Pre-Screening Message: The Transcript by Oxyopia

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Pre-Screening Message: The Transcript

POSTED BY: OXYOPIA
UPDATED: Thursday, September 13, 2007 13:52
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VIEWED: 20401
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Tuesday, May 31, 2005 1:40 AM

**EDIT - Fixed the quite/quiet typo**

There have been many requests for this speech and I checked with Haken before posting, so here is the more or less complete transcript of Joss' message to the fans that is showing before the screenings of Serenity in the U.S...enjoy!

---
Hi, my name is Joss Whedon. Before we begin the special screening, I have a little story I want to tell you. It's about a TV show called Firefly.

Firefly went on the air a few years ago and was instantly hailed by critics as one of the most canceled shows of the year. It was ignored and abandoned and the story should end there, but it doesn't, because the people who made the show and the people who saw the show (which is...roughly...the same number of people) fell in love with it a little bit...too much to let it go, too much to lay down arms when the battle looked pretty much lost. In Hollywood, people like that are called 'unrealistic' ... 'quixotic' ... 'obsessive'.

In my world, they're called 'Browncoats'.

Whether you've watched the show, or saw the DVD's, or whether you've never set foot in the Firefly universe before tonight, the fact that you're here means that you are part of something...something that is a little bit remarkable. This movie should not exist. Failed TV shows don't get made into major motion pictures unless the creator, the cast, and the fans believe beyond reason.

It's what I've felt. It's what I've seen...in the DVD sales, the booths at the cons run by fans, the websites, the fundraisers... all the work the fans have done to help make this movie. It is, in an unprecedented sense, your movie...which means, if it sucks, it's your fault. You let us down, but let's not dwell on your failures because the work is not done.

I have to finish making it. Obviously not quite the final cut and you will notice some placeholders in music and effects, but we're very close. Once we are finished, we have to get people to see it. Now, obviously the studio is going to do their thing. There will be ads and trailers and all that joy, but this movie doesn't have stars and it doesn't have a giant mega-budget or even a simple salable premise. What it has is us, the people who believed unreasonably.

If this movie matters to you, let somebody know. Let everybody know. Make yourselves heard. If you don't like the movie, this is a time for quiet, silent contemplation. But, when the unfinished credits roll, if you still call yourself a Browncoat, remember the millions of people who don't...who might.

I want us to do this together. The cast is going to be appearing wherever they can. I'm going to be blogging and stumping and whatever I can think of. We've got Can'tStopTheSignal.com up and running...I'm fairly certain. We're all doing everything we can to make this the event that it should be.

Just remember, they tried to kill us...they did kill us...and here we are. We have done the impossible, and that makes us mighty. Thank you for helping to get this movie as far as it has gotten.

Welcome to Serenity.
---

-Oxy

------------------------------------------------
'What people call impossible is just stuff they
haven't seen yet...'

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Tuesday, May 31, 2005 2:03 AM

NAKEDANDARTICULATE

i got weepy all over again(sob) thanks for posting this

"Hamsters is nice."

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Tuesday, May 31, 2005 3:09 AM

CYBERSNARK

Quote:
Originally posted by Oxyopia:
quite, silent contemplation.

I'd be willing to bet money that he said "quiet." This is fast becoming the most-repeated typo on Earth. Even moreso than "'s" for plurals.

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Tuesday, May 31, 2005 3:19 AM

BROWNCOAT1

May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

Joss sure knows how to tug on the ol' heartstrings doesn't he?

Thanks for posting this.

__________________________________________

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

Richmond, VA & surrounding area Firefly Fans:

http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/richmondbrowncoats/

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Tuesday, May 31, 2005 4:20 AM

CLJOHNSTON108

Thanks so much for posting that, Oxy!
Really wish I'd been there!

---------------

"Slideshow... Boring... Losing consciousness!"
--The Tick

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Tuesday, May 31, 2005 4:46 AM

SHINY

Thanks Oxy, that's pretty much verbatim according to my recollection -- did you transcribe it yourself? Nice job!

Jayne, your mouth is talkin. Might want to look into that.

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Tuesday, May 31, 2005 4:57 AM

PERIDIDDLE

Thanks for transcripting that...it is PERFECT Joss. Funny, touching and just what the fans want (and need) to hear. I remember the theater breaking out into cheers as he came on screen, and going even more crazy when he said "Welcome to Serenity."

"Bwaa...it's kind of a warrior...strikes fear into the hearts of..."

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Tuesday, May 31, 2005 5:18 AM

BECSTHEBEAST

Quote:
Originally posted by BrownCoat1:
Joss sure knows how to tug on the ol' heartstrings doesn't he?

and isn't that why we love his shows?
sounds great - perhaps Joss'll come to blighty some day (gazes whistfully out the window)

'forgive my rudeness. i cannot abide useless people'

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Tuesday, May 31, 2005 5:45 AM

JAYSEDAI

That seems to be a perfect transcript. Either somebody has a photographic memory, or they sneeked a recorder in... (F.Y.I. Sneaked, not snuk, is the correct past tense of sneak)

Great job!

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Tuesday, May 31, 2005 5:58 AM

DIZ

Oh thank you! This brings it all back. I almost got teary reading "Welcome to Serenity". It's nice to have the transcript, because although it was beyond cool to hear it in the theater, there was much cheering, so some lines were lost. But as funny as this is on the page, when you hear Joss say it, it's even funnier. The man has good timing. This needs to be on the DVD.

And I would like to add to the transposition mistakes:
My pants were so lose I was afraid I might loose them.

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Tuesday, May 31, 2005 6:05 AM

ZEEK

That is a near perfect transcript as far as I can tell as well.

Thanks so much for doing that. That speech is great.

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Tuesday, May 31, 2005 7:21 AM

FORRESTWOLF

Thank you SO much - the intro was almost as good as the movie for me!

I'll be using this to alert more Browncoats to just how good the BDM is going to be.

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Tuesday, May 31, 2005 7:26 AM

JENTLE

Ah! Thank you!

I missed the first part of it because Nathan was there asking us if we needed to pee, even a little bit, and apparently I have a suggestable bladder.... Or maybe just when it's FREAKING CAPTAIN MAL suggesting things, who knows.

==================
Every well-bred petty crook knows that the small concealable weapons always go to the far left of the place setting.

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Tuesday, May 31, 2005 8:02 AM

ASTRIANA

*sniff*

~Astriana~

...I'm still free,
You can't take the sky from me.

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Tuesday, May 31, 2005 8:04 AM

OXYOPIA

Cybersnark, you most definitely found a typo. My apologies on that one. I've updated the post to include the change.

-Oxy

------------------------------------------------
'What people call impossible is just stuff they
haven't seen yet...'

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Tuesday, May 31, 2005 11:20 AM

KELLAINA

That was so... shiny. Thanks for sharing it!

If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do. -"Angel"

Browncoat? Canadian? Join us:
http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/canadianbrowncoats/

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Tuesday, May 31, 2005 11:36 AM

LISSA

thanks so much oxy!
*sniff* i wanna see it again!...for a third time

~lissa, spwhore

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Tuesday, May 31, 2005 11:59 AM

LITWOLF689

Thanks! I loved the little message. I hope they have it as a DVD extra. It mad me laugh so much, ecspecially when Joss said it was our movie and their for our failure if it did bad. ^_^ I love Joss!

"Two roads diverged in a wood and I took the road less traveled by and they CANCELLED MY FREAKIN' SHOW! I totally shoulda took the road that had all those people on it. Damnit." ~Joss

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Tuesday, May 31, 2005 1:26 PM

CASIVONA

...beautiful, absolutely beautiful...

Check out http://www.bluegrassbrowncoats.net. The local fansite for flans in Kentucky (and surrounding areas!)

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Wednesday, June 1, 2005 10:38 AM

FALLENANGEL

*Wipes tears from her eyes.* Oh God! That was the most beatiful speech I have ever read!! I wish I could've heard this speech. I was proud to be a Browncoat before, but now, having read that, my pride just shot off through the roof! Joss, you just plain rock, man!

Hell ya! Serenity is our movie! OUR MOVIE!

"What doesn't kill us, only makes us stronger."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step."- Lao Tzu.

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Wednesday, June 1, 2005 12:08 PM

FLYINGTAMS

Except it's http://cantstopthesignal.com/ ;)

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Thursday, June 2, 2005 9:28 AM

SERENITYMEIMEI

I am SO happy that someone finally got the transcript of this up! I got all teary eyed at the theater, and being able to read it again was awesome.

Thanks for posting it!

"Just remember, they tried to kill us...they did kill us...and here we are. We have done the impossible, and that makes us mighty. " -- Joss (message before the Serenity screenings)

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Friday, June 24, 2005 5:15 AM

CAPTAINNAPALM

Quote:
Originally posted by jaysedai:
That seems to be a perfect transcript. Either somebody has a photographic memory, or they sneeked a recorder in... (F.Y.I. Sneaked, not snuk, is the correct past tense of sneak)

Great job!

Both are acceptable.

From Dictionary.com:

Quote:
Usage Note: Snuck is an Americanism first introduced in the 19th century as a nonstandard regional variant of sneaked. Widespread use of snuck has become more common with every generation. It is now used by educated speakers in all regions. Formal written English is more conservative than other varieties, of course, and here snuck still meets with much resistance. Many writers and editors have a lingering unease about the form, particularly if they recall its nonstandard origins. And 67 percent of the Usage Panel disapproved of snuck in our 1988 survey. Nevertheless, an examination of recent sources shows that snuck is sneaking up on sneaked. Snuck was almost 20 percent more common in newspaper articles published in 1995 than it was in 1985. Snuck also appears in the work of many respected columnists and authors: “He ran up huge hotel bills and then snuck out without paying” (George Stade). “He had snuck away from camp with a cabinmate” (Anne Tyler). “I ducked down behind the paperbacks and snuck out” (Garrison Keillor).

CaptainNapalm

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Friday, June 24, 2005 7:46 PM

FOURTHTROIKA

Hi. I had the pleasure of attending the screening last night (it was my birthday present from my pal Mike Clark). It was indeed awesome.
I'm part of a group that's trying to save another excellent show: Disney is going to cancel their series, Kim Possible, after just 65 episodes, despite it being one of their highest rated shows. I was just wondering if I might be able to share Joss' message with them? I think it ties in so well with what we're trying to accomplish. Thanks.

http://kp.savedisneyshows.org

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mission_kim_possible

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Saturday, June 25, 2005 4:42 AM

CYBERSNARK

Quote:
Originally posted by Fourthtroika:
Disney is going to cancel their series, Kim Possible, after just 65 episodes, despite it being one of their highest rated shows.

What?!?

They finally get Kim and Ron together and they're ending it!?!

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Saturday, June 25, 2005 1:50 PM

RETRO

The part that amused me most, we had Nathan Fillion at the 6/23 screening in Phoenix. And at the point where Joss said "This movie doesn't have stars..." Nathan screamed, "WHAT!?!" and everyone laughed. Maybe you had to be there. But it was hilarious.

"Just because I choose to wander, it doesn't mean that I am lost..."

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Sunday, June 26, 2005 10:58 PM

MUTANTALLY

Thank you for that, Oxy. That was a truly special moment. I was hoping to find this, and here it is.

Nice Fillion story, Retro.

MA
--
Langley - (Wiping mouth.) "Nice digs! They've got a drinking fountain next to the toilet."

Frohicke - "It's called a bidet"

Langley - "You say tomato, I say tomahto... "

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Thursday, September 13, 2007 1:52 PM

FREELANCERTEX

No one's posted here in a while, but I just stumbled onto this topic.
Awesome speech. *applauds Joss* I don't usually read interviews or speeches or the like from behind the movie screen, so just wanna post my opinion on the words of our favorite Browncoat :-)

__________________________
Have you ever wondered why in a dream you can touch a falling sky?
Or fly to the heavens that watch over you?

"I am a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar."

A man is least himself when he speaks in his own person. Give him a mask and he will show you his true self.

You can't take the sky from me...

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