Tim Minear posts by SergeantX

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Tim Minear posts

POSTED BY: SERGEANTX
UPDATED: Saturday, December 21, 2002 18:17
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Saturday, December 21, 2002 9:20 AM

Snagged this over at Buffistas.org
Hope it's not too depressing for you all.

"Tim Minear - Dec 21, 2002 3:12:12 am EST #937 of 1016

Well, I told you so. Yes I did.

And for those who are wondering if maybe we reworked the pilot -- for certainly what you saw can't have been what Fox insisted was too "slow and uninvolving," thereby putting the stink of failure on the show before we ever had a chance to air an ep -- not so much. Joss added the battle scene at the top of the ep, added one or two lines of clarification, but by and large -- yep. That's what Fox didn't want us to air.

By-the-by... after Joss added the battle scenes and tightened throughout and basically answered any problems the network could have had with "Serenity"... from what I understand they never even looked at it. The choice had been made. Stick it on a shelf. I think that was probably a mistake.

What a strange week.

Two and half days into my eight day shoot (I was directing) for this last episode, they cancelled us.

Joss and I were still writing the script. It had been our latest-latest. One large reason for the not being finished: the not knowing. Made it somewhat difficult to concentrate.

So I was, as is often my custom, making it up as I went along. Once the other shoe dropped, it was almost a relief. I only mean that in the torture-is-the-not-knowing sense -- after being treated so shabbily for so long.

But we returned to work on friday, finished the scene we'd left dangling the day before (we wrapped early the moment the news came down), and somehow mushed through until today. Nathan came up to me that day after and said, "I thought it would be really hard to get through today. But I had so much fun." We all did.

Today was kind of a bummer. I finished shooting my episode yesterday. We shot a gigantic flashback battle scene with Mal and Zoe. It was great fun.

But today was a day for pick-ups and added scenes for episodes nearing completion and some small reshoots. Part of that was pieces of a montage for "Heart Of Gold." Alan, Sean, Summer and Jewel wrapped out yesterday (at the end of the night I had one group shot of the entire cast walking together. I finally got it after they quit goofing off for twenty minutes, breaking the crew up as they did "model runway walks" complete with turns and snaps. I have that on film. I knew it was likely the last time the entire cast would be together in a frame of film. Maybe ever. So that was kind of wonderful. And kind of sucked)

Morena, Gina, Ron, Adam and Nathan worked today. Anyway, one of the sets was a small rebuild of a tiny portion of a larger set from the aforementioned "Heart Of Gold." Each character had a shot or two for this montage.

I brought in Gina, we shot her shot, then the AD announced, "that's a "Firefly" wrap for Gina."

When an actor, usually a guest actor, finishes his or her last scene in an episode, that is what happens. The AD (assistant director) announces, "That's an episode wrap for so-and-so."

Doesn't happen with regulars.

But it did today.

Gina got a long and loving round of applause from the crew. She said many warm and wonderful things. We hugged. She left.

Then I brought in Ron. Same thing. "That's a "Firefly" wrap for Ron Glass." Ron couldn't speak at first. He finally said, "I didn't know it could be like this." He thanked everyone and talked about what a special experience this had been for him. We applauded some more. After many hugs, Ron left. The AD called for "the next victim."

I was starting to hate this ugly little set. These unexpectedly generous, grateful actors would come in to it, and that would be all. "That's a "Firefly" wrap for Nathan." Nathan thanked everyone. For about the ten millionth time.

Adam was brought onto the set. He lit a cigar, held up a gun. Smiled. That was the shot. Adam's last shot. "That's a "Firefly" wrap for Adam Baldwin." Adam thanked everyone. He said no one ever let him be funny before. He was grateful for that. He said he was glad everyone seemed to appreciate what a really exceptional experience our time had been. He was glad that it wouldn't have to be regarded as such in retrospect, but that the gratitude was of the present.

Adam and Nathan hung out until Morena shot her scene. Nobody wanted to leave. "That's a "Firefly" wrap for Morena." She said it was the best job she'd ever had. Not that she'd had a lot of jobs, she said. She doesn't want it to be over. None of us do. Then I packed up my things. Shook hands.

I drove off the lot. I got home. Turned on the TV. And they were finally airing the pilot.

That's a "Firefly" wrap.

edited by Tim Minear on Dec 21, 2002 3:19:39 am EST"

SergeantX

"..and here's to all the dreamers, may our open hearts find rest." -- Nanci Griffith

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Saturday, December 21, 2002 9:32 AM

MELEE

*cries* I need a hug... *cries some more*

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Saturday, December 21, 2002 10:17 AM

HAKEN

Likes to mess with stuffs.

{{{{MELEE}}}}

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Saturday, December 21, 2002 11:19 AM

ROBERTSPARLING

Let's just hope this isn't the eulogy for Firefly. Keep sending the postcards.

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Saturday, December 21, 2002 12:33 PM

XED

Truly tragic. Despite his penchant for name-calling, SergeantX has made a lot of insightful points about Firefly, and in general I think he's dead right in most of what he's written about the show.
What a sad end for a show that started with one of the truly great pilots ever. And how ironic that we never even knew how superb the 2-horu Firefly pilot was until now...when the show's already dead.
In retrospect, did anyone notice how weird the Fox promos were? I recall seeing promo spots for Firefly months and months ago feauring Wash with plastic dinosaurs (!) Of all the ways to advertise a richly complex character-driven show? Showing a guy playing with plastic dinosaurs...?
And the voice-over for those early Firefly promos went something like this: "You want a show that's out there? It's out there!"
What was up with _that_?
Seems clear even from the git-go Fox had no idea what the show was or how to advertise it to potential viewers.
Their ad campaign seemed to boil down to "This is a really werid show."
Is that _really_ the way to attract potential viewers to a complex character-driven show like Firefly?
How about "Characters you'll never forget in a universe that will keep you riveted"?
In other words, Fox tried to sell this show as something offebat and werid and possibly campy, when they should've been trying to sell it as Hill Street Blues in space...or perhaps better yet, David Mamet's "American Buffalo" in spaceships.
Perhaps Firefly was just too grown up. Maybe the audience tuned in expecting another Buffy and got full-on adult characters in seriously gritty real-world situations, with no magic spells to make everything better and no rent-free hosue with mom to come home to after slaying the vamps. And perhaps Firefly's audience just never got over their mistaken preconceptions of what Firefly would be.
Fox certainly offered no help with their bizarre and muddled promos for Firefly.
Regardless, Joss Whedon deserves immense credit for putting on such a challenging and impressive show. It will be sorely missed, especially in this current arid and degenerative TV landscape (of swill like "Celebrity Fear Factor" and "The Bachelorette").
It boggles the brain to think that something like "Fear Factor" survives to run another season while a show with a pilot as superbly written as "Firefly" (for all the faults of its early episodes) died a quick ugly death, doesn't it?
Let's see...which would you rather watch:
[A] A guy eating maggots...or...
[B} Complex character-driven plots with literate whip-smart dialogue and a richly detailed futuristics background?
The mind boggles.

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Saturday, December 21, 2002 1:49 PM

HOOK

Xed,

Ok i am a little confused. How did you go from "Why Firefly deserved to die" (found at this post: http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=1050 ) to "Complex character-driven plots with literate whip-smart dialogue and a richly detailed futuristics background"

I think I know, I mean I was one of the first people to defend your first post as "valid critisizm" but still I had the impression that you hated the show...valid or not. Anyway, I am not looking for a fight, I am just confused.

hook

http://diogenes.gotdns.org

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Saturday, December 21, 2002 5:57 PM

SAINTOFCHEESE

*sob*

I don't want it to die!

~*Saint of Cheese*~

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Saturday, December 21, 2002 6:17 PM

HJERMSTED

Yo Xed,

If you're capable of writing something postcard length, why not drop a note to UPN asking them to pick up the show for their network?

The patient is still on the operating table at the moment. Firefly fans need energy such as yours focused on the resuscitation campaign and not so much on your own manifesto.

Fox sucks... we know!! Moving forward now...

Apologies if you've already participated in the campaign!

mattro

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