GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Firefly/Serenity blazes F/X trail for

POSTED BY: GRANITE
UPDATED: Monday, January 9, 2006 20:21
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Monday, January 9, 2006 8:41 AM

GRANITE


Source:

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?id=34061

Quote:

Loni Peristere, visual-effects supervisor on the SF movie Serenity, told SCI FI Wire that the movie's computer-generated visual effects mimicked hand-held camera moves and realistic lens effects, which also directly influenced the F/X on SCI FI Channel's original series Battlestar Galactica.

When Galactica creator Ronald D. Moore and visual-effects supervisor Gary Hutzel saw the visual effects that had been pioneered for director Joss Whedon and Serenity's predecessor TV show, Firefly, they came to Peristere. They told him "that's the way it should be photographed, and please bring those rules to Galactica," Peristere said in an interview. "That is the way this should be shot. And now Galactica has taken on its own set of rules. But it started with appreciation for Firefly and appreciation for work Joss had begun." (Serenity is now available on DVD.)

In Serenity, digital animation of the title spaceship taking off in the rain included raindrops on the camera lens. "When you have a massive ship lifting off, it would be hard for the cameraman to keep the lens clean," said Peristere, who worked with Whedon on both the TV show and movie. "We proposed this as a style to Joss, where the animation would have mounted cameras, depth of field, zoom lenses, all in CG, and he's like, 'Well, yeah, my whole movie is a documentary. Find the story in the camera design.' And we went with it."

Peristere's team from his Zoic Studios created Firefly/Serenity's jerky digital style, which differs from the static style of 2001: A Space Odyssey and the more fluid F/X of the Star Wars films. The style adds a sense of realism, as if things were shot by real people and not created in computers. "It seemed sort of silly to not apply the cinematic language to digital photography as well," Peristere said.

As an example, in Serenity's climactic battle scene, visual-effects designers worked as if they had three camera operators following the title ship. "Our job from an animation standpoint was to create an action that moves through the battle, rather than participating in the battle," Peristere said. "Our pilot is chasing Serenity and has to keep Serenity in frame, even though large chunks of debris and fire is coming toward him." The new Serenity DVD includes features on the creation of the movie's visual effects.




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Monday, January 9, 2006 10:32 AM

JBJ


Don't forget to vote! Click on the link and and on the right hand side they ask what you would like to see Joss do more of. Why there's a Wonder Woman category is beyond baffling!? Yeah Joss is working on WW which is scheduled to be out in '07 so why list that as category. I know it's just a throw away vote but a Where's Waldo category woulda made more sense.

JBJ

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Monday, January 9, 2006 10:43 AM

HIGHWIREDSITH


Wasn't Whedon trying to get Firefly on SF about the time there were first developing Battlestar Galactica and SF rejected him? Always figured they had a choice, BG or Firefly and went with BG (the series, not the mini-series). Kind of a slap in the face in a way (or maybe it just feels that way).

BG is good, better than most SF TV, but it's rare moments are spread out so thin among the seemingly endless dullness of the who's-a-cylon, who-ain't nonsense, most of which seems designed to get the curvy female cylon in Baltar's head in provocative situations. I hear Season Two is better. But to think we could've had a full season (or two, or three!) of Firefly instead just peeves me and makes me like BG even less.

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Monday, January 9, 2006 12:23 PM

INTOTHEBLACK


I always tell people BG took alot from what Firefly did. The whole style of BG is lifted straight from Firefly.

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Monday, January 9, 2006 12:33 PM

THEREAVER


Yeah, I noticed that the camera work was similar when I watched it. I didn't know that it was a direct influence though.

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Monday, January 9, 2006 1:51 PM

INFOMORPH


I am surprised that few folks have noticed this, but if'n you look closely out the skylight window of the doctor's office that the future President Roslin (Mary McDonnell) is sitting in, in the original BG mini-series opening scenes, you will see a Firefly class ship (possibly Serenity?;-) fly by. I thought it was very shiny and sly.

Firefly and BG are the kind of SF that the Sci-Fi channel should've been offering many years ago, so I'm just thankful that there has been some headway in "quasi-intelligent" SF on TV, an otherwise bleak landscape (with the rare, but oft cancelled gems like Eerie, IN, and the Prisoner, etc.) for the most part.

“A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.” David Bohm

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Monday, January 9, 2006 3:15 PM

SADLITTLEKING


So one great show influenced another. Nice.

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Monday, January 9, 2006 8:21 PM

EVERYWORLDSPINNIN


I think BSG has come a loooong way sice season one. If you haven't watched season 2, you're missing a great show, and season 3 seems poised to be even better. However, I'm still pissed that SciFi canceled The Chronicle. I wonder what it would take to get that on DVD?

http://www.tv.com/the-chronicle/show/3515/summary.html

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– Michael Parenti

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