View original postGood stuff:
I suppose that depends on your definition of "good". To my mind, "good" would be ending this farce before it goes any farther.
View original postAs the coronavirus pandemic shuts down TV productions across the globe, the cast and crew of Amazon’s The Wheel of Time have been flown out of Prague, where they had been hard at work filming season 1 of the forthcoming Robert Jordan adaptation.
It's the little silver linings we have to find at a time like this, like the fact that some horrible Iranian government officials who like to shoot their own people for fun have coronavirus, or that Amazon had to shut down production on Wheel of Time.
View original postBut this doesn’t mean production has halted completely. Instead, it looks like various departments (including the now-virtual Writer’s Room and VFX) are trying to do as much as they can while in self-isolation. Over the weekend, showrunner Rafe Judkins did a Q&A over his Instagram Stories, where he answered fan-submitted questions, gave an update on production, and dangled a few juicy morsels about the show. Here’s everything we learned!
We can hope this shuts down too.
View original postProduction
View original postJudkins says post-production and filming is done simultaneously. Pre-COVID-19, he was “prepping 2 episodes, shooting 2 episodes, in post on 4 episodes and writing Season 2 simultaneously.” Currently, he’s still working on VFX and the season 2 writers’ room remotely.
View original postAs a consulting producer, Wheel of Time editor Harriet McDougal (who is also the wife of Robert Jordan) has been on-set in Prague, reads all the scripts, and sends Judkins notes. The showrunner says “She and Maria [Simons, Team Jordan’s editorial assistant] are hugely helpful for maintaining the truth of the series and always keep me honest when it comes to things that change too much.”
You mean by misleading fans, milking the series for every last cent they can squeeze from it and ruining what Jordan hadn't ruined by dragging out the series?
View original postAuthor Brandon Sanderson “reads all the scripts and gives notes,” and gave some pre-filming advice when he was in Prague.
Are they as stunningly rich and complex as his dialogue?
View original postIn terms of the CGI-to-practical ratio, they’re trying to do “as much in-camera as [they] possibly can.”
Would have been better as a cartoon. Like South Park. With two people doing all the voices.
View original postThe hardest thing about production is the “physicality,” since the characters visit over 20 villages and cities in the books. “To try to do that is physically impossible for the show,” wrote Judkins, “so most of the work we do in the room is geographical, figuring out how to condense the story and move it through places we can physically create.” Judkins later specified that this applied somewhat to the sequence where Rand and Mat are inn-hopping on the Caemlyn Road.
Physically impossible or impossible on the budget Amazon gave them? Also, that work isn't geographical, it's storyboarding.
View original postThe cast-members are reportedly nailing the Old Tongue.
Considering it's a pile of horseshit that shouldn't be hard.
View original postWhen asked if he’s had to make any “painful” cuts to scenes or characters, Judkins simply said “Yes.”
They should consider cutting Rand, Mat and Perrin. The strong female characters need more room to shine.
View original postThey have a “for real sword master” on the show who “walks into every room and tests out everything as a weapon.”
Does he have nunchucks? Cause the way they just talked about him, I bet he has nunchucks and a black belt, and can like do a somersault with an Uzi that he's shooting. He's like Rocky V - go for it!
View original postThe horse actors are apparently great and “downright sexy,” especially Mandarb and Aldieb. However, they’ve already “had to have two Belas. It turns out a horse for riding on film is not the same as a horse for pulling a cart and SHE MUST DO BOTH.”
Horses can't act. I suppose unless they decided to have people in horse outfits to save money on real horses. It's amusing that whoever wrote this is stupid enough to use the phrase "horse actors". Oh wait, I'm sorry. Special. He's special enough to use that phrase.
View original postFans may want to keep an eye out for more casting announcements, but a trailer is still a long ways off.
Thank God for that.
View original postWhat We’ll See On-Screen
Speak for yourself.
View original postMin, Elayne, and Aviendha will NOT be merged into one character. “I’m not going to combine huge characters like that,” Judkins added. “Maybe sometimes a minor character folded into a major one to make better use of our cast but nothing nutso.” As for whether Min and Elayne will show up in season 1, Judkins replied “TWWaTWW,” which is short for “The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills” and appears to be Judkin’s version of Robert Jordan’s famous non-answer “RAFO” (Read And Find Out).
A three-headed, three-cunted woman might have been interesting, though. They should consider the merge. "TWAT", which is short for "These Women Are Terrible", is Judkin's shorter version of TWWaTWW.
View original postIn another post, however, Judkins confirmed that Min is in season 1.
That's reassuring. Knowing that they will get past page 24 of the first book in the first season means that perhaps there will be some exposition.
View original postAny original characters created for the show are “inspired by characters in the books or a number of characters combined.”
I hear the Forsaken are going to be replaced by nine "wraiths" held alive by magical rings.
View original postJudkins says he’s “been giving a bunch of VFX folks long diatribes about channeling, weaves, threads, earth vs. air, etc and the early stuff has started coming in. It looks FUCKING AWESOME. I screamed when Rosamund started channeling.”
What a fucking loser fanboy.
View original postAn iconic on-screen moment that stood out for him was Rand and Tam walking through the Westwood.
Yeah, the scene where Tam was shitting behind a tree was iconic.
View original postThere will be one Aiel who shows up in season 1, and “the one you see will shock you.”
Why? Does he have access to some electrical current?
View original postJudkins says he’s “trying to get tall folks” to portray the Aiel, but he’s “less concerned with height and more concerned with acting ability.”
What exactly distinguishes a folk from a person? I think he should take the opposite strategy, however. Finding tall people who are terrible actors will provide comic relief and distract from shortcomings (pun intended) among the principal cast.
View original postYou will hear the phrase “the Eye of the World” in season 1, although Judkins did not confirm or deny whether we’ll see The Eye of the World‘s prologue on-screen.
You may. I hope not to. And really, what can top the prologue that was posted to YouTube a few years ago in acting quality and editing?
View original postHis favorite set so far has been Fal Dara and his favorite prop is the Great Serpent Ring.
And his favorite color is purple, and his favorite animal is a unicorn, and his favorite food is ice cream with sprinkles on top.
View original postHe has not cut Narg the Trolloc.
I would hope not. That had to have been the best part of Book I. If he had tried to cut that, Narg would have hunted him down, pinned him to a wall, and told him in no uncertain terms, "Narg stay. Narg smart."
View original postLoial will be portrayed as an Ogier, not a human.
But will he be portrayed by a human? Hmm?
View original post“I genuinely think we are cutting less than most people think. When I see people ask questions like, ‘are you cutting Min?’ It blows my mind. I don’t know how you do an adaptation without some of these characters. I think it’ll be more of the smaller stories you’ll miss. We can’t have Rand and May travel to many many inns on their travels across the countryside for instance. It’s just not producible. So that will be more of what you miss I think, and the books always exist to read for that 
.”
.”Cut Min while you're at it.
View original postThe show is intended to be understandable for viewers who have not read the books.
But not tolerable.
View original postYou can view the full Q&A yourself over on Judkins’ account, or on Facebook, where the JordanCon account screenshotted everything for posterity.
"Screenshotted" isn't a word.
View original postAmazon had yet to announce a premiere date for The Wheel of Time pre-coronavirus. However, a Balance interview with Rosamund Pike published in early March (although not the actress herself) mentioned a 2021 release date. Currently, there’s no word on when the series may debut.
Hopefully never.
Political correctness is the pettiest form of casuistry.
ἡ δὲ κἀκ τριῶν τρυπημάτων ἐργαζομένη ἐνεκάλει τῇ φύσει, δυσφορουμένη, ὅτι δὴ μὴ καὶ τοὺς τιτθοὺς αὐτῇ εὐρύτερον ἢ νῦν εἰσι τρυπώη, ὅπως καὶ ἄλλην ἐνταῦθα μίξιν ἐπιτεχνᾶσθαι δυνατὴ εἴη. – Procopius
Ummaka qinnassa nīk!
*MySmiley*
ἡ δὲ κἀκ τριῶν τρυπημάτων ἐργαζομένη ἐνεκάλει τῇ φύσει, δυσφορουμένη, ὅτι δὴ μὴ καὶ τοὺς τιτθοὺς αὐτῇ εὐρύτερον ἢ νῦν εἰσι τρυπώη, ὅπως καὶ ἄλλην ἐνταῦθα μίξιν ἐπιτεχνᾶσθαι δυνατὴ εἴη. – Procopius
Ummaka qinnassa nīk!
*MySmiley*
23 Things We Learned from Rafe Judkins’ Wheel of Time Instagram Q&A - 
- 27/03/2020 10:58:55 PM
909 Views
- 27/03/2020 10:58:55 PM
909 Views
Re: 23 Things We Learned from Rafe Judkins’ Wheel of Time Instagram Q&A -
- 28/03/2020 06:56:42 PM
402 Views
- 28/03/2020 06:56:42 PM
402 Views
23 more things than we probably needed to learn
- 30/03/2020 04:33:03 AM
382 Views