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SyFy movie set on Mars - in development

I doubt in my lifetime I'll see a fictional movie actually filmed not on the Earth... Too bad NASA stopped after going to the Moon or we probably would have had something filmed on the Moon by now.
 
movie shot on Earth

I doubt in my lifetime I'll see a fictional movie actually filmed not on the Earth...
FreezeC77 it is totally unnecessary to shoot a scripted narrative story not on Earth. With green/blue screen technology it is far easier to have a full crew and access to any actors not requiring the crew to undergo astronaut training just to get to the 'location'.

You can be assured the next time we go to the moon or an asteroid or a manned mission to Mars there will be multiple high definition cameras shooting science documentaries. Think "Deadliest Catch: Crab Fishing in Alaska" with the cost of HD videocameras dropping all the time they use a lot.
60: The number of cameras the film crews starts with each season. Only a third of the cameras are still working when they return to land. The others are ruined by saltwater and freezing temperatures.
The producers can figure the cost of them into the production, same as future science documentaries in outer space.


Check out the recent great film "Moon" by Duncan Jones and how that was shot on soundstages instead of the Moon.

Recently saw the film Surrogates on DVD and listening to the commentary I was surprised how a 1 minute scene was mostly a CGI location. That type of location looked like something on the X-Files when the camera reveals the location being a wide shot and on that TV show it would be a real location with real set dressing & props. These days with CGI you can create a location cheaper than actually building it in real life.
Movies are a commercial endeavor and they are created to make money. The cheaper you can create the narrative film the more profit you can eventually get if it is commercially successful. Look at the most successful independent movie of all time: The Blair Witch Project (1999) [based on production costs vs. profits].

The whole motion capture technology takes filmmaking to a different level somewhere between live-action and animation. Some people are more purist and prefer to see live actors on screen at least and that's understandable but to shoot at a location where is it just totally impractical due to the costs of getting the actors, professional filmmaker crewmembers, and film equipment to the location is ridiculous.
 
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Oh I know it's unnecessary... But it's also unnecessary to film a movie scene set in the Sahara Desert in the actual Sahara... You can do it in the US, but some films do travel overseas to do it ;)

I was just musing that I think at some point in the future, probably two or three centuries down the road with the slowness to space exploration there will be some fictional program filmed off the Earth ;)
 
Because if movies based on computer games are annoying, then I'm sure a whole TV series based on one will be awesome.
 
I wish someone would make a movie based on Ben Bova's Mars. Closest we got to it was the Race to Mars miniseries that appeared on the Discovery Channel.
 
I thought this was gonna be about SyFy getting the rights to air The Asylum's "Princess of Mars" (their John Carter ripoff). :lol:

Will Mars look like the forests of British Columbia?
 
I'm not familiar with video games. What's the plot to Red Faction and how is it "real sci fi"?



The gist of it is that the miners rebel as a union against the mining corporation for the way they're being treated on Mars, which is a stretch to call it "real sci-fi". It's honestly very much like the situation happening in my town at the moment, with an ongoing mining strike of 10 months, the worst ever in the company's history. Very much a parallel here.
 
The gist of it is that the miners rebel as a union against the mining corporation for the way they're being treated on Mars, which is a stretch to call it "real sci-fi".
That's not "real sci fi" at all if the basic story could be placed in a non sci-fi setting and essentially proceed as written.

But I won't hold that against it. Most TV and movie sci fi is just other genres (usually action, sometimes thriller, occasionally romance) with sci fi window dressing. At least the protagonists (presumably) are union members and not space marines or a space sheriff. That's kinda different.
 
As I said in the thread over in gaming, if they want to do a Martian rebellion TV show, why not pick up the rights to Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy?
 
I thought this was gonna be about SyFy getting the rights to air The Asylum's "Princess of Mars" (their John Carter ripoff). :lol:
I saw that. It was like nuTrek; they recycled some names and terminology, but it otherwise bore no resemblance to the original. Other than that, it was a fairly enjoyable B-Movie.
 
I was just musing that I think at some point in the future, probably two or three centuries down the road with the slowness to space exploration there will be some fictional program filmed off the Earth ;)

I suppose that centuries down the road movies won't be filmed at all. I'd expect computer animation to have evolved to a point where it is indistinguishable from reality. Hence all films would be animated. Sucks for the Screen Actors Guild. But maybe movies as such would have been replaced by VR anyhow.

Ah, yes... Red Faction. Wasn't this Total Recall as a video game? ;)
 
What's the plot to Red Faction and how is it "real sci fi"?

From the first Red Faction game story:
Red Faction takes place on Mars in the late 21st century. The player controls a miner named Parker who helps lead a rebellion against the Ultor Corporation.
game PLOT as per Wiki
Red Faction takes place on Mars around the year 2075. Earth’s minerals are being depleted and humans need more of them to survive. The vast Ultor Corporation runs the mining operation on Mars. The living conditions are deplorable, human rights for the miners are few and a disease called "The Plague" is running rampant throughout the colony with no known antidote available - predominantly within the confines of the mine complex. Parker, a downtrodden miner, came to Mars to make a new start in his life - taken in by the promises and advantages Ultor has to offer in the mines of Mars. After a routine day in the mine with the typical aggression toward miners and cramped living conditions and poor nutrition, he witnesses the spark that starts a rebellion when a security guard abuses a miner at the end of his shift and heartlessly kills him. Parker takes up arms, with the help of Hendrix, a rebellious Ultor security technician who guides Parker through the complex. Hendrix tries to get Parker to join up with a group of miners who are about to steal a supply shuttle and escape the complex, but Parker arrives too late. The shuttle takes off, and is destroyed by missiles moments later..
Parker traverses through the Ultor complex, eliminating any resistance Ultor throws at him, and even (with the help of Orion, a high-ranking Red Faction member) kidnapping a high-ranking Ultor administrator, Gryphon, for Eos, leader of the Red Faction. Parker learns from Gryphon about Dr. Capek, who created "The Plague". Capek has been experimenting with nanotechnology, and the Plague is a side-effect of injections at the miners' annual medical checkup. Hendrix directs Parker to Capek's secret underground laboratory, where he and Eos meet up and take down Capek. Before Capek dies, he tells Eos how to cure the Plague. After sending a distress call to the Earth Defense Force, Parker stows away on a shuttle to an Ultor space station in Martian orbit to deactivate a laser defense system.
After destroying the space station, Parker lands back on Mars via an escape pod, Ultor brings out its reserve of mercenaries to help them in their fight against the miners. Hendrix tells Parker that the mercenaries have orders to destroy the mining complex, covering up any proof of Ultor's wrongdoing, Hendrix is killed soon after this by the mercenaries. After fighting his way through the mercenary base, Parker confronts Masako, the mercenary leader. After he kills Masako, Parker sees that Eos is tied up and sitting on the floor next to the bomb, which has been set to explode. After deactivating it, the Earth Defense Force arrives just in time to save Parker and Eos from a fighter aircraft. Eos tells Parker that an antidote for the Plague has been made and it is being given to any sick miners. She also tells him she is leaving Mars, and that Parker should enjoy his new status as a hero
from my post Red Faction movie on SyFy

 
scifi subgenres just wrapped in scifi

That's not "real sci fi" at all if the basic story could be placed in a non sci-fi setting and essentially proceed as written.

But I won't hold that against it. Most TV and movie sci fi is just other genres (usually action, sometimes thriller, occasionally romance) with sci fi window dressing.
I agree.

2 new TV shows in development for next year:
the sci-fi police procedural subgenre.
the police procedureal-sci fi show Unfinished Business starring Will Smith for SyFy for 2010.
and
“Murmurs” Sci-Fi time-travel drama by CBS in development
 
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