Over the weekend, Paul Dini attended the Wizard World Convention in Dallas and spoke about all of his projects.
** Warning - The following contains minor spoilers about the television show, 'Lost' **
"Two clips were shown from this Wednesday's episode. One featured a funny exchange between Hurley and Charlie. Charlie believes that the large man is hording food. He bases this hypothesis on the sheer fact that he hasn't lost any weight in their time on the island. The banter goes back and forth for some time until it is mentioned that Hurley has gone down one belt notch. The second clip was very intense. It showed Sayid torturing Sawyer. This is a long scene that will definitely get that "viewer discretion is advised" box to pop up at least once or twice during the hour. The torture involves fingernails and sharp objects if anyone was curious.
After the clip it was asked if Standards and Practices had issues with the show since it was an 8PM EST slotted show. Paul said that they rarely worry about that kind of thing although they did wonder if they would be able to go ahead with the drug storyline for Charlie. ABC is fully behind the show and it rarely sends in notes to the writing team. The decision to air the show in "Pan and Scan" was the network's decision and the DVDs feature widescreen transfers of the show.
One of the original marketing plans was to release the DVD of the two hour pilot some three weeks after it aired. ABC moved on to the concept of just re-airing the show, like NBC and CBS do now, on Saturdays for those viewers who need to catch up. DVD sets are planned with deleted scenes but Disney and Bad Robot have not decided on any release dates yet. Some time last year ABC decided that they, like the other networks, needed to have a series shot in Hawaii. LOST was ABC's attempt to have a scripted or dramatic version of Survivor. Although ABC preferred to think of it as a "deserted island" show.
Paul said that each writer drew names from a hat. Three names were chosen by each writer. That writer then went off to write the character's history and back story. Paul's character's are John Locke, Sawyer and Sun [Daniel Day Kim's wife]. Paul said that Locke was based off of the real life philosopher John Locke. He also said that Locke was a strategist. He likes the thrill of the hunt and comes to see things like the game he played in episode 104 "Walkabout".
When asked if it was a coincidence that Locke seemed to be around at a character's key moment Paul stated that Locke just seems to be an opportunist. He apparently is not good or evil, however, he may play a given situation either way to gain an advantage. It was also said that the monster is sort of a reflection of yourself. The pilot saw it in horror and he was killed because he feared the monster. Locke saw the monster with true awe, therefore, he was able to survive his encounter.
The monster it's self may not be revealed totally at any point in the series. It may be, as Paul described it, "a Loch Ness Monster kind of thing". Bits and pieces of the beast will be shown throughout the series but a full reveal could prove to be anti-climatic. Still the monster will be explained at some point in future seasons.
Kate is said to have a checkered past in her character's bio. She is also wanted for multiple things other than the bits shown early on in the season. A future ep will really bring her past to the forefront this season. Jack was originally planned to be killed off in the two hour pilot. The plan was to have someone famous play him and then kill him off before the middle of the second hour. The team talked about getting Michael "Batman" Keaton, however, Paul wasn't sure if they ever made it to the point of approaching him.
Paul said that some of the other survivors will have their turn in the spotlight. Scott and Steve were introduced last week and they have some lines in upcoming shows. A new character will step up soon to help Claire with her pregnancy. Rosa's story about her missing husband will be touched upon before the end of the season.
The team tried to cast as many natives to Hawaii as they could. Production costs could get quickly out of hand if they chose a famous actor to be a side character that would eventually work their way to the main cast. They loved the idea of maybe doing this but it would cost them a lot of money to fly out an actor for a few scenes. So casting found many extras in the area who could work their way up to speaking lines if the writing team needed a new "red shirt of the week". And they really do call them red shirts. Apparently at least one main character and several minor ones will be killed off before the end of the season.
Paul also acknowledged the Buffy fans that came over to the show when David Fury came on board. Julie Bens "Darla" had spoken in the same room moments earlier and many of those fans stayed to hear Dini. Someone asked how involved JJ was with the show. Paul answered by saying that he splits his time between Lost, Alias and the new Bounty Hunter mid season replacement show for ABC. Paul knows that it will get crazier the closer they get to pre production on Mission Impossible 3.
A question was asked about the time period that seems to be mentioned on the show each week. Paul said that they want the viewer to be very aware of the amount of time spent on the island. The entire first season will take one month of pseudo island time. A new CGI company is now on board to assist with effects needed. In a lot of cases the animals used in the show are CGI due to Hawaii's restrictions on the importing of animals. CGI was used for the wild bores and the polar bear.
Paul also told story about how the extras like to feed the bores when on break. This causes them to feel sleepy later on in the shoot. The scene where Locke uses Charlie as bait was one of the scenes where the bore fell fast asleep once in the hammock like net. Mira "Babylon 5" Furlan will guest star in a very important role before the season is out. P
aul said that the plan is to keep the show's current format of story punctuated with flashbacks. There was talk of maybe doing an episode where the survivor's families were shown but it was dropped for the same reason why a story about another person washing up on the beach was dropped. The team feels that the show's strength is based upon it's focus with those already on the island. Anything else may effect the "Gilligan" factor. The team is well aware that the show will have to move beyond this focus at some point, however, that could be done in say season 3 or 4. And yes they have a loose season plan for going that far with the show.
Paul said that the final script is almost done for Jingle Bell. He expects the movie to come together by either the fall of 05 or 06 depending on the studio's time table. He hasn't worked on Justice League Unlimited in some time. He isn't sure where Bruce Timm is with season four of the show as he hasn't really spoken with anyone at WB Animation since April.
He said that there were plans for a big original Batman animated movie with Justice League cameos but that has been scrapped, and a Justice League straight to video movie was also dropped. Basically any new projects talked about with the original DC animated universe are either scrapped or on hold until further notice. One woman asked Paul if he had seen his cameo in Arkum Asylum in a recent ep of "The Batman". Paul said that he knew of the cameo but he hasn't watched any episodes of the new Kids WB series at all.
Paul said that he has completed his work on the new "Krypto" series for Cartoon Network's early morning pre school block. He felt that the series was some of his best work and he was happy to hear that it had tested well with the network. He wasn't sure when season three of Duck Dodgers would go into full production. Paul said that Cartoon Network was more corporate now with their successes with Adult Swim. Shows that can be cheaply produced, like Aqua Teen Hunger Force, seem to be new trend at the network.
Source:
Dark Horizons & 'Ranger1138'
