A proposal to the osBSG fanbase.

[ernie90125]

Hi all,

After reading the recent rumours of a Continuation movie, I'd like to make a proposal for consideration and discussion by all fans.

In June 2008, Jericho fans raised $6,000 for a TV advert supporting the return of their show. The advert was 30 seconds long and broadcast in the LA area. It can can be seen here :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBbFL17tqos

You can read more about this endeavour here :
http://www.colonialfleets.com/forums...ad.php?t=15903
and
http://www.savejerichoagain.com/

Having donated to the Colonial Fan Force, which raised $12,000 for magazine adverts, I'd certainly make a donation towards a osBSG TV advert.

I'd like to think that any such advert could be used to advertise both a Continuation and DVD Special Editions of the original series.

We have many talented fans, here's a image from The 14th Colony which has always impressed me. If we were able to use several animated sequences of this standard, I'm sure many other people would be impressed too :

A stunning 30 second advert would surely come to the attention of many fans and The Powers That Be.

Thoughts ?

Battlestar's Faithfully,

Daniel Earnshaw (Ernie90125)
www.battlestarfanfilms.com

[Athene]

I like the idea.

[monolith21]

I'm in. I may not have a ton of money to donate, but I'll give what I can. Something like this would be more than just a plea to the studios. As many have stated, that is arguably a gamble. What intrigues me about this is that a commercial turns heads. It will put the original Galactica and hope for its future back on people's maps.

It was something like this (the second coming trailer) that got this warrior into the fight...a fight I didn't know even existed before that viewing. I've never looked back. If we can get a few more people's interest in a continuation of Galactica engaged or renewed then I don't see how it could ever be considered anything but a success.

The commerical could have a web address. The site could be a stopping point. Nothing this cheesy, but a sort of "Did you see our ad? Here's what you can do!"

[Malkyte]

If this were to fly, I would recommend that the commercial end with a web-address, where a person can go to for more information. This site could detail the making of the commercial and also in more detail, the inspiration and message it wants to convey.

Just a thought.



Malkyte

[Gemini1999]

I think that this is an interesting project, but staging it is an interesting process. You'd have to get the commercial made, you'd have to have someone willing to sell you the air time and you'd also have to get enough money to buy the air time. I had a small idea in regards to air time - maybe one of the Satellite provider companies would be good - the commercial would air over a very broad area instead of just focusing on a local channel somewhere in the country and hope that enough people see it. Of course, focusing it on the LA area isn't a bad idea to begin with.

The logistics of the whole thing won't be easy.

Bryan

[Kester Pelagius]

Why not do it totally as a fan based project and spread it as a viral video? An TV ad is a one time proposition and you're likely to be limited to a local market whereas going viral will give you a potenial world wide audience. Too, if you get the word out and have it passed around the blogosphere, who knows what sort of buzz might get started?

Who has props? Who has costumes? Who has the hardware to edit et al?

To get the ball rolling here's a potential "project" to chew over.



Please pardon any grammatical/PC errors in the attachment. I wrote it on the fly mere moments ago.

[monolith21]

Lets see, Jericho has "Save Jericho", Serenity has "Can't stop the serenity". This whole thing needs a memorable name to go with our cause. We'd have to make sure that it was specific enough not to convince your average fan that we're trying to "save" gino.

We also don't really need to save anything as much as bolster interest in the continuation...get people to take notice.

[monolith21]

Ya know we could work toward theatrical screenings of the original pilot and show this thing there. There are also a lot of movie theatres that sell advertising. We could put an add on the big screen!

http://www.screenvision.com/s/advert...gital_preshow/

http://www.videouniversity.com/movieads.htm

[Malkyte]

"There Are Those Who Still Believe."



Malkyte

[Sarika]

I don't propose that I'm in the know of marketing such, but in other areas of promos for osBSG continuence, does it help to post promos on BSG based sites around the net too?
Search engines are of course one major help to getting a topic more and more on the top pages of things like google and the ilk.
It can provide an electronic means of also adding to the promotion for larger percentages to get to know about what's happening out there in the BSG world!

I run my own BSG based site, and I would be happy to promote any developments on my site. All are welcome to join and post your own promos about it too! The more promos on more and more sites, the better!
(just a thought)

[ernie90125]

Gemini1999 - My idea is to repeat what Jericho fans did. If they did it, so can we. As this discussion continues I'll contact the guys who organised that campaign and seek their advice.

Kester Pelagius - There are many fans projects in the works, but so few of them reach the finish line. This was can't be another fanfilm, it has to be something different.

Sarika - I too run a Battlestar fansite and I'm sure many of them will carry the news and links etc.

[Kester Pelagius]

Good Morning,

Hope everyone's having a wonderful day so far.

ernie90125: Have you read the attached script? It's a very short conceptual draft open to revision.

This wouldn't be a fan film, per se, so much as a fan filmed promo for BSG. No reason a short "fan film" can't be made as a promo, is there? That's essentially all a really good ad would be anyway.* Ergo the title "Galactica Saga" (in reference to the story line as a whole) and "Phoenix Rising" (in reference to the new BSG, whatever it turns out to be). Again that was just conceptual and is open to revision. It would be like. .

(*) You ever see those Geico gecko commercials? I was thinking it could be something fun and entertaining yet informative like those are. Anyway it was just an idea I thought I'd throw out there for the fun of it.

monolith21: Organizing a grass roots campaign ala Jericho or Firefly fandom also sounds intriguing. But I'm not sure that same methodology really applies here. Those efforts were aimed at more recent endeavors and, technically, the studio has it's golden cash cow in the new series, and the up coming Caprica. But that doesn't mean we can't organize some sort of effective fan effort. We just need to find a really good rally point/goal.

Sarika: Not a bad idea. Everyone with a BSG themed site could try to network a bit, get the word out, put up ads or banners or something.

[Reaper]

KP, that is a decent script you have for the promo, just a few continuity issues The colonies did know of other alien species. Besides the Delphians, who were based at Gamoray (Adama was surprised when Cain told of their fall) the thousand Yahren war started when the Colonies defended another species fromt eh Cylons (all in Saga of a Star World) Plus there was no surprise at seeing Ovions or the alien singers.

I also agree that if this promo is going to be a 30 second one, there is alot going on in your script.

If we aren't limiting it to a single TV shot of 30 seconds, then that's fine and I like it

VERY GOOD START!!!!

[ernie90125]

As mentioned in the other thread, I have read the script but I think its not going to work for a 30 second TV advert.

Its easy to let an imagination run away, for example, I'd love to see all the surviving cast put on the upper half of the uniforms, then standing in front of bluescreens for remake the original series intro.

I'm not saying it could never happen, but this is a just discussion on a forum. We know we have the ability to make a CGI trailer and so many fans have that talent. Let's keep it to what we know we can achieve.

[Kester Pelagius]

Originally Posted by Reaper

KP, that is a decent script you have for the promo, just a few continuity issues The colonies did know of other alien species. Besides the Delphians, who were based at Gamoray (Adama was surprised when Cain told of their fall) the thousand Yahren war started when the Colonies defended another species fromt eh Cylons (all in Saga of a Star World) Plus there was no surprise at seeing Ovions or the alien singers.

As I thought about it I remembered how Apollo waxed poetic about being able to get back to "deep star exploration" after the war is over. I forget if it was ever mentioned how the hostilities leading to the outbreak of the thousand yahren war began so I took the liberty of assuming it could-might-maybe have begun with a first contact situation that went wrong between Colonial explorers and Retpoids- or would that be Reptons?- which, of course, would turn out to be the Cylons.

Though you're right, now that I think about it, it may sound like a continuity disconnect. Hmm. May need to re-write that a bit. Just for the fun of it.

Originally Posted by Reaper

I also agree that if this promo is going to be a 30 second one, there is alot going on in your script.

I did go a tad over board, didn't I?

Originally Posted by Reaper

If we aren't limiting it to a single TV shot of 30 seconds, then that's fine and I like it

VERY GOOD START!!!!

Thanks.

[Kester Pelagius]

Now that my head is out of the clouds here's a more modest proposal. Bascially it's a PSA. You could probably do a number of these and have each one be an actor dressed as a different colonial character. Warrior, Socialator, Bridge Officer, Cylon, et al.

Have it start as a single static long shot of a dark smoke filled hallway, a dim light in the distance, and a figure in silhouette slowly walking toward the camera. As the figure walks into frame they are revealed to be an actor dressed in, for example, full colonial battle dress wearing a flight helment.

The voice over could say something as simple as: GALACTICA IS COMING. ARE YOU READY FOR IT? And then have the screen fade to a simple onscreen graphic displaying a URL of a site for people to go to for more information

Thoughts?

[ernie90125]

Kester........costings for that ?

I entirely respect wanting to have a walking down a corridor advert, but that's actors, SAG rules, a studio, costumes, filming equipment and crew and post-production.

[monolith21]

Oops. Double post. Full details below...:P

[monolith21]

Alright, with everything that has been said taken into mind. What about doing a 30-45 second ad that plays to our strengths. CG shots using the AMAZING models that people have put together here. Mostly just a series of action and hero shots with music and our dialogue over the top?

KP, you are right. We need a unique angle as this is not a new show and the "rumor" is mostly known by those who follow this stuff.

I'm thinking we could do something like the "14th colony" trailer minus the live action stuff. That way no one is "taken out" of the experience. By using the talents here we put our best foot forward. Things that would take me out of an experience (speaking as a casual observer) that is otherwise quite impressive are CG human characters amidst amazing looking ships and space battles, live action that is obviously fan made.

This way we basically just have to come up with a few amazing situations to put the ships in that will get some brows raised and some good spoken word which we also have the talent for here!

For just over a hundred dollars it looks like we could get this thing on screens during theatre pre shows for a four week stand! I'm sure it will cost a bit more than that but that is the basic fees.

[Kester Pelagius]

Per mod request I've copied the below post from the Battlestar Galactica to the Big Screen? thread to here in a effort to centralize our discussion to this thread.

Originally Posted by ernie90125

Dear Kestor....yes I've read the script but I think its too ambitious for a 30 second TV advert.

Indeed. The Cyclon eye sequence, as described, alone would probably run over 30 seconds. Still it's nice to dream.

Originally Posted by ernie90125

What I was thinking about was a series of space battle shots which already exist or could easily be created by this fanbase.

Whilst never say never to live action, clips from The Second Coming or the original show, the feasibility or legalities of things must not get too complicated for a fan lead endeavour. This should be keep it simple.

I suppose one could always go the SPACE MUTINY route. Source the desired VFX shots from the stock library footage and integrate it with fan shot footage. .

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2191/...8d3f0a09_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2059/...27c5a15b_o.jpg

If the BSG fan community can't come up with better looking computer graphics and costumes than THAT then perhaps we don't deserve anything better than GINO Caprica.

The again the simplest promo would probably be best shot as a PA. Maybe have it start as a single static long shot of a dark smoke filled hallway, a dim light in the distance, and a figure in silhouette slowly walking toward the camera. As the figure walks into frame they are revealed to be an actor dressed in full colonial battle dress wearing a flight helment. The narration could say something as simple as: GALACTICA IS COMING. ARE YOU READY FOR IT? And then have the scene fade to a simple onscreen graphic displaying a URL of a site for people to go to for more information. Sort of like a PSA.

You could probably do a number of these and have each one be an actor dressed as a different colonial character. Warrior, Socialator, Bridge Officer, Cylon, et al.

[Kester Pelagius]

monolith21,

Sounds like the groundworkd for a plan. Keep it all fan based and utilize existing fan art/talent. I suppose that could even stretch to live "actors" but you're probably right about limiting this to VFX. At least to get the ball rolling.

[ernie90125]

Monolith - that's exactly what I was suggesting in my first post !!!!

In fact, I've already been in touch and am conversing by e-mail with the 14th Colony's head CGI guy, rjandron, about such an trailer. The idea being it would be about 20 seconds of ships, with 10 seconds thereafter our what point we're trying to make.

He's suggested showing our support for osBSG being re-issued on Blu-Ray, so along with Special Editions and a Continuation......that's 3 birds with one stone.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by ernie90125

Kester........costings for that ?

I entirely respect wanting to have a walking down a corridor advert, but that's actors, SAG rules, a studio, costumes, filming equipment and crew and post-production.

Not really, if done in the same way a fan film is made. Actors - us, there is nothign in the proposal that requires an actual acting production. I think everyone of us could walk down a corridor.

Sag rules? do you think that any fan film made follows those rules? I can tell you they don't. Every production I've heard of, and have had friends who appeared in them, has been on a volunteer basis. Sometimes only filming on weekends, sometimes squeezing all filming into a single weekend.

The costumes would require some money, but there are a number of us already working on that, if we tapped someone who already had a costume, we could do this right away.

Film equipment and post production is the only hang up right now. but I'm sure that someone here has to have so sort of connection to someone who's done any sort of filming. if it came down to it a quality digital camcorder could be used. And since it's digital, post production can be done on a PC or Mac with the right program.

I have met and am friendly with a number of people who have done Fan Films. I could get advice and even help if it came down to a finalized project.

Something with live people may not be what we want in our finalized project, but there is no reason we can't do it, or incorporate it into the project.

[ernie90125]

I have been associated with a great many fanfilms and I too know of none which discussed SAG rules, but this proposal is for a TV advert to be broadcast in return for money. That's a whole different idea.

Of course people should expand and explore their skills by filming the corridor scenes as described. If it was done as a fanfilm it could be a great asset to the fanbase, people could talk about it going further....

But a CGI trailer is well within this fanbases reach without any financial outlay, that's why I think its such a strong contender as an avenue to explore......

[Lara]

Originally Posted by monolith21

Lets see, Jericho has "Save Jericho", Serenity has "Can't stop the serenity". This whole thing needs a memorable name to go with our cause. We'd have to make sure that it was specific enough not to convince your average fan that we're trying to "save" gino.

We also don't really need to save anything as much as bolster interest in the continuation...get people to take notice.

I think you have hit on the major hurdle: recognition with differentiation!

However, Shakespeare's plays are regularly retold in different guises to suit time and place. In the park, in revolutionary Russia, in post holocaust London, etc etc. This works because they deal with fundamental observations about human nature, much as many of the core concepts in BSG: big concepts on a human scale.

Do we want the retelling of a classic, universal story for the current time and place? With kick ass visuals of course..

This could be 'sold' and be sufficiently different from the old and from the new.


just my 2c

Cheers,
Lara

[monolith21]

Sorry for the long post, but please stay with me!

I've been paying some attention to what has been somewhat of a "downer" in the original thread. Everyone has their own unique idea of how a continuation should be done. I think we have to keep this thing broad if we're going to catch any attention from it. We make the ad recognizable as the original Galactica. People will figure out the rest.

I don't think we have to spoon feed them the information, we only have to get them far enough so they can figure it out. The ones who are incapable of such delineation aren't much use to us either way.

If the ad itself is only a primer to further action which I believe it needs to be, a lot of the details can be sorted out in that action be it linking them to a web page or whatever it may be. We could even have an extended version of this ad on the page itself that goes into detail.

If we try to make a statement of "we'll take a continuation, or a reboot/remake, or even this or that or the other thing" any effective message will get lost in over dilution.

Live action is doable, and I would love to see that in some form. However we can involve less people in the actual physical production of a CGI ad and keep it within its own visual continuity. All of this will make for a quicker turn around.

I am all for as many fan films as we can do. The more the better! I'll walk down any hall any time with any of you for the sake of celebrating Galactica. However this ad is a bit different than a fan film. It is something that can go beyond those who would appreciate a fan acted effort. CGI is something they are used to seeing and "we" can do that on par with most anything they see on screen within a similar context.

The minute we introduce live action any number of things could take people out of the VERY brief experience and scream "that is just a fan in costume". For our purposes here I think we should keep this all CGI. That is not something you will often hear me say! I simply think it is the absolute A game that we can utilize to meet our goals.

Whatever we say should be to the point and broad. We want a continuation. The "suits" need to know that we do not want to micro manage that continuation. That will never happen and the minute they think "that will never happen" we are in trouble. We already run that risk based on certain attitudes even on this board (no matter how justified) who think it will never happen.

Truth be told that possibility is implied on a small level just by doing this. If this thing were an absolute done deal we wouldn't need to worry about this ad in the first place. We can lessen and even bury that notion within something that captures a brief bit of wonder and creates some curiosity.

The absolute ONLY thing holding us back at this point (providing we can indeed secure a visual effects artist) is a focused effective theme.

If I may be so bold as to state what we want to say with this ad, I think this encompases it. How we say it is important but these are the basics.

1. Make people aware of the possibility of the original Battlestar Galactica returning as a theatrical release.

2.. Capture interest of new fans and rekindle interest in those who may not currently be actively involved in Battlestar Galactica fandom.

3. Guide them to a place where they can find out more and help.

The 14th Colony CG footage alone set to music would be pretty effective. Take out the "our turn" part and add some text information to the screen. The music will do most of the head turning that would otherwise need vocal representation. We could save the voice over until the end or scratch it all together. Have a big heroic shot of the fleet or vipers or whatever on screen at the end with the same flashing type text and all the information there for a few second.

The Web address should be present through the entire ad. Heck, if the production didn't mind us using that footage we could throw a "footage from BSG the 14th colony used with permission" and they have themselves a theatrical or televised ad for them as well!

[Kester Pelagius]

Howdy All,

I mean this with all the love and respect good intentions can muster but I feel that this needs to be said. So, please, don't take this the wrong way, okay?

Can I just point out to everyone that if I'd spent half the time debating what that mock-up teaser poster I posted should look like and seeking a community consensus of what direction to maybe-possibly-sort of start with for the mini-script I drafted it'd STILL be in the discussion stage.

I'm seeing a LOT talk hither and yon about the why NOT and how come things CAN NOT be done. How about just DOING something?

Honestly the more I read the more it sounds like excuses to explain why people aren't going to do anything. Talk of rights issues? SAG concerns? What's next, discussion of the economy? The stars not being properly aligned? Not enough Dr. Pepper for the crew. . . Okay, THAT might be a problem.



This isn't a Hollywood production. It's you, your fan pals. People talking about selling this need to realize that, by definition, anything done is going to be skirting the gray area of legality as most fan projects do. It's great to think of this as a tie-in with Larson's announced movie project/idea but if that's really what you want it to be then you NEED to contact Mr. Larson and get permission.

See how things get derailed? We've gone from talking about a simple community project to something that requires contacting the rights holder for Galactica to get approval. Not saying that's a bad thing. Just be aware the second you go that route you can't back step and do a fan project if you don't get approval. If you do then it's actionable. (And Mr. Larson would HAVE to take action to assert his rights.)

Let's not hold out pretensions that this thing is going to be, or needs to be, some sort of big budget affair. Just Google for info on the Polonia brothers or search IMDB for The Asylum, these are folks who literally just put out Z-grade (home) movies. I'm serious. Read my review of DRAGON if you don't believe me.

End of Rant.

*takes a deep breath*

Sorry about that.

Now onto something constructive.

[Kester Pelagius]

If my computer wasn't such a piece of $#!@ and I had the software I'd just rip some scenes from Saga of a Starworld and edit a trailer and score it with a old MOD music file of a redone Galactica theme I used to have, assuming I still have it archived somewhere. Then again I don't know if I even have anything that would play a MOD file.

The gorilla in the room seems to be resources, or lack thereof. But who cares if all you use is your cell phone to record low rez shaky video or your web cam and dress your friends up in goofy looking Galactica-wear? Seems to be people are watching even cheesier and stupider feltercarb on Youtube all the time.

Also this notion of trying to disassociate the effort from fan films by saying it's going to be fan produced yet isn't a fan film is absurd. If you're that worried about us mugging for the camera, and let's face it some of us probably have mugs better suited to radio, then how about this. .

Make an action figure drama! You KNOW you still have them. What? Worried they'll lose value if you use them to make a movie? Or, wait, what about LEGOS? That'd be the sort of thing just weird enough to get attention.

Though maybe the starting point should be the site, or forum, or whatever. Heck even a blog would be a start. So who's taking point to organize this thing?

[monolith21]

I agree with a whole lot of what you say. I think fan films are a great thing. I think there has been far too much talk about why this whole thing won't work and not enough action. That said, if our purpose is to reach the largest possible audience not so much to entertain them but to get them to pay attention to what is going on, and we only have thirty seconds to do it we absolutely have to trim the fat.

This thread is about doing so I agree that we need to get cracking. Some people have been contacted and lets see how that goes. By all means develop your ideas. Anyone with an idea should trim it down into the most effective ad possible.

I think part of the problem is focus. Some people are talking about making a fan film and others an advertisement. I think both would be great. When I say we need to put our best foot forward on the ad, what I mean by that is do the very best we can collectively with the tools at hand.

We have the talent amongst us to make a professional looking ad if we go the CG route. If we have the resources to make a similarly professional studio quality looking ad to be shown in movie theatres or on television then awesome! Now as afar as youtube or web sites or whatever else...I say the more the merrier.

I don't think we need to worry about SAG, rights issues, or anything else as of now. We should be so lucky to get to that point. I selling this thing would get us into trouble. However the ad is something we would have to raise money to get on screens.

Ernie, did you have any lucky with your contact?

[ernie90125]

The loss of focus in this thread is singularly due to Kester wanting to make a fanfilm ! That's great, but this isn't a thread about fanfilms !!!!

A fanfilm and a trailer for possible TV broadcast are two different things. Kester, if you want to make a fanfilm, go fund and produce your idea to make it a reality and I'll host it on www.battlestarfanfilms.com

I'm not knocking your ideas, but this is a very different type of project.

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

Back to the idea of making a trailer.....in this making a trailer thread - Yes, I've been speaking to contacts. I'm also looking into music which wouldn't cause problems with music licensing for TV Broadcast complications.

The idea is to bring together this trailer and get it out there in some form or another - Youtube being a great way to freely broadcast a trailer at first.

So far, and hopefully right the way up to that point, this idea won't have cost a penny, but we'll have something in our hands.

Then we can debate further distribution and broadcast thereafter.....