Recent Developments!

Aran Cherubim · Oct 16, 2021

Wait 'till we get to the Shadow Rising and it's basically Dune.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I love them, but I also don't get my underpants in a bunch when realizing objective similarities. It's fine.

Ilverin Matriam · Oct 16, 2021

Aran Cherubim said:
but I also don't get my underpants in a bunch when realizing objective similarities. It's fine.

*tries to untagle her bunched up underpants* :grumble

Morgana Arakos · Oct 16, 2021

There's a short interview with RJ at the end of the audiobooks where he talks about some parts of the books being a response to Lord of the Rings. I don't have a transcript on hand, but to my memory he says something about how he wanted to rethink the idea of how a farmer plucked out of obscurity into a hero's journey would respond to being the chosen one, that he felt it would be more complicated and less straightforward than LOTR. Cue fourteen books of everyone from Emond's Field being stubborn and defiant as all hell.

Edited: Here's the transcript! It's a bit less direct than I remembered, but still relevant.

I began writing the Wheel of Time because a great many notions had been bouncing around inside my head and they started to coalesce. I wondered what it was really like to be tapped on the shoulder and told you were born to be the savior of mankind. I didn't think it would be very much the way it is in so many books where someone pops up and says, "Hi, I was born to be the savior of mankind, and here's the prophecy," and everybody says, "Oh well, let's go then." I thought self interest would play a big part.

And, I was also wondering about the source of legends and myths. They can't all be anthropomorphizations of natural events. Some of them have to be distortions of things that actually happened, distortions by being passed down over generations. And that led into the distortion of information over distance, whether that's temporal distance or spatial distance. The further you are in time or space from the actual event, the less likely you are to know what really happened.

And then finally there was the thought about something that happens in Tolkien and a lot of other places. The wise old wizard shows up in a country village and says, "You must follow me to save the world." And the villagers say, "Right then, guv, off we go!" Well, I did a lot of growing up in the country, and I've always thought that what those country folk would say is, "Oh, is that so? Look here, have another beer. Have two, on me. I'll be right back. I will, really." And then slip out the back door.

There were a lot of things that came together, and even once I started, of course, a lot of things built in, and added in, and changed.

Aran Cherubim · Oct 17, 2021

Ilverin Matriam said:
*tries to untagle her bunched up underpants* :grumble

Sorry, didn't mean to target anyone!

I guess I just mean I feel like I've seen similar defensiveness from many different fandoms/communities I've been a part of, and I just don't think there's any point in trying to "defend the honor" of writers, movie-makers, etc. from accusations of derivation, partly because it's such an incredibly common thing, partly because if it works it works, and lastly because, well... creators have various shortcomings and flaws. Their stories do too. It's fine, it doesn't need to be excused.

Aratouial Delafeld · Oct 19, 2021

This is the best article I've read on the show, it includes some promotional photos of the Whitecloaks and Red Ajah that are pretty great. Written by a lifelong fan so there's no obvious book misunderstandings!

My favorite thing I learned was the makeup and prosthetics were so good they skipped adding CGI to it. I knew they did good when they hired Nick Dudman, I'm happy I was right ^_^

https://www.gq.com/story/inside-ama...nd=gq&utm_social-type=owned&utm_medium=social

Aran Cherubim · Oct 19, 2021

Yeah, these Whitecloaks are definitely moving more into high-concept territory. Another thing that will take time getting used to, but we'll see how it translates to the screen in terms of movement, etc.

Elania al'Manir · Oct 19, 2021

I think it's very wowing that they built their own studio. Bolds are mine.

GQ Article said:
Central and Eastern Europe have traditionally been accommodating places to make movies and television. The locations are suitably grand and variable and ancient; the local expertise, honed by decades of Hollywood productions coming and going, is high-level and relatively affordable. So Brown initially looked at Hungary. But, he said, “I spoke to friends in Budapest who'd worked there, and they just said, ‘You won't get in.’ ” Then he tried Prague, and found that the waiting list for production space was just as long. So, after some consideration, Brown and his production partners decided to create their own studio from scratch. “You know, we are a big company,” Brown, who is exacting and English and who has worked on everything from The Phantom Menace to Outlander, said. “The show is hugely ambitious creatively. So how do we fill that? That's why we're in this building that is 350,000 square feet.”

And so Jordan Studios, where the Wheel of Time production is headquartered, ended up in a remote corner of Prague, in a giant pale-blue complex of industrial buildings that used to be the warehouse of a trucking company. They do their own visual effects here. They have their own stunt gym, with archery targets and a rock climbing wall. They have an armorer, who is also a jeweler, and he has a 3D printer. They have a costume department that could outfit an army. They have individual offices for writers and a writers room and just about infinite space for those same writers to stand outside in the cold and smoke. Accounting is here. So is set decoration and unit publicity. They've got their own massive, football-field-size soundstages, on which they employ four different Czech construction companies to build various intricate interiors.

Juliya Karisu · Oct 19, 2021

Great article, thanks for sharing. I like the photos.

Also I've never watched GoT so I'm pretty sure I'm going to love this one without being able to compare

Morgana Arakos · Oct 20, 2021

I was excited to learn how much money they're spending on each episode! Hopefully it all pays off.

Jocasta Braithe · Oct 20, 2021

That's AMAZING. I wonder how RJ would feel about having a studio named after him?

Rollyn Montagorae · Oct 20, 2021

Yeah I wonder if they discussed it with Harriet at all before doing that! lol

Rhyin al'Hut · Oct 20, 2021

I love the concept that everything Wheel of Time is being produced in an old trucking warehouse and that they are truly headquartered there and won't be going anywhere, anytime soon.

Aran Cherubim · Oct 20, 2021

"Eastbound and Down, loaded up and truckin'."
- Robert Jordan.

Rollyn Montagorae · Oct 20, 2021

Catt Heckathorne · Oct 22, 2021

Explaining the Aes Sedai.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CVT57S3tVji/?utm_medium=copy_link

Idine Espanyas · Oct 22, 2021

Rollyn Montagorae · Oct 22, 2021

Alanna there near the end in the forest is almost exactly what I pictured of a powerful Aes Sedai fully embracing the Source in a moment of battle. Rosamund Pike has said elsewhere that they intentionally worked with each actress to develop their own personal motions and visual style when channeling.

Syera Faelron · Oct 23, 2021

https://twitter.com/TheWheelOfTime/...11183.ampproject.net/2110011758000/frame.html

Morgana Arakos · Oct 26, 2021

Sounds like we get a trailer tomorrow!! :embarassed:

mg

https://twitter.com/TheWheelOfTime/status/1453036948595957761

Merena Orithana · Oct 26, 2021

Recent Developments!

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Aran Cherubim

Ilverin Matriam

Morgana Arakos

Aran Cherubim

Aratouial Delafeld

Aran Cherubim

Elania al'Manir

Juliya Karisu

Morgana Arakos

Jocasta Braithe

Rollyn Montagorae

Rhyin al'Hut

Aran Cherubim

Rollyn Montagorae

Catt Heckathorne

Previously known as Cattrin al'Modrah

Idine Espanyas

Rollyn Montagorae

Syera Faelron

Morgana Arakos

Merena Orithana

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