Every so often, I like to check out this blog’s site stats to get a sense of the daily visits, most popular posts and, most interestingly of all, what leads people to check out this little corner on the internet. In the case of the latter, if you go by recent search engine terms, it’s “Stargate”, “Joseph Mallozzi”, and “Julia Benson” – and not necessarily in that order. Site stats also include a rundown of Top Referrer’s who have provided links to this blog. They’re usually fairly vague – facebook, google image search, etc – but, occasionally, they’re quite specific. Like, yesterday, when I clicked on one of the Referrer links and ended up on Reddit where somebody asked: Does anyone have some deck plans for Prometheus? Another user offered the following advice: “Joe Mallozzi used to be a writer/producer on SG-1 back in the day. He has a blog where he occasionally posts pictures of set blueprints. I’ve seen him post a bunch of set blueprints from Atlantis, but you might get lucky and find some Daedalus/Prometheus stuff. Gonna take a lot of digging though.”
Yes, admittedly, a time consuming process. According to Site Stats (again), this will be my 2 333rd post. That IS a lot of digging. UNLESS, you have an affable executive producer willing to take the time to wade through the mountain of Art Department handouts he received over the years in search of Prometheus schematics.
Sadly, I don’t have anything in the way of an actual ship plan. I’m not even sure if one was ever drafted but, even if it was, that would have been during the SG-1 days, long before I started collecting these pre-production mementos. However, I DID find a few Daedalus-related plans which, I hope, will prove somewhat helpful because – here’s a secret: the Prometheus was the Daedalus was the Odyssey was the Apollo was the Korolev! They were the same sets and, for design purposes, the same ships. When it came time to shoot them, however, one was able to distinguish them in a variety of ways: besides specific crews, there were the distinguishing plaques that adorned the walls. In addition, the lighting on the various bridges differed. From what I recall, the Apollo was slightly blue while the Daedalus was slightly green. The Prometheus, I believe, was white.
Anyway, this is what I was able to dig up:
From The Kindred Part 1 Art Department package: The Daedalus Bridge, Corridors, and Mess Hall. Note the reminder to swap out the Apollo plaque for a Daedalus plaque. Also note the reminder to repair/restore the section of the Mess Hall damaged during “Ark of Truth”. Was it damaged in an actual scene in the movie or did Director Robert Cooper kick a crew member through the wall? Again. I don’t recall.
The Daedalus Bridge from the Be All My Sins Remember’d Art Department package.
Daedalus Engineering, also from the Be All My Sins Remember’d Art Department package. Note the additions of Asgard tech that came with the last engineer, Hermoid, in Siege 3. Also note the use of the term “gak”, used to refer to circuitry/wires/panels – essentially, cool, high-tech looking “ship innards”.
Sadly, that’s it. BUT, I did find this cool layout of the Midway station:
Some interesting comments to yesterday’s blog entry “March 14, 2013: Veronica Mars fans are finally getting their movie! So when are Stargate fans getting THEIR movie?” A few thoughts on your thoughts:
Matt writes: “Would a CG/Green screen set be more affordable now?”
Answer: Hmmm. How shall I put this? The problem with green screen sets is that they look like…green screen sets.
stargateatlantisseasonsix writes: “Have you ever thought of asking the fans to donate their abilities in effects making, set building, make-up and prosthetics, etc. for just the simple exchange of putting their names in the credits at the end. I don’t know a single fan that wouldn’t be estatic to see their name or see their work on the official film.”
Answer: While I’m sure many talented and dedicated fans would do wonderful jobs, there are agreements in place that require a production engage the services of unionized professionals – individuals with proper training and experience. I’d argue that, at the end of the day, you’re better off hiring someone who has made a living building that sturdy set.
Emily H. writes: “And just as a side note, when the fans brought Farscape back from the dead, they did it with a 4-hour miniseries, complete with an epic story, space battles and astonishing special effects — all to the tune of about $20 million dollars. I may be an optimist, but I think that’s doable.”
Answer: Well, okay. The fans did bring back Farscape with that 4-hour miniseries – but, in all fairness, they didn’t foot that bill to the tune of $20 million dollars.
Chris L writes: “Can someone please send MGM an email?”
Answer: Oh I’m sure MGM is receiving plenty of emails from Stargate fans. It’ll be interesting to see if they receive enough to reconsider their options…
Joe, three words for you: Can-Of-Worms.
Huh?
Chris L writes: “Can someone please send MGM an email?”
Answer: Oh I’m sure MGM is receiving plenty of emails from Stargate fans. It’ll be interesting to see if they receive enough to reconsider their options…
and there’s the catch-22, joe. it’s been really hard to ignite fans to contact mgm, because they feel that mgm doesn’t want to do anything with stargate anymore. but if you, the general you, don’t let mgm know that you’re still interested in the franchise, then how are they going to know you are?!?
i think, i ‘think’ that if someone of authority said that something could quite possibly happen if you/fan contacted mgm… maybe those why-bother fans would actually say something.
by the way, it’s really, really nice to see enthusiastic fans over here. (((stargate fans)))
if the ‘huh’ is about what i said…
you said: “It’ll be interesting to see if they receive enough to reconsider their options…”
i’m saying, it’s hard to get ‘enough’ fans to do it now. :/
Nope, not “huh” to you, Sal.
I second the “huh”. reread that post 3 times, and am not willing to say I understand its meaning.
Really nice of you to put up those blueprints. When I win that 300 Million dollar lottery, i am thinking of building a house based on that design. Or maybe a miniature version of Cheyenne Mountain. Or of Ds9….hmm, it’s going to be one busy and confused architect.
Did you see this?
http://news.msn.com/pop-culture/auction-house-finds-violin-bandleader-played-as-the-titanic-sank?ocid=ansnews11
As a Titanic buff, this is so incredibly awesome. I literally felt a chill run down my back when I first read it. I only hope it finds a worthy home.
Well, Spartacus is about to come on, so time to head out. Thanks again for the blueprint postings.
Nope, not “huh” to you, Sal.
whew! because i was going to have to make a video to explain it! but then i’d need a kickstarter to make the vid… 😯
Maybe the can-of-worms is related to the idea of letting fans do work on the show? (With which I would agree.) I did kind of go “huh?” on Sal’s comment about if someone in authority said something could happen if the fans contacted MGM. Not sure why that would be necessary, and I think Joe has stated many times that he and other would be interested.
Anyway, I agree about the green screen idea. Even when it’s done very well, it’s just not the same, and especially in the context of the Stargate that has gone before, I think it would look comparatively low-rent.
I did download the new Stargate UnLeashed game for iTunes this morning and am about to give it try. (I’m actually away for the weekend in PEI visiting my friends over there.)
Wow the blueprints are fantastic!! I know this may be a lot to ask but if you by chance found yourself with some extra time I would love to see some Atlantis schematics. I’m about to graduate with a degree in architecture and have always loved the look and feel of the city.
Thanks!
How’s Bubba doing?
Fans love blueprints of what each ship would look like, while the production was more concerned about how to build the sets, I guess? Those are awesome drawings.
On Stargate Solutions, the most amazing thing to me is that “Furlings” is always in the top 5 search terms that lead to our site. I just checked our analytics — it’s #3 overall for the past 4 years. I find that amazing — a race barely mentioned in the series and revealed to be mini-Ewoks in someone’s imagination. Ha. ZPM is right up there too, and Jill Wagner is in the top 10. 🙂
Thanks for the comments Joe. I think what Sal was saying is that, large corporations/movie studios tend to ignore the customers/fans when it comes to comments/ideas.
My interpretation was that it would have more meaning if someone who was directly involved with MGM/Stargate said, Hey! Did you see this funding project? Some Stargate fans look interested in doing the same thing for Stargate.
That being said, Thanks for the plans. It’s interesting to know how much sets spaces are reused (and you could never tell).
And thanks for putting me in a post, my wife had to read it twice to believe it.
The weather is gorgeous here in Mississippi/Memphis these past few days. Today’s high is 70ish(F)/21(C) and I’m itching to plant flowers/herbs. The frost cut-off date is April 15th here and I’ve learned the hard way not to plant before that. What’s the weather like up there?
Thanks for posting the plans! If anyone works on models, it would be a fun project.
Have you given up your TV project? I hope not Mr. M. Give the pups a hug from me please and say hi to Akemi. I loved the picture she posted on FB of her coffee cup. Go enjoy the “hopefully” good Vancouver weather today!!!!
Hey Joe,
I did get my hands on a STACK of production artwork ill have to see if I have any ship stuff it might take me few days to dig through… What is everyone wanting to see exactly?
Also, here some more fan based links for everyone to check out that I know of!
http://www.scifihero.net/forums/index.php?showforum=55
http://www.sg1props.com/
http://www.mckaylabs.com/
http://www.facebook.com/stargatesf
http://www.facebook.com/SGtwo
http://www.facebook.com/StargateRedemption?ref=ts&fref=ts
http://www.facebook.com/SGUDistantHope
SGU FAN FILM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8QRNY3DVaw
Of course you have seen my wife’s Becoming Vala blog…
http://becomingvala.wordpress.com/
And of course everyone’s favorite screen accurate SG Prop and Costume site… mine =) http://www.stitchsloft.com/
Yup. I didn’t mind it too much with Sanctuary because I approached that show knowing what it was and felt that the whole dark, steampunkish feel of it worked just fine with the green screen, even when I could see it was green screen. What really bugs me is when I’m watching a show that is supposedly grounded in the here and now (like any given cop drama out there), and suddenly I realize that the street they’re walking down, or the room they’re standing in, is really just green screen. That bugs the hell out of me.
das
Chris L writes: “Can someone please send MGM an email?”
Answer: Oh I’m sure MGM is receiving plenty of emails from Stargate fans. It’ll be interesting to see if they receive enough to reconsider their options…
I would suggest that MGM would be more likely to sit up and take notice of actual letters, ones that take real effort, time and money to send. It literally sends the message that it’s not just a “yeah, me too!” email. I could be wrong, but I’ve read that actual snail mail tends to get more attention because of the emails are simply so easy to send. My inbox gets about 100 a day. Damn spam.
I suppose most people are used to spam, massive numbers of emails trying to sell us something, or sell us on something.
Just my two cents. Oh, in Canada it’s a nickle now. Pennies are going, going…
I really hope MGM revives Stargate sooner than later it would be nice I really miss it it’s my favorite Scifi Franchise but if they did start a fund drive I would try to contribute I don’t have any Credit Cards or any real money in the bank I live paycheck to paycheck really but I would try to give something by money order or prepaid credit card. I heard the Veronica Mars news too so if a show like that is going to get a movie why can’t Stargate maybe this will help us it would be nice I mean SGA & SGU really need to wrapped up properly and maybe they could set up a new show it could happen.
Since I’m not on facebook due to repeated hacking, I did tweet to MGM to make a Stargate movie and/or continue the SGU series.
After all these years, I didn’t know you used reddit!
Hello Mr. Mallozzi,
My name is Miriam Argueta I’m one of the admins for the Save SGU page on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/SaveSGU
and I was wondering if you could lend us a hand in bringing back the show via Kickstarter. I hope you have heard of the the Veronica Mars Movie Project on Kickstarter and if not here’s the link
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/559914737/the-veronica-mars-movie-project
in just a couple of day they surpassed their goal. I’m hoping that you could help us out with this. Many Stargate fans have already started to beg that we do a Kickstarter project for Stargate and I know and have friends and people who will do anything to get this going.
You can contact me at my email address at [edit] and or at http://www.facebook.com/MiriamEHidalgo
(Personally I would prefer if you contact me through Facebook because I’m on there more often but either way would be great)
I am very grateful for your help and consideration Mr. Mallozzi.
-Miriam Argueta
Joe, if MGM gave you, Brad, and Rob the greenlight to start a kickstarter campaign to continue the Stargate franchise and film outside the U.S., then I’m there. As it is now, Obama bailed out Hollywood, as part of the fiscal cliff deal, restricting filming locations to within the U.S.
I don’t think a Stargate film will ever be made. Period. The actors have moved on or are not getting any younger. How long has SGA or SG1 been off the air? Five to ten years or so? I think the best bet is to create another Stargate series. And I think they will eventually, with all new actors. It’s okay, I’ll wait for it.
Green screens don’t bother me too much. They are fun during a car ride to see what is going on behind “the car”. If I was making a movie, crazy stuff would be seen thru that back car window. What bugs me most is, for example, an actor in an infirmary bed laying on top of the sheets, camera shows the person he is talking to, then back to the person in the hospital bed who is suddenly laying under the sheets. Don’t know who takes care of those little consistency things but I notice when things aren’t right.
@ Tam Dixon – It is 85, clear blue skies here in Texas.
Chris L
Thanks for the comments Joe. I think what Sal was saying is that, large corporations/movie studios tend to ignore the customers/fans when it comes to comments/ideas.
My interpretation was that it would have more meaning if someone who was directly involved with MGM/Stargate said, Hey! Did you see this funding project? Some Stargate fans look interested in doing the same thing for Stargate.
*nods at chris L*
the only place i really play at is the Gateworld forum, and some of the fans left there are rather apathetic when it comes to believing anything stargate will ever happen again (or striving hard to rip apart any type of hopefulness that it might). i can understand this, because our hopes have been crushed too many times, but…
if someone from mgm, or you or brad were to come forward and say, ‘Yes, something WILL happen if the kickstarter is implemented’, then i think a lot of those apathetic and/or scared to believe people will take part in the kickstarter.
i, personally, have my fave series (sg1) and fave character (sam carter) and fave storyline (sam/jack), but i’m totally open to meshing all the series together to give the fans of all the shows the best chance of happiness.
though i do find trying to finish off the sgu storyline and combining the other two series into it to be very hard to do, seeing as the sgu storyline is so huge, i’m afraid the sg1-sga part would be pushed behind it.
but i still think that something could be worked out in putting sgu in a combo movie/project, and if the movie does really well, then maybe see about filling in the holes/gap of how sgu’s destiny ship and it’s people were rescued, etc, in it’s own project.
or, like you said in a prior blog entry, create another (4th) series, and have the sg1-atlantis-sgu people make guest appearances.
~my fave idea is an sg1-atlantis-sgu combo movie, with a side order of a new team and it’s mission to set up for a new stargate series.
♥s/j♥
You need to check out Blood and Chrome. While, yes, there were some scenes that are obvious CGI, you could not tell that the hangar scene with Mike Dopud was green screen at ALL. I only realized this when I saw the deleted scenes they had on the BluRay.
That was awfully nice of you to dig up these schematics.
@Hmmm. How shall I put this? The problem with green screen sets is that they look like…green screen sets.
I agree, you only have to look at Once Upon a Time, some of the use of green screen is so obvious you can clearly see the sets/environments are not so real.
Certainly you can’t expect the Stargate team to go from the luxury of real sets to green screen. Wouldn’t be very fair lol
@Mr Mallozzi: I would love to have some blueprints of the SGC (Stage 5)
Im a huge fan of that set, and I have already collected almost EVERY picture of the set or blueprint thats out there, but mostly low-resolution and hard to read.
Im very interested in how everything worked, like the Blast doors, the gate-dialing, playback screens, lighting etc!
Thanks in advance 🙂
@Andy-
Send me an email I have entire stack of production artwork and some stuff that you might be interested in? stitchsloft (at) aol dot com
20 million dollars sounds about right to me, how much is an average episode of stargate? If I had to guesstamate 2 million an episode would be sufficient enough. And if i had the cash, I would personally front the bill for A sg-1 film, A sixth and final season of atlantis, and 3 seasons of sgu ( just to let em finish thier story) not that big a fan of sgu but the executive producers gave us the first 2and great shows… might as well throw em a bone:)
Thanks for your blog- I’m another die-hard SGA fan. I miss it a ton. Loved SGU too- your work reminds me why I’ve loved sci-fi since I my brothers made me watch Star Trek as a little one.
I’m also another very small drop in the bucket- I’ll e-mail whomever you think would listen if it meant we’d see our friends in the SG universe again.
Beautiful work- thank you for sharing it.
CAM