July 17, 2005
Highlights from the Dan Knauf Chat
Episode 1 - Milfay

Thanks go to Allison for this summary

Q: How long did it take to shoot Milfay, 1st and 2nd pilots?

DK: If memory serves me, I believe it was 21 days.
DK: The add'l material on Brother Justin's side was shot piecemeal
once we'd gotten the green light for the series.

Q: In the WWI scenes, did Belyakov know it was Scudder he was shooting?

DK: Yes. Belyakov is stalking Scudder deliberately.

Q: Did you have a carni act in mind for Gecko? If so, can you
describe it?

DK: Normally, an act for a performer like Gecko was simply a reveal followed by his life story "usually fabricated" followed by questions and answers.

Q: Why did you choose a cornfield?

DK: Cornfields are creepy and there's something primal about them.

Q: Did Ben's mom go crazy from carrying a kid with powers or some other reason?

DK: Ben's mom went crazy because she carried an Avatar to term.

Q: Why did Ben not revive the baby? Why did he only take it from the mother and hand it to the "father?"

DK: The baby had been dead for days. Plus, Ben was unaware of the extent of his powers. And even if he wasn't, the cost would've been far too high.
DK: What he did do is heal the woman's spirit.

Q: Assuming there is far too much coincidence between Lodz and Bruno and Belyakov, did Belyakov set Lodz up as a form of revenge for his crippling?

DK: In war, absurd things happen.
DK: No. Belyakov did not hold Lodz responsible for the bear
attack. And, in fact, Lodz wasn't responsible. The bear was just p*ssed and hungry.

Q: Is Justin the one and only Usher? And is the one and only
function of the Usher to end the world?

DK: Justin is the one and only Usher. And his function has not been defined.
DK: I mean, I know what his function is, but I haven't revealed it yet.

Q: When Sofie first sees Ben leaving Lila's trailer, she picks up a Tarot card Momma made fall to the ground. Did she think it had any particular meaning to Ben? Which card was it?

DK: The card was "The Magician."
DK: I'm sorry.
DK: The card was "The Magician," reversed.

Q: You must have a fair grounding in Tarot reading to be able to write the symbolism into the script. However, not everybody does. Did you use your own interpretation of the cards, or the "standard" definitions that come in the little booklet?

DK: As far as the Tarot interpretation, I start with Rider/Waite, then take liberties.

Q: When you wrote Carnivale, did you have specific actors in mind to play Sofie, Ben, BJ, and Iris?

DK: I wrote the first draft of Carnivale in 1989 - 90. The only
person I thought about was Justin, and I was seeing him as Christopher Walken.

Q: Will you be attending the Emmy's in support of the Carnivale nominations? Congrats by the way!

DK: I really hate the whole idea of awards things, but, yes, I'll be attending. Unless "Wonder Showzen" is on.
DK: Heh.

Q: Forgive me, I haven't kept up for a couple of months. Have you revealed why Ben was in prison? And if you
haven't, will you now? Or is it supposed to come out later in the story?

DK: Ben was imprisoned for assaulting a bank officer. He
subsequently killed a guard while escaping.
DK: I know. Radical new info. But, what the hell. It's just a
brush-stroke, really.

Q: What's the significance of Boffo's ring/Scudder's little
trinket, and the visions Ben and Lodz see from contact with them?
DK: It's not so much the ring, it's the symbol. The Ordo Templar play a role in our mythology, but a heretofore supporting one.

Q: How confident are you that HBO will change their minds and bring back Carnivale? If they don't, is there an alternative plan?

DK: I really doubt HBO will change their minds. But I'm hoping that, if the fan-base grows, they might revisit it in the future. And don't be surprised if the story gets told in another medium.
DK: Heh.
DK: <----------- what a tease.

Q: Did Ben heal the little girl out of instinct or because of
Sofie's tarot reading concerning wasted talents?

DK: Ben's motivation for healing the girl was to just prove to
himself that Sofie's reading was crap. It was an attempt to deny that his power existed. He was, well, surprised. But not really.

Q: Did you cast Sofie with Dorothea Lange's 'Migrant Mother'
portrait in mind? (You know you were pushing our buttons eh? On many levels.)

DK: I cast Clea because, yes, she looked right for the period.
More importantly, she's brilliant.

Q: The question is richer than that. (Or are you still teasing?)

DK: Minerva, no. I really didn't have that image specifically in
mind. But I'd studied Lange's photos (and others) and wanted to fill the show with 1930s faces.

Q: What is really going on in Justin's mind when the coins fly out of Eleanor's mouth?

DK: Do you really want to know what was going on in Justin's mind at that moment?
DK: When Eleanor vomited coins,
DK: one word went through Justin's mind.
DK: "JACKPOT!!!"
DK: Heh.
DK: I just with HBO had gone with my note in the script that
indicated that "her eyes roll up 7s."
DK: But our digital budget was shot.
DK: At least, that's what they told me.

Q: What does Eleanor remember about the coin vomiting
hallucination/experience after it is over?

DK: Eleanor remembers the vomiting, but regards it as a vision from God.

Q (from Thalidar): Was the arrow which Lodz drew in the dust when the Carnivale first comes upon Ben pointing to Scudder?

DK: Thalidar, you rock. Love the Gospel.
DK: I actually don't know what the arrow signified. Patrick just
did it while we were shooting him, and we loved it. Rodrigo grabbed the insert, and we just threw it in.
DK: In the script, I just indicate that "Lodz absently scratches
something in the dirt" or something like that.

Q: The fetus in the jar in the trailer- was it purely symbolic
foreshadowing about management or was it intended to be something else?

DK: I think the fetus thing has been discussed to death.

Q: Was the scene with Bro J outside Chin's a sort of premonition of the fire and the blood of the killed children?

DK: The vision outside Chins was a symbolic harbinger of his
mission.
DK: The blood rain was a nod to Peter Gabriel.

Q: Jonesy and Sofie, why can't those two crazy kids just get it
together? Is there something in their past we should know about?

DK: The Jones and Sofie backstory was simply a tragedy of bad timing, misunderstandings and missed opportunities.
DK: We never got specific because we didn't need to to serve the story.
DK: My approach to exposition is that it should reflect real-life. I mean, we don't have to know every little thing to understand that two people are f*cked up and star-crossed IRL.
DK: It's a mystery. It feels real if it kinda stays that way.

Q: Both the CoL and CoD spent the better part of their lives not knowing/repressing their powers. Were the powers there all along in their entirety or did they "ripen" with age and experience?

DK: The powers are analogous to talent or potential. The learning is analogous to craft.
DK: I mean, they don't ripen with age. They ripen with use.

Q: Are you a Shemp or Curly person?
DK: Curly. Definitely. I try to like Shemp. He is, after all, a
Howard. But he just doesn't have Curly's finesse.
DK: Heh.

Q: Is it possible to finish your vision as a series of HBO Original Films?
DK: Anything is possible.

Q: I know ComicCon was for pleasure, but is there a specific artist out there who you'd want to ink a Carnivale graphic novel?

DK: I haven't really thought about it.
DK: Heh.

Q: Did Ben and Sofie really have a "connection" in the first
episode? They seemed to get close to each other, but then
they don't get close again until the second season. Like when Ben firsts notices her as they're burying his mother, for example.

DK: The reason we didn't have them fly together immediately is, well, it would've been insufferably boring and expected.

Q: Does Lodz know from reading Ben's dream that first night who Ben really is?

DK: Lodz knows that Ben is something "big," possibly an avatar, more likely a strong vectorus.

Q: What other mediums do you think would be worthy to tell the Carnivale story? I have trouble thinking of another medium that could really do justice to what the story can offer and HAS offered with the television format.

DK: I've been thinking of completing the story as a series of Lucky Lager bottle-cap puzzles.
DK: Just kidding.
DK: Really, the usual suspects. Print. Film.

Q: A few of us fanfic writers out here, myself included, were
wondering if you or anyone connected with the show reads Carnivale Fanfic? And your thoughts and opinions? Thank you.

DK: All I can say is that I don't read fanfic. But that doesn't
mean I'll never write fanfic.
DK: (What was that about mediums again?)
DK: Heh.

Q: Why are the fortune cards in French ? (Note: In the credits you put them in English- Judgement, Moon, Sun)

DK: The cards are in French because French is ever so much more lyrical and sexy than English, Oui?

Q: When magic (I) dies, will the world (XXI) die with it... or is
magic/the world already dead?

DK: I don't know. Is it?

Q: Do the first scenes of episodes 1 from both seasons, in which Samson speaks about the whole CoL and CoD thing with the war, happen after everything else ends? Is Samson telling the story of Carnivale to us now that it ended and everything's OK?

DK: Samson is telling us the story. And since when has everything ever been OK?

Q: Will you elaborate/clarify the "Ben and Sofie love each other more than life itself" comment?

DK: Is that statement really open to interpretation? It means what it says. Period.

Q: Just curious, but did you know that BlockBuster FINALLY has season 1 available for renting? Should get LOTS more fans now!

DK: Gawd, I hope so. At this rate, Blockbuster should have Season 2 in the next decade or so.

Q: Have you heard anything from Albrecht himself re: "It's In The Cards?"

DK: I have not had a conversation with Chris since the cancellation.

Q: How long did it take to come up with the eventual final script for the Milfay pilot that eventually became what we (hopefully everyone here) now own on DVD?

DK: I guess it was 13 years or so. But I wrote about 10 other
scripts in that period. I mean, I'd go back to it from time to
time, tweak it. You know...

Q: In season 2, when Sofie read the tarot cards to Ben and they both saw the future with them together and the explosion occurred, did this mean they were not meant to be together and that it would be catastrophic?

DK: The "nuclear kiss" only means what it will mean. It's a vision open to interpretation. By Ben. By Sofie. By you.

©CarnyCon

     the top-ten things YOU can
     do right now and more

     the latest news & events

     a ferris wheel full of Carnivale
     links and resources