BOOMTOWN - The Q&A

[Ceb18]

*Awkwardly walks up to stage, stumbling up the stairs*

MOTHER FUC-

*Composes himself, straightening his tie*

So uh --

*Taps microphone*

Boomtown's delayed until tomorrow or monday because I'm sick and can't be asked to edit with this massive migraine.

*Boos fill the stage*

HEY, HEY. Calm down. This won't be one of those "Paranoia" fiascos, this shit is written. It just needs some editing. It's all for you people. You don't want a shite script, do you?

*Silence*

Exactly.

I'll reveal the theme song and answer any questions you beautiful people have.

SO yeah, the theme is going to be "Tranquilize" by The Killers, because those guys are awesome and stuff.

*The video appears on everyone's magical PDA doohickeys that I'm  Deus-Ex-Machina'ing in*



I believe the floor is now open to questions.

[Dean Winchester]

Uh, yeah - please take my money and my knickers.

[Johno]

1.) I know there was some trouble in paradise regarding the original Pilot. How much of what you had written/planned for it is still in tact with the resurrected version of "Boomtown"?

2.) What is your main inspiration in writing "Boomtown"?

3.) There is such a variation in the genre's and tones of your work - "In Stereo" and "Oddity" are very colorful, "Boomtown" seems to be taking a more serious approach - is it hard to sort of not inject this quirky tongue-in-cheek, meta hilarity that you have going on in those shows into "Boomtown"?

4.) Relating to the above question: How do you switch between these shows so effortlessly, and do you find it difficult?

[Jester]

1. I take it you're a fan of the Western genre. What attracts you to the genre? What films have inspired Boomtown? What sub genre of westerns are your favourite?

2. Will Boomtown feature strongly stylised dialogue or are you approaching it in the same sort of self aware style you did with Oddity?

3. What fresh new ideas can we expect you to bring to the genre?


All I got for now

[Ceb18]

Sept 23, 2012 13:22:40 GMT -5 Johno said:

1.) I know there was some trouble in paradise regarding the original Pilot.  How much of what you had written/planned for it is still in tact with the resurrected version of "Boomtown"?

2.) What is your main inspiration in writing "Boomtown"?

3.) There is such a variation in the genre's and tones of your work - "In Stereo" and "Oddity" are very colorful, "Boomtown" seems to be taking a more serious approach - is it hard to sort of not inject this quirky tongue-in-cheek, meta hilarity that you have going on in those shows into "Boomtown"? 

4.) Relating to the above question: How do you switch between these shows so effortlessly, and do you find it difficult?

1.) Pretty much all of it is still in place to some extent or another, but I've changed a few bits around character and timing-wise. For example, in the original pilot I had a few scenes with every character, while in the new pilot it really only focuses on four or five of the main cast.

2.) I love westerns and wanted to write one, pretty much it's also part detective story, which I always enjoy.

3.) It's definitely odd, but I think you'll find that a lot of the dialogue retains some of the witty banter that I've tried to champion in Oddity and In Stereo, but obviously with a slightly more serious tone.

4.) It's kind of a "Oh, I'm sick of writing comedy so I'll hop on over to Boomtown," type of deal. Having a few different types of shows kind of helps me deal with writer's block.

[Ceb18]

Sept 23, 2012 14:38:44 GMT -5 Jester said:

1. I take it you're a fan of the Western genre. What attracts you to the genre? What films have inspired Boomtown? What sub genre of westerns are your favourite?

2. Will Boomtown feature strongly stylised dialogue or are you approaching it in the same sort of self aware style you did with Oddity?

3. What fresh new ideas can we expect you to bring to the genre?


All I got for now

1.) I really love the almost mythical quality that the cowboy holds within American tradition. They hold the same status in entertainment over here that Samurai do over in Japan in a lot of ways.

Speaking of Samurai, Seven Samurai has actually been a weird inspiration in a lot of ways, but as far as actual westerns, I've been really inspired in a lot of ways by Spaghetti and Pulp-Westerns. While the show's dark, it'll still have a lot of larger-than-life characters that you'll find in those genres.

2.) To be honest, the dialogue isn't really heavily western in it's diction, because the time period the show takes place in is closer to the end of the West, when a lot of these bandits and thieves are being weeded out, so the characters are really the first generation of these Western settlers that speak and act in a less "Southern" way. Because of this, it almost has a sense of self-awareness because the characters are looking back at all of these western legends after-the-fact. (Hope that made sense, that was a ridiculously hard paragraph to write for some reason.)

3.) I'll be honest, I'm really not trying to reinvent the wheel or the genre or whatever you want to call it. Obviously I'll try and throw in some stylistic touches in there and nods to other western tropes, but it's easily the most realistic, grounded story I've written yet.

[Dale]

This isn't a question, but the answer to the snd question in the above post has gotten me really excited for the show. specifically "Because of this, it almost has a sense of self-awareness because the characters are looking back at all of these western legends after-the-fact." That's such an intriguing approach to a western and the time period.