Alan McCullough

[kristen999]

Alan McCullough had an interesting q&a on Joe M's blog. Some cool questions. I of course went slightly fangirly on him, but he answered my questions:


(skipping my compliments)

So, yes, questions

In “Tabula Rasa” was it in the script the way it was shot with a filter to give everything that fuzzy feeling or was that the director’s choice? Did you write Ronon’s line about it ‘never getting old’ in regards to stunning Sheppard or did Jason ad lib that? Also Ronon’s speech to John to get him to lower his gun was awesome, you nailed their relationship right there.

In “Outcast” there was no mention about Sheppard’s mom in regards to if she is alive or dead. Was this your choice or because it pertained to Sheppard’s back story…it wasn’t allowed in? I loved the fact that Ronon went with Sheppard to Earth.. again was this your choice or was it a scheduling thing?The scene where he joins John at the gate was a wonderful moment.

Lastly, is there any particular character you really love to write for or whom you feel you ‘get’ the most?”


Hey Kristen, thanks so much for the compliments. As to your questions, the filter effect in “Tabula Rasa” was the brainchild of Martin Wood and Jim Menard, the director and DOP, respectively. I had envisioned some kind of visual distinction between the timelines, but what they came up with was way cooler than anything I conceived of. Can’t take credit for Ronon’s line either — “Never gets old” was all Jason.

In “Outcast”, there was a fleeting reference to Sheppard’s mom in my draft of the script — something along the lines of “…after mom died” — but I’m pretty sure it got cut before the script went to camera. In my mind, however, Sheppard’s mother died of an illness, which drove a further wedge in an already fractured relationship between him and his father. Perhaps we’ll find out more about this down the road?

Ronon accompanying Sheppard back to Earth was largely driven by scheduling (“Outcast” was shot opposite “Trio” so David H. was out, and Rachel was having her baby) but I’m really glad it worked out the way it did. I absolutely loved the interactions between them in this episode, some scripted, some not, e.g. Ronon appearing behind Sheppard as he stood by the coffin, but knowing better than to interrupt.



Here's the link to his session:
http://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/

Also of interest:


Squeakiep writes: “How is it that Sheppard has learned to manage all stations on the big D? Seems he handled weaps, flight, and miscellaneous engineering.”


Sheppard is a highly skilled pilot who has spent much time on the Daedalus. He’s been given basic training in most of the ship’s systems.

Comments

[greyias.livejournal.com]

Aha! So that was you! (I probably would have gone fangirly on him too... awesome episodes + look at his picture)

You have no idea how loud I squee'd when he gave that answer about Sheppard's mom. Personal fanon backstory, (almost) validated! :D

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

I know..not quite canon but semi and it works for so many of us!! I used to post on his blog a lot, but lost time when the writing got crazy.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

Cool! Details like that are always so interesting.

"Sheppard is a highly skilled pilot who has spent much time on the Daedalus. He’s been given basic training in most of the ship’s systems."

Heh, I can so totally see him, during that first trip on the Daedalus from and to Pegasus, hanging around the bridge the majority of the time, learning the ins and outs, getting pointers, etc. He's always struck me as a guy so in love with flying he'd take every opportunity to learn to fly andything he could ;)

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

I loved getting that type of glimpse, adds something to John's backstory as far as his skills and its fairly beliveable and nice to know could be usesd for say...future writing :D

[inthekeyofd.livejournal.com]

You asked some great questions!

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

Thanks, got some details I've been wa nting to know!

[wildcat88.livejournal.com]

some scripted, some not, e.g. Ronon appearing behind Sheppard as he stood by the coffin, but knowing better than to interrupt.

My love of Ronon and Jason Momoa knows no bounds. That's one of my favorite scenes ever. And John's mom dying of some illness is also my personal fanon. Of course Sheppard would learn to fly the big ship. Size matters and all that. :)

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

That is one of many awesome scenes in the eppy--the ones without words are sometimes the most powerful. And John's mom dying of an illness is a personal fandom of mine as well :D

[katikat.livejournal.com]

Did you listen to the audio commentary to Outcast? Alan McCullough and Andy Mikita are awesome there. One of the best commentary ever. I loved how they talked about Joe F.'s part in writing Shep's background and about the bottle of scotch Joe F. had to buy Andy because Andy managed to get him on the 5pm flight home on Friday after all :D

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

Ohhhh I look forward to hearing about that! I've been so broke..I have all teh boxsets except four..I have the eppys another way but I'll get tehe boxset soon, I hope in a week or two!

[alleonh.livejournal.com]

e.g. Ronon appearing behind Sheppard as he stood by the coffin, but knowing better than to interrupt.

wow, and that's one of my favorite parts! It always seems like the best scenes are unscripted. X3

You asked some great questions!

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

Love it when the actors know thier character so well....the chemistry between Joe and Jason are awesome.

[ann-tara.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your insightful questions and forcing these guys to talk about Sheppard for a change. Unfortunately, these answers appear to be the most we're going to hear about Sheppard the rest of this season and the only real bright spot for Shep fans.

In every interview I read on Gateworld the producer/writer wants to talk McKay and Keller or both together; and every single freaking episode description are stories for McKay and Keller. We're up to #18 and there isn't one single Sheppard story in the works. We know #20 is the season finale, so no Sheppard story there. Am I really to assume, hope, pray, delude myself that #19 might give us our lone Sheppard episode to wash away the foul taste of 6, 7, or 8 McKay, Keller, or McKay/Keller episodes? These people are unbelievable. Why, WHY do they hate Flanigan so much? :(

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

I read vague spoilers so its been known for a while that #19 (Vegas)Is the Sheppy eppy. "Hexed' was in the works since season 4 since AM discusses it during the "Outcat" commentary about Dave coming back and the fact that they were going to need to flatten Joe's hair for it! The only thing we knew of the eppy was "Sheppard's very bad day" and it got shelved due to creative reasons.

Now why they didn't replace it with another Sheppard eppy is beyond me..apparently according to JM's blog they kept pushing it back in hopes of nailing it down but he never came said why it was never penned...it sounded like they really wanted to do it..but it got caught up in a 'creative snafu'..whatever that means.

I now "Remnants" is supposed to give us a lot of insight into John..but we'll see.

There's been an ongoing 'discussion' on JM's blog concerning the lack of Sheppard spoilers vs the sheer amount of McKay and Keller ones.

Hell I'm kind of ticked that Keller is taking a lot of screentime/plotlines away form Teyla and Ronon.

I'm sure it'll all even out..I'm trying to be positive. I've always noticed that Joe Flan is never the subject of any of the writer's interviews and I don't know why. He's the only lead on a show that's not treated like one. However I know he's pretty low key and isn't big on being in the spotlight so maybe that's part of it.(Plus he fights for his character a LOT and I'm sure is considered the 'problem guy") lol


Season 4 was a great year for Sheppard the 'moment's really outshining most things. I'll hope thats what we'll get this year and pray we're only getting a tiny part of the picture since spoilers are based on sides and not the whole thing.

I've enjoyed season 5 thus far....and I'm gonna keep the faith :D

[ann-tara.livejournal.com]

I'm sure it'll all even out..I'm trying to be positive.

Yeah, I figured if I came here to vent, you'd pick me up a little. ;) Though there's no way for the imbalance to ever even out because it never does. They always devote a lot more attention to McKay than Sheppard and write more McKay eps than the maybe-one a season they give Sheppard, because all the writers admit that McKay is their favorite. And I'm thinking, sure, writing for McKay is easy because it's rote at this point.

They really don't treat Flanigan like they did RDA or even Browder for the little time he was there. And yet, for some reason Flanigan keeps showing up for work. I give him credit because he's getting screwed. I just hope the first-in-credits and American-lead paycheck is worth it, which is what I'm sure he's looking at. Ultimately he still gets paid the same if he does one scene or twenty. ;)

(Plus he fights for his character a LOT and I'm sure is considered the 'problem guy") lol

I'm glad he does because I know if he didn't, no one else would, obviously. Yeah, I know Flanigan doesn't go around trying to be the producers' BFF. Good for him! ;D

Hell I'm kind of ticked that Keller is taking a lot of screentime/plotlines away form Teyla and Ronon.

Keller is Rodney's girlfriend, and anyone having anything to do with Rodney gets preference over the other characters. Sucks.

Ah well, I'll keep reading your reviews to find the good John stuff. :D

[reen212000.livejournal.com]

I love that guy, mostly because he's a total whumper! On the Season 4 commentary and the Mission Directive for Outcast, methinks dearest Alan has a professional crush on The Flan. Tabula Rasa and Miller's Crossing have the best commentaries, in my opinion. Haven't watched all, but I'm definitely disappointed there's no commentary for Midway.

I'm totally glad Alan McCullough is on board as a writer. He's given some nice dimension to the show. It's very cool he answered your questions!

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

I can't wait to get my dvds just for that! It'd be nice that one of the staffers likes working with Joe--you can tell in the way he writes Sheppard even in eppys that are not focused on him.

It was cool he answered them! Unlike Martin G who answered mine in a snippy way, not that I expected much m ore from him.