Memory Alpha:AOL chats/Ronald D. Moore/ron064.txt

Subj: Answers Date: 10/20/97 6:57:27 PM From:  RonDMoore

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Very little and yes.

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Brian was too young to play Alexander at the apparent age (as opposed to the actual age of the character) we wanted him to be in "Sons and Daughters" and we wanted a different take on the character anyway.

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Rom's voice has evolved over the course of time from a combination of Max's experimentation and the writing staff becoming more familiar with the character.

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We haven't got our yearly "O'Brien Must Suffer" episode yet. He'll be featured in a lot of shows, but we haven't decided when to reunite him with Keiko.

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We didn't have a FC Admiral's uniform and so we used an old one. Over the course of the next few shows, you'll see us make more changes to the Admirals' costumes, so the last TNG uniforms should be on the way out. There's a chance you'll still see them as well as the old DS9 outfits when we need to outfit a large number of cast members and don't have enough FC unif orms to go around.

<< I have noticed that there are an incredible number of actors with the most wonderful voices among all the Trek shows, for instance, the Jem'Hadar (sp?) in 'Rocks and Shoals.'  Do you know if the voice quality is a prerequisite for a role?>>

While we seldom cast someone based solely on their vocal chords, the voice of an actor is obviously a key part of how they're going to play the role. With Chris Shea (Keevan), his voice was suitably disturbing and helped land him the role. With Remata'Klan, we had already worked with Phil Morris, and it was more of a question of getting him to alter his voice to make it different from his portrayal of the Klingon in "par'Mach".

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Once we'd decided to put Worf on the Rotarran at the end of last season, it became very difficult to bring him back into the storyline outside of a quick pop here and there or a stand alone show like "Sons and Daughters."

Subj: Answers Date: 10/20/97 7:33:55 PM From:  RonDMoore

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There was a stardate originally written into this script. When the show was finally locked, and it came time to do the post-production voice-over work, they discovered that the log as written was a few seconds too long. This happens a lot and for a variety of reasons. In this case, the final version of the opening shot was trimmed by a couple of seconds in order to save money. In order to make the log fit the new cut, I had to rewrite it several times and one of the tricks of making a log shorter is to insert the word "supplemental" for an actual stardate. I believe the people who do the closed-captioning are working from both the script and the picture, so they still had the original stardate in their script.

<<Ron, how much conscious thought do you put into what might be called thematic structure? R & S seems exquisitely balanced in that regard. Sisko, in the role of a soldier, is forced by circumstances, to take the advantage a soldier would normally be expected to take, but has to swallow his more humanistic impulses to do the right, but bitter, thing. Kira has to reasoned restraint, and she's choking on *that*. Both have their consciences pricked by intermediaries (the Vedek and the Third) who are playing out
 * suppress* her soldier's instinct, because *her* circumstances demand
 * their* expected roles without question.>>

I was aware of the thematic ties in both storylines, but not consciously trying to play parallel chords. For instance, I never really thought about the Third and the Vedek as taking parallel actions by pricking the consciences of Sisko and Kira. I was just trying to make both situations as difficult as possible for our heroes and to push the characters into directions we'd never seen them. I find that a lot of writing is intuitive -- I often don't know *why* I think something works or *why* I make certain choices, I just know that it seems to be the right way to go.

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I think that especially after the Borg incident in FC and the brief conflict with the Klingons, that Starfleet was spread pretty thin by the time of "Call to Arms". With continuing losses, you'll see Federation resources get even further reduced.

<<Could you list the episode titles that don't give away more about the episode that we want know? I know you didn't want to mention the mirror universe episode title, but could you please list any others? Speaking of episode titles, I know this may seem strange but, of all the titles that you have made for Star Trek, which one do you like best? Also, do you try to make the title slightly complicated. Rather than calling an episode "The Run" when someone is on the run in an episode, do you purposely try to come up with something more complex?>>

Episode # 6 - "Sacrifice of Angels", # 7 (last gasp of secrecy...), # 8 "You are Cordially Invited...", # 9 "Statistical Probabilities", # 10 "The Magnificent Ferengi", # 11"Waltz".

I think my three favorite titles are "All Good Things..." "Our Man Bashir" and "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places". All three seemed to perfectly reflect the episodes they were attached to and I also thought they had a certain wit to them. I really got sick of the one word TNG titles so I've made a conscious effort to get a little more creative on DS9. ("Waltz" notwithstanding.)

Subj: Answers Date: 10/20/97 7:59:33 PM From:  RonDMoore

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They were shot in a rock quarry out in Sun Valley, CA. Although the quarry contained a fair amount of water, ALL of the shots with the ocean and the shoreline were digitally created by our VFX crew. I think that this is one of the best examples of the high quality work that our VFX people do week in and week out. It was all the more impressive to me because it's the kind of work that doesn't call attention to itself, but immeasurably aided the drama of the episode.

<< If Sisko and co, or the Jem Hadar were hiding behind rocks, why didn't the phaser disintegrate the rocks? >>

It's a fair question. As I've pointed out before, the phasers are *way* too powerful for the way we normally protray them. Given that a real knock-down, drag-out, phaser fight would not only chew up a huge chunk of real estate, but also force our characters to be far, far away from each other and in general be unproducable, we have to make some concessions to dramatic license. The story was about soldiers in a difficult situation and the decisions they were forced to make, not an exploration of the realities of 24th century ground combat. So I bent the rules on phasers and how powerful they're really supposed to be in order to tell a better story. You bring up a valid point and I concede that the phaser fight wasn't that realistic given the nature of the technology invoved, but I also think I made the right decision and I wouldn't change it.

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Keevan will definitely be back. Lt. Neely is less likely, but possible.

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Terry has a skin condition that prevents her exposure to direct sunlight. We've worked around it in the past, but the large number of exterior scenes in "Rocks and Shoals" made it impossible this time. (The days we went on location this year were also some of the very hottest and most miserable days of the year, BTW, and the entire crew was suffering in that airless, baking rock quarry, not to mention the actors forced to work in already stifling makeup and appliances.)

<< Were you as pleased with this episode as everybody else seems to be?>>

I am very pleased with it and I'm happy to see that it's been so well received. Thank you and all of you for your very kind comments and I hope you enjoy the rest of the season.

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No. In fact, it was Avery's choice to raise the phaser rifle as if he wanted to shoot Keevan in the final scene -- a great choice, BTW.

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We're starting to talk about the end of the war, but we haven't made any definite plans yet.

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We haven't gotten any new money. We have to plan in some cheaper shows along the way in order to make every thing work out at the end of the season.

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The stun setting has no effect on the Jem'Hadar.

Subj: Answers Date: 10/20/97 8:16:45 PM From:  RonDMoore

<< I was just wondering why nobody seemed to notice when Kira's hair color changed...So, why did it change? I know the real reason was because Nana was pregnant and didn't want to dye it while carrying a child...but what I'm wondering is the official reason that Kira's hair color changed...>>

The official reason? Uh... well, I guess red is all the fashion on Bajor this year.

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My take on Kira is that she could do nothing else under the circumstances. That's her character. She could not stand idly by while others suffered and died for her freedom and let herself become (in her mind) an accomplice to evil even if it meant going against the Emissary/Sisko. You can argue about what she should or should not from a moral standpoint, but I firmly believe that this is was Kira *would* do. The conflict of what resistance to offer to the Dominion occupation and what form it should take will be developed in "Behind the Lines."

<<What bothered me, Ron, was that Kira was violating the words of the emissary-- as was the Vedek. The Vedek didn't believe the Emmisary? Isn't there a faith problem here? How does Kira reconcile her starting a resistance with her belief that Sisko is the emmissary?>>

I don't think Kira (or anyone else on Bajor) treats the Emissary as the literal "Son of God" or something, whose every utterance must be obeyed lest dammnation follow. If that were the case, Sisko would be running Bajor single-handedly by now. Yes, there is a conflict between what Sisko wanted and what Kira chose to do and she may not be able to reconcile them in her mind, but she had to do what she felt was right.

Personally, I'm glad people are arguing about it. The ability to push the characters into uncomfortable decisions and ambiguous moral choices is one of the things I like most about DS9.

<<One question we have about the Vedek's suicide is that we immediately thought of Jan Palach lighting himself on fire in Prague in 1969. Now we know that this event, while perhaps one of the most famous events in Czechoslovak history, is not really well known in the US. Did you have this event in mind when you wrote the episode? >>

I was thinking more of the Buddhist monks who immolated themselves in Vietnam in the 1960s. The analogy isn't perfect (so don't look to link up the two political situations) but the dramatic political statement of a religious leader committing suicide in a public place was definitely one of the sources of inspiration for this episode.

Subj: Answers Date: 10/20/97 10:24:34 PM From:  RonDMoore

<< I think in the last postings #30 you sounded like you were appologizing for the "Rascals" episode. I thought that was a great episode. Very funny and a favorite of both me and my children. >>

Thank you. I am continually amazed by how many people love that episode. The premise of "They all beam back..... AS CHILDREN!!!" made me cringe when I first heard it. All that season I was bagging on the idea and praying we'd never actually do it. Which meant, of course, that I would end up having to do the rewrite. But part of staff work is occasionally having to write something that you're not in love with, so I threw myself into the show and tried to do the best I could with it. Happily, most people seem to have enjoyed it, but I still look back on it with a shudder.

<< The tragedy of the ending [of "Rocks and Shoals"] reminded me of the film "A Midnight Clear"- a similar theme of enemies who come maddeningly close to putting their differences aside in order to help each other- and yet in the end, tragically, circumstances intervene. Knowing your love of history, have you seen the film and if so, did it have any influence on the story?>>

I do vaguely remember "Midnight Clear" but it wasn't a direct inspiration for the ending.

<< <Kira's first loyalty is to Bajor. She is acting on that loyalty. In her eyes, she is betraying nothing. Her character is still one of strength.> No, her first loyalty is to her duty. If she finds that she cannot obey her orders, she should resign. Anything else is dishonorable.>>

Kira is not a Klingon and her value system is much different. It's a mistake to think of Kira as someone born and bred to be a serving line officer -- remember she's a terrorist who was given a rank at the end of the Occupation. I think Kira's first guide is her conscience, not her "duty", at least not in the same way that Worf or Sisko think of their "duty."

<<Why did the Jem Hadar advance without the use of their invisibility screens [in "Rocks and Shoals"]?>>

The lack of White weakened them and made them lose their shrouding abilities. (I think there's a line in there somewhere that says this.)

<< The one question you left unanswered last time was about naming shuttles or ships after            Sarek and Carl Sagan. Any chance of seeing this happen?>>

It's possible, but we don't have any plans to do so.

<<Was the actor who played Ensign Gordon in R & S Siddig's stand-in?>>

No.

<<What's up with Our Man Spock on Romulus? With people clamoring for a          Romulan return to DS9 could this be a possibility, or is Spock's and Romulus' fate being saved for a future movie? >>

As I've said before, Leonard has indicated to us that he does not want to reprise the character, regardless of what he may have written in his book. More to the point, we have no interest in returning to the Spock/Romulan plotline at this time.

<<Speaking of movies, is there any truth to the AP story I read months ago about some DS9          characters appearing in ST 9?>>

I don't know. The script isn't finished as far as I know.

<<What is Kira's current status on DS9? Is she still First Officer?>>

She is still the Bajoran Liason Officer under the Dominion's continuing occupation of the station, but does not figure into the operational chain of command.

<<Now that he is dictator of Cardassia, Dukat seems to spend an awful lot of time at DS9. Who is running the show back home? >>

Dukat is running everything from DS9, but don't underestimate the extent to which the Dominion is now controlling all of Cardassia.

<<Are there any plans to focus an episode on Jadzia this year?>>

We would like to do a show that focuses solely on Jadzia later this year, but we don't have one as yet.

Subj: Answers Date: 10/20/97 10:36:09 PM From:  RonDMoore

<<You stated that in the "Favor the Bold", the Federation fleet which protect the earth is 3rd fleet. Is it safe to say that Enterprise-E is in that fleet?>>

You're welcome to believe that if you wish.

<<-A person on USENET recently claimed that the reason behind Paramount reevaluating its open submissions policy for Voyager and DS9 scripts is *not* the legal hassles Paramount has to deal with regarding submitters who claim their ideas were stolen, but rather the high volume of low-quality, amateurish scripts the readers have to pore through. To your knowledge, is this person correct?>>

I was told this was a result of legal problems.

<<Have there been any episodes of DS9 that have been produced from submitted spec scripts, or staff writers that were hired as a result of a spec script (produced or not)?>>

Lisa Klink's DS9 spec script earned her an invitation to pitch, then an internship, and finally a staff job on Voyager.

<<I was watching my copy of "Vortex" again the other day and Croden talks about the legend of the Changelings that once lived on his planet of Rakhar but fled due to persecution. Are these the same Changelings who went on to found the Dominion or is there another race of Changelings hanging out in the Gamma Quadrant?>>

I believe so.

<<Why were those two Jem'Hadar fighters [in "Rocks and Shoals"] firing on Sisko's ship in the first place!? Do they make a habit of destroying crippled ships, or did they catch on to Sisko's secret? If so, how?>>

I think they caught on to the ruse, but I don't know how. I wanted to jump-start the episode and just take it as read that the Jem'Hadar had figured out the deception somehow and get right into the story.

<<I just read on TrekWeb that DS9 is indeed getting a seventh season... Can you confirm this!?>>

There's still no official word.

<<As you envision the impact of the Dominion War on the Alpha Quadrant, what's your take on the Romulan response? How're they doing? Supposing for a moment that the J'em H'dar and the Cardassians cross the Neutral Zone, what would be likely to happen? Or has that incursion already happened?>>

There are a lot of ways to go with the Romulans, and as I've said, we've working on some notions to bring them into the story. I don't want to go into it because we haven't made any firm decisions yet.