SGA 5.07 "Whispers" Episode Guide

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Précis

Sheppard and Beckett join Maj. Anne Teldy’s team on a planet with one of Michael’s research facilities for the early versions of his human-iratus hybrids concealed inside a cave system. Unfortunately, the explorers have a role in setting loose creatures that hunt down each of them as they get separated in a blinding fog.

Guide | Transcript

MGM/SciFi.com Official Summary

Dr. Beckett is asked to delay his departure from Atlantis when word comes that Major Anne Teldy and her away team, Sgt. Dusty Mehra, Capt. Alicia Vega and Dr. Alison Porter, have stumbled onto one of Michael’s labs inside an extensive underground catacomb.

He and Lt. Col. Sheppard gate to Teldy’s location, where further investigation reveals an abandoned laboratory containing numerous stasis pods. While Dr. Beckett and Dr. Porter stay behind to sift through the research data that Michael left behind, Sheppard and Teldy’s team set out to explore a nearby village.

Beckett and Porter conclude that Michael was experimenting on the genetic characteristics of several different life forms. Meanwhile, Sheppard and his team arrive at the village to find it abandoned. Yet chilling walls of fog and flashes of movement within it, suggests that they are not alone.

Cast

Guest Stars

Production

Written by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie
Directed by William Waring

Galleries

Stills Galleries

Production Galleries

The following are links to images and videos concerning the production of this episode and were published by Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog:

Production Notes

"Anne Teldy writes: “Will my namesake be eaten by space cows in “Broken Ties” or are you going to torture me by making me wait for it?” Answer: Nope, not Broken Ties. Whispers maybe." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, January 31, 2008.
"The character in Search and Rescue has been changed to Captain Alicia Vega. Now DOCTOR Allison Porter will be making her debut in Whispers." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, February 8, 2008.
"Well, I completed all of two pages on Whispers today, finally hitting that all-important 10 page mark but, more importantly, establishing the other team: Captain Alicia Vega, Lieutenant Anne Teldy, Sergeant Dusty Wells, and Dr. Alison (with one L) Porter. Carson will be in for a treat - when he’s not fighting for his life. Come tomorrow, I’ll probably rewrite the whole thing anyway but, hey, it’s a start. A slow, laborious start." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, February 11, 2008.
"Speaking of which - the prosthetics meeting with Todd Master has been moved to tomorrow morning. For Whispers, I’d like something elegantly simple yet shockingly terrifying. I can’t wait to see what Todd and the gang come up with." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, February 11, 2008.
"I told her [Jewel Staite] she’d have to get in for 4:00 a.m. every morning so that prosthetics could get an early jump on the body cast process which would take about 3-4 hours. “The trick is not to breathe too much or let the latex touch your skin,” I advised, “as it’s not only toxic but highly corrosive. Anyway, relax and have fun with it.” She wasn’t sure whether I was kidding or not." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, February 11, 2008.
"Despite the delay, I got in about five minutes before the prosthetics meeting. We discussed upcoming episodes Whispers, The Daedalus Variations, The Seed, and Broken Ties. Among the subjects covered: visual versus practical effects, stunt people vs. acrobats, fog, elements of the visual we saw in Spoils of War, yogurt, and, of course, methacil." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, February 12, 2008.
"More slow and laborious progress on the Whispers script today, but I’m pleased to report that I am finally out of the Beckett -Porter scene. I was actually on a bit of a roll this morning (if half a page can be considered a roll - which, in my case, it can) only to be distracted by: ... the unwelcome suggestion that we shoot parts of Whispers at Fantasy Gardens..." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, February 14, 2008. (Fantasy Gardens was the filming location for SG-1's "Revisions" and SGA's "Irresponsible".)
"Well, this week is the calm before the storm, and a golden opportunity to make some major headway on Whispers before prep begins on Broken Ties. I’m pleased to report that I’m out of Act I and making progress on Act II. Right now, I’m feeling pretty good about what I’ve got but, traditionally, the second-guessing doesn’t really begin until, oh, Act III. There’ll be a lot going on in this one production-wise and I’d like to put it out early so that we can commence the planning/hair-rending/tearful recriminating as soon as possible." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, February 20, 2008.
"On the script end, the past couple of days on Whispers have proven a breeze as I approach the end of Act III. I’m finally into the fun and fog and it’s utterly creeptastic. I’m hoping to complete a first draft before Thursday - when prep begins on Broken Tie." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, February 22, 2008.
"Read, re-read, and re-re-read the 56 pages I’ve got on Whispers so far, hoping it would put me in the proper frame of mind that would allow me to write the final scene. It didn’t." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, February 27, 2008.
"Said hello Paul McGillion back who dropped by the production offices on his way to his wardrobe fitting for The Seed. I pitched him Whispers. He was predictably delighted at the prospect of being stranded off-world with an all-female team." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, February 27, 2008.
"Well, Whispers is almost done. Almost - except for that last scene. I’ll see how I do tomorrow and if I still come up empty, I’ll just hold a contest for the best tag." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, February 28, 2008.
"Rejoice! For I have completed my first draft of Whispers! Finally, after three torturous weeks (one and a half of which was spent spinning my wheels on that last scene), I’m done. For now. Once the guys have had a chance to read the draft, I’m sure that’ll change. The early reviews (actually review) have been very positive. 'I think it‘s great!' raves Alex Levine." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, February 29, 2008.
"I received notes on Whispers, worked on the rewrite, and took a tour of some of the new construction on the FX stage." — Joseph Mallozz in his personal blog, March 4, 2008. Images from his tour of the FX stage are also included in this entry.
"Congratulations to me as I finally completed my revised writer’s draft of Whispers. I made some dialogue adjustments, changed the end of the fourth and the top of the fifth acts, lost the compasses, lost the dead end beat, lost the Land of the Lost gag, and fiddled with the act breaks. I’m loving Dusty! Oh, and congratulations to Anne Teldy on her promotion from Lieutenant to Major and command of her own team." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, February 5, 2008.
"I finished my rewrite on Whispers and it goes wide tomorrow. I haven’t seen everyone this excited about a script since the last one that came out(!). BamBam came by office this afternoon and he seemed quite excited at the prospect of auditioning some really unique walkers. I can’t wait." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, March 6, 2008.
"SusantheTartanTurtle writes: “Is Carson getting his turtles back?” Answer: The burning turtle issue will be addressed in Whispers." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, March 6, 2008.
"And Joe Mallozzi turned in what may be my favorite "scary" Stargate of all time, "Whispers". Joe is a big horror fan and has used his knowledge of the genre to create a suspenseful and exciting creature feature which I'm certain everyone will enjoy." — Alex Levine in his scifi.com blog, March 7, 2008.
"I’m in the eye of the storm, that eerily calm period between putting out a Final Draft and receiving the network and studio notes. Although, really, “Final Draft” is a incredibly hopeful misnomer given that the Final Draft is never ever THE final draft." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, March 10, 2008.
"Well, received a little bad news from the Art Department on the Whispers front. Apparently, the flare sequence may not fly. The flares they tested were problematic in that they released an unmanageable amount of smoke and dripped a substance that could effectively burn through clothes. I wanted to suggest the crew just suck it up on the day (not literally of course because it turns out the flares are also highly toxic), but relented and suggested we look into alternatives. James is off to brainstorm with the model shop and hopefully come up with something less deadly but just as visually satisfying. Failing that, I’ll have to cut what is a very cool, exceptionally creepy sequence. Ah, the harsh realities of television production." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, March 13, 2008.
"Speaking of Whispers - I got a call from Paul McGillion yesterday who touched base to thank us for The Seed and tell me how much he’s looking forward to Whispers. Of course he says that now but his upbeat tune could change once those smog machines start running overtime." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, March 13, 2008.
"Brad and I await the network/studio notes on The Shrine of Talus and Whispers." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, March 13, 2008.
"To say that this afternoon’s notes session didn’t go well would be to seriously understate the fact. As a rule, when the person on the other end of the line begins the call by complimenting your script in general terms (ie. “We really like what you did here.” or “You used a really standout font!”), you know you’re screwed. ... Rewriting a script is like playing a game of Jenga. You try to your best to make adjustments that will not compromise the structure as a whole. But there are times when the adjustments require you to shift the blocks at the bottom and, as a result, the whole thing collapses, leaving you to sort through the scattered pieces and reassemble them over the Easter long weekend." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, March 17, 2008.
"I stayed up late last night wracking my brain, juggling scenes in my head into the wee hours of the morning. And then, spent most of the day trying to incorporate the notes. I feel confident I’ll be able to do most of them, but one in particular poses a problem due to military regs." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, March 18, 2008.
"The second round of network and studio notes should be coming my way on Whispers." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, March 24, 2008.
"Thank you to James Robbins who has been going all out on the designs and concept drawings for Whispers - and clearly having a hell of a time doing it. This morning, we took a stroll through the village set, the entrance to the cave network, the catacombs, the chamber, and the well. Creeptastic. We’ve done a number of “monster” episodes, but we have yet to do an out and out “horror” eppy. You know, the kind that has you sleeping with the lights on for nights to come. That’s what I’m going for." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, March 26, 2008.
"Well, a conference call has been scheduled for notes on the revised Whispers script. How that particular chat goes tomorrow morning will pretty much dictate my mood when it comes time to write tomorrow’s blog entry - so you’ve been warned!" — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, March 27, 2008.
"My notes call on Whispers went swimmingly..." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, March 28, 2008.
"I’m very close to completing the pink pages on Whispers and, now that the script is almost bulletproof, my concerns switch to prep - and specifically the fog. We had an impromptu fog meeting yesterday afternoon to discuss the options open to us which included tenting, shooting through smoked glass, and having the VFX department help out with some visual enhancements. Also, got the first audition streams for Teldy and Dusty, and am very, very pleased with the candidates so far. Round two tomorrow." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, April 3, 2008.
"Will Waring was the director [of "The Seed"], and he has such an understated humour and a clear vision of what he wants, so it’s always a pleasure to work with him. In fact, he’s directing the next episode we find Carson in, “Whispers”, which is a lot of Becektt and Sheppard on a planet with an all-female SG team, thank you very much. Sorry, no ladies for McKay this time." — Paul McGillion in TV Zone interview, excerpts in Solutions Blog, April 4, 2008.
"With prep on Whispers less than a week away, I decided to do a little research to put me in the proper frame of mind. And so, over the weekend, I picked up my research materials - I Am Legend, The Mist, 30 Days of Night, 28 Weeks Later, and The Devil’s Backbone - figuring I’d finally put out those pink pages this morning and then spend the next couple of days getting creeping out. Alas, ‘twas not to be. We had our last Whispers casting session this morning...I never did get around to putting out those pinks. Maybe tomorrow. Nonetheless, a productive day in that we have made our final choices on Teldy, Dusty, and Porter. As Marty G. put it: “It’s going to be a really strong cast.” Once the deals have been closed, I’ll let you know all about ‘em." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, April 8, 2008.
"So what scares you? ... The “unseen” is far more frightening than the “revealed” because Hollywood’s best visceral creations have got nothing on what the imagination can conjure up. And, when it comes to the revealed (because, let’s face it, there’s nothing more dissatisfying than being teased and not rewarded by even the briefest of glimpses behind the dark curtain) the familiar is scarier than the unfamiliar. But I’d argue that what is far more horrifying than either is the…not-quite familiar…Which brings us to Whispers…" — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, April 9, 2008.
"I continue my “research” for Whispers...Speaking of which - the deals have been closed and we finally have our guest cast in place. And quite the kick-ass guest cast it is: Major Anne Teldy… Christina Cox (http://www.christinacox.com/); Captain Alicia Vega… Leela Savasta (http://www.leelasavasta.ca/); Sergeant “Dusty” Mehra… Janina Gavankar (http://www.janinagavankar.com/); Dr. Alison Porter… Nicole de Boer (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0207498/)" — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, April 11, 2008.
"Well, as expected, reaction to the Whispers casting news has ranged from excitement and anxious anticipation to “Hey, Joe. Couldn’t you cast anyone hideous?” Well, sure, we could have - but rather than basing our casting decision on looks, we chose to pick the best actress for each of the three roles. ... Over the hiatus, I pitched out the idea of introducing an all-female team as a means of addressing the male-female imbalance on the show. I would introduce them in an early script and whoever survived the episode could potentially be brought back as a recurring character. As Martin started work on the season premiere, Search and Rescue, he suggested he introduce one of the team members in his episode - a character that eventually became Captain Alicia Vega." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, April 12, 2008. The majority of this entry is dedicated to the all-female team and finding their actors. As to whether or not they'll be recurring, Mallozzi stated, "That depends on a lot of things. First and foremost = who survives the episode."
"Prep begins tomorrow on Whispers. Looks like it’s going to be a full day: 8:30 (Concept meeting), 12:00 (Art Department meeting), 13:30 (Prosthetics meeting), 14:00 (Costumes meeting), 15:30 (Props meeting). The second Fog Test has been moved to later in the week." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, April 13, 2008.
Filming of the episode is to start next Tuesday (April 22). — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, April 14, 2008.
"We kicked things off with a 90 minute concept meeting during which we went through the script, scene by scene, and adopted a game plan. Two sets of costumes, five stunt people, Porter packs a 9 mill, flying balsa wood can be dangerous, we’re going with mannequins, and glow sticks are go. Our main concern remains the fog. It shouldn’t be as heavy as what we had on stage 6, but it needs to be a lot thicker than what appeared in Morpheus. Hopefully, our late week fog test will allow us to find a happy medium. ... We followed the concept meeting with the art department meeting that clocked in at a whopping, soul-sucking 90 minutes as well. Here, we discussed the possibility of tenting certain areas of the FX stage for those heavy fog sequences (ie. the reveals). ... Next up was the prosthetics meeting. Like I said in a previous entry: the more eerily familiar, the more unsettling. ... After lunch, we had the costumes meeting. We need THEIR look to be broken down, but we need his look to be mid-season 3-ish. Teldy’s team will be in their off-world blacks. ... And, finally, we finished the day with the props meeting (starring Evil Kenny, natch). We’re going earth tech with the opening PFD, tablets over laptops, and P-90’s in full force. We’re going to try to get the ladies in early so that we can put them through gun school. ... Today, we had our VFX/Playback meeting. Mostly generics for the playback and some split screen translations. On the visual effects, I flagged sections in the script in which we might try some visual enhancement on the fog. Mark Savela, ever the optimist, assured us everything was going to work out with the practical fog and that it would require little, if any, enhancement from his department. More of a pessimist myself, all I really hope for is an episode that finishes on-schedule. ... We also had our extras meeting, during which I politely turned down the role of the twitcher." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, April 15, 2008.
"8:00 a.m. stunts and SPFX meeting this morning with Bam Bam, Wray, and Scott during which we discussed candy glass, ratchets, and squibs. We’ve also finally set a time for our second fog test = 6:00 a.m. on Friday! The whole thing will take about three hours after which we should have a pretty good idea of how much actual fog we’ll need to make the scenes work. As John Smith pointed out, it can go one of two ways. The fog could prove a frustrating complication and slow us down, or it could prove incredibly forgiving and allow us to breeze through the shots. ...This afternoon, I worked on the green pages for Whispers ... I promise: no knife-wielding maniacs, no stupid victims, no running around screaming (unless it’s Sheppard). ... I’ll admit that one of the reasons I wanted this team of potentially recurring characters for this episode is that the audience won’t know what to expect. They can be pretty certain that Sheppard and Beckett may survive the experience but as for any of other four… In this particular case, the fact that they’re female is less important than the fact that, as guest cast, there’s no telling who will make it out alive. ... I intend to be on set for the shooting of this episode so, yes, plenty of behind-the-scenes pics, video, and commentary coming your way." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, April 16, 2008.
Sheppard's Delight asks: "I understand that you are filming Whispers next week. Is this going to have a lot of action or stunts that you will be involved in? Anything good for Sheppard coming up???" Answer: "Yes.....lots of stunts and stunt people in "Whispers".....and yes.....Lots of good ol' Shep." — James Bamford in his GW Q&A thread, April 17, 2008.
Joseph Mallozzi's April 18 blog entry is dedicated to the fog test, which went well.
Joseph Mallozzi's April 20 blog entry is dedicated to the squib-in-the-fog test, "to find out which showed up better in the fog."
"'Whispers' is up next, and I've got virtually nothing to do in this one. I pretty much bookend the episode with a couple of nice Beckett Mckay banter. Bit of a drag as Nicole is guest starring and I don't think I've seen her since "Cube"! Hopefully I'll get a chance to say hi next week when I'm in." — David Hewlett in his blog, April 21, 2008.
Joseph Mallozzi's April 22 blog entry has three embedded videos of the three new actors (Cox, Gavankar, de Boer) at "gun school".
David asks: "Will there be any big fight scenes/stunts in Whispers?" Answer: "Oh yes....we just started shooting......lots of cool action!" — James Bamford in his Gateworld Q&A, April 23, 2008.]
Whispers started filming April 23. Each filming day was visited by Mallozzi and he documented his visits with pictures from the set. Visit each entry for more behind-the-scenes information: Day 1: April 22; Day 2, April 24; Day 3; April 25; Day 4, April 26; Day 5, April 28; Day 6, April 29; Day 7, April 30; Day 8, May 1; Day 9, May 2.
"It’s all coming along very nicely (and spookily) and I’m sure fans will be both delighted with and terrified by the final product." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, April 25, 2008.
"Finally, for those of you who commented - yeah, Paul’s hair is mighty dark. The hair department had to color his hair to match last year’s look and, uh, made him a tad too youthful-looking. Poor Paul washed his hair about a dozen times in an effort to restore a more natural look. And I’m pleased to report that he somewhat succeeded." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, April 26, 2008.
"I rolled into work just as they were about to block the first scene up: a six character extravaganza that, between the master and the coverage, took about four hours to shoot. I pointed out that once the second scene (the catacomb walk and talk) had been completed, they would have a whopping 2/8th pages in the can. That’s 2/8th pages and not ¼ page. The schedules break the scenes down into 1/8th pages, so a glance at today’s schedule will yield something like this: '62 INT. CATACOMBS Day (They hear distant scampering) 4/8 pages' ... Again, not ½ page, but 4/8 pages. Interesting, huh? No, didn’t think so either. ... No fog effects today so, after checking in, I headed upstairs to the office where I read Martin’s first draft of 'The Lost Tribe' ..." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, April 28, 2008.
"There is a little conversation in Whispers that does shed some light on his Carson’s post-return home life." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, April 28, 2008.
"They've been shooting "Whispers" mainly second unit for the last few days but I did get a chance to catch up with one of my favourite actresses ever - Nicole DeBoer who is guest starring opposite McGillion (lucky devil!) in the episode. Haven't spoken to her since "Cube" and I'm really hoping that she'll be back on Atlantis shortly!" — David Hewlett in his blog, April 28, 2008.
"Big day tomorrow as we fog up the FX Stage for Day 6 of Whispers. Beckett on the run, Teldy’s grim encounter, and the higher ground takedown." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, April 28, 2008.
"Despite the early call, it was another late night on Whispers. The morning got off to a rocky start when the treadmill needed for our first scene up failed to show. While someone from Set Dec was dispatched to track down the errant piece of exercise equipment, Will skipped ahead and shot scene 49 instead. I have to say, it’s been a real pleasure having Paul McGillion on set. He has gone all out, sacrificing life, limb, and a little dignity for the sake of this episode. Despite being battered and bruised, he is always upbeat, concluding his day on set by taking the time to thank the rest of the cast and crew before heading home. A class act. ... Well, Paul was wrapped by lunch after which we turned the day over to the action sequences. The afternoon was marked by lots of fog and gunfire, the crawling scene, and a pyro flare that almost claimed my eyebrows. ... Tomorrow, it’s all catacombs." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, April 29, 2008.
"What happens in the fog tent stays in the fog tent. Until the episode airs of course at which point everyone finds out. But for now, let’s just say there are creepy goings-on. The gang upstairs are loving the dailies and director Will Waring is very excited about all of the edited footage he’s seen so far. ... I’m hoping tomorrow is equally nice as we’ll be doing some (Ext. Forest - Day) location shooting. This will be our first time away from our standing sets this season and I’m sure both the cast and crew are looking forward to getting away." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, April 30, 2008.
"I was really looking forward to today’s Lynn Valley location shoot. Finally, we‘d be out of the dark environs of the FX Stage and basking in the sun‘s warmth. Well, not exactly. It was overcast for most of the day and, yeah, damn cold to boot. I spent most of the morning huddled up to the heater. 'Just trying to warm up my green tea latte,' I told anyone who happened by, smiling amiably and giving the empty cup a little shake. I think they bought it. I did venture out on occasion to field dialogue queries, address script concerns, and chase down the mobile snack station dispensing grilled reubens and chicken soup. Fortunately, it was only a half day for me as, by early afternoon, the three Whispers scenes were completed and the focus shifted to Tracker. ... An early night tonight and an even earlier start to the day tomorrow (a 6:30 a.m. call!) for our last day on Whispers. On tap for Friday: Searching, a gunfirely interruption, the mist rolls in, and shadows and fog." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, May 1, 2008.
"It was an excellent day and marked the end of the Whispers shoot (outstanding inserts and pick-ups aside). Christina Cox wrapped yesterday and, today, it was everyone else’s turn: Nicole de Boer, Janina Gavankar, Leela Savasta, and, last but not least, the lovely Paul McGillion. A great time was had by all and I was genuinely kind of sad to see the episode wrap. Will declared it the most difficult episode he has ever shot. But also the most fun. I can’t wait to see a cut." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, May 2, 2008.
"Most of the time, I’m simply too busy to spend time on set. In the case of Whispers (as was the case with Harmony late last season), I have a window before I start my next script (episode #16). Also, this episode is a little more complex than most, requiring a substantial amount of fog FX, and I wanted to be on hand to deal with any potential problems. Fortunately, things went swimmingly." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, May 2, 2008.
"Being on set during the production of Whispers was a lot of fun. But it could have gone the other way. Given the inherent complexities of shooting this episode, it could have turned into a nightmare (ironic, no?). Yet in spite of the early calls and the late wraps, the fickleness of fog, and a scheduling shell game that had the guys upstairs longing for the Summer hiatus, it all came together in the end. And it came together thanks to the hard work of everyone involved - but especially the crew, the show’s unsung heroes." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, May 3, 2008.
"I was at post today to approve that insert for Broken Ties and, on my way out, poked my head in on the Whispers assembly. It’s looking veeeeery, creepy and presently running about four and a half minutes long. Will, busy on location shooting Tracker, will work on it this weekend. I hope to see a cut by Monday." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, May 8, 2008.
"After lunch, we watched the director’s cut of Whispers. It’s five and a half minutes long[er] and much of that is going to come out of a bloated first act because once the fog moves in, thingsmoveveryquickly!" — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, May 12, 2008.
"I spent the day working with Mike Banas. ... Mike is, in fact, one of our ace editors. Today marked the very first time I’ve actually worked with Mike. I had a great time and I can honestly say I’ll no doubt be working against with him real soon. Most probably tomorrow as the cut is still a minute and a half long." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, May 13, 2008.
"But great progress today. The director’s cut was terrific but, at five minutes and thirty seconds over, it desperately needed some trimming. And most of those trims came from the first act. No scenes lost, but some of the dialogue had to go including a reference to Carson’s wee turtles, Michelle and Jeffrey. Well, you’ll read all about them after the episode airs - provided I don’t find a way to squeeze them into another script first." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, May 13, 2008.
"Well, I was back in the editing suite with ... Mike Banas today, looking to complete my producer’s cut of Whispers. As I mentioned yesterday, the director’s cut was five and a half minutes over, but once the obvious trims were made, it was down to three and a half minutes over. And once the not-so obvious trims were made, it was only one and a half minutes long. At that point, it became a slow-going, incredibly frustrating, agonizingly lengthy process of line-cutting, dialogue shifting, and scene trimming to finally - finally! - get it down to a mere 35 seconds over. And THAT is when things got REALLY tough. Yes, losing that last half minute or so nearly killed me (either my heart would have given out or I suspect Mike would have strangled me with his bare hands), but I did it. The producer’s cut is out. And, I’m very happy with the result. It’s a nice, tight, creepy little episode with a dozen or so great scares. All it needs is an exceptionally horrorific score - and that’s where composer Joel Goldsmith comes in. I have a feeling he’s going to have a blast with this one." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, May 14, 2008.
"There are a number of standalone episodes that contain bigger arc elements (ie. The Seed, Broken Ties, Whispers, Tracker, The Queen) in addition to your one-offs (Daedalus Variations, The Shrine)." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, May 19, 2008.
"Back at the office today. ... dropped by stage 2 where Will was shooting the inserts and missing shots for Whispers ..." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, May 20, 2008.
"I was back in the editing suite this afternoon working on Whispers after receiving notes from my fellow producers, the network, and the studio. Once I’d made the required cuts and trims, the episode was thirty seconds short. Hunh. If you’ll recall, it took me approximately two hours to get it to time when it was thirty-five seconds long. I wish it were as easy as simply adding that time back in but, alas, we had to go through the episode again, scene by scene, adding Sheppard’s warning here, putting back Mirellus’s exit there. Finally, we’re to time and, following a brief conversation with the uber-talented Joel Goldsmith about the score, I am done. For now." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, May 22, 2008.
Linda Gagne writes: “When the writers write for Carson, do they write it for his scottish dilect or tell him to fill in the appropriate phrase he would use if in Scotland?” Answer: "A little of both. In Whispers, for instance, there’s a point in the script where Beckett makes a surprising discovery. Under the character slug (Beckett), I wrote: “Insert quaint Scottish expression!”." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, June 1, 2008.
“It’s been amazing. I’ve got my first break; there’s an episode, ‘Whispers’, where I just have a couple of cute little scenes with the lovely and talented Paul McGillion, so I’ve actually had a few days off. But it’s been amazing." — David Hewlett in MGM interview, June 3, 2008.
"Whispers is far from a finished episode, but I’m very pleased with everything I’ve seen so far." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, June 5, 2008.
"In addition to their skill as an actor, things like the way in which the actor chooses to play a character or the manner in which he delivers his dialogue can influence a casting decision. Janina Gavankar, for instance, won the role of Dusty in Whispers because her delivery of the dialogue was pretty much how I envisioned the character talking. She was, in my estimation, perfect for the role." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, June 5, 2008.
"In Whispers, I described Porter as a “cute nerd” because I wanted the character to have chemistry with Beckett and suggest the possibility that something could develop between the two. Now, I could have described her as a “haggard witch” and cast someone else in the role, but I have a feeling that, at the end of the day, it wouldn’t have worked out nearly as well. All that said - even though we produce a science fiction television series, we are ever-mindful of striving for authenticity when casting aliens, androids, and fearless planet-hopping space-explorers. We want to reflect real people in real-life situations, like the doctors of Grey’s Anatomy and the cops on CSI:Miami." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, June 5, 2008.
"I do save my first drafts. In the past, I have offered up scene-by-scene comparisons between the first drafts and the finished episodes. For season five, I’ll be offering the breakdowns on Broken Ties, Whispers, and Remnants." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, June 5, 2008.
"'Whispers' is a bunch of hot chicks with Paul McGillion and Joe Flanigan. Which originally I heard, when they first started the season, they're like, 'Oh, yeah! It's going to be a great episode. It's you, Joe Flanigan, and all these hot chicks!' I'm like 'OK, cool, right on.' And then they moved it to Paul. Paulie's my boy. God bless him. Those two are going to be in hog heaven." — Jason Momoa in Gateworld interview, published June 11, 2008.
"I just finished doing “Whispers” with Joe Mallozzi writing and, again Will Waring, who’s directed all the episodes I’ve done [this season]. That’s a great horror episode with myself and Sheppard and a cast of a four female SG team. Basically, no other main cast is in the episode. David Hewlett is at the start and the end, but it’s basically Sheppard, Beckett and four girls. And that’s a horror episode and was a lot of fun as you can imagine! (laughs)" — Paul McGillion in Pop Culture Zoo interview, June 15, 2008.
"The last one I did, ‘Whispers’, that was awesome. ... It was really great - a difficult episode, but really interesting and different. It’s just Joe [Flanigan] and myself. David [Hewlett] and I have a couple of scenes at the start and the end of the episode, but throughout the whole episode it’s just Beckett and Sheppard. We’re the only main cast in the episode, and then these four women. That was a lot of fun! They established a bit of a love interest for me there. And so depending on what happens with the show, I can see the character growing again, hopefully." — Paul McGillion, MGM Close Up interview, June 17, 2008.
Mallozzi's June 19th entry contains both images and a story about shooting a gunfight that he then talks about watching in the director's cut. There were several problems during the shooting, including weapons that kept on locking and poor timing. Finally, after seeing the rather chaotic-looking shoot, Mallozzi enjoyed the cut, which had stunt extras who were squibbed for close-ups: "Weeks later, I’m watching the director’s cut and when the sequence comes up. We start on the A side coverage of our heroes locking and loading. Cut to the B side - targets approaching. Back to the A side as our heroes open fire. Back to the B side as approaching targets are hit and go down. Back to the A side as our heroes fire away - reload, continue firing. Punch in for some B side hits of the individual targets getting hit and dropping. Back to the A side and on our heroes as the gunfire dies down. They lower their weapons. B side coverage of the carnage. Fabulous! It’s at times like these I realize we really should be shooting up stunt extras more often."
"I was at The Bridge today to preview some of the Whispers visual effects shots with Mark Savela." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, June 26, 2008.
"It depends what you mean by dark. I think, in some aspects, Remnants is actually darker than Whispers." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, June 27, 2008.
Janina Gavankar answered fan-submitted questions on Joseph Mallozzi's weblog in the July 6, 2008, entry.
"Didn’t really get a chance to spend much time on set as there were a number of issues to deal with up in - what the VFX department refers to as - The Room of Doom. ... a Day 1 Mix of Whispers, and, of course lunch. Again, Joel Goldsmith delivered big time with a terrific score. Overall, a very good mix. My only big note was a requested return to the creepy clicky-chirping that Mike Banas came up with for the director’s cut." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, July 21, 2008.
"As for whether it will be up there with Stephen King - Hey, I don’t think anyone gets close to the master of suspense. That’s why he’s the King." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, July 24, 2008.
"For me, Whispers was certainly the most involving episode I’ve produced in years." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, July 25, 2008.
"There a bit of dialogue I wrote for Whispers that touches on this very subject - Beckett’s improbable return from the dead and the reaction back home. Off the top of my head, I can’t recall if it survived the cut. If it didn’t, I’ll be sure to include it was part of the post-episode wrap-up." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, August 1, 2008.
"After lunch, we enjoyed the Day 2 Mix of Whispers. What a wonderfully spooky little episode. Great performances, terrific direction, and yet another marvelous score by Joel Goldsmith who is busy working on First Contact as I write this entry." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, August 5, 2008.
"Actually, Sheppard gets one [episode of focus], alongside Beckett, in Whispers and another, alongside Woolsey, in Remnants." — Joseph Mallozzi in his blog, August 9, 2008.
"It’s a fun little episode. More edge-of-your-seat popcorn fare than last night’s character-driven drama ["The Shrine"], but that’s what I love about the show, its ability to tell wildly different stories. I’ll be posting more behind-the-scenes Whispers pics in the lead-up to its airing." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, August 23, 2008.
"With Whispers set to air this Friday night, I thought I’d say a few words about of one of the actors I’ve yet to mention with regard to the episode. Darren Dolinski plays the role of Mirellus, the mysterious local with a secret or two about a certain abandoned village. Darren won the role on the strength of a great audition, but what we didn’t know when we hired him was that this was to be his first time in front of the camera. Needless to say, his transition from stage to screen was flawless as he delivered a terrific performance." — Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog, September 4, 2008. This entry also has a picture of Dolinski in his costume.

SGA 5.07 "Whispers" Episode Guide

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