SGU Kickstarter?

[Mnikolic]

To me, it looks like fan fics are the only way to go. While they might not be official conclusions and might not show what really happened next post SGU S02, they can offer at least some sort of conclusion. Plus everyone can make up their own version of the ending.

That and doing fan fics seems to be free of charge these days And they can be either published or not.

[Energizer_Vs_ZPM]

I wonder, would anyone else pay to just have the script? Because I would. I just want to know how it ends, they don't even have to actually make the movie.

While it's common knowledge that Jo and Brad had got the big idea for how it all ended, I don't think they'd actually written the scripts because the show was canned. You know how they work, they come up with the big idea and then stretch it out over many episodes to keep people watching. Just like with the weapons of the ancients and the finding of Atlantis. Heck it took five seasons to bring Atlantis to earth!

So, would I pay for the script? No because I very much doubt it even exists yet.

[Energizer_Vs_ZPM]

Why do sets costs so much, I wonder? They're made out of ordinary materials, right? Is it the labor?

min this video on youtube from behind the scenes will explain better what I was trying to tell you. You get a very quick glimpse of just some of the effort the production crew went to to build the sets. Remember everything they built was designed first. You'll also see the huge massive structure they built, the corridor with sliding up/down walls etc.

[Railgun]

If the sets are such a big cost:
Just a thought, but didn't they sell the sets off to fans?
Also I think David Hewlett owns lots of the of the SGU sets.

Could enough fans be persuaded to lend/rent them back to make a convincing..if not perfect, set for a few more episodes?

[knowles2]

To recreate the sets for anything like a reasonable amount of money you have to go completely CGI and green screen. Which means I ideally you would want the 3D scans they made of the sets before they took them down, an MGM cooperation. That and some free or very cheap labour to integrate it all into the live footage film, an the stars willing to work for free why you pay everyone else.

But only the producers setting up the Kickstarter would have require pull and contacts MGM and enough favours with the cast and crew to pull it off.

There more chance of someone like Joe Mallozi funding one of his projects through Kickstarter especially as his projects, especially as his projects seem to keep on getting cancelled by studio execs.

[Energizer_Vs_ZPM]

If the sets are such a big cost:
Just a thought, but didn't they sell the sets off to fans?

Anyone who would pay cash actually. Quite a few merchandise dealers bought things with the intention of ebaying them at even higher prices. A few months back the captains chair from destinys bridge was on ebay at $10k. The seller was clearly a dealer who even stated he'd got it from VIP auctions.

Also I think David Hewlett owns lots of the of the SGU sets.

The shuttle set yes.

Could enough fans be persuaded to lend/rent them back to make a convincing..if not perfect, set for a few more episodes?

If you paid $mega for your piece of destiny, would you yourself be happy to send it back through whatever postal system exists knowing you might not see it again? - Sure a few people would probably be willing but there will always be stubborn ones or those who decide to mess you around, demand back stage access, hold a ransom over the prop etc. In an ideal word yes it would work. Sadly this isn't an ideal world.

Even if you could get the props back OR remake them, have you seen the structure they'd need to rebuild that was in the video link I posted? - It's absolutely huge and would still cost mega money to rebuild.

[Mnikolic]

This kind of thing happens when you work with a franchise, but not own it as well.

Seeing what you posted just now, I think we can all safely say that any JM/BW/RC Stargate series is done for. Unless some MEGA ULTRA HUGE miracle happens.

Getting the sets back/rebuilding them is no problem if you have a studio that's big enough and of course, enough money to do it. Getting the original actors back would be mission impossible unless the script is good enough for them to agree to come back and the paying conditions are a bit better. But even without the original cast, both SGA and SGU could be continued without the original cast - by just bringing another cast onboard and making an excuse for the absence the original characters for in-show purposes. But it's just as everyone says - the JM/BW/RC Stargate series is a thing of the past and I've accepted it now. Especially after seeing that video you linked us to.

[Laxian of Earth]

I don't think SGU cost 150 million just to set up plus 2 million an episode...SyFy is acting like the upcoming Defiance is their biggest project yet by far, though of course some of that is the game and the marketing.

SGU was expensive, though...better CGI and more complicated sets, so of course it was expensive. And the only way this could EVER work in theory would be movie format, because there's no way the fans could provide enough money for a full season.

they would not need to, a pilot episode (if you go with a new series set in the universe of stargate - maybe even set on a ship, as there is no space-ship-science-fiction-series out there ATM and such series have a lot of fans, even if they did not watch stargate in the past) would be enough (if that got watched enough then and maybe they got some mail about how it was good etc. - they just need to show they learned something from SGU (first season was mostly dreadful) - and this could work out very well!)

as for doing lot of stuff in CGI instead of with sets...well, i would not want to decide that (i am neither an actor, nor a tv/movie-director or anything like that, i would leave that up to professionals - even more as i am sure that a lot of the old sets can be either re-created (cheaper then making something new) or re-used (i don't think they threw everything out))

i just love it that even in a science fiction forum (that is about the future, great plans and even utopia sometimes) we have so many that just love to stomp ideas into the ground before they have been tried (or even discussed)

greetings LAX

[min min light]

min this video on youtube from behind the scenes will explain better what I was trying to tell you.

Thanks!

If the sets are such a big cost:
Just a thought, but didn't they sell the sets off to fans?

My thoughts too - wouldn't fans be happy to lend them back?

That and some free or very cheap labour to integrate it all into the live footage film, an the stars willing to work for free why you pay everyone else.

I bet plenty of people would be happy to donate their time, but I suspect there's something preventing that, like union rules.

I don't think this could work for SG-1, everyone is too old now, in the context of people in an action movie (not in general). That may not be the case for Atlantis but that set would be too expensive to rebuild, I'd think. SGU is the most likely candidate (built-in excuse for why the actors aged, sets are out there and could possibly be loaned, at least one actor has stated he's on board any attempt ... ), but it also has the smallest fan base. I'd love to know how it compares to VM's fan base just for a reference point, but it's cable sci-fi vs. a network show that lasted twice as long so ...

Of course, you never know what kind of sci-fi-saving technology might be around the bend. Like using 3D printers for sets.

[Energizer_Vs_ZPM]

Thanks!

No worries. Hopefully you can see the effort that went into the design of the ship. Just one corridor that could be disguised as three (Rush's chalkboards could be attached to those drop down panels), multiple floors constructed from wood supported on steel beams, internal floors (stairs in the gateroom), sliding doors, rusty paint effects etc..

Thats a LOT of designing on paper, a lot of man power, a lot of materials, a lot of building time, a lot of staff wages...

My thoughts too - wouldn't fans be happy to lend them back?

Some might but you're never going to get a complete set though are you. See my previous post. I really think it would be a lot of trouble quite frankly.

I bet plenty of people would be happy to donate their time, but I suspect there's something preventing that, like union rules.

If they wanted to donate their time, they could have all put in extra hours when they were told the show was canned - just to give the viewers a happy ending. They didn't. While I'm sure you'll get the odd few who would, I'm sure the cost of living and loss of wages on other jobs would put quite a lot of them off. Remember the cast aren't all A-list celebrities like David Hasselhoff or Mr T, these are lower paid actors and actresses that while still being expensive, probably don't have a lot of surplus cash.

I don't think this could work for SG-1, everyone is too old now, in the context of people in an action movie (not in general). That may not be the case for Atlantis but that set would be too expensive to rebuild

On the contrary, I don't think age would matter for SG-1. RDA looks old anyway, Tapping .. well she's a woman, make up is their answer to aging lol, Shanks.. well he didn't age much anyway and Judge.. well I'm sure he'd still be Tealc looking. As for Atlantis, I'd imagine the set there would actually be cheaper to build than the SG-1 base. The SG-1 base had the gateroom, corridors on either sides, the dialling room, the stairs up to the conference room, stairs to hammonds office, other rooms, labs, corridors etc. On atlantis there was the gate room, the control section, weirs office, holo room and some generic looking corridors which could be made to look different like on destiny. In reality, we never see where most of the door ways in the atlantis gateroom go, we just see backgrounds and 90 degree corners. Scrap the holo room (but leave the door there) and thats a saving too.

Destiny however had a lot more spent on its set. MGM and scifi as I understand it were so impressed with the following that they pretty much threw mega money at it expecting it to be a massive hit. The reality is Brad and Jo decided to go on their "lets get us some awards for doing something different" sortie and it came crashing down for many viewers probably taking a lot of MGM and syfys money with it. I'll bet a few people got some serious shoutings at for what happened there and I would suspect a few people got black listed by others in the industry too.

I'd think. SGU is the most likely candidate (built-in excuse for why the actors aged, sets are out there and could possibly be loaned, at least one actor has stated he's on board any attempt ... ), but it also has the smallest fan base.

Easiest to implement you'd think but how would you really explain the actors aging? - They're in STASIS. They're NOT SUPPOSED TO AGE!!! Ok, we could let them give us a plot that a few hundred years have slipped or something but then we'd really like to see our people get home wouldn't we? - Preferably bringing destiny with them?

Of course, you never know what kind of sci-fi-saving technology might be around the bend. Like using 3D printers for sets.

I admire your enthusiasm but I really don't think you're going to get a new destiny set 3D printed cheaper than they could build it by hand. I think you need to start thinking about how expensive things actually are to do when it comes to building things. That money might not seem like much to you when its not yours but it is SOMEONES money and unless they see a way of making a return on a new SGU venture, it ain't gonna happen Just imagine how many screws and nails alone you'd need to rebuild the destiny set? Then you have the wood costs, the wooden panel costs, the paints, the special construction (like the gate) etc etc etc.

As much as I'd really like SGU to come back, I really don't see it happening any time soon. Give it 15 years and they might resurrect it knowing that people will want to watch a bit of "old stargate" again and it would naturally draw in much larger numbers but any time soon and many people wouldn't even bother with it because of their previously bad experience watching season 1. It's just how people work

[min min light]

If they wanted to donate their time, they could have all put in extra hours when they were told the show was canned - just to give the viewers a happy ending.

I didn't mean the cast, I meant regular people. Like college students studying CGI, etc. But I just read the blog entry and he says right in there that they have to use union people.

On the contrary, I don't think age would matter for SG-1. RDA looks old anyway, Tapping .. well she's a woman, make up is their answer to aging lol, Shanks.. well he didn't age much anyway and Judge.. well I'm sure he'd still be Tealc looking. [snip] Easiest to implement you'd think but how would you really explain the actors aging? - They're in STASIS. They're NOT SUPPOSED TO AGE!!!

I think the SG-1 people are past being realistic in any kind of a mission scenario, makeup or not, but I'd still watch it.

The SGU people aging: it hasn't been that long ago - it could easily be explained by joining them in progress a few years later.

I admire your enthusiasm but I really don't think you're going to get a new destiny set 3D printed cheaper than they could build it by hand.

I was factoring in all the pre-building work you mentioned before, drawing up the blueprints and making models and so on. But that wasn't my specific point anyway - my specific point was (is), you never know what will change to make something that seemed impossible, possible. Maybe there will be some kind of a breakthrough in green screen technology, maybe 3D printing will advance in leaps and bounds, maybe some generous fan will win the lottery ... I don't think it's likely to happen, but I sure don't write it off as impossible. Especially since the biggest hurdle is money, just stupid money, not (say) figuring out a way to get around the laws of physics.

I mean come on, we're sci-fi fans for crying out loud, shouldn't we of all people be at least marginally less cynical when it comes to the impossible?

[Energizer_Vs_ZPM]

I mean come on, we're sci-fi fans for crying out loud, shouldn't we of all people be at least marginally less cynical when it comes to the impossible?

I'll give you that lol. The snag is though sci fi is nothing but fantasy. The real world isn't. The real world unfortunately is a lot less cooperative

[min min light]

And sci-fi isn't always fantasy -- sometimes real life does catch up with it.

[Energizer_Vs_ZPM]

True, things such as laser disks from the late 80s are now common place but do you really think they could print an entire set? - I don't.

While its technically possible and the technology does exist, just finding a printer (or building one) that would be capable of it would cost more than building the set itself by hand. Then you've got the materials etc...

Don't get me wrong, I dearly wish we could have it all rebuilt and the show continued I really do. I just don't see it happening in the next decade.

It doesn't mean it won't happen though - look at Dallas and Dr Who! Both of those were popular, killed off and years later brough back! I'd like to think it will happen with SGU too however I think they'll need to let it rest before the curiosity gets to more people.

[min min light]

I was just speaking generally, but I do think the fact that 3D printers even exist is pretty frakking amazing. And they wouldn't necessarily have to be huge or print out a finished product, they could be used for smaller parts that lock together and things that will be detailed and painted later.

And true about Who, and Dallas, and Red Dwarf (I never thought we'd get a season X), and now Netflix is reviving at least one show (that I haven't seen yet in any incarnation - Arrested Development) ... amazing things do happen.