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And maybe I would have known this if I had gotten past the first chapter of Character and Viewpoint. You have different characters and you choose who to zoom in on depending on who the current activity will most interest. It is not always the person it involves.
I am inspired, possibly, to write my novel in 3rd person after all.
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I'm way jazzed about this movie. It opened today; unfortunately not yet in our smallish town. For anyone who wishes to see how to bring together a diverse group of personalities, yet put them in a situation that requires them to form a bond, this is the story to look into. I just got done watching the 4 DVD set of Firefly and am now a fan.
Posts: 2026 | Registered: Mar 2005
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This is what is being said on the far side of the forum about Serenity:
quote:It's my favorite movie of the year, and perhaps my favorite movie... period. I'll be seeing it again in theaters. The movie really got to me, and I still don't know if that's a good or bad thing, but it was a hell of a ride.
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Alas, I missed the original "Firefly" series when it was on...I'm usually asleep when prime time comes, and there are so damned many TV shows to choose from...perhaps I should pick up the DVD set or hunt for it on cable.
(I didn't particularly like the creator's previous series, "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" though I am certainly aware of its popularity.)
There's another burning question: do you have to have seen the original series to understandwhat's going on in this movie sequel? Or even to like and appreciate it? I found this a chronic problem in later "Star Trek" and "Star Wars" segments, and any number of series with long story arcs...
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The movie (saw it last night) was wonderful! Brilliantly written! I learned a few things about carrying suspense and the info dump imbedded opening was, well, brilliant! I don't want to give away the movie for people, but as a writer I was thrown off by the first 3 scenes until I realized how much they had accomplished in such a short time with awe-inspiring results and each one occured in logical patterns.
Corpes Bride: badly written movie with major plot holes, a part that rings of deus ex machina and droll dialoge sections.
Serentity: If I could write a book that is as well paced and with such suspense and humor and emotion and characters and action, I would easily become narcissistic.
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Not yet having seen the movie, I can't tell you if previewing the TV episodes enhances the movie experience or not.
But I can tell you my experience of viewing the DVD set. I had only seen one "Firefly" episode prior to last week, when a friend loaned me the 4 disc set. I sat down to watch, and discovered I had developed an addiction. I spent the next several nights, staying up LATE, going from one episode to the next. The first episode (2 hours) explains how the characters met and ended up on the spaceship together. It does a great job of setting up the milieu. The humor in the subsequent episodes is pretty subtle if you have NOT seen previous episodes. The thing I like is that there is continuation from one episode to the next. It's not crucial for the enjoyment, but it does carry a thread of continuity throughout the entire series. Characters will refer to events that happened a few episodes back, events which shape their decisions.
My understanding from scanning a few select comments on the public side of the Hatrack forums is that having seen the TV series is NOT necessary for enjoyment of the movie. I'm afraid to read too many comments over there, however, because I suspect I may run into spoilers. I'm hoping to remain untainted until I can drive to the big city next weekend to catch the movie.
[This message has been edited by Elan (edited October 02, 2005).]
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I have always admired Joss Whedon's style. Serenity was a great movie, and I loved the TV show. You should watch the DVD extras to figure out what goes on in his head. It's quite enlightening. Posts: 97 | Registered: Aug 2005
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I had not seen the series before seeing the movie. I did this as an experiment for my friends. I gathered that in at least one respect my experience was very different from theirs. Whether this is a good or a bad thing depends. I do plan to watch the series this week.
Posts: 366 | Registered: Sep 2006
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The set up is that there is a vast solar system colonized by descendents of people who left earth. The middle of the solar system is well organized and allied, the further out you got the less control there is, it's sort of a fronteir area. In the very fringes there are people turned savage who periodically prey on the fronteir area.
There was apparently a war for control of the frontier a few years before the movie is set, and the crew of the ship Serenity fought on the losing side, so they are now outlaws trying to make their way as best they can by smuggling and what the central alliance would probably deem piracy. I know what it is now, it's kind of like Star Wars meets Raising Arizona.
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I actually posted a comment in "Published Hooks and Books" a few days ago. No one noticed it there, I guess. This is what I said there:
quote:Fox in its infinite wisdom ran only 11 episodes of this show then pulled it (seems they had a hard time building an audience since they refused to run the episodes in chronological order, skipped weeks and popped it into unannounced time slots.
At any rate, the show's premise is science fiction mingled with western... 500 years in the future and lots of travel to backwater planets where folks rely on horses to travel and guns to keep the bad guys at bay.
If you have a NY Times (free) online subscription, it's in the 09/30/05 issue.
The article is entitled: "Scruffy Space Cowboys Fighting Their Failings."
The show is written and directed by Joss Whedon, who is the creator of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." The movie "Serenity" is rated PG-13.
The crew of Serenity are not outlaws because of their association with the defeated Browncoat rebels. They are outlaws because they are smugglers, trying to scrape a living. They try to fly "under the radar" and stay away from the attention of the Alliance. The captain of Serenity, Malcom Reynolds, has a code of honor that has been eroded by defeat and disillusionment.
The characters have a great mix of flaws and admirable traits. No one character is all good, no one is all bad. They are a perfect example of a cohesive group bonding together even though you have diabolically opposed personalities who sometimes really don't like each other.
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I haven't seen the film yet (opens Friday in the UK) but I thoroughly enjoyed the series. His ability to handle a comparatively large group of main characters (nine's plenty to work with) and portray their interactions and characters so precisely is enormously impressive. The plots are often fairly basic, and sometimes flawed, but simply watching the interactions is enough for me. From that perspective, Firefly was actually superior to the (nevertheless enjoyable, at least much of the time) Buffy or Angel.
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