Joseph Mallozzi's Blog, page 349

June 8, 2016: ONE drops by!

Well, look who dropped by the house today to say hello to Lulu.  If it isn’t Dark Matter’s ONE/Jace Corso, Marc Bendavid.  In addition to coming up to visit with Lulu, he’s also in town shooting a movie.  Today was a rare day off from set, so we got together for lunch at Fable Kitchen (he got a double order of the chickpea fritters, I got my burger medium-rare), then…

Back to the house for some unbelievable sake (ginger and orange peel) ice cream we picked up from Tangram Creamery on Arbutus.  HIGHLY recommended.

Today’s season 2 sneak peek screen shot of the day.  A familiar piece of jewelry from season 1.

Approximately three weeks to the Dark Matter season 2 premiere!

Today was unproductive.  I’d love to chalk it up to distractions but, truth is, I just wasn’t in a writing mood.  Discussed some visual effects shots, gave notes on the blooper reel, and sent off my rough outline for episode 301.  I think I’ll spend the rest of the evening reading short stories, perusing comixology, and watching the new season on Chef’s Table.

A few BTS tidbits for the Stargate-minded among you…

Column control unit – “The Other Guys” (designed by James Robbins).

Wraith ultrasound handset – “Kindred II” (designed by James Robbins).

And a little something from playback.  F-302: Target locked!

Tagged: #DarkMatter, Dark Matter, Stargate

June 7, 2016: Requesting military assistance! Dark Matter! Stargate!

Join me next week – Tuesday, June 14th at 10 pm EST/7 pm PST – as I guest on the GeekSoulBrother podcast.  Topics of discussions will include this, that, and much more!  Also, probably Dark Matter and Stargate.  So, swing on by!

Who is Geek Soul Brother and what’s his site all about?  Well, why don’t you check out here:

http://geeksoulbrother.com

And who is our affable host?  Well, I think it’s fairly self-evident, but Henry is a HUGE scifi fan.  Check out his list of 15 Sci Fi Shows That Shouldn’t Have Been Cancelled:

So, as I mentioned in yesterday’s blog entry, my new show pilot is military scifi – not unlike Stargate: SG-1.  Unlike Stargate: SG-1, however, I don’t have easy access to a military tech who I can ask questions, run stuff by, and generally vet my script.  Or do I?  Yes, that’s where you military vets come in.  Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines – make yourself known or remind me again and I’ll drop you an email.  Help me out.  I may ever name a character after you!

One aspect of the pilot I’m undecided about is who rules the space ways.  I could take a page out of Stargate’s playbook and put the Air Force in charge.  Or follow David Weber’s lead and give it to the Navy.  Then again, Space: Above and Beyond were on to something with those space Marines.  Or do we want to go Starship Troopers?  Or maybe create a future mix’n match version of all four? Let do this!

Hey!  Head on over to Syfy.com for some behind the scenes pics of Dark Matter season 2.

And while we’re on the topic of Dark Matter’s second season, here’s our Screen Shot of the Day:

Well, unlike yesterday’s instalment, today’s offering is a little more…discernible. Whaddya think?

Meanwhile, I continue to go through the Stargate archives and offer a few natsukashii tidbits from my time on the franchise.  Pictured above, onscreen playback elements for the Jaffa ship.

And a little onscreen playback elements from another familiar alien race.  Any guesses?

And, finally, a little Puddle Jumper playback…

Tagged: #DarkMatter, Dark Matter, Stargate

June 6, 2016: “Relaxing”! Dark Matter! Stargate!

If today was any indication of the relaxing times I can look forward to in the week ahead, I may well need a hiatus from my hiatus…

— Went over the rough cut footage from the gag reel.  Lots of funny bits.  Now it’s just a matter of selecting the best and choosing the order.

— Went over the visual effect shots for a bunch of episodes.  It’s all looking fantastic.  Kudos to VFX Supervisor Lawren Bancroft-Wilson and his various teams.  Eye-popping stuff.

— Reviewed budgets for the show’s first two seasons, and prospective third.

— Reviewed a couple of terrific special features.

— Completed the beat sheet for our season 3 premiere: a tease, a tag, and five action-packed, character-driven, twisty-turns acts!

—  Did a little work on my new pilot script and am a little over halfway done.  It’s pretty different from what I usually write, more in the realm of military SF, but still the character-driven, action-fueled story-telling with that underlying humor I love so much.  Coming soon to a screen near you?  I’m counting on late 2017!

Today’s intriguing screen shot comes from…some episode in Dark Matter’s second season.  But what IS going on here?  Guesses?

Modeling the Hyperion-8 detention facility – Dark Matter (Darkroom Digital Effects, CG Supervisor: Craig VanDenBiggilaar, Modeling Supervisor – Brendon Morfitt.

Fancy light-up corporate name plate c/o Roxanne Borris.

Incoming transmission!  Trivia time!  More often than not, whenever a character is watching, reacting, or conversing with an onscreen display, said display is often a “burn-in” meaning the actor is not playing to a live-feed but a blue screen.  The actual onscreen elements are “burned in” later in post-production.

And a little something for the Stargate fans, from the archives…

Architecture designs – “The Other Guys”.Wraith mask – James Robbins.

Wraith warrior chest plate – James Robbins.

Tagged: #DarkMatter, Dark Matter, Stargate

June 5, 2016: More Dark Matter and Stargate BTS pics!

Today’s screen shot of the day, posted above, is from some unspecified episode in Dark Matter’s second season.  Who’s the blond?  And who’s the guy?  Is that a drink in his hand?  Are they at some sort of party?

Questions, questions, questions.  Answers coming your way in less than a month!

We’ll be kicking the season off at the Hyperion-8 detention facility where the crew of The Raza will be making all sorts of new friends (?).  Pictured above, actors Alex Mallari Jr., Ronnie Rowe, and Mike Dopud are let out of their cells for lunch, exercise, and the shooting of one scene from the Dark Matter season premiere.

A selection of shivs and shanks for the discerning inmate.

First shot, first day, first episode – Dark Matter season 2.

Well, it’s great to be back in Vancouver, visiting some of our favorites places: Granville Island, Seafood City, The Vancouver Olive Oil Company, Beta5 Chocolates, White Dwarf Books, The Book Warehouse, Pete’s Meat, La Taqueria, The Vancouver Farmers’ Markets.  For starters.  I have a full week, seven glorious days of R&R before the Dark Matter writers’ room reconvenes to break season 3!

And, continuing my tour through the Stargate vault with more awesome James Robbins concept art. The Wraith Keeper.

And a view from within the submerged City of Atlantis – “Rising I”.

June 4, 2016: Looking back on Stargate! Looking ahead to Dark Matter!

Ah, there are no better motivations than anger or a deadline and, in the case of this new pilot, I can draw on both.  A little over halfway done and it’s coming along swimmingly.  Hoping to have it done soon so that I can get some feedback, do a rewrite, and then go out with it in the next couple of months.  As much as I enjoyed my time in Toronto, being back home these couple of days made me realize how truly awesome it would be to set up a show here.

So, in yesterday’s blog entry, I uploaded some pics from the Stargate archives. I’ve been going through a lot of these old files and am amazed by the brilliant work of James Robbins who, prior to taking over as Production Designer on Stargate: Atlantis, spent many years in the art department conceiving, creating, and designing some of the franchise’s most memorable visuals.  Like for instance…

The wraith pod from the Atlantis pilot.  Or…

The wraith mothership.  Or…

The headpieces for the wraith warriors.

Just incredible stuff.  You can check out more of James Robbins’ over at his website:

The Art of James Robbins

Speaking of art, on one of our last days in Toronto, Akemi and I had dinner with actress Ellen Wong (Dark Matter’s Misaki Han) and her husband Adam.  It was Ellen’s birthday and, to commemorate the  special day, we gifted her this awesome framed painting by a budding local artist:

Speaking of the new commander of the royal guard of Ishida, check her out…in uniform:

And, of course, you remember her ride…

So, today I resume one of my favorite spotlight features of this blog: The Screenshot of the Day!  Each screenshot will be selected at random and uploaded without context.  Assume what you will!

Tagged: #DarkMatter, Dark Matter, Stargate

June 3, 2016: Dark Matter goodies! Stargate eye candy! Signed scripts!

Less than a month to go before the Dark Matter season 2 premiere – yet only a little over a week to go before the writers’ room convenes to start spinning the show’s third season.  Optimistic much?  Well, yes, and you would be too if you saw what was in store for you in the show’s second season.   It’s pretty glorious and the screen shots don’t do it justice but Here’s a little something VFX Supervisor Lawren Bancroft-Wilson and his gang are presently working on…

 

And here’s a pic from one of my very favorite scenes of season 2…

Speaking of favorites – hey, did I mention we’d be seeing Mike Dopud in season 2? Here’s a shot of him having a little sit-down with The Raza’s resident rogue, played by the cast’s resident rogue, Anthony Lemke… 

In celebration of the new season, I (in conjunction with SyfyInternational) will be offering fans a chance to win scripts.

Not just scripts, but signed scripts (signed by the entire cast!).

NOT just signed scripts but annotated signed scripts chock full o’ notes from yours truly offering up insights and behind-the-scenes tidbits on the episode from script to finished product.

I’ve been all over reddit, imgur, tumblr, twitter, instagram, youtube, and facebook getting the word out about our season premiere – and also dropping some eye candy from another little franchise I worked on a while back…

No, not that one!

This one…

Wraith warrior design by James Robbins.

Far-future City of Atlantis design by James Robbins for “The Last Man”.

The sand-flooded corridors of Atlantis.

Bad Grandpa!  Who is this curmudgeony old coot?

Build your own ZPM!  Here’s how!

Who’s excited for more scifi?!

 

Tagged: #DarkMatter, Dark Matter, Stargate, Stargate: Atlantis

June 2, 2016: Bubba’s unruly travels! Dark Matter first looks pics! More casting announcements!

We are back in Vancouver – and failing fast.   On the surface, it seemed like a good idea at the time: wake up REALLY early and catch the first flight out so that the dogs would, presumably, sleep the entire five hours enroute.  And, yeah, we did wake up at 4 a.m.  And we did catch the 6:50 a.m. flight out.  And Lulu was as quiet as a mouse for the entirety of the trip.  But Bubba!  Cantankerous, anxiety-prone, almost-14 year old Bubba?  He whined and cried and poked his head out of the carrier and made certain I didn’t sleep a wink either.

But the important thing is we’re back home.  And look at what was awaiting us, a little gift from our house-sitter, Tomomi:

Yep, it’s a hand-painted depiction of the diabolical duo doing what they do best…impatiently awaiting treats.

So, hey, while I was in the air, things were happening on the ground.  First up, Entertainment Weekly offered fans exclusive photos of new Dark Matter cast additions: Franka Potenta, Melanie Liburd, and Shaun Sipos…and also announced the casting of Stargate veteran Mike Dopud (who has been in pretty much every live action show I’ve ever produced), and Scott Pilgrim’s Knives Chau, Ellen Wong.

“Dopud will play Arax, “the powerful head of a prison gang” whose “extensive connections and pull with criminal outfits throughout colonized space would be Arax’s biggest asset should the crew ever decide to trust him,” Syfy said. Wong will portray Misaki, described as a “close childhood friend of Four” who is the “deadly new Commander of the Ishida Royal Guard. Skilled in combat and diplomacy, nothing will stop Misaki from performing her duty to Zairon.”

Franka as Commander Shaddick…

Melanie Liburd as Nyx Harper…

Shaun Sipos as Devon Taltherd…

Mike Dopud, behind the scenes, as Arax Nero…

Ellen Wong, behind the scenes, as Misaki Han…

Meanwhile, over on Io9 gives the rundown of How Dark Matter and Killjoys are raising the stakes for season 2.

Hey, look!  It’s me demonstrating proper use of the escape pod!

With less than a month to go, we start rolling out some major behind the scenes goodies.  Stay tuned to this blog for oodles of Dark Matter fun stuff!

Tagged: #DarkMatter, Dark Matter, Ellen Wong, Melanie Liburd, Mike Dopud, Shaun Sipos

June 1, 2016: And that’s a wrap on Toronto!

Pictured above: My french bulldog, Lulu, let’s me know she’s ready to head back home.

And good thing to because, after weeks of prep, 90+ days of production, and seemingly interminable meetings, mixes, and migraines, we are Vancouver-bound.  I’ll be waking up tomorrow bright dark and early – 4 a.m.! – and head out with the dogs for a nice little walk, make sure they’re good and emptied out.  Our pick-up is at 5 a.m. for a 6:50 a.m. flight out, the first of the day!  Let me tell you, production can be incredibly challenging but nothing equals the stress of flying with your dogs.  Lulu usually quiet as a mouse but Bubba, my 13 (almost 14) year old pug can get a little cranky when he’s hungry.  Cranky and vocal, wailing like a child during the in-flight meal service.  BUT, it’s only five hours in the air (and roughly 30 minutes on either side) and then we’re back home and I can finally relax.

Juuuuust kidding.  There’ll be no relaxation for me.  I’ve got interviews lined up online and over on imgur.com, an upcoming reddit AMA, and my relentless online campaign to get the word out in advance of our July 1st season 2 premiere.  There’s that new pilot I’ve been working on (30 pages in!) and, oh yeah, starting June 13th, the Dark Matter writing department convenes to break stories for the show’s third season.  No, we haven’t been picked up…yet…but having seen the first five finished episodes, I’m feeling confident audiences are going to be blown away.  And that official pick-up will soon follow.

And, once we’re underway, I’m coordinating with the teams at Syfy digital and SyfyInternational on some fantastic fan giveaways.  Stay tuned!

A few Dark Matter-related links to prep you for our return:

Excellent Sci-fi on SyFy – Black Girl Nerds

Dark Matter Season 2 Promo, Premiere Date and More

Dark Matter Season 1 on DVD – Funimation

Dark Matter season 2 trailer:

Dark Matter season 2 deluxe edition:

See you in Vancouver!

Tagged: #DarkMatter, Dark Matter

May 31, 2016: The Dark Matter season 2 deluge!

And so it begins!  But beware!  Spoilers abound!

The Nerdist offers up 9 Things We Learned Trekking in Space with Killjoys and Dark Matter

The TVJunkies offers up their own insights from their set Dark Matter set visit: What We Learned About Season 2

Not be outdone, the gang at TVGoodness focuses on yours truly and the promises I apparently made – though, to be fair, I was super drunk during this interview and can’t be held responsible for what I said: Joseph Mallozzi Promises to Put the Dark in Dark Matter

Seat42F, meanwhile, has the Season 2 Scoop and Interviews with various cast members (Well, those who were shooting that day, anyway).

Meanwhile, cast members Roger Cross, Zoie Palmer, Melissa O’Neil, and Jodelle Ferland hit up MCM, London Comic Con where they partook in a few interviews…

You ready?!

Tagged: #DarkMatter, Dark Matter, Dark Matter Season 2

May 30, 2016: New-look Android! New cast members!

Interesting.  I came across this photo of our lovable Android over on Syfy.com. Among the other goodies, the site offers a breakdown of the season 2 cast and Raza crew including…

Melanie’s Liburd’s Nyx Harper and…

Shaun Sipos’ young medic, Devon.

In addition, there’s are new pics of some familiar faces accompanied by character descriptions and a little background on each cast member.  Check it out!

http://www.syfy.com/darkmatter/cast/2

In addition, there’s a season 1 refresher – but only for those who have already seen it.

http://www.syfy.com/darkmatter/photos/season-one-101

For everyone else, there’s still time to binge Dark Matter’s first season on Netflix or over on Syfy.com!

Finally, while on the Syfy site, you can also peruse this rundown of The Raza crew – and what we know about them…

http://www.syfy.com/darkmatter/photos/character-gallery

Meanwhile, @AdamSquareOne offers his own Dark Matter fan primer:

Hang in there!  Approximately one month to our Dark Matter season 2 premiere!

Tagged: #DarkMatter, Dark Matter, Dark Matter Season 2