#pjo behind the scenes

[personinthepalace]

If I has a nickel for every time a live action kids tv show made a golden replica of a child actor, I would have two nickels

Joshua Kilimnik as Odd Todd - Odd Squad Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson - Percy Jackson and the Olympians

[ofswordsandpens]

Yeah tv Percy being afraid of the water is confusing to me. I actually really liked that movie Percy had a connection to the water from the beginning since that wasn’t really mentioned in the books as far as I recall.

I'll say it with my chest: I think the show making young Percy, a son of Poseidon, scared of the water was silly, stupid, dumb.

Like I don't care if its a metaphor for his rocky relationship with Poseidon, or if it was simply the vessel they chose to showcase his dynamic with his mother and to be a parallel to the underwater scene where he breathes for the first time, or just whatever, it doesn't make me like it. Especially since they could have accomplished all of that without making young Percy nervous of the water.

And you're right, in the book I believe the most we know about Percy's connection to water before he knew he was a demigod is that he loved Montauk, even if "most of the time the sea was too cold to swim in" but idc you cannot convince me that young Percy was not obsessed with water. That if Sally had taken him to a pool, that she would be hard pressed to get him out rather than get him. That he would not be "inexplicably" lapping every other child in his swim lessons.

Then Percy's later, canon fear of drowning is something that is only developed due to a traumatic event where he nearly suffocated. This fear also had a metaphorical interpretation as well, but imo the moment where he nearly suffocated in SON really disturbed him because he's always felt so safe and at home in the water. And that was like the first time he didn't.

[aroaceleovaldez]

So, in your last post about the Percy Jackson TV show, I felt you lacked a few pieces of information/points. While it is true that the CGI in the film is pore and not constructed well, please note that while they have a large budget Disney has made a lot of restrictions to the show. In the original scrips there was a significantly larger amount of violence that would have needed more CGI. This was latter edited out of the script due to both restrictions and budget cuts for other parts in the show(sadly). Also to bring into prospective Sea of monsters the movie was made 10 years ago. Inflation has juristically affected the way money is used in films. Another thing to note is typically movie budgets are less than TV shows because they only are filming for one larger block of time. TV however they can take years meaning the acters need to be paid even for the time off set. This is not to say movies cannot take years, but it is to show that TV shows are filmed longer. I would also like to say I am genuinely not trying to be rude or unkind about your opinion and thoughts on the subject. I am just someone who has a different insight into the topic because of the things I know about the topic (I myself, am an actor and for the most part I think this is why the CGI was not the best as well as some of the script work). 

I did actually calculate inflation for Sea of Monsters versus the PJO TV show. We know the PJO TV show allegedly had a budget of $12-15 million per episode. For comparison, this is the type of budget Disney+ usually uses for stuff like The Mandalorian. I was doing a generous underestimate for the entire season which comes out to $96mil (12mil per episode x 8 episodes). Sea of Monsters' budget was 90mil. Here's that inflation:

So lil over $120mil. Going for a top estimate for s1 of the show (15x8) that's $120mil. And as far as I'd heard that may also not include stuff like budget for casting for the show. They are still roughly in similar ballparks.

Regardless of this - as an animator, i can tell you there is no excuse for that wonky CGI trident other than it being extremely quickly done. That's literally a transform error, like ctrl+t type stuff. That is a lazy and cheap trident, probably because Disney notoriously overworks and cheaps out with their CGI. The CGI problems in the show are majority because Disney's being cheap about it. This shows in nearly all the CGI in every episode.

If they had to remove violence from the script and so remove CGI scenes with it, then theoretically they should have more room in the budget for more or better CGI where it already is in the show. That money doesn't just vanish. Changing that in the script gives them less of an excuse, actually.

Also, as i mentioned in my previous post - if you don't want to CGI hydrokinesis, don't pick the franchise where the main character's defining power is hydrokinesis. If you can't have much violence, DON'T PICK THE GREEK MYTHOLOGY SERIES WHERE THE MAIN CHARACTER BEHEADS TWO PEOPLE IN THE FIRST BOOK AND IT ONLY GETS BLOODIER FROM THERE. You cannot have PJO without some level of violence. It's kind of very inherent to the series. Rick actually talks in his original Teaching Guide for The Lightning Thief about how, in argument against attempts to ban TLT (in this specific instance for "being too violent"), that monsters in the books poof into golden dust for a reason, because then they haven't "died." There is no blood. They can and will come back. Because it's fantasy. That is the excuse for all the violence. Of which there otherwise technically is a lot of.

If you are doing live action PJO you are going to have to have some amount of violence (and there is absolutely a level that is perfectly suitable for a PG13 audience. The show right now is leagues below that level. PG13 just means parental guidance for under 13 - this majority has to do with concerns about children under 13 replicating behavior on-screen. Past 13 kids know better than to do that, which is why that rating is a thing. There are plenty of film/media/etc that are way more gory and violent and are still PG13). You are going to have to CGI monsters/creatures to some degree regularly (alongside demigod powers like Percy's hydrokinesis even more regularly). And between those two things, characters are going to have to look like they're physically interacting with the CGI at times. Disney is capable of doing this. Disney does have the budget for this for the show. They're not doing it because they're being cheap. Disney has done this before and does it regularly. This is not anything new. It entirely has to do with CGI not having as many unions. They have no excuses. If they didn't expect to run into these problems then they clearly did no planning for what adapting the series would entail and didn't think at all of what the series actually featured before diving into it. And they have no excuse for that! That is step one!

[linnamonrolls0]

Lin-Manuel, Walker & Leah - aka Hermes, Percy & Annabeth just being all around adorable behind the scenes of Percy Jackson & the Olympians 🪽🔱🦉🫶🏼

[happyk44]

Bianca lives. She follows them to Olympus. Percy notices the way Hermes seems to whip out his phone as soon as they walk in, busily texting someone. His eyes dart between them and his father. Percy scans the thrones as Grover clops over to them, happy but shaking with nerves.

Distantly, he wonders where Hades is - isn't his uncle supposed to attend Olympus during the winter solstice?

Artemis descends from her throne to save Percy and Thalia from being blasted to smithereens. She knights her dear sister to run alongside her in the hunt. Bessie's life is threatened. Percy pleas.

And Zeus summons his bolt when Poseidon suggests he keep Bessie beneath the waves.

Immediately the room goes cold. The scent of bitter ozone is displaced by the throaty taste of frozen dear and gagging misery. A nightmare batters through Percy's head - two children playing in the foyer of a hotel, a little girl trying to appease her brother, laughter, joy, content. Then lightning. Then death.

Then pain.

It crushes him - loss, grief, horror, a lazy river, and memories of a dozen ghostly voices whispering in the dead of night to fear the skies, fear the storm.

The underground is the only place safe for us, they say. They don't like when we breathe their air.

Air hits Percy's lungs as the nightmares snaps. Annabeth and Grover are keeled over, gagging viciously and breathing hard. Thalia looks just as shaken as Percy feels. Even the gods look displaced, fallen slightly on their thrones. Confusion has strung across their face in bewildered lines.

Zeus's bolt has fizzled to a less impressive crackle. Poseidon's watery trident looks more like an overgrown fork.

And behind Percy, Bianca steps forward. Her form is shaky, but she is the most sure-footed person in the room. She stares horrified up at Zeus, then her eyes turn to daggers.

It is the most enraged she has looked since Percy met her.

"You tried to kill me," she says. Zeus stares at her, baffled. "Me and my brother." She points at him. Wispy black vapour leaks from beneath her sleeves. "You wanted us to go e, but our father said no, so you tried to kill us." Her voice turns icy cold. "You murdered my mother."

It's not Zeus who speaks but Hermes. He laughs softly, like a teasing wind, but there's panic in his eyes. "Look, kid, I think you're confused-"

"I am not confused, Hermes," Bianca snaps.

She says his name with confidence. Like she knows him. Knows him well enough to belay the Lord title, to belay feigned politeness. Everything about her has shifted - she is no longer that shy girl Percy met days ago.

She's someone else.

Her head held high, she glowers up at the gods before them. "I am Bianca di Angelo, daughter of Hades, trained by Death and the very shadows themselves." A frightening chill bursts across the room. "I was there in the underground when you murdered my siblings, I heard Hermes deliver your threats for if he dared to retaliate, and I hope the Titans can't sever you from your pathetic throne, so that I can cut you down myself, like you deserve!"

The floors shook with every violent shout of her words. Beneath her feet, the decay of marble spread. The thrones crackled under the weight of her final scream. Shadows bled everywhere. Ghostly wails echoed all around the room.

"YOU THINK YOU CAN THREATEN MY BROTHER AND I WOULDN'T DESTROY YOU WHERE YOU STAND?"

Percy stumbled back. His head was throbbing. Nearby, Annabeth and Grover had fully collapsed to the floor, crushed into one another. Thalia was steadying herself against Artemis, who looked just as sick.

Bianca turned towards Percy. Her eyes were nothing but voids, dragging all the nightmares he'd ever had to forefront of his mind, all the near death experiences, all the reminders that he was mortal. The veins across her face were blackened and prominent.

"He destroyed your siblings as well," she said, softer. "Do not trust an Olympian, Percy. They don't care for those of us who love the depths."

Then she was gone. Like the snap of someone's fingers - instantaneous. All the encroaching darkness immediately dissipated, Percy panted, gripping his knees.

What the hell was she talking about?

Before he could even think to ask, Zeus was rounding on Hermes, who looked much different now. Not neatened up in a fancy business suit, but much younger and panicked, with a dark t-shirt and an obsidian wreath of laurels in his hair.

"Did you know about this?" Zeus seethed. "Did you know they lived?"

Like a child being scolded, Hermes pulled into himself. "I knew," he said quietly.

The acrid scent of electricity was back in the air. "And you did not tell me?"

Hermes didn't meet Zeus' eyes. "I was told-"

"I am your father!" Zeus bellowed.

Hermes closed his eyes. It was painfully silent. Percy's heart hammered in his chest as he helped pull Annabeth and Grover up to their knees.

Then, "They are my family too. And Bianca..." He looked up, catching Zeus in a clear stare. "Bianca is a good girl. She loves her father, and she loves her brother. She would not consider joining their army because Hades would not allow it. And she will not be the child of the prophecy because-" He turned to Percy and gestured quietly. "-it will be Percy. He's older than she is." He rolled his shoulders. "So relax, Father. Everything will be fine. As I've said before, there is nothing to worry about from them."

Zeus didn't look convinced. The other gods peered between the two, looking more bothered with Hermes, still dressed in dark clothing, than they were with Zeus. All except for Poseidon, who didn't seem to care about the fight that just broke out or Bianca's existence, and Dionysus, who tilted his head towards his older brother in a subtle nod.

Poseidon cleared his throat. The heavy mood broke ever so slightly. "Since you seemed so reticent to keeping the beast with me, Hephaestus - will you help build, uh, Bessie, was it?" Percy nodded. "Yes, will you help me build Bessie an aquarium here so he may be properly housed on Olympus?"

Hephaestus grunted in agreement.

When Zeus said nothing, still bitterly eying his son, Poseidon shrugged and held up his hand, "All in favour?"

Slowly a number of hands rose and for a moment Percy felt himself relax. At least, Bessie would have a happy ending.

The Council dispersed. Thalia and Percy shared a fervoured glance at one another as she was pulled away by Artemis. Annabeth was yanked off by her mother, who kept shooting Percy annoyed looks. Percy swallowed around his tongue as Grover nervously chewed on a tin can next to him.

"What do you think she meant?" Percy asked.

"The truth."

Grover jumped nearly a foot in the air. A panic bleat cut through his mouth, but it was drowned out by the loud music Apollo had thrown on. The two of them spun around. Hermes stood, still young, still darkly dressed. There was an almost somber air about him now.

"My father can be a difficult man, Percy," he said quietly before Percy could say anything. "I would not err him if I could help it, but... Bianca and Nico are very powerful children. They would be good allies to have on your side."

Percy chewed his lip. "I get the feeling Bianca won't really be interested."

Hermes shook his head. "She's heard the stories from the ones who came before her. And like her father, she was always more pessimistic. So she's wary of the people here. But she's always caved quickly for her brother and I doubt that's changed. And Nico..." A soft smile catches across his lips. "Nico's always been more helpful than he probably should be. It got him into a lot of scrapes as a kid." He laughs gently at whatever he remembered. "He'll be on your side. And as long as you keep him safe, she won't be interested in hurting you."

Percy stared at him. "How do you... know?"

"I am a god of the underworld," Hermes said. "And Hades has always been more capable of caring for his children than the rest of us. I think he sees the miseries that come from those that weren't and chooses to do better." He shrugged and waved his hand around. "All that really means is we under his wing sometimes get designated for babysitting duties. Or training." He grins widely. "I hope Nico still remembers how to pick locks."

Grover bleats in an awkward laugh and shoves another tin can into his mouth. Percy doesn't know how to react. Godly babysitters to keep them safe? And he had to get a shitty step-dad who beat his mom to the keep the monsters at bay? A small burst of jealousy and anger cuts through him. Grover nudges him.

"Now if the two of you don't mind, I should probably ensure Nico is safe with his sister before Father decides to finish what he started." Hermes steps away then stills. He glances at Percy over his shoulder. "Stay safe, Percy. And please keep Nico safe, if you can. He's got a big heart - he is our best chance at proving that the Underworld is a benefit to Olympus. Not something to be feared and reviled."

Then he turned and vanished into the crowd in a single step. Percy stared after him. And thought of chatty overactive Nico. Then Bianca, full of hate and despair. The voices of their ghostly siblings, worried for the ones who came after them, still angry with the gods above.

There was a pitiful pang that hit Percy at the thought Nico might become like that - change from the happy smiling kid who was too small for his armour and thought everything around them was the coolest thing ever, into a pissed off hateful overly powerful demigod who may not join Luke and his army but would be happy to destroy Olympus and everything associated with it.

And Zeus...

Would he go after Bianca again for what she said? She was also still technically a Huntress of Artemis, wasn't she? So she'd never turn sixteen. But Nico would. Tiny Nico laughing loudly as he was chased by his big sister. Tiny Nico who screamed bloody murdered when his mom...

Would Zeus...

Bile drew up to Percy's throat.

"Do you think he'll try to..." He trailed off but Grover yanked at the hem of his shirt, fully understanding.

"I don't know. I..." Grover falters, then twists the hem of his shirt over his thumb. "I hope not."

Percy swallowed back the bile burning his throat. "Me too."

[professorhayforbreath]

rip doa records :(

[olympianskywalker]

Walker being way too holly because this scene literally broke me :)) like what’s so funny

[starfallsbroadwaylunacy]

It’s so funny watching the Percy Jackson behind the scenes because the main cast is fangirling over Lin-Manuel Miranda, like, “We spent a week watching Hamilton over and over to prepare.”

Just, so relatable. Me too, Walker. Me too.

[everyone-calm-down]

Ares: lol you're a kid I'm totally gonna kill you now

Percy: fuck you *punches him in the face with the ocean*

[malrie]

1) ignore that it’s 12am rn and im searching jason grace on twt for some reason 2) sorry to this persons post this is not directed at the op but

unfortunately I don’t think it goes that deep..lol

riordan may be a writer that plans ahead but he’s notorious for bad follow thru. and he definitely did not think about creating any of the other seven kids until maybe the last book and even then I doubt. more and more my hoo ghostwriter theory grows too. like I had liked this post abt how frank’s opinion on nico drastically was different from book to book (accepting of him vs being afraid inexplicably later down the line) among other things

it made me recall how randomly in boo reyna was allegedly supposed to be fated with a god??? maybe that was when he was on the verge of cooking the apollo series or something cuz it was def supposed to be apollo (I didn’t read the series but I think that’s what was kinda happening) but then dropped it completely (thank god but why go there in the first place?)

im just bringing it all up bc tbh I don’t mind a little narrative zig zag that’s what makes things fun but to have dropped storylines sort of constantly or just half-ass stumble into plot lines dropped earlier and clearly just remembered (calypso) seems kinda cheap a bit. not to mention stuff like the dragged out tommy/hazel > hazel/leo thing feels about 70% way too much to lead to absolutely nothing. the biggest of these being jasiper breakup which I can critique their buildup/end forever versus a pretty small example like solangeo LMAOOO

[bikananjarrus]

also rip original percy accidentally spying on luke and kronos from his dreams scene

there’s just something about kronos not noticing percy at first, and also kronos acknowledging that percy must be powerful to accidentally slip into this conversation through his dreams

[yumiayumu]

natla is not perfect, not the best if i’m being honest. it’s just okay (better than the movie) and this is me without my puritan glasses on. casts were good, i especially like how dallas nailed zuko’s awkwardness lol, and i appreciate their dedication to do their own stunts. vfx and costumes were great. the writing tho… this is the reason why i stopped watching live actions in general. i’m aware that adapting a book or a cartoon is hard and it doesn’t have to be 100% accurate but if you’re gonna add or remove stuff at least make it make sense and ties the whole story together.

the only reason i want a season 2 is because of my girl TOPH 😤

[justaweirdo06]

I have plans that I cannot share because the haters (my younger brother) will sabotage me

[batdiangelo]

SoTFD themed blog?

Would anyone be interested in a blog just about SoTFD?

I’ll check back in later

[linnamonrolls0]

Lin-Manuel Miranda is a gorgeous goofball behind the scenes as Hermes in Percy Jackson & the Olympians 🪽🤍🥰

[lovereturns]

my sister and i are talking about how different the pjo series and the one piece adaptation felt in terms of being familiar with the source material, and because pjo was a middle school grade book, i feel like if they waited just a few more years, they could’ve had a crew of people who actually grew up with the books :(