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Babylon 5 – Some new (behind the scenes) material..

Triple FTriple F Registered User new member
Just a heads up for those that have downloaded B5Scrolls or have been following the interviews and articles.

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The next update should be in the next month or two and will include orthos of a handful of the original Lightwave 3D models used on the show. The above image has a background of the production sketches which Steve Burg sent over – and are already on the site – along with a foreground showing the original 3D Thunderbolt model made in Lightwave, with a bit of the wireframe showing through. :)

If you have been following the site, the current update is dated 26th October, 2014…. And includes a new section that looks at the N’Grath character and an interview with Jim McPherson who largely designed the big guy. There’s even some previously unreleased behind the scenes video from the co-founder of Optic Nerve, Everett Burrell, along with the artwork and photos. This is just a small sample of the new stuff added in the last update.

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BTW. Since I’m still deciding which of the original Lightwave 3D models to add in the next update (the orthos should be very handy for anyone wanting to do an accurate scratch build of them), let me know if anyone has any preferences. Dropping a note here or better yet on the Facebook page would be handy – as the addition of the model images is a one time deal and will be limited to a half dozen or so.

As always, all the new content from the guys who worked on the show will be included in the download of the website.


B5Scrolls Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/B5Scrolls

B5Scrolls Website (free to download)
http://www.b5scrolls.com/

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Posts

  • DracomicronDracomicron Registered User regular
    I always was sad that the insect guy was too much trouble to keep using. I think he died offscreen at one point.

  • ShadowfireShadowfire Vermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered User regular
    Wasn't that the one from the Soul Hunter episode?

    WiiU: Windrunner ; Guild Wars 2: Shadowfire.3940 ; PSN: Bradcopter
  • RichyRichy Registered User regular
    I always was sad that the insect guy was too much trouble to keep using. I think he died offscreen at one point.

    It's been a long time, but I remember the insect guy looking fake as hell. I'm not disappointed they dropped him in favour of real actors in make-up.

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  • DracomicronDracomicron Registered User regular
    Richy wrote: »
    I always was sad that the insect guy was too much trouble to keep using. I think he died offscreen at one point.

    It's been a long time, but I remember the insect guy looking fake as hell. I'm not disappointed they dropped him in favour of real actors in make-up.

    It was the early 90s and they didn't have the $ for Jim Henson. I thought it was quaint!

    Part of what I originally liked about B5 was that the aliens were NOT all rubber forehead humanoids. Gave it a hard sci-fi feel, compared to Trek.

  • WotanAnubisWotanAnubis Registered User regular
    I always was sad that the insect guy was too much trouble to keep using. I think he died offscreen at one point.

    I'd heard some mechanical bits of the insect guy puppet broke down and they just decided not to repair and keep using it.

  • Kipling217Kipling217 Registered User regular
    Richy wrote: »
    I always was sad that the insect guy was too much trouble to keep using. I think he died offscreen at one point.

    It's been a long time, but I remember the insect guy looking fake as hell. I'm not disappointed they dropped him in favour of real actors in make-up.

    It was the early 90s and they didn't have the $ for Jim Henson. I thought it was quaint!

    Part of what I originally liked about B5 was that the aliens were NOT all rubber forehead humanoids. Gave it a hard sci-fi feel, compared to Trek.

    That and the lack of technobabble. Problems not created by random cosmic particles, but genuine difference of opinion? Sign me up.

    I would also give a shout out to B5 having a real score. Seems one of Berman's decisions was to cut back on the budget for new music for the trek series. Looking back the Faith of the Heart opening of Enterprise was probably the most musically adventurous as Trek has ever gotten.



    The sky was full of stars, every star an exploding ship. One of ours.
  • Jam WarriorJam Warrior Registered User regular
    Hey a timely B5 thread! I'm in the middle of a slow watch through all of B5 plus movies and am getting close to where I need to decide to look into Crusade or not (instinct says no) and navigate the minefield that is trying to sort a watch order for the final season and movies.

    When I started this I did not think it would be this complex!

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  • DracomicronDracomicron Registered User regular
    Hey a timely B5 thread! I'm in the middle of a slow watch through all of B5 plus movies and am getting close to where I need to decide to look into Crusade or not (instinct says no) and navigate the minefield that is trying to sort a watch order for the final season and movies.

    When I started this I did not think it would be this complex!

    Some of the movies are kinda bad, but I don't really think that my time was wasted on most of them, because I pretty much loved the characters at that point. Crusade had a lot of potential and some great characters, but got cornholed by Ted Turner, who put all sorts of restrictions on content ("okay this episode needs a bar brawl..."). The Technomage in that show got his own book trilogy, which was actually pretty good.

  • InvisibleInvisible Registered User regular
    Babylon 5 holds a special place in my heart. When I was kid, most Saturdays we would drive out to my Great Grandmother's farm. They didn't have cable and most of my time was spent outside, but somehow I always managed to catch this show when I was there. It was by pure happenstance that they had the channel and happened to be there when it was on.

    I need to re watch it because I barely remember some of the plot, but it still brings back the warm fuzzy feelings when I think about it.

  • Jam WarriorJam Warrior Registered User regular
    Invisible wrote: »
    Babylon 5 holds a special place in my heart. When I was kid, most Saturdays we would drive out to my Great Grandmother's farm. They didn't have cable and most of my time was spent outside, but somehow I always managed to catch this show when I was there. It was by pure happenstance that they had the channel and happened to be there when it was on.

    I need to re watch it because I barely remember some of the plot, but it still brings back the warm fuzzy feelings when I think about it.

    That's pretty much where I was when I started this. Half memories of catching bits and pieces from seasons 1-3 at my Nan's place after school. At the time I watched far too sporadically and was too young to grasp the ongoing plot so the revisit has been a great mix of seeing things for the first time and wallowing in nostalgia.

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  • KrathoonKrathoon Registered User regular
    You can get the whole thing pretty cheap on dvd.

  • DracomicronDracomicron Registered User regular
    Krathoon wrote: »
    You can get the whole thing pretty cheap on dvd.

    My dad, who is on a very fixed income, was relieved to find out that I wanted the series, because it meant he knew what to get me for my birthday and christmas. He was able to pick up two seasons at a time for me, which surprised me somewhat.

    I think Barnes & Noble still has the series for full fucking price, though.

  • KrathoonKrathoon Registered User regular
    The show is a really great example on how to make a TV program. The story was all planned out with plenty of "trap doors" if actors had to leave.

  • ShadowfireShadowfire Vermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered User regular
    Krathoon wrote: »
    You can get the whole thing pretty cheap on dvd.

    My dad, who is on a very fixed income, was relieved to find out that I wanted the series, because it meant he knew what to get me for my birthday and christmas. He was able to pick up two seasons at a time for me, which surprised me somewhat.

    I think Barnes & Noble still has the series for full fucking price, though.

    Yes. Amazon has the series for $20 per season, but for whatever weird reason a package with all five seasons is $150.

    WiiU: Windrunner ; Guild Wars 2: Shadowfire.3940 ; PSN: Bradcopter
  • gjaustingjaustin Registered User regular
    Babylon 5 is easily my second favorite TV series of all time. Only the Twilight Zone beats it out.

  • VisskarVisskar Registered User regular
    A few months ago, Best Buy had seasons 1,2, and 5 on sale for $15 each and they could actually be found in stores. Yet 3 and 4 were still $50. Could only afford 2 so I picked up 2 and 5. They're the newer plastic cases like the Walmart stock a few years ago (still annoyed I never grabbed those cheap). I need to get around to 3 and 4 on Amazon so I can go back through the Shadow War and Earth storylines again.

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  • DracomicronDracomicron Registered User regular
    Season 3 is the best season, but Season 4 is also amazing. The end of the Shadow War AND the totality of the Earth War? Sign me the fuck up.

    I do wish that they had known that they'd get a fifth season when they were doing the fourth, though, because the first half of Season 5 was so... frivolous... compared to the stuff we'd gotten before. It was like the plot dialed back to Season 1. I believe that the original plan called for the Shadow War to take up more of Season 4 and the Earth War to spill into Season 5.

    Second half of Season 5, though, which deals with the characters' ultimate fates, was still really good.

    Season 5
    Hate hate hate the goth telepaths. Screw you, Byron!

  • ShadowfireShadowfire Vermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered User regular
    @Visskar‌ you can still get seasons three and four for about $20 each on amazon.

    WiiU: Windrunner ; Guild Wars 2: Shadowfire.3940 ; PSN: Bradcopter
  • jkylefultonjkylefulton Squid...or Kid? NNID - majpellRegistered User regular
    Bumping because this is going to be on HBO Max starting on January 26th. Watch it, it's great!

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  • see317see317 Registered User regular
    Bumping because this is going to be on HBO Max starting on January 26th. Watch it, it's great!

    Is there any remastering being done? Or just the same as it's been?

  • jkylefultonjkylefulton Squid...or Kid? NNID - majpellRegistered User regular
    I seem to remember someone asking JMS about a remaster on twitter, and the short answer is....it might be somewhat remastered? But I have no idea. Just glad its not relegated to go90 or whatever nonsense streaming platform purgatory it was on previously.

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  • MazzyxMazzyx Comedy Gold Registered User regular
    Saw this thread reappear and wondered who died this time.

    This is much better news.

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  • BlackDragon480BlackDragon480 Bluster Kerfuffle Master of Windy ImportRegistered User regular
    edited January 2021
    I seem to remember someone asking JMS about a remaster on twitter, and the short answer is....it might be somewhat remastered? But I have no idea. Just glad its not relegated to go90 or whatever nonsense streaming platform purgatory it was on previously.

    I know that the original renders for the CG effects are lost in the void and they cannot be remastered without starting from scratch. Not sure about the original hi-res beta film masters and if the live action stuff can be cleaned up at all.

    But I do know I'll be binging the shit out of it next weekend.

    https://youtu.be/7xO9Vr_nBE8

    BlackDragon480 on
    No matter where you go...there you are.
    ~ Buckaroo Banzai
  • DracomicronDracomicron Registered User regular
    Mazzyx wrote: »
    Saw this thread reappear and wondered who died this time.

    This is much better news.

    I mean, aren't the only main cast left Bill Mumy, Mira Furlan, Claudia Christian, Jason Carter, Patricia Tallman, and The Box? That's a 50% loss already. I don't know if my heart can handle anyone joining Peter Jurasik, Andreas Katsulas, Richard Biggs, Stephen Furst, Jeff Conway, and Jerry Doyle beyond the Rim.

  • jkylefultonjkylefulton Squid...or Kid? NNID - majpellRegistered User regular
    Peter Jurasik is still alive!

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  • DracomicronDracomicron Registered User regular
    Peter Jurasik is still alive!

    Holy shit you're right! He must be laying low, hiding from the Grim Reaper.

  • MillMill Registered User regular
    IMO the CG for this series hasn't aged well. If they do decide to rerun it, it would probably be worth redoing it, while trying to stay faithful to the design goals. Everything else with the series is solid for the most part, so if they ran it with better CG, it would probably do really well with newer audiences, while not losing older audiences. I mean, I don't think many fans would get made about better CGI.

  • Phoenix-DPhoenix-D Registered User regular
    Mill wrote: »
    IMO the CG for this series hasn't aged well. If they do decide to rerun it, it would probably be worth redoing it, while trying to stay faithful to the design goals. Everything else with the series is solid for the most part, so if they ran it with better CG, it would probably do really well with newer audiences, while not losing older audiences. I mean, I don't think many fans would get made about better CGI.

    The video masters are also gone apparently, making the shots that are a combination of live actors and CG especially hard to redo

  • reVersereVerse Attack and Dethrone God Registered User regular
    Phoenix-D wrote: »
    Mill wrote: »
    IMO the CG for this series hasn't aged well. If they do decide to rerun it, it would probably be worth redoing it, while trying to stay faithful to the design goals. Everything else with the series is solid for the most part, so if they ran it with better CG, it would probably do really well with newer audiences, while not losing older audiences. I mean, I don't think many fans would get made about better CGI.

    The video masters are also gone apparently, making the shots that are a combination of live actors and CG especially hard to redo

    They could just The Blacklist it.

  • PolarisPolaris I am powerless against the sky. Registered User regular
    Some new remasters appeared on AppleTV last year, they are 4:3 and are apparently pretty decent but doesn't look like they went back to the film stock which the DVDs did (but went widescreen and had the horrid pan and scan for any vfx shots).

    As JMS appears to have been blacklisted by WB, he didn't even know the remasters had happened until someone told him on Twitter. Remastering the vfx is possible but expensive, of course B5 has made a fortune and any bluray/4k remaster would be very popular/profitable, but it seems like some sort of politics at WB preventing it.

  • jkylefultonjkylefulton Squid...or Kid? NNID - majpellRegistered User regular
    edited January 2021
    Mira Furlan passed away today.

    jkylefulton on
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  • MancingtomMancingtom Registered User regular
    Mira Furlan passed away today.

    Fortunately, that turned out to be a hoax.

  • jkylefultonjkylefulton Squid...or Kid? NNID - majpellRegistered User regular
    Mancingtom wrote: »
    Mira Furlan passed away today.

    Fortunately, that turned out to be a hoax.

    JMS confirmed it on twitter.

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  • see317see317 Registered User regular
    Source on that @jkylefulton ?
    I found a couple references, but mostly seems to be a hoax.

    https://www.livingordead.com/content/person/mira-furlan

  • jkylefultonjkylefulton Squid...or Kid? NNID - majpellRegistered User regular
  • see317see317 Registered User regular
    Well... fuck.
    Guess it's hard to argue with that.

  • XantomasXantomas Registered User regular
    goddammit why does this keep happening?

  • reVersereVerse Attack and Dethrone God Registered User regular
    Xantomas wrote: »
    goddammit why does this keep happening?

    Linear progression of time.

  • fightinfilipinofightinfilipino Angry as Hell #BLMRegistered User regular
    i got a DM from Claudia Christian (her verified Twitter account) confirming the same.

    really sad about this one. Mira Furlan was an all around awesome human being.

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    steam | Dokkan: 868846562
  • Ninja Snarl PNinja Snarl P My helmet is my burden. Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered User regular
    Oof, she was only 65 too. I'm not aware of any longstanding health issues she had, she should've had at least a good decade or two ahead of her.

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