Is Claudia Black/Vala being short-changed?

[EvenstarSRV]

I don't see any reason why she isn't in the promotional stuff or the dvd covers etc. Surely they could have photo shopped her in. They must have a ton of pictures that would have done the job. She should have been on the season ten dvd cover and there really isn't any good reason why she's not.

I don't own any of the DVD sets, but from the pictures I've seen of the design they've only ever put 4 faces in the Gate on the cover. Even though Don S. Davis was a regular for seasons 1-7 his face was never on the cover, and Beau Bridges doesn't appear on the cover for season 9 or 10.

I think the design of the cover space-wise limits it to just 4 faces, which may have been a reason for why CB does not appear on the season 10 cover. She is on the Ark of Truth cover, which has different design from the season DVDs that I think allows for more faces.

And as popular as Vala may have been, I don't think it would have made sense for CB to be on the season 9 cover since she was just a reoccurring character that season.

[flynn1959]

I don't own any of the DVD sets, but from the pictures I've seen of the design they've only ever put 4 faces in the Gate on the cover. Even though Don S. Davis was a regular for seasons 1-7 his face was never on the cover, and Beau Bridges doesn't appear on the cover for season 9 or 10.

I think the design of the cover space-wise limits it to just 4 faces, which may have been a reason for why CB does not appear on the season 10 cover. She is on the Ark of Truth cover, which has different design from the season DVDs that I think allows for more faces.

And as popular as Vala may have been, I don't think it would have made sense for CB to be on the season 9 cover since she was just a reoccurring character that season.

Well it didn't stop them fitting five faces on the Atlantis cover, and I do believe they managed to squeeze six in on the season two box set! Maybe the Atlantis gate is bigger.

CB/Vala should have been on the season ten box set cover and there really is no valid reason she isn't.

[Jack_O'Neill_fan]

the ONLY reason claudia wasn't in the promo shoots and the like is because she was pregnant and, i'm guessing, she didn't want to.

If you'll notice the qetesh costume, it was deliberately made to disguise the baby bump. by the time they got done with filming and were in the promotional stage, she was very pregnant, too pregnant to hide.

Right now she's enjoying being a mom and i'm not sure but she might even be in CA with the hubby (or wherever their home is)

there was no deliberate slight, simply the producers, et al, being sensitive to an actress' personal needs

Couldn't she just stand behind someone when they were taking the pics?

[Integrabyte]

I don't need tons of photos with Claudia to know that she was the best thing that happened to Stargate. She is the reason I bought S9-S10. Those were the best Seasons EVER!

My opinion. (c)

[SunKrux]

CB/Vala should have been on the season ten box set cover and there really is no valid reason she isn't.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but you're saying the fact that she was pregnant and VERY ILL and had a very ill child and hubby at home during the photo shoots aren't valid enough reasons for you? They're very valid reasons for most of us.

I'm sorry, I don't think it was a slight at all, especially since, (even with the costuming and the huge props used to try and hide her pregnancy) she was pregnant and her doctor restricted what she could and couldn't do during that time.

It could also be a matter of her contract didn't include things like the DVD covers and stuff.

Once the writers toned down the sex kitten aspect of Vala, she became my 2nd fav character on the show. I really liked that the writers played to Claudia's comedic timing. It is a nice change from Aeryn from Farscape. I always knew Claudia had great comedic timing and I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED that she was the comic relief at times in SG1. I just wished they'd done more with Vala and Carter, the writers that is. I am glad they (writers) didn't make them enemies or something equally silly. Hats off to Amanda and Claudia for adding the little nuances they added to the relationship between Vala and Sam. I would have liked to seen more.

[Skydiver]

Couldn't she just stand behind someone when they were taking the pics?

i'm willing to bet that it's not just the simple act of hiding baby, it's the physical stress of standing there for hours.

in a perfect world, they would have had promo shots done prior to the project getting done/even started and prior to her pregnancy being an issue...but that would require thinking ahead.

and tv shows rarely do that

[flynn1959]

[QUOTE=SunKrux;9042278]I don't mean to sound harsh, but you're saying the fact that she was pregnant and VERY ILL and had a very ill child and hubby at home during the photo shoots aren't valid enough reasons for you? They're very valid reasons for most of us.
I'm sorry, I don't think it was a slight at all, especially since, (even with the costuming and the huge props used to try and hide her pregnancy) she was pregnant and her doctor restricted what she could and couldn't do during that time.

It could also be a matter of her contract didn't include things like the DVD covers and stuff.
QUOTE]

I am saying that she didn't need to be there in person at all, pregnant or not. They could quite easily have photoshopped an old picture of her into the shot for the cover, after all they are airbrushed to death anyway. And I do believe that some if not all of the cover pictures are made up anyway. Unless their heads really are all different sizes!

She deserved to be there and there is no reason why she wasn't. It's not simply a case of her being one of my favourite characters, I don't like Carter at all but if she had been left off of one of the covers I would think it was wrong too. CB/Vala was a full time main character and member of SG1 during season ten she had a right to be there.

[SunKrux]

I am saying that she didn't need to be there in person at all, pregnant or not. They could quite easily have photoshopped an old picture of her into the shot for the cover, after all they are airbrushed to death anyway. And I do believe that some if not all of the cover pictures are made up anyway. Unless their heads really are all different sizes!

Gotcha, but considering how poorly the photoshopping and airbrushing has been done in the past, CB and the rest of the cast deserve better photos in all honesty.

She deserved to be there and there is no reason why she wasn't. It's not simply a case of her being one of my favourite characters, I don't like Carter at all but if she had been left off of one of the covers I would think it was wrong too. CB/Vala was a full time main character and member of SG1 during season ten she had a right to be there.

Again, it could be a CONTRACT thing as to why she's not on the covers. I believe, please anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, the actors have to negotiate DVD stuff (like being on the covers and what not) when they negotiate their contract. Maybe, CB didn't feel the need to be on the covers. I'm just saying.

[MerryK]

Once the writers toned down the sex kitten aspect of Vala, she became my 2nd fav character on the show. I really liked that the writers played to Claudia's comedic timing. It is a nice change from Aeryn from Farscape. I always knew Claudia had great comedic timing and I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED that she was the comic relief at times in SG1. I just wished they'd done more with Vala and Carter, the writers that is. I am glad they (writers) didn't make them enemies or something equally silly. Hats off to Amanda and Claudia for adding the little nuances they added to the relationship between Vala and Sam. I would have liked to seen more.

And what was really great was, they actually had a really good reason (that they explored) for why the sex was toned down. I also agree on her being a nice change from Aeryn, and a great way for CB to show her many talents.

[Skydiver]

i wish we'd have seen more quetesh and less vala. qetesh in Continuum...ROCKED. ironic, evil, funny, vicious....she was great.

vala...well i thoroughly enjoyed qetesh. Adn i do agree, she SHOULD have been on the cover. But her absence wasn't something set up to annoy people or to slight her. it was just circumstance.

[EvenstarSRV]

Well it didn't stop them fitting five faces on the Atlantis cover, and I do believe they managed to squeeze six in on the season two box set! Maybe the Atlantis gate is bigger.

CB/Vala should have been on the season ten box set cover and there really is no valid reason she isn't.

True, the Atlantis covers have fit at least 5 characters for each season so far, but their design is very different from the SG-1 DVD covers. The SG-1 DVDs have the four characters inside a whole Stargate that takes up less than half of the cover space. The Atlantis DVDs show only part of the Stargate with the characters taking up over half of the cover space. I don't own any of the DVDs myself, I'm just comparing the images of them that are on Amazon.

I think the SG-1 covers worked great for seasons 1-9 when SG-1 had only 4 team members, but then the problem came with the 5-person team in season 10. They probably didn't want to change the cover design for the last season (understandable I think, for continuity sake), and to me the existing design just doesn't spatially allow for more than 4 faces. With the Ark of Truth cover it looks like they went with a design closer to the Atlantis ones, which did allow them to include CB.

So while I also wish CB had been on the season 10 DVDs, I do personally think that the design issues are a pretty valid reason for why she was left off.

[flynn1959]

True, the Atlantis covers have fit at least 5 characters for each season so far, but their design is very different from the SG-1 DVD covers. The SG-1 DVDs have the four characters inside a whole Stargate that takes up less than half of the cover space. The Atlantis DVDs show only part of the Stargate with the characters taking up over half of the cover space. I don't own any of the DVDs myself, I'm just comparing the images of them that are on Amazon.

I think the SG-1 covers worked great for seasons 1-9 when SG-1 had only 4 team members, but then the problem came with the 5-person team in season 10. They probably didn't want to change the cover design for the last season (understandable I think, for continuity sake), and to me the existing design just doesn't spatially allow for more than 4 faces. With the Ark of Truth cover it looks like they went with a design closer to the Atlantis ones, which did allow them to include CB.

So while I also wish CB had been on the season 10 DVDs, I do personally think that the design issues are a pretty valid reason for why she was left off.

No they don't always, on the season six, seven and eight box sets they only show part of the gate.

The season ten box set could easily have been designed the same way to accommodate CB/Vala. Or they could have placed the two female stars a little lower and forward of the men. Or they could have done what they did on the season eight box set with MS/Daniel - shrunk her head down to half the size of the others and partly hidden her behind someone else.

I say again, there really is no good reason why CB/Vala is not on the cover.

[Skydiver]

with atlantis, they had their promo pics taken in uniform....giving any photoshop artists something good to work with that would work well on the cover of a dvd.


sg1???? those air brushed monstrocities that they took were in civvies...not appropriate for the cover of a dvd. their 'push' to not do the photos in uniform/costume came back to haunt them

then again....sometimes no matter what you do, if people are determined to hate it, they will.

[EvenstarSRV]

No they don't always, on the season six, seven and eight box sets they only show part of the gate.

The season ten box set could easily have been designed the same way to accommodate CB/Vala. Or they could have placed the two female stars a little lower and forward of the men. Or they could have done what they did on the season eight box set with MS/Daniel - shrunk her head down to half the size of the others and partly hidden her behind someone else.

Really? Oh, I was looking at the US DVD covers, which have had the same design each season. I just checked Amazon UK and you're right, seasons 6-8 have a different design, but then they went right back to the old design for season 9 and 10, maybe to keep it consistent with the US design?. Though I still don't see how you could effectively fit a fifth face into those UK season 6-8 covers, not without making it so small it'd just look silly.

Oh well, I personally think design issues, at least for the US covers I guess, are a valid reason, but I also don't think that would necessarily translate into short-changing the actress. I think CB/Vala was one of the highlights of season 10 (I especially enjoyed her in Line in the Sand), which I believe stands whether or not CB is on the DVD cover, but that's just me.