BG-01: Saga Of A Star World

[Charybdis]

I was watching the portion when Adama, Apollo and Serina were on Kobol and walking around. They used Egyptian extras to film those scenes, but one continuity error I saw was that in one of the closeup walking shots taken from behind them, the Apollo extra is wearing the plain dress boots. A scene later when Richard Hatch and the real actors come onscene, he is wearing the combat boots...

[Athene]

Originally Posted by Charybdis

I was watching the portion when Adama, Apollo and Serina were on Kobol and walking around. They used Egyptian extras to film those scenes, but one continuity error I saw was that in one of the closeup walking shots taken from behind them, the Apollo extra is wearing the plain dress boots. A scene later when Richard Hatch and the real actors come onscene, he is wearing the combat boots...

I think you are referring to "The Lost Planet of the Gods".
I noticed that too.

[skippercollecto]

What does DK mean? The only one I know is Donna Karan, and I know she's not what you're referring to!

Mary

[Kronus]

Originally Posted by skippercollecto

What does DK mean? The only one I know is Donna Karan, and I know she's not what you're referring to!

Mary

My guess would be Denmark...

They maybe referring to another country's version/edits of the show. USA (back in the day and still some today) edit out content and there are several versions of those scenes they mensioned...one with Stabuck with his tunic still on and one with it off, for example.

The DK version may have less censorship and helps the viewer understand more of what is being said.

[skippercollecto]

I always thought solium was one of Glen Larson's made-up words, but I found a reference to it in something that has nothing whatsoever to do with science fiction.
I was at an antique show the other week and one of the dealers was selling a box of powdered detergent. I don't remember the brand name, but the box's appearance made me think it was from the 1940s or 1950s. The box said that its secret ingredient was solium, and it had something to do with "the power of sunlight."
Was this just an advertiser's made-up marketing term 60 years ago? Did Glen Larson borrow the term? Is it just coincidence that both Glen and the detergent maker used this same word? Or is solium a real substance? Or is it just plain old sunlight?

Mary

[Athene]

I watched the movie version again of Saga of a Starworld in honour of the 31st anniversary.
It was interesting that they used "years" instead of "yahrens" in the movie.(I think I've said this before...)
I actually watched both versions. The one with the locker room scene with Athena and Starbuck and Starbuck with his shirt off in the launching bay and then I watched the version that I have in the boxed set.
It was lots of fun.

[LZaza]

Originally Posted by skippercollecto

I always thought solium was one of Glen Larson's made-up words, but I found a reference to it in something that has nothing whatsoever to do with science fiction.
I was at an antique show the other week and one of the dealers was selling a box of powdered detergent. I don't remember the brand name, but the box's appearance made me think it was from the 1940s or 1950s. The box said that its secret ingredient was solium, and it had something to do with "the power of sunlight."
Was this just an advertiser's made-up marketing term 60 years ago? Did Glen Larson borrow the term? Is it just coincidence that both Glen and the detergent maker used this same word? Or is solium a real substance? Or is it just plain old sunlight?

Mary

Isn't "Sol" Spanish for "sun"? Probably derived from that?

[Athene]

Originally Posted by skippercollecto

I always thought solium was one of Glen Larson's made-up words, but I found a reference to it in something that has nothing whatsoever to do with science fiction.
I was at an antique show the other week and one of the dealers was selling a box of powdered detergent. I don't remember the brand name, but the box's appearance made me think it was from the 1940s or 1950s. The box said that its secret ingredient was solium, and it had something to do with "the power of sunlight."
Was this just an advertiser's made-up marketing term 60 years ago? Did Glen Larson borrow the term? Is it just coincidence that both Glen and the detergent maker used this same word? Or is solium a real substance? Or is it just plain old sunlight?

Mary

Out of curiosity I googled the term solium.
Found one term in a medical dictionary which referred to solium as "Chlordiazepoxide".

I too thought it had reference to the sun.

[Charybdis]

It's funny now that you mention solium as a detergent. I show a video to my students every semester about the history of radio (I know, that sounds weird, but it's one of those educational documentaries) and in one of the parts they show old radio stations where everything was live, etc.

In one of the ads that they play for a program, they talk about a detergent called "Rinso...with solium!"

[Eric Paddon]

The other night I watched this for the first time in a couple years. In fact, it was the first time in a couple years I had watched *any* episode of Galactica, and even though I have watched it many, many times over the years, this would be like a new experience in light of the fact that since I last watched "Saga" or any other episode of "Galactica" I've had a chance to see a LOT of vintage TV on DVD in the intervening period. It almost had me concerned that maybe after seeing so many other shows in all that time, would I suddenly be more aware of perceived faults in how Saga was done? Granted, I've noted inconsistencies and other assorted things in the past, but would they stick out more this time?

Thankfully, the opposite proved true. If anything, I found myself struck by how incredibly well Saga holds up as a pilot show, AND how it succeeds magnificently in communicating that sense of distance and awe that's necessary to sell the believability of the whole storyline to the viewers. There is no attempt to be cutesy and cheesy like "Lost In Space" or "Buck Rogers" a year later. We're expected to take this grand space adventure across the farthest reaches of the unknown from our own world as a serious piece of storytelling with just some occasional humorous undertones, and I still believe Saga does that brilliantly.

Most importantly, Saga gives us a premise of what these people are seeking....Earth, and it soon becomes clear with subsequent episodes that this motivation that guides them is going to remain an integral part of the series and isn't just going to be set aside in the name of doing totally self-contained adventures we can watch at random. Indeed, you can look at other shows that all but ignored forward momentum past their first one or two shows like the 1974 TV version of "Planet Of The Apes", but with "Galactica" we got some necessary forward momentum at key points and thus after just one season, "Galactica" it was possible to look back and see a season where things were no longer the same as they'd been when the template was first established. Not many other series of the day, even the most popular ones, could ever claim that.

I will admit that perhaps those of us who first experienced Galactica in 1978 did have one advantage over the adults of the day watching in that we could more easily embrace that seriousness of storyline because we came in with no familiarity with the actors from the roles they played before. Were there many of us before Galactica who had been regular viewers of "Bonanza?" We could more easily look at Lorne Greene and accept him as Commander Adama because we never knew he'd spent a veritable lifetime in TV as Ben Cartwright. I guess for the adults who came of age from their childhood to adulthood watching Lorne on another show, they were just never capable of suspending their disbelief, and maybe that underlying prejudice accounted in some small part for the unfair notices Galactica got at the time.

It's sometimes easy to become so fascinated with the minutiae of Galactica as we do in forums like this that we can end up going a long time without watching the show. It's nice to find out that when we do return to it and give it another look, the enjoyment level that's made us join forums like this, is still there.

[LZaza]

I know what you mean, Eric. I threw on an episode for a reference last night, which seems to be the usual way I watch BSG these days. It was Baltar's Escape where Wilker was explaining why he couldn't rebuild the Cylons and then decides just to show Starbuck and Apollo. When they walk into the lab and see the dismantled Cylons, wires hanging out everywhere, Starbuck says "You're harder on them than I am!" or words to that effect. What a great line. And I'd totally forgotten it.

[Eric Paddon]

Even though fanfic writing has been the key to my staying really involved with Galactica over the years, the one thing that's concerned me is that writing so much about the future of the show's characters could make me appreciate less the filmed stories we were introduced to first or look more easily for flaws. It's always nice to discover that those fears are groundless!

Watched LPOTG tonight. Even though we know all about the rushed nature of how the story was put together which compressed so many major plotlines at once, I was struck by how the storyline still flowed beautifully and took advantage of the two part format to pace itself in a way where your attention was held the entire while. Indeed, this use of the two part episode on so many occasions and the willingness to give a story some more breathing room has to be considered Galactica's greatest contribution to sci-fi TV in general because there was nothing like this before. Star Trek's only two-parter was a one shot deal designed to save costs by recycling the initial pilot. Galactica didn't try to give good scripts short shrift by shoehorning them all into the standard one hour format.

[Senmut]

That's WHY it's BSG. What more need one say?

[skippercollecto]

I never saw the theatrical version of the pilot in the theater. Was it shown in widescreen?

[Eric Paddon]

What we'd call a "fake widescreen" in the sense of the image being blown up to accomodate a widescreen image but in the process it results in chopping off of the top and bottom of the original image. In effect it's the reverse of panning/scanning for old format TV when you'd lose the sides of a widescreen image to fit the proportions of a TV set.

[Senmut]

I recall seeing it in teatro, and noticed how the picture was cropped, top and bottom. Although you didn't miss much, it could get a tad annoying, after a bit.

[skippercollecto]

A few times, Baltar is referred to as "Count" or "Lord." Do you think he actually was a member of the gentry, or was that a title he came up with himself to make him sound more important?

[LZaza]

Well, seeing as how he was on the original Quorum of Twelve and held a Seal of Kobol, like Adama, as well as the President's trust, I'd say the odds were good that he was a nobleman of some distinction.

[Senmut]

He is also called "Commander Baltar" by both Apollo and Charybdis in MOTRS. In LPOTG, Baltar refers to being caught "between the Presiden't Battlestar and my own." Did he command a ship? Probably, based on this. Colonial society may have been much like that of the Early Romans, who combined political office with military commands. Not always a smooth combination.

[LZaza]

Good point, Sen. I'd forgotten that detail.

[skippercollecto]

So this is a fan fiction question:
What do you think motivated Baltar, who probably had a very good life, to turn against the humans? Pure greed? Was he insane? Did Iblis possess him?

[LZaza]

Power. Egomania.

Baltar seemed to think he'd be lord and master of his planet. Didn't he claim his colony was to be spared? The Cylons duped him. They manipulated a greedy, power-hungry man into betraying his people with the promise of ultimate power over the last remaining human settlement . . . through the grace of Baltar's favour with the Cylons.

From his lack of remorse, I'd say it's a safe bet to presume he was a sociopath.

At least that's my take.

Today.

[Athene]

Originally Posted by LZaza

Power. Egomania.

Baltar seemed to think he'd be lord and master of his planet. Didn't he claim his colony was to be spared? The Cylons duped him. They manipulated a greedy, power-hungry man into betraying his people with the promise of ultimate power over the last remaining human settlement . . . through the grace of Baltar's favour with the Cylons.

From his lack of remorse, I'd say it's a safe bet to presume he was a sociopath.

At least that's my take.

Today.

Yes, Baltar was power-hungry and I do agree with you a sociopath. Did you know in the original script they were going to kill Baltar off? Glad they kept him on for the series. Made for a very interesting villain.

Watched Saga of a Starworld(the movie version) last night. Hadn't watched it again for a while. And the special effects still hold up to this day. What a treat.

[skippercollecto]

Was Caprica Baltar's colony/planet? Or was his home somewhere else? I think that this was never mentioned in either the series or the novelizations.

[LZaza]

Presuming that each Council member represented a Colony, and Adama's family lived on Caprica, then Baltar had to come from another colony.

I don't believe it was mentioned in the series, but don't recall for the novelizations. Admittedly, I haven't finished reading them all. In fan fiction, it's widely accepted that he came from Piscon (insert other derivations here). Where that association came from, I don't know.

Anybody else know?

[Senmut]

No, but I have followed the Piscera/Piscon idea.

[Athene]

Watched this again last night. I never tire of it. And IMHO the special effects hold up to this day. A friend of mine who had never it watched it with me and really liked it.

[skippercollecto]

Your useless trivia for the day:
In the days before TV satellites, I knew that Hawaii didn't always air TV shows when they were originally aired in the continental United States. Instead, tapes of shows were sent there. I learned that Galactica aired on Friday nights in Hawaii instead of Sunday.

[Senmut]

Ah, Hawaii's loss.

[Croft2018]

Originally Posted by Eric Paddon

What we'd call a "fake widescreen" in the sense of the image being blown up to accomodate a widescreen image but in the process it results in chopping off of the top and bottom of the original image. In effect it's the reverse of panning/scanning for old format TV when you'd lose the sides of a widescreen image to fit the proportions of a TV set.

It was shot with an OCN (original camera negative) ratio of 1.37:1; also known as Academy ratio, 4:3, full frame etc. On TV thus would crop slightly to 1.33:1.

However, because TVs have what’s called overscan around all four sides, the film makers ensure that essential information occurs in a safe area within the frame, and sometimes (as is the case with Saga of a Star World) they would shoot it safe for widescreen cropping when they made their theatrical release version (124 minutes; the premiere edit without commercials runs 139 minutes).

Many feature films were shot this way - certainly in the days of 1.33:1 TVs - so that when they were transfered to video or were shown on TV they wouldn't lose any picture info (unlike films shot in 2.35:1 Scope widescreen formats). This process was called shooting “soft matte” (aspect ratios: 1.66:1, 1.75:1, 1.85:1).

Some films were shot “hard matte” in the same three ratios which meant a plate was put in the camera that equalled those aspect ratios; titles shot this way would lose picture info at the sides on 1.33:1 video and TV.

To prepare a 2.35:1 or hard matte film the process was called panning and scanning, whereby the telecine operator would make choices on a second by second basis as to which parts of the frame were in vision at any one moment.

Saga of a Star World was shot soft matte but designed to be cropped to 1.85:1 in cinemas, which is why it looks fine in the widescreen 124 minute theatrical version.