FIREFLY EPISODE DISCUSSIONS

RE:

POSTED BY: NANDIFAN
UPDATED: Saturday, February 4, 2006 09:26
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Tuesday, January 31, 2006 5:15 PM

NANDIFAN


I was just watching "Objects in Space" and I was just amazed at how great Joss Whedon is at creating interesting shots.

Like when the gang is sitting around the table talking about River shooting those guys, and the camera pans down to her standing on the rail, with her head cocked and her body at that crazy angle, it's just such a complex shot, and I love the way JW did it. No words could have expressed what that one shot did.

Anyhoo, I was just wondering if anyone else wanted to share some of their favorite shots in the BDS or BDM with me and the 'verse.

Thanks!

"If they've got guns or brains at all."
"They've got guns."

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Tuesday, January 31, 2006 5:26 PM

OMELET


Yes, I really loved the (Joss named) Batgirl shot. That in conjunction with Early listenting in on the crew. What he was saying in the commentary about "Do objects retain their same meaning if used for a diferent function or are not used?" really applied to that River shot. She used the railings as a tool for standing instead of grasping on to. She changed the function of it to suit her needs.

Anyways, that was an incredible shot.

I don't know if these constitute as spoilers still even though...but, I'll do it just in case.

Select to view spoiler:


Another one, in the BDM, that blew me away was River after killing all those gorram Reavers and she's just standing there all superhero-ish. The light behind her and her darkness play against each other so beautifully.



Here's another I loved:

Select to view spoiler:


Another that I liked from the BDM was the shot when the Operative stands outside Serenity talking to Mal. The lighting affects almost make him look like a shadow. It was beautifully lit and just great.{/spoiler]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jayne: Are you saying River's a witch?
Wash: Yes, Jayne, she's a witch. She's had congress with the Beast.
Jayne: She's in Congress?
Wash: How did your brain even learn human speech? I'm just so curious!

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Tuesday, January 31, 2006 5:31 PM

NANDIFAN


Yeah, both of those shots are just amazing! JW just has a way of framing people that allows for their bodies and their surroundings to say everything more articulately than words could.

Once again, that is why he is the master!

"If they've got guns or brains at all."
"They've got guns."

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Tuesday, January 31, 2006 5:42 PM

OMELET


Its just that he is able to dictate what he feels about the characters and what they feel by simply playing with lights and the colors they wear. Ex: Inara is wearing red in a scene with Mal in which that scene is dictating their romantic tension between one another.

He almost makes me feel like I'm reading a book and looking for symbolism, if that makes any sense to you.

His entire color scheme for the crew is amazing:

Kaylee: Pinks and any bright color. She's a happy person.

Simon: Blues and whites. He's naturally cold and very Alliance-eque

Inara: Her shuttle is red, meaning lust and desire,

Mal: Has lots of Earthy tones. He's very homemade and wears things that the Independents would have gotten in the war.

Zoe: Like Mal, except wears a dress, which Mal did once, but thats a different story.

Jayne: Very practical clothes with muted colors, except his t-shirts cause they are just cool.

Book: He also wears very gray and cold colors like Simon, showing is Alliance side of him.

River: She's eclectic in her color choice, much like she's not totally set in her brain and her state of being changes often.

I just think Joss is a complete genious. Cheers to the genious!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jayne: Are you saying River's a witch?
Wash: Yes, Jayne, she's a witch. She's had congress with the Beast.
Jayne: She's in Congress?
Wash: How did your brain even learn human speech? I'm just so curious!

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Tuesday, January 31, 2006 6:06 PM

TEETHGRINDER


I hope this qualifies.... Serenity... Pilot episode....
Jayne watching from above and in a very uncomfortable position as Simon was working on Kaylee at the infirmary. No lines at all but you can tell in those few seconds the concern our tough guy has for Kaylee. Subtle but effective. Works for me every time.

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Tuesday, January 31, 2006 6:09 PM

NANDIFAN


Quote:

Originally posted by teethgrinder:
I hope this qualifies.... Serenity... Pilot episode....
Jayne watching from above and in a very uncomfortable position as Simon was working on Kaylee at the infirmary. No lines at all but you can tell in those few seconds the concern our tough guy has for Kaylee. Subtle but effective. Works for me every time.



Nice call. I love that shot. He just looks so concerned, so un-Jayne like. Just awesome.

"If they've got guns or brains at all."
"They've got guns."

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Tuesday, January 31, 2006 6:10 PM

RAVENHAIR


Quote:

Originally posted by Omelet:
He almost makes me feel like I'm reading a book and looking for symbolism, if that makes any sense to you.



Yes, absolutely! It's what makes the series/movie watchable over and over, just like reading a good book again. Symbolism, foreshadowing, characterization through props, colors, setting...it goes on and on. There's so much detail I'll be watching for years and seeing something new each time.

During my latest watch I've been looking for those off-center shots. Very interesting, not noticeable necessarily but definitely sets a mood. Also, after watching the BDM with commentary I've paying attention to the lighting of the scenes. It's just beautiful.

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Tuesday, January 31, 2006 6:15 PM

TEETHGRINDER


Quote:

Originally posted by Nandifan:
Quote:

Originally posted by teethgrinder:
I hope this qualifies.... Serenity... Pilot episode....
Jayne watching from above and in a very uncomfortable position as Simon was working on Kaylee at the infirmary. No lines at all but you can tell in those few seconds the concern our tough guy has for Kaylee. Subtle but effective. Works for me every time.



Nice call. I love that shot. He just looks so concerned, so un-Jayne like. Just awesome.

---
"If they've got guns or brains at all."
"They've got guns."




--- SHINY!

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Tuesday, January 31, 2006 8:14 PM

BLUEISHBROWNCOAT


ooOOOOooo....GOOOOD THREAD

Off the top of my head (beside that 4 min masterpiece in the begining of the BDM) is the shot where the camera starts in Mal's bunk, with him and that preceeds him up the ladder and watches him walk off....just awesome. I have no clue where thats from though. One of the 1st few eps.

*siiiiigh* I guess I'll have to watch the episodes find somemore. :)

-----------------------------------------
twas a perrty sight as jello was a slingen and the ladies were all in a heap of fun.
Twas a right shiny event for the eyes to feast on.

It was fun!!
http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=16371

Hoplessly addicted but in that good sort of way. :)

SCAD/Savannah,GA Browncoat

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Tuesday, January 31, 2006 8:30 PM

MRBEN


You've gotta love the shot in OiS where you get River bending down to look at the twig, and just her head and her feet are in the shot - beautiful shot made possible by her dancing training....

Oh, and the whole thing about objects being used for different purposes fits here too.

mrben

"Carpe Aptenodytes"
http://www.jedimoose.org

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Tuesday, January 31, 2006 8:41 PM

PRAIRIEDOGG


dangit! that was mine! you see her feet and from the opposite side of the screen her head appears. Fantastic! my favorite

"You're such a boob." - River

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Tuesday, January 31, 2006 10:43 PM

MISSTRESSAHARA


Quote:

Originally posted by Blueishbrowncoat:
ooOOOOooo....GOOOOD THREAD

Off the top of my head (beside that 4 min masterpiece in the begining of the BDM) is the shot where the camera starts in Mal's bunk, with him and that preceeds him up the ladder and watches him walk off....just awesome. I have no clue where thats from though. One of the 1st few eps.

*siiiiigh* I guess I'll have to watch the episodes find somemore. :)

* * *

Serenity pilot. It was a shot that Joss wanted to set up and his cameramen were able to do by making up a rig that pulled the camera by a rope just as Mal comes out of his quarters. He talks about it in the commentary.

One of the best shots, Serenity pilot again when they go to make their deal with Patience, she wants to see the goods and we see a close up of Mal pulling his coat aside to show his gun and a piece of the cargo, in slow motion. Beauty shot. Makes me gooey inside when I see it.

Of course there are others. Who cannot love Mal walking into the bay, pulling his gun out and shooting Dobson without so much as a wink. I laugh everytime I see it, and slow mo just to get the full effect.

Mal, once again, kicking Crow into the engine. When I saw that I was hooked. I had always screamed at movies where they let these big dangerous men live so they can come and cause more damamge when it was easier to kill them right there. You wonder, why the hell are they letting him live? (felt that same way when Mal let the Operative live. You kicked Crow into an engine and got rid of other enemies, why let this most dangerous one go? I never understood till I read the comments people made about the Operative having his world shattered by what he saw and Mals letting him live was a worse punishment then death, but that's for another thread.) It was just great to see someone actually DO THIS. I was a hooked Joss watcher.

There are others, but my threads gotten too long.

If I'm a bitch, then life just got interesting.

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Wednesday, February 1, 2006 10:27 AM

VOSHEXETER


My favorite shot:

The overhead view of River walking into the leaves, which is just before the incredible head/feet disconnected shot.



voshExeter

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Wednesday, February 1, 2006 2:18 PM

THECOLLECTOR


The one in the BDM right before they crash to earth... the part when you see Serenity solely flying to the alliance armada and then out of nowhere you see the reavers... I had to rewind it and put it in slow motion... just so I could say "Oh SHit" again...

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Wednesday, February 1, 2006 2:34 PM

CAPELLA


Also, did you notice that Joss seems to "quote" other movies in the BDM just with the shots he does?
There is one shot, close to the end, with Mal, Zoe and Wash on the bridge, that has "Millenium Falcon" written all over it. I don't think that is just by coincidence. Another shot later on reminded me very much of Aliens 2, but I have not checked yet if the camera angles are really the same. Maybe there are even more that I have not spotted yet.

Keep flying,
Capella

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Wednesday, February 1, 2006 2:44 PM

PHI


Quote:

Originally posted by jayneisagirlsname:
I love, love, love the shot on Haven in the BDM where River is framed by the burning swing ... the most beautiful shot in the film if you ask me.



I second that. The way River looks at it, as if she's trying to comprehend it. It's a stunning shot and so layered in symbolism. To me it just screams the end of innocence, of staying out of the Alliance's way.

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Wednesday, February 1, 2006 3:22 PM

RIVERGODDESS


I feel like such an English geek, because we talk about the same stuff with our books... but one of the many reasons that drew me to Firefly was the use of color/lighting/camera/wordless scenes/all matter of chacterizations/awesome dialogue/use of music (choice of composers)...*love* it. Joss is a gorram genius.
I love the first time we see Serenity in the BDM. I was immediately hooked, but when I rewatch it, I almost want to cry because it's so awesome. I'm also a fan of the River scenes in OiS. Fantastic framing. I think I'm gonna go rewatch some eps. I need to find more!

*~*~
Summer's response to Nathan getting his very own action figure:
"I tried to pull his head off."

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Wednesday, February 1, 2006 3:24 PM

RIVERGODDESS


sorry, double post!

*~*~
Summer's response to Nathan getting his very own action figure:
"I tried to pull his head off."

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Friday, February 3, 2006 2:01 PM

CAPTAINSHINY


2 shots from Whitefall in the pilot:
-Zoe, on her back, raising her gun and firing
-Patience's p.o.v.- mal walks up to her (she's trapped underneath her horse) and points his gun at her.

"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 when the battle looked pretty much lost. In Hollywood, people like that are called unrealistic, quixotic, obsessive... In my world, they're called Browncoats."
-Joss Whedon

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Saturday, February 4, 2006 8:13 AM

WEREALLJUSTFLOATING


God, where to start. One of the things I've noticed that Joss loves to do is have a character aim a gun at the camera, or slightly off centre. The gun is right up in our face and the person holding it is in the background or barely visible. I'm thinking of Early aiming at Simon in Objects in Space, "It's not your moment Doctor". It's sooo cool.

Another similar shot is in the BDM, possible spoiler?

Select to view spoiler:


when Mal walks in on River in the bridge as she's examining the map of Miranda. Without even turning her head, she points her gun right at him.



I love that one, the more I notice these types of shots the more I come to think of them as signature Firefly/Serenity shots.

Then there's the fantastic quickdraw at the end of the Maidenhead scene, as Mal and River face off one another, it's not quite the same as it's not a close up but it's just as impressive.

I just thought of another one -it's in Out of Gas, after Mal's been shot by the other crew, as they're about to start searching Serenity - he gets up off the floor with his tiny gun and turns the table on them "Jesse, don't call Stern...."

PS I think the burning swing shot in the BDM is my favourite of the movie. It's just so beautiful and haunting at the same time.

We're still flying.

That's not much.

It's enough.

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Saturday, February 4, 2006 9:03 AM

JAYRO


In the BDM, when Serenity is hurtling into the atmo under attack from a Reaver ship, there's a shot of Jayne checking everyone's harnesses like some frantic flight attendant. Love it!

And in the pilot episode, the overhead shot of the frozen River in the cryo box, slowly being revealed as the mist clears. Just tells you right from the off that this is the introduction of someone special.

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

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

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Saturday, February 4, 2006 9:26 AM

CHRISPV


Personally, I have to go with the "She's damaging my calm!" bit from the BDM. The camera just keeps swirling around River, taking in everything, and then it moves its focus around to the others, all in the sake of showing you that everything here just. Isn't. Right. It's gorgeous for its disorienting effects, and it's gorgeous on a technical level because I bet that shot was a beast to set up.

Joss Whedon is truly my master now.

Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal, Fox!

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