<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>If Netter Digital was at the helm I wouldn't be concerned... but it isn't (heard it went under--any details?). I found the sfx in Crusade to be inferior to B5's 5th season, and I read that it was more expensive to produce.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
The FX for
Crusade were
done by Netter Digital, so I don't see why you are "worried" that a new company is handling them for
Rangers.
Crusade did a lot more of a different
kind of FX work - virtual enviroments because they were going from planet to planet - than what
B5 did. These are tricky to pull off on a TV budget. I don't recall them looking
terribly different than say, Minbar, CP or the Drazi homeworld on
B5.
And I don't recall the space shots looking noticably inferior. As for
Entertainment Weekly, they are notorious for reviews that have little to do with reality, so I'm not sure I'd put much stock in what one of their writers had to say in
one article. Unless you have other examples to cite, this is hardly evidence that the "mainstream press" in general had bad things to say about
Crusade's FX.
I did read somewhere that N.D. changed their primary CGI software right around the start of
Crusade and that there may have been a bit of a learning curve that resulted in poorer CGI in some of the early episodes, but I'm not sure how accruate that report was.
And while
Crusade may have had a bigger budget, we can't assume that the difference went to the visual effects department. Coming off of
B5 JMS and Netter may have negotiated higher producing fees, the switch back to a longer shooting schedule probably increased costs somewhat, and it is quite possible that Gary Cole commanded a higher salary than even Bruce Boxleitner, since he is arguably better-known thanks to things like
The Brady Bunch.
It is true that Netter Digital is no more. They weren't able to get enough work after
Crusade folded to keep going. But JMS may still have gone with another FX house unless N.D. was willing to open a branch-office in Vancouver. It is often important to have visual FX people on-set when a show is being shot, as well as during pre- and post-prouduction, so it is hard to see how they could be done by
any company in Los Angeles.
Also I don't know why JMS's statement that
Rangers would be more of an action/
adventure series with dramatic elements than a dramatic series with action/adventure elements (as
B5 was) makes you assume that he means "more and bigger space battles." (For that matter I'm not sure why everyone who misquotes that statement focuses on the word "action" and ignores the "adventure" part.)
In terms of TV shows
Law & Order,
E.R. and
The West Wing are all dramas.
The A-Team,
Magnum, P.I., and
The Invisible Man are all "action adventure." So was
Star Trek: TOS.
Trek was not noted for battles between huge fleets of spacecraft. Most of the "action" consisted of fist-fights between Kirk and the guest-villain.
"Adventure" can consist of nothing more than putting your heroes in dangerous and exotic locales or situations. A story where your series leads are trapped by a blizzard is an adventure story where there
is no one to fight. One where they have to cross dangerous mountain or jungle terrain while trying to deliver badly-needed medical suplies is an adventure episode, too.
In fact, a lot of shows aren't purely drama
or "action/adventure."
Law & Order has the odd fist-fight or shoot-out.
Trek did character studies and more purely dramatic stories. It is often a balance. But the
focus of the two types of shows tends to be different. While
Magnum, P.I. did some pretty heavy dramatic episodes, for the most part it was a light romp with lots of chases, colorful characters and sometimes things getting blowed up real good.
B5 also had plenty of action (and
adventure - the two are
not synonymous) along with the drama. All JMS is talking about, after 5 years of often bleak, heavy, depressing
agnst, is doing a show that is a little more light-hearted, and which leans towards the "caper" aspect that makes shows like
M:I and
Magnum so much fun.
Neither "action" nor "action/adventure" implies huge
anything. It just means that the characters are put in physical jeopardy a lot.
Mission: Impossible was an action/adventure show. It did not feature huge tank battles, fleets of warships or air-strikes. It featured a small team of operatives working behind the lines to underimine political enemies and criminal organizations. This is a lot closer to what JMS has described
Rangers as being than the kind of show you're worried about.
So even if there
were some kind of "problem" with the EFX, I don't think there is any reason to assume that it would have much impact on the show, because I don't think we're going to see any big "Into the Fire"-type "action."
Regards,
Joe
------------------
Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division
joseph-demartino@att.net
[This message has been edited by Joseph DeMartino (edited September 09, 2001).]
