[B5JMS] B5:LotR TLaDiS - Some Observations, Questions, etc. (SPOILERS

Tue Jan 22 04:22:57 EST 2002

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From: "Mac Breck" <macbreck at access995.com>
Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2002 17:25:15 -0500
Lines: 280

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Well, since this isn't showing up, and I did go to the trouble to
immediately recheck the tape, I'm re-sending it.

"Jms at B5" <jmsatb5 at aol.com> wrote in message
news:20020121021423.11630.00002411 at mb-mo.aol.com...
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> >The Enfali is in a firefight with some raider fighters. Since when have
> >raiders ever been able to do serious damage to a Minbari vessel, and why
are
> >no Nials around?
>
> Even a lion can be brought down by a pack of smaller predators.

Definitely.

> The Enfalli
> was alone and the pursuit was a long one, and they just kept taking hit
after
> hit.

Ah, there's the context.  :-)

> > Since when do raider fighters have aft guns?
>
> Raider fighter craft come in as many variations as human fighter craft.
The
> error is in thinking monolithically.

No, it's just that in all of B5, I don't think we've *ever* seen a raider
delta wing ship firing rear guns.  This doesn't mean that they didn't have
them or that they couldn't be added, or that new model variations wouldn't
have them.

> >I think hyperspace looked better in Lightwave.  Also, the new jumppoints
> >seem to persist much longer than usual, before collapsing.
>
> Hyperspace is now *much* more complex than it was using lightwave, with
more
> levels.  It was always meant to look pretty hellish, but we could never
quite
> pull it off with lightwave, it always looked 2d.  This is more what I
> originally had in mind.

I always thought it looked absolutely *great* in Lightwave, **especially**
in
later seasons of B5 and in Crusade.  The version of it in TLaDiS looks lower
res., lacking detail.  B5S5 or Crusade would be like an SVHS tape and TLaDiS
would be like a 2nd or 3rd generation copy on VHS.  The latter would be
softer, smeary.

> >In Dulann's vision (when he was in the hallway of the Liandra, checking
> >systems before they took off), he saw Minister Kafka, the right side of
his
> >face already beaten up.  This hadn't happened yet.
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> Recheck your tape...that shot ain't there.

I did.  It's there.  Here are the exact timing details:

Starting with the "NOW" frame of the trailer.
Then, Sci-Fi's "Saturn" disappears.

Hr:Min:Sec
----------------
00:00:00 1st frame of Sci-Fi Pictures
Teaser
00:03:28 Last frame of Main Titles

...I may have cut a commercial or two...

00:06:29 First frame of Minbari space (ships above Minbar)
Act 1
00:22:46

commercials (I may have cut one or two.)

00:25:02 Small ships flying past the Valen, and over the Liandra (left to
right). Cut to David and Dulann. David slamming cover shut.

00:27:12
Dulann's flash*
00:27:29

*Details of Dulann's flash - frame by frame, counting from the point where
the frames
really start to go by quickly, right before somebody says "There's no way
out:

Frame
---------
01 floor grating
02 floor grating
03 floor grating
04 floor grating
05 bunk
06 bunk
07 bunk
08 bunk
09 overturned chair
10 overturned chair
11 overturned chair
12 overturned chair
13 overturned chair, close
14 overturned chair, close
15 overturned chair, close
16 the bridge
17 the bridge
18 the bridge
19 Dulann
20 Dulann
21 Dulann
22 hallway
23 hallway
24 hallway
25 hallway, closer to floor
26 hallway, closer to floor
27 hallway, closer to floor
28 some structural members
29 some structural members
30 some structural members
31 hallway
32 hallway
33 hallway
34 panel or bulkhead on the side of a hallway
35 panel or bulkhead on the side of a hallway
36 panel or bulkhead on the side of a hallway
37 doorway
38 doorway
39 doorway
40 bridge panel display
41 Dulann
42 bridge panel display
43 Dulann
44 hallway
45 the bridge
46 the bridge
47 panel or bulkhead on the side of a hallway, close
48 panel or bulkhead on the side of a hallway, close
49 Dulann
50 hallway
51 Dulann
52 hallway
53 doorway
54 hallway
55 a couple of lighted panels, white, abstract
56 Minister Kafka, beaten on the right side of his face (his right)
57 Minister Kafka, beaten on the right side of his face (his right)
58 Dulann
59 Minister Kafka, beaten on the right side of his face (his right)
60 panel or bulkhead on the side of a hallway
61 Dulann
62 panel or bulkhead on the side of a hallway
63 Dulann
64 mostly orange close-up of something; some dark, metallic writing in
between.
65 panel or bulkhead on the side of a hallway, close
66 hallway
67 hallway, closer to floor
68 hallway
69 Dulann
70 doorway
71 Dulann
72 hallway
73 hallway
74 hallway
75 hallway
76 Dulann
77 Dulann
78 Dulann
79 Dulann
80 Dulann
81 Dulann
82 Dulann turns toward David.

I am referring to the three frames of Minister Kafka.  They *are* there.  If
you want I could send you the tape (if you promise to send it back, when
you're done with it).

> >Liandra is 20 years old in 2264, so it was built in 2244, before the
> >Earth-Minbari war.  It's a small vessel and yet it *has* jump engines.
> >Seems odd, since Sheridan thought it was a big deal when he found out
that
> >the Whitestar, another small vessel, had jump engines (2260).
>
> He also didn't know everything about Minbari ships and classes.
...
> >The Liandra, a 20 year old ship, hit the enemy ships, several times with
her
> >fireballs (why no traditional Minbari green slicer beams?)
>
> Not a big enough ship with a big enough power source.

Powerful enough to have jump engines, but not powerful enough to have
traditional Minbari green slicer beams, like even Nials have?  Well, I guess
it could be a design trade-off.

> >Why enter the tail of the comet?  Why not just put the comet between you
and
> >the enemy ship.  You don't have to be *in* the tail.
>
> Two-dimensional thinking.  Only works if the comet is directly between you
and
> the enemy.  If it moves at any other angle, you're revealed.

Not really.  The Nav. Officer would stay close to the comet, but outside
it's tail, and would work to keep the comet between the Liandra and the
enemy ship.

> >I can't see the Liandra making any
> >headway against a Shadow Battlecrab.  "Seems" inconsistent.
>
> It wasn't a shadow battlecrab.  It was tough, but it wasn't one of those.
The
> hand wouldn't give out that kind of power to flunkies.

Not unless they had a way of controlling them, like the Shadows did.

>
>
>  jms
>
> (jmsatb5 at aol.com)
> (all message content (c) 2001 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
> permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
> and don't send me story ideas)
>

ps. What do you call the frames right after the cut back from commercial,
before the actual content of the movie starts again?

Mac Breck
------------------------

http://www.scifi.com/b5rangers/   http://www.b5lr.com/

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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: 22 Jan 2002 01:29:25 GMT
Lines: 17

>ps. What do you call the frames right after the cut back from commercial,
>before the actual content of the movie starts again?

True Black.  Don't know if that's the technical term, but that's what I've
always heard them called.

 jms

(jmsatb5 at aol.com)
(all message content (c) 2001 by synthetic worlds, ltd., 
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine 
and don't send me story ideas)