.flv

http://s230.photobucket.com/albums/e...ackdusthit.flv

[PG15]

http://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/...k-in-progress/

April 21, 2008: Jeffrey Ford Edition!

Joe gives the reins of the blog to author Jeffrey Ford, who wrote "The Empire of Ice Cream", one of the books to be discussed this month in Joe's book of the month club. After a brief introduction, Mr. Ford reveals to us a never before seen, unfinished story of his for our reading pleasure; and he's not above reading your ideas on how to continue it!

Alas, zuz made no Jeffrey Ford smilies.

[PG15]

http://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/...-of-ice-cream/

April 22, 2008

No! Joe isn't dead!

Photo: The Empire of Ice Cream

Videos: The soon-may-be-dead Whispers all-girl team go to gun School! Joe didn't give any links, so click on the link to his blog entry to watch the imbedded videos featuring Christina Cox, Nicole de Boer, and Janina Gavankar shooting P90s!

Chicks with guns. Yum.

Write-Up: Joe shares his thoughts on The Empire of Ice Cream. Obviously.

Questions:

Nothin'.

(Guns and Rozuz?)

[jenks]

Nicole looked OK, Christina didn't look too bad but Janina looked like a total noob.

[morjana]

SGA - Joseph Mallozzi's Blog Update Apr 23 '08 - Photos from Whispers!:

From Joseph Mallozzi's blog update for April 23, 2008:

http://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/...hispers-day-1/

(Please follow the link for the complete blog update. Photos from SGA season five production of "Whispers," including Paul McGillion, Christina Cox and more!)

April 23, 2008: Whispers, Day 1

Our guest cast rolled in on Monday for their costume fittings. Then, after lunch, Christina, Nicole, and Janina headed over to Stage 3 where they attended Gun School. Following a brief tutorial by Stargate armorer Rob Fournier, they donned safety glasses, ear protection, and were then put through the paces: pivoting, reloading, and firing. To anyone wondering, the fourth member of the team, Leela, was skipped the lesson, having already received a crash course in the season premiere, Search and Rescue.

Tuesday was Day One of the Whispers shoot. The majority of the day’s work took place inside the house with Sheppard, Beckett, Teldy, Vega, Dusty, Porter, and Mirellus. About a couple of hours in, the script called for nightfall. We killed the lights, dropped the tent, and got the fog machines going. The idea of tenting only key areas of the stage was a brilliant one (Thank you, James Robbins) as it allowed us to quickly achieve and adjust to a desired level of visibility. In retrospect, the alternative - fogging the entire FX Stage - would have been a real nightmare. Although progress was a little slow at first (In an unforeseen snafu, a significant amount of fog ended up seeping into the house during the shooting of the first scene, causing a slight production delay while we sealed up the various breach points), things picked up in the late afternoon and I was able to make it home well before 10:00 p.m.

It was an exhausting day, but the scenes we shot look fantastic and our guest stars have been amazing.

**snippage**

Well, it’s ticking past 10:10 p.m. so I’ll wrap this up. Looks like tomorrow may be even longer. On the bright side, I’m getting enough behind-the-scenes pics to tide you all over for weeks to come.

[PG15]

Joe looks like he's ready to gas Parliment.

[prion]

APRIL 24th

http://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/...hispers-day-2/

Several photos.....

Another late night last night meant a late call today which will no doubt translate to an even later night tonight. Yesterday began with a stunt sequence perfectly executed under the guidance of Stargate Atlantis Stunt Coordinator James “Bam Bam Bamford” with the assistance of the Blow Up Boys Wray and Scott. The first take was perfect, saving us the trouble of having to set up for another kick at the can and allowing us to move on to Tent #3 for Sheppard’s, then Dusty’s, lonely walk through the fog-shrouded abandoned marketplace.

It was smooth sailing until around mid-morning when we suffered our first on-set crisis. Because we were shooting a stunt, Glenn, our first aid guy, had to be there “just in case”. Alas, Glenn pulls double-duty as our craft service guy as well and, since he couldn’t be in two places at once (ie. on set seeing to the safety of our cast and crew AND preparing our mid-morning snack), our toasted reubens and veggies and sandwiches were half an hour late!

After lunch, we descended into the catacombs. The wide angle shots of the dark and dampened stone passageways revealed by the searching flashlight beams are eerily beautiful. Some walking, some talking, a discovery and then we capped things off with a pyrotechnic “show and mow” I like to refer to as the “Song and Fire and Iced” sequence.

This morning, following a brief debriefing with my fellow producers and a fast track breakfast burrito, I arrived on set in time to watch the blocking of the first scene: Creepy Well Sequence #1. From there, we jumped back into the catacombs, then over to the alleyway for a surprising discovery.

Things were going swimmingly until around lunchtime when I started to experience a minor eye irritation. I thought nothing of it until I popped into the bathroom to check it out - and noticed my right eyelid red and slightly swollen. Hmm, the last time this happened, it didn’t go so well for me. A little clean-up work around my wife’s office uncovered an unexpected surprise in the form of a faceful of fiberglass. This led to a minor eye irritation which developed into an infection which necessitated my getting my “eyelid flipped” during an examination that resulted in my being prescribed Amoxicillin that, one week later, triggered a massive allergic reaction that turned my skin tone a glorious magenta. Glenn (see paragraph 2) was kind enough to swing by and administer some eye drops which should, I hope, deal with the problem thereby ensuring I won’t have to sport an eye patch to my chocolate party.