Xenite.Org: How much impact would you say the extensive makeup for Brent and Laura (and guest stars) has on the writing? Do you have to say to yourself, "Well, we're only going to get so many hours of camera time, etc."?
Ethlie Vare: I was always taught: Write with a keyboard, not a calculator. Sure, actors'
"turnaround time" and "day out of days" and all those other wonderful production terms affect how the script is shot. But you have to write to tell the story. Later on, the production team will sit down with the script and do all they can to make it happen. And if they can't, they'll call up and say "Can you possibly take Trance out of Scene 32?" or "Can the scene with Rev be set in the Maru instead of Command, so we can shoot it on Tuesday?" You try to accommodate them without changing the story. It's all part of the process.
Xenite.Org: Computer technology (animation for exteriors, internal screen readouts) brings Andromeda a long way forward from the old painted special effects and cardboard cutouts of 1960s SF television. But are there still practical limits which must be observed in terms of story-telling? Is there still a point where production costs for special effects force the writing group to abandon otherwise good ideas?
Ethlie Vare: There's lots of things we can't do on a TV budget. If it was up to us, Andromeda would look better than The Matrix on a weekly basis. But just because we can't stage a big fight sequence or a bunch of space battle opticals, doesn't mean we can't still tell a cool story. So it's not so much about abandoning a good idea, as finding a way to convey it within reasonable parameters. For me, that's one of the things that makes writing for television a fun challenge. It's not just "How do I tell this story?", but "How do I tell this story broken up into a five-act structure and using only two guest stars and four locations?"
|
Xenite.Org: In "The Pearls That Were His Eyes", there is a scene where Rev Bem finds Dylan about to make an unannounced excursion. Rev insists on going along because he is sure Dylan has a plan. Dylan always has a plan. Is there a rule for the writers that requires them to make sure Dylan always has a plan? He stated in "D Minus Zero" that he always has a plan, but do you think there will be stories where Dylan can't have a plan?
Ethlie Vare: There's no "rule for the writers" that Dylan has to have a plan. But it's in his character that he generally has an A, B and C agenda going at all times. It's who he is. (Tyr is much like Dylan in that way.) Sometimes Dylan's plan doesn't work out like he thought - look at "To Loose the Fateful Lightning" and "Devil Take the Hindmost," for example. The reason our skittish Beka is coming to trust Dylan -- that the whole motley crew of the Eureka Maru sticks with him, in fact -- is precisely because he is a strong, smart commander with an agile brain for contingency planning.
Xenite.Org: If there were one totally crazy idea you'd like to do for an Andromeda episode (a gag, a storyline, etc.), what would it be?
Ethlie Vare: Here's an inside tidbit for you. I'm an alt-rock fiend, as is Robert Hewitt
Wolfe (our tastes diverge at Megadeth and converge at the Clash), and from the beginning he wanted '80s and '90s source music in the show. The concept was (and you still hear references to this) that Beka had "liberated" the contents of a museum archive and has a beloved collection of "antique" music. We wrote shows that used Jane's Addiction, Midnight Oil... even Who songs as part of the action. And then we learned how much that was going to cost :) So, someday, whether it's in Andromeda: The Motion Picture or the Special Edition DVD, I want us to finally rock out.
We'd like to extend a very long overdue thanks to Ashley and Ethlie and everyone who contributed to Xenite.Org Today.
|
