--- In [email protected], "shempmcgurk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > What makes both "Blade Runner" and "Alien" remarkable films is that > their science-fictionyness is really secondary; what the director > does in both films is concentrate on atmosphere and mood and > interweave a great story, dialogue and characters within the > atmosphere he has created. The futuristic stuff really is just > props that serve to support all the important stuff.
Exactly. For a science fiction future to feel real, it has to feel "lived in," as if the characters were living in it and interacting with it the way we live in our time, with almost no thought to the surroundings. I agree with you completely about Blade Runner and Alien; that's part of the secret of why they're such good films. That's why Firefly/Serenity is so cool. Serenity (the ship) becomes almost a tenth character, the "glue" that holds them together. It's old and patched-up and barely does its job, but it does its job. It's the machine counterpart of the outlaws who live in it, all of them trying to find some meaning in living outside the law on the fringes of an oppressive universe. Sometimes you don't even need many props or special effects to create a believable, "lived in" SciFi universe. "A Boy and His Dog" springs to mind, as does "Twelve Monkeys" and the film it's based on, "La Jetée." If a SciFi film has to rely on its special effects to reach an audience, it probably won't. Case in point, the fourth Star Wars film, of which one wag of a critic said, "You know you're in trouble as a director when your CGI actors are more interesting than your human ones." To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
