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Questions Post #3
I'm guessing it's a monthly thing. I have a word document titled "Questions and Concerns" on my hard drive, and I just keep adding to it. Sometimes these questions and concerns get addressed, and I delete them. Sometimes they drive me crazy. So I've posted them and people answered them and I got happy. And then the next day I had more questions. So, I'm just going to keep asking until people get tired of me ;o) If you're interested, thanks ahead of time for being my personal Radio Shacks.
Angel
-What is the circumference of the head on David Boreanaz’s shoulders? Did anyone for a moment think that the pink helmet really would’ve fit on Angel’s head? Does Wes just date big-headed women? (hello, Illyria)
-What other music/artists/songs do you think Angel likes (he says he likes ballads. Apparently cheesy ones, but I’m not so up on that genre)?
-I’ve heard Angel was only supposed to be in three episodes. What were they going to do with him? Did the writers know in the first episode that he was a vampire with a soul?
-Did David Boreanaz have a lot of acne when he was young? Or am I the only one who thinks she sees slight facial pock-mark-looking scars?
-What would Angel read? Only Sartre and existentialist philosophy? Who would be his favorite author? Does anyone vote for Dostoevsky?
-Would he read the Bible after he’d been re-ensouled (kinda hard, what with the burning hands, I guess)? What about other religious texts?
Voice
-How do you (yourself, personally) get yourself situated into a character’s “voice”? Read transcripts, make lists of common phrases, just wing it?
-What is voice? Spike has a bunch of idiosyncratic words. Willow has a definite rhythym to her speech. Faith has a voice, but what is it that makes her speech particular? Does Angel have a voice? What is it? How do you decide what he would or wouldn’t say?
-How often would Angel say the word “fuck”? Would he ever say the word “cunt”? How often does he do the “take the Lord’s name in vain” thing?
-If Spike were a real person not in TV land he’d cuss a blue streak. I also think Faith would have a pretty dirty mouth. But what about Gunn? What about Darla, Anya, and Lindsey, et al?
-Do you ever just avoid making a character swear, because although you’re sure Xander would’ve succinctly announced “We’re fucked!” at a crucial moment, it just seems weird to see it written out, since we never heard him say fuck?
Random
-Did you have any stereotypes/preconcieved ideas about what BtVS would be like before you started watching it? (I, for instance, thought Buffy would get turned at least three times. I also thought her character would be like SMG’s on Cruel Intentions. Thus the not watching until 8 years after it came out. I’m very narrow-minded, I know.)
-Why were Connor’s lips so red?
-Should posts that contain the word fuck be under a cut? What about the words cunt cock and Christ?
-What, exactly, is wrong with the phrase “cold dead seed”? Is it that it’s over-used? Or how about uber icky? Because despite the colossal gross factor it seems like a fair phrase to use to jolt a non-con or dark/angsty/violent sex scene into a terrible reality.
-Does Connor remind anyone else of John Connor from Terminator 2?
-Who among you just played a quick game of Kevin Bacon in your head after that last question? (Edward Furlong, David Boreanaz, Wicked Prayer: I know; it was too easy.)
-How common was it for men to wear corsets back in the day? I know some did, but I want to know if it was considered as crossing-dressing-ish as it is nowadays, or whether it was the thing to do. (I’ve seen period movies in which they make it look like the thing to do. Yup, Ralph Fiennes in a corset). Because Angelus? Vain. And we already know Spike likes to rip garments off women and wear them.
Serenity
-Can someone please link me to somewhere where people are talking in depth about this movie? I just saw it and loved it to itty bits and pieces, and I want to go wallow in the goodness. What's sad is I've never seen Firefly.
Angel
-What is the circumference of the head on David Boreanaz’s shoulders? Did anyone for a moment think that the pink helmet really would’ve fit on Angel’s head? Does Wes just date big-headed women? (hello, Illyria)
-What other music/artists/songs do you think Angel likes (he says he likes ballads. Apparently cheesy ones, but I’m not so up on that genre)?
-I’ve heard Angel was only supposed to be in three episodes. What were they going to do with him? Did the writers know in the first episode that he was a vampire with a soul?
-Did David Boreanaz have a lot of acne when he was young? Or am I the only one who thinks she sees slight facial pock-mark-looking scars?
-What would Angel read? Only Sartre and existentialist philosophy? Who would be his favorite author? Does anyone vote for Dostoevsky?
-Would he read the Bible after he’d been re-ensouled (kinda hard, what with the burning hands, I guess)? What about other religious texts?
Voice
-How do you (yourself, personally) get yourself situated into a character’s “voice”? Read transcripts, make lists of common phrases, just wing it?
-What is voice? Spike has a bunch of idiosyncratic words. Willow has a definite rhythym to her speech. Faith has a voice, but what is it that makes her speech particular? Does Angel have a voice? What is it? How do you decide what he would or wouldn’t say?
-How often would Angel say the word “fuck”? Would he ever say the word “cunt”? How often does he do the “take the Lord’s name in vain” thing?
-If Spike were a real person not in TV land he’d cuss a blue streak. I also think Faith would have a pretty dirty mouth. But what about Gunn? What about Darla, Anya, and Lindsey, et al?
-Do you ever just avoid making a character swear, because although you’re sure Xander would’ve succinctly announced “We’re fucked!” at a crucial moment, it just seems weird to see it written out, since we never heard him say fuck?
Random
-Did you have any stereotypes/preconcieved ideas about what BtVS would be like before you started watching it? (I, for instance, thought Buffy would get turned at least three times. I also thought her character would be like SMG’s on Cruel Intentions. Thus the not watching until 8 years after it came out. I’m very narrow-minded, I know.)
-Why were Connor’s lips so red?
-Should posts that contain the word fuck be under a cut? What about the words cunt cock and Christ?
-What, exactly, is wrong with the phrase “cold dead seed”? Is it that it’s over-used? Or how about uber icky? Because despite the colossal gross factor it seems like a fair phrase to use to jolt a non-con or dark/angsty/violent sex scene into a terrible reality.
-Does Connor remind anyone else of John Connor from Terminator 2?
-Who among you just played a quick game of Kevin Bacon in your head after that last question? (Edward Furlong, David Boreanaz, Wicked Prayer: I know; it was too easy.)
-How common was it for men to wear corsets back in the day? I know some did, but I want to know if it was considered as crossing-dressing-ish as it is nowadays, or whether it was the thing to do. (I’ve seen period movies in which they make it look like the thing to do. Yup, Ralph Fiennes in a corset). Because Angelus? Vain. And we already know Spike likes to rip garments off women and wear them.
Serenity
-Can someone please link me to somewhere where people are talking in depth about this movie? I just saw it and loved it to itty bits and pieces, and I want to go wallow in the goodness. What's sad is I've never seen Firefly.
no subject
I watch the shows in rerun as much as I can. When you get familiar enough with an actor's voice, and with the words given to that actor, you get to a point where you can *hear* the character saying the words as you write them. This takes practice; it's a trick I learned writing TV news, when I had to write for a bunch of different anchors.
Read over what you've written, but in your head, try to imagine Angel's voice saying the words (or Spike's, or whoever you're writing). How would he say this phrase? What tone of voice would he use? Would he phrase it differently, depending on who he's talking to? (Angel would use cruder language with Faith than he would with Buffy, for instance.) The more you do it, the easier it becomes. I talk about this a bit in the beta, which I hope to have finished over the next couple of days.
Reading transcripts can help, too, but sometimes the show writers give the characters words that don't sound like them. The other day I heard Gunn use the phrase "powers we can't conceive," and I thought, "That doesn't sound like Gunn. Not even lawyer-Gunn." But of course, JAR pulled it off beautifully, and *made* it sound like Gunn. In fanfic, we don't have the actors to help us out (god, I wish!), so we have to color a little more inside the lines if we want to keep it sounding authentic.
no subject
He likes Barry Manilow, so any artists of that ilk, I think, would qualify. Neil Diamond, Neil Sedaka, The Carpenters, The Captain and Tenille -- all those 70s pop icons who now fall under the heading of "Adult Easy Listening." Maybe some of the BeeGees earlier stuff, before they went disco. (My dad's a musician, so I grew up with ALL kinds of music in the house. For good or bad. :) Barry White for when he's feeling horny. Which, in my head, is most of the time. *g*
What would Angel read? Only Sartre and existentialist philosophy? Who would be his favorite author? Does anyone vote for Dostoevsky?
Having not read Dostoevsky, I can't comment. Tolstoy, maybe? I think Anna Karenina would be high on his favorite list of books.
Would he read the Bible after he’d been re-ensouled (kinda hard, what with the burning hands, I guess)? What about other religious texts?
Hmm. Not sure if he'd re-read the Bible; I think he knows it off by heart already. I always think of Angel as being Catholic in the same way that I am: he has it burned onto his retinas, but he thinks it's all complete bullshit. Except for the parts about guilt and forgiveness. I do think he would read Buddhist texts, though; he seems to have spent a fair amount of time in Asian monasteries. Plus a lot of those martial arts disciplines have quasi-religious texts that are considered part of the training.
Did you have any stereotypes/preconcieved ideas about what BtVS would be like before you started watching it?
My only experience with SMG prior to Buffy was on All My Children, and I HATED her. Her acting was dreadful. I just figured it would be a bad camp fantasy with a bad lead actress. I started watching the show by accident in season 5. I was flipping around, caught the scene where Spike was at the London soiree in "Fool for Love," and thought, "Oooh! Period piece!" Then Dru bit him, and I thought, "Oh, this must be Buffy. I'll just flip the channel. But... that guy is kind of hot." So I watched till the end. The dialogue was great, JM was fantastic, and SMG was a pleasant surprise. The rest, as they say, is fandom.
How common was it for men to wear corsets back in the day? I know some did, but I want to know if it was considered as crossing-dressing-ish as it is nowadays, or whether it was the thing to do. (I’ve seen period movies in which they make it look like the thing to do. Yup, Ralph Fiennes in a corset). Because Angelus? Vain. And we already know Spike likes to rip garments off women and wear them.
Hee! I thought corsets were mainly for portly gentlemen who wanted to hold their tummies in. I don't think Angelus had much to be concerned about in that department. It'd be weird seeing Ralph Fiennes in a corset, unless he gained weight for the role.
no subject
I haven't read Tolstoy, so there you go. If you ever do read Dostoevsky (he's one of my favorite authors) start with The Idiot (Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov are more famous, but the Idiot is best). I wonder about Victor Hugo, too (another favorite of mine, who's all about redemption and forgiveness).
I always think of Angel as being Catholic in the same way that I am: he has it burned onto his retinas, but he thinks it's all complete bullshit. Except for the parts about guilt and forgiveness.
Many Catholics I know are Catholic in the same way--right down to the guilt part. I think that Angel thinks that Catholicism is worthwhile, but not for him. And there are certain ideas he'll never get over--as you said, guilt and forgiveness, but also love, sacrifice, and something about Mary which I can't put my finger on right now.
My only experience with SMG prior to Buffy was on All My Children, and I HATED her. Her acting was dreadful.
She wasn't bad in Cruel Intentions, but there was something about her that REALLY grated on my nerves. I started watching the show because I loved Angel, but what really surprised me was how hard I fell for Buffy, too. And now I think SMG is fabulous.
It'd be weird seeing Ralph Fiennes in a corset, unless he gained weight for the role.
He had one in Onegin (a movie I highly recommend), and in it he was quite slim. Now that I think about it, fashions could have been different in Russia.
no subject
This is gonna sound funky, but since I'm a very visual person (and not very auditory at all) I try to picture Angel's mouth, face, and body as he says the words (and not just because I like picturing Angel's mouth, face and body). If I can't SEE the words coming out of him, I go back to the drawing board.
Reading transcripts can help, too, but sometimes the show writers give the characters words that don't sound like them. The other day I heard Gunn use the phrase "powers we can't conceive," and I thought, "That doesn't sound like Gunn. Not even lawyer-Gunn." But of course, JAR pulled it off beautifully, and *made* it sound like Gunn. In fanfic, we don't have the actors to help us out (god, I wish!), so we have to color a little more inside the lines if we want to keep it sounding authentic.
Well put. I've often thought the same thing, but never could have stated it so articulately.