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Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

Jedit posted:

Infection
Soul Hunter
Midnight on the Firing Line
Born to the Purple
Believers
And the Sky Full of Stars
The War Prayer
Parliament of Dreams
Grail
Mind War
Survivors
Chrysalis
Deathwalker
By Any Means Necessary
Legacies
Signs and Portents
The Quality of Mercy
Babylon Squared
TKO
A Voice in the Wilderness (1/2)
Eyes

Wow. I didn't realise how eccentric the production order was for S1. The finale is practically mid-season.

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Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

And this is an interesting twist to that. Probably won't happen.

https://twitter.com/straczynski/status/997029449097871360
https://twitter.com/straczynski/status/997029770037620736
https://twitter.com/straczynski/status/997030017832861701
https://twitter.com/straczynski/status/997030333848535040
https://twitter.com/straczynski/status/997030628729143296

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates
I don't think Babylon 5 needs a reboot or a new series.

My deep, weird love for B5 comes from it's epicness and, at the time, newness. There was nothing quite like it. The story was huge in scope and the serial nature was such a refreshing change from Star Trek. Retelling that story today, while I'm sure it could be done well, isn't really necessary. We've got that story. I don't need to see it again, or an alternative version. What's the point? And while you could say that about any reboot, Babylon 5's core strength was it's mostly pre-planned story. The core ingredients for other reboots are generally the setting and characters, but I don't think B5's are strong enough alone to warrant that. Telling a different story with the same characters would seem pointless.

And I feel similar about any new series - there may be room for other stories in that universe, but it somehow feels unnecessary. It's hard to imagine a story that really requires the setting, and that wouldn't seem like either a retread or an anti-climax after the epoch-defining story of B5.

All I'd really like from B5 at this point is a decent print of it. And I'd like creators to make really good space shows that I like as much as B5.

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

Milky Moor posted:

The Dilgar War would be such a boring story.

Yeah. The point of the Dilgar War is to provide backstory, not to be a story. While it would be possible to make it interesting, what happens if it makes references to some other bit of universe history? Do we also then need a series for that? And maybe another about Earth's first contact with the Centauri? The trend for filling in backstory that we don't need filling in is really starting to drag.

Dirty fucked around with this message at 17:08 on May 24, 2018

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

Farmer Crack-rear end posted:

I don't think "you get more clues" is really a good enough reason to make a newcomer slog through the pilot, since a lot of those get brought up later anyway; the Narn telepath thing gets brought up in Legacies, the insistence on Sinclair being made commander gets brought up in (I think) And The Sky Full Of Stars, and the audience doesn't need to know Lyta Alexander for her later re-introduction to work.

Definitely. Sinclair even recounts his Battle of the Line experience almost identically. All the other stuff is okay backstory, but I actually think it does more harm than good. Spending time describing the crystalline structure of Vorlons and having Kosh hooked up to a life support machine makes them seem like a much more conventional species than how they're portrayed in the series. I remember being very mildly confused by the "There is a hole in your mind" flashback in S1, but once I saw The Gathering and realized that's where it was from, I didn't feel like it had been worth the 90 minutes of my life to know that. I didn't actually learn anything the series hadn't already given me. You can definitely skip The Gathering with no problems whatsoever, unless your aim is to catch every single bit of foreshadowing and hinting. In which case, you should watch every single episode just to be sure.

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

Neddy Seagoon posted:

Why would you willingly watch The Gathering more than once? Can you not tell that the stove is hot by the burns on your fingers from last time? :psyduck:

There is a certain amount of fun in looking at shonky pilot episodes of things and being amazed that the series you grew to love started out in that state, and what it would have been like if they hadn't changed all those things. The B5 pilot has all sorts of things going on. The inexplicable bad disco lighting in the floor of C&C. The nice effect they had of docking ships' lights washing over everyone. The electric guitars. The total lack of starfuries. Vorlons turning the dial up straight to 11 and being prepared to massacre a quarter-million people because their extradition request didn't go their way. Sinclair having a slightly weird posture. The strange acting/directing/casting choices. The CGI being at it's rawest level. Morden working in C&C. The station's maneuvering thrusters having the space equivalent of cellophane wrapping on them.



Wow, I just noticed the bolts separating from the cover. One the one hand, nice touch. On the other, a texture would have been nice.

Dirty fucked around with this message at 18:59 on Jun 3, 2018

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

Jedit posted:

You missed his first appearance as the Soul Hunter, then? W. Morgan Sheppard is hugely underrated, he pretty much made that episode work.

That guy has one of the most distinctive voices, and knows how to use it. He's great.

Everyone probably knows this, but his son is Mark Sheppard, who you might recognise from a bunch of sci-fi.

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

Narsham posted:

it's highly unclear whether having animals on the space station poses a health risk to the many alien species you expect to move through there.

Surely all the aliens would be more of a health risk to each other? Adding a few chickens doesn't seem like that much of a difference.

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

Narsham posted:

A few chickens always make a difference. Just ask this guy:



Hah, I wouldn't have recognised that until a certain Twitch marathon kicked off recently ;)

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

Mental Hospitality posted:

Rewatching B5 on Amazon and I completely forgot G'Kar used his fake eye to watch Sheridan and Delenn gently caress on their honeymoon. :stonk:

That was so very odd and creepy and out-of-place.

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

Jedit posted:

Odd yes, creepy yes, but out of place? G'Kar's been hooking up with prosties of other species since the pilot.

Yeah, but there's a big step between that and casually, covertly, watching two of your friends having sex.

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

Platonicsolid posted:

Yeah, too often expanding the lore actually compresses it. Everything is conveniently connected, it make the universe feel small. It's lazy writing, which means it's easy, and often very fanservicey.

Yeah. Every time someone says that we need a Dilgar War prequel, my first thought is "no we don't".

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

Von_Doom posted:

Of course... anything old can be made new and all of that, but SHOULD we?

Exactly. The story of a fresh-faced spacefaring humanity coming up against it's first big challenge doesn't need to be a Dilgar War story. Let's have a new IP, it stands more change of being popular than anything trading on the B5 name, and it doesn't have to worry about continuity. Take that premise, blow the doors off it and go all out, don't bother hamstringing it by making it a prequel to something.

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

speakhard posted:

Thought there might be some interest here: I captured a VHS recording of a TNT making of special "The Guide to Babylon 5" that aired in December 1997, right before the premiere of season 5. I left the commercials in because that's part of the charm of this for me ;)

I think it was shot during the production of Thirdspace.

https://mega.nz/#!bw5jiYaY!vZtw42U8uy7spy1pmgi_VMgSl85B5KkwxSEn9FgzdEU

Neat, downloading now - thanks for this!

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

Jedit posted:

That's a fuckup on the DVDs. The original S2 credits didn't contain the spoiler.

Yes, I think it showed the cocoon for her title card, which was kind of funny.

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

Milkfred E. Moore posted:

B5 had a few alternate opening titles during its run but I don't think the DVDs maintain any of them.

The only one I can think of (aside from the Delenn change) is the Psi Corps one, and I can't remember if that made it to the DVD or not. Were there any others?

I don't think the S2 ISN-centric episode had alternate titles, because I remember thinking it was odd to go all-in on the ISN point of view, but shoehorn in the regular titles.

Dirty fucked around with this message at 19:12 on Oct 31, 2018

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates
Regarding the size of "known space" in B5, I think, despite any inconsistency, we have to assume that we're seeing races from across the entire galaxy. When you look at the end of the shadow war, it's about the young races working together and coming of age, literally telling the first ones to get the hell out of "our" galaxy. That message punches a bit harder if we're seeing it delivered by a united cross-section of galactic races. If it's just a bunch of races from a 70 LY sphere, winning a fight most of the galaxy won't ever know about, it kinda takes away the galactic self-determination aspect.

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

SlothfulCobra posted:

Nothing is ever "new", it's always been there, just the characters haven't noticed them yet. They are all proactive through a persistent persistent world, and no matter how one-off an episode is, it is forming extra lore that will still be there in the background, and they'd never do something like drop the space Dalai Lama off on some uncharted planet never to be seen again.

This was my favourite thing about Babylon 5. The world felt real and fully-formed, and it didn't casually toss in epoch-defining discoveries like gods, superweapons, world-changing technologies etc. for the sole purpose of making a 45-minute point. The Star Trek universe feels like a circus sometimes, everywhere you look there's something astounding and improbable, to the point where nothing is, and nothing matters when the episode ends. I know that's a pretty stale thing to say at this point - Star Trek is at it's core episodic, but in 1994 everything was episodic, which made every plot twist and escalation in B5 very exciting. I remember watching the Earth Force destroyer ramming sequence in Severed Dreams and thinking "holy poo poo, they're really doing it, everything's about to change". 18-year-old me hadn't seen TV like that. 40-year-old me has seen a lot since then, and I can see how B5 might be a hard sell to a modern TV watcher - it broke some ground at the time, but you don't get that from it today. But I still think it's drat good and there's nothing quite like it.

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

Doctor Zero posted:

THIS IS SPOILERY IF YOU ARE WATCHING NEW SKIP THIS.


Yeah so Takeshima was supposed to be the mole. Then he had to shift that to Talia. So he set up an “out” with Kosh so they could get her back. Then the actress pissed him off and left and so JMS had Talia dissected. The Kosh backup quietly ignored. The remnants of her story got shifted got shifted to Lyta.

Yes, where Talia was going to be a superpowered telepath thanks to Ironheart, Lyta was a superpowered telepath thanks to the Vorlons. I don't think it was ever mentioned on screen, but I suppose the mind-recording of Talia could have been used to figure out how to modify Lyta.

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

Payndz posted:

My favourite VFX shot from the whole show is from 'Severed Dreams': the one where a couple of Thunderbolts do a Stuka run on C&C and one gets a wing blown off by the point defences, but keeps going along its original course and tumbles straight into the bow of the station - with the camera following it all the way in.
Yes, that's a really great sequence, and the pyrotechnics with the actors really links what happening outside with the danger to the crew.

Spoiler: here's that shot!


quote:

'Severed Dreams' in general really raised the bar for CG as a replacement for motion controlled modelwork in general; not just the sheer volume of shots, but the scale and choreography of the action. It was basically Return of the Jedi, but on a (small) TV budget and schedule. Sure, the models are low-detail by modern standards, but everything is moving so fast and fluidly (and consistently through consecutive shots) that you don't have time to care.
Totally. I've always thought the majority of the seasons 2-3 CG on Babylon 5 was really cinematic. It's not just that the lack of motion control limitations meant they could do more. The team at Foundation really knew how to fill the frame with action without it being confusing. Sometimes, modern CG takes that freedom too far and action is confusing.

I could bang on about the quality of B5's CG all day.

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

Maelstache posted:

Ron Thornton confirmed as much in an interview years back. The problem isn't sourcing the models necessarily, it's that the technology and software involved is so archaic(we're talking Lightwave and Video Toaster here) that even if all the model data survives I doubt it would be of much use.

Lightwave is very backwards compatible (I'm the one guy that still uses it) - the current version will load stuff from the B5 era, although there would probably need to be a few tweaks. Procedural textures like on the Vorlon ships and jump points would probably need to be remade, but if all the original files were intact I really don't think it would be a big job, relatively speaking.

The most recent use of it in TV/movie productions that I could find was last year's Wind River, for some surprisingly good snow FX.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIGp2XL9QrU

LW definitely seems to have dropped off a cliff in the past few years in terms of use.

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

SlothfulCobra posted:

It seems so dumb and cheesy and then you find out that the rise of actual fascism is super dumb and filled with cheesy obvious lies.

The real world seems so badly written at times.

Looking forward to seeing reactions to the rest of season 3 since it contains possibly my all-time favourite "holy poo poo" ending to a season. It's not even really a cliffhanger, it's just a "yup, everything just went to poo poo" ending.

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

dreadmojo posted:

refresh my memory? it's been a while

What Jedit said, but also Sherdian shoving a nuke in Z'Ha'Dum's pie hole was ultra satisfying and very dramatic.

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

Son of Sam-I-Am posted:

You know what, I'm going to say it: going full screen on my work monitor, that's still not much of an improvement over what we have on the DVDs other than the framing.

It looks substantially better to me.

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

Jedit posted:

In The Beginning is backstory filling. There's some interesting stuff in there, and Reiner Schone, one of the less remembered victims of the B5 Curse.

I'm not sure in what sense you mean that because he's not dead.

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

MikusR posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUGZ_R4T09c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8ulJ00_rd8

from http://www.b5scrolls.com/#Screen4_04_2

"This is a frame for frame re-render of a couple of short scenes from a few episodes of the show. They’re using the original Lightwave scene file for camera and model movement, lights, etc. It’s also the original 3D models and textures used on the show – and nothing has been updated in any way other than being rendered out at 1920x1080. It’s the raw CGI without any post work. "

Finding it mildly annoying that the world is full of people with the systems and time to render these at high-def, but we're limited to buying a computer for one guy so he can maybe sorta do it. Send them over here, I'll do it for free.

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

McSpanky posted:

Is this a "WB doesn't give a poo poo about B5" thing?

Kind of. But also, from the bit I quoted, it's frustrating to know that the art assets are out there, and being passed around among a select few because they aren't supposed to be out there because I guess they belong to WB. So between those scene files, the botched DVD transfer, and the existing hi-res master JMS referred, we've had many options for seeing B5 VFX looking not-terrible.

But the simplest way, just rerendering the existing files in Lightwave (which will load the old scene files mostly just fine) on the abundant levels of modern hardware that exist today can't be done, because the files are in the hands of a guy with a busted decade-old system. Of the few people out there who still use Lightwave (myself included) our systems that we already bought for doing this stuff would make absolute mincemeat of the rendering times for 90s-era scene files. Not to mention having the expertise to patch up any issues caused by Lightwave version changes, and make good use of newer anti-aliasing and motion blur settings. But instead, we gotta buy this guy a new computer so he can do it, one scene at a time.

The B5 legacy continues to hang by a thread.

It's just frustrating.

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

Son of Sam-I-Am posted:

On the other hand, it's more hope than we had yesterday.

I guess. It seems to me like a great way to let something die out. The files have been around for a long time, but only with a few people, who only share them with a few people. That's not sustainable. The files are as good as lost as long as they only reside on the hard disks of people who mostly won't even admit they have them. It's time someone threw them on a torrent so they can be widely preserved. I'm tired of hearing that the files are "out there". It's meaningless. Just release them or delete them, otherwise they just exist to sustain decades of "maybe we'll get that HD remaster after all" dead-ends. One day the files really will be lost, but we'll never know it when it happens.

Same situation with Deep Space 9.

So I don't really see it as hope, just yet another person saying they've got the files too, with the added bonus of asking for money so that they can perhaps maybe render them.

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

MrL_JaKiri posted:

Releasing them on a torrent is asking for a lawsuit

Possibly, but I doubt it. That assumes that:
1) WB would even notice
2) WB would really care enough. Some guy made upscaled "HD" versions of all 5 seasons and released them on a torrent, I think he's okay. That's potentially worth more than some art assets nobody cares about.
3) The original torrentor didn't take any precautions

Easy for me to say, I know, I'm not taking a risk, and I can't think of any equivalent situations that would give me an idea how this would play out. But if WB don't even own the original files, how would they even know their files are out there? Who would even by looking? What's the difference between these and any other fan-made models doing the rounds?

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

Toxic Fart Syndrome posted:

Could modern computers render the scenes in real-time?

Not quite, although I suspect many whole sequences could be done in a matter of minutes, maybe a frame every 2-10 seconds. Depends on resolution, render settings and the scene itself of course.

TheCoach posted:

Given his current system someone just donating a mid range i5 machine to him would probably fit his needs really.
I asked on facebook and he said that the highest he might accept the total would be ~1500$ as he does not see a need for anything past that hardware or software wise.

EDIT: Besides he did not just ask for donations, he made really good accurate renders thus proving he can actually do this and only then asked people to pitch in.

Yes - I'm not trying to cast aspersions, I'm frustrated because we have this absurd situation where there is an internet full of nerds like me who would willingly render all this out in short order, but the files are with someone who can't use them until he has a computer bought for him. And this is just the situation now. In a few years he could have vanished from the internet with 1/3rd of the series re-rendered, and we're left waiting for the next guy to admit he has the files. Which could be never. It seems needlessly eggs-in-one-basket, considering this is digital information that can be easily preserved. It's the nearest we're going to get to Babylon 5 looking decent, so I'd really like to see more steps taken than buying one guy one computer.

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

Burning_Monk posted:

I thought one of the big issues wasn't the pure CGI scenes, but the composite scenes mixing live action and cgi? Do they have the scenes for those that can be re-rendered?

Yes, it's possible we're stuck with those. It's not just question of re-rendering - things like PPG blasts were, I think, "painted on", so that's another level of post-production that would need doing. I doubt any source files exist for those, and if they were, I don't think they could be imported into anything current.

Wall of text incoming.

Basically, as I understand it, the issues are.

- CGI, which, with the source files, could be re-rendered. It would in some ways look worse today in HD because TVs are much better and less forgiving, but I thought the B5 scrolls stuff mostly looked good enough. But if all or even most of the source files can be brought together, this is very doable. I think I still have a copy of Lightwave 5.5 lying around if Lightwave 8, 9, 10 or 11 caused too many problems. I'm still able to load my scene files from that time, (although some tweaking is needed in some cases). If the source files are in the hands of fans, this can be done without WB involvement. This is good because the CGI, one of the more unique things about the series, is the biggest casualty. The DVD transfers were done incorrectly, so there's currently no way to see the CGI looking as good as even when it was broadcast back in the 90s. The DVDs are actually worse than that when it comes to the CGI. The "unofficial" HD versions I mentioned earlier have fixed some of the DVD problems, FYI, so the CGI does look better there, if a little overprocessed.

- Live action: I don't know the whole process here, but the DVDs used new widescreen transfers so the footage is mostly not bad, if a bit unrefined. Someone else could probably correct me or expand on this but, without retransferring all the live action, the DVDs are as good as we're going to get, and I think they are a slight improvement over what we got in the 90s. So making a cut of the live action with the new CGI might be possible with what's on the DVDs.

- Mixed FX and live action: I don't think there's any good solution here. The DVDs used the same process for the CGI for these scenes, and they look mostly awful. There would have been all kinds of other processes used outside of rendering from Lightwave for these, so the only way to fix these up would be to get the original footage. Since I assume these shots were delivered with the FX already in place, it might be a bit of a hunt for these, I don't know, assuming WB would do that, which they definitely won't. So I think we're stuck with the DVD versions of these scenes. Even where some of the CGI could be rerendered (such as the starfury appearing at the window during Sheridan's inauguration), the live action portion would still look like rear end.

So getting new renders of the old CGI would fix the first issue, which would then make it worth cleaning up the live action stuff as much as possible to edit together with it, leaving the last issue as just something we gotta accept, I think.

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

speakhard posted:

Maybe there's hope if Mojo Lebowitz gets his hands on these...



From the sounds of it he already has some, and we've not seen much of those either. I assume it's so that they can be passed among the rest of the tiny number of people who hoard these files.

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

Son of Sam-I-Am posted:

Relaying the latest post on the guy's Facebook group:

One of the replies says there've been some recent executive retirements/resignations at WB. Is it too early to post itshappening.gif?

Argh. He's thinking about this all wrong. More than likely, it was flagged because it looks like footage from a B5 episode. Some low-level person at WB glances at it, thinks it's footage from an episode of B5, and throws it on the pile labelled "monetise with ads", along with the other 20 new B5 vids that were flagged this week.

What is not happening:
WB intern *sees flagging report*: Ah yes, this matches with stuff in our archive. Wait...
*looks more closely*
WB intern: Hmm, this looks very high quality... and the description... rendered from the original source files, you say? Wow. I know exactly what that means. Screw my coffee break, I need to get the top brass to look at this.
*reaches for red telephone*
WB overlord *answering*: This had better be good.
WB intern: Yes, hi sir. I know, you said this phone was to be used for emergencies, but this is important.
WB overlord: Okay son, give it to me from the top.
WB intern: Yes sir. Okay, so as everyone here in the legal department knows, the original source files for the Babylon 5 CGI were thought lost, making high definition renders impossible.
WB overlord: Get to the point, son. Every single employee at WB has been briefed on the circumstances of Babylon 5's CGI. We all sat through the Lightwave 5.6 orientation classes, just in case this day ever came. In fact, my refresher is due next week, I hope you're up to date?
WB intern: Of course sir, I know how important this is.
WB overlord: Good work, son. Okay, go on.
WB intern: Well, it looks like someone's got the source files. I've just had a video content-flagged. What do I do?
WB overlord: *chuckles softly* They did it. They actually did it.
WB intern: They're taking a huge risk, aren't they sir? The full force of the WB legal department could come down on them for having our copyrighted materials. They must know we've been keeping watch for these files for 20 years.
WB overlord: Maybe they're testing our response. Hoping to catch a break...
*pause*
WB overlord: Let it through.
WB intern *shocked*: Sir?
WB overlord: I think it's time, don't you? Let's send a signal, but one that could be easily misinterpreted as either a conscious decision on our part, or a careless approval by someone who didn't look very closely or understand what any of this means.
WB intern: Classic move, sir. Nothing could telegraph our intentions more clearly.
WB overlord: Good work, today son. Maybe at last, we'll get that B5 HD remaster that the entire company has been waiting for.

Dirty fucked around with this message at 11:16 on Mar 11, 2019

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

Antifa Turkeesian posted:

The weirdest thing about those overlaps are that each show has a character named Duk(h)at but with each having no similarity to the other. It's such a specific but pointless swipe (if it was not a weird coincidence).

Also Lyta/Leeta.

But yeah, I do think it's coincidence. But I do think the germ of an idea for a station-based show is likely to have come from B5. I don't think there was any serious cribbing though.

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

Milkfred E. Moore posted:

The answer is just that The Gathering is janky and makes very little sense in light of what we learn later.

Yeah, I still don't get how you slap a poison patch onto the hand of a non-corporeal entity.

Or how you poison a non-corporeal entity.

Or what the physical equivalent of going in for a handshake with a non-corporeal entity is.

I mean, you can maybe sorta talk around some of this to get an explanation, but the one quoted above is the correct one IMO. It doesn't need an explanation, I can live with some inconsistency.

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

Seemlar posted:

Even if JMS's explanations of the CG stuff aren't accurate I'm not sure why this guy is so offended by it and I can't say it improves my view of him that he seems to have yanked all those nice HD rerenders off Youtube in response.

That's really annoying. What's the point in sharing that you have these if all you're going to do is not only hoard the files, but hoard the renders you're making with them. This is exactly why I didn't want to help in his stupid crowdfunder for his new computer so he could render them. He's just shown that he considers these renders to be his property, that he can withdraw access to any time he wants.

He, or someone else with a stash, needs to release these files as a torrent or stop talking about them forever because this is getting us nowhere. As long as the files are hoarded by a few people, we're always going to be wading through some silly drama interspersed with endless carrot-dangling.

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

Sandepande posted:

In my filthy mind I imagine having enough cash to simply remake the whole show from the ground up. B5 has a lot of personality, but it deserves much higher production values.

I used to think a remake would be cool, but I talked myself out of it. Most of the fun of B5 was seeing TV sci-fi doing stuff I had literally never seen before. It was, at times, jaw dropping in the 90s from both a story and visual standpoint. But as someone who has seen the show and knows the story, I don't think I'd get anything out of a remake. It already exists and I got my enjoyment out of it. Watching a remake, I just know my mind would be dissecting the changes they'd made.

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

Old Boot posted:

It's one of those things where B5 was/is such a heavy influence in a lot of modern sci-fi that I find myself pointing a lot of people in the series' direction (which happened at length when ME3 was more of a thing). Invariably, a lot of them bounce off of the appearance of it/the pure cheese of the first season. That's about the main reason I'd want to see a remake, but I'd rather see it done beat-for-beat with no deviations-- er, save maybe smoothing out some of the rough edges, but good luck getting anyone to agree on what those actually are.

As has been said, though, getting the lightning-in-a-bottle that was G'Kar and Londo is loving rough-- but I'd imagine that they could do a lot of 'chemistry reads' for that with the elevator scene specifically in mind.

I'm not saying a remake would be bad, but it's not just a case of having the budget. B5 is wholly a product of it's time and the circumstances in which it was made. I get what you're saying - the ideal version of B5 is one that looks like it has the budget of a prestige TV show today, but that's more of fantasy what-if, because no matter the money thrown at it, any remake would have to be a different animal, and then it's like, well, why remake it? (eg do you keep the dangling plot threads from actor changes? Or do you keep Lyta or Talia? Takashima or Ivanova? Out of those 4, who gets to be the sleeper agent) If you're recommending it because it's influenced a lot of modern TV, then those people need to watch the original rather than something that's remade through modern eyes.

B5 was partially influenced by Blake's 7 which, when it was firing on all cylinders, had some really great dialogue and characters. But like with B5, I don't really think it's something I need to recommend or get people to watch. I liked it, but no one else needs to - they can stomach the bad bits, or skip it altogether. There's a ton of great stuff from before my time that I have trouble getting into or connecting with, and I don't think a remakes of those would really help me with that.

Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates
Michael O'Hare with the world's tightest t-shirt. https://www.instagram.com/p/ByMnABKpEVO/

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Dirty
Apr 8, 2003

Ceci n'est pas un fabricant de pates

Anonymouse Mook posted:

To be fair, his memory of that appearance may be a little... blurry :v:
Fair to say the Drakh had a real image problem.

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