#FreeBabylon5 Campaign

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Jan, Sep 4, 2013.

  1. Yoda

    Yoda Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Bonnie Hammer.

    BONNIE HAMMER?!?!

    [highlight]BOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNIEEEEEEEEEEEEE HAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRR?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?[/highlight]
    [​IMG]
     
  2. Asbo Zaprudder

    Asbo Zaprudder Admiral Admiral

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  3. Jan

    Jan Commodore Commodore

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    ...is insane. --JMS
    Hopefully with a different job comes a different mindset.

    Jan
     
  4. Jan

    Jan Commodore Commodore

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    Weekend Sale! http://www.freebabylon5tees.org/ has lowered the price of the #FreeBabylon5 t-shirts still in stock after the Space City con to only $15 until Monday only! Get yours while there's the best selection of sizes and colors available! Remember, proceeds go to benefit Claudia Christian's C Three Foundation.

    Jan
     
  5. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

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    I'll see if I can get a couple of notes out today or this week.
     
  6. Jan

    Jan Commodore Commodore

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    Thanks, RJDiogenes!

    We got a big shot in the arm last night when Claudia Christian posted about the campaign and shirt sale on her Facebook page. Page likes went through the roof! We also posted one of the cute mini-videos from Space City Con:
    https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=443319209127630&stream_ref=10

    Jan
     
  7. Reverend

    Reverend Admiral Admiral

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    Great news! The trick now it to keep the momentum going. I think the best chance of that is to get noticed by some high traffic blogs or twitter accounts not directly related to the existing fanbase. No clue how to pull that off though...
     
  8. Jan

    Jan Commodore Commodore

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    Well, there was a blog mention here
    http://almostnerdy.com/scifi/free-babylon-5/

    And I did a small podcast while in Galveston. I need to look and see when that might be available.

    I'm kind of hoping to garner some attention when the Thunderclap goes out this coming week. Fingers crossed.

    Jan
     
  9. Reverend

    Reverend Admiral Admiral

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    Speaking of the Thunderclap; is my memory faulty, or did the number of supporters just double in 48 hours? At this rate you should break 500 supports before the time runs down.
     
  10. Jan

    Jan Commodore Commodore

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    We got a *big* plug from Claudia Christian Tues. evening. As I write this, we've got 509 supporters and we'll reach 184,028 people. Wow.... Now if they'll all just write letters (yeah, I'm so demanding...).

    Jan
     
  11. Jan

    Jan Commodore Commodore

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    I think we can definitely declare success with the Thunderclap! Final count was 547 supporters, 191,470 total reach and in the first two hours after the Thunderclap went out there were 1,147 hits on the website.

    Now we need to translate that success into actual letters sent. Any thoughts? To paraphrase Lorien, it's easy to find something worth clicking for, do you have anything worth writing for? [​IMG]

    Jan
     
  12. Jan

    Jan Commodore Commodore

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    Almost by accident, I've created a shop at CafePress with a bunch of items with the #FreeBabylon5 logo (with thanks to Reverend, as usual). There should be a buck or two from each item sold coming to the campaign so I hope you might find something you like. Plenty to choose from, not just t-shirts!

    http://www.cafepress.com/tofreebabylon5/10441570

    Jan
    (PS: the site generates most of the items so some may not look right - I haven't had a chance to check out each one yet.)
     
  13. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

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    I use Cafepress for my store and they make great stuff. I've never had any of my products turn out badly.
     
  14. Jan

    Jan Commodore Commodore

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    Agreed, RJDiogenes. I've gotten a variety of different items and they're all top quality. I may play around with other designs, too, if folks like what's there.


    Jan
     
  15. Reverend

    Reverend Admiral Admiral

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    Golf balls? Yoga mats? Curtains? The mind boggles.

    If you want I could prepare some more suitable graphics with a transparent background, rather than a solid colour. That one was just meant for the buttons IIRC and having a black square would look pretty fugly just slapped on any of those plain white items.

    Oh and if you needed an EF Postal service logo, you only had to ask...or just check the wiki. ;)
     
  16. Jan

    Jan Commodore Commodore

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    I'd love to have some with a transparent background. Really, I was just playing around (well, I did make myself a golf shirt) and I kept playing around and suddenly I had a store. I don't imagine that the campaign will be getting rich off of this. Since I started posting the link around last night the shop's had a whopping four orders.

    Honest, the EF Postal Service thing was an impulsive addition just before I walked out to go to work.


    Jan
     
  17. Jan

    Jan Commodore Commodore

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    Some of you may have already seen this article on TV shows that deserve remastering for a Blu-ray release. http://www.thedigitalbits.com/columns/my-two-cents/012414_1500

    B5 is #5 on the list, saying:

    "This show is a semi-forgotten gem that badly deserves new life in HD. Babylon 5 was again shot on film, and its creators even protected the image for future widescreen presentation. But while the show almost single-handedly pioneered the use of CG-based visual effects in TV (and won an Emmy for doing so), the technology used was primitive by today’s standards. Amiga-based Video Toasters anyone? If this was remastered for HD, with updated visual effects, it could be a real stunner on Blu-ray."

    How about *all* of us 1) PRINT this article, 2) HIGHLIGHT the parts about how stunning it would be, 3) WRITE a note explaining how B5 is *not* forgotten and that we fans want to help boost its popularity and 4) SEND it to this address:

    Kevin Tsujihara, CEO
    Warner Bros. Entertainment
    4000 Warner Blvd
    Burbank, CA 91505

    This is the sort of thing that everybody in every country can participate in; in fact, the more the better!

    Jan
     
  18. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

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    The problem with that is that I hate the idea of "updating" special effects as much as I do colorizing old movies or TV shows. Twilight Zone was released on Blu-Ray in HD and it looks great; they may have digitally enhanced it, but they didn't mess with it. That's what they should do with B5.
     
  19. Reverend

    Reverend Admiral Admiral

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    ^Not really feasible in this case since while the live action footage was shot in widescreen, the CG was rendered in 4:3. Even if they tried doing a cleaned up version of the show in 4:3, given the relatively low resolution and video based format of the original renders, it'd look horrible in HD and no amount of filters or messing with the colour sliders will improve matters.

    It's been said by many people who should know that the *only* way to get a BluRay release for B5 is to totally redo *all* of the CG shots. That's everything from space scenes, to PPG blasts, creatures, planetscapes and graphics. It's also why it'll only ever happen if WB can be convinced that there's a significant enough market to invest a *lot* of money into the product.
     
  20. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

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    Interesting. I guess I don't understand the technical aspects of it if a show from circa 1960 can look good in high def and SFX from circa 1990 can't. Maybe they could release discs with both versions for completists (and historical interest).