Making Fan Film - Need Browncoat Help with Cannon by bluesuncompanyman

FIREFLY: IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE

Making Fan Film - Need Browncoat Help with Cannon

POSTED BY: BLUESUNCOMPANYMAN
UPDATED: Friday, July 17, 2009 04:17
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Thursday, December 11, 2008 1:16 PM

In the 4 years I've been visiting this board I've had all kinds of discussions with folks. Above everything I've ever posted on this site, my favorite thing has always been to answer questions about canon and explain episodes to anyone who asks; newbie to seasoned browncoat alike.

Now I'm going to turn to this community for assistance with a fan film that I've decided needs to be made. However, as deep as my knowledge of the verse runs, it does have a bottom. I cannot suffer mistakes in a film endevour, Firefly is simply too important to me to perform a shoddy job. I'm hoping people here can shed light on several issues I'm running into. Some things may have answers, some may never have been explored before. Here is my list:

1. Other than Shadow, what planets/moons participated in the Unification War on the side of the Independents? I don't think this has ever been explored.

2. What cannon Browncoat units are there? Mal was in the 57th overlanders. The 22nd is mentioned in the battle of Du Kang and the 82nd is mentioned in the pilot episode. The 76th is the fan community. Are there others?

3. What was the 22nd? Overlanders too? Was the 82nd an air assault squadron?

4. What are the political events leading to the move for independence? Were their Alliance abuses of power? Are there stories of folk being stripped of rights thus leading to a fight for liberty?

5. Is there a crest somewhere for the 57th overlanders? Also looking for browncoat recuitment posters similar to the "I want you" campaign from WWII.

6. Where can one purchase the independent Flag? Also looking for Browncoat soldiering items such as helmets, rifles, shoulder patches, ect. I see the 76th has a store, but I'm looking for other resources for more ideas.

7. Is there an image of the Alliance crest (USA Flag/China Flag ran together) somewhere on the net?

8. Canon clarifier: My understanding of the Independent Army is that it was simlar to the Confederate army. Each planet (state in Civil War) raised a series of regiments to join the overall effort to fight for a common cause each planet desired. In the case of the Unification War the common cause was the sovernity of each planet to self-govern. Is this explored in canon anywhere?

9. When Badger refered to Mal's unit as the "Balls and Bayonets Brigade", was he being honest or sarcastic? This is getting to the point of determining if the 57th had that very moniker or not.

10. I've come to believe that "Burn the land and boil the sea" refers to Shadow's uninhability due to orbital bombardment during the war. Can someone confirm or deny this?

So far that's all I'm trying to determine. I don't want to tip my hand as to what I'm working on, but I think if it comes together, it'll be impressive.

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Thursday, December 11, 2008 1:35 PM

OUT2THEBLACK

Durn , I was hopin' I'd get to build a weapon !

You're lookin' for canon! Not a 'cannon' !

Where do you live ? I'd be willing to lend a hand with your fan-film project , if you're taking on any helpers...

I'll see if I can find some more stuff , and hopefully more folk will turn up and offer assistance...

Meanwhile , here's a mini Alliance flag...I may have some other things , but I'll have to go look for a while...

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Thursday, December 11, 2008 1:52 PM

BLUESUNCOMPANYMAN

Quote:
Originally posted by out2theblack:

You're lookin' for canon! Not a 'cannon' !

Grr Arg.

I thought I'd done a decient job proofreading that thread starter. Fixed on edits.

As far as my location, I'm in Indiana. The project is currently in pre-production as we sort all these items out, so I'm not currently looking for helpers, but I'll be checking back.

Thanks for the offer!

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Thursday, December 11, 2008 2:32 PM

BIGRICHARD

Right....I can't help you with too much of that, but I'll give a few a shot.

"4. What are the political events leading to the move for independence? Were their Alliance abuses of power? Are there stories of folk being stripped of rights thus leading to a fight for liberty?"

Sounds about right. The Alliance were trying to Unify the entire 'verse under their rule, meaning all laws were their decision and they would decide all disputes, not to mention they'd want to put their own people in power on each planet, with a small army to control said planet. So the Independents fought back against this, because they wanted their rights, and they wanted to keep their planets and small communities the way they had been. So far as I know, there aren't really any 'stories' of folk losing land or rights, but you can bet there WOULD have been in the 'verse inside the show, so you're no doubt welcome to make some up. You can also bet the Alliance were abusing their power, the slimy scumbags!

"5. Is there a crest somewhere for the 57th overlanders? Also looking for browncoat recuitment posters similar to the "I want you" campaign from WWII. "

I haven't come across any recruitment posters if you mean official ones, but I'd be willing to make some for you if you so require, although if you check the Blue Sun Room their might be some there already, or possibly some artists better suited to the job than I, I simply know my way around Photoshop.

"6. Where can one purchase the independent Flag? Also looking for Browncoat soldiering items such as helmets, rifles, shoulder patches, ect. I see the 76th has a store, but I'm looking for other resources for more ideas. "

eBay. I've seen Alliance and Independents patches on there, I've seen the Mal's gun replica's on there, not to mention there's no doubt helmets and rifles and things, assuming you look hard enough. Not sure about flags themselves, but I'd be willing to be that if they're anywhere, it's eBay. In fact:
http://www.patchesnpins.com/firefly_serenity%20page.htm
I haven't shopped there myself, so I can't vouch for them, but they have a great range of patches and such.

"7. Is there an image of the Alliance crest (USA Flag/China Flag ran together) somewhere on the net? "

There's a picture of the Alliance flag, if that's not precisely what you want, I can always do a better job in Photoshop for you, just ask.

And that's all I can help with really. Good luck on the fan film! Living in Australia, I can't really help much, but as I said, any image editing/designing or anything else that I can just send over to you, I'd be most willing to help out.

Make sure to keep us posted too!

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Thursday, December 11, 2008 10:18 PM

FILLYGIRL

Operative: "Its worse than you know..." Mal: "It usually is."

6. The 76th store only has things we could not find online, if you join the 76th we have several threads about where we got out helmets and pants and boots and weapons.

The 76th is mention on FF delete scenes,(from the first episode 'Serenity')about the time the rollers come in on Mal and Zoe. We are a real battalion mention in FF.

http://76thbattalion.proboards59.com/index.cgi?

Chaplain of the 76th Independant Battalion

Do not bother dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

...it's worse than you know...Operative
...it usually is.....Mal

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Thursday, December 11, 2008 11:59 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Hera. Site of Serenity Valley.
Was it Du Khang in the Message flashbacks?

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Friday, December 12, 2008 12:05 AM

JEWELSTAITEFAN

1. Think I recall Persephone was a site, but was lost to Alliance, maybe quickly.
Think Shadow was pre-emptively obliterated.

2. Didn't think Monty was at Serenity, so he'd be a different unit (Trash).
Zoe was regular Army, so she wouldn't have been with Mal's volunteers to begin with, right?

4. Everyplace was Independent first. Then Alliance formed in the core planets. Then Miranda. Then Alliance tried to force everybody under their thumb of domination, and eventually succeeded.

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Friday, December 12, 2008 12:20 AM

FILLYGIRL

Operative: "Its worse than you know..." Mal: "It usually is."

9. Badger calls them that because(this is in the script, spoken by Mal.) The Independents were OUTNUMBERED vastly and they held the valley anyway, they lost lots of soldiers and basically were too tuff to beat. But the Independents surrendered,(leaders)but,Mal and Zoe's group would have kept fighting.

He was making fun of how stubborn Mal/battalion were.

Chaplain of the 76th Independant Battalion

Do not bother dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

...it's worse than you know...Operative
...it usually is.....Mal

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Friday, December 12, 2008 12:23 AM

FILLYGIRL

Operative: "Its worse than you know..." Mal: "It usually is."

>>>Zoe was regular army and Mal volunteered<<<

... does not matter, volunteer or regular you go where the Army tells you, both of them have the same unit patch on their uniform, they are in the same unit.
(I was military)

Chaplain of the 76th Independant Battalion

Do not bother dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

...it's worse than you know...Operative
...it usually is.....Mal

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Friday, December 12, 2008 5:16 AM

BLUESUNCOMPANYMAN

Quote:
Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:
Hera. Site of Serenity Valley.
Was it Du Khang in the Message flashbacks?

We've explored those issues a little and are needing to make a firm choice about them.

1. Hera: Was indeed the site of the final decisive confrontation but we cannot deterine if it was a rim world, a core world, or an unaligined planet. Long ago on this board, I recall reading that Hera was a core world assulted by the independents in a manner identical to Lee's push into Pennslyvania. The intent was...like in the civil war...to win a solid victory on Alliance soil and then sue for peace as the political will of core world citizens begins to crumble in the face of a home turf defeat. But, like in the civil war, the alliance turned back the assult, leading ultimately to an Independent defeat. If this is true, then Hera is not an Independent planet at all but rather a core world momentarily occupied.

2 Du Kang: This one is even more confusing. 1st is the question as to if the "Battle of Du Kang" refers to a planet or a city. One thing that I can say for sure about the place is it's a heavily Chinese influenced. The name itself is eastern and there is a great big Buddha in the sequence. The second question is to ask where this planet(or moon) is. My personal opinion based upon an educated guess is that Du Kang is an Independent planet/moon. Most of the Unification war would have been fought on rim worlds, just like the civil war was fought mostly in the south. It makes sense that this place is a browncoat world.

The reason we're asking these questions is we're creating Independent propaganda pieces that would refer to these rebel planets. I don't want to create a recuirment poster that targets the citizens of Hera only to learn that Hera was a core world that didn't support independence.

*Edit* It just occured to us that St. Albans is most likely a canon independent planet. St. Albans was Tracey's home world. Since Tracey was a browncoat soldier, and St. Albans is a frozen backwater place (back-ice perhaps?) it was more than likely an independent alligned planet. The question that this raises is why was Tracey in the 57th overlanders? If the 57th raised it's colors on Shadow, why wasn't Tracey in another regiment raised on St. Albans?

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Friday, December 12, 2008 8:19 AM

BYTEMITE

In the Civil War, there were units that were organized regionally to join the effort that stayed homogenous, but my impression is most volunteers were still assigned and had to report to a unit, rather than joining up with their local militia and staying with it all through the war. Might be wrong.

We do know that Shadow provided a lot of volunteers, but not if they provided any specific outfits.

If 57th does hail from Shadow, then Zoë and Tracey being in the unit are probably attributable to the normal activity of soldiers being shuffled around.

My impression also is that, despite all the Civil War references, the Independents never actually seceded. I don't think the Alliance ever had jurisdiction over the Rim worlds, but they wanted it. Bullied people around, trying to force the recognition of their government, until finally someone fought back, and the Independents' movement rallied around that.

Some of the Unification War also seems to be inspired by WWI, like the style of trench warfare, rifles, the coats... that might be worth looking into for props, too.

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Friday, December 12, 2008 8:42 AM

BLUESUNCOMPANYMAN

Quote:
Originally posted by Bytemite:
In the Civil War, there were units that were organized regionally to join the effort that stayed homogenous, but my impression is most volunteers were still assigned and had to report to a unit, rather than joining up with their local militia and staying with it all through the war. Might be wrong.

No, you're right. And you also spurned a thought in my head.

In 2006 I was in Lebanon Tennessee and stood in the town square looking at a statue of the Confederate Col who raised a regiment of 2000 men from surrounding Wilson County in 1861 to fight northern aggression. The unit was decimated in combat in 1862, and the Col himself was shot dead off of his horse. The survivors were rolled into Lee's army of Northern Virginia and saw action at many famous battles, including Gettysburg. By 1865 a bare handful were alive to see the surrender at Appomatox. Those few men (I think it was less than 100) returned to Wilson Co. Tennessee where later their children set the monument in 1901 to honor their orginal Col. along with all of their fallen comrades.

My point is, a case can be made that Tracey's unit suffered a similar fate and he was rolled into the 57th, though that'd be blazing a canon trail.

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Friday, December 12, 2008 9:15 AM

NEWOLDBROWNCOAT

Quote:
Originally posted by bluesuncompanyman:

9. When Badger refered to Mal's unit as the "Balls and Bayonets Brigade", was he being honest or sarcastic? This is getting to the point of determining if the 57th had that very moniker or not.

10. I've come to believe that "Burn the land and boil the sea" refers to Shadow's uninhability due to orbital bombardment during the war. Can someone confirm or deny this?

Re # 9, From the delivery of the line, I've always assumed thet Badger was being sarcastic. Besides, in the combat footage we've been shown there's no evidence... ( Of bayonets.)

RE # 10, that's the common interpretation. Not sure if there's cannon proof.

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Friday, December 12, 2008 12:56 PM

BLUESUNCOMPANYMAN

OK, I have 2 new things we're looking for. I need to know the Chinese characters for

"Urgent" and "A Call to Arms"

Does anyone know of an online chinese dictonary?

Also, Mal refers to his regimental CO, Col. Obrin. Does anyone know his 1st name?

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Friday, December 12, 2008 1:08 PM

GREENFAERIE

Quote:
Originally posted by bluesuncompanyman:

1. Hera: Was indeed the site of the final decisive confrontation but we cannot deterine if it was a rim world, a core world, or an unaligined planet.

2 Du Kang: This one is even more confusing. 1st is the question as to if the "Battle of Du Kang" refers to a planet or a city.

If you accept the new QMx map as canon, Hera is a Border world, and a stone's throw from Shadow, in the Georgia system. Du Kang does not appear on the map, which lists over 200 planets and moons, so I would deduce it was a city or region, perhaps on the planet of Aphrodite, which is a neighbor of both Shadow and Hera.

(a.k.a. wydraz)

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Friday, December 12, 2008 9:24 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Quote:
Originally posted by fillygirl:
>>>Zoe was regular army and Mal volunteered<<<

... does not matter, volunteer or regular you go where the Army tells you, both of them have the same unit patch on their uniform, they are in the same unit.
(I was military)

Depends on their reference of "unit". Mal and Zoe were not in the same "unit" at the beginning of BoSV, every member of Mal's "unit" was dead, and Zoe was the only survivor of hers. Mal ended up in command of those still surviving. They may have been together in the battalion at the beginning, but maybe different companies, platoons, squads, regiments, etc. At some point during BoSV, they could have been regrouped and issued the unit patches they had in the 2 scenes we have from the Pilot.
But Zoe was in a different group at the beginning of BoSV, and many battles had been before (5 years worth) - so what was her original unit?

In many outfits, volunteers or reservists often fight together, having better unit cohesion, and might have a regular "advisor" for long term experience to draw upon. Don't know if that happened here, but with planetaryn scale units, and armies on each planet, seems more likely, and Mal and Tracy were planetsides, while
Zoe was born in space. Also likely regulars were more spacer experienced, while voluteers likely more gravity fighters (land/sea/planet).

Not that much of that was detailed, but because it wasn't, we should not assume it was the same as what we have now.

Many units historically have fought together after forming from a c0munity or state, if they are big enough and stay together until attrition makes them ineffectively small. The military values this because of unit cohesion. Unfrotunately, some groups formed this was are borken up at some point to "fill in" depleted ranks of other existing units. The earlier a group reports to duty after call up, the more likely they are to remain unified, and later groups, or smaller groups get broken up to fill in for casualty depleted ranks of other units.

One commonly referred to unit was the Tuskagee Airmen, grouped from one community IIRC. Some african american units were segregated but from differing areas, but some were also from the same communities (freed former slaves apparently grouped together in free state communities).

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Friday, December 12, 2008 10:47 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Quote:
Originally posted by bluesuncompanyman:
OK, I have 2 new things we're looking for. I need to know the Chinese characters for

"Urgent" and "A Call to Arms"

Does anyone know of an online chinese dictonary?

In Blue Sun Room, the Writer's Resource Package thread has some links to chinese and Piyin.

Just noticed that thread has 18 replies and almost 1400 views.

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Saturday, December 13, 2008 7:08 AM

SLOWHAND

Here's some info that may help. I found it in the Serenity RPG and the Serenity Visual Companion. I consider both canon since Joss was involved in both.

"Outer planets such as Hera (where the Battle of Serenity was fought), Persephone, and Shadow mustered forces - more than half volunteers - to stop what they felt to be nothing more than imperialist hegemony."

So, from that we can see that Hera, Persephone, and Shadow were originally Indipendant planets. They might be the three that instigated the Indipendant movement. They are the three that are specifically mentioned.

Here's someting else I thought was interesting.

"...Corporal Zoe Alleyne, also of the 57th Overlanders. She had been career Army, the opposite of Mal, but she had fought under him for the last two and a half years of the war, in more than a dozen campaigns."

Here we see that for most of the war, Zoe wasn't with Mal. She was only under him for the last 2 and a half years of it. Obviously, she was moved into the 57th. Probably the same thing happened with Tracey.

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Wednesday, April 22, 2009 8:17 AM

BLUESUNCOMPANYMAN

Well, this thread has been sliding down the ladder for a few months now and I wanted to bump it back with probably the most important question I yet have.

The Independent flag will play a prominent role in the film. For over 2 years it was common knowledge to me that the star pointed DOWN. The shoulder patches of the 76th are stitched this way. (look higher on the thread to the .jpeg on fillygirl's posts for a reference) I watched the 76th march at DragonCon with star down when they flew their colors. I like the star pointed down, it just looks more real to me in that manner.

Now I'm learning that some merch is coming out with the star pointed UP. This upsets me greatly. Not only is it (In my opinion) not as interesting as before, but it casts a cloud of confusion on what I thought was canon. I intend to use the Independent flag in the film in a very obvious manner, as in "not flying in the background of a scene but rather right up in your face". So conspicuous will it's presentation be that it would be possible for someone to say "Oh look, they worked so hard and then made a glaring rookie mistake. How pathetic of them."

Grr Arg. To be as knowlegable as I am about Firefly Canon and accused of ignorance would drive me beyond sanity.

So I now ask the fff.net community: Can anyone shed light on this? I pray to the gods that this is the result of fraking internet merchants making mistakes and not something new I must obey.

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Wednesday, April 22, 2009 11:02 AM

BYTEMITE

The star pointing downward has some pagan significance. Not that there's anything wrong with paganism, but are you sure that's the symbology you want to suggest? It seems like Independents as an ideology would want a symbol that's independent for religious influence.

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Wednesday, April 22, 2009 11:20 AM

BLUESUNCOMPANYMAN

Paganism is not really relivant to us. Canon is. We want to do this as accurately as possible. Looking around the net I found other places where the star was point down other than the 76th battalion's site. It had (at least) become quasi-canon.

I'm now getting into a trick-bag with the film because the 76th shoulder patch will also play a role. It's star is point down. Also the standard issue trooper shoulder patch is point down. (Think of the american flag patches on shoulders of uniforms) If I fly the Independent flag point up, there will be inconsistancy with the 76th and trooper patches. If I fly it point down there will be inconsistancy with merch.

Here's an image that helps display what I'm going on about:

Which stands in contradiction to:

I need to make a call on this. This new "point up" imagery really upsets me.

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Wednesday, April 22, 2009 11:29 AM

BYTEMITE

Could you canonically consider your downward pointing star a variation from the upward standard specific to your infantry?

Considering how everyone looks at the Independents as comparable to the South in the American Civil War, there's going to be a lot of homemade insignas, uniforms, banners, symbolism, etc, and the lines of communication aren't always 100%.

A deviation of one unit from the commonly accepted Independents battle standard could be just as official as something perfectly reproduced.

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Wednesday, April 22, 2009 12:25 PM

YELLOWJACKET

This question will never be settled, but since you ask...

The issue of the canon placement for the star has been settled both in print and in public address. Shawna Trpcic, costume designer for the Firefly series, stated that the patch was sewn upside down onto the costume for Nathan Fillion's wardrobe by mistake. There is no implied or proven symbolism to the upside down star. It was simply placed on the costume upside down due to an error. This has been verified by other members of the creative forces that worked on Firefly and Serenity, including Geoffrey Mandel.

Now, will people continue to wear the star upside down? Yes. They will not only wear it upside down, but attribute all sorts of reasons for doing so. Some will say that they do this out of loyalty to Mal, but Mal did not wear it upside down. Nathan Fillion wore a coat that had the patch on wrong. Mal didn't decide anything. Some will say that it is worn this way in remembrance of Shadow or in distress for a cause lost, but it isn't. It was sewn on upside down by mistake.

There will always be two camps of thought concerning the star. Those who wear the star point up in recognition of canon and every other Browncoat in the series and those who prefer the star upside down for reasons of preference or contrived symbolism mentioned nowhere in canon.

Perhaps the question should not be 'Point up or point down?', but rather...

Browncoat or Malcoat?

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Wednesday, April 22, 2009 12:37 PM

YELLOWJACKET

Now, with that said, the 76th has every right to wear the star as they please. Bytemite states that 'A deviation of one unit from the commonly accepted Independents battle standard could be just as official as something perfectly reproduced' and Bytemite is not wrong. Regiments, battalions, and any other corps can, and probably might, have different ways of using the color schemes, symbols and elements of the original. Therefore, the 76th patch is fine.

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Thursday, April 23, 2009 2:49 AM

BLUESUNCOMPANYMAN

Wonderful information Yellowjacket. Thank you. There become then extensions to the inital inquiry. Last night I returned home to watch both The Pilot Episode and The Message to observe the battles of Serenity Valley and Du-Khang. Frame-by-frame shots of my DVD showed me the star point down as you indeed indicated, but alas as you say this is a costume error. So what can that mean in canon? Well, here is what else I noted:
1. The patch worn by the deceased Lt. Baker had a green border.
2. Mal's had a black border.

At first I thought "Gr Arg. More inconsistancies" until my wife pointed out that therein clould lie the difference twixt an officer (Baker) and an enlisted soldier (Mal). Is there any basis for this? Has this ever been brought up?

Second Question: The Flag still poses a problem. Based on my thoughts at this moment, I'd be thinking it should fly "up" even though I've grown emotionally invested in "down". I'd propose that even though Mal's patch was an accident by Shawana Trpcic's group, it must still become 57th overlander canon since it's so obviously displayed in the series. The 76th would also be "Down" as they have made their calls on the matter. The flag of the overall confederacy of rim-worlds would then be "UP" as a nod to the orginal intent of Joss & Co. However a question of Star Color is the new issue. The flag I have aquired has a black star. The 76th unit patch is blue. I also have a blue shoulder patch. As I cast around the net I see black and blue stars in equal measure. Tristan (the CO at the 76th) told me in an email that the 76th was blue by their choice to present a unique moniker of their unit. I cannot determine the star color of Mal's patch by freeze framing my DVD's. At times I'd say it might be blue, other times I just cannot tell. Serenity Valley and Du-Khang are dark after all.

I know exactly what I'd say if I had the power to make these calls on my own. I'd say that the symbolism of point up represents the union of planets fighting for sovegnity. Point down then refers to singular units or planets. Therefore one can display a point down star in a reflection of 76th or 57th pride and point up to say "I'm a Browncoat" If that is true then the flag flys "up" in my film and the patches are displayed to the viewer as "down".

Star color is different. Blue or Black? I have an idea about it but I'm hoping to read comments on here first. Also interested in links to sites that refer to Shawna Tripcic's "point down" accident and discussions about what that now means in regards to star point intention since as you say this has been addressed in "both print and address" Links to any sites that discuss point direction and star color is highly sought for research purposes.

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Thursday, April 23, 2009 4:16 AM

YELLOWJACKET

Quote:
Originally posted by bluesuncompanyman:
Frame-by-frame shots of my DVD showed me the star point down as you indeed indicated, but alas as you say this is a costume error.

No, I don't say it. Shawna Trpcic said it She stated that the upside down star was a wardrobe mistake on the coat worn by Nathan Fillion only.

Quote:
Originally posted by bluesuncompanyman:
So what can that mean in canon? Well, here is what else I noted:
1. The patch worn by the deceased Lt. Baker had a green border.
2. Mal's had a black border.

At first I thought "Gr Arg. More inconsistancies" until my wife pointed out that therein clould lie the difference twixt an officer (Baker) and an enlisted soldier (Mal). Is there any basis for this? Has this ever been brought up?

It has been brought up, but only as an explanation attached to a wardrobe mistake by fans.

Quote:
Originally posted by bluesuncompanyman:
Second Question: The Flag still poses a problem. Based on my thoughts at this moment, I'd be thinking it should fly "up" even though I've grown emotionally invested in "down". I'd propose that even though Mal's patch was an accident by Shawana Trpcic's group, it must still become 57th overlander canon since it's so obviously displayed in the series.

Obviously displayed on one coat only.

Quote:
Originally posted by bluesuncompanyman:
The 76th would also be "Down" as they have made their calls on the matter. The flag of the overall confederacy of rim-worlds would then be "UP" as a nod to the orginal intent of Joss & Co. However a question of Star Color is the new issue. The flag I have aquired has a black star. The 76th unit patch is blue. I also have a blue shoulder patch. As I cast around the net I see black and blue stars in equal measure. Tristan (the CO at the 76th) told me in an email that the 76th was blue by their choice to present a unique moniker of their unit. I cannot determine the star color of Mal's patch by freeze framing my DVD's. At times I'd say it might be blue, other times I just cannot tell. Serenity Valley and Du-Khang are dark after all.

I know exactly what I'd say if I had the power to make these calls on my own. I'd say that the symbolism of point up represents the union of planets fighting for sovegnity. Point down then refers to singular units or planets. Therefore one can display a point down star in a reflection of 76th or 57th pride and point up to say "I'm a Browncoat" If that is true then the flag flys "up" in my film and the patches are displayed to the viewer as "down".

Star color is different. Blue or Black? I have an idea about it but I'm hoping to read comments on here first. Also interested in links to sites that refer to Shawna Tripcic's "point down" accident and discussions about what that now means in regards to star point intention since as you say this has been addressed in "both print and address" Links to any sites that discuss point direction and star color is highly sought for research purposes.

The canon color of the star is Blue and Shawna Trpcic's designs for the Browncoats are in the Firefly Companion, Volume One.

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Friday, July 17, 2009 4:17 AM

BLUESUNCOMPANYMAN

I've got another question that has me stumped.

Does anyone know how to learn the name of the actor who played the "Freaked out Lt." in the Du-Khang battle scene?

He is not listed on imdb under the actors in The Message. The man has a full 4 seconds of screentime with his face in frame as he stares off into space, but there is no credit for him at all since he has no lines.

I got kinda excited at first when I saw the credit for Lt. Womak until I realized that Womak was the dirty cop character. (wrong Lt.) Grr Arg.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

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