Email from Jane Espenson
hey guys =) im writing this paper for my video production class and i needed a human resourse, so i contacted Jane Espenson, writer for Buffy, with a few questions and i got a response! i thought i would post it here, its nothing that ground breaking but i thougt you guys might enjoy looking at it :) please dont redestribute this elsewhere though, since i didnt ask her permission to post this here, i just wanted to treat you guys =) - - - - - - I was very pleased to get your letter. It takes a while for mail to get to me, since I have it sent to my business manager to avoid giving out my address. So I'm not sure if you still need my input for your paper, but here it goes anyway! 1. Buffy's basic style of speaking was actually adapted from the way Joss Whedon talks. He created the show and devised how the characters would speak. A lot of the specific usages (like "sitch") derived from his own personal vocab. 2. You're right. When we were doing the actual writing, we had to invent new "Buffy-isms," so we couldn't just rely on the phrases that Joss had already established. My personal approach was to think of the most natural way to say it, and then simply go down a mental list of ways to alter it. Here's a hypothetical brain-chain: If I needed a character to comment on the heat, and I wanted something swingier than "it's hot," then I'd sort of play around with it. "heat-y"? Nah, that sounds dumb. "Steamy"? "Sweaty?" maybe. It's all sweaty outside. "The sun is sweating." That's closer. "It's so hot the sun is sweating." Yeah, possible. "Tropical." "Tropical with extra trop." "Heatwave..." hmm. "It's heatwaving out there." I like that. It's just a matter of playing around with it. 3. The pop culture references made the show feel fresh and real. Like these characters live in the same world as the viewers. Now, of course, they might start to make the show feel dated. Double-edged sword, what're ya gonna do? 4. Oh yeah, of course, the Buffy writing style set it apart. It was aggressively smart and funny -- no dead spots. The show title promised a mixture of horror, action and comedy. The writing style accommodated all three. 5. Additional comments: Buffy was the job of a lifetime. We were doing something new and we took chances in every script. That's probably the real legacy, that we weren't afraid to take genuine surprising story turns that were still entirely motivated by character. That'll be a more lasting impact than the language we used.
hey guys =) im writing this paper for my video production class and i needed a human resourse, so i contacted Jane Espenson, writer for Buffy, with a few questions and i got a response! i thought i would post it here, its nothing that ground breaking but i thougt you guys might enjoy looking at it :) please dont redestribute this elsewhere though, since i didnt ask her permission to post this here, i just wanted to treat you guys =) - - - - - - I was very pleased to get your letter. It takes a while for mail to get to me, since I have it sent to my business manager to avoid giving out my address. So I'm not sure if you still need my input for your paper, but here it goes anyway! 1. Buffy's basic style of speaking was actually adapted from the way Joss Whedon talks. He created the show and devised how the characters would speak. A lot of the specific usages (like "sitch") derived from his own personal vocab. 2. You're right. When we were doing the actual writing, we had to invent new "Buffy-isms," so we couldn't just rely on the phrases that Joss had already established. My personal approach was to think of the most natural way to say it, and then simply go down a mental list of ways to alter it. Here's a hypothetical brain-chain: If I needed a character to comment on the heat, and I wanted something swingier than "it's hot," then I'd sort of play around with it. "heat-y"? Nah, that sounds dumb. "Steamy"? "Sweaty?" maybe. It's all sweaty outside. "The sun is sweating." That's closer. "It's so hot the sun is sweating." Yeah, possible. "Tropical." "Tropical with extra trop." "Heatwave..." hmm. "It's heatwaving out there." I like that. It's just a matter of playing around with it. 3. The pop culture references made the show feel fresh and real. Like these characters live in the same world as the viewers. Now, of course, they might start to make the show feel dated. Double-edged sword, what're ya gonna do? 4. Oh yeah, of course, the Buffy writing style set it apart. It was aggressively smart and funny -- no dead spots. The show title promised a mixture of horror, action and comedy. The writing style accommodated all three. 5. Additional comments: Buffy was the job of a lifetime. We were doing something new and we took chances in every script. That's probably the real legacy, that we weren't afraid to take genuine surprising story turns that were still entirely motivated by character. That'll be a more lasting impact than the language we used.