How will FF/Serenity influence future sci-fi? by chrisisall

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How will FF/Serenity influence future sci-fi?

POSTED BY: CHRISISALL
UPDATED: Wednesday, May 3, 2006 13:27
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Wednesday, April 26, 2006 3:45 PM

You can already see a strong 'fluence on Galactica. Look how Star Wars and Blade Runner set standards.
As the recognition grows, will Joss' vision affect other shows and movies?

lOOKIN' AHEAD Chrisisall

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Wednesday, April 26, 2006 5:08 PM

ZISKER

That's a good question. For anyone who reads Analog, did you catch April's issue w/ the novella by John Hemry called "Lady Be Good"? It's a story about a ship that's in worse repair than Serenity and features a head of the ship (the Captain is present, but mentally incapacitated) who is fiercely loyal to the ship and crew. I don't know if Hemry ever watched Firefly, but the story did remind me strongly of the series and the motif of 'realistic technology'. But even Firefly is part of an older SF trend that hasn't been properly studied of future technology/society/lifestyle that doesn't always function as it should. Technology with its pants down and wrinkles out. I'm think of studying that trend for my graduate dissertation as there isn't much study on that topic as of yet.

Wow, that was a tangent. Anyway: I hope that Firefly will help influence soft science fiction which needs to be built on the foundation of solid characters. And I do believe that it will help break down the barriers of 'SF Genre' since one of the things I constantly hear people say about Firefly is "I don't like science fiction, but I like that".

One day.
One plan.
One army of Browncoats.

On June 23rd, we aim to misbehave.
http://www.serenityday.org/

Little or no free time, but want to help?
Help Spread the Signal: http://www.geocities.com/browncoatsignalcorps

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Thursday, April 27, 2006 9:07 AM

CHRISISALL

Long ago, before the BDM's release, peeps here were predicting a slew of 'western-sci-fi's', the way Star Wars was copied after it's release. I must say that Serenity's low general visibility in Hollywood at least means we don't have to suffer that.

Yee-ha Chrisisall

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Thursday, April 27, 2006 9:13 AM

STORYMARK

I'm sure it will influence lots of future SciFi, both directly, as we see in the FX style of Battlestar Galactica, and in more subtle ways where we won't be able to point at it and say "That was from Firefly!". Just like Firefly was influenced by things that went before (could Mal be any more Solo-esque?).

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

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Thursday, April 27, 2006 10:02 AM

CHRISISALL

Quote:
Originally posted by Storymark:
(could Mal be any more Solo-esque?).

In my eyes, he leans a little more towards Lando...

Will you get out of here, you pirate Chrisisall

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Thursday, April 27, 2006 10:19 AM

STORYMARK

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Quote:
Originally posted by Storymark:
(could Mal be any more Solo-esque?).

In my eyes, he leans a little more towards Lando...

Will you get out of here, you pirate Chrisisall

Only if he looses Serenity to an old buddy in a game of cards, then spends the next several years whining about it.

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

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Thursday, April 27, 2006 10:28 AM

CHRISISALL

Quote:
Originally posted by Storymark:

Only if he looses Serenity to an old buddy in a game of cards, then spends the next several years whining about it.

lol, okay, you're right.

Never argue with a wookie Chrisisall

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Thursday, April 27, 2006 10:33 AM

GROUNDED

Will any luck it will prove to creators that great TV scifi can be produced with NO ALIENS!

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Thursday, April 27, 2006 10:39 AM

KINROEDARKSTONE

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Quote:
Originally posted by Storymark:
(could Mal be any more Solo-esque?).

In my eyes, he leans a little more towards Lando...

How about a mergein' fo the two--Solando!

--------------
Wash: Closing in.
Zoe: Planet's coming up a might fast.
Wash: That's just 'cause I'm goin' down too quick. Likely crash and kill us all.
Mal: Well, if that happens, let me know.

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Thursday, April 27, 2006 11:51 AM

XEYRA

Quote:
Originally posted by KinroeDarkstone:
Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Quote:
Originally posted by Storymark:
(could Mal be any more Solo-esque?).

In my eyes, he leans a little more towards Lando...

How about a mergein' fo the two--Solando!

Has a certain ring to it...

*******************************
Wash: This landing is gonna get pretty interesting.
Mal: Define "interesting".
Wash: [deadpan] Oh God, oh God, we're all going to die?

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Thursday, April 27, 2006 12:03 PM

MAGHAFFAR

Just finished watching the first disc / season 1 of Battlestar Galactica, and had to admit was a lot better than the first version of the show. Then I was watching the FX shots and thinking "This looks just like Firefly FX stuff -- quick zooms, etc." Then I watched the credits and sure enough, ZOIC did the FX work. Cool!

Another thing I noticed was the pilot was 3 hours long. I'm guessing SciFi channel broke it up into a 2-parter when it aired, but still... would've been nice if SciFi had bought FF and done it the way Joss wanted.

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Thursday, April 27, 2006 12:40 PM

GROUNDED

Quote:
Originally posted by MAGhaffar:
Another thing I noticed was the pilot was 3 hours long.

The pilot is called 33 and is the usual single episode length. The 'pilot' you watched was a mini-series that preceded season 1. It aired in 2 parts.

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Thursday, April 27, 2006 1:31 PM

STORYMARK

Quote:
Originally posted by Grounded:
Quote:
Originally posted by MAGhaffar:
Another thing I noticed was the pilot was 3 hours long.

The pilot is called 33 and is the usual single episode length. The 'pilot' you watched was a mini-series that preceded season 1. It aired in 2 parts.

Well, if you wanna be technical about it, 33 wasn't the pilot either. Pilot does not equel first episode. A pilot is done to gauge interest (be it from a network, advertisers or viewers) for a proposed new show. Pilots, though shot first, are not always the actual first episode - they sometimes air 3rd or 4th - in order to show what an ordinary episode would look like (as first eps are often all set-up and introductions). BSG already had a full season order when 33 was shot, thus it was not really a pilot.

The mini-series was what's called a back-door pilot - a stand-alone story that could be picked up as a series if successfull. It was what tested the waters, and had the mini not done well, there would have been no series. This was also the case with Babylon 5: Legend of the Rangers, which was not picked-up for a series, and the new Blade TV movie, which was picked-up as a series based on the (supposed) strength of that still-unaired pilot.

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

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Thursday, April 27, 2006 1:39 PM

CAUSAL

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Long ago, before the BDM's release, peeps here were predicting a slew of 'western-sci-fi's', the way Star Wars was copied after it's release. I must say that Serenity's low general visibility in Hollywood at least means we don't have to suffer that.

They were still suffering under the "Serenity is the Star Wars" delusion.

________________________________________________________________________
I wish I had a magical wish-granting plank.

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Friday, April 28, 2006 12:43 AM

GROUNDED

Quote:
Originally posted by Storymark:
Quote:
Originally posted by Grounded:
Quote:
Originally posted by MAGhaffar:
Another thing I noticed was the pilot was 3 hours long.

The pilot is called 33 and is the usual single episode length. The 'pilot' you watched was a mini-series that preceded season 1. It aired in 2 parts.

Well, if you wanna be technical about it, 33 wasn't the pilot either. Pilot does not equel first episode. A pilot is done to gauge interest (be it from a network, advertisers or viewers) for a proposed new show. Pilots, though shot first, are not always the actual first episode - they sometimes air 3rd or 4th - in order to show what an ordinary episode would look like (as first eps are often all set-up and introductions). BSG already had a full season order when 33 was shot, thus it was not really a pilot.

The mini-series was what's called a back-door pilot - a stand-alone story that could be picked up as a series if successfull. It was what tested the waters, and had the mini not done well, there would have been no series. This was also the case with Babylon 5: Legend of the Rangers, which was not picked-up for a series, and the new Blade TV movie, which was picked-up as a series based on the (supposed) strength of that still-unaired pilot.

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

I knew all this, but I didn't want to spend the time typing it all out.

Incidentally, I'd be interested to know of any genre show in which the pilot ep was aired 3rd or 4th...

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Friday, April 28, 2006 4:52 AM

CYBERSNARK

I was watching W.I.T.C.H. th'other day (anybody else watch this? It's like a Buffy cartoon series), and during the big battle scene (two clashing armies a la Lord of the Rings), when things started to go Cataclysmically Wrong, they did a Firefly-esque "zoom/focus and shakeycam" across the battlefield.

Kinda reminded me of Serenity Valley, with swords and magic-as-artillery. Don't know if it was an intentional homage or not, but it made me take notice.

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

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Wednesday, May 3, 2006 1:27 PM

STORYMARK

Quote:
Originally posted by Grounded:

I knew all this, but I didn't want to spend the time typing it all out.

Incidentally, I'd be interested to know of any genre show in which the pilot ep was aired 3rd or 4th...

Highlander. The pilot episode used to sell the show was called Free Fall, and featured Joan Jett. It aired 4th to air in the first season. The first episode, with Christophe Lambert was filmed after the show was picked-up.

I've heard this is done in the case of shows where the first episode is all set-up, as networks want a pilot to represent an average episode, which isn't always possible when the episode is spent introducing the characters/concepts.

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

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