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Dark Dawn: Leviathans II – Special Edition (Special Features)
By Vader
~ Continued from the The Feature Presentation (Part 2) ~
***AUTHOR INTERVIEW***
Conducted by Yvonne
YVONNE: First, I'd like to get some formalities out of the way. This is the first time I've interviewed you, and I wanted to simply acknowledge your skills as a writer. You have a truly wonderful gift, Vader. I enjoy reading your stories. Your consistency in writing them well is always there, no matter what the story is about. With that said, let's get this interview on the way, shall we? What was the initial idea that sparked the sequel to Leviathans?
VADER: Thanks very much for the complements, I appreciate it. :) The initial idea that sparked a sequel was the thought of the A.I.I. chip. These chips were mentioned in Leviathans very briefly – if you don’t pay attention, you miss it. At the time of writing that original story, I thought of A.I.I.s off the cuff and slipped it in because I wanted to allude to the researchers at Pangaea having tried different methods of controlling the dinosaurs in the past, but they didn’t work. When re-reading Leviathans for the revised release in January 2002, I remembered the A.I.I. chips and thought that basing a story around those might make for an interesting tale. Before, I simply wasn’t interested in doing a sequel to Leviathans because up till that point I hadn’t come up with what I felt was a strong idea for one.
Y: What kind of process did you go through in selecting the characters to be used in Dark Dawn? Also, were some of the characters based on people you know, or are they all purely fictional?
V: Early on, I realized I would need to use a cast of characters that are largely new, that hadn’t been in Leviathans - not only because most of the main characters in the first died in the end, but also because Dark Dawn’s story and setting required it. At first, I went about coming up with new characters by simply trying to do ones that were different from the first. Instead of having a man as the main star of the story (as it was in the first), I wanted a woman. Instead of having lovers that have a broken relationship that they eventually patch up (again, as it was in the first), I wanted lovers who have a great relationship, but eventually are torn down. Things like this really made my mind whirl as to coming up with characters for Dark Dawn. And the second step was picking people I know in real life who I thought would make interesting players in the story – so yes, there are several characters based off friends and family. A portion of them are purely fictional, like the lawyers and agents, but most of the main characters are reality based.
Y: Out of all the characters you've created for Dark Dawn ... which character is your favorite? Which is your least favorite? And why for each answer, please.
V: That’s a tough one. I like and dislike each character for different reasons really, but in the end I’d have to go with Piper as my favorite, and Fletcher as my least favorite. I admire Piper because I admire the person she’s patterned after – a very good friend of mine. I enjoy her role in Dark Dawn the most because the audience takes the journey with her, like we experience most of it through her eyes. And I think that really adds to her being very relatable. As for Fletcher, I dislike him because I dislike who he’s based off of – a man I met several years ago who was very head-strong, very opinionated, and very cold. I wanted the reader to get very annoyed by Fletcher, and to dislike him right off the bat – because in effect, he’s almost the embodiment of the wrong way in which technology is being used in the story. I wanted his character to stand for not only the aforementioned, but also subtly for totalitarianism.
Y: The way you describe one of the story's main settings, the San Diego Zoo, is wonderfully detailed in several areas throughout the story. How much research was done for that? Also, how much research was done for the story, as a whole, especially in regards to the aforementioned zoo, the paleo info, and the Arawete Tribal Community.
V: All in all, a solid day of research was set aside for this story. To get accurate descriptions of each setting, I would either visit it, or if that weren’t an option (as is the case with Brazil), I would investigate a detailed map. All of the information on the paleontology and Arawete tribe took hours to look up, and then translating that into the story in a believable way is just as tough – you don’t want it to sound like the character is a talking textbook, you want it sound like its actually a real person providing the information. Because of that, I spent a considerable amount of time placing all of the research into the dialogue. It wore me out a bit.
Y: What do you feel is the strongest part of Dark Dawn, in terms of dialogue, character development, action, plot, etc.?
V: I must say that I’m more proud of the plot in Dark Dawn than in any other fan-fic I’ve written. I spent so much time working out the little details of how it would all play out in the end, and how different characters on separate parts of the world would be revealed as being intertwined with a master plan at the climax. I had a great time doing that, and I’m also really satisfied with the weaving of action sequences, character development, and plot movements throughout it. Plus, I feel the plot has a good theme about it – man is nature’s enemy. Earth is being polluted, its natural resources are being rapidly depleted, and life is being destroyed because of man. This is shown in a very subtle way in Dark Dawn’s plot with man & technology overcoming the animal.
Y: The Deinonychus - the sympathetic aggressor in the San Diego Zoo parts of the story. How did you decide which dinosaur to use for this? Is the Deinonychus one of your dino favorites?
V: Well I knew from the beginning that I didn’t want the plot to revolve around a huge dinosaur, like a Rex, or a Brachiosaurus, or anything like that – mainly because I felt the action of a dinosaur loose in the zoo worked much better if it was a smaller dinosaur, about the size of a man. In early drafts of the story, I was going to use a Velociraptor as the animal that would be shipped to the zoo, but realized I wanted accuracy in the descriptions of the animal. So I couldn’t use the over-sized Jurassic Park Raptors, nor did I want to use the actual, real-life Velociraptor, since they were only the size of chickens, roughly. Deinonychus, I felt, was a good choice because it hadn’t been featured in Leviathans, and it was just the right size for a dinosaur to be sneaking around the zoo in hiding. And I think having the dinosaur be man-sized makes the whole notion of a zoo exhibit being created for it seem a little more plausible. As for the Deinonychus being one of my favorites, I’d have to say yes. I love their look, and what they were capable of. I was pretty fascinated by them as a kid.
Y: The end of Dark Dawn is quite shocking. How did you come to that decision? And were you worried about reader reactions?
V: I came to that decision because I wanted the end of Dark Dawn to mirror the ending of Leviathans - in other words, in both cases, the main characters experience extreme loss. The reason is I wanted to show two different aftermaths of generally the same event. While Drakon ends up digging himself into further sorrow and loss after all the Pangaea researchers die, Piper and Gavin decide that they will make it through the torment together to reach a brighter tomorrow after the death of their daughter. So in a way, it explores different examples of the human spirit and driving forces after tragedy. I knew that because of the downer ending, it may turn off a few fans, but I really wanted to go with it because of the reasons stated above.
Y: Have you thought about writing further sequels to Leviathans? If so, could you please provide some details, if you've gotten that far in the creative process? Personally, I'd love to see something with Joel and Hayden returning again.
V: At the moment, there aren’t any plans for another sequel. I think I’ll most likely keep it at a duology, instead of making a trilogy. I think Leviathans and Dark Dawn complement each other very well, and work together without needing another installment. In the past, I’ve thought of doing a spin-off called “The Trial of Edward Drakon”, which is basically a courtroom drama with the FBI Agents from Dark Dawn as some of the key players. Right now, its not likely that I’m going to be writing that, since there are other projects that are more important to me. Another idea I thought of was having a Summer weekly mini-series set before Leviathans about the early adventures of Paul, Amy, and Rick in Pangaea. It’s only a possibility, and I haven’t worked out any of the details. Basically, there are no definite plans as of yet.
Y: You had some very nice looking logos, when you posted Dark Dawn the first time. Who made them and how long did it take to make them?
V: I made them myself, and it took me about an hour to compose the poster and logo. It involved a lot of compositing, color grading, and shading before I got the final result. For more information on this subject, I put together extra bonus material on the art below.
Y: As this interview comes to a close, I wanted to ask you some basic writing questions. When you begin writing a story, do you already have a blueprint (outline, if you will) of what will happen? If so, how closely do you follow that blueprint? Do you allow yourself to add or remove sequences and/or ideas, as you go?
V: I really depends on the story. Sometimes, I’ve just began to write with only a very basic plot idea, and see what way I want to take it as I write. Other times, I’ve intricately planned out the plot in advance – in such a case, the only way I would deviate from the outline is if I were to get an idea for something later that would top what I had planned. So I’m strict in following the details I work out before hand, but not so strict as to hinder the creative process.
Y: When you read user comments, do any of those comments sway you in a direction you hadn't thought of before? Do you ever alter the story after reading user comments?
V: Again, it depends on the story. There have been plenty of times where users have pointed out that they would like the story better if it went in a certain direction, and sometimes I follow their wishes. Other times, the comments don’t sway me to alter the story, especially if its something either very personal to me. No matter what, though, I always love hearing from the readers. They are very, very supportive and often times helpful – it’s great to have an audience like that.
Y: How much of a story do you get complete, before posting the first part of it at Dan’s?
V: There’ve been a few cases where I’ve completed the entire story in advance before I’ve released it. The reason for that was because I wanted to see how it played out as a whole before I had others read it. But most of the time, I’ll be releasing the story as I write it - in other words, every time I finish a chapter, I release it.
Y: Do you have other writing projects slated for release soon? If so, could you provide the readers with some sort of time line? I'm sure they (and myself) would be more than interested to know what you have in store for them in the future.
V: I’m happy to have a very full writing schedule. In June 2003, I’m going to begin releasing Nightfall N.Y., which is an old-fashioned throwback to 1940’s Humphrey Bogart film noir – I’m very excited about that. In Fall 2003, I hope to begin writing a sci-fi drama. In 2004, I’m planning to release some more Special Editions of my past works, and perhaps a film script about a family on 9/11.
Y: Well, that's about all the questions I have, Vader. I'd like to thank you for allowing me to interview you, and I'd also like to thank you for writing a thought-provoking and entertaining story. Dark Dawn is all of those things, and more. :)
V: I enjoyed the interview. Thank you very much, Yvonne.
***DELETED SCENE***
Introduction: One of the first action pieces I came up with for Dark Dawn was the only sequence cut from the plot in its entirety. I came up with it while brainstorming different incidents that could occur if a dinosaur was running loose in a zoo, and figured it would be interesting to have the Deinonychus stumble into the pen of another animal and to get into a confrontation with it. As I began to start work on the final acts of the story, I didn’t feel comfortable sandwiching this scene in between any of the others, because I felt it made the climax loose some of its momentum. Most of the events covered in the conclusion focus tightly on the main characters, and to have an unnecessary action sequence within that just seemed out of place to me. Although cut out, I still think it makes an exciting read:
~ “The Tiger Battle” ~
Crackles of dead leaves and snapping of twigs sounded upward from the jungle floor as deadly, sickle-like claws set into the moist soil. The prehistoric leviathan prowled through new terrain, curiously turning its head back and forth, sniffing the particles in the air. Without warning, a fine mist, shimmering in the quick beams of sunlight that perpetrated the trees, ejected from tiny, black devices that began to pop up from the ground all around it. Startled and annoyed, it purred while eyeing the machinery warily, and snapped at it, shoving some back underneath the mud. As bubbles issued forth and pools began to form from the clogged sprinklers, the majestic predator moved onward, its mind freed from the brutal control of the A.I.I. chip, yet now imprisoned to relative mania in aftermath.
The path it now look led to a clearing, where the ground came to an abrupt end, evolving into a drop that led into the bottom of a small canyon, filled with lush grasses and pools of water. Driven by its craving for water, it leapt down to the bottom without hesitance, landing in a bed of reeds and surprising several small birds gathered in the area, sending them to scatter. Rushing towards the crystal clear brook, it lowered its head and relentlessly sipped the refreshing liquid.
The scent of a potential rival had gone unnoticed.
A low growl rumbled from behind, evoking the Deinonychus to spin around. Facing it was a large, threatening body of muscle and power, covered with orange and black fur, its lips curled upward to reveal razor-sharp fangs, the menacing call resonating from its deep vocal chords.
Immediately ready for battle, the ancient animal hastily shot itself into the back of the modern-day beast, clawing into its skin and sinking its teeth into the back. A thundering punch with a large paw and tumble into the ground from the huge cat was enough to hurl its attacker away. At the same time, both of them pounced back into their feet regaining balance, locking eyes, embodying the sight of two life forms from totally separate ends of time that should never have met, facing off in combat.
The tiger charged, doing its best to protrude the dinosaur’s leathery scales with its thick sabers. Its opponent jumped away, quicker and more agile than its enemy, leaping into its back once more. Once back on top, it took the opportunity to drive its toe claws into the tiger’s back, firmly positioning itself on top. The lethally angry mammal roared in pain, swiping at the bird-like reptile.
The Deinonychus aimed for the neck, trying to clench it and bring the animal down. In doing so, it was momentarily distracted, and wasn’t ready when the ferocious opposition flung his body against a log placed across the small river. With a crack, the dinosaur’s body splintered the fallen tree, embedding itself within. The inertia was enough to cause the humongous claws of the beast to tear into the tiger’s underbelly, leaving large gashes that ensured fatality.
The cat snarled, snapping its jaws at the neck of its enemy although weakened. With hundreds of shards of wood protruding from its back, and a large fragment lodged into the stump where its hand had fallen off, the Deinonychus jumped away with a howl, running into the overgrowth and disappearing from the tiger’s view. The wounded duel mate’s attentive eyes watched the space where the prehistoric animal had left until it eventually tossed itself into the nearby grass bed, heaving a sigh, left for dead.
***EXTENDED SCENES***
#1 Introduction: Here is a piece that lengthens the moment between Piper and Fletcher right before they discover that the A.I.I. chip is inactive. I considered the entire mood & dialogue of the scene to be little iffy when looking over it following completion. I realized that while Fletcher was given a bit of a back story in this scenario, I really just wanted him to embody the essence of cruelty towards the “Deinonychus, and giving him a sympathetic past took away from really disliking him as a big anti-hero. I took it out soon after. One interesting thing to note though, is that Fletcher’s stepson, who he speaks about in this scenario, is actually intended to be a character from the prologue of Leviathans - a subtle nod that a few fans might catch.
~ “Control Room Confrontation” ~
With a sigh, the woman turned and walked across the wide courtyard, directly toward the Deinonychus Jungle” exhibit. She trotted inside, scratching her head and then placing her hands inside her pockets, pulling out her set of keys and identifying a single, silver one for use of the ‘Employees Only’ gate which led up to the control station. She unlocked it, causing it to make a short buzz, walked up the steps, turning around a railing, entering inside the control center.
She plopped down into the chair next to Fletcher, who was in the middle of smoking a cigar, his barrel-chest moving up and down as he took puffs. “Alright, I’ll take over, Fletch,” she told the red-haired man, eyeing him with disgust in remembrance of what he’d done earlier, moved to tersely make a statement. “By the way, if I ever catch you doing that again, I sware I’ll -”
“You’ll do what? Huh?” Fletcher shot back, just about as annoyed with her as she was with him. “Lay off me, Sealy. I’m not about to have you lecturing me on how to treat the dinosaur.” They snarled at each other like either was the scum of the earth.
“You just don’t care, do you?” Piper shot up from her seat, facing him in the eye. “You just don’t give a damn about it! You could’ve killed it, but you just don’t care!” A sneer marked both of their faces, edging closer my the second.
“You’re telling me I don’t care? You’re telling me what I feel?” Fletcher spat with a tinge of hurt. “Let me tell you something, Sealy – years ago, my stepson, God rest his soul, was found murdered down in Brazil, half eaten by some sort of huge beast. Based on autopsy, I’d bet every penny I got that what did him in was one of those monsters!” He snapped his arm towards the exhibit below, pointing, tears welling in his eyes. “Now I’ll do whatever I freakin’ want to that blasted animal! If it weren’t for all the money, I’d of killed it already!”
Stunned at the unexpected revelation, Piper stood still, glaring at her workmake with a quizzical eye. The scowling man, spun and stormed away into the next room over, slamming the door behind him.
___
#2 Introduction: This expands upon the action between the Deinonychus and Fletcher, and contains an extra battle between the dinosaur and some other zoo employees. When I read this version of the whole section over, I got the feeling that it dragged on a bit too long and got a tad over-the-top, and decided to shorten it to what is seen in the actual story. This was the single extended scene that I kept in the story up till the last minute before release.
~ “Extended Arial Tram Sequence” ~
Once inside their individual booths, the hunters all were extremely attentive, their rifles ready, taking their cars up and high above the Zoo on the lookout for one thing - the escaped bipedal predator, who, little did they know, was watching them from the bushes straight ahead, a low, aggravated purr sounding from its resonating chamber. The first one to notice the Deinonychus was Fletcher, who immediately whipped his barrel-nose around to aim and fire.
The bullet missed the animal by centimeters, spraying up dirt from the ground, followed by the whiz of more carefully aimed shots from other zoo employees that were avoided by the quick beast. It was now fully provoked, its feathers standing up on end in a display of anger. As the last of the cars made its way upwards to the first of the many towers across the Zoo grounds that held the cable in their arms, the carnivore leapt onto a boulder within a nearby pond just beyond the reeds to its right, scattering quaking ducks everywhere while it sprung itself to the top of the aerial tour station, turning and making one more lunge to reach the first car.
It shattered the glass windbreaker in the back of the sky tramcar in doing so, landing in the center to be greeted with a round of speedy bullets flying in its direction. Eyeing Fletcher as the nearest source of threat, the dinosaur prepared to jump for him, only to be cut off guard to its left from a newly approaching car, carrying backup security personnel. With an irritated purr, the animal flung itself directly across to the next line over, flying through the air hundreds of feet above the zoo grounds, landing on top of the car and skidding to a stop.
Shots were fired from underneath, penetrating the roof and nicking the skin on the predator’s ankle. With a terrifying shriek, the beast snapped downward, reaching into the space below and grabbing the human with its fangs. When ready to snap its prey’s neck with one quick shift of the jaw, menacing bullets sputtered its way at the last minute from Fletcher. Distracted by another foe, the prehistoric being dropped the one it held, causing the man to trip and plunge out of the car and into oblivion below.
The Deinonychus readied itself for a jump as Fletcher nabbed it in the tail, cut off all of a sudden by the upcoming tower that held the cable lines in its coils. With a disturbed growl, the dinosaur leapt from the car to the tip of the tower in the blink of an eye, crashing down on Fletchers car on the opposite side, sending tiny shards of glass to lodge them into the surface of his eyeball before he could turn away from the breaking. His eyes fluttered open and closed, the insides of his eyelids being severely scratched from the sharp fragments stuck in place atop his pupils. Stunned, he wildly fired his rifle again, not anywhere close to hitting the creature, instead sending a bullet straight upward into the device that held the roof of the car to the cable, making the sky booth rock back and forth. He fired again, straying bullets aimed outside of the craft.
Realizing he didn’t have much hope of shooting the animal, and in a desperate attempt to escape it before it could attack him, Fletcher raised his hands up to the edge of the roof, swinging himself upward and blindly pulling himself onto the top, instinctively clinging to his weapon at the chest. Thinking just as fast, the prehistoric predator flung itself upon the roof with a mighty leap, slamming atop the human, causing the rifle to discharge into the connector between the cable and the car once again.
At that, it snapped, sparks flew, and the car plunged through the air, slowly turning upside down on its way to the ground. Before it hit rock bottom, the Deinonychus expertly jumped away from the doomed vehicle, landing on the cement with a tumble, just seconds before it bashed on the ground, crushing Fletcher in the process with a giant splat and thud.
___
#3 Introduction: What follows is a lengthier version of the part where Piper discovers her daughter’s corpse, showing her ready to kill herself, and then her resolve to let herself live and go back to Gavin. I realized by the time I completed Dark Dawn that the scene would actually be more effective if it cut off where she’s about to kill herself, to create an illusion that she’s dead and add an element of surprise to her rescuing of Gavin from the Deinonychus at the finale.
~ “The Suicide Decision” ~
She became an embodiment of agony, her force of life and her drive seemed to black out then, as uncontrollable depression ate up her very soul, causing her to move her hand downward, unbuckling a container at her belt, reaching in to firmly take up the handle of her blade, bringing her other hand around to have both of them hold the dagger high above her, ready to bring it down and plunge into her heart.
The dagger shook rapidly, on the verge of making its final and fatal wound. The shimmering of the silver weapon reflected blood . . . sweat . . . tears. She wanted to end it all, to rid herself of her misery that was sure to stretch forever. Her eyelids were shut tight, her teeth bared, liquid pouring from her face, her brow tense. The dagger strayed, inching forward, the hands holding it tight with strain.
Gavin’s image floated back to her . . . the man who’d taken care of her and Jezelle for all those years . . . who’d never left her side . . . who was always there for her no matter what. And now, would she leave him? Would she abandon him, and deny them both of the strength they would gain from each other?
Would she? Could she? The dagger tumbled to the cement with a clang as Piper fell downward, weeping upon her child’s body. As the tears fell to Jezelle’s cold cheek a rolled down as if they were her own, her tragic mother lifted the body up and carried it away from the darkness of the shed, towards her vehicle in the light of the sunset.
***ALTERNATE SCENE DESCRIPTIONS***
When I first outlined what Dark Dawn would be like, there were two major scenes that were changed quite a bit before I even wrote them. What follows are descriptions of these 2 scenes, how they were different from the actual written ones in the story, and why they were finally changed.
The Opening Bed Scene - At first, I was planning on opening this scene with Piper and Gavin already in their bedroom, containing very erotic descriptions of their experience, and ending with “I love you”. I decided against this because I didn’t want the introduction of the characters to be a sequence in this fashion, and figured it would come across as too contrived and tacked on just for the sake of having a sex scene. Another reason I scrapped it is because I wanted to introduce the entire family in one scenario, instead of bringing Jezelle into the picture later on in the story. Because of this, I re-envisioned this scene, and wrote it with extra, character-defining dialogue, a toned down sex moment with Piper and Gavin, and the establishment of their daughter included.
The FBI Desert Investigation - This was originally going to be a rather long, very descriptive sequence that actually showed the FBI going to Death Valley and investigating the place where RiCorp said they’d found the Deinonychus. While I’m sure it could’ve been an interesting part of the story, I thought that since it took place apart from what was going on at the zoo, and basically took several paragraphs to sum up what could be said in a few short sentences, I thought it would be best to leave it out of the story so as not to slow down the pace, or depart from the focus of the tests that were being performed with the A.I.I. chip. In its place is a simple explanation from the FBI Agents at the board meeting of how they went to the desert, but found nothing.
***“SEQUELIZING”: THE EARLY CONCEPTS FOR DARK DAWN***
Picture this: a fan-fic favorite is looming behind you as you furiously try to spark an idea that will live up the one that became so successful. You ask yourself: “Can I do it? I can I capture lightning in a bottle twice?” The fans of the first story continue to request a continuation as you keep on driving away at coming up with a plot that can somehow fulfill their wishes. You scramble to complete it and give it to them. In the end, the reaction is likely to be one of two things: A) “It was good, but not as good as the first”; or B) “It stunk”.
This is so often the process of “sequelizing”. That is the reason I always shy away from doing sequels. And by sequels, I don’t mean stories that had been planned since the beginning of writing the first, in order to tell one big saga – I mean stories that are derived only after the success of the first. I consider that process to be almost always very contrived, limiting creativity, and ensuring probable disappointment.
Granted, there is a small list of artworks in both film and literary history where sequels have garnered reputations of outdoing the original and being better in most aspects. A few of these exemplary titles may spring to your mind. However, this is still a small few out of so many, and thus far they’ve done nothing to uplift the general opinion that most sequels aren’t as good as their predecessors. They also do nothing to cure my abstaining from creating sequels.
Dark Dawn is the first, and I guess the last, case where I’ve “sequelized” one of my works. The road to finally getting a satisfying result wasn’t an easy one in the least, incorporating the lengthy job of sifting through concepts, and ultimately scrapping all but one.
Before I share early concepts I considered, I must say that my decision to create sequels is drastically different from many in the entertainment industry, who decide to create sequels first and go about choosing a concept for the project afterwards. My decision to make the sequel entirely revolves around whether or not I can come up with a good, solid story that can connect to the original, and stand on its own as worthy work at the same time.
That being said, the only thing that actually got me started considering different ideas for “Leviathans 2” was the fans. So many of them were adamant about my continuing the story, left open entirely for the imagination at the end of the first. Although I was turned to this off initially, due to the reasons stated above, I soon found several ideas popping into my head for how to extend Leviathans.
The earliest concepts were the worst. There was a thought in which Edward Drakon would return to the ruined Pangaea to retrieve some essential files for his company, only to find himself on the brink of death. Another was Nathaniel Drakon coming back with friends to show off the site, and getting trapped inside the main research dome with no way out. At the time, I thought they were unoriginal, bland ideas. Looking back, I think they’re absolutely putrid. Not only doesn’t it make sense for the characters to be so willing to go back, but there would be no way for the dinosaurs to stay hidden from the Brazilian public without human supervision for more than a very brief while.
It was another month or two before another potential story popped into my brain, courteously of a deleted scene from Leviathans - a raptor sneaking into a native village and hunting. While this scene never fit into the plot of the first, I thought it may make for an interesting and cannon story for a second – a plot centered on the mystery of what is attacking this remote village, and how the inhabitants deal with it. This may’ve turned out to be rather entertaining and spooky, but I just didn’t feel it was good enough to live up to Leviathans. Of course, this did end up becoming a sequence in Dark Dawn.
Finally, upon my re-reading of Leviathans in preparation for its Special Edition release, the extremely early, malformed version of what is now the sequel came into being. I noted that ‘A.I.I. chips’ had been mentioned briefly as a previous attempt of controlling the dinosaurs, and this fired my enthusiasm immediately. Initially, I wanted to do a prequel, entirely revolving around the creating of these chips in Pangaea, at a time when Paul, Amy, and Rick were just meeting each other. It sounded like a good idea to me, but I just didn’t think it would stand well on its own as good book.
I continued to cultivate this A.I.I. concept in order to fit it into the period after Leviathans, and within a month, I’d mapped out a plan for an intricate plot that I was thoroughly excited about. Not only was I glad to be able to return to the world of Pangaea, but I also considered the newly crafted story to hold up to the original rather well, concealing a message about man and nature that Leviathans only hinted at.
So, in the end . . . did my own “sequelizing” process produce a worthy result? I’ll leave that up to you.
***ORIGINAL TRAILER***
Introduction: This is the teaser trailer constructed and released in March 2002, three months before the story’s release. At the time of this trailer’s release, the writing and editing was still going on, and the story was not yet complete. This is evident in the preview, since the woman in it is called “Dr. Davison” – a character whose name was later changed to “Piper Sealy” instead. I had always intended to follow this preview up with a longer one, but ended up not doing so, since I was already releasing posters and logos (see below) and didn’t want the promos to become too numerous.
~ Teaser Trailer ~
*Black screen*
*Fade in to a shot of the Pangaea research facilities, burning in flames (no noise)*
*Blackness*
*Fade to a shot of rock. The shadow of a creature apon the rock walks toward a large bulky device (no noise)*
*Blackness*
Voice: Dr. Davison?
*Fade in to the view of a woman from behind, looking out into a zoo aviary filled with tropical birds*
*Woman turns around*
Woman: Yes?
Voice: I believe we have something that may be of interest to you and the zoo . . .
*Flash to a view of a large metal cage with a reptilian eye staring out of it, the camera draws closer and closer to the eye as a menacing purr sounds*
*Fade in slowly to a close up a of a high-tech chip marked A.I.I., fade out*
DARK DAWN: LEVIATHANS II
The story continues this July . . .
***POSTER ART***
Introduction: The art created for Dark Dawn was drastically different than any I’d done for other fan-fiction stories. This was because I wanted the images to reflect the dark mood of the story. I experimented with several different versions of logos until I finally came up with the idea that perfectly fit what I wanted. After the logo was created from scratch – involving lots of experimentation with font types and colors - I set about working on a poster. In order to craft this, I composeted and graded several sections of various shots of jungle flora and intentionally kept it very, very mysterious looking, only showing the moonlit back of an intriguing creature prowling instead of the whole body. The final result of the artwork was a campaign that served to give Leviathans fans a tantalizing taste of what the sequel would be like, and heightened the anticipation up till its summer release.
~ Original Dark Dawn Logo ~
~ Original Dark Dawn Poster ~
~ ‘One Week’ Promotional Poster ~
***RELEASE & REVIEWS***
Introduction: Although slated for a July 1st release, the writing of the story was completed ahead of schedule, and the prologue of Dark Dawn was put into the fan-fiction section in June. Soon after its successful debut, it was honored in the 2002 Dan’s Page Fan-Fic Awards with nominations for “Best Overall Story”, “Best Fan-Fiction”, “Best Descriptions”, and “Best Character” for Piper Sealy.
~ Reader’s Comments Record ~
Original Release (June 2002) – The 1st year anniversary of Leviathans
(6/26/02) Opening Day - 9 comments
Total Opening Weekend - 11 comments
Total Release Grossing - 14 comments
~ Excerpts From Some of the Critiques ~
“Character development is a major stand out in this fan-fic. You've really gone through some great lengths to construct such memorable characters. The plot seems to be moving along nicely, weaving both science and fiction together seamlessly.”
-AlanGrant5
“So it might not be the best we've seen of Vader, who the hell cares! 3/5”
-Carnotaur3
“I'm having a great time reading this story, as it gets me very emotional. :)”
-Yvonne
“Kickass - the descriptions are some of the best and the dialogue shines at times.”
-Carna
“Ay, that was a superb ending! Sad, yet fulfilling. Overall, a great story- one example of a sequel that actually lives up to the original!”
-Dino_Dude
“Amazingly Original (Even innovative compared to the first one). Great Character Development, like the first. Intelligent writing.”
-TobyCompy
~ Reader Tribute ~
For the past several years here at Dan’s, I’ve been extremely fortunate to have such loyal readers. This was never more evident than it was at the time of Dark Dawn’s release, and I’d now like to give a very special ‘thank you’ to all who supported my writing it back then – couldn’t have done it without you:
AlanGrant5 / Brad / Carna / Carnotaur3 / Dino_Dude / Icebreaker / JPLunatic / Neo-the1 / Panos / slims91 / TobyCompy2.0 / TyrannoRex112 / Yvonne
***CHARACTER PROFILES***
NAME: Piper Sealy
AGE: 29
APPEARANCE: Rather long, blonde hair; attractive face & body; 125 lbs; 5’4
HISTORY: Born and raised in San Diego, Piper took a keen interest in animals at a very early age that proved to stay with her for the rest of her life. Soon after graduating from high school, she moved away to the east coast, attending college and majoring in Animal Sciences and Social Work in hopes of getting a job at an animal park of some kind. It was there that she met Gavin, her future husband, and began to date him almost immediately. After finishing her schooling, Piper managed to land a job at the place she used to love to visit as a child – the San Diego Zoo. Gavin agreed move with her back to San Diego, and the two had been enjoying married life ever since.
ROLE: In the beginning, Piper was an advocate of usage of the A.I.I. chip, cooking up delusions of grandeur about a worldwide animal park revolution. However, once she witnessed the brutal totalitarian control the technology had over the animal, she turned against it, just before disaster struck. Once the Deinonychus escaped the power of the A.I.I., Piper’s life was left permanently scarred with the loss of her little girl. Her and her husband have been struggling in the wake of the incident ever since.
NAME: Gavin Sealy
AGE: 30
APPEARANCE: Short brown hair; handsome; muscular build; 175 lbs; 6’1
HISTORY: Born in France, Gavin was brought by his mother (whom his father had abandoned) to America when he was still a baby, bringing him up in Maine till the time he was a teenager. When high school ended, Gavin eagerly moved to New York City and began his college years, majoring in business. He met his future wife, Piper, in one of his early classes. They immediately hit it off and began dating. Gavin was in the midst of searching for a job in New York when his girlfriend informed him she wanted to move to the West Coast. Unsure of whether or not he could go, he rapidly looked for employing in San Diego, and his fears were soon put to rest. They were married and gave birth to their child not long after the move.
ROLE: A hard-working and caring father, Gavin made an effort to be supportive to Piper in all she did, including her decisions on whether or not to support the A.I.I. chip. His peaceful family was suddenly shattered when his loved ones were put in danger, moving him to hide his little girl safely away till he could bring extra back up. This resulted in an unforeseeable tragedy, and Gavin has had to live with guilt over his decision for the rest of his life.
NAME: John Reno
AGE: 53
APPEARANCE: Grey hair; handsome; stern-looking; 160 lbs; 5’8
HISTORY: Born & raised in Missouri, John moved to San Francisco at age 20, and began to train in law enforcement. Several years of experience led him to becoming a top-notch FBI agent, held with the highest respect by his peers, and commanding a fantastic reputation.
ROLE: John and his partner were called upon to meet with the Zoological society of San Diego and handle their concerns, finding himself wary of the entire situation. Little did he know that it would irrupt into a full blown, international investigation. John was a key player in uncovering the secrets behind the Deinonychus and the A.I.I. chip.
NAME: Ronald Key
AGE: 32
APPEARANCE: Light red hair; striking features; youthful-looking; 150 lbs; 5’8
HISTORY: Born in Wyoming, Ronald had no father figure growing up, and ending up moving with his mother all over the country through most of his childhood. He dreamed of becoming a policeman as a teenager, but soon changed his goal to achieving detective status. Attaining training in Los Angeles, Key soon met up with the John Reno, becoming his trainee and forging a tight bond with the man like father & son.
ROLE: Working along side John Reno in taking the case involving the Deinonychus, Key was nervous about the affairs with the A.I.I. chip, and his concerns soon proved to be legitimate when the dinosaur broke out and wreaked havoc. Key was essential to discovering clues that would lead to the prime suspects in the case.
NAME: Joel Rockwell
AGE: 26
APPEARANCE: Short brown hair; wears glasses; slender; 140 lbs; 5’9
HISTORY: Growing up in a tightly nit family in Los Angeles, Joel and his brother were both obsessed with dinosaurs as kids, and always dreamed of being paleontologists when they grew up. Joel was the first to actually begin studies in that field, and made fantastic progress in his training.
ROLE: While taking a trip to Brazil to meet with his long-time friend, Joel and his brother accidentally stumbled upon the remains of Pangaea, witnessing the capturing of one of the dinosaurs. He made the decision to call the FBI when hearing about the animal being exhibited in the zoo, providing vital information that led to the arrest of the perpetrators.
NAME: Hayden Rockwell
AGE: 24
APPEARANCE: Wavy blonde hair; slender, similar to Joel’s features; 135 lbs; 5’8
HISTORY: A close follower of his older brother, Hayden became interested in dinosaurs very early on, and the interest eventually propelled him to enroll in college to major in Paleontology alongside Joel.
ROLE: Accompanied by his sibling, he discovered Pangaea and witnessed a mysterious capturing. When Joel decided to inform the FBI of what occurred, Hayden was eager to help.
NAME: Jezelle Sealy
AGE: 3
APPEARANCE: Sandy-blonde hair; slightly pudgy; cute; 30 lbs; 2’5
HISTORY: Born in San Diego to two loving parents, Jezelle had a wonderful childhood. She took after her mother in being fascinated with animals early on, always enjoying trips to the San Diego Zoo.
ROLE: Jezelle’s short life was ended abruptly by tragedy. She happened to be at the zoo with her parents on the fateful day of the Deinonychus’s escape. Terrified of the creature, she faced her fears when it managed to find its way into her hiding place and put her to death.
NAME: Jonah Crockford
AGE: 50
APPEARANCE: Graying black hair; gray mustache; strong build with some flab; 160 lbs; 6’1
HISTORY: Jonah was born in La Jolla, California, to very rich parents. His father was an administrator at the San Diego Zoo, and inspired his son to pursue a similar career.
ROLE: Eager to add the Deinonychus to the collection of zoo animals, and greedy for the money it would bring him, Jonah was zealous and perhaps hasty about signing the contract with RiCorp and owning the animal. He was hit hard when the dinosaur escaped, put into a depression about the wealth lost.
NAME: Joan Westerfeld
AGE: 41
APPEARANCE: Brown hair; slender; slightly pretty; 135 lbs; 5’6
HISTORY: Like Jonah Crockford, Joan was inspired by one of her parents to pursue a career – her mother was a well-reputed lawyer in San Diego when she was born. Joan actively studied law and eventually reached a status higher than her mother’s.
ROLE: One of the chief lawyers for the San Diego Zoo, Joan was at first cautious about the dinosaur and the A.I.I. chip, but soon became giddy over the possibilities, joining Crockford in the eagerness to sign the contract.
NAME: James Fletcher
AGE: 46
APPEARANCE: Graying dark brown hair; wrinkled skin from smoking; small beer gut; 165 lbs; 5’7
HISTORY: Born to abusive parents in a slum in San Diego, Fletcher ran away at eighteen and looked for employment at the zoo. He started off as a cashier, but in taking some extra training, he managed to work his way up to a position in the security division many years later.
ROLE: Seeming to carry a chip on his shoulder, Fletcher was very much supportive of the A.I.I. chip, undaunted in using it ruthlessly to maintain complete control over the Deinonychus. After the beast escaped, Fletcher was adamant about finding and killing it, and in his search to do so, was found and killed by the animal itself.
NAME: Manuel Rodriquez
AGE: 28
APPEARANCE: Short black hair; brown complexion; slightly handsome; thin; 150 lbs; 5’9
HISTORY: Born in Brazil, Manuel often found entertainment by exploring the jungles and uncovering the animals that inhabited them. In young adulthood, he made the decision to continue to study them, becoming involved in a student-exchange-like program and traveling to America while taking college classes. He forged a bond with the Rockwell brothers in doing so, and encouraged them to come visit him in Brazil after he returned to his home country.
ROLE: When his friends, Joel and Hayden, finally made it down to visit him, Manuel was filled with joy and hospitable to his guests in an effort to repay them for the kindness they showed him in the states.
***“DEINONYCHUS DATABASE”***
NAME: Deinonychus (die-NON-i-kus) – “terrible claw”; named in 1969 by John Ostrom
APPEARANCE: Over 11 ft long; nearly 2.8 ft high at the hips; over 160 lbs
DIET: Carnivorous; eats other dinosaurs
LIVED IN: Early Cretaceous; located in Wyoming, Montana, and possibly Maryland
DISCOVERY: In an era when dinosaurs were believed to be sluggish and slow, John Ostrom was one of the first to suspect that these prehistoric lizards were quite the opposite – the Deinonychus being one of the first finds that led him to believe so, having studied it in comparison to birds like the Archaeopteryx and realizing they were very much similar. He concluded that “dromaeosaurs”, the grounp of dinosaurs in which the likes of Deinonychus belong to, are very close relatives to their feathered friends. Interestingly enough, Deinonychus was not only the first dinosaur found with a lethal, sickle-like claw on its foot, but also the first member of the “dromaeosaur” group to be found as a complete skeleton, rather than fractions of the body.
ROLE: In the beginning of Edward Drakon’s grand vision for a dinosaur research camp, Deinonychus had a promising chance to become a prominent member of the prehistoric community within Pangaea. Alas, when Drakon chose their particular clan for the testing of A.I.I. chips, it resulted in catastrophe. All but one of their kind was left alone of the testing, and therefore, was free to continue his life rather than suffer the fate of his fellow members. This particular animal became somewhat of an outcast, roaming all over Pangaea with no territory of his own. Behavior such as this continued up till the point when it was unexpectedly captured, and imprisoned at the San Diego Zoo, befalling the same sinister fate as those before it – entrapped with the power of the A.I.I. chip, its life ruined, and eventually put out of its tormented misery in the middle of an ambush.
~ Please Comment ~
4/18/2003 9:52:24 PM
(Updated: 4/18/2003 10:01:41 PM)
(Updated: 4/18/2003 10:02:38 PM)
(Updated: 4/23/2003 7:00:46 PM)
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