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Pages: 1 ... 4 5 [6]
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Author
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Topic: Star Control Television Series (Read 23011 times)
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Bartholomew
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A TV Show made out of this game would be so much like Star Trek that people would be offended. =\
Unless there was some sort of twist...
... GIANT SPACE MOLES! Burrowing through the universe!
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Art
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Great, first people say it's unworkable because of B5, now someone comes in and says it's "too much like Star Trek".
Why? Because there's a spaceship, and a crew, and wandering around in alien planets?
*GET IT THROUGH YOUR HEAD*: STAR TREK DID NOT INVENT THIS IDEA. BABYLON FIVE DID NOT INVENT THIS IDEA.
*BOTH* those shows borrowed heavily from print and video media that existed for a very long time before they came out. They don't *own* the concept of space opera science fiction, and a show doesn't need to look radically different from them in order to be a new and interesting show.
What offends me is that people appear (no personal offense meant) to have had so little exposure to what's out there and *been* out there in terms of science fiction that they really seem to think "traveling through space and having cool adventures" is a unique idea that Gene Roddenberry has filed under his name at the U.S. Patent Office. Star Trek is *NOT THAT SPECIAL*, people. It's just the most commercially successful incarnation of a very old idea, an updating of the Jason and the Argonauts model of serial adventure that existed in movie serials and radio shows and such in a million different ways before Roddenberry brought it to prime time.
I mean, I could sort of understand the objections to the similarities to Babylon 5, even though they're superficial similarities (there is a space station, there are two powerful warring races, there are humans cut off from Earth, etc.) There *is* no similiarity to any of the Star Treks -- we don't have a giant peaceful Federation in which a ship is wandering about performing various tasks for the government. The only similarity is "There's a big ship with a varied cast of people in it wandering around". Are we going to say that you can't do cop dramas anymore because you'd be ripping off NYPD Blue (which has a police station full of cops, therefore it must own the idea of cops)? You can't do a high school romantic comedy anymore because of Pretty in Pink, which owns the idea of a boy and a girl from two different social classes falling in love? You can't do slapstick cartoons anymore because Warner Brothers owns the idea of animated characters falling off of cliffs?
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Lukipela
Enlightened
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The Ancient One
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Great, first people say it's unworkable because of B5, now someone comes in and says it's "too much like Star Trek".
Why? Because there's a spaceship, and a crew, and wandering around in alien planets?
*GET IT THROUGH YOUR HEAD*: STAR TREK DID NOT INVENT THIS IDEA. BABYLON FIVE DID NOT INVENT THIS IDEA.
*BOTH* those shows borrowed heavily from print and video media that existed for a very long time before they came out. They don't *own* the concept of space opera science fiction, and a show doesn't need to look radically different from them in order to be a new and interesting show.
What offends me is that people appear (no personal offense meant) to have had so little exposure to what's out there and *been* out there in terms of science fiction that they really seem to think "traveling through space and having cool adventures" is a unique idea that Gene Roddenberry has filed under his name at the U.S. Patent Office. Star Trek is *NOT THAT SPECIAL*, people. It's just the most commercially successful incarnation of a very old idea, an updating of the Jason and the Argonauts model of serial adventure that existed in movie serials and radio shows and such in a million different ways before Roddenberry brought it to prime time.
I mean, I could sort of understand the objections to the similarities to Babylon 5, even though they're superficial similarities (there is a space station, there are two powerful warring races, there are humans cut off from Earth, etc.) There *is* no similiarity to any of the Star Treks -- we don't have a giant peaceful Federation in which a ship is wandering about performing various tasks for the government. The only similarity is "There's a big ship with a varied cast of people in it wandering around". Are we going to say that you can't do cop dramas anymore because you'd be ripping off NYPD Blue (which has a police station full of cops, therefore it must own the idea of cops)? You can't do a high school romantic comedy anymore because of Pretty in Pink, which owns the idea of a boy and a girl from two different social classes falling in love? You can't do slapstick cartoons anymore because Warner Brothers owns the idea of animated characters falling off of cliffs?
*Applauds
Long winded as you might someotimes be, I like you.
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« Last Edit: September 29, 2004, 11:30:03 am by Lukipela »
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What's up doc?
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0xDEC0DE
*Many bubbles*
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As a wiser man than myself one said, there are only four types of stories to be told:- Man vs. Nature
- Man vs. Man
- Man vs. Self
- Talking Dog vs. Vampire
But, however much I might agree with the thrust of your position, I don't think it's necessary to misrepresent the arguments that came before you in making your point.
I did not say it wouldn't work because it's "too much like B5", hell, I even conceded that B5's relative success might be instrumental in getting such a project greenlit. Suits like to make shows similar to other successful shows, hence the current fascination with forensic science, courtroom antics, and "real people dealing with fake crises".
My original argument was, and still is, that the fanbase of SC2 is so small, and the costs associated with making the show "properly" are so high, that noone in their right mind would ever dream of funding such a venture, as they would never get a return on their investment.
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"I’m not a robot like you. I don’t like having disks crammed into me… unless they’re Oreos, and then only in the mouth." --Fry
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RabidTurkey
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Before discounting the series as too difficult, too expensive and limited fan base, let's quickly look at a couple different details.
Too difficult - Is it? The universe of SC is highly engaging and imaginative. With 20 some odd alien races, fully realized with history, direction, and drive - each interacting with the main character with their own agenda in mind, and a progressive storyline which begins with "Humanity got their galactic butt kicked", and the most unlikely of heroes fly their ancient (sentient?) ship across the universe to enlist the aid of belligerent alien races in order to save humanity from galactic imprisonment. I would think the stories would write themselves (with a progressive storyline, of course).
Too expensive? Fortunately, there have been quatum leaps and bounds in film and CGI technology. Consider the difference between film and High-Def technology (both I'm fairly well versed in, so let the jousting begin!). Film, the traditional technology, is still the choice for 'Must See TV', and is horrendously expensive - retail (which I'm sure studio's never pay, but still...) 35mm film can run up to $1000 per 1100 ft roll (a little over 10 minutes), counting post productions costs (which never end if your an Indie filmmaker), plus sound conforming and a billion other steps.
Enter HD, more importantly, HD 24P - cheap cheap cheap. A 55 minute tape is roughly $100, and the cameras are getting less and less expensive (the Panasonic hit an all time low of $40K just recently.) Sounds great, with 8 channels, just dump it to an AVID, edit, add effects, color correct, ect. My point is the cost of shooting has been reduced considerably.
Now effects. Who here thinks adding optical effects and CGI has gotten more expensive in the last 5 years? Have cost stayed level? Or have the dropped like a hot rock? Again, technology has gotten cheaper while effects have gotten better, there's a greater talent pool, all driving cost's down.
I would see SC as a Situational Space Comedy Action Series,
spoofy enough that you could get away with CGI on par with the first Toy Story, add in a judicious amount of live action with a group of actor's who can nail comedy, and build just a few permanent sets. Here's the key - composite, composite, composite - They whole game was basically told through the view screen of the ship, why not take a page from this and tell a majority of the story from that prospective? Sure, we get the see the bridge, areas of the ship, crew quarters, ect.., but alien interaction (with the exception of Syreen) is all done through view screens and exterior optical effects. No Illwrath wrestling, Ur-Quan tussling hand to hand combat here, but there could planet interaction through a shuttle viewscreen.
Lastly, the fan base. I totally agree with you. It's been, what, fourteen years since the game has been released? It's been sooo long that many people say "Star What...". However, videogame Aficionado have considered SC to be one of Greatest ever made (hey, #6 on gamespot.com Greatest of all Times), and the videogame industry is smoking hot right now with no slow down in the near future, Hollywood has figured this out, but television is still trying to figure out how it’s going to stop hemorrhaging it's male demographic (hey! Let's do reality TV about boxing!) to the almighty Xbox.
But that's not what's going to sell it. Tetris is also considered one the best games ever, and no one in their right mind is ever going to make Tetris TV. What's going to sell is a not just a good story, but a great one. Great stories and amazing writing would get this off the ground, the fact it's based off a videogame is all secondary and marketing.
Finally, I understand trying to get a television series picked up is a Herculean task. First, you would need to get the rights (Dear Paul and Fred…), next, come up with a rockstar concept (think B5 meets FarScape meets ST: TNG, but funny), write a pilot like you’ve never written before, get yourself an agent, take a view meeting with Spike and Sci-Fi networks, and try to get something to stick. Yeah. That easy. So if your laying odds, it doesn’t look good, but you’ll never see it to no one tries.
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Tiberian
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When you say sentient starship, I get the image of K.I.T.T. in my mind.
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RabidTurkey
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I love YaBB 1G - SP1!
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Not that blatent, I would see it more instinctual, more reflective of the crew's emotional state, and reacting thusly. Also, it would make sense why a crew of deeply flawed characters might be at the helm because of some connection they have with the ship rather than the space station sending over its finest diciplined (and uber-bland) officers to take control. Actually, I could see some potential conflict with the second generation Tobermoon crew and the officers of the old StarControl - imagine a crew made up of the old Star Trek uniforms with the flared out bell-bottoms and big collars of the original series mixed in with the ultra modern, sleek material design of the new officer uniforms...
Just some ideas.
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Death 999
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We did. You did. Yes we can. No.
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Well, remember that even the starbase crew was randomly selected by the 'quan, so they don't need to be all that bland.
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Arne
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Yak!
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The universe needs to be alive and rich (in this case especially), and I doubt that can be done with 45 minutes of taking human actors in three different sets and then 45 seconds of 3D animations.
The only sci-fi movie I can think of with that got away with something like that is Aliens. Otherwise it's like a comic where you don't establish the enviroment and skip the backgrounds on the images. It just gets too sterile and void, and unfortunately most sci-fi is like that.
The ideal thing would be if Pixar made 'LotR'-sized trilogy... ... ... nnnggh... *spurt*
... eherm, anyways, One thing I'd like to see for example is when Pluto-Fwiffo tells the captain about his situation you get to see little flashbacks from Fwiffos crazy but Spathi-normal life, 18000 brothers and sisters, getting to answer the door, 'recruited' to the fleet etc... That's the sort of thing that would make the universe seem more alive, and that's the sort of thing that would require ILM or Pixar.
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« Last Edit: October 02, 2004, 03:21:11 am by Arne »
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Art
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An Adult Swim special would probably only end up making fun of SC2 in a very childish, absurdist, random kind of way, the way Space Ghost Coast to Coast and its spinoffs make fun of the original Space Ghost cartoons. That may be the only realistic way to actually get something like SC2 on TV these days, but excuse me for not particularly wanting to see it (any more than people who are genuinely fans of the old Space Ghost cartoons are probably pleased by what SGC2C has done to the franchise's image).
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Tiberian
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SC2 could work well if it would be anime.
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