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SeaQuest DSV (1993-1996)
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Pow
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 29, 2020 2:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very interesting information, David, regarding the fact that CGI was not sophisticated enough at that time in regards to the visual look for the underwater scenes on the show.

In this case we have an instance where the lack of technological advancement in CGI actually worked to the advantage of the series.

I am curious though as to just what today's state-of-the-art CGI can do presenting scenes for a s-f film or TV show dealing with life beneath the surface of the ocean?
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 29, 2020 3:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Forgive me, folks, but as a die-hard cinematic submariner, what I want from a movie about submarines are scenes in which the "boat" (as they're called in the Navy) are shown cruising through remarkably clear water (despite the depth) — the exact same way the USS Enterprise zooms around in space, always well-lit . . . in spite of being millions of light years from the nearest star. Rolling Eyes

In short: screw reality! Very Happy

What I really want . . . is ART!

I want are images which resemble scenes like the ones in movies like Ice Station Zebra and Hell and High Water








— which both strongly resemble this painting I did for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea when I attended a special movie night with my friends in the early 1980s.





That night also included a small painting by me which is shown in this photo of a wonderful cake which featured a model of Nautilus atop a frosted ocean!





Here's the actual painting I did to serve as the backdrop for my old friend's cake.



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Pow
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 06, 2020 3:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yet another aspect of SQ DSV's production I like are the submariners uniforms.

On so many sci~fi TV series we see the cast wearing outfits that appear to be uncomfortable & thus unrealistic to be working in every day. Even if the uniform design is a sharp looking one, if you have to pour a person into it, it appears as impractical to have to wear.

The uniforms in the early years of ST:TNG were these one-piece tight spandex form fitting clothes.

Came off more like a superhero costume.

They looked awkward and stiff and like something I just could not buy into as what humans would actually wear, even centuries from now.

The SQ uniforms are like a military jet pilot's flight suit.

It's a one-piece uniform but relaxed enough in its fit to look like you could work in 'em on a shift each day.

The turtleneck color indicated what section of the sub that individual was associated with on the boat.

White was command, red was technical for example.

Patch on the right shoulder indicated rank, patch on the left was the cool symbol for the UEO. On the left side of the upper chest was the name of the rank, name of the individual & number for the SQ which was 4600.
On the right side of the upper chest was the nifty looking patch for the submarine which was a triangle with a hammerhead shark inside it and the letters SeaQuest written across the middle of the triangle.

All-and-all, they were very believable uniforms.


Last edited by Pow on Fri Oct 09, 2020 4:00 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 06, 2020 4:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

I've always liked the SeaQuest uniforms, but I've never considered them as carefully as you have.

And yet I completely agree with your comments about the importance of both series and movies which have good costume designs. Very Happy

The best example of this (in my opinion) are the costumes in Forbidden Planet!






When my late mother took me to see Forbidden Planet at a downtown Atlanta theater in 1956, I vividly remember her leaning towards me in the theater and complimenting the "futuristic" uniforms! Cool

For the record, my mother took me to see several of the best sci-fi movies of the 1950s at downtown theaters, such as This Island Earth and The Time Machine






— in addition to several "family night" movies my family enjoyed at the Roosevelt Drive-in — which was frequently visited by aliens who enjoyed the food from their snack bar! Very Happy



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Pow
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 07, 2020 11:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Your mom sounds like a wonderful lady, Bud.

My folks took me to see some films as a kid that I was interested in but probably weren't ones they would have gone to see themselves. And I have to thank them for doing so.

They took me to see "Journey to the Center of the Earth" when it came out in 1959.

"The Fabulous World of Jules Verne" was another one they took me to see and I know this was not to their taste at all.

Later on a friend's mom took us to see Ray Harryhausen's "Jason and the Argonauts."

Once the film got going she just about wanted to walk out of the theater. To appease her my pal went along with her wishes.

I'm sitting there in a silent panic because I wanted so much to see the movie.

Eventually she settled down and we remained to see the entire film.

I don't think she approved that it was the type of film for young minds to see. Her husband was a minister.
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Krel
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 07, 2020 2:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:

The uniforms in the early years of ST:TNG were these one-piece tight spandex form fitting clothes.

Came off more like a superhero costume.

They looked awkward and stiff and like something I just could not buy into as what humans would actually wear, even centuries from now the SQ.


They changed the jammies uniform because they gave Patric Stewart a pinched nerve in his neck.

David.
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Pow
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 07, 2020 8:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The cast said that those one-piece uniforms also smelled badly.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 08, 2020 6:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Here's an unhappy thought! Shocked

Could this have been caused by the fact that it was just too hard to get the damn things off when the actors needed to go to the bathroom quickly during the long shooting schedules? Shocked

Perhaps from time to time the poor guys didn't quite get to the toilet quickly enough . . . soiling themselves just a little. Then they had to hurry back to the set — without changing!

In other words, "The show must go on." Rolling Eyes

Embarrassed by these personal mishaps, they later turned in their costumes at that the end of the day . . . without reporting their problems to the prop department! Sad

And thus we have a situation in which the unfortunate cast of the series were forced to wear less-than-clean clothing on a daily basis — the truth of which they felt compelled to gloss over when asked (during interviews) concerning how they felt about the troublesome one-piece costumes!

What do you think, guys? Does that perhaps explain the problem? Very Happy

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Krel
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 08, 2020 8:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

On "Star Trek" G.R. didn't want certain things on the costumes that would be too 20th century. He didn't want pockets, buttons or zippers. Because of this the male cast members (and female cast members in some costumes), were sewn into their pants, so any bathroom breaks involved a seamstress. Laughing

David.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 09, 2020 1:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Krel wrote:
. . . the male cast members (and female cast members in some costumes), were sewn into their pants, so any bathroom breaks involved a seamstress.

Thank God the 21st century hasn't advanced that far yet, and we can still go to the bathroom alone! Shocked
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Pow
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 09, 2020 4:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jeepers, I was thinking that the uniforms became Pepe LePew due to the actors being under those intensely hot lights use for lighting scenes.

Thanks to Bud, I now have a really disgusting image in my head for another cause for the smell. Yuk!
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 30, 2021 10:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
Dr. Ballard would also appear at the end of each episode in the first season where he would inform the audience of current undersea research being done. The research usually was related to the content of that week's particular episode.

I was amazed to learn recently that All Sci-Fi member Morbius is a retired marine biologist who first decided to pursue that profession when he was six years old . . . after seeing 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea in 1954! Shocked





His passion for the beautiful design of the Nautilus has not waned one bit in 67 years.





This is undoubtedly the most impressive example I've ever heard of in which a young person was so inspired by science fiction that they actually entered the field of science which excited them the most! Cool

Morbius is an experience scuba diver who has made numerous dives, both for recreation and for his research as a marine biologist.

Today Morius spends much of this time building and enhancing remote controlled video drones. You can enjoy some of his spectacular aerial videos at the thread he started called Droning.

I was amazed when he told me that he doesn't simply watch the video images from the drones on a computer monitor — he actually wears goggles which allow him to view what the drone is "seeing", as if he was flying on it himself!

Gentlemen, ponder that awesome thought for a moment.

Morbius is using 21st century technology to do what the "whiskers" do on SeaQuest whenever the lovely Stacy Haiduk dons a headset and experiences 3D images of what the submersible devices are viewing outside the submarine!

Enjoy this wonderful fan-made video using clips from SeaQuest, accompanied by some very beautiful music.


___________ SEAQUEST DSV // Caribbean Blue


__________

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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 15, 2022 1:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
SeaQuest was one of the first weekly s~f TV series to employ CGI for everything underwater in its September 1993 debut.87.

Captain Power rendered the mechanical robots known as the Bio-Dreads fully on a computer.

As much as I like CGI as artwork when it's stylized and not meant to pass as "real", the two wonderfully designed robots in Captain Power we such early attempts at this technique that even I'm not that fond of the results.

That might surprise anyone who has read my spirited defense of the TOS enhanced FX
. Confused
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Pow
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 15, 2022 4:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was quite taken with Soaron & Blastarr when they first popped up on screen, Bud.

I had never seen anything visually like 'em before on a SF TV series, so this was exciting as imperfect as it was. We were seeing something innovative on television. It was flawed, and why wouldn't it be, CGI was in its early stages at that time, it was 1987 after all.

It wasn't as smooth and realistically done as can be done nowadays. Again, it 1987. We have to judge special/visual effects within the times it was utilized. In addition, we have to judge it based upon the budget & shooting schedule demands it was subject to.

But I was imagining a future where this CGI FX would evolve and render some astonishing images as I watched Captain Power.

The designs for the robots is still pretty cool even today.
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scotpens
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 17, 2022 12:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:

I've always liked the SeaQuest uniforms, but I've never considered them as carefully as you have.

And yet I completely agree with your comments about the importance of both series and movies which have good costume designs. Very Happy

The best example of this (in my opinion) are the costumes in Forbidden Planet!



The fact that dozens of movies and TV shows recycled the Forbidden Planet uniforms is a testament to their classic design -- although I always wondered about the function of the padded epaulets and the ribbed V-shaped section down the front.
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