Starbase 53 in Pre-Production

[linuxglobe]

Hello one and all, I am looking for talented even aspiring Actors, Writers, Designers, and experienced podcasters to help me bring Starbase 53 to life! With Roberto Orci's consent, I can move forward with an audio podcast series set in the altered timeline of TOS. Imagine a Saturn Size Class M Planet, being fought over by the Klingons and Federation. If you ever heard of/listened to Star Wars Radio Drama, the format is somewhat similar. I plan to have each episode in multi-parts at 30 minutes in length. I love to have original music with TOS SFX and voice actors from VETS to Amateurs. Please contact me about joining my campaign to get this made soon!

Markus McLaughlin
www.starbase53.net
www.facebook.com/Starbase53

[Admiral Archer]

I'd like to be a part of this (I have some acting experience on stage and in some short films) but I have a few questions. Such as:

-What characters are available for casting?
-How can I audition?
-In which city/state/country is the location of the recording studio?
-In the event that I am not within range of the recording studio, can I submit audio files of my character's dialogue (assuming I am cast as one of the characters)?

If you want a link to any of my short films on youtube to get an idea of my acting abilities, please let me know, and I'll post it here!

[FredH]

Cool, and good luck.

One possible science niggle you may want to work out, which for all I know you may already have done: How is a Saturn-size Class M planet possible? To be Class M/Earthlike, i.e. a rocky world like ours, its density will obviously be much, much greater than that of a gas giant, so at the same diameter of Saturn its mass and gravity will be tremendously greater than Saturn's already humungous gravity (and non-humungous mass).

Which might make any sort of human-usable biosphere untenable, assuming a solid world that large can form in the first place. Unless of course this is some strange artificial planet created by superadvanced alien science, which would fit right into Trek. The gravity of such a thing should still make it difficult to approach or maintain a close orbit safely, though.

ETA: Your short script sample places an area near the Neutral Zone "millions of light years away." You'll probably want to change that, as the entire Milky Way Galaxy is only maybe 120,000 ly across, and the Klingons (and by extension, the Neutral Zone between them and Earth) are canonically in a relatively nearby portion of it, partially in the same quadrant.

[Barbreader]

I added your 'in the works" audio drama to my listings of audio dramas. It may at some point be moved to my listings of prospective fan projects, but for now I don't have a regular way to deal with perspective audio drama, so it's here: http://startrekreviewed.blogspot.com/2009/06/247.html in alphabetical order.

[MikeH92467]

Please feel free to post an audition call on the Excelsior website. Please also don't hesitate to contact us with any questions or issues. We're happy to help as we can.

[Maurice]

FredH wrote:

---

One possible science niggle you may want to work out, which for all I know you may already have done: How is a Saturn-size Class M planet possible? To be Class M/Earthlike, i.e. a rocky world like ours, its density will obviously be much, much greater than that of a gas giant, so at the same diameter of Saturn its mass and gravity will be tremendously greater than Saturn's already humungous gravity (and non-humungous mass).

There are some rules about what would be considered human habitable. Above a certain gravity, the strain on the human system would be unhealthy. Comparing this to obese people on Earth isn't an apt comparison because it's not about weight but about gravity (a brain doesn't become twice as heavy due to obesity, for example). And weighing twice as much as you should isn't the same as the increased acceleration of higher gravity, which means impacts are more severe, etc.

Below .68G's planets will have a tendency to outgas their atmopsheres, thus rendering them uninhabitable.

Here's some basics, from another thread.

Maurice wrote:

---

TGT pointed out to me that Stephen Dole's "Planets for Man" (aka "Habitable Planets for Man") is available as a free download from Rand.org. I first learned about the book because it is cited in the TNG Writer's Technical Guide. I used it in designing the solar system builder portion of the computer game Rules of Engagement back in 1991.

From page 105.

The book is out of date in some ways, particularly related to theories about planet arrangement around stars, but a lot of the underlying logic and research still stands especially concerning the human animal in different gravities, why planets have to have short day-night cycles, etc.

[Mark_Nguyen]

Well, if the Enterprise in the alt-TOS timeline is friggin' huge, then the planets must be capable of this as well, yes?

Mark

[Maurice]

^^^Well, there is a certain point at which you teeter from soft SF into sheer fantasy.

Frankly, there's no compelling dramatic reason for a super-huge planet. Planetary distances mean nothing to a society with FTL drives and transporters.

[lennier1]

I'm not a fan of the JJverse, but it's nice to see more variety.

[Mark_Nguyen]

That's just it, and it can still work. If you want a super-huge planet, make it part of the story - it's a mystery, and one that can be running in the background. Someone can make a Dyson sphere, after all; even if the physics doesn't support it, it's SCI-FI. Make the scientific investigation of the super-huge planet part of the reason the starbase is there.

Mark

[Maurice]

^^^But why is that important? What does it add to the storytelling to have such a huge planet?

[junxon]

well if they want an inexplicably large planet, they may as well use it as a mystery to solve. thats what it adds.

[Maurice]

In other words: a Macguffin.

[Jadin]

...a hamster-style in porgress