Joe Mallozzi is Sunomono Jones
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Great post by Joe Mallozzi on this weblog yesterday afternoon, recounting his recent visit to Anime Evolution in Vancouver this year. I've had the pleasure to speak with Mallozzi via email once when I was trying to find a production script or show bible for Stargate, probably last year or so. He was extremely prompt and very nice, and while there were no shooting scripts to be had (for some reason they choose not to let them out) and no bible, he did verify some things about act breaks and page counts that would have helped with the spec I was writing, had I not shelved it in favor of a feature spec for an upcoming contest.
Mallozzi has a good sense of humor and I loved the way he played out this scene at an autograph session.
We fell into conversation once again and, fifteen minutes later, another costumed group came in and talked with Lisa. They moved on to my table and predictably, wondered: "What voice work have you done?" I stared blankly back at them and then, after a few seconds, tried: "I was Orville the recalcitrant emu in Butter Ball Apocalypse. Did you see that one?" They shook their heads. "Sugoki from Squidbaiters One and Two? Carmelito 3000 from Mecha-Nibs? Sunomono Jones from Junior Revenge Seekers?" That last one seemed to spark some recognition in the guy dressed up as the hedgehog soldier who gave a slight nod and an: "I think I've seen it at the store." I signed autographs for all four.
And it was downhill from there.
That's just too funny. I mean, not ROFL funny or even LOL funny, but funny in the way it is to people that can't do even simple improve like that. I might have the urge and the wit, but to just reel off a bunch of completely made-up names like that without cracking your poker face? Priceless talent.
Read the full post for his rundown on the convention happenings, and also a little Q&A with some fans. I'll point out this one for a good reason, which I'll explain here in a second.
Shawna: "Are we ever going to see that guy from Sunday again? You know, the guy that Beckett died to save."
Answer: He died off-screen in the following episode after crashing the puddle jumper he took out for an irresponsible joyride.
I realize this is in gest, but it popped out at me because I struggled with an on-screen situation just like this while doing a spec. The how and why aren't important, but there was a scene where a good half dozen jumpers were in mid-air combat with 20-30 Wraith Dart's, giving some escape cover to the team down on an off-world planet. One jumper is hit, and crashes directly into the Stargate, cutting off any means of escape. In retrospect, I probably should have crashed it into the DHD, since we all know how damn near indestructible Stargates can be when the writers want them to be.
I had three people in that jumper and all three died on impact, since the impact would have been severe enough to destroy the gate, it had to have nuked the jumper and its occupants. When I got into the following act after where this had happened, it occurred to me that while people do die in Stargate, they this was probably pushing it a little further than these guys tend to go. Killing three people in bulk for what amounted to a cheap plot device just isn't something you see that often, it was insensitive, very...well something like you'd expect in Battlestar, not Stargate.
The producers could get away with it because they define the box, the rest of us just try to live in it.
I scrapped it and moved on, figuring the most important thing was to show that I can write within the boundaries for that show. That's what specs are for, not to tell a better-than production-quality story, but to show that you can write production-quality stories -- for that show.
So while Joe made a joke about it, I actually struggled with a scene like that and in the end, decided it went a little too far outside the box.
Anyway, go read the post for the Q&A. It's good schtuff.
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