#but since every fucking thing has to have a reboot or remake or sequel series

[angelhummel]

Glee coming to hulu and disney+, cursed whisperings of a gleeboot, the great twitter to tumblr migration...

i’m ready for hell again ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

[idreamtofmanderleyagain]

I started thinking about the new HBO Hellraiser series that’s in the works, and how tired I was about the fact that men were probably going to rehash the same shit that doesn’t mean anything to me as a female Hellraiser fan, as well as how tired I was about the discussions fanboys were having regarding the whole thing. And I want to mention something that I think we’re all aware of and have spoken about in one way or another - but maybe needs repeating anyway.

Fanboy obsession over canon (and the ability to spew random facts about said canon) is inherently about power over the cultural narrative.

Hear me out.

Often, what is considered “canon” by fanboys in fandom tends to come from straight white (christian or atheist from christian-culture) male experience. 

Fanon, or alternative thought about canon, almost always comes from women, LGBT, and non-white fans of diverse faiths and cultural backgrounds. 

When women become part of a fandom, some men will start “quizzing” those women in order to delegitimize their claim of “fan” status.

“Fanon” developed by women is often scoffed at as meaningless fluff that has no weight or bearing on canon, while “theories” made by men get their own reddit threads and shit.

Fanboys get extremely, obsessively angry over remakes and sequels that make old franchises more “woke,” or more “feminine.” Often these rants are framed in terms of how “canon” is being destroyed and disrespected.

Fanboy obsession over canon is inherently about ownership of the stories in popular culture, and it is also about maintaining control over the cultural perspective. 

What makes fanboys the most uncomfortable is not just their favorite toys changing, but that people who are not white, straight, and male are framing those stories through their own personal perspectives. They are uncomfortable and angry that these stories won’t cater to their experience specifically.

And bringing the point back to Hellraiser: it’s so gross and unavoidable to me how straight men basically stole Hellraiser from everyone else it belonged to. A gay man wrote it. It was about women. And yet every artistic voice we’ve ever heard from since has been a straight man, always mishandling narratives about women if they don’t just avoid them entirely (the way they do literally anybody who isn’t white) in order to write about the angst of white male predators and scumbags. And Harvey Weinstein fucking owned the property rights for decades.

I think about how the fanboys speak about Hellraiser as if they themselves own it, as if it belongs to them and has always belonged to them, as if no other voices but theirs matter. I think about the dozens of “Hellraiser/Lore Explained” videos that exist on youtube, I think about the dozens of fanboys who’ve built entire web shows about how important they think their own opinions are on everything they “review.” I think about the way I saw some of them scoff at the idea of a reboot making Hellraiser “woke,” as if it somehow wasn’t always a story written by a fucking gay man about female experiences and desires, featuring themes of kink, and trauma, as well as monsters that were originally entirely non-binary.

I think about how what I know of Scarlet Gospels, written by Clive Barker, so vehemently and viciously demeans and then destroys the Pinhead that was born from those voices impacting his image in popular culture, making him into this brutish, self-obsessed, power-hungry, navel-gazing male predator. 

As a female Hellraiser fan, I can’t stand what Scarlet Gospels does to the character. I want to have the old content back. But as someone who’s not a straight man...how could I blame Clive for burning what they built to the ground?

[atamascolily]

further thoughts on terminator 2

This movie is so interesting to me: it's sequel, foil, retcon, and remake of T1, all wrapped up in one. Yet it also stands reasonably well on its own. I think you could watch this and still follow the plot without having seen the first one.

I say "remake," because there's really only one Terminator plot: "A cyborg from the future is trying to kill you for Reasons; good thing you have some help!" T2 is basically the same story as T1, with John instead of Sarah as the protagonist, and with a new antagonist and guardian.

T2 is able to get away with this by deliberately referencing the first movie, playing with audience expectations, and by shifting the genre from horror to action. As a result, T2 looks and feels very different, even though the plot is essentially the same.

T1 (horror): '80s; bloody; scary; everyone except Sarah and Silbermann die; resigned and sad ending. T2 (action): '90s; shockingly little blood; tense; only a handful of characters die, and many of those are off-screened/not shown directly; hopeful and moving ending.

While I like T2 a lot, T1 is my favorite of the two, despite the fact that I am not a fan of horror, blood, or massive amounts of violence. In addition to having way more Michael Biehn, T1 is shockingly more feminist than T2, despite Sarah's incredible arm muscles.

[Basically, I want an entire movie filmed like that one dream sequence in T2, in which Sarah is continually haunted by/arguing/making out with Kyle's ghost. I'm just saying... MISSED OPPORTUNITIES HERE, PEOPLE!]

I haven't seen the other Terminator movies, but it's telling to me that James Cameron didn't want to be involved with a third movie, saying that he felt like he'd told the story he wanted to tell and move on to different projects. Based on the plot summaries of the subsequent results--T3, Salvation and Genisys--I think the writers got stuck on how to make their versions as engaging and interesting as the first two and/or didn't understand what makes the first two movies work.

In addition to the old "how do you make the same plot look interesting the xth time around?," there's the question of characters. Schwarzenegger is only one half of what makes the Terminator movies so iconic. The other half is Sarah Connor. I think people get confused and believe the movies are really about John, but John isn't what makes the movies great, even though he's the protagonist of T2 and the ostensible Chosen One.

John is interesting as an idea/plot device/symbol, but none of the film portrayals of him as an adult have really had a big cultural impact, which suggest to me that HE's not really why we're here. Sarah is. Why else would the TV show be "The Sarah Connor Chronicles"??

According to Wikipedia, Linda Hamilton turned down a role in T3 because the writers were going to kill Sarah off halfway through the film, with no time for the other characters to mourn, and she felt she was disposable, so she said no--which she was right to do. And right there, that movie was doomed, because they missed the point of what the first two movies were actually about, and couldn't offer anything better in its stead.

Likewise, Terminator: Salvation has no Cameron, no Hamilton, and no Schwarzenegger--and nothing else to fill the gaps to explain why we should care.

Genisys is interesting, because it's clear that the writers realized they had to get Sarah Connor back in somehow. So their solution was to combine the plot of the first movie with the Terminator guardian and updated, action-oriented angle of the second movie. Instead of Sarah as a damsel-in-distress in need of rescue by Kyle Reese, she's been raised by a Terminator since she was a child, which I imagine makes her relationship with Kyle... different. The whole premise is so fanfic-y that I can't believe they actually made this movie.

I don't know why that movie didn't work, exactly, but the images I've seen from it do not inspire confidence. (The fact that I do not find their version of Kyle Reese to be particular hot is telling.) I've only seen one scene from the end with the time machine, which looks like what would happen if you started an MRI machine with a Terminator in the room - bits of metal flying everywhere.

(I think about this every time someone mentions an MRI, tbh.)

I am reserving judgment on <i>Dark Fate</i>, since  both Cameron and Hamilton were involved, and it's not about John Connor. I plan on seeing it once it's out on DVD. I suspect I'm going to find it intriguing on multiple levels.

Other miscellaneous T2 thoughts I didn't fit into previous posts:

Linda Hamilton has a twin, that was how they filmed the double scene at the end, very clever!! I kinda wish this had been used more in the film. They also used a pair of twins with the security guard sequence, clever. SEE YOU DON'T NEED CGI FOR EVERYTHING!!

Linda Hamilton's real life son is the kid the '80s dream version of Sarah is holding in her playground dream, wow...

Oh, wow, Michael Biehn was NOT in the theatrical cut, thank goodness I watched this version, because that was literally the best part of the film.

Also, I watched the Behind-the-scenes montage that came with the DVD and there's literally two seconds of him taking a break while filming that scene, and I FLIPPED OUT even the film quality - the filming of the filming, as it were - is not great.

The DVD extras also include Jim Cameron rolling around on the floor to show his actors how he wants it done, and the crew giving him a gift for his birthday and he says, "As long as it's not a flying piranha" -- the subject of his first movie.

The footage of the Cameron and Hamilton at the shooting range practicing is also really cute. So is watching them destroy tiny miniature versions of LA and the future 2029 battlefield.

And I learned there was a guy wearing only white boxers on the crew during the playground sequence, so make what you will of that. I guess it was hot that day...

Also, apparently Michael Biehn was originally supposed to be the T-1000. Are you fucking kidding me???!!!! No offense to Robert Patrick, but THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN AMAZING (and also SUPER TRAUMATIZING for Sarah!!) What could have been... Maybe this movie exists in some parallel universe, sigh.

I really like the deleted ending, in which Judgement Day doesn't happen (Sarah's voice-over says she gets very drunk to celebrate). John Connor works for the US government, and an elderly Sarah watches him play with his daughter on a playground. I wish they'd ended the series at two movies instead of the nightmare slog of sequels/reboots/whatever. But, money. You know how it is.

Next up: Dark Fate. Or possibly "The Sarah Connor Chronicles," depending on which I can get on DVD first.

[medea10]

Medea Rambles - Changing Voice Actors (in anime)

Your favorite character! You love the way they look, the way they act, and in many cases, the way they sound. Yeah, voice actors are a vital role when it comes to bringing life to any character in animation. But what happens when your favorite character doesn’t sound the same as he/she used to?

It could mean your favorite character’s voice actor has CHANGED.

Don’t fear! This happens all the time and many factors can come into play to make that happen.

Because I’m bored today and have nothing better to talk about...

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING BETTER TO TALK ABOUT!

(seriously, I do like this movie)

I want to talk about voice actors! Because I like talking about them. I have the highest respect for these people and these people give it their all with the characters they voice. Every scream Sean Schemmel ever gave as Goku, every cackle Sayaka Ohara gave as Beatrice, these performances can be considered remarkable and memorable as time goes by.

But we must all remember this. Voice actors are just like you or me. They are human. No one lasts forever. And when the unthinkable happens and a voice actor dies, many creators grapple with either retiring the character or hire a replacement.

In the anime world, it’s most likely the latter because there’s no way in fuckdom Professor Oak would EVER be retired as a character (R.I.P. Unshou Ishizuka).

Even though no one could match the charm of Unshou Ishizuka as Professor Oak and many other roles, we accept the change. But it’s not just death. Life in general can get in the way. Many voice actresses have long-running roles to voice even when they’re pregnant. So when they go on maternity leave, they’ll need a replacement. However these are thankfully temporary so we were able to get Mariya Ise to voice Bonnie on Pokemon again and soon Brina Palencia will be back to voicing Juvia on Fairy Tail (and congrats to her for the birth of her first baby).

Child actors in anime will probably not have the same voice they had 10 years ago and if a role is making a revival in the present, that person will more than likely not play that same role. Perfect example there would be Aaron Dismuke who was a young boy when playing roles like Al on Full Metal Alchemist and Hiro on Fruits Basket. When FMA: Brotherhood came out, it was very clear that Dismuke was well past puberty and so his role of Alphonse had to go to someone else.

And voice actors who sustain injury to their voices during production. Jessica Calvello, the original voice of Excel from Excel Saga literally blew out her vocal chords for this role and had to have her role replaced for the second half of the series. Was it noticeable? Fuck yeah it was. But it was for the greater good. Plus her replacement wasn’t that bad. In fact she did a good job with the wacky behavior of Excel. The dubbing company was on a deadline and it had to be met. So what’s done is done. I’m just happy Calvello healed from that and is still a voice actor.

And other issues like scheduling conflicts and controversial issues come into play throwing a monkey wrench in productions. But we all move on for the most part.

WE ALL MOVE ON!

Anyways, for the most part these are just singular acts concerning one or more characters at a time. What happens when AN ENTIRE CAST IS CHANGED?!

Well...it happens! It just depends on the circumstances with the anime. And let’s face it, some of these changes can be for the greater good. Take Sailor Moon for example. Yes, we all know this tale! Sailor Moon was originally licensed by DIC for the first few seasons. And then the next few seasons it was taken over by (the thankfully gone company) Cloverway. With both companies, the anime was given the royal fuck-over with skipping episodes, chopping or editing scenes, Americanizing everything, downplaying homosexuality, shotty voice work, and blow off an entire season. And during the transition from DIC to Cloverway, some of the voices were changed and it was noticeable.

Decade later, Viz Media swoops in and gives the fans what they waited for. The entire series redubbed with original names, Haruka and Michiru are lesbians, Fisheye has a penis, and season five can finally be shown. But for many of us, we were delighted to hear the voices to the characters we grew up with finally getting some justice. While many of us loved Sailor Moon growing up, it was kind of painful to hear some of the voices. I once again point to Haruka’s original voice (or Amara as they called her). And the same could also be said about the first dub to One Piece. This redub needed to happen! No one objected to this, nor should they! But that’s just one person’s opinion here. Others, not so much. Especially the next one!

POKEMON! Yes another anime that went through a giant change. In 2006 (right in the middle of a fucking arc mind you), Pokemon switched the dubbing rights from 4Kids to TAJ/Pokemon Company. To which we all said...

And then they got rid of all the voice actors who have voiced these characters for YEARS and replaced them. To fans of the show from the very beginning it was noticeable and STILL IS. To people who were born in 2006 and are watching this now as a teenager (fucking shit I feel old just realizing that), they probably wouldn’t give it a second thought.

I know it hurt fans and voice actors at first but look at the bright side, a lot of them went on to do great things after Pokemon. Veronica Taylor is busy doing Sailor Moon. Eric Stuart is still touring. And Andrew Rannells...I don’t think I need to bring up Book of Mormon. As it has been over 13 years since the change I think many of us have gotten used to or have accepted this.

Does that mean you’ve accepted Tracey’s new voice?

No. Fuck no. And I never will.

Yeah, Tracey’s a different story. I refuse to accept that change.

Anyways back to voice actors changing! Pokemon and Sailor Moon were kind of special cases as those had a bunch of in-fighting to get what we got. Same with One Piece because no one wanted to watch that hot mess get raped with censored items, Americanized names, and a horrific rap song that even Vanilla Ice would say that’s too much. But sometimes, an anime that has finished its airing and has been dubbed and released in the states, it will be out of print or its license will be expired.

Animes like Berserk, Squid Girl, Rozen Maiden, and Shakugan no Shana were all owned, licensed, and dubbed by a company. But then their licence would go belly-up and their title would no longer be available for purchase (at a decent price) or streamed on a website. Luckily, these titles were eventually saved. Kept the same is a different story there.

All four of those titles had one or more of their seasons dubbed and anything else the series had that wasn’t dubbed was now going to be dubbed by their current licencor. In many of these cases it was changed due to the fact that many of the original voice actors for these roles are not where this certain anime is being worked on. Like in the case of Shakugan no Shana, many of the voice actors reside in Vancouver BC and FUNimation, the licensing company is in Texas. Hence, you get the second and third season sounding way different from the first season. Yes, it’s convenient or cheaper to use people in your studio instead of waiting to hear from Canada. So that’s a possibility of why they do that. Or of course, scheduling issues/conflicts or wanting to do things their own way. Haven’t decided on which one to believe.

And then there are some animes like Escaflowne (an anime that was already dubbed and licensed and released in the late 90s) only for the whole thing to be redubbed by FUNimation decades later. Reasons? They re-licensed it? There was over 8 minutes of new footage found that was never dubbed? They found it necessary to do that? Take your pick!

Now most of what I’m talking about is mostly America problems. Does Japan redub classic anime? To my knowledge, no. But if they remake, reboot, or give a sequel, the cast might change. In recent reboots such as Fruits Basket, Berserk, Sailor Moon, and Genshiken, the entire cast will change to either appease the original creator’s wishes or start over with a clean slate. And if a series makes a return after several decades, of course they’re going to change voices, are you insane?

Why did I find the need to spew a bunch of useless information today? I felt inspired after Netflix decided to grace us with IT’S presence.

Neon Genesis Evangelion.

A classic in the anime community. A gateway anime for many. A massive mindfuck wrapped in a brainfart. A clusterfuck of many proportions.

The television series was licensed and dubbed by ADV back in the 90s. But of course that company went belly-up and so this series has been unreachable in terms of purchasing for over a decade. Even when Japan gives us reboots in the forms of movies for the Evangelion franchise, only those movies would be picked up (by FUNimation). They didn’t even touch the series. Didn’t they realize fans would pay through the nose to get a blu-ray release of this series? The most fans could get were split-up copies on DVD and old VHS tapes. This was a goldmine.

Alas, FUNimation was not the one to save the Neon Genesis Evangelion series.

It was Netflix.

But...all things come at a price when you make a deal with the devil. Netflix found it necessary to redub the entire series (both movies included) without giving word or even consideration to the original cast (that has been doing the voices to these characters for over 20 years). Spike Spenser, Amanda Winn Lee, Tiffany Grant, and Allison Keith wanted to help with this as they all had a lot of input in the original (especially Lee). Now before I cast stones upon this, I do give this dub some credit. They do make an effort to make this sound like an improved version of the 90s dub. And in some aspects I find the new voice to Shinji bearable. And I’m okay with many new casting changes. I mean NGE was okay, but the dub wasn’t the greatest. My only gripe with the change...

Downplaying Shinji x Kaowru.

Netflix, you just undid like a decades worth of change when it comes to homosexuality in anime. You just took us five steps backwards! Kaowru says he LOVED Shinji. “Like”? No, you like a pair of pants. You like that new Bruno Mars song. Kaowru said he LOVED Shinji. Why the fuck didn’t you keep that translation? The 90s dub was kind enough to have Kaowru say that and the 1990s were run by a bunch of prudes! I thought we were past this shit when we put an end to the old Sailor Moon dubs!

Now with this Netflix dub, many characters on Evangelion officially have 2-3 different voice actors. Or in the case of the character Toji, Johnny Young Bosch is the fifth person to voice him. But some platforms can have the anime itself, just not get the right with the english dub probably due to some legal loophole.

Whew, a lot of changes in anime, right folks? It almost feels like these dubbing companies want to erase the past, right? Well to be fair, everyone seems to be doing that. Disney keeps giving us live-action remakes to classic Disney animated films. Classic anime titles are being rebooted. Dubbing companies are taking older animes and redubbing them. I know it feels like they want us to forget these dubs existed. But I know they just want to improve them.

No matter what, everyone will find fault with everything. And in the anime community, it feels like a never-ending flame war. Older animes will get hated on by how crappy it sounds or looks. And nostalgic fans will hate on the new dub because it’s with new people who sound nothing like the original.

YOU CAN (NOT) WIN!

Heh, I made an Eva-build joke.

With these redubs, many names get pronounced the correct way, many translations will be accurate to the Japanese version, and in some cases it’ll sound a lot better. Dubbing companies try to aim at new viewers and to introduce a new generation of anime fans to an old classic. But for people who grew up with animes like Pokemon, Escaflowne, Cardcaptor Sakura, Sailor Moon, and many others, we grew accustomed to the dub. And when hearing it changed, it’s kind of a kick in the ears hearing anything penetrated or different from all the years you spent watching these animes.

Everyone has their own opinion of what they like and don’t like to hear. I like to give things the benefit of the doubt for the most part. Especially when I watch an older anime for the first time that has several dubs. When I began watching Rurouni Kenshin about 7 years back, I was warned that there were three English dubs to that. And I heard all three. I made my choice of which one I prefer, which one was okay, and which one needs to be set on fire. In case you don’t know, the original TV series had the best, the OVA series was okay, and the redub Sony did needs to be set on fire.

And that would be my advice to new anime watchers. Give both dubs a chance and make your decision on which one you like best.

Sadly, these changes will continue to happen whether for the better or the worst. While there are some changes that upset me, some I’m okay with if not pleased about it. But with the recent upset over fans hating on Evangelion’s new dub and change, do you think the fans will get a revolution and their old dub/old translations back? Let me put it to you this way. If Pokemon told us to sit and spin after many of us outraged over the cast change, what chance do Evangelion fans have against Netflix? But you never know, stranger things have happened. Maybe a miracle will occur and the old dub will get a blu-ray release.

In the meantime, I’ll have to re-write my thoughts on Evangelion with the ADV dub, FUNimation dub, and Netflix dub. TOO MANY DUBS!

This has been another Medea ramble. I’ll go back to doing whatever it is I normally do around here.

[sol1056]

Okay so i'm really confused. Who pitched the idea for the Voltron reboot? Did they write the original story or was that someone else? Who's writing the story now? Like i get that there is more than one person working on the story but like to take someone's vision of their story and to just throw it in the trash is just kinda fucked up ya know? I wouldn't want to work with a network if they're gonna screw over something I came up with.

It’s not a simple picture since there’s a lot of history. There’s three parts, behind the cut: who wrote the original story (vs the original-original), who pitched the idea for a voltron reboot, who’s writing the story now, and the issue of revisions. 

I must have at least three pages of asks that talk about Hedrick’s story and how the EPs butchered it… and I recently stumbled over something that made a few pieces click together. So, if you sent me an ask about Hedrick’s story and what he’d planned, you might want to read, ‘cause this answers a lot of your questions.

who created voltron

Back in the early 80s, the Koplar brothers purchased a license from Toei’s back catalog, and adapted/cut/rearranged the original GoLion into an American-only version called Voltron. GoLion hadn’t been much of a hit in Japan; it was kinda behind the curve. When the Koplars adapted it, Voltron was a huge enough hit in the US to warrant a second season, requiring new footage from scratch (mixed in with re-used stuff from the original season). 

The sequel (using a completely different anime from Toei’s back catalog) didn’t do anywhere as well. The planned third part was never made. Since then, there’s been reboots, comic books, idk what else. 

who pitched the idea

Long story short, Universal purchased a bundled archive of licenses. These are collected existing properties they could redevelop – anything from some no-name, one-season, failed cartoons to ones that were popular once and since forgotten. Voltron was one of those properties.

I doubt anyone pitched the idea, formally. More like, the execs saw Voltron in the pack and chose it for a reboot/remake. All they needed was staff to do it, so they interviewed potential showrunners. Around that time, JDS had pitched his idea for a Streetfighter cartoon. DW TV passed on JDS’ pitch, and instead offered him the position as EP of what would become the VLD reboot. 

(An aside: JDS and LM both talk up how much they loved Voltron as kids, but in early interviews they admit neither could remember for certain who Voltron’s ‘real’ leader was — Keith or Sven — all the way up to starting their interview with the execs.) 

who wrote the version we have now 

I’ve been operating under the assumption that as the story editor, Hedrick had a major influence on the story. I’ve also noted in several different posts that S1/S2 feels like a completely different story, in more ways than one:

As the story moved into the split-seasons, it’s clear that whomever lent that guiding hand in S1/S2 was no longer present. Someone else’s fingerprints are on S3, and my guess is it’s mostly Hedrick, at least on the script-level. The word choices change, the cadences change, the beats change. From S3 on, VLD has all the hallmarks of a muddy vision. 

A few days ago, I was researching for another ask and came across this:

On-screen, a “producer” credit for a TV series will generally be given to each member of the writing staff who made a demonstrable contribution to the final script. The actual producer of the show (in the traditional sense) is listed under the credit “produced by”.

According to IMDB, these are VLD’s  executive producers:

Joaquim Dos Santos  (63 episodes, 2016-2018)Lauren Montgomery (63 episodes, 2016-2018)Jae-Myung Yoo (24 episodes, 2016-2017)Robert Koplar (23 episodes, 2016-2017)Ted Koplar (23 episodes, 2016-2017)

We’ve been assuming Hedrick steered a large part of the story. If that were so, though, Hedrick should also have EP credits. He doesn’t. The Koplars have EP credit ‘cause they created the original Voltron. JDS and LM are on there, as showrunners. 

And then there’s this guy Jae-Myung Yoo. He’s done key animation, directing, and storyboards. He has a handful of executive producer credits, mostly for single episodes. Yoo left VLD in 2016, and joined Big Fish & Begonia as a co-producer. 

I think we just found the voice that steered the first two seasons, and whose departure left the story without a clear vision. 

Yoo doesn’t have any writing credentials, but his resume goes all the way back to Gargoyles in 1995. He doesn’t have to be a writer to be a storyteller, after all; there are different ways and methods of telling stories. My guess is Yoo’s a respected directorial voice around Studio Mir, understands how a story flows, and most importantly was probably a trusted voice after working with Ryu, JDS, and LM on AtLA and LoK. 

We’re left with one of two options: Hedrick stuck to the Yoo-created outline, rewriting and rearranging as the EPs shifted tracks, and the majority of the story’s direction since S2 has been from JDS and LM. Or Hedrick did have a substantial impact from S3 on, and JDS/LM refused to grant Hedrick the proper credit for that level of contribution.  

the issue of revisions

Television’s a wacky environment. It’s somewhere between collaboration and sheer hell, especially if you don’t come with major credentials (ie, your name is not Guillermo del Toro). 

Here’s how it starts: the showrunners, any other EPs, the writers, the senior writer/head editor/story editor (title depends on seniority), production assistants, writing assistants, and other producers will gather and brainstorm the story, and come up with a synopsis for the story’s outline. When the execs approve the synopsis (after probably a round or two of feedback), the expands the synopsis into a full outline of the entire story. 

The writers set about writing the script, which are sent to various execs for their feedback. The execs send their feedback — called ‘notes’ — to the showrunner. These are usually a jumble of responses (and a lot apparently tends to be personal taste, too), and also often contradictory. It’s the EP’s job to relay the exec response to the writers’ room, and make sure things get changed so the execs are happy. 

The EP (and the writers) must do a delicate balancing act, between budget, story, and sheer insanity like one exec demanding a scene be cut and another exec thinking the scene should not only stay, but be expanded. Or insisting on specific pairing endgames (or lack thereof). Or — as seems to have plagued VLD — saying the story is too dark and ‘needs more humor,’ which the EPs appear to have interpreted as ‘do more filler episodes that have no plot relevance.’ 

The first thing to remember is that most execs are not intentionally malicious. They will ask for too much, and they often have their own agendas, but their goal is a hit, not wasting a bazillion dollars for no gain. If you look at the credentials for decision-level execs at Dreamworks, every single one came up through the ranks: they’ve directed, produced, some were also animators, and at least one did either acting or voice acting. They’ve been doing this for awhile. My advice to any wannabe-EPs (or writers) would be that when an exec says, “kids are going to be bored stiff with this scene,” listen. I’m not saying automatically change it, just give it a fair listen. 

Collaboration is hard. It takes patience and good listening skills and empathy for the people on the other side of the table. It takes a willingness to bargain and enough strength to be vulnerable, and a whole lot of honesty about your own reasonings for wanting one thing or another. 

Stories created in the high-pressure hot-house environment of a collaborative group are a very different critter than one-author novels: no one person owns the story. Not everyone wants to sign up for sharing that creative process, and that’s fine, too. We do need books with good stories as much as we need shows and movies with good stories. 

Just color me seriously unimpressed when someone in a collaborative storytelling process constantly snarks about exec meddling. I have no sympathy: they signed up for this. If their creativity is so fragile it’s threatened by feedback, they need to find a different medium, ‘cause the collaborative world of television production is probably not the best fit.  

[geek-gem]

Jason and Billy again

Listen to any Scream fans don't think I'm hating on shit or something. Especially I've had ideas where Jason and Billy are just flat out yelling at each other. So take this as a joke mostly. But it's this weird duo idea and just read this.

Jason Voorhees: You know Billy the whole idea with horror movies having rules seems kind of stupid.

Billy Loomis: Umm why do you think that?

Jason Voorhees: While I understand the thing about tropes it's still kind of stupid. In horror movies to me their are no rules. Because anyone could be killed. Whether it be someone who didn't have sex or was not drinking, or smoking drugs, or other stuff, animals can die, even children. No one of any race or disability or sexuality is rejected. Even the deaths of 4 year olds and 6 year olds can happen. That's what a true horror movie would be whether it be a slasher or not.

Billy Loomis: Okay wait a second while I get that, that kind of sounds bullshit. Because their are certain rules, because why the hell would you kill any folks that seem less likely to die? What's the point? I know I'm sounding like a hypocrite but seriously the idea of killing a 4 year old kid and 6 year old kid sounds like the writer is trying too much. Seriously who the fuck wants to show that to the public to prove a point that's maybe already proven?

*focus goes on GeekGem*

GeekGem:.....those are ideas I have for that Friday The 13th reboot stuff like a sequel but still in development go back to their argument.

*switches back to Jason and Billy*

Billy Loomis: I'm sorry Jason I just don't think that's reasonable. I mean yeah it sounds like a interesting idea but what's the point?

Jason Voorhees: Well I find that belief bullshit and my belief to be true.

Billy Loomis: Excuse me?

Jason Voorhees: Listen Billy boy I'm gonna be honest with you. Compared to us you and all the other Ghostface killers are virgins. Us slashers like Michael, Leatherface, and even Freddy, are chads compared to you all. Especially we're steaming with masculinity even Freddy does as well.

Billy Loomis: YOUR JUST A DISABLED AND DEFORMED MOMMA'S BOY THAT CAN'T LET GO OF HIS MOM! YOU THINK YOUR BETTER THEN ME BECAUSE YOUR A MORE MASCULINE MOTHERFUCKER OR ANY OTHER SHIT YOUR BASICALLY A KID STUCK IN A MAN'S BODY!

Jason Voorhees: WHO'S FRANCHISE GOT FUCKING REBOOTED AFTER THEIR 4TH MOVIE COULDN'T START A NEW TRILOGY?! ESPECIALLY THAT 4TH FILM TALKED ALL ABOUT REMAKES AND THE KILLER BEING SOME PETTY COUSIN WHO COULDN'T GROW THE FUCK UP THAT HER COUSIN WAS WELL KNOWN!? ALSO THAT REBOOTED TV SERIES LASTED TWO FUCKING SEASONS!? WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU NOW!? Edit OR WAIT IS IT THREE!?

Billy Loomis: WHO'S THE MOTHER FUCKER THAT CAN'T HAVE A FILM AS OF NOW BECAUSE OF A FUCKING LAWSUIT!? ESPECIALLY THAT SAME LAWSUIT HURT THAT MOTHER FUCKERS OWN GAME!

Jason Voorhees: YOU AND ALL THESE OTHER GHOSTFACE KILLERS ARE FUCKING PUSSIES COMPARED TO US OTHER SLASHERS! I TOOK AN AXE TO THE HEAD AND FUCKING LIVED COMPARED TO ALL OF YOU!

Billy Loomis: THE REASON THAT EVEN FUCKING HAPPENED BECAUSE YOUR THIRD FILM MADE SO MUCH THEY BROUGHT YOU BACK FOR THE SEQUEL THAT ALSO FUCKING KILLED YOU OFF! ESPECIALLY EVERYONE GOT SO PISSY WITH THE FIFTH THEY BROUGHT YOU BACK TO LIFE IN THE SIXTH FILM!

Jason Voorhees: YOUR FILMS ARE BULLSHIT, SATIRE AND SHIT, YOUR THE DEADPOOL OF THE SLASHER GENRE! COOL THING BUT AFTER THAT EVERYONE STARTED TO COPY YOUR FILMS AND ALL THAT SHIT!

Billy Loomis: YOU FUCKING CUNT WITHOUT MY SCREAM FILM SLASHERS MIGHT PROBABLY BE DEAD! EVERYONE WAS GETTING SICK OF THEM AND WE ARE STILL GETTING SEQUELS I SAVED YOU ALL OF YOU SLASHERS FROM BEING FORGOTTEN! ESPECIALLY EVERY GOOD SUCCESS HAS COPYCATS THAT'S THE SHIT WITH HOLLYWOOD!

Jason Voorhees: BULLSHIT YOU SON OF A BITCH!

Billy Loomis: IN FACT YOUR ONE TO TALK NONE OF YOUR FILMS ARE CLASSICS! CRITICS ESPECIALLY ROTTEN TOMATOS FUCKING HATES YOUR MOVIES! YOUR NO TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE! YOUR NO HALLOWEEN! YOUR NO NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET! ESPECIALLY WHAT'S MORE FUNNY YOUR FIRST FILM CASHED IN ON HALLOWEEN! YOUR FRANCHISE AND BIRTH AS A ICON OF HORROR WAS A MISTAKE!

Jason Voorhees: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Billy Loomis: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

*they both running screaming towards at each other until Jason body slams Billy*

Jason Voorhees: OH MY GOD ARE YOU OKAY!?

Billy Loomis: OH MY GOD I THINK MY WHOLE BODY IS BROKEN GET ME TO A HOSPITAL!

Freddy Krueger:.....what the fuck just happened?

Michael Myers: Most of the time I usually understand everything and not caring at times. But this was one of the weirdest conversations I've heard like in ever.

Freddy Krueger: I think what's more confusing.....Jason considered Leatherface masculine.

Tags done there made this.

Edit

Freddy Krueger: He even considered me masculine.

Edit again after watching quite a bit of this Ghostface 2018 fan film so it's was Sydney's cousin. Seriously it's been years since I've seen the 4th movie and I'm not the biggest fan.

Again with the added edit of Jason mentioning a third season yet it shows on Wikipedia theirs no 3rd but Tumblr showed some promo stuff or just whatever the fuck is going on with that show.

[lastgeeksdying]

On the twelve Friday the 13th films

I recently rewatched or watched for the first time all of the F13 movies.  Here's what I thought. On Part 1: The ending is a cool twist on expectations, even today.  Most folks go into this film still expecting Jason Vorhees and instead are shocked.  If they get that far.  Because this movie is super garbage otherwise.   Poorly written, poorly edited, it looks like it's from the early 70's but instead is from the 80's.  The movie goes out of it's way to make you hate most of the characters.   On Part 2: A remix of the first film, trying to make a sequel to a really strange final moment.  Lumberjack/Baghead/KKK Jason here is the where his personality seems maluable, but you can see the seeds of him starting to become the Silly theatrical maniac that would come on display as we go.   On Part 3: If the first film is laughable bad for it's low budget, this is laughable for how big it's budget is and how much time is wasted on shitty 3D effects.  But Jason with a Harpoon gun is choice.   On Part 4: Solid. Because it felt like it was going to be the last Jason movie, it did a good job creating the world of Crystal Lake and bringing it to a close. It also cautiously set up sequels.  Corey Feldman did a good job for a child actor.   On Part 5: Interesting ideas with Characters as developed as the first few films so...actually underrated. I think this film gets a lot of hate because SPOILERS the killer isn't Jason.  Much Like Halloween III, Every character that isn't Tommy, is laughably bad.  I think a really good reboot could do Tommy's arc justice.  If a writer was careful.  This also feels like the point where the series is taking itself less seriously.  This may be because it's become a cash grab annual franchise, but I think it gives the franchise a soul.  It's not a dark a gritty series anymore.  It's not Low Rent Halloween, but it's not the campy gore-fest of Nightmare on Elm Street. It's exactly where I want it to be.   On Part six: Great. If my favorite Jason movie didn't exist, this would be it.  It takes every trope established in the franchise up to this point and nails them.  It has Tommy come back and not pay off the ending of Part 5 since audiences hated that, and instead has been have a break down and create the thing he hates.  It's when the series moves from silly, but maybe real to Supernatural Killer.  I feel like every idea non-fans have of the character of Jason comes from this movie.  My only complaint is that his costume isn't as cool as the one in 7.   On Part Seven: The last act is cool.  Otherwise this movie just trots along at a slow pace.  Nothing super exciting happens, even with a telekinetic main character.  This was originially conceived as a Carrie vs Jason movie, but they couldn't get the rights.  Which is likely for the best considering how they handled Tina's backstory here.  But it'd be funny to use this movie as a launch pad for continuing Carries rain of destruction.  But the last 20-30 minutes are worth the wait.  Once Tina starts cutting loose with her powers, suddenly Jason has a real adversary that he can go toe to toe with.     On Takes Manhattan: Half good, half a joke So the funny story about this movie, go watch the trailer.  It's all this is a movie set in new york. You know this is new york.  And here's shots of Jason on a street!  Here's Jason on a Subway.   For anyone whose seen the movie, they laugh at the trailer.  Because it's actually set on a "cruise" ship that passes by Crystal Lake on it's way to New York.  It's 2/3rds of the film before they reach New York.  Then it's about 2/3rds of the time remaining on the docks and the warehouses there.  Including a really gross and needless mugging, drugging, and attempted rape scene.  The last third spends most of it's time getting from the docks, to downtown New York, onto a Subway, and then into the Sewers.  The last 10ish minutes are in the Sewers and Jason dies in the stupidiest, most non-sensical way.   Now, this is the part where I say something that sounds silly.  The stuff on the boat?   Actually feels like Jason and the Friday the Thirteenth movies.  The stuff in New York?  So bad, and such a joke...which leads us to...   On Jason Goes to Hell: Hated it.  Don't do it. This is the worst film in the franchise.  This is a film that is trying way way too hard to take itself seriously and make Jason scary again.  It loses all of the fun of the previous movies and it just falls apart.   It's way too late to try to go back. It's plot is nonsensical.  Long Story Short:  Jason gets tricked by the FBI who blow his body up.  Then via MAGIC(???) or something it's discovered in the dumbest way possible that Jason isn't just Supernatural, but a demon.  And it's the dumbest fucking thing.  The coroner examining Jason's body is maybe compelled by the heart, maybe he's just crazy, to eat Jason's heart.  This transfers Jason from his exploded body into the coroner's body.  Now he can run around and kill people, and as his new body is dying he has to change into a new person. Yeah, it's a body swaping movie that feels like they just reshot a huge chunk of the movie to take a generic horror movie and make it about Jason.  And surprise, it was heavily reshot and edited and changed by the producer/franchise creator because the lead actress walked off set and the director had to be let go with days of filming still to go.  And then later they went back and filmed more.  So about 60 percent of the movie was done after the principle filming.   This gets worse when you get to the fact that there was a secret Vorhees sister who had a daughter who had a daughter.  The Sister is killed and now Jason is hunting the Daughter and her daughter.  But it's not a Michael Myers situation.  It's because of a shitty prophecy that Jason can reborn his original body by using a blood relatives body.   At the end of the film, Jason breaks out of his body as a demon creature, and it looks really bad.  Eventually he uses the body the dead sister (He didn't use the sister earlier because the writers had thought of that plot line yet.  There were three writers, can you tell?).  Jason is reborn, there is another prophecy about only a Vorhees can kill a Vorhees so Jason's niece stabs Jason witha  magic knife and he gets pulled into hell.  Then big suprise ending moment.   The surprise ending moment is that Freddy Krugars claw comes out of the ground and Freddy Laughs.  At this point, they were trying hard to get a Freddy Vs Jason movie, but hadn't nailed the rights yet.  This will lead to them making Jason X.   The one redeeming moment is that they used a prop from another movie as just a creepy book in the Vorhees house.  But for fans it is the Necronomicon from Evil Dead.  Which lead to a comic of Freddy Vs Jason Vs Ash.   On Jason X: Loved it.  Jason X is my favorite film in the franchise.  If Jason goes to Hell takes itself too seriously, Jason X understands how campy it needs to be and what a scifi movie needs to be.  There are characters I genuinely like and am saddened when they die.  There are surprises for someone who hadn't watched it in years.  You can tell that these were fans of Alien and Aliens and wanted to Mash them together with the previous core Jason concepts.  And by doing so it creates magic.   It also has a cool premise about the idea that Jason in the future isn't unstoppable, but he is tough.  They stop him, and then in the fifth act twist, space science accidentally gives him an upgrade and he becomes Uber Jason, who crashes on Earth 2.  I don't want to ruin anything else about the movie, but this is the movie with the best line.   "Hey guys, it's fine!  He just wanted his machete back!"  And not only is it a great line, it actually works in context and creates a hilarious but terrifying moment.   On Freddy Vs Jason: It's so bad.  And it's a shame because there is bare concept that's good.   The idea that Freddy has been forgotten.  That the town banded together to try and stop him from existing by blocking thoughts and dreams of him and redacting everything possible, that's neat.   The film is missing elements that are key to making it work.  The first thing is the teens. They are all shitlords and totally not worth your time.  The "Good" Characters are both flimsy at best, but also not really likable.   Characters don't make dumb choices, the writers drop bad ideas into their heads because they want certain scenes or plot.  The entire plot involving dream suppressing drugs feels like it is going to be important, but by the midpoint, the film has tossed it out.   Freddy has always been a pretty garbage and had traded entirely on gore and Robert Englund's performance.  Here he makes dumb decision after dumb decision.  And it's just...you know, I don't even care.   What really pushed this movie into almost Goes to Hell bad is it's portrayal of Jason.   This Jason has no personality.  He's a big killy monster who wants to kill. He doesn't have any of the theatrics that make Jason interesting to watch.  He doesn't have the weird teleports or the brutal kills.  He's boring here.  And then they gave him a weakness.  They handed him a water phobia.  Which doesn't fit the character or the continuity.  He Looks like a Jason Cosplayer and has the scripting of one.  It's bad, and mostly unforgivable.   The redeeming element of this movie is that there are ideas here that are interesting, but so much of it is mishandled by bad direction and bad writing that it just becomes a shame.   On the Remake: I appreciate that the used the film to try and pay homage to what little plot exists in the first three films.  Let's show the mom is a killer.   Let's show him do some kills with the bag on his head.  Let's have him find the mask after his bag is damaged.  And that's the first 40 minutes.  It is almost like they knew they a modern audience could take just one of those films plots and they really wanted to speed it up.   It even feels like they want to create a Tommy Jarvis like anti-Jason in the form of the very tall Jared Padelecki.   It's important to remember this is a new Jason, and a new world.  And I am okay with that.  But the writing feels too on the nose.  It gives character traits to people that are going to die, and character missions for characters who will survive.   I don't hate this new Jason.  I want to know why he grows weed and doesn't want to let anyone near it.  That's really weird.  But overall the film does some brutal kills.  It has nudity for nudity sake.  It has drug use.  It has virginal characters.  It has the killer.  It has the teens (Who are campers instead of counselors which annoys me but whatever).  And even has a smidge of heart.  I just feel like the film could have been tighter.  The flashback about Pamela should have been saved as a Camp Fire story flashback.  And the first group of Campers should have been killed off much faster.  The film spends a solid fifteen minutes with them, when it should have been five.   The biggest missed opportunity here is that it is trying to be serious again, and it needed to embrace the camp.  There is a part where a character walks off and starts singing with his ipod to Sister Christian.  This should have lead into a montage where Jason kills those five to that song.   Ultimately, there were only a few I will ever go back to.  And only one I'd tell people is worth the time to watch if you like comedy/horror(Jason X rules!) Don't worry guys, he just wanted his Machete back!