steveo
Überdork
Joined: 08 Aug 2002
Posts: 843
Location: In your personal space
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 Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2002 10:57 am Post subject: Behind the Scenes |
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Since GC took an episode's time off, and seeing as how our new forum is empty, I thought I would post a little bit of behind the scenes magic for y'all to ooh and ahh over.
Actually, you probably won't. The creation of GC is only interesting to the writers, if that.
Anyways, Here we go:
Part 1 - Humble Beginnings
So how did the GC start?
Well, the obvious answer is that it started in The Files of Hydrogen Guy. JIM created a great little scenario, but because of the setting of The Files, he didn't get to explore it much beyond The Golden Claw and Chuck War's frequent appearances.
So in August of 2001, I was messing around in Photoshop and playing with some new metal filters and I designed the basic shield which served as the basis for the GC badge (JR later tweaked it, to its betterment I might add).
I did it originally as a piece of goofy fan art for The Files, but as soon as I saw it I knew there was potential there. Plus, I was fresh off of working with JIM on BGBM, and the opportunity to have all three authors work together just seemed too good to pass up. JIM and JR thought so too as soon as they heard it, and we immediately sat down to hash out some characters and figure out where to go with it.
The first few story drafts were rough, at best. One of the earliest proposals included Carla as a new agent from Earth who gets to meet the team. Chuck War was supposed to play a major part, and some of the other suggested cast members included, and I quote,
| Quote: | | a wacky computer-geek type, an alien, a token minority, a silly animal side-kick/mascot who looks like a sea-cucumber and says "Ftagn!" a lot, and a semi-sentient computer system |
Pretty stinky, I know.
Then JR wrote a bit of a scene with references to Chuck War and Radar, two characters from The Files, that also featured what would be the starting point for the real GC team: Philoxia Unpronouncable and Security Officer Rahhahggrraag-pthugh, alias Roger. Neither character was fleshed out in the scene beyond Phil's caffeine addiction, but a few questions and JR had come up with some reasonable descriptions of them.
Phil was "mostly hominid in appearance, reasonably attractive when not
performing random acts of violence, oddly protective toward the
dilapidated gear the GC use, but knows that the person is more
important, usually."
Roger ranked "somewhere between Barney Fife and Rimmer." The early Roger was a rule-stickler who was such a stickler for the regs that he'd give a speeding ticket to an out of control wheelchair on a hill.
It wasn't long before we'd rounded out the cast with a few others:
Russell Shimo - Named after an acquaintence of JR's who was notorious for losing characters in D&D. Russell would die and come back as another Russell, only to die again next gaming session. Shimo became our first running gag.
Sgt. "Rhino" Cannon - A grunt. Your typical military buffoon. Muscled, buzz-cutted, and carrying a small arsenal at all times. Rhino was our proxy Chuck War. Rhino would be an easy character to write, simple and effective. Not much background was required.
Carla - Dubbed by JIM as "Secret Cranky Office Temp," a Sluggy Freelance reference that, if you get it, describes Carla rather well. JR clarified by stating that she was "someone along the lines of Annie Potts' character in 'GhostBusters,' except mabye a little nerdier."
Jack - A cranky old guy who's been recalled to active GC duty to head up a team working on Earth itself. Jack was the shadowy boss sending the others out on cases and then berating them when they screwed up.
Humble beginnings indeed. No real plots, weak characters, and only a germ of an idea where to go. But, JIM said it best, "I find the characters tend to suggest possible plot-lines fairly easily, once you get to know them."
Then JIM hit us with a surprise. Several pages of notes he'd collected about the GC, the Jelvan Empire, and the galaxy in general. That set us a good foundation for the series, as Earth was clearly a backwater world used by cheats, smugglers, small time crooks, and anyone wishing to make deals without being noticed.
We finally had our setting.
We collected a few scraps of scene that we had written and set about the task of creating the first chapter.
But, like JIM said, the characters themselves had ideas about who they were that didn't come out until much later. Notice, for example, Roger's change from intergalactic Barney Fife to wise-cracking GQ model.
Just about the only character who's stayed the same since inception was Carla, well, excepting the whole super-power thing.
Part of the fun of writing the GC is finding out something new about one of the characters each episode. And trust me, it's usually as surprising to us as it is to the readers.
Next time !! - We'll take a look at how the chapters are written by taking a peak into some actual writer conversations!
(Or not, it all really depends on how interesting folks think this stuff is). |
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TechnoAtheist
Überdork
Joined: 08 Aug 2002
Posts: 922
Location: !Boise
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| Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2002 11:29 pm Post subject: |
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The Sheild:
Don't let him fool ya folks, the shield is still all Steve.
Rhino:
Actually, I'm the one that finds him the hardest to write for. Probably because I grew up surrounded by "Rhinos". Oddly, Carla, Phil and Roger are the easiest for me to deal with. (Well, them and Shimo of course, but that's purely because of my very deep sadistic streak.)
Oh, and thanks Steve! One day, when we're rich and successful I know I'll look back on these humble beginnings, and desperately try to cover them up.
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The Grayhound Chronicles
"TGC is less like a web serial and more like the Al Azif in bite-size form."
--~Steve-o |
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JIM
UH Author
Joined: 08 Aug 2002
Posts: 574
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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| Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2002 2:15 pm Post subject: |
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| ~steve-o wrote: | | Carla - Dubbed by JIM as "Secret Cranky Office Temp," a Sluggy Freelance reference that, if you get it, describes Carla rather well. |
Note that Carla's last name is "Scot". I always thought that was cute, I think TA came up with it.
| Technoatheist wrote: | Rhino:
Actually, I'm the one that finds him the hardest to write for. Probably because I grew up surrounded by "Rhinos". Oddly, Carla, Phil and Roger are the easiest for me to deal with. (Well, them and Shimo of course, but that's purely because of my very deep sadistic streak.) |
Actually, I find Rhino one of the easiest to write, along with Roger and occaisionally Phil. Though the more character Phil develops the harder she is to write. Stop it, you two. Carla and Jack are the hardest for me, because they're so normal. I'm also not as good at killing Shimos as the others are, I think the only ones where he doesn't die are the episodes I wrote...
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Unitedheroes.net - We're not lazy, we're... um... productivity-challenged. |
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