Babylon 5

[JD]

Damn, now I have another reason to wish I could go.

 

[Mage]

Being Dutch, I fear that it will take some time for this be released on streaming here. Fingers crossed it won't.

 

[Jan]

For anybody interested, here's my report on JMS' spotlight panel yesterday at Phoenix Fan Fusion. Apologies for typios, I hate typing on my laptop.

JMS Spotlight report. Sorry not to have posted this last night but the trip wiped me out.

As always, it was a lot of fun. JMS had meant to have his Sizzle Real but the Video Guy was no place to be found. So he opened with with explaining that he wasn't consulted on the title of the panel, "Explaining the Inexplicable" So he riffed by telling a few jokes and a 'prayer' that he not screw it up. Also an interesting theory about the nature of universes and meaning.

Video guy showed up with a laptop and hooked it up and the latest version of the reel played after some hilarity getting the lights off. This one plays to the tune of "Wake Me Up When It's All Over" It's similar to the one that's been posted before but had some fun teases of things to come.

WB wouldn't allow JMS to bring the trailer but he was allowed to bring a few images from The Road Home. JMS spoke of bringing in actors to play the roles of the actors who've passed on and said that before this started, he'd sent out an email asking the remaining cast if they were okay with his doing that. If even one had said no, JMS explained, he wouldn't have don it. They all signed on.

The first image he showed was of Franklin, much as we saw him in SiL, with grey hair. In the story, Sheridan is traveling back and forth in time and alternate times and when he see's Franklin, he's popped into his own future for a moment and Franklin knows something at that point that Sheridan doesn''t.

The next image is of Lennier, Delenn and Sheridan, probably about the time they left B5 for the new Alliance headquarters on Minbar. Let me just say that these are ALL really, really good. But the image of Delenn is just stunningly beauriful. JMS talked about the animators rally working to capture the essence of the characters and I think they've succeeded.

The final image was - Zathras! Looking an awful lot like one of the Zathri but the slide wasn't up long enough to figure out which one.

While waiting for the Video Guy to pull up the image files, JMS showed the first cover for his first Captain America issue coming in (iirc) September.

After the Video Guy restored the lights (ouch) and left, JMS talked about how for many years there was one person at WB who wouldn't allow anything to be done with the show but virtually the day afer that person was gone, the CW approached WB about doing the reboot/reimagining. Soon after, WB Animation contacted JMS about doing The Road Home. B5 is one of only a few franchises that hasn't gotten new attention recently so it's now quite attractive. In both cases, JMS was given a free hand to write what he wanted without interference. The result is that we'll be able to see things we'd heard about but never saw in the show with images being improved and more interesting. JMS said it's the most authentically B5 thing since the original show.

JMS talked about doing the commentary with Bruce Boxleitner (who hadn't seen the finished movie) not long ago and Bruce asked him seriously to say how JMS thought it was and JMS assured him that it was as if no time had passed at all. When the film started, Bruce kept getting caught up with it and forgot to talk!

Regarding the reimagining, JMS said that it took 3-4 months to get the rights back from the CW after the CW sale. The started taking it out to buyers and there was some interst but then the Writer's Strike happened so it's on hold for now. JMS has a good feeling that it will end up happening.

JMS talked about taking over the Captain America title for Marvel. One thing about that character is that there's nothing said about the period between when his mother died and his becoming a soldier/Captan Rogers. Apparently he wa living on the streets during those formative years. That was the period when the American Bund was active and that was besically the Nazi party in the US. There was a huge rally in Madison Square Garden, for instance. So we'll see that effect on Steve Rogers in a flashback story along with current events. This will be an ongoing series, not a mini.

At that point JMS started taking questions. I'll review that part of the tape later on. A couple of othere folks from here were there and if I've missed something or they'd like to chime it, I'd love for that to happen.

ETA: I did try to take some pics of the images but I'm not 100% sure that I should share them. I'll try to clarify with JMS today.

I hear the images are being shared but I'm not going to until I get clarificaion. Not sure how to post images here if I do get permission...

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Not surprised at all that a single guy at WB was blockading Babylon 5 productions of any kind, but I'm grateful CW and others jumped right on it as soon as he was gone.

I hear the images are being shared but I'm not going to until I get clarificaion. Not sure how to post images here if I do get permission...

There are two ways:

1. If you're hosting the images yourself, you can insert the images individually with their links (the photo icon between the emoticon and the film reel above the text box).

2. If not, you can upload them to the board itself (Upload a File below the text box). I believe the size limit is 1 MB per file. Don't think there's a limit to how many images per post you can include.

You can also just link to the images if all else fails.

 

[David cgc]

Uploading images directly to the board is a premium feature, Jan isn’t a TrekBBS subscriber, so that option is out.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

I usually use imgur to host images that I want to share.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Uploading images directly to the board is a premium feature, Jan isn’t a TrekBBS subscriber, so that option is out.

Oh, I hadn't realized only premium users could do that. I stand corrected.

 

[Jan]

Here are a couple of places where I posted the photos I took of the images JMS shared:

https://forums.jmsnews.com/forum/di...-animated-movie-announced?p=162877#post162877

https://www.facebook.com/JMSnewscom...YT62vQfgkWML37eW64di3JuENLAxMPxHE6GxPyHEwmAFl

https://www.b5tv.com/threads/b5-animated-movie.46050/page-3#post-472198

Should be something where you won't have to register to see them, I hope?.

 

[Booji]

Here are a couple of places where I posted the photos I took of the images JMS shared:

I was not expecting an anime-ish style, and it looks awesome. Especially for the Minbari look. Sheridan does look like a bit of a blockhead though

 

[valkyrie013]

What the.. Thats awful quality of animation.. .. Couldn't spend more than $5 or something? Doesn't have to look like prodigy , but better than a 90s cgi series like reboot..ugh..
Hope the story is good..

 

[Booji]

 

[Reverend]

Well the likenesses seem dead on, I'll give it that. Can't really judge the quality of the animation though until I see it . . . well, you know; animated.

Style wise: the closest comparison that comes to mind is 'Star Wars: Resistance' with the toon-shaders and bright colours. Which incidentally was also kinda similar to the rather more stylised 'Tron: Uprising', which in turn happened to feature the voice talents of some b-movie actor you lot have probably never heard of.

 

[The Lensman]

Does this take place during “War Without End”? Sheridan looks pretty young.

 

[Jan]

Does this take place during “War Without End”? Sheridan looks pretty young.

All we know is that he'll be going to different timelines and alternate worlds. The image with Sheridan, Delenn & Lennier is from when they're leaving the station for Minbar (sheridan had that reddish hair and beard in the fifth season). But so far we don't know when or how Sheridan begins his travels. It could be during WWE but I'm personally wondering if that might be too obvious. We'll see!

 

[David cgc]

Style wise: the closest comparison that comes to mind is 'Star Wars: Resistance' with the toon-shaders and bright colours.

It looks to me more like 2D CG, like Archer. I'll have to see it in motion, but from these three screencaps and the shot of the station released earlier, it looks like it's 3D for the space stuff and 2D for the characters.

I do have a little bit of an "As opposed to what?" reaction when JMS describes this art style as very realistic, though. There's nothing wrong with stylization philosophically, it's required by the medium, but that isn't quite what I would've imagined given that description (which I've thought since we saw animated-style station screencap, with its pointier... points... and excess of lights).

 

[Anwar]

I love the concept and I can't wait to see it. The casting news certainly hints at some interesting timelines and ideas.

For better or worse, this may be the last hurrah for the franchise under jms, and I wish it the best. The original run of B5 was the shining beacon in space for serial storytelling of that era, but every attempt to further the franchise after this has been unsuccessful for any number of different reasons - IMO, the key one being the attempts to set up a new five-year-plan. I don't fault the vision, but the attempts at execution have been mediocre at best, and haven't been successful by any real stretch.

Mark

Well, the major reason for that is that the original B5 series resolved the basic premise of the Universe. There simply wasn't anywhere else to go after the end of B5 because everything was accounted for millions of years into the future.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

Well, one million, but the end result is the same. B5 covered the key flashpoint in the history of humanity, and illustrated the future history from that point as being dependent on that five-year span. How do you top saving the universe and charting its direction for the rest of foreseeable time? We already know that everything will turn out largely crappy for humanity over the next few centuries anyway, so nothing jms has come up with has been able to create any sense of urgency as we all know how it’s going to end up.

Mark

 

[Jan]

We already know that everything will turn out largely crappy for humanity over the next few centuries anyway, so nothing jms has come up with has been able to create any sense of urgency as we all know how it’s going to end up.

Mark

I don't get that? Yes, humanity will end up just fine. But does that mean there wouldn't/couldn't be characters we'd care about heloing to make sure that would happen?

 

[Anwar]

Of course that whole "Earth gets blown back to the Medieval Era" thing never made any sense to me anyways.

 

[JD]

I like what we're see in the pictures. Not quite as realistic as I was expecting, but it's still pretty nice.

Well the likenesses seem dead on, I'll give it that. Can't really judge the quality of the animation though until I see it . . . well, you know; animated.

Style wise: the closest comparison that comes to mind is 'Star Wars: Resistance' with the toon-shaders and bright colours. Which incidentally was also kinda similar to the rather more stylised 'Tron: Uprising', which in turn happened to feature the voice talents of some b-movie actor you lot have probably never heard of.

It also reminds me a little bit of The Dragon Prince.

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