Blueprint conundrum or not by ManiacNumberOne

Maniac;

Took me a while to figure it out, but the interior layout appears to be consistent.

Re: River travel sequences: Are you referring to her wanderings in OiS? If so, the sequence seems to be as follows: Starts off in the dorm/commons/infirmery area, thence up a flight of steps by the infirmery, up to the corridor between the engine room and the mess (the same steps up which Book follows Mal at beginning of Train Job, while getting all Socratic on him).

From there, she walks toward the bow, through the mess (Book and St. Jayne), then forward to the bridge (Wash and Zoe snogging). Then back down some stairs to the upper catwalk on the forward bulkhead of the cargo hold, the steps---> hatch through which, for example, Wash goes when the "uncivilized" basketball game is interrupted at the beginning of Bushwacked (I believe the stairwell is opposite the upper airlock, on the port side, if you're facing forward). She then passes Mal and Inara on her way down to the forest...I mean cargo hold floor.

Thus does she make a full circuit of Serenity. This is, indeed a good example of how well-laid-out the ship is. Rather more vexing is the question of scale (see the "Serenity Layout" thread, where others and myself have had some to say on that score).

Hope this helps, and REALLY looking forward to seeing your handiwork!

Keep flyin'!

Department of Redundancy Department

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Wednesday, March 26, 2003 8:32 PM

ManiacNumberOne;

Typical Noocyte; blunder in with maximum excitement and minimum humility! Let me back up...are there areas in particular which you are having difficulty reconciling with the relationships among the sets and the exterior of the ship? Perhaps something which I too missed?

Also, what's your expertise that you should be able to undertake such a (to my primitive mind) daunting task as diagramming the Divine Ms. S? Are you in engineering or graphic design?

Keep flyin' (and share the wealth, when your designs are through, please!)!

Department of Redundancy Department

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Thursday, March 27, 2003 12:49 AM

Hey Noocyte, I do have graphic design expertise. It's loads of fun. As to the River scene, I think I may have reconciled it. I do have another problem though. I am slightly off on a possible second hallway off from the top of the back set of stairs. (the set that starts at the door of the medical bay) When that staircase meets top of the hallway, (not just the top of the first set of stairs, but after it doglegs left and completes its' flight,) it turns both left and right. when it turns left, it turns left again and ends up in the engine room. but at the top o' the same stairs as just mentioned, when the hallway instead turns right, I am unsure if the hallway continues around a corner to the left after that, or if it just stops.

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Thursday, March 27, 2003 6:41 AM

GROOVYAL

There has been an unreal tournament level built in course of the game to geek project. As it was constructed in close cooperation with the producers i'd say it is the most reallistic piece of info you can get.
I wounder if it is awailable somewhere...

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Thursday, March 27, 2003 7:02 AM

TALLGUY

Quote:
Originally posted by GroovyAl:
There has been an unreal tournament level built in course of the game to geek project. As it was constructed in close cooperation with the producers i'd say it is the most reallistic piece of info you can get.
I wounder if it is awailable somewhere...

From what they had published on the site when the show was put on hiatus it wasn't finished yet. Which is a real shame.

Bill
"We all know I'm the funny one."
"You ain't all that funny."

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Thursday, March 27, 2003 9:41 AM

GROOVYAL

yeah right!
but as i got the idea the "architechture" was allready done there was still some retexturing to do.
But maybe the guy who did it finished it allready or even if he didn´t he could publish as an alpha-version for the community to complete it....
That would be somthing, now woudnt it?

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Saturday, March 29, 2003 6:07 AM

RADIOJOE

If you get a set of blueprints, I'd love to offer whatever I can do in presentation to share on the web.

I gave up on the Firefly 03 and did a quick and dirty set for the Firefly 01 RPG I posted.

Link is at:

http://members.ispwest.com/radiojoe/firefly

----

The bible is very specific on the subject of killing, but it is a might hazy on the topic of kneecaps...

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Saturday, March 29, 2003 9:28 AM

Hey Maniac. Very shiny that you have GD experience to bring to bear on this fun project. Busy day ahead, but I'll try to lend my modest visualization skills to the stairs question sometime this week-end. Cheers!

Department of Redundancy Department

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Saturday, March 29, 2003 12:08 PM

Thanks for your help Noocyte. I have one very important thing to say about Serenity. That is one damn big ship. A lot bigger than I first expected.

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Who's winning?
I don't know, they don't seem to be playing by any civilized rules that I know.
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Saturday, March 29, 2003 12:30 PM

Yah, she's a mite bigger than I'd first thought. You see what I mean, then, about that shot in OiS?

Only makes you appreciate the mostrous scale of the Purple-belly Cruisers all the more, yes? As for the latter, apropos of nothing, they're pretty reminiscent of the Nostromo's ("Alien") refinery platform, eh?

As I say, hopefully tomorrow I'll have a chance to peruse a couple of eps in the evening, and see if I can be of any help on the stairway split conundrum; you've piqued my curiosity here!

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Saturday, March 29, 2003 9:59 PM

I know that I see the second hallway when Mal and Shepherd Book are going up the stairs. I forget which episode. Sorry. I will rewatch and figure it out.

As for the rest who are still waiting for a nice Serenity layout, be patient, I am 1/4 of the way done.

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Who's winning?
I don't know, they don't seem to be playing by any civilized rules that I know.
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Saturday, March 29, 2003 10:07 PM

Greetings, fellow nocturnal Browncoat! Pretty sure the snippet you want is from "Train Job," toward the begninning, just before Mal finds evidence of terrifying space monkeys in the engine room. Have at it!

And good luck with the other 3/4 of the project!

Keep Flyin'!

Department of Redundancy Department

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Sunday, March 30, 2003 9:52 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Noocyte:
Greetings, fellow nocturnal Browncoat! Pretty sure the snippet you want is from "Train Job," toward the begninning, just before Mal finds evidence of terrifying space monkeys in the engine room.

I believe that you are right. So, what did you think about that hallway? I am still at a loss. Besides that though, I have progressed to 1/3 of the way done.

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Who's winning?
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Sunday, March 30, 2003 12:05 PM

Okay, so here's how it is... (sorry. Couldn't resist!).

When Mal and book are heading up that first flight of stairs by the infirmery, they are facing the starboard side. When the steps jog left, they are headed toward the bow. When they reach the top of the stairs, and turn left, they are walking to port. As far as I can see, there is only a wall to their right (starboard), when they reach the top of the stairs. Can't see if anything continues forward (bow), but I don't think so.

Further, when I look closely at some frame-by-frames, I've come to the conclusion that the spinning engine "heart" IS at the center of the spinning lights on the exterior. If you look closely, inboard of/concentric with the metal cowling/torus (on whose inboard side the spinning lights are located), the hull constricts much more sharply than I'd thought (try frame-by-framing on the ascent from the "little moon" before the theme break in "Train Job"). This would place the "heart" right around the middle of it. Of course, this means that the deck level is a bit further down from the dome top of the thorax pod than I'd thought, but not so far that it interferes with the cargo hold entrance to the shuttles. Incidentally, this would leave room for equipment of the life support, etc. variety.

Speaking of this last, it appears that the glowing tail pod is not accessible from any of the conventional crew corridors. I rather like this, as it speaks to "core containment." It would be fun to see Kaylee scrabbling around through access shafts in this section...both for the technical side, and for the opportunity to see our beloved Ms. Frye wriggling through a confined space

Yet another reason why we NEED MORE FIREFLY!!!

I'm glad to have cleared this up for myself, as it was a minor vexation. Do let me know if it agrees with your perceptions as you look at the cited shots.

Isn't geek-dom shiny?!

Keep flyin'!

Department of Redundancy Department

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Sunday, March 30, 2003 9:35 PM

If I sound totally stupid about this then just ignore me.

I'm just curious as if anyone has figured out how many crew quarters and guest quarters or rooms there are.

The guest dorms are off of that little lounge area right? In the first scene of "Jaynestown" where Simon and Kaylee are standing in the hall talking about cussing, the camera angle shows 6 sets of doors. and I seem to remember that in another ep (cant remember which) they did the opposite camera angle and at the top of the ramp there was two more sets of doors. We know that the 4 sets at the bottom and middle of the ramp (closest to the Lounge area, 2 on each side of the ramp) do not lead to 4 different rooms, except its 2 larger ones, because we have seen the inside of both Simon's and River's (River's I think used to be the Lawman's in "Serenity" and both S and R's are right across from each other...right?). The bed is on a platform and has a door in front of it.

So, at the top of the ramp, 2 more sets of doors that look the same as the bottom sets...are they more guest dorm rooms? Also, there are two ladders on either side of the ramp between the bottom and middle sets of doors...and above the very bottom set of doors, there is 2 more sets. More dorms? Ones that you have to climb the ladder to?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I wish I was a jellyfish because jellyfish dont pay rent.

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Monday, March 31, 2003 7:59 AM

ANND

Quote:
Originally posted by BlueHoot:
If I sound totally stupid about this then just ignore me.

I'm just curious as if anyone has figured out how many crew quarters and guest quarters or rooms there are.

If you read the script for the pilot (on buffyscripts), there's a metion that the passenger capacity is 12 (from the scene where Kaylee is advertising for passengers). It didn't make it into the show.

As for crew quarters, I believe there are five. 3 on one side of the corridor, two on the other. This comes mostly for OiS, where they show 5 doors locking when Early locks everyone in. Jayne's bunk is opposite Kaylee's (from the last scene in WarStories).

Ann

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Monday, March 31, 2003 9:11 AM

I havent read any scrips, sorry.

I wish I was a jellyfish because jellyfish dont pay rent.

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Monday, March 31, 2003 11:33 AM

I heard about that 12 passenger quarters too, but as of yet, I have only, for sure, found 8 of them. As for crew quarters, I believe there are 5, as you said, 2 on one side of the hall, 3 on the other side. (If you are looking from the mess hall towards the bridge, Kaylee and Mal are on the starboard side, Jayne and Zoe/Wash on the port side.) I am fairly certain that Jayne's room is the middle one one the port side, and that Mal's room is directly across from his, not Kaylee's. Kaylee's is next to Mal's, on the starboard side, and her room is closest to the bridge. I have yet to discover if Zoe/Wash's room is the one closest to the bridge on the port side, or furthest. I am of the impression though that it is the closer one, since that would allow faster access to the bridge for Wash.
I am 50% complete.

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Who's winning?
I don't know, they don't seem to be playing by any civilized rules that I know.
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Monday, March 31, 2003 12:27 PM

12 passengers doesnt necessarily mean 12 separate rooms. Some may be doubles. So I suspect that if the two that I mentioned earlier, the ones where you climb up the ladder to slide open the door, those are probably singles with smaller space and a smaller bed. The ones that Simon and River have are probably doubles...a bit bigger bed maybe and a larger amount of general space (since they have 2 sets of doors each).

I wish I was a jellyfish because jellyfish dont pay rent.

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Monday, March 31, 2003 7:26 PM

TALRIUS

Okay I'm gonna insert some things here.

1. There are two doors on the bridge of Serenity. Each flanking the pilot's chairs. Were the port side door leads is anyone's guess. Check me, Out of Gas when Mal wakes up on the bridge from the Walden answering Serenity's distress call. and Objects in Space during the conversation about River.

2. The starboard stairwell that leads up from the cargo bay, to presumably the fore corridor has a room between it and the fore corridor. Check 'Our Mrs Reynolds' during Vera's introduction look behind Mal and you'll see.

3. There are two doors in the cargo bay on the top catwalk. That mysterious door has a twin on the port side. I can only find one scene with this in it. Shindig, when Mal and Inara are drinking above the cattle.

4. Behind that said door there appears to be a hallway running from port to starboard. Bushwhacked Inara enters the cargo bay through this mysteious door.

5. I want to know where the rooom Dobson goes to in Serenity to get his luggage. It seems to be in the passenger dorm.

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Monday, March 31, 2003 8:28 PM

my answer to number 5:
I also think its in the passenger dorms because if you look at the door style (yellowish and sliding, it gives a glimpse of it). but it might be one of those at the very top of the ramp (that I mentioned before)...they probably use those for general storage when no passengers are in them.

As for the rest of the mystery doors...and there are a lot...I wonder if there are mystery prizes behind them all. lol

I wish I was a jellyfish because jellyfish dont pay rent.

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Monday, March 31, 2003 9:19 PM

I think I can speak to #1. If you look at the FOX official site, under FEATURES ---> "Geek to game project," and look at the "hallway concept" renderings, you'll see the doors from the hallway. The main door, atop the steps is on the starboard (facing forward) side, and nothing but blank hull on the port. I wonder if the door on the inside of the bridge isn't just an access port to circuitry, etc?

Best I can do for now, as I can't really go check the disks at the moment. If I see any different when I can actually check the "canon," I'll post my $.01

Keep Flyin'!

Department of Redundancy Department

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Tuesday, April 1, 2003 8:14 AM

HAPLO721

A couple of points:

1. The Serenity set consists of 2 pieces, the upper part of the ship, and the lower part. Each is completely self-contained, so you could actually do a cinematic tour of the ship, and only have to cut once- when going from one level to the other.

2. In OMR, when Saffron seals off the bridge, Kaylee says "She didn't just lock it, she fused it to something. Both entrances." However, we only see her fuse one door, and she runs into Inara immediately afterward. It's possible that the second entrance is via the room that the ladder between the consoles leads, and that she sealed it BEFORE coming onto Wash.

Early: You ever been raped, Kaylee?
Kaylee: You know, it's funny you should mention that... ever heard of the Fox network?

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Tuesday, April 1, 2003 8:33 AM

ANND

Quote:
Originally posted by ManiacNumberOne:
I am fairly certain that Jayne's room is the middle one one the port side, and that Mal's room is directly across from his, not Kaylee's.

At the end of War Stories, during the scene in the kitchen, Jayne can be clearly seen coming up the ladder from his bunk, the last one on the port side, closest to the bridge. I think that would put Wash and Zoe in the middle, accross from Mal.

Ann

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Tuesday, April 1, 2003 9:26 AM

I like your assistance. I saw what you meant at the end of war stories, but danged if I haven't seen Jayne pop out of a different room too. I will let you know when I find it again. It's a good thing I am waiting until the last to label the rooms.

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Tuesday, April 1, 2003 9:48 AM

WERESPAZ

Quote:

It's possible that the second entrance is via the room that the ladder between the consoles leads, and that she sealed it BEFORE coming onto Wash.

Not just a possibility, but that's where it is. If you look down the hallway with the crew quarters you'll see stairs leading up to the bridge, and a door next to it, and I seem to remember seeing some more consoles like the ones on the bridge in there, but that's not the point. I watched that scene specifically looking for more info about that room and the other entrance to the bridge, but they show here pulling the strip off her dress and fusing the door, then they cut to her encounter with Inara. It seems to me that she may have either fused the second door in the same fashion after the first (I don't think she would've gotten away with that down below without Wash noticing, it seemed to make a fair amount of noise, flame and smoke), or perhaps she locked it from the inside via a panel at the pilot's console, then cut the power to the whole assembly. Just a thought, I just wonder why they didn't make it more clear what she did to the second (downstairs) door.

-The SpAz

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Tuesday, April 1, 2003 10:42 AM

I agree Spaz, that staircase is definitely where the second cockpit entrance is. It makes you think twice about the size of the ship huh? If the cockpit of the ship is at least two levels, which it is, then we are looking at an inside height of around 16 to 18 ft. That doesn't include ares in between the levels for structure, or the outside casing of the ship. All those things included make the height of just the cockpit more than 20 ft.

I was going to post and say that I had lost my mind because the layout for the passenger quarters appeared to be changing, but I think I am not crazy (much) after all. It appears that some of the passengers may have been changing rooms over the course of the show. It's either that, or the camera angles are messing with me. At the end of Safe when Jayne is dumping the doctor's stuff back on his bunk and he comes out of the room, he appears to be coming from the rear of the ship, but from what I had found out earlier, the doctor's room is definitely starboard side.
It's great! I keep watching for little things I missed before, and I am finding whole new areas to the ship that I never thought existed. That scene at the end of Safe with Simon and Mal shows another set of stairs behind the medical bay that I had previously never seen. Shiny.
Also, when Book finds River "fixing" his Bible, River is at the table in the mess hall, and Book appears out of a dark corner on the forward starboard side of the mess hall, with tray in hand, as though he were the one to have just appeared in the mess hall from some other entrance on that side. River had apparently had been sitting at the table for some time doing her "fixing". So where does this other entrance or area lead? And if it isn't another entrance, then the only possible solution is that it is some sort of very dark pantry that Book had been hanging out in, preparing his tray of food, while River came into the mess hall, (quietly) and sat at the table and laid out all of her papers. I don't like that explanation though. It doesn't seem right somehow.

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Who's winning?
I don't know, they don't seem to be playing by any civilized rules that I know.
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Tuesday, April 1, 2003 12:14 PM

KAYTHRYN

Quote:
Originally posted by Manicnumberone:
At the end of Safe when Jayne is dumping the doctor's stuff back on his bunk and he comes out of the room, he appears to be coming from the rear of the ship, but from what I had found out earlier, the doctor's room is definitely starboard side.

Not that I've been paying as much attention to detail like the rest of you, but here’s what I figured. In the Pilot Dr. Tam was given his guest quarters, he put his things away, and shortly after craziness ensued and the girl in the box was discovered. Later that night he tucked her in to bed- his bed. Simon found out he was allowed to stay, and he probably stayed up all that night or perhaps fell asleep in a chair in his room while River slept. The next day all kinds of adjustments had to be made- and River was given her own room, directly across from her brothers (Simon didn’t move because all of his things were already unpacked in his room whereas River didn‘t even have the proverbial “clothes off her back“ that would need moving).

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It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
Aristotle

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Tuesday, April 1, 2003 9:31 PM

What you say is true Kaythryn, yet my point is a different one than I think you addressed. Even though Simon's room is aft (to the rear) of River's, in the passage in Jaynestown, that I mentioned before, Jayne is walking down a hallway that runs fore to aft when he exits Simon's room. If he had exited Simon's room where I believe it to be, then he should have been walking down a hallway that runs right to left (starboard to port.)

The scene in Jaynestown at the very end shows that when Jayne leaves Simon's room, the stairway which goes upstairs is almost directly in front of him, and a little to the right, and Jayne could see up the stairs. If he had been coming from the doctor's room, then those stairs would have been on his extreme right, and he wouldn't have been able to see up them, he would only have been able to see the side of them.

So, this brings up a problem in my diagram. I am trying to be as accurate as possible. I thought I had found the solution to the problem, in the scene right after that. Simon said to the Mal, "I've moved him to his room." referring to the shot Book. I misheard it the first 2 times as, "I've moved into his room." They are close sounding, really. So stop making that face. Anyway, that didn't solve the problem. Who wants to solve it for me? If there are no takers, don't worry, I'll eventually figure it out, it may just take me a little longer.

Status: 55%

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Who's winning?
I don't know, they don't seem to be playing by any civilized rules that I know.
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Wednesday, April 2, 2003 10:53 PM

I was wrong about that gorram door. I think that I need a little more closer looks at the crew quarters that I haven't already checked out. just gotta take em one at a time.
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Thursday, April 3, 2003 7:18 PM

SUCCATASH

That little piece of info put me over the 60% complete mark.

The suspense is killing me!

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Thursday, April 3, 2003 8:05 PM

Agreed! Having watched (and, I hope, helped) the ideas behind this project evolve, I've been growing increasingly stoked.

Indeed, an argument could be made --should the gear and wares be available-- for purdifying these schematics and posting them in a form suitable for hi-qual color printing. Might make a dandy little poster...

Then, Maniac, you could vie with TRS80 for the longest thread, with the most uses of the word, "shiny!"

Good luck!

Department of Redundancy Department

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Thursday, April 3, 2003 10:33 PM

I hope that my work is not all in vain. I am also looking forward to being done.
Thanks for your support everybody. Well, it's 1:30 a.m. here. I just got home from 8 hrs of data entry, and now I am stoked to work on this project. I love Firefly. I just love it.

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Who's winning?
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Sunday, April 6, 2003 12:12 PM

ANND

I've been thinking lately about the second entrance to the bridge. I don't think it's the door off the foredeck (the gangway that the crew quarters open off of). I just doesn't make sense to ever go in that door, because the stairs to the other entrance are right next to it. My theory is that there's an entrance to the lower bridge that connects with the catwalks on the second level, near the shuttles. In OiS, they leave Inara's shuttle and then end up coming up the ladder from the lower Bridge. Maybe it's below the foredeck, running between the crew quarters.

Ann

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Sunday, April 6, 2003 12:43 PM

Hmmm... I don't know that there would be enough room between the crew quarters for a proper corridor...maybe some kind of access crawlway, but nothing the likes of Inara would deign to scramble through if an alternative existed. The quarters are actually surprisingly roomy, and probably extend inboard for some distance, probably even sharing walls beneath the corridor's floor. Plus, I don't think Serenity's bridge module has enough vertical extent for a door on the upper level of the cargo deck to be able to lead to a corridor making a bee-line for the ship's 'head.' Almost certainly, the door to port of the staircase to the bridge leads to an equipment bay, or computer mainframes, or what-have-you, just beneath the bridge, which is where the staircase on the inside of the bridge also leads.

Still, it is useful to think outside the box like this; it stimulates conversation and often exposes hidden assumptions which turn out not to be tenable. And, hopefully, it'll help Maniac with the Project. Thoughts?

Department of Redundancy Department

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Monday, April 7, 2003 5:27 AM

By the way, I know that the "scale" conversation died down a while ago, but I thought I'd add something. Just watched "Bushwacked" again last night. All I can say is "duh." That long pull-back when Simon and River are EVA to hide from the Purple-Bellies is IMO a perfectly to-scale representation (actually, the Feds visible through the window are composited into the frame a tad too big, but Simon and River's size relative to Serenity seems right on the money (as compared to Mal and River in OiS, who are half-again too large). Just thought I'd throw that in the mix.

Keep flyin'!

Department of Redundancy Department

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Monday, April 7, 2003 8:12 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Noocyte:
Hmmm... I don't know that there would be enough room between the crew quarters for a proper corridor...maybe some kind of access crawlway, but nothing the likes of Inara would deign to scramble through if an alternative existed. The quarters are actually surprisingly roomy, and probably extend inboard for some distance, probably even sharing walls beneath the corridor's floor. Plus, I don't think Serenity's bridge module has enough vertical extent for a door on the upper level of the cargo deck to be able to lead to a corridor making a bee-line for the ship's 'head.' Almost certainly, the door to port of the staircase to the bridge leads to an equipment bay, or computer mainframes, or what-have-you, just beneath the bridge, which is where the staircase on the inside of the bridge also leads.

I would tend to agree with your general assessment about the door portside of the stairs leading to the bridge. I think that it is indeed the second entrance to the bridge. I am unsure of the exact dimesions behind that door, but I can extrapolate. I don't think it precludes a passageway between crew quarters though. (Although I believe there isn't one either.) But from what I have seen, the stairs going down to crew quarters are almost flush against the wall. That woud leave plenty of room for a corridor underneath the corridor that we just haven't seen. Serenity is much bigger than most would expect. I am getting closer to a finished layout. 70% complete.

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Who's winning?
I don't know, they don't seem to be playing by any civilized rules that I know.
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Thursday, April 10, 2003 6:45 PM

Pardon the bump.

Just checking in with ManiacNumberOne on the goings-on in the Visualization Department. Godspeed!

Also, I had a thought about the space under the forward corridor floor. I'd got turned around (me and my pesky spatial skills...just a slight parietal lesion, doc; no need for the holo-imager) and imagined the rooms stretching out inboard of the hatch/ladder. You're right that there ought to be enough room for a hallway. But I agree that there probably isn't one.

It occurs to me that a whole lot of electronic cabling, ducts, etc. would have to connect with the rest of the ship from the bridge (not to mention plumbing from the Murphy Loos to reclamation [a notion which would argue against a good reception for chocolate frosting on a cake...sorry

]!), even factoring in 500-odd years of tech miniaturization. This space is really the only logical place for it...possibly acessed by lifting up the grates on the corridor floor.

More on scale (ah, the male preoccupation with size...

) do folks have thoughts on my belief that the pull-back (River/Simon EVA) shot from Bushwhacked is a pretty bang-on illustration of Serenity's scale? Is anyone else slavering messily and embarassingly at the prospect of seeing those exteriors from "Trash" (see, as he deftly avoids the spoiler!)?!?

Anyway, keep flyin'!

Department of Redundancy Department

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Thursday, April 10, 2003 11:35 PM

Well Noocyte, and everyone else, I have come to a few conclusions about Serenity, and they have led me to believe that I am 85% complete. I wish I knew more about the ship, but what I do have, I will be posting soon. I have a few more hrs of work before that though, which translates into a few days...so be as patient as you have been already and soon you will be somewhat rewarded I hope.

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Who's winning?
I can't really tell, they don't seem to be playing by any civilized rules that I know.
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Friday, April 11, 2003 8:26 AM

KNIGHTNAVRO

Quote:
Originally posted by Noocyte:
More on scale (ah, the male preoccupation with size... ) do folks have thoughts on my belief that the pull-back (River/Simon EVA) shot from Bushwhacked is a pretty bang-on illustration of Serenity's scale? Is anyone else slavering messily and embarassingly at the prospect of seeing those exteriors from "Trash" (see, as he deftly avoids the spoiler!)?!?

I've tried to figure out just how long/wide/tall Serenity is, but she seems to change in size from episode to episode. My methods aren't exactly scientific (they consist of measuring a person standing neaar Serenity then measuring Serenity, but I can get a length anywhere from 60-100 meters. My pick for the best shot to establish scale is the shot in Train Job where Serenity rises from the crater in the teaser.

Taking a look at Bushwhacked...
From that shot, I'd say Serenity is about 150m long. That's only an eyeball estimate, so I could be off. I had forgotten that shot; thanks for pointing it out.

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Friday, April 11, 2003 9:51 AM

I have 3 small problems before I can post what I have finished.

First, the hallway between the engine room and mess hall has proven to be a small problem. In different scenes, I have seen the hallway that leads off the main hallway appear in different positions. For example...

When, after Kaylee tells the crew about Rivers' prowess with a gun and she and Simon are about to kiss in the hallway in question, it appears that the offshoot hallway is right next to the door to the mess hall...because Book comes right around a corner out of the mess hall to interrupt them. Yet, in an earlier episode, when Mal hits Simon for calling him an Alliance sympathizer, the offshoot hallway is not where previously mentioned (right next to the doorway of the mess), instead it is halfway down the main hall. Feel free to help out here.

Second, I am having trouble reconciling the exact position and number of passenger quarters. I have 2 potential scenarios in mind. One with quarters in a pyramid setup on each side of the ship (12 rooms,) another with one room on top of another (8 rooms.) Any help there would also be appreciated.

Third, there are some doors that exist that go to places I haven't seen yet. Those will have to remain as undetailed areas.

Stuck on 85%

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Who's winning?
I can't really tell, they don't seem to be playing by any civilized rules that I know.
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Friday, April 11, 2003 11:26 AM

TALLGUY

Quote:
Originally posted by KnightNavro:

I've tried to figure out just how long/wide/tall Serenity is, but she seems to change in size from episode to episode. My methods aren't exactly scientific (they consist of measuring a person standing neaar Serenity then measuring Serenity, but I can get a length anywhere from 60-100 meters. My pick for the best shot to establish scale is the shot in Train Job where Serenity rises from the crater in the teaser.

As an overall measurement of our girl, I'd say that's not a great shot. My reason is because there is so much distortion because of the perspective of the shot. It might give you an allright estimate of the size of the cockpit, but the cargo bay on back would be distorted.

Unless you're talking about the long shot and not the one of Mal & Co standing in front of her.

Also (and I have NO verification on this whatsoever) I THINK they rebuilt (or at least modified) the model of Serenity after the pilot. I don't have anything handy, but her underside is much longer (and more consistant with the interior) in later eps (Safe being a great example) than in Serenity or any of the footage FROM Serenity used in later episodes.

Bill
"We all know I'm the funny one."
"You ain't all that funny."

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Friday, April 11, 2003 12:26 PM

KNIGHTNAVRO

Quote:
Originally posted by TallGuy:
As an overall measurement of our girl, I'd say that's not a great shot. My reason is because there is so much distortion because of the perspective of the shot. It might give you an allright estimate of the size of the cockpit, but the cargo bay on back would be distorted.

Unless you're talking about the long shot and not the one of Mal & Co standing in front of her.

That's the one I'm thinking of. I imagine perspective is a major problem with my attempts, but I'm not going to break out a calculator and start going through trig formulas I can barely remember. It's best to choose shots where the characters are standing very close to the ship. I've looked at a couple of the shots where they are leaving through the main cargo doors, since that's about as close as you can get.
I figured it would give a decent picture of at least the dimentions of the cargo bay. If you can nail down the dimentions of one prominint part of the ship, there's a great shot of Serenity toward the end of the episode that can be used to scale the rest of the ship (or you could use some of the pics floating aroudnd this site or...).

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Saturday, April 12, 2003 5:37 PM

TALRIUS

Let me not help you Maniac.

Quote:
Originally posted by ManiacNumberOne:
First, the hallway between the engine room and mess hall has proven to be a small problem. In different scenes, I have seen the hallway that leads off the main hallway appear in different positions.

I don't see what you mean here. It looked the same length to me, but I could be wrong. I'll have to check and get back to you on that.

Quote:
Second, I am having trouble reconciling the exact position and number of passenger quarters. I have 2 potential scenarios in mind. One with quarters in a pyramid setup on each side of the ship (12 rooms,) another with one room on top of another (8 rooms.) Any help there would also be appreciated.

It appears to be 8 rooms. One stacked on another. The original script said Serenity could hold 12 passangers. However that doesn't mean there are 12 rooms.

Yet go back and see Jaynestown. The opening scene with Simon and Kaylee talkin' about cursing. There will be a ariel shot of the dorm from the ladders in the back. If you look over Simon and River's bunks (Where Kaylee and Simon are talking.) you'll see that the second level dorm pods don't have two shoji doors, just one.

Confused yet?

Quote:
Third, there are some doors that exist that go to places I haven't seen yet. Those will have to remain as undetailed areas.

Stuck on 85%

Yeah, I know. There are two doors flanking either
side of the food containers on the port side of the galley. Across the galley next to the counter there appears to be a room back there too. There are two doors on the top tier of the cargo bay against the back wall that lead some where. (Inara leaves this in Bushwhacked. All we know is that it runs Starboard to Port.)There is a room just across from the infirmary. (Book leaves this room in Serenity when Simon races to the infirary.) The dorm has ladders leading to no where. There is a space behind the Infirmary. And last but not least the mysterious room below the bridge. I think I've adressed all of them?

So yeah there is a whole hell of a lot of our precious Serenity that's still unknown.

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Sunday, April 13, 2003 7:44 AM

KNIGHTNAVRO

It may seem like a cop-out, but some of those mysterious door may not lead anywhere important. They may be for maintnence and to access the ship's systems. Of course, if you see anybody coming from one of these doors, they probably aren't maintnence, but it could explain a couple.

And I'm leaning toward 8 passenger dorms, but there's no way to be sure.

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Sunday, April 13, 2003 9:11 AM

ZENCAT

delurking...

Reading this thread with enthusiasm - I've been waiting for Serenity blueprints since the beginning. Thanks for undertaking this project! I can't wait to see the finished product!

I have nothing, alas, to add to logistics of the layout, but there's something I'm including in the Serenity in my head, because I think it's utterly cool. It's a system that converts waste (including anything organic, like *ahem* human waste) into fuel oil, carbon, minerals, water, and harmless gas. Whatever reclaimed resources Serenity couldn't use, the crew could sell - there have to be backwater places that use oil for fuel, carbon's useful, and the minerals are good fertilizer. It would be a steady, though perhaps small, income stream. And the machine is small enough to tuck neatly underneath a corridor or somewhere. It's the perfect thing to have aboard a ship like Serenity - rather than dumping waste into the void, convert it into something useful/salable. It's not sci-fi, either - the machine exists already and is in use. If you're interested in how it works, check out the latest issue of Discover mag, or online at changingworldtech.com. (No, this is not an advertisement - but when these guys go public, I'm buying stock.)

I'm such a tech geek.

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Sunday, April 13, 2003 11:51 AM

KAYTHRYN

I’m posting this on a few threads because I don’t quite remember what thread this discussion started at.

Alrighty- this is for you fans out there who are trying to figure out Serenity’s dimensions... or anybody else who‘d like to look. I’ve set up a little web page, or site, or whatcha thingy, with some screen caps of Serenity. If everything goes according to plan more pictures ( interior shots of Serenity, and characters) will be up soon. If you’ve got some nice pictures of Serenity that I don’t have up, you can e-mail me and I’ll try to add them in too.

Here's the address-
http://moonhopper.0catch.com/Serenity%20page1/11.txt

P.s. I apologize in advance for the remedial looking page and any errors- I tried to teach myself html a few days ago and so far it’s not going so well.

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It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
Aristotle

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Sunday, April 13, 2003 6:12 PM

LJB064

Maniac:

On your first question, I think Book is coming around the corner from the Mess-Engine Room corridor, not directly from the Mess. Everything I have been able to find places that spur corridor (connecting to the "back stairs") smack dab in the middle of the Mess-Engine Room corridor. I think you're safe if you put it there.

On the question of the passenger dorm rooms, I spent a lot of time this weekend looking at eps to try to figure this out. The position and orientation of the bay holding the passenger rooms has been bugging me for a long time. This weekend, I realized that there are actually two bays of passenger rooms, running backward to port and starboard at angles about 30 degress from the centerline.

The starboard bay (where River and Simon have their rooms) has two ladders midway down (to serve upper berths). This is the one we usually see. I believe it has a total of seven rooms.

The port bay (where Book's room is) only has a ladder next to the inboard wall. (In both cases, I am not counting the ladders that run up the walls at the end of the bays). I believe the port bay has five rooms - which would give us our magic number of 12.

Slap me if I'm behind the curve and you guys already have all this.

If by chance this is a new thought, I'll be happy to give support. As a quick start, I'd say look at (i) the beginning of The Train Job when Book tells Mal that he considers Simon to be brave, and (ii) the spot toward the end of Jaynestown when River says "keep walkin' Preacher Man" - both give an establishing shot showing that the dorms are accessed by going through a wide archway at the back of the common area. Just beyond the archway, on the midline of the ship, is a louvered wall, sometimes backlit. The two bays run back on either side of that. The best placing sequences are (i) in Jaynestown, when River brings back the pages from Book's Bible - she walks aft along the port wall, and then veers further to her right to reach his room (first outboard room in the port bay), and (ii) in Bushwhacked, when Inara comes down the back stairs and veers left (to Starboard aft) to go to River's room (first one behind the outboard ladder in the starboard bay). You also get a good placing shot right down the starboard bay when Mal calls Zoe to the bridge when the Reaver ship first shows up in Serenity.

Keep Flyin'

Birdman

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Monday, April 14, 2003 1:29 PM