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708 lines
30 KiB
<h2><a name="OV">Overview</a></h2>
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<blockquote><cite>
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Sinclair is kidnapped and interrogated by members of a pro-Earth group,
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determined to find out what transpired when the commander was briefly
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missing in action during the final battle of the Earth/Minbari
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war -- something Sinclair has never been able to remember.
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</cite>
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<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Scott,+Judson">Judson Scott</a> as Knight One.
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<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Neame,+Christopher">Christopher Neame</a> as Knight Two.
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<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Youngs,+Jim">Jim Youngs</a> as Frank Benson.
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<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Williams,+Justin">Justin Williams</a> as Mitchell.
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</blockquote>
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<pre>
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Sub-genre: Suspense
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<a href="/lurk/p5/intro.html">P5 Rating</a>: <a href="/lurk/p5/008">8.90</a>
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Production number: 106
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Original air date: March 16, 1994
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00006HAZ4/thelurkersguidet">DVD release date</a>: November 5, 2002
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Written by J. Michael Straczynski
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Directed by Janet Greek
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</pre>
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<H3><A NAME="WF">Watch For</a></H3>
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<ul>
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<li> <a name="WF:3">A</a> <a href="#NO:1">newspaper headline</a> describing
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some unusual political machinations.
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<li> <A NAME="WF:2">Sinclair</A> <A HREF="008.line.synop.html#manip">reacts to
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something</A> just before his ship is manipulated.
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<li> <A NAME="WF:1">A small</A> <A HREF="008.line.synop.html#exam">device</A>
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is held up in front of Sinclair at one point. Remember what it
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looks like; it'll appear again later in the season.
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</ul>
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<P>
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<hr size=3>
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<P>
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<H2><A NAME="BP">Backplot</A></H2>
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<ul>
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<li> <A NAME="BP:1">In the days before the Earth/Minbari war,</A>
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Dr. Franklin used to hitchhike starships, trading his services as
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ship's doctor in exchange for free passage to places he'd never
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been before.
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<li> <A NAME="BP:2"><B>Franklin:</B></A> "Towards the end, when things
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got bad for our side, those of us involved in xenobiology were told
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to hand over our notes to be used in genetic and biological
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warfare. [...] I took an oath that all life was sacred. I
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destroyed my notes, rather than have them used for killing."
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<li> <A NAME="BP:3">After his squad was shot down at the Line,</A>
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Sinclair's ship was disabled and taken aboard a Minbari cruiser.
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He was tortured and examined, and at one point stood unfettered
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within the circle of the grey council itself. When they didn't
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respond to his questions, Sinclair suddenly walked up to one of
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them and pulled back the hood, revealing the face of Delenn. He
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was then knocked out again, and some time later returned to his
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ship with no memory of the experience.<br>
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<I>(A <A HREF="008.line.synop.html">synopsis</A> of the
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events at the Line as Sinclair re-experiences them is available.
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There is also
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a separate <A HREF="008.line.page.html">Guide page</A> devoted to those
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events.)</I>
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<li> <A NAME="BP:4"><B>Knight Two:</B></A> "Your ship was off the
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screens for 24 hours. You didn't just black out, your ship
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disappeared!"<br>
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<B>Sinclair:</B> "The screens malfunctioned, the hearing proved that."
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<li> <A NAME="BP:5">This would explain</A> why Sinclair
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"fell off the merry-go-round" promotion-wise.
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Officers who've inexplicably disappeared in the presence of the
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enemy tend to hit a glass ceiling even if their loyalty is
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officially accepted.
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<li> <A NAME="BP:6">The Knights may be part of a covert operation</A>
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within Earth Force that's trying to find collusion between Earth
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officials and the Minbari.
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</ul>
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<H2><A NAME="UQ">Unanswered Questions</A></H2>
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<ul>
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<li> <A NAME="UQ:1">Franklin asks Delenn,</A> "How were you involved in
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the war?" She declines to answer, even though he had just
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answered the same question from her. Toward the end of the episode
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it's revealed that Delenn did indeed play a significant role in the
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war, but little is yet known about what that was.
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(cf: <A HREF="020.html">"Babylon Squared"</A>)
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<li> <A NAME="UQ:2">Sinclair's absence was first realized</A> when
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Delenn reported that he didn't show up for a meeting with her in
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the Council room. What was that meeting to have been about?
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<li> <A NAME="UQ:3">Delenn said she checked with Ivanova</A> before
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asked Garibaldi about Sinclair's absence. Ivanova is willing to
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page Sinclair about <em>everyday</em> problems - why wouldn't she call his
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link when he's mysteriously long overdue for a diplomatic appointment?
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<li> <A NAME="UQ:4">Later, Delenn asks Ivanova</A> if there's anything
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she can do to help, and Ivanova replies that the crew is doing
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everything possible. Yet why is she strolling down a corridor with
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Delenn, rather than following leads and scouring for new ways to
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find Sinclair?
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<li> <A NAME="UQ:5">How was Sinclair flawlessly abducted from his quarters?</A>
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<li> <A NAME="UQ:6">How did Knight One get Benson's body off the station?</A>
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(see <A HREF="#JS:a">jms Speaks</A>)
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<li> <A NAME="UQ:7">Who were the Knights working for?</A>
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<li> <A NAME="UQ:8">Why wasn't telepathy used for the interrogation?</A>
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It would have been no less legal than what the Knights did, and a
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telepath would probably have had better skills at dredging up old
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memories. The whole power source problem (which ultimately sunk
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the Knights' plan) could have been avoided - only the stimulation
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technology need have been brought on board.
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<li> <A NAME="UQ:9">Is Sinclair really a Minbari plant?</A>
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<li> <A NAME="UQ:10">Why was Delenn's superior on the station?</A>
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<li> <B><A NAME="UQ:11">What is it</A> that the Minbari don't want
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Sinclair to remember about his experience on the Line???</B>
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</ul>
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<H2><A NAME="AN">Analysis</A></H2>
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<ul>
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<li> <A NAME="AN:1"><B>Sinclair:</B></A> "Everyone lies, Michael. The
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innocent lie because they don't want to be blamed for something
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they didn't do, and the guilty lie because they don't have any
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other choice."<br> This is extra reason to think twice before
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taking anything said in this episode at face value. Nor should one
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assume that a lie covers up wrongdoing.
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<li> <A NAME="AN:2">Earth Force</A> was researching the use of genetic
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and biological warfare against the Minbari. These are offensive,
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not defensive methods, effective only on planets. They must have
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been planning a desperation ground strike of some kind.
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(cf: <A HREF="002.html">"Soul Hunter"</A>)
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<li> <A NAME="AN:3">After he punches Knight Two in VR,</A> Sinclair
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looks at his hand, making a fist and releasing it. Scenes of him
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in the cybernet chair after that show him clenching his fist in
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real life as well, in unison with continued fist-clenching in VR.
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Sinclair is rediscovering, slowly, how to get his brain to control
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his body. The pain of the remembered zap in the council chambers
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is later enough to propel him all the way back, if groggily.
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<li> <A NAME="AN:4">While looking for Sinclair's body outside,</A>
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station forces discover the body of Benson floating outside Red
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Sector. Garibaldi visually identifies him (other Security folks
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had not been able to), and says, "Whoever killed him couldn't have
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carried the body very far without being noticed." He may be wrong
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in this conclusion - Knight One could have dumped it into a
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nondescript cart and gone a long way, for example.
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<li> <A NAME="AN:5"><B>Garibaldi:</B></A> "If they dumped the body out
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of an airlock, the station's gravity wouldn't let it get far."
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This is true <em>only</em> if the body was dumped out of a no- or
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low-velocity airlock. Perhaps Garibaldi's assertion is correct
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because there aren't any high-velocity airlocks on the station
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other than the Cobra Bays.
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<li> <A NAME="AN:6"><B>Knight Two:</B></A> "Look at Earth: Alien
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civilization. Alien migration. Aliens buying up real estate by
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the square mile. What they couldn't take by force, they corrupted!
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Inch by inch!"<br> This sounds very much like Homeguard propaganda
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- perhaps there is a connection. (cf: <A HREF="007.html">"War
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Prayer"</A>)
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<li> <A NAME="AN:7">Delenn exhibits ignorance</A> of the powers of Earth
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telepaths - Ivanova had to explain to her that Talia, a P5, was not
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capable of a search-and-recover mission.
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<li> <A NAME="AN:8">Ivanova's only contribution to the search effort</A>
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was to track all ships that left Babylon 5 in the previous 8 hours,
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which turned out to be wasted effort. This and several
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<A HREF="#UQ:3">Unanswered Questions</A> suggest she may have been
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working with the Knights.
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<li> <A NAME="AN:9"><B>Delenn:</B> "It's me, commander."</A><br>
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<B>Sinclair:</B> "I know - I know you. I know who you are."<br>
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<B>Delenn:</B> "I'm your friend, commander. Ambassador Delenn.
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<em>Your friend.</em>"<br>
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<B>Sinclair:</B> "NO! I know you. I know you."
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[Knight One prepares to fire, Sinclair shoots him down]<br>
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<B>Delenn:</B> "Welcome home."<br>
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[Sinclair collapses]<br>
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By his emphatic denial above, it should be clear to Delenn that
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Sinclair is remembering <em>something</em> about
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<A HREF="008.line.synop.html#GC:2">his discovery of her at the
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Line.</A> He later denies remembering anything, but she must wonder
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if he's lying. (If the <A HREF="008.line.page.html#AN:5">Analysis</A>
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in the Line Guide page is correct, however, she should be
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<B>certain</B> he is lying.)
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<li> <A NAME="AN:10">Knight Two apparently remembered nothing</A> about
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himself after Sinclair's destructive escape fried his memory.
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However, the word "Commander" brings him up short, and he remembers
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Sinclair's name, saying "There's something in my head. It says:
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'Maybe you're still inside. Maybe we're both still inside.'" His
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phrasing there indicates that this is not his own current thought,
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but a thought that survived his brain damage. So, what did Knight
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Two, in full possession of his faculties, mean by that suspicion?
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The most obvious answer is "inside the simulation," but this is a
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very weak explanation, and goes nowhere.
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<li> <A NAME="AN:11">Knight Two's last experience</A> would have been
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watching Sinclair's recollection of his Grey Council experience,
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<B>including</B> his discovery of Delenn (whom Knight Two may not
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have recognized).
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<li> See also the <A HREF="008.line.page.html">Guide page</A> devoted to
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Sinclair's recollection of the events on the Line.
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</ul>
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<H2><A NAME="NO">Notes</A></H2>
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<ul>
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<li> <A NAME="NO:1"><H3>Universe Today Headlines:</H3></A>
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<ul>
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<li> <B>Sports:</B> Zero-G Tennis Results Inside
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<li> <B>Is There Something Living in Hyperspace?</B>
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<li> <B>Homeguard Leader Convicted:</B> Jacob Lester Found Guilty
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In Attack on Minbari Embassy
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<li> <B>Narns settle Raghesh 3 Controversy</B>
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<li> <B>EA President Promises Balanced Budget by 2260</B>
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<li> <B>Psi Corps in Election Tangle:</B> Did Psi-Corps Violate its
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Charter by Endorsing Vice-President?
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<em>(see <A HREF="#JS">jms Speaks</A>)</em>
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<li> <B>San Diego Still Considered Too Radioactive for Occupancy:</B><br>
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A new study published by Earthforce Nuclear Regulatory Office
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declares San Diego, struck by the American States first act of
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nuclear terrorism over 100 years ago, still uninhabitable for
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the next 300 years.
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<li> <B>SPECIAL SECTION: Pros & Cons of Interspecies Mating</B>
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<li> <B>Copyright Trial Continues in Bookzap Flap:</B> Books Downloaded
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Directly into Brain: Who Owns Them?
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<li> <B>Is There Something Living in Hyperspace?</B> <em>(a repeat)</em>
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<li> <B>New Binary Star Discovered</B>
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<li> <B>Inside: Universe Today: Babylon 5 Edition:</B>
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<ul>
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<li> Classified 5-70
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<li> Crossword 60
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<li> Editorial/Opinion 10-11A
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<li> Lotteries 11C
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<li> Horoscope 8A
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<li> HoloComics 9E
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</ul>
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</ul>
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<li> The text of all the articles are instructions for the "Babylon 5
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Equation Editor," which looks like genuine documentation after a
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search and replace has been performed from the product's name to
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"Babylon 5."
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<li> <em>Source for Universe Today information: "Cinefantastique," April
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1994, p. 35</em>
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<li> <A NAME="NO:2">Dr. Franklin</A> now has baseline medical readings
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for a healthy adult Minbari.
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<li> <A NAME="NO:3">Casino regulations for officers:</A> no gambling on
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duty, off-duty gambling is limited to 50 credits per week.
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<li> <A NAME="NO:4">Garibaldi has security access to Sinclair's quarters.</A>
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<li> <A NAME="NO:5"><B>Jeffrey David Sinclair</B></A><br>
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<B>2218:</B> Born on Mars Colony May 3rd.<br>
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<B>2237:</B> Enlisted in Earth Force Defense.<br>
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<B>2240:</B> Promoted to Fighter Pilot.<br>
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<B>2241:</B> Promoted to Squad Leader (!)
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<li> Sinclair's ancestors have been fighter pilots for many generations.
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<li> <A NAME="NO:7"><B>Knight Two:</B></A> "If I fail, more will come
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after me, until the job is finished."
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<li> <A NAME="NO:8"><B>Sinclair:</B></A> (to Mitchell) "I tried to warn
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you, but you wouldn't listen. You never listen."
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<li> <A NAME="NO:9">Payoff money</A> was deposited to Benson's account
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at 0300, presumably soon after he delivered a big power supply to
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the Knights. At 0700 Sinclair "went missing" - presumably this was
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when Delenn was supposed to meet with him in the Council room (see
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<A HREF="#UQ:3">Unanswered Questions</A>).
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</ul>
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<H2><A NAME="JS">jms speaks</A></H2>
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<ul>
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<p>
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<li> Absolutely unlike anything ever produced before for television.
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Directorially, and in terms of the visual effects, the CGI, the
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performances, right across the board, it's a stunner. And just...I
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can't convey this enough...different. It just takes TV SF and yanks it
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to a whole other level of complexity.
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<p>
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<li> As for a production report...things are going swimmingly. Today we started
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getting dailies on our first day of shooting on "And the Sky Full of
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Stars," which deals with the Battle of the Line. This is not going to
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look like your conventional episode of television. We've brought in
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equipment that you don't normally see on a television set, certain kinds
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of cranes and lenses and lighting packages that will give this
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particular episode a very strange, almost surreal look. It's quite
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remarkable.
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<p>
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And Ron's pushing the envelope on the CGI...compositing some
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live action stuff with CGI that'll blow your TV out.
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<p>
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It's going *well*.
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<p>
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<li> Spent a very, very, very long day today in editing...not out of any
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problems, but because of the *astonishing* amount of detail we're
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putting into "And the Sky Full of Stars." Leaving out all the live-
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action shots, there are 25 CGI shots in one and a half minutes in
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one sequence alone. (By way of comparison, there were 55 or so in
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the full two hour pilot for B5.) So we go frame by frame, making
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sure that everything meshes properly, through some pretty intense
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gistics. You'll understand when you see it.
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<p>
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I've never seen the like of this particular episode before. It's a
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real gem.
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<p>
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<li> On returns... Garibaldi's aide: yes. Knights: yes, but not
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identified as such.
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<p>
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<li> Lurkers is indeed a net reference.
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<p>
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<li> Psi Corps, as a government-regulated agency, is prohibited from
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endorsing candidates or taking a political stance.
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<p>
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<li> I would *never* pull a "he wakes up and it was all a dream" on the
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series. I hate that kind of story.
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<p>
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<li> <A NAME="JS:a">It has *always* been my sense</A> that the body was
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slipped out an access airlock in the zero-g cargo area. Every
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other access -- like the boarding area and standard cargo area --
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is under close security to prevent this kind of thing, or the
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influx of contraband. There's really nowhere to GO from the zero-g
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section, so it's a little looser. As for how he got the body
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there...there is an answer, and a reason, and if you look at this
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episode again after the season is over, even the nitpickers who
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brought it up will be able to figure it out. I didn't address it
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in the issue because I didn't think anyone would make a federal
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case out of this, and for other reasons that will in time become
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apparent. Several other nits picked at this episode will *also* be
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clarified by season's end. It's not easy to sit quietly, knowing
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the answer, and being unable to tell it, but that's simply what I
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have to do for the time being.
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<p>
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<li>
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Psi Cops are *authorized* to carry firearms. The Knights had an in
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with Security, and by virtue of high government contacts, got their
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stuff on board. Those seem to me not requiring much explanation.
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<p>
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<li>
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I can't believe this "explain how the guns get aboard" discussion is
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still going on. This isn't the Enterprise, to use the cited example,
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which is a *military vessel*, and only the occasional rare civilian
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gets on board. There are a QUARTER MILLION PEOPLE on board at any
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given moment. (People = humans and aliens.) Not staying there, but
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in a state of flux. Going and coming. Anywhere from 50 to 100 ships
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per day dock at B5. Thousands upon thousands of boxes, crates, cargo
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loads, pallets, you name it. If you stopped and inspected every
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single box that came through, the system would grind to a halt. So
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you do the best you can, you catch whatever you can, scan as much as
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possible, and accept that some stuff is bound to slip through.
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<p>
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Further, this is the kind of explanation that has nothing to do with
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a story, only with someone's need to have something explained to them.
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I think the time is spent better elsewhere.
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<p>
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<li> Yes, that is a triluminary on the grey council staff in "Sky."
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(cf. <a href="020.html">"Babylon Squared"</a>)
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<p>
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<li> Bear in mind, though, that Sinclair really had no reason to doubt what he
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remembered happening on the Line until the Minbari assassin uttered those
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seven fateful words. As for others...there have been suspicions, but more
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broadbased...and we'll deal with those a bit here and there.
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<p>
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<li> Also, check the readout on Sinclair's screen as he's trying to engage the
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enemy. You'll see "negative lock" popping up. One problem in fighting the
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Minbari vessels is that they have a kind of stealth tech that makes it very
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hard for our weapons to lock on.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Bill Mitchell from "Sky" is a reference to General Billy Mitchell . . .
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> Yeah, it was an off-the-cuff reference to Billy Mitchell . . .
|
|
<p>
|
|
(Didn't really mean that much; just thought it wuz cool.)
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Re: "Sky"...my theory is to *never* assume prior knowledge of the
|
|
background info that goes into an episode. If you never saw the
|
|
pilot, you will miss *nothing* going into "Sky" (though it'd be nice
|
|
because of one quickie flashback to know where that came from). I
|
|
don't think anyone will have a hard time following that one.
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<li>
|
|
This was one segment of the battle; there were others going on in
|
|
other areas as well. It's said that no one ever *saw* the Battle of
|
|
the Bulge; each saw a small part of it. Same here.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Reality is, no matter how big we would've made it, more would've been
|
|
wanted. (If anything, it seems that the more we show, the more is
|
|
wanted.) But all things considered, best to have folks wanting more
|
|
than wanting less....
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
(And remember, we're managing to do all this with roughly *half* of
|
|
TNG's budget. Give us their budget, and I'll show you ALL of the
|
|
Battle of the Line, and the ENTIRE Earth/Minbari War, PLUS all their
|
|
home worlds.)
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Nonetheless, as we go deeper into the season, the CGI/action sequences
|
|
do get bigger and more detailed in many places. In "Signs and
|
|
Portents" (formerly "Raiding Party"), you'll see three pretty good
|
|
sized squadrons of ships engaged in a very fast-paced battle that goes
|
|
on for most of an act and a half, as opposed to just a few scenes in
|
|
"Sky." Big battles weren't really the *point* in "Sky," it was more
|
|
about his REACTIONS and his personal fate. There were a number of
|
|
action/battle shots we had on hand, but decided not to use because we
|
|
didn't want to dilute the *point* of the scene.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
And as stated elsewhere...yes, you'll be seeing the Minbari war
|
|
cruiser(s) again.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Actually, as you'll see in "Sky," sometimes the Good Guys *do* get
|
|
their ships hit; sometimes they blow up and kill the person (as you
|
|
will see), and sometimes they do damage without destroying the ship,
|
|
in which case there is an eject mechanism that separates the cockpit
|
|
part from the rest of the fighter, which contains the volatile
|
|
reactors.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
So in those circumstances, a flight suit is a *very* good idea....
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>
|
|
We actually had a lot more shots we could've used to prolong the
|
|
sequence, but felt we *really* had to get to Sinclair, and go into
|
|
his point of view more. Also we step-printed the CGI to give it a
|
|
more dream-like appearance, since we're seeing this from inside
|
|
Sinclair's memory, and he wasn't really able to *see* all this,
|
|
particularly stuff happening around and behind him, this is more his
|
|
*sense* of the events of that time. The sections we didn't step-print
|
|
were those where he was RIGHT THERE, to make a subtle distinction.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>
|
|
What? Who, me? Near as I remember, the Question was, "What happened
|
|
at the Battle of the Line?" Answer: Sinclair was taken aboard the
|
|
Minbari cruiser, tortured, interrogated, mind-wiped and shoved back
|
|
into his ship.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
The Question *now* is, "WHY was Sinclair taken aboard the Minbari
|
|
cruiser, tortured, interrogated, mind-wiped and shoved back into his
|
|
ship?"
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
That question was not asked heretofore...so how could it be still
|
|
unanswered?
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>
|
|
A number of people have commented that they weren't much surprised by
|
|
Sinclair being taken aboard, because on the nets -- and this has ONLY
|
|
taken place on the nets -- this speculation has been bandied about
|
|
for some time. We now have ten zillion speculations on the reason
|
|
*why*. I will not comment on them one way or another (though I
|
|
suppose I could point, without making the real comparison between
|
|
types of typists, to the idea that an infinte number of monkeys typing
|
|
on an infinite number of keyboards would eventually produce Hamlet
|
|
simply by chance combination; sooner or later, something close to the
|
|
reality might be stumbled upon...and let me ask a simple question:
|
|
what purpose does that serve? It only lessens the enjoyment of those
|
|
who would simply like to enjoy what happens WHEN it happens).
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Any good detective knows that you can't really begin to speculate
|
|
about motive until you have all the information right at hand. At
|
|
this point there is information you don't have...and absent that, any
|
|
guesses will either be wrong, or close enough to hinder the fun but
|
|
still essentially incorrect. It's like trying to guess the contents
|
|
of a box without knowing the size of the box...it could be a marble,
|
|
it could be an elephant or a pre-fabricated house.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
All I'm suggesting is that you consider not trying to come up with
|
|
every possible angle, and let the show progress on its own. Right
|
|
now everybody seems to be scrambling to make sure every even remotely
|
|
feasible possibility is covered, and there an infinite number. As an
|
|
organized activity, this will in time only prove frustrating. By the
|
|
end of the season, as with being near the end of a movie, you'll have
|
|
enough info on hand to start making some educated guesses. To do so
|
|
now is to begin the proess of calling out possible endings during
|
|
the first five minutes of a movie...you'll miss the important things,
|
|
and annoy the people sitting behind you.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
I'm not saying stop; I'm just saying...relax, a little, I guess, and
|
|
simply be aware that you *cannot* scatter-shot this thing without
|
|
having access to all the information. It's like trying to guess the
|
|
beginnings of World War One without knowing *any* of the background of
|
|
the countries involved. Suffice to say that the reason would not be
|
|
simplistic, or cliched, or *easily deduced*. One thing I learned in
|
|
two years on "Murder, She Wrote" was to come up with a fairly complex
|
|
mystery, something that can't be easily solved going in, but which
|
|
makes perfect sense after you have all the facts and know which clues
|
|
were the real ones, and which were simply red herrings.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Just a thought....
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>
|
|
We'd initially offered Walter [Koenig] the role of Knight Two in
|
|
"Sky," but when his health prohibited using him, we went to Patrick
|
|
McGoohan, who loved the script, wanted to do it, but was going to be
|
|
out of the country at the time of shooting. We then shifted Walter
|
|
to "Mind War."
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Thanks. I love Patrick's work. Problem is he's *very* fussy on the
|
|
roles he takes. (And justifiably so.) He has to be sold on the
|
|
script or there's no deal. We'd sent him a copy of "And the Sky Full
|
|
of Stars," which would have had him as the main interrogator, Knight
|
|
Two...and he liked it, and was prepared to do it...when we checked our
|
|
respective calendars and discovered that he was going to be out of the
|
|
country when we were scheduled to shoot.
|
|
<p>
|
|
We hope to get him at some later time. He's just terrific.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>
|
|
The CGI scenes were deliberately step-printed to give the shots a
|
|
more dreamlike look.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>
|
|
The CGI won't look as good in slow motion because we step-printed
|
|
them deliberately, in order to give them a more dream-like appearance.
|
|
For us, this wasn't about the ships, it was about one of the men in
|
|
the ship, which is why we kept him in sharp focus, and went to step-
|
|
printing whenever we went outside (and since we're seeing this from
|
|
his memory, clearly he wouldn't actually have *seen* most ofthis,
|
|
it's his *sense* of what happened). You'll get plenty of clear CGI
|
|
in "Signs and Portents," airing in May.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Actually, there's a second shot in which you can see a body being
|
|
thrown out; it's between Mitchell and Sinclair being hit. Remember
|
|
that the body is strapped in in an angular fashion, and look for it
|
|
as it blows (as I recall) from left to right. It's there.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>
|
|
This weekend, I was at the Space Frontier Foundation to receive an
|
|
award for Babylon 5 for Best Vision of the Future, part of which was
|
|
its recognition of our *deliberate efforts* to get things right.
|
|
Zero-G maneuvering, civilian use of space, a working O'Neill station,
|
|
on and on, all the stuff you think happens by "coincidence." And
|
|
which has not generally HAPPENED on TV before. In attendence were
|
|
the Delta Clipper team of engineers, astronaut Pete Conrad, leading
|
|
researchers with NASA, JPL, McDonnell-Douglas, you name it.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
And one of the people there, who had been with SDI and the Space
|
|
Program for 12 years, currently a top-level NASA consultant, pulled
|
|
me aside and said that after seeing the line about the gravity not
|
|
letting the body get very far . . . he said he sat down to do the
|
|
math required to come up with the actual MASS of B5, starting with
|
|
the 2.5 million tons of actual structure, plus likely vegetation,
|
|
quarters, occupants, ships docked inside...and when you add it all
|
|
up, it came to about the same mass as a fairly small moon...and IT
|
|
WOULD BE ENOUGH TO KEEP THE BODY FROM -- AS STATED IN THE SCRIPT --
|
|
GETTING VERY FAR.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
The body would drift from the station a bit, get pulled back, hit
|
|
the hull, bounce, drift a bit, and be pulled back. Or go into a slow
|
|
elliptical orbit. (He mentioned that in the history of the Apollo
|
|
program, little bits of debris that would flake off the outside of
|
|
the ship would remain in proximity to the ship, just on the basis of
|
|
ITS mass and gravity, and it's not very big.)
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
A couple of other high-level engineers backed him up, and said that
|
|
it was quite reasonable.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>
|
|
The 2.5 million tons of spinning *metal* refers only to that part,
|
|
the metal casing. It doesn't include the furniture, the structures,
|
|
the Garden, the 250,000 humans and aliens...so the total mass of the
|
|
thing is MUCH greater than the 2.5 megatons. Also, the body was
|
|
shoved out of the area around the cargo bay, non-rotating, which
|
|
would also cut down on the momentum (as opposed to shoving out out of
|
|
the rotating part, where it would speed away at 1g).
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Yes, it was always my assumption that the body was dumped out through
|
|
the zero-g section, since that has more traffic with cargo loaders
|
|
and unloaders and less security than the passenger-oriented bays and
|
|
airlocks.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>
|
|
There is a security problem on B5, yes. And we hope to deal with it
|
|
at some point. It's inevitable, really; 250,000 residents, huge
|
|
crates being moved in and out every day, people going and coming...
|
|
they try to confiscate what they can, but a lot slips through.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>
|
|
The second shot to Knight One is a gut-shot, and the security guard
|
|
is shot through the chest.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Bear in mind, also, that some of this may be expected by folks here
|
|
on the nets because of the ongoing conversations, speculation and the
|
|
bits of info I drop here; but for 99.9% of the rest of the nation,
|
|
this IS new info. And even with the nets, I suspect that there are
|
|
some surprises here....
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<em>'Universe Today' Headline</em><br>
|
|
I lived in San Diego from 1974-1981, and it's actually a great place,
|
|
so I'm inclined to tweak it once in a while, just for funsies....
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>
|
|
The wisp of smoke is a wisp of smoke, nothing more important than that.
|
|
If something living in hyperspace bothers you...good, it
|
|
should. The Psi Corps article is in frame for a reason. Yes, we
|
|
sometimes put additional or important information in the background,
|
|
but I don't think we can be fair and assume that everyone sees it, so
|
|
if you don't see it in one place, it's stated out loud later on...the
|
|
background stuff is to give the alert viewer a fighting chance to
|
|
guess some stuff BEFORE it happens; when stuff DOES finally happen,
|
|
all the required information is supplied at that time.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>
|
|
Correct, Gregory. One of the things we learned from the pilot was
|
|
that we shoved too much information at people too fast. So I
|
|
deliberately held back a lot of arc stuff in the beginning of the
|
|
series, allowing people to move gradually into the B5 universe, learn
|
|
more about it, and THEN start whapping them with the arc. It isn't
|
|
until "Mind War" and "Sky" that we really begin cranking the arc.
|
|
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<HR>
|
|
Originally compiled by Matthew Ryan <i>mattryan@pobox.com</i>
|