Quote:
Originally Posted by TwoBrainedCylon
I concur. I think pushing for a well done special edition of the original series, with restored scenes and some very professionally done and tailored VFX would be a viable argument to Universal. Of all the rallying ideas, I think this one likely does meet the best criteria as the enhancements could be done fairly cheaply compared to the potential return on investment.
Its also an area where the fanbase could make a direct impact, not by representing the audience but by providing a capability and linking with other resources.
I'd think to make this pitch, you'd have to have a well constructed and researched proposal, a 3-minute rework of an example scene showing how it could really be transformed without looking goofy (which sadly the reworked Trek seemed to be), and a good rundown of the resources you had on hand.
I don't mean this to imply that this would be done out of someone's garage. It would require reaching out to the professional-level folks a number of us know and doing for this pitch what Richard was never able to accomplish, ... to make Universal think that this was the path to take without trying to reinvent the idea.
The danger is that they'd want to work GINO stuff into this new edition to promote that series more by linking the two more closely together. Imagine Gamorrah with Tricia Helfers and the GINO centurions walking around in the background and the GINO vipers mixed in the space shots with the original series stuff. It sounds stupid but they've made more rediculous decisions before.
Yet, I think with the right folks putting it together, backed by a few bucks from the larger fanbase, a pretty good proposal could be worked and it MIGHT have a chance of getting pushed forward, especially if some of the names that did the VFX on GINO were attached to the project.
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You know something....
When I was reading about this while I was at work today, this really seemed to be a scathingly brilliant idea. I thought of how the "enhanced" Trek episodes basically rebooted the broadcast quality for the orignal series on television and also sold CBS/Paramount a whole new set of DVDs for Trek fans that just had to have yet another version of their favorite show.
In terms of BSG, we were lucky because Universal Home Video used great source material (as Eric mentioned) when they created the DVD release a few years ago. The idea of having updated and enhanced VFX does have a lot of merit to it. Dave K has already done a brilliant job of exhibiting that premise already, so we know that it works and sharpens up the episodes quite a bit. You can do away with the repetitive footage and replace it with more unique shots. You can even do shots that weren't practical or affordable at the time due to costly motion control techniques. In terms of a proposal, this is a good piece of proposal material. The only thing left would be to market the idea to Universal and have someone in mind to do the actual effects work for the entire series. Until Sandy said that someone professional would have to do it, I almost pictured having our own "team" do batches of episodes and when they were all ready, then send the proposal to Universal in preparation in case they said yes. (I know, my thinking is overly simplistic, but it was fun thinking about it).
I guess in the end, the idea of having a new film based on the original series would be fun, but I really could live with the idea of having our community contribute to BSG fandom that everyone could enjoy. If Larson does manage to peddle his "white elephant" to someone, then fine, we can wait to see what comes of it. If not, we'll still have our own achievement and our contribution to BSG fandom.
When it comes to the writing, effects, etc. that everyone's contributed, I still have to wonder about the benefit if those concepts were marketed commercially somehow. In terms of the stories that Steve wrote for the TOS era and even a blending of TOS & TNS, I know I pestered him to submit those stories to a publisher - If Richard Hatch can do it, I know someone else can & why not? Maybe those stories could be done as graphic novels. Eric mentioned how he hated the recent TOS comic stories - maybe if the story quality was better, then you'd just need a graphic artist to do them properly and you've got a finished product, eh? I know, I'm oversimplifying the effort quite a bit, but I'm a typical consumer and don't know much about those things.
In terms of the community, what I miss most is the togetherness that we all shared. It's true, there are some of us clinging to Colonial Fleets, Tombs of Kobol and a couple of other sites even though the posting traffic has dwindled to a pitifully small level. What I miss is the size and diversity of the community that we used to have and the times we shared together. We lost a large group of people when Fleets offloaded the TNS part of the forum, but it seemed that almost as large of a group wandered off on their own because there wasn't anything in BSG fandom to focus on anymore. I always wonder what things were like prior to Richard proposing his "Second Coming" idea, before the DVD's, the 12-inch figures, etc. that we see today - yet the community still existed just because of the original series and what it meant to them. When I think of the idea of a show only running for 17 episodes in 1978 and it was powerful enough to keep people going for nearly 20 or more years afterwards, that's a pretty strong statement about the source material.
I guess as long as we properly honor that source material, pay tribute to it occasionally and have fun as a community, maybe that new film isn't needed, but it would still be nice to have all the same. I've always had so much fun on this forum and I've considered it "home" for 6 years now. I've thought about just letting it go, but I can't because it would feel like I was letting all those memories go as well. I still think that there's some life left in me, this website and the fanbase as well. We just need to find a way to invigorate it ourselves and make it a place that people want to come to again and make it their "home" tool.
I really cherish all you people and I'm glad that some of you are still around to hear me say that.
Bryan
