|
JMJ MEDIA GROUP, LLC   |
 |
|
|
NOTE: It was never published, because the company ceased all publication of Battlestar Galactica Licensed material prior to our book hitting the newstands. It was ready for print, and can now be found online at two separate locations. Kenneth Thomson Jr.'s portion of the book, can be found by clicking here:
Mike McAdam's portions can be found at his website.
|
REALM PRESS WEB
ROUNDTABLE Welcome to our ongoing series of round table discussions for JMJ Media Group, LLC’s line of comic books. This web roundtable focuses on our first-ever Battlestar Galactica Technical Journal, under our Realm Press imprint. In this edition, we talk with the two technical illustrators/creators behind this brand new limited series, Mike McAdams and Ken Thomson. You can imagine the excitement of being able to work with these two very gifted individuals, both of whom worked hard with Battlestar Galactica star Richard Hatch on his Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming trailer. (See BattlestarGalactica.com for details.) We're proud to add their latest work to our line of Battlestar Galactica comic books.
MICHAEL: It's funny that we're calling "Battlestar Galactica Technical Journal - The Galactica" a "comic book"... MIKE: It is closer to a book than a comic. What you will find in this issue will a step above your average comic. Instead of having line art, this comic book features all computer generated images. By using this method of creating the pages we can offer the reader more detail than would normally be given to such a project. Not only will you see more detail, but you will be shown a realistic view of what a future Battlestar Galactica production may look like. KEN: Well it's definitely not your typical comic book, except for the fact that we do use artistic license. It's a new format that has a lot of new possibilities. We hope to have created something that the fans will be able to use as a reference, as well as some nice artistic renderings of sets and ships from the show, in a way never seen before. By using 3d rendering, we're able to create actual virtual sets, and props, that can be used over and over again, in many types of productions, including video production. Only some of the things you'll see in this tech manual were used in Richard Hatch's trailer to bring back the show. Those that were, were in a different form. Most of the things you'll see were either freshly constructed for this project, or heavily modified for use in a print format.
MICHAEL: Let's discuss the canonical aspects of this book. The Technical Journal is set ten yahrens (years) since the end of the original Battlestar Galactica series. What do we theorize has happened to the Galactica, the Vipers, etc.? KEN: Well, in order to have some artistic license, we did want to do some upgrading to the Galactica's systems, but you'll find most everything is very, very familiar, with no great departures from the original series. In this way, it is like a comic book, because it expands on the fiction of the show. It is conjectural. I did surmise that the bridge has been revamped, as much as the Galactica's limited forces could afford to do. This was probably out of necessity, after the damage inflicted by the Cylons' many attacks. The structure is the same as the original. Everything is in it's place, but some systems have changed or been replaced. There are some pieces of original equipment, and some new computers. However, the "feel" is the same as the show. I tried to stay as true to the few reference images available to me as I could get, and also used the official blueprints to get the layout of the room itself. But true details were very scarce, except for what could be gleaned from the videos themselves. MIKE: The ten year setting allows us some room to play with. While I did try to stay true to the original, some things change over time. I also think it would be interesting for someone to do stories during this time line. Then we would have a connection between the original show, and Richard’s version. (Set 20 or so years after the original.) As for what happened to the Vipers, and the Galactica, that’s easy! DAMAGE! The Cylon fighters must hit something from time to time, and I bet it's the battlestar! You will see a more damaged version here.
MICHAEL: Both of you worked hard on Richard Hatch's Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming trailer. Obviously, some people may assume that you utilized the same tech--or designs--that are seen in his production. MIKE: I modeled my original Battlestar models before meeting up with Richard. When I worked on the trailer, I got the models to where they needed to be for that project. Other new models were created just for that trailer, such as the Super BaseStar. In this project, I had to go back and do some new work. I would say these models are better than the ones in the trailer. If I could update the trailer, I now have a good reason. KEN: I modeled the bridge specifically for the Technical Journal. It did not appear in the trailer. What you saw in the trailer (if you've been one of the fortunate ones who've seen it at a convention) was only the main viewscreen silhouetting Apollo. When I showed the bridge model to Richard for the first time last Thursday, he said it gave him a eerie sense of deja vu. He said he had forgotten some of the details, but it looked right to him. He did say I should upgrade it more, and I told him this tech manual was only set ten years after the show ended, and that we could upgrade it more for The Second Coming, which is set twenty years after the show. He was pretty excited about that. We'll see what happens...
MICHAEL: One of the joys of this Technical Journal is showing areas of the ships which weren't seen on the original television show. What will the readers look forward to seeing? KEN: Well, you're going to see some new hypothetical/conjectural details. Rooms we know must have existed, but we never saw. We don't show everything, but hopefully by the end of the "Battlestar Galactica Technical Journal" series, you'll have details equivalent to the Technical Manuals done for Star Trek, etc. One slight drawback to 3d, is that it takes longer to create. The advantage is that once it's done, it's incredibly more flexible than hand drawn work when it comes to rendering new angles, adding new detail and modifiying. Plus, you have a consistency factor. So we'll probably see more of that in the future. This being a series, we'll also get around to all the things we missed this time around, too. The Galactica is huge. It's over 6,000 feet long, so don't expect detailed plans that go deck by deck... :) MIKE: I don’t think there was ever any good pictures of the ships printed. While looking for images to make the models, way back when, I couldn’t find any good ones. Most images are very dark and blurred. I think readers will look forward to seeing clear pictures for the first time. This issue really doesn’t get into too many new areas of the ship. It's more focused on the ships we know and love. I think future issues will go into that. I can’t be sure.
MICHAEL: What was the big difference between rendering these images, as opposed to doing the live action CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) in Richard's trailer? MIKE: I only had to render them once! HA! Excuse me. These images had to be rendered at a very high resolution. T.V. resolution is very low and forgiving. Print media, on the other hand, demands high resolutions. Some of the images are around 40 times the size of the T.V. image. Some things had to be fixed and updated just for that reason alone. It's odd in a way: the comic book is so small, yet so clear. KEN: For the trailer, we were doing lots of different things on a really tight schedule. But they were only for video resolution, and everything was in motion. We could use smoke and mirrors--and camera blur to cheat. We couldn't do that here. The idea was to see all the details. Every time I thought I had everything right, I'd render it and find something I'd left out. So I had to go back and add a new detail. Then I'd watch the shows, and see something else. It's enough to drive a person insane...
MICHAEL: Any "Easter Eggs" you want to mention -- or tease -- to our readers? MIKE: Yes, but if I tell you all the things now, maybe JMJ Media (Realm Press) won’t print them! I can assure you there is something to the Viper cutaway image. Just be careful to not choke on it! If you do, I might have to recall the whole thing.
MICHAEL: Since doing the first Technical Journal, do either of you have aspirations in the world of comic books? KEN: Well, I'd like to try my hand at writing, actually. I've written a few scripts, and a novel based on an original concept, called Demonslayers. The reason I got into animation was a means to an end, which was telling a story in a way that I'd have total control of the environment, characters, costumes, etc. When I was a kid, and I made my Super 8mm film movies of Star Wars and Star Trek, I wrote the stories as comics. This let me storyboard my ideas, long before I even knew what a storyboard was. I was in elementary school when I did those projects, and I may post some clips from them on my web page eventually, just for fun. I've recently written a few Star Trek scripts which I plan to pitch to Paramount for Voyager, and/or comics or novels. Plus, I've got a few Battlestar stories in my head that I'm dying to tell. I dug up some of my old creative writing assignments from Junior High and High school and found a few Battlestar Galactica stories among them. I had a few ideas in them I'd like to redo in a much more expanded version... All these models done, and stories to tell. It is inevitable that they will be told eventually. I'm only looking for the opportunity right now. One of the things Mike and I have been hoping to try is an entirely cg (computer generated) rendered comic of Battlestar. But that will be up to our friends at Realm Press, and up to you fans to let us know if you'd like to see that or not? One thing we'd be able to do with cg characters is work more quickly and that means getting issues out faster. Another plus is that it will easier to create and maintain more accurate likenesses of the characters. Imagine a Fotonovel, where photographs of a show were printed with comic book captions, as was popular before videotape became widely available. Why not do a comic with photo realistic 3d likenesses of the characters, done in the same way, but with the flexiblity to create new images, instead of only existing photographs? Mike has already started prototyping a 3d based comic, but it's just a quick start. It's pretty cool, considering he threw it together in only a couple of days.
MICHAEL: Do you anticipate the fans taking us to task on any of the images? KEN: Well, as I said earlier, I took some liberties on the bridge. I didn't have all the necessary details to go by, so I had to improvise in some places. It is unmistakably the Galactica, but there are a few differences from the original. So, remember, it's an artist's conception, and there is a conjectural ten year update here. So, hopefully everyone will be pleased, but there is always someone I won't be able to satisfy. To those persons, we shall eventually get it perfect, and include the exact version in a future issue as a then and now kind of thing, if the powers that be want that. I had no choice but to make up details where they couldn't be seen. Plus, the Atlantia's bridge, although well-lit, was different from the Galactica's. This was so they could blow it up, without destroying a million dollar set. My "virtual set" cost a whole lot less! Although, if I were charging by the hour... MIKE: I don’t have any idea how the final printed images will look like until I get a copy of the issue. I can assure everyone that they look great on my computer. While all the models capture the heart and soul of the real models used in the original, nothing was modeled as a bolt for bolt copy. I think most will be happy with the issue. I gave up trying to make everyone happy along time ago.
MICHAEL: My penultimate question: Why buy this book? What is so valuable about running to the comic book store -- or ordering a copy online -- before supplies run out? KEN: There hasn't been anything like this done before, as far as I know. The usual tech manuals have line-art, and some colored 3d renders that look like diagrams, but don't make you feel like you're on the ship itself. With this, at least for the bridge, I wanted to create a feel similar to the feeling you get from a virtual tour, rather than just another set of blueprints. These are crisp, photographic style renderings of 3d models, in 16 million colors, and shaded and lit like the original sets. Hopefully the fans will like that. If this is all collected in another form someday, it may have actual blueprints done for everything you see in 3d. I don't know. You fans should definitely write in and tell us what you want to see, and what you think of our work. MIKE: You have to run to the comic book store and buy this before some freak buys them all up and sells them on eBay.com for 50 bucks a pop. If you think I’m crazy, you haven’t seen eBay. You also have to consider that the more issues that sell, the better the chance of seeing a new Battlestar T.V. series. This can really serve as a meter on the interest in Battlestar Galactica. A tech journal is much more than a comic book story. It represents the ideas of the entire show. So, go buy one -- and then write jmjmedia.com and tell them what you think. If it does really well, maybe we will do more. If not, well, it's on to something else.
MICHAEL: Last question: What have you guys been up to, since finishing Richard's Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming trailer? What's in the works? MIKE: Working on The Great War of Magellan with Richard Hatch. Also trying to get some of my own projects off the ground, as well as Ken’s. I really see doing effects as a stepping stone to doing entire projects, it's just a matter of getting more people to go along with our ideas. KEN: I've also been working on Richard's new production, The Great War of Magellan. I've also been writing. I'm very serious about getting some work published, and this Technical Journal is a great opportunity to do that. I've also been applying finishing touches to my original story, Demonslayers. Additionally, Mike and I have got a few other productions in the infant stages, waiting for the opportunity to get started. I'm updating my web page, where you can see what's new. Check out: Demonslayers Productions 2000.
MICHAEL: For a sneak peek of the artwork from the "Battlestar Galactica Techical Journal - The Galactica" (available late June 2000) visit our Gallery section. To learn where to buy it, visit our How to Buy section. In closing, you, our readers, can support Battlestar Galactica by purchasing issues of the various Realm Press Battlestar Galactica comic books. Your patronage does signal support for more Battlestar products and this is one of the things Universal looks at when considering a new film or television project. We hope you'll visit your local comic book shop or online retailer and pick up a few issues today! Bad News for Battlestar Comic Book fans: The Battlestar Galactica Technical Journal was cancelled by Realm Press, along with their entire Battlestar Galactica line of Comic Books. For the whole story and their press release, click the banner below. The good news is that the BSGTJ is on the internet, and can be viewed for free. :)
|
KEN: Well, I didn't specifically
use any easter eggs. However, when scanning the DVD of the pilot, "Saga
of a Star World," I did notice something which will give away something
that even Adama didn't know. The Galactica was made with components
that originated on Earth. Obviously, the Galactica must be far
in our future, and Galactica 1980 had to be a bad dream. It's
the only logical explanation for one of the technical readouts of schematics
on the bridge actually saying, "Made in U.S.A." If that's the case,
they definitely need to upgrade...
