The Defiance Thread - News about the Show and Game

[Christopher]

^No, if the gameplay has no real impact on the show, then I'm fine with that; it means the show's storyline will be shaped by its writing staff rather than random game players, as it should be. But though I'm glad for the purposes of the show that all the alleged interactivity of the game is just empty hype, I don't respect that it's empty hype, because it's basically lying to the game players, promising them a level of control they won't actually have. Just because I don't share those players' tastes or interests, that doesn't mean I approve of deceiving them. I'm not a simple-minded person. I can hold more than one thought in my head at once.

 

[JD]

The impression I got is that it will be more like when we see crossovers between TV shows. There will be instances where events and missions in the game will be set ups for future episodes and events in the show.
One other example they've already used is that when you start the game you work with Grant Bowler and Stephanie Leonidas's characters and then after a mission or two the take off, and then we pick back up with them on the road heading to Defiance in the pilot. I have a feeling it's going to be a lot of that kind of stuff, not situations where player choices actually change the show.

 

[EmoBorg]

i wonder if Mike Dopud will be in it. He has been in every sci fi tv show that i have seen in the last few years.

 

[Christopher]

i wonder if Mike Dopud will be in it. He has been in every sci fi tv show that i have seen in the last few years.

Well, Dopud is a Vancouver-based actor, and most of the shows he appears in are shot there (or in nearby Portland, Oregon in the case of Grimm). Defiance is being shot in Toronto, on the opposite side of Canada. However, Dopud has appeared in at least a couple of Toronto-made shows, including Flashpoint and the CW's Beauty and the Beast. So it's not out of the question, but not as likely as it'd be if the show were Vancouver-made.

 

[Servo]

Just saw the trailer, and it looks pretty good. Will definitely be checking it out.

 

[JD]

There is a new trailer airing during Syfy's Powerful Monday (not sure which show). I found it online, but I'm going to wait to see it on TV first.

 

[DigificWriter]

Sorry for bumping the thread, but I just found out about this show - and the game that goes with it - and have to say that it looks and sounds freaking brilliant. I've been looking for a Sci-Fi show to fall in love with since the end of BSG and the premature end of Caprica, and this thing sounds like it's going to have everything that I liked about those two shows and then some, and the prospect of interactivity between the show and the game has me giddy even though I don't normally play MMOs.

Based on the four Making Of videos that you can find on the official Defiance website, it sounds as if the interactivity between the show and the game is going to manifest itself in the form of the writers taking a look at what's happening in the game world and then tying major in-game events and whatnot into what's going on in the series and vice versa. This isn't likely to happen in real-time, but it does sound as if the PTB behind the show and the game fully intends to make things as interconnected as they can given that they really can't mimic the real-time story nature of the game.

 

[The Wormhole]

Based on the four Making Of videos that you can find on the official Defiance website, it sounds as if the interactivity between the show and the game is going to manifest itself in the form of the writers taking a look at what's happening in the game world and then tying major in-game events and whatnot into what's going on in the series and vice versa. This isn't likely to happen in real-time, but it does sound as if the PTB behind the show and the game fully intends to make things as interconnected as they can given that they really can't mimic the real-time story nature of the game.

Not really, the game has a set way of how it has to turn out, and is designed to have significant developments sync up with the show. That's all.

 

[Christopher]

Yeah, apparently it isn't one of those things like EVE Online (which I only know about because I read an item about it a couple of days ago) where it's just an open world and the players themselves shape events. It's more a kind of game like Star Trek Online or the defunct City of Heroes where you just play through a set of prescripted scenarios in order to reach a predetermined goal. They wouldn't be reckless enough to have the show's events depend on something as random and unpredictable as the interactions and choices of thousands of players -- including trolls, hackers, or whatever you call people who play MMOs with the deliberate intent to sabotage others.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

The elevator pitch: It’s a post-apocalyptic space Western, set 40 years in the future, that pushes all the geek buttons. The show creator is Rockne S. O’Bannon, whose credits include a cult Syfy show from the late 1990s called Farscape.

$105 million is a lot of money. That's about what Comcast and NBCUniversal have shelled out on the new Syfy series and video game Defiance

$105 million is the rough budget for the project, which includes a staggering $40 million for the TV series alone (for perspective, HBO, the gold standard for expensive TV, shelled out $60 million on Game of Thrones' first season). The balance pays for the $50 million it cost to make the video game, developed with software company Trion Worlds, which shares the financial burden (NBCU owns half of the game with Trion), and the show's huge marketing budget—upwards of $15 million.

the show, which debuts April 15 at 9 p.m., is being given as high a level of internal promotional attention as Universal Studios’ feature films. "[It’s] top-priority across Comcast for March and April, up there with Fast & Furious 6," says one insider.

about advertising:
they will redefine what a show sponsorship is.
3 major advertisers: Dodge, Verizon and Axe. about Dodge:

the brand will be integrated deep into both the show and the game, with an emphasis on the redesigned Dart on air and on digital. "We've got two Charger police cars that integrate into the programming," he says. "They’ve been retrofitted to look like…I call ’em Mad Max-type vehicles. There’s an old Dodge dealership that will be one of the settings—there may be an old Dodge billboard that’s crumbling on the side of the road." The game will have a drivable Dodge Challenger “with pipes and big tires and machine guns” on it. Meanwhile, Dodge is taking the cars themselves around to auto shows and Dodge events to show off their homemade star.

source
Hello NY Auto show (March 29-April 7)!

I'll check the TV show out next month. I'm guessing I'll be seeing the media blitz pretty soon. Hopefully better than Revolution (similar apocalyptic feel).

 

[JD]

I've seen the car in at least one of the BTS videos, definitely a very Mad Max feel to it.

 

[JD]

IO9 has a spoiler free review up for the first three episodes of the series.
Highlights:

It's a giant cast of Alpha personalities which (thankfully) yields a lot of unexpected scenarios. Every time we expect Datak to go wild, he goes quiet. These characters are smarter than your average Stargate scientist.

The smaller plots are well thought out and exceptionally clever. Whether or not the larger story will pan out, remains to be seen. But so far we're impressed with the week-to-week drama.

When you get over the initial shock that this is a show basically set in the Mos Eisley Cantina, you then realize, holy cow this a show set in the Mos Eisley Cantina!

The large Firefly fan base must disconnect from any sort of similarities that crop up on the new series if they're going to even remotely enjoy Defiance

Get a new trope. While we can forgive necessary cliche characters for the sake of a pilot, we can not excuse the hooker with the heart of gold. The big meeting place/restaurant in town is a brothel where people conduct "sex business." It's eye-roll-inducing and hard to watch.

Defiance also suffers from a bad case of Phantom Menace. There is just too much CG shit going on at once. SLOW DOWN

On a Syfy scale of Battlestar Galactica to Piranhaconda, Defiance is in the upper middle. It's got heaps of promise and an amazing cast.

EDIT: I forgot to post the newest behind the scenes featurette: Making of Part VI: Nolan and Irisa. Focused on Grant Bowler's Nolan, and Stephanie Leonidas' Irisa.

 

[Worf2DS9]

^ I've only previously seen Leonidas in MirrorMask, but I really like what I've seen of her character here. Looking forward to the show!

 

[Christopher]

Stephanie Leonidas was the most impressive thing about MirrorMask, but I'm disappointed she won't be using her lovely natural accent in Defiance.

 

[Worf2DS9]

^Yeah, aren't aliens supposed to have English accents? Or is that just evil aliens? Though I suppose if it makes sense if she was raised by non-accented Nolan since she was a child, any accent she might have had probably would have faded as she grew up.

 

[JD]

A new character focused making of video has been released. This one focusing on the mayor, Amanda who is played by Julie Benz, and her sister, the local madam and owner of the NeedWant, Mia Kirshner's Kenya.
[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QlL2lk9MGbk[/yt]

 

[Admiral2]

I just wanna see Julie Benz try to act like a tough resistance fighter with that baby-doll voice of hers. That's all I wanna see.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

Spoiler free review of Syfy’s Defiance – A refreshing science fiction space western
lots of single photos of the characters at the link and also a group shot.
it discusses the main characters and also The Alien Races.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

This could be the Babylon 5 for the current generation. Well, at least in initial setup and general feel. Just caught up on all the videos and that's the impression I get - a whole ton of developed backstory and universe building before a single episode is shown, and a general story layout involving a very diverse set of characters.

This has been done right (B5) and wrong (Andromeda, IMO). I really hope it doesn't end up the latter.

Mark

 

[Christopher]

^Andromeda went wrong because its studio a) gave it a shoestring budget and b) fired the showrunner and replaced him with someone who didn't know what the hell he was doing. I don't see either of those happening here. Apparently Defiance is getting a huge budget for a Syfy show (because of the co-production with the game company), and since its showrunners are veterans of Caprica that the network has already brought back into the fold, I'd say that's a good sign that Syfy is willing to keep them.

Then again, now that I've mentioned the former, it occurs to me that if the game tanks, that could hurt the show's survival odds.