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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 1982)
Se/W UlljS pdiU|J +I1L) DL)4Uvyi^u _.| T -je snojaiunu paqDunei peij sjoijjbm jhn am (( S|IOdS 0L)i 06 JOPjA aqj oj,, p ;u0|BA!nba |eq.uj ueunN e — spueqsnij NaABisinmia SPAA S0PJS pajlUfl 3Lj} '6Z6L P 04+ a H 4n a (II nvs) beau u0 !i -eiioin siujv 01601045 puo30s auj — 6Z61 "aunf 0^+ , . . — szijejufLU oj uuejScud 5001040004 X/jP0;4do4S0}00 f'/ 060^ 0/04 panuiiuoD dieds p uoisbaui) S«:b —obti TT'V (Continued from page TO) technological and moral maturity (The Day the Earth Stood Still)'? Let me give you a clue: If it's not in the script, it's not on the screen. The most successful science fiction shows on television have had writers conversant with both science fiction and screenwriting. Star Trek boasted the work of Norman Spinrad, Harlan El lison, David Gerrold and Ted Sturgeon. Twilight Zone had episodes by George Clayton Johnson and Richard Mathe- son, among others. But what does it take to keep the kind of control and integrity necessary to win out against the networks? Rod Serling, creator of Twilight Zone, fought a constant battle for artistic freedom. He never had much of a budget to work with, but on hundreds of syndicated stations around the world you can see what he did get: intelli gent, speculative human drama, played amid simple sets. The emphasis was on feeling and thought rather than spec tacular makeup or effects. The scripts on Twilight Zone dealt with all of Wil liam Faulkner's "old universal truths lacking which any story is ephemeral and doomed— love and honor and pride and compassion and sacrifice." — human interaction. A staggering number of Hollywood's luminaries passed through the shadowy regions of the Twilight Zone: Jack Klugman, Robert Redford, Ivan Dixon, Carol Bur nett, Mickey Rooney, and too many more to name. And Serling would never have attracted them without the scripts. Without story, you are left with nothing but spectacle. Which leads us to the next area: 3) The correct Scope. The presenta tion must be filmable within the budgetary restraints of a television production. Many moons ago, filmmakers could swing spaceships on a string, with a sparkler whizzing in the tail, and the kids would go golly-gee. No more. This is the age of motion-control cameras, computer-generated traveling mattes, and slit-scan projection. We are the post-Sfar Wars generation, and we know what good effects look like. You simply cannot do an effects-oriented show on a week-to-week basis without falling into the Battlestar Galactica syn drome. Their first episode cost in the neighborhood of $17 million. Sub sequent episodes cost around a million each. The show was totally effects- oriented, with no leeway in the concept enormous ratings necessary to pay for the shows, they had nowhere to go — they'd given themselves no room to "get smaller." But Universal refused to realize when they had an unsalvagable project, full of absurd pseudoscience ("The Cylons are 100 microns away. Captain!") and without a single character thick enough to cast a shadow. So they continued to pump money into it, even after the series flopped altogether. A few more jolts of managerial electricity and this Frankenstein patchwork of dead ideas twitched to life once more as "Galac tica 1980." This time they shucked most of the effects and settled for alot of Wonder Woman-style stunt work in stead. Fortunately, this monster quickly went down under the torches and pitchforks of the enraged Neilson Families, proving that there are Some Doors Man Was Never Meant to Open. 4) Taste and Discretion. The literature of the Fantastic, by its very nature, viol ates taboos, stretches boundaries — and makes static thinkers very uncom fortable. With proper care the Censor ship restrictions can be overcome, but talent alone will not always suffice. For instance, virtually all horror pro gramming must be reduced to milkwa- I.., , I Lot 1 I 11 \\ <.J ^ the CBS-TV movie of the same name was a pitiful sight. Not even Tobe Hooper, the director whose Texas Chainsaw Massacre sold more Sominex than any other film of 1974, could save this from the ravages of censorship. The reason? There is a truism in hor ror and suspense work: you must con vince your audience that you mean business. At some point you have to sell some steak with the sizzle, and television won't let you do it. It was painful to watch scene after scene of vampires chomping down on their vic tims, without once seeing those teeth bite home. I'm no sadist — when it comes to blood I believe that "a little dab'll do ya," but after a while you notice that nothing is really going to happen. The music will blare and people will scream, and you can practi cally hear the director whining, "Well, gee — aren't we just too scary for words?" There are rare exceptions to this rule. Richard Matheson's Duel and Trilogy of Terror ( with Karen Black being chased by that godawful doll), Outer Limits' "The Zanti Misfits," Night Gallery's "The Earwig" or "The Dead Man." These shows are triumphs of craftsmanship on every level, but the excellence began with the writing. dU6L U31NIM QNOA3B : *0— wKM ex.c.vjiri\or\^ \r\Xo xX\e \ ^c.\er\c.e fiction is often violent, especially to- wards prejudices. It deals with strange sex, drugs, exotic possibilities for mod ifying human behavior. These issues simply cannot be handled crudely—the public, and their appointed guardians, will not permit it. So artists with discretion must arise. Art is self-expression. Successful art is communication. If you have something which cries to be said, it should be heard by the greatest number. Many science fiction writers long to tell their tales through the greatest entertain ment medium the world has ever known. Many television producers wish that they could produce speculative shows of value, and wonder why they fail. These two groups must come to gether. Science fiction is a literature of imag ination, a game for people willing to examine new possibilities, to turn their heads inside out and shake out the lint. It has produced as much offal as any other literary genre, but at its best it has new insight and hope to offer, and is the only branch of fiction which cares about the future of Mankind, and wonders what we will be the day after tomorrow. And that makes it something worth working for. ©1981 Pioneer Electronics of America, 1925 E. Dominguez St., Long Beach, CA 90810. To find your nearest dealer, toll-free, call: (800)447-4700. In Illinois: (800)322-4400. tape is reproduced, instead of regurgitated. Because we like to keep those people who are into. musid’ffifii'iiBid 1J J;n saBmgsrcufBdi CD PIONEER We. mever mi ^ laraprfonrranm xlJ'