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B5:TLT Actual DISCUSSION Thread

What really amazes me is how much green screen they're using. I hope it is thoroughly convincing. I mean, the sets seem to consist of two chairs and a Starfury cockpit.
 
Well according to the production pics Joe posted, there were certainly standing sets of B5 corridors, using greenscreen at the end so they could be extended into the distance more convincingly than that infinity scoop they used on the original zocalo/central corridor set.

Don't forget that SW Ep I used CGI/greenscreen for just about everything above 6 feet something (just above Liam Neeson's head) on every set in the movie. And that was 7 years ago.
 
Well according to the production pics Joe posted, there were certainly standing sets of B5 corridors, using greenscreen at the end so they could be extended into the distance more convincingly than that infinity scoop they used on the original zocalo/central corridor set.

Don't forget that SW Ep I used CGI/greenscreen for just about everything above 6 feet something (just above Liam Neeson's head) on every set in the movie. And that was 7 years ago.


I think that is the exact fear. Some folks viewed the preaquels as looking like cartoons.
 
7 years ago SWI proved it could be done volume-wise. With 7 years of further development in tech BSG and others are surely now proving that volume can be done with quality as well ... and on a TV budget.

I also think the SW prequels looked just the way George Lucas wanted them to look, so the cartoon qualities are not necessarily any indicator that massive useage of virtual sets is going to be a problem.
 
Thank you for confirming my decision not to. I'm trying to avoid any spoilers from here on out and looking forward to July. It has been a very long time since I've seen anything in the B5 universe where I didn't know what was coming next, and I don't intend to waste the opportunity. :)

Part of the article that's NOT a spoiler:

Given that, it was imperative that the CGI remain accurate to the B5
universe. It is a formidable undertaking, especially considering the
deadline is the end of March. Further complicating matters, Warner
Brothers had misplaced the original CGI assets. When the original B5
wrapped, all the wireframes, set pieces, wardrobe, designs, and
renderings of the station, ships, planets, and everything was handed
over to WB, which requested nothing be copied for personal archives.

That request was honored, so when the archives came up missing or
scattered, there was a scramble to find whatever was available.
Ironically, it was the fan base that came to the rescue.

The team searched the extensive databases of information the fans had
collected. Dozens of recreations of ship meshes in high resolution were
pulled and sent to Atmosphere for reference, allowing Atmosphere to
begin the process of building high resolution ships with the accuracy
needed. Straczynski found this twist ironic. "We created the show
initially, then the fans created their version, then we had to go to the
fans to make the show again." Full circle.
 
The prequels' problem was in scriptwriting and direction more than anything, I think. There have been plenty of films that made as heavy or heavier use of virtual sets without actors looking totally lost in the non-sets and without the film having no sense of grounding in reality. Although honestly, I think CG wise a lot of Episode I still holds up fine. E.g. Jar Jar Binks is a pretty nifty technical achievement, it's everything else about him that failed.
 
You think they drew up a bogus storyboard just to f with us?
That would be funny, but I don't think so. Suffice to say it represents a big missing chunk in the B5 timeline.

I don't believe it because it doesn't make sense in the history that we know.


Regarding CGI: I saw 300 last night, which was filmed on a set that consisted a green screen and a rock. It was supposed to look a little cartoony, considering its source, but it was visually gorgeous. And Zoic, the folks who did Firefly and are doing BSG, certainly know what they're doing. I think CGI's time has come.
 
Thank you for confirming my decision not to. I'm trying to avoid any spoilers from here on out and looking forward to July. It has been a very long time since I've seen anything in the B5 universe where I didn't know what was coming next, and I don't intend to waste the opportunity. :) Thanks for labelling that so clearly, Jan.

Regards,

Joe

Yeah, amen to that Joe...:beer: here here....
***To KoshN I say thanks for the Darth comment I had a good laugh and thanks for the posting about the none spoiler for TLT.

***A M Swallow that is like sooooo freaky because I was like totally thinking of 'Sky Captain and the World of Tommorow' too, wow that is such a good movie.
 
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For those worried about spoilers, the impression I got was that the scene being talked about was a possible event in the B5 Universe time line, not a definite one.
 
For those worried about spoilers, the impression I got was that the scene being talked about was a possible event in the B5 Universe time line, not a definite one.
Yeah, if you look closely at the storyboarded scene, there is no real way to tell from the information given in the article if the spoilered plotpoint will take place. Although even if it doesn't, that would still leave us with an intention, if you will, to make that plot point come to pass, which by itself could still have significant story consequences for the parties involved in the plot point.
 
Haha, I literally was just thinking I should start one after typing that carefully constructed sentence to avoid spoiling. :)
 
***To KoshN I say thanks for the Darth comment I had a good laugh and thanks for the posting about the none spoiler for TLT.

Trying to see where I posted a "Darth comment." Hmm. Something I said? Something I quoted?
 

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Some comments regarding the NYCC JMS panel which I just listened to (see the news thread for a link to the podcast version that was just released).

I just listened to the TLT intro a couple of time, and I must say, even without the visuals I'm totally loving it. The music is great, very B5 in its themes yet somehow grander and new at the same time, and the voice over is terrific and very fitting.

Also, I think Keegan MacIntosh is probably coming closer to Jurasik's Centauri accent than the actors that have gone before him. It's not an exact match, he sort of dips in and out of the exact Londo pronunciations. But it doesn't have to be an exact match to Londo since it is a distinct character, and he does do an accent that feels pretty Centauri in its characteristics. That is, what I could tell from the minute or so of him speaking in character in the podcast. ;)
 
Looks like the Spotlight has been pulled. Pity, I like the new theme a lot.
It isn't actually removed; JMS's spotlight is still part of the RSS feed (i.e. the podcast proper), and the MP3 file is still there. The blog entry on their wordpress frontend has just disappeared for some reason, but if it was their intention to remove it they did a pretty poor job. Could be someone just screwed up messing with Podpress or something.

Guess I'll shoot them an e-mail and ask if it was their intention to pull the thing, and if so ask them why. And also tell them they didn't actually remove it from the podcast itself, or if it wasn't their intention to pull tell them that an entry disappeared from their blog frontend.

edit: removed link to MP3
 
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It isn't actually removed; JMS's spotlight is still part of the RSS feed (i.e. the podcast proper), and the MP3 file is still there. The blog entry on their wordpress frontend has just disappeared for some reason, but if it was their intention to remove it they did a pretty poor job. Could be someone just screwed up messing with Podpress or something.

Guess I'll shoot them an e-mail and ask if it was their intention to pull the thing, and if so ask them why. And also tell them they didn't actually remove it from the podcast itself, or if it wasn't their intention to pull tell them that an entry disappeared from their blog frontend.

edit: removed link to MP3

If the MP3 file is still there, why did you remove the link to it before you even heard back from them? I'd like to hear the MP3. This is the first I've heard of the existence of the Podcast of the NYCC panel (or whatever it's called), and it's gone?
 

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