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General FreeSpace => FreeSpace Discussion => Topic started by: Zeon on June 08, 2003, 12:43:37 am

Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: Zeon on June 08, 2003, 12:43:37 am
Hey it's great to be back and I want to ask a question. has anyone thought about making a freespace movie? Also I want to ask if anyone knows anything about battlefleet gothic and if they had made mods and models for it?:thepimp:
Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: Knight Templar on June 08, 2003, 12:45:55 am
Been discussed before.

From my understanding, the bottom line is, it's a ****-load of work.
Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: Tar-Palantir on June 08, 2003, 02:53:31 am
Plus name any good movie based on a game.

Exactly. :)
Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: Liberator on June 08, 2003, 03:23:55 am
Quote
Originally posted by Tar-Palantir
Plus name any good movie based on a game.

Exactly. :)


Well, I think Wing Commander was decent and, more importantly, it was entertaining.  When you talk about translating an interactive medium(a game) to a non-interactive medium(a movie) sacrifices have to be made.

The first thing you must realize is that any game, no matter how well known in gaming circles, is practically unknown to the masses.  No matter how much of a cult following a game has, to Joe Q. Public walking down Mainstreet USA it means nothing.  

This creates a gulf between the gaming community and the general movie public.  Gamers who are familiar with the story want a film that takes off straight into the best parts of the story/universe.  This makes the film totally unapproachable to the average movie-goer who has to be brought up to speed before any of the story points and/or character behaviors make sense.

A Freespace movie, for instance, would require a sequence detailing the discovery of subspace, the first interstellar transit, the first encounter with the Vasudans and the events that led to the 14-Year War.  Some of this could be achieved during the opening credits but a portion of the movie would have to be spent on these subjects,  perhaps no more than 15 minutes, but it must be covered to establish the universe that the rest of the story takes place in.
Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: Hunter on June 08, 2003, 04:16:06 am
Just Turn to Babylon 5, it's as close as you're going to get to Freespace.  And owns anyway :p
Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: Woolie Wool on June 08, 2003, 04:45:58 am
If a movie were to be made, it should be based on FS1 because it is easier to "movie-ize" effectively (I bet the audience would be at the edge of their seats during the final battle with the Lucifer!).
Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: Nico on June 08, 2003, 05:37:15 am
for the BFG mod, I think I've seen a couple ships posted in the mdding forum ages ago.
Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: diamondgeezer on June 08, 2003, 07:00:56 am
...

...

I liked both the Mortal Kombat films...

:nervous:

*runs*
Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: karajorma on June 08, 2003, 09:05:35 am
Quote
Originally posted by diamondgeezer
...

...

I liked both the Mortal Kombat films...

:nervous:

*runs*


Stand your ground man! Mortal Kombat is pretty much the standard against which game to movie conversions have to be measured against.
 Even though I'd never played the game before seeing the film I still managed to follow the plot and enjoy it :)

MK2 though is another matter :)
Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: Solatar on June 08, 2003, 09:15:40 am
:thepimp:

The TVWP's Unification War can help....first intersystem jump takes place in the camaign.
Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: Nuclear1 on June 08, 2003, 09:46:20 am
Wing Commander kinda below IMO. It had too many inaccuracies (not relating to the game though).

For example, when the Tiger Claw's crew is waiting for the Kilrathi fleet to pass, they stay silent and motionless, like they're in a submarine. SONAR doesn't work in space, last I checked.

But a FS movie would be good, if done correctly. Hmmm.... I think I better restart that script :thepimp:
Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: Petrarch of the VBB on June 08, 2003, 09:55:36 am
I think it would make a better TV series than a film, as there is a lot of plot to cram into a 2 hour film.
Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: aldo_14 on June 08, 2003, 10:53:23 am
Quote
Originally posted by nuclear1
Wing Commander kinda below IMO. It had too many inaccuracies (not relating to the game though).

For example, when the Tiger Claw's crew is waiting for the Kilrathi fleet to pass, they stay silent and motionless, like they're in a submarine. SONAR doesn't work in space, last I checked.


It was a nice original concept, IMO.  Movie was pretty crap, though.  I did watch it several times on Sky (owing to the fact it shown pre-watershed, and there's not much else on the telly during the holidays - I've seen Evolution about 6 times for pretty much the same reason), and it suffers horribly from having too clean a cast.
Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: Cannikin on June 08, 2003, 11:48:37 am
I always thought the intro to FS1 was absolutely perfect for the opening of a movie. The CB ani of the hundreds of Scorpions pouring out from the Lucifer at Tombaugh would be awesome as well.

But the really golden shot would be of a Vasudan strolling through a street on Vasuda Prime (with a bag of freshly collected headz) as a shadow passes over him. He looks up slowly and suddenly a blinding light washes out the screen... :drevil:
Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: tEAbAG on June 08, 2003, 01:20:19 pm
The only good game movie was Super Mario Bros.  And that was one of those movies that are soooooo bad they become hilarious.

We could put on a Freespace: The Musical!

    Sing me a song! (http://www.cyberberry.com/kamikaze/ShivanPie1.htm)
Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: Killfrenzy on June 08, 2003, 03:46:00 pm
A FS movie would rock - I even started writing a script which incorporated the opening.

As for Battlefleet Gothic, I play that.

The only ship made (as far as I know) is by yours truly, an Eldar escort ship of my own design textured as a Vasudan ship. I've not uploaded it mainly because I haven't really had any inclination to!

If anyone knows RELIABLE and FREE web servers, let me know! :D
Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: Flaser on June 08, 2003, 05:01:31 pm
A whole buch of characters should be written - moreover we would need a lot more scenes, on spacestatiosn, Earth the PVE's parliament, Vasuda Prime, onboard the Galtae and later the Bastion.
Conspiracy, politicians obsessed with their own power, not realizing the stakes; burn-out war veterans who oversaw the original peace-talks; Vasudan religious fanatics, a HOL speech, a Vasudan temple...ect. ect.
I think a lot of data would have to added, the bare battles even if richly told won't be enough. Life's not just constant fighting or a series of missions.
We have to describe the daily life in the 24'th century, how do people work, what are the "classes" of society and what is their proportion; what is the environment like, how is space-travel from a civilians point of view; the enrty shuttles - I hope no one expects an Orion to enter an atmosphere - what's life like back on Earth, on the colonies, the early colonies in the solarsystem...
Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: Woolie Wool on June 08, 2003, 06:44:00 pm
Eishtmo wrote an interesting retelling of the FS1 story (with real characters with real names) that could be used as source material for the movie.
Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: Liberator on June 08, 2003, 07:18:56 pm
As the game is centered around the player, the character of Alpha 1 should be expanded to an entire wing, similar to Space: Above and Beyond.

Also, the point about length of story is true.  A television series even one or two seasons in length would be adequate.
Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: Flaser on June 08, 2003, 08:09:58 pm
1 or 2 seasons?

Well that's no likely - in terms of cost and ect. -, moreover I think it could ruin the entire feel of the show.
Ruin? Why ruin when we have more screen time?
Becasue we have more screen-time, that has to be filled, and series tend to end up with budget cut downs and would end up with themes and events that could get really repetative.
The series could be good for a very in-depth chronology, but would demand very keen viewers.
If it were a series I would limit it to a single season - and as much as 26 episodes - and least around 13. IMHO coming from watching several shows, that's the lenght a good show can deal with, without being too drawn out or cut short.

However I'm more inclined to a mini-series around 3-4 episodes, each one a little bit more than an hour, maybe 1.5 hours.
That way it would have enough screen time to go in-depht, avoinding the shallow story trap of Wing-Commander Movie but still assure a very high quality product.

I had a thougt thou...how about making an animated film?

No, please don't think of anime with leasurly dressed big-eyed chicks and huge...well do think of anime, but substract the later stuff.
If the whole thing was animated, then all the space-scenes could be easier recreated, and the show won't have to suffer from the usual space-flick genre sinkness - like shaking camera, identical looking rooms, for simply the sake of budget.
Huge scenes, detailed battles and very good, dynamic camera motion could be used.

That backed up with a very realistic character design - think of smg. like Ghost in the Shell, or Jin-Roh - with exquisite shading and brave use of collors could create a memorable visial appearance.
Title: FS1 movie
Post by: Zeon on June 08, 2003, 09:46:45 pm
The FS1 movie would be great especailly be great to gain more support for the freespace universe. But if the episode idea works then maybe center the story around  the 3rd fleet and it's pilots.

 but still the idea is still the same, people would get an idea bout the freespace universe. But it maybe nothing more than a dream......sigh!!  :thepimp:
Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: Flaser on June 09, 2003, 08:45:35 am
I think we should have an epic cast like Battletech, therefore the whole war can be told, on the other hand only a handful of people should be given spotlight, to flesh-out their character and portray the drama through them.
Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: GrandAdmiralAbaht on June 09, 2003, 10:18:32 pm
Maybe there should be a series of novels, like with HALO and StarCraft.  That would provide us with an indepth view of life in the GTA or PVN, and it could go at length without too much fear of losing its audience.
Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: Nuclear1 on June 10, 2003, 08:53:36 am
*notices Zeon's post count of 2*

*nudges other members*

[size=8]Welcome to the HLPBB![/i][/size]

Just for reference, pulse rifles and flamethrowers are in the containers to the right and left, and mortars are currently being shipped in from wherever Shrike/Styxx is bringing em from. If you see any Shivans crawling through the airducts, that's just Carl or Killfrenzy. Just give them your lunch and they'll leave you alone.

And watch out for me, pie-stealer and nude-people-hugger.
Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: Darkage on June 10, 2003, 09:19:16 am
All very nice ideas for a animated series, but you ever thought who are willing to animate it and have the time to animate it? I sertainly don't have enough time to plunge my self in such a project. Thats also a aspect you should consider.


If you people are serious i sugest you get a team together first. people like writers, storyboard makers, animators, audio people, voice actors etc. And then start planning the series.
Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: Killfrenzy on June 10, 2003, 09:24:13 am
Quote
Originally posted by nuclear1
If you see any Shivans crawling through the airducts, that's just Carl or Killfrenzy. Just give them your lunch and they'll leave you alone.


YAY!!! SOMEONE FINALLY REMEMBERED!!! :lol:
Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: JC Denton on June 11, 2003, 12:18:34 am
Might I suggest that, whichever way it goes, you take a cue from Vandread and Babylon 5, and use 3dCG for the space battles?
Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: Flaser on June 11, 2003, 10:13:14 am
I'm strongly against using pure CG since it creates a break between live/animated action and space scenes.
However don't be afraid JC, even if the cast decides to use animation alone they will still have to rely mostly on CG, so its back to stage one - on the other hand it will be a task to make it seem "drawn" ect.
Anyone ever saw Blood: The last Vempire? That cargo plane was 100% drawn and was brought to life with coputer aide.
Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: Killfrenzy on June 11, 2003, 10:14:22 am
I would agree with that - we've got the models! :D

Make them as hectic as the battles in Vandread and it'll be good! :D
Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: Flaser on June 11, 2003, 11:41:31 am
Although I'd still rather draw the whole - there could be immersurable details you can draw, modelling that on the other hand...
Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: Thor on June 11, 2003, 05:07:31 pm
I still want to try doing in game recordings.  basically turning FS into a cheap way to get moving ships for fim.  It be cheesy, but I like cheese!  A script is in order though.
Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: Liberator on June 11, 2003, 05:12:42 pm
This is going to get me yelled at, but has anyone ever seen either of the Zoids shows?  The characters are hand animated but the battles are CG and action packed as well!
Title: Freespace the movie
Post by: Solatar on June 11, 2003, 05:24:38 pm
Zoids, I've seen that. Something like that with Freespace 2 would be completely awesome.