tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685723882144479396.post1810625257645914642..comments2024-02-26T21:15:28.308+00:00Comments on Ray Hardgrit's Sci-Fi Adventures: Babylon 5 2-06: Spider in the WebRay Hardgrithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18436491500347661133noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685723882144479396.post-88461952976317559472019-03-30T02:25:26.147+00:002019-03-30T02:25:26.147+00:00When I saw the DS9 screencap at the bottom of the ...When I saw the DS9 screencap at the bottom of the article; I expected a comment about switching the digits to create section 31.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685723882144479396.post-67216654806591437792017-07-23T10:47:58.510+01:002017-07-23T10:47:58.510+01:00Don't worry, I'm going to keep going on ab...Don't worry, I'm going to keep going on about reused sets and backdrops until everyone's thoroughly sick of me pointing out when a room looks suspiciously similar to Sheridan's office and the council chambers. Not because I dislike Babylon 5, but because I think it's tough enough to handle it. The series always looked cheap and scruffy compared to what Trek was doing, but when G'Kar or Londo starts talking it doesn't matter, not to me anyway. The characters believe that they're on a spinning space station so I look at it through their eyes. <br /><br />Until I'm taking screencaps that is, then I'm looking at a badly mastered DVD with grainy footage of barely disguised wooden sets put together in a hurry.Ray Hardgrithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18436491500347661133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685723882144479396.post-1514970039783820572017-07-23T09:16:16.231+01:002017-07-23T09:16:16.231+01:00He first came up with the idea of Babylon 5 in 198...He first came up with the idea of Babylon 5 in 1986, so it has to be a sneaky reference to the series made during the time he was pitching it to executives.Ray Hardgrithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18436491500347661133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685723882144479396.post-84867433845307693292017-07-23T00:13:26.962+01:002017-07-23T00:13:26.962+01:00Heh, I also found the Captain Power reference to B...Heh, I also found the Captain Power reference to Babylon 5 (19min40sec in): www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnnGOT-IBMo&t=19m40s<br /><br />It was made in 1987, so I'm guessing JMS really liked that name.MikaelPalnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685723882144479396.post-11001594719791437462017-07-23T00:12:27.693+01:002017-07-23T00:12:27.693+01:00The one thing that makes me sort of sad about your...The one thing that makes me sort of sad about your (excellent) reviews is you point out all the (obvious, now I'm an adult) production details (re-dressed sets, wooden floors, painted backdrops, ect) that my 11 year old self had absolutely no idea about. I always found the CGI space scenes a bit nagging (because they pulled my suspension of disbelief in a way that TNGs model shots didn't) but... But, part of me still believes there is a giant, spinning station light years away.<br /><br />Actually, now I come to think of it the same cross cross girders and piles of grey crates in every out of the way corner / docking bay / hideout didn't pass my 11 year old self by. But Garibaldi's quarters with his Daffy Duck poster, definitely real.<br /><br />Ah, to be young again!<br /><br />Not that you should stop giving those details of course; the more the better.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685723882144479396.post-13595264146332299562017-07-22T18:51:15.237+01:002017-07-22T18:51:15.237+01:00Wow, I put them side by side to check and that is ...Wow, I put them side by side to check and that is definitely the same footage. All this time I thought they'd built that model for the episode, but nope they'd just gotten some Captain Power in my Babylon 5.Ray Hardgrithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18436491500347661133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685723882144479396.post-26996095180193742222017-07-22T18:21:31.874+01:002017-07-22T18:21:31.874+01:00You can see the original shot in the Captain Power...You can see the original shot in the Captain Power episode in here (8min16sec in): www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eAA9rKZc-U&t=8m16s<br /><br />It's kinda blurry, but you can make out some of the same structure shapes.MikaelPalnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685723882144479396.post-61130660356306394312017-07-22T18:17:02.987+01:002017-07-22T18:17:02.987+01:00You can see the original shot in the Captain Power...You can see the original shot in the Captain Power episode in here (8min 16sec in): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eAA9rKZc-U&t=8m16s<br /><br />It's kinda blurry, but you can make out some of the same structure shapes.MikaelPalnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685723882144479396.post-16567375905668588542017-07-22T09:51:49.649+01:002017-07-22T09:51:49.649+01:00It's true; DiTillio was also one of the writer...<a href="https://carriev.wordpress.com/2015/09/28/babylon-5-and-captain-power/" rel="nofollow">It's true</a>; DiTillio was also one of the writers on <i>Captain Power</i>, so it's all being kept in the family.thekelvingreenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01928260185408072124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685723882144479396.post-48505911839382396132017-07-22T02:13:15.711+01:002017-07-22T02:13:15.711+01:00I have no idea if that's true but I can totall...I have no idea if that's true but I can totally believe it.Ray Hardgrithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18436491500347661133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685723882144479396.post-35509169259282448112017-07-22T00:26:29.612+01:002017-07-22T00:26:29.612+01:00That shot of Earth is taken from a TV series calle...That shot of Earth is taken from a TV series called Captain Power and The Soldiers of the Future. JMS was part of its writing staff and even Babylon 5 (way before the series was greenlit or even fully conceived) gets a mention in one of the episodes.MikaelPalnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685723882144479396.post-74564288960006471802017-07-21T21:29:14.380+01:002017-07-21T21:29:14.380+01:00Yeah, there's definitely more than enough just...Yeah, there's definitely more than enough justification in-universe for why the sets look a bit ropey and cheap. Though I wish they'd done more to hide the sound of their footsteps on the wooden floors.<br /><br />Also I've had a look ahead at what episodes are coming up and seems that the storyline Zack's involved with next season gets started in the last third of season 2. So you probably would've noticed him this season, but as the series becomes more serialised it gets harder to remember what scenes fit in which episode.Ray Hardgrithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18436491500347661133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685723882144479396.post-12192017259835165032017-07-21T20:23:16.175+01:002017-07-21T20:23:16.175+01:00According to the detailed notes I've been accu...According to the detailed notes I've been accumulating over the last couple of years from a variety of different sources, Foundation Imaging were mostly using... computers to do their rendering in season 2. The CGI for the pilot was 100% certainly created using Amigas, season 3 I'm pretty sure was 100% done with PCs, but my information gets very fuzzy by season 2.<br /><br />I've no idea if the ball was a reference, but knowing visual effects people, there's got to a deliberate reference to SOMETHING in that background somewhere. Those guys love referencing things or throwing in sneaky cameos. Ridley Scott once turned his back on visual effects people for two seconds and ended up with the Millennium Falcon dressed up to look like a skyscraper in his Blade Runner city shots.Ray Hardgrithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18436491500347661133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685723882144479396.post-26944053026796019092017-07-21T18:47:52.030+01:002017-07-21T18:47:52.030+01:00I do like how there's a good in-universe reaso...I do like how there's a good in-universe reason for so many similar looking rooms, since the station -- like the TV show -- was built on a tight budget. They probably had 3D printers cranking out thousands of identical walls and doors, or somesuch. I'm sure the guys who had to redress the set felt glad, too.<br /><br />Wow, I forgot this was Zack's first episode. I feel like I didn't really notice him until next season, but that can't be right. I noticed Lou Welch, after all.Naked Bunny with a Whiphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17674140134395884069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2685723882144479396.post-8321195494596441412017-07-21T18:35:39.061+01:002017-07-21T18:35:39.061+01:00Were they still using Amigas for the cgi at this p...Were they still using Amigas for the cgi at this point? Is the non-bouncing bouncing Amiga ball a deliberate reference, I wonder?<br /><br />I'm only talking about the Amiga now because I have no memory at all of this episode.thekelvingreenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01928260185408072124noreply@blogger.com