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Galactica remake's concept feels like Firefly's

POSTED BY: Juggernaut
UPDATED: Saturday, November 8, 2003 01:36
VIEWED: 7567
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JUGGERNAUT

Wednesday, August 6, 2003 4:49 PM

I was reading a (probably dated) concept statement on the Battlestar Galactica remake's official page, and I couldn't help but feeling like their mission and style was largely hosed from Whedon's concept. The two will of course look remarkably different, but the unified philosophy is curious at best. Take a look for yourself:

http://www.galactica2003.net/articles/concept.htm

A few highlights:

Quote:
Our ships will be treated like real ships that someone had to go out and film with a real camera. That means no 3-D "hero" shots panning and zooming wildly with the touch of a mousepad. The questions we will ask before every VFX shot are things like: "How did we get this shot? Where is the camera? Who's holding it? Is the cameraman in another spacecraft? Is the camera mounted on the wing?"

Quote:
Our spaceships don't make noise because there is no noise in space. Sound will be provided from sources inside the ships -- the whine of an engine audible to the pilot for instance. Our fighters are not airplanes and they will not be shackled by the conventions of WWII dogfights.

JUSTICEMCNASTY

Wednesday, August 6, 2003 9:49 PM

Yeah, this is starting to sound a little familiar, eh?

Johnny H.-
"How'd you like a bite outta this green apple, America?"

Quote:
Story. We will eschew the usual stories about parallel universes, time-travel, mind-control, evil twins, God-like powers and all the other clichés of the genre. Our show is first and foremost a drama. It is about people. Real people that the audience can identify with and become engaged in. It is not a show about hardware or bizarre alien cultures. It is a show about us. It is an allegory for our own society, our own people and it should be immediately recognizable to any member of the audience.

Quote:
And finally, Character. This is perhaps, the biggest departure from the science fiction norm. We do not have "the cocky guy" "the fast-talker" "the brain" "the wacky alien sidekick" or any of the other usual characters who populate a space series. Our characters are living, breathing people with all the emotional complexity and contradictions present in quality dramas like "The West Wing" or "The Sopranos." In this way, we hope to challenge our audience in ways that other genre pieces do not. We want the audience to connect with the characters of Galactica as people. Our characters are not super-heroes. They are not an elite. They are everyday people caught up in a enormous cataclysm and trying to survive it as best they can.

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XION47

Thursday, August 7, 2003 1:44 AM

Uh...I think that Ron Moore made those comments nearly a year before "Firefly" premiered. He also wrote the mini-series close to two years before "Firefly" premiered. I don't think the producers were copying from FF, since production wrapped up late 2002/early 2003, certainly not a lot of time for the "Battlestar" producers to watch "Firefly" in Fall 2002 and to decide that's how they would produce BSG. Pre-production would have been going on months before "The Train Job" aired.

ANOTHERFIREFLYFAN

Thursday, August 7, 2003 7:02 AM

While it does describe Firefly quite well, I think it's shiny that there may be another show with such high standards.

Maybe someone should check it out.

See if it lives up to the hype, eh? And if it does, and is good, what's the harm? They aren't ripping off Firefly.

Keep flying

FLATRACER

Thursday, August 7, 2003 2:51 PM

My theory is that we owe our thanks for the "new realism" in Sci Fi television to...........................Galaxy Quest!!!
They parodied all the SciFi TV cliches so well that there's no returning to them.
Galaxy Quest managed to finish what Spaceballs and Ice Pirates started which is to bring about the demise of Hollywood style SciFi by making it into a joke.

Just a theory.
FR

CYLONCENTURION

Thursday, August 7, 2003 7:09 PM

I noticed a few hits have been coming from this forum in the latest website report so I decided to drop by and say hello to everyone. I just want to clarify some things. Battlestar Galactica 2003 is NOT the official website of the new miniseries. The official website is www.scifi.com/battlestar. We are what you would call an "unofficial" website. We have connections within the production and we play the spoiler role just like TheForce.Net does for Star Wars fans.

As for the concept, that came from a memo Ron Moore sent out back in 2002 to USA Studios and members of the production staff. It is sort of the mission statement and the basis for where the project is going.

Also, I am sure you are aware that the talented team from Zoic Studios, the same Effects House that did Firefly, is doing the Visual Effects for the new Galactica.

From what I have seen and heard, the new series visuals will have a similar flavor to Firefly. Anyways, there is a special preview of Battlestar Galactica on Friday during the Tremors Season Finale. It shall run just about a minute. Stay tune for it.

Ted

http://www.galactica2003.net

ANOTHERFIREFLYFAN

Friday, August 8, 2003 4:02 AM

I LOVE Galaxy Quest! Great movie.

BTW, I also like how whenever you thought Firefly would do something cliche, it suddenly does something else. I realize now when Firefly hooked me. It was near the end of Our Mrs. Reynolds, when they needed the plan B. Tell me a Star Trek episode where telling the engineer to work faster/harder didn't solve any problem in the nick of time! And Firefly throws that cliche in their face!

I knew then and there that this show was the beginning of the next generation of science fiction. And then, of course, it was cancelled and I was crushed. Dumb Fux!

~AFf

Keep flying

CHRISTHECYNIC

Friday, August 8, 2003 4:27 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by FlatRacer:
Galaxy Quest managed to finish what Spaceballs and Ice Pirates started which is to bring about the demise of Hollywood style SciFi by making it into a joke.

Just a theory.
FR

I hope not, I've been laughing at that joke for a long time and it's still funny.

It's one thing to bring in realism, it's another to kill off the old hilarious crap sci fi. I think the first should be done but not the second.

CYLONCENTURION

Wednesday, October 1, 2003 2:34 AM

Some of the CG of the Cylon Raider by Zoic:
[img]
Head of a Cylon Raider

[img]
2 Cylon Raiders

[img]
Cylon Raider

[img]
Cylon Raider attacking a Viper

[url] http://www.galactica2003.net

DUTCH

Wednesday, October 1, 2003 2:49 AM

I'm a big fan of the original BSG series, i grew up watching it, but I'm pretty sure I won't be watching this new incarnation.

I would have loved to see a continuation of the original, instead of it being "reimagined". I still can't believe they made Starbuck into a girl...

And what's up with these Batman ships in these screens in the post above me?!?!

At least vipers look like vipers..

I think computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We've created life in our own image.
--Stephen Hawking