Received these from VFX Supervisor Lawren Bancroft-Wilson this morning – two choices on the size of the Reynaud ship. We’re thinking of going with 01 – bigger, more menacing. What do you think?
So, my new Dark Matter-centric twitter account (@DarkMatter_show) is off to a rollicking start. I started it as an alternate account dedicated to live-tweeting the show upon its return but decided to make it a little more interesting by uploading a slew of BTS pics – some old, some new – along with a little comment on each. For instance…
Concept design for the space station’s docking arm. We elected to go with hangars instead.
Preliminary concept designs for The Raza.
Stasis pod designs.
Concept design for “the trench” in which our Android takes her spacewalk in Episode 103.
Meanwhile, on set…
Oh, damn. Pineapple sighting!
Big news for me today. My first app, Kite Hawk, went live on the Google Play store. It would be nice if the app made money, but that store is huge and hard to gain traction in. I’m going to use the app as proof I know how to program and try to get a job.
I love the BTS pics! Especially the pineapple – meaning Will W. must be in the area somewhere!
As far as the ship goes, I think it depends on whether it’s planned to move much “on camera”. The issue I find with larger ships is that they are more difficult to animate convincingly. I think it was Mark Savela on one of the SG1 DVD commentaries who said that one of the hardest things to do is give ships a sense of “weight” in their movement. I would think the larger the ship, the more care that this would take.
But, if the ship is going to mostly static in its shots or slowly moving, I would definitely go bigger and more imposing.
Oh, here’s a question! (Because I just heard it again on a Space channel re-run of SG1.) When Oma Desala said “If you immediatley know the candle light is fire then the meal was cooked a long time ago” who wrote that line originally, and what does it *actually* mean? 🙂
@DP: Congrats!
Definitely 01. Its a sleek slender beauty. While graceful in its delicate and enchanting surface appearance -its menace /command of presence comes from its intimidating size.
@DP Congrats! and best wishes for much success going forward! Do you have a link to the new app? Am sure we’d all love to check it out! 🙂
@Gary In the ST TNG & Voyager series, that most of the ships, including the war ships/destroyers were ‘overwhelmingly large’, The way they resolved the animation problems were to not focus external shots on the full ship directly when it was moving quickly but rather on the blurring stars in space around it. As it was moving.you would see just a partial front view of the ship or a distant glimpse or (depending on scene relevance) they would only show you blurring stars shot from within the ship looking out the bridge window.
Re: ” damn. Pineapple sighting!”
@Drea and @gforce – thanks
@Drea – yes, here it is
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=falcon.cyborg.kitehawk
I agree, number 01 with is large scale looks great & ominous! Really like what you are doing so far with the twitter account. The more tweets the merrier I say!
I like the larger set, #1, definitely.
In the immortal words of Peter D “bigger is better” (I’m sure he’s said it or at least thought it). I’m leaning towards option 1. To scale more menacing, imposing and all around bad ass. That’s a ship that knows how to make an entrance. Love the pineapple! I believe it’s an intergalactic symbol for “Welcome”. At least there were no cosmic bongs spotted on set this day, unless you are holding out on us.
Thanks for all the pics. I agree, a hanger bay docking is better. That umbilical looked a little freaky.
Hope you have a “free” weekend!
Bigger, definitely BIGGER!
And as for giving the battleship gravitas, there’s stuff like crew reactions, crew member numbers, shot set ups and soundtracks/effects (yes, I know, in space no one can hear you scream) which can all add up to the effect. I’m sure Joe, LBW et al. have it covered….
Really enjoying the new @DarkMatter_show twitter account! I love to see all the concept drawings and the BTS photos. It’s quite the best account for Dark Matter! Teams up perfectly with your @BaronDestructo , Joe.
Quite chuffed too that the account followed me/us too!
Honestly Joe
Thanks for giving n sharing so much!
PS off to check out your Kite Hawk app now, DP. Congrats on your achievement! Wouldn’t know where to start building one of those…!
Wow, DP, great app!
You’ve already got 100% 5 score rating too, so others love it!
It’s also a very handy app for sports such as archery (and golf maybe? I don’t play but…)
Congrats again and good luck with that and your job search too 😊
We’re thinking of going with 01 – bigger, more menacing. What do you think?
i agree.
to gforce:
i heard that’s from an old Chinese story about a man who wanted to light a fire for cooking, but didn’t have any means of lighting the fire (flint or something). he had a burning candle, but didn’t realized he could use that to light his cooking fire & starved to death.
@The more tweets the merrier I say!
I agree, you’ll probably get more followers when the Season 2 promotion push starts. When Dark Matter is back on peoples minds, they’ll no doubt be using the hashtag and discover your account.
DP: Very cool! I’ll pass it along.
stitchsloft: Even a Stopped Clock is Right Twice a Day 🙂
Keep Narelle in your thoughts because Ralph is heading back to surgery this weekend. The vet missed a screw. 🙁
Drea: Haven’t heard much from Dr Jo. The treatments are making her very sick, so she’s been sleeping a lot. She did give me permission to go through her mail (that feels weird) and I mailed her the important stuff (like her car tags). Two weeks down and (I hope) four more to go!
This reminds me… I need to go cut up the watermelon I got.
OK the explanation for the account makes a bit more sense, perhaps add that to the bio – #DarkMatter Showrunner Joseph Mallozzi -Live tweets during airing & BTS photos, videos & trivia. It might help differentiate it from the DMTV account. Are SyFy or Prodigy working on getting you verified?
I like the bigger ship too.
Cheers, Chev
Pineapple, the Champagne of fruits? I was hoping not to see the spoiler for Will’s work but now I can look for the scene.
I like the larger scale compared to the Raza, but in my mind I thought it would be larger still. Thanks for showing the other preliminary sketches too. I think you made the best choice (personal opinion). I like the engine configurations that allows for full authority uninhibited directional thrust. (FAUDT as opposed to FADEC-aviation parlance)
@gfource – I seem to remember a commentary like that too. Is that where the Pegasus maneuvers to swallow a fighter into the launch bay? Might have been season 9 or 10.
Joe, started re-watching Season 1; pulled out my DM comics as a viewer’s guide-very helpful. As I was watching I could not help that the theme music reminded me of a computer game I played some years ago. Will you be using the same music/composer as in Season 1? On reflection it it interesting how influential it is in creating a mood.
@DP good luck with your App.
Definitely go bigger #1
Looking back to Season 1 and the air date announcement timeframe, I’m thinking we’ll hear about Season 2 air dates next week for a 17 June start, then roll out dates across other countries? 🤔
Hoping so, fingers crossed – bring on Season 2!!
Cool – new Twitter account, looking forward to live-tweeting again
@TheOtherOne – I didn’t think of those types of sports. I’m going to add those to the play store listing and hope for the keyword hits.
@Duptiang: Could be around that time. I can’t remember, to be honest.
@archersangel: That Chinese guy does not sound very smart.
@Tam 😀 Black cat ‘on’ a closed ladder! and somehow she managed to look even more menacing than a black cat ‘under’ an open one! LOL ;-D
Poor Ralph. 🙁 I do hope he’s ok after next surgery. Still cant imagine how or why he could have swallowed all that stuff in the first place!
Yeah -I kinda figured its to be expected Jo would be sleeping an awful lot with the new treatments. Hope she gets her card from me this week and it cheers her up a bit. xo
Mail service in this part of Kissimmee is not the most reliable, so sometimes it takes weeks for mail to reach its destination.
@DP Excellent job on the app! Very clever and cool. 🙂
Speaking of Surgery. Has anyone heard from our Maggie MayDay?
Hope her surgery went ok this week??
@Maggiemayday Sending warmest hugs n healing energy your way. <3