The Birth of Babylon 5

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

An article posted online, through the Script Books/Cafe Press website, that prints the original notes JMS wrote out after his epiphany in the shower; the one that merged the two series ideas he had in his head into one.

See:
http://www.cafepress.com/thejoestore/6587738

 

[Jan]

That reminds me...the next time I watch, I want to keep an eye out for more clues that it was a documentary. I never caught that part when I saw it originally although the concept didn't bother me at all the way it did some folks.

Jan

 

[RoJoHen]

I have a hard time with the documentary aspect of it just because it very clearly wasn't filmed that way. I'm working my way through it for the 3rd time right now, and I just don't see it. Yes, there are episodes like "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars," where we have our future human guy compiling lots of information and videos, which could imply that it was something of a documentary, but I just don't think it holds up over the course of the show.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

The documentary aspect wasn't overt. Certainly there were the little bits we got: Londo's narration in "The Gathering" and the first three years of opening narrations (It was the dawn of the... The year the Great War came upon us... The place is Babylon 5. The year is 22XX.); or the character narrations like Ivanova's in "The Fall of Night"; as pointed out, "Deconstruction of Fallen Stars"; the 32 Hours on Babylon 5 news program; and the tag of "Sleeping in Light."

I'd always figured that the series was more of a holographic docudrama, a recreation of the events of 2258-2262 from a variety of sources -- memoirs, journals, logs, ISN newscasts, and documents.

One of the problems with Babylon 5 being a documentary is that it was shot in a very stately manner -- close-ups, two-shots, and wide-shots -- for the most part; a style common in 90s dramas, particularly the SF genre, where the camera is locked down.

Had it been shot in a cinema verite style, then I'd buy the documentary aspect more. Although, you do get a bit of that with the episodes directed by Mike Vejar, who was more experimental in his camera work.

 

[CaptJimboJones]

Great article, kinda makes me want to go back and watch it again. I do have all those DVDs ...

That said, while I get what JMS is saying about the show being a "documentary" of a future history, it really wasn't filmed that way, at least not in the sense that most people understand modern documentaries. It's more like a historical drama.

 

[Aquehonga]

Very interesting.

Thanks for the URL.

 

[Forbin]

Interesting! He pretty much stuck to what he scribbled, too. I see the idea of Delenn going from priest to warrior, and G'Kar going the opposite way, was there from the first instant.

 

[Elemental]

That reminds me...the next time I watch, I want to keep an eye out for more clues that it was a documentary. I never caught that part when I saw it originally although the concept didn't bother me at all the way it did some folks.

Jan

I always loved the way the series opened with Londo's "I was there at the dawn of the third age of mankind," speech which ended with "Babylon 5 was the last of the Babylon stations. This is its story." Just the tone of voice he uses makes it all sound so epic I was hooked immediately.

The only other real obvious points there are are the season ending monologues for seasons 2, 3, 4, and 5. "Deconstruction of Falling Stars" can be seen as another example, but beyond this (and the opening credits I suppose), I think you'd be hard pressed to find anything.

 

[Mr Light]

At the end of "Sleeping in Light" when they show those big shots of the cast and crew, it says something like ISN would like to thank the cast and crew responsible for the show or something like that, which would establish that the show we were watching was a TV show future recreation of the actual historical events.

 

[Admiral_Young]

JMS says on a couple of the audio commentaries he does on the DVD's that he intended Babylon 5 to be shown as an ISN documentary. I think he makes a point of this on the commentary for Deconstruction of Falling Stars...it's always been an interesting thought and it does kind of work if you think about it like that.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Wow. The fans of that thing with the Guy from Quantum Leap went batshit when it became an almost certainty that every episode of Enterprise was just Deanna's therapeutic holography programs skipping on a loop.

The few fans left that is/was.

 

[mandragora]

Interesting. Confirms my suspicion that the order vs. chaos conflict as well as the linkage to Shadows and Vorlons had been a part of the story from the start, even though it wasn't included in the "original outline" published in scriptbook 15.

 

[JoeD80]

That reminds me...the next time I watch, I want to keep an eye out for more clues that it was a documentary. I never caught that part when I saw it originally although the concept didn't bother me at all the way it did some folks.

Episode 214, And Now for a Word. Direct archival footage. I think the earliest clue is the opening narrations, like Londo in "The Gathering": "I was there at the dawn of the third age" -- who's Londo talking to? -- the interviewer.

Yes, there are episodes like "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars," where we have our future human guy compiling lots of information and videos, which could imply that it was something of a documentary, but I just don't think it holds up over the course of the show.

Specifically in the script of Sleeping in Light (although this note didn't show up in the aired version), it says the date of the documentary is 2291 (or 2293 don't recall exactly). Clearly, Deconstruction is not part of the documentary since it takes place 1,000,000 years in the future -- but you'll notice there's a framing device specifically around that episode -- a Ranger from 1,000,000 years in the future is viewing these events. It seems jms brought this framing device in specifically because he knew it didn't fit into the ISN device.

One of the problems with Babylon 5 being a documentary is that it was shot in a very stately manner -- close-ups, two-shots, and wide-shots -- for the most part; a style common in 90s dramas, particularly the SF genre, where the camera is locked down.

How do we know how documentarians will do their camera work in the late 2200's? Perhaps they will all film in a "retro" 1990's mode!

 

[Mr Light]

Recall that Londo's "Gathering" narration "I was there at the dawn" was shown to be him telling it to the little kids in "In the Beginning".

 

[Samuel T. Cogley]

I just can't help imagining JMS, nude and still dripping wet, jotting down all those notes on Babylon 5 after he dashed out of the shower.

 

[JoeD80]

Recall that Londo's "Gathering" narration "I was there at the dawn" was shown to be him telling it to the little kids in "In the Beginning".

Forgot about that scene; oops!

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

[

One of the problems with Babylon 5 being a documentary is that it was shot in a very stately manner -- close-ups, two-shots, and wide-shots -- for the most part; a style common in 90s dramas, particularly the SF genre, where the camera is locked down.

How do we know how documentarians will do their camera work in the late 2200's? Perhaps they will all film in a "retro" 1990's mode!

Well, as you said there is direct archival footage from "And Now Here's A Word," and if that's any indication the recorders are very much as shakey as hand-held cameras.

I think it still works as a future history but, for me, the show seems more of a docudrama recreation rather than a straight, flat-out documentary.

 

[Reverend]

Well if you take everything seen on screen at "in universe" face value then the people responsible seen at the end of 'Sleeping in Light' included costume people, makeup artists, a VFX crew etc. So yes it would mostly be a re-creation rather than a bunch of secure-cam footage cut against music. It's still a documentary and the inclusion of created footage doesn't change that since I'm sure I've seen plenty of History Channel documentories that included actors, music and CGI effects re-creating real events in order to tell a story.

The real question is, exactly when it was made. Most likely at some point before the Great Burn but after Delenne died.

 

[Tulaberry whine]

I was always kinda bugged by the idea that a documentary being made hundreds of years in the future still needed all those people to be filmed - we're almost at the point now where we don't need live actors in a movie.

 

[Forbin]

I was always kinda bugged by the idea that a documentary being made hundreds of years in the future still needed all those people to be filmed - we're almost at the point now where we don't need live actors in a movie.

Ah, but maybe it WAS CGI - state-of-the-art 2200s CGI, which will be, of course, indistiguishable from reality.