Latest Ron Moore BSG Blog Up at SCI-FI:
Season Two Production Update with Q & A
Edited by: Koenigrules Sources: SCI FI & HollywoodNorthReport

Ron Moore provided some insights into Battlestar: Galactica's Season Two production schedule, now up at the SCI-FI board. He also answered an assortment of fan questions. Here are some of the highlights of his latest BSG blog:

"We've almost completed shooting the opening of Season Two, with Michael Rymer back at the helm filming a two-parter written by David Weddle & Bradley Thompson called "Scattered" and "Valley of Darkness." Things have been going well so far, with a good mood on the set and a feeling of satisfaction and pride running through the whole team at their accomplishments in Year One and anticipation for Year Two. I'm in Los Angeles at the moment, but I'm shuttling back and forth between here and there once again."

"In terms of writing, we have scripts in hand for the first seven shows, scripts underway for the next three and stories underway for the next three after that, so we're in excellent shape in terms of being prepared for production. The further ahead you can deliver scripts, the more time each department has to plan and allocate resources, which ends up saving substantial money by simply avoiding last-minute surprises like, "Oh, we need a freighter interior this week" which causes an enormous scramble as everyone has to run around and either find a location with virtually no lead time which must still be completely dressed for camera, or a set will have to be constructed from scratch virtually overnight with consequent overtime overages. The solution sounds simple -- just write the scripts faster -- but executing that idea turns out to be much more complex. Changes in storylines tend to domino backwards and forwards throughout the episodes, requiring more rewriting and a lot of ball juggling to keep it all straight."

"It's good to be getting dailies again and see the cast back in uniform after the long break. In fact, it's just good to be doing a show that everyone is so committed to and so proud of. Season two looks like it's going to be something really special."

Now some long-delayed Q & A:

Question: OK, How does the Six avatar on Caprica know Starbuck is Starbuck (during the fight in the museum in KLG part 2)? Obviously she could get her rank from the uniform insignia, but how would she know her name? I didn't see a name patch on her fatigues or anything. Am I missing something?

Answer: You're not missing anything. The methods by which the Cylons communicate with one another, the way they disseminate information and who has access to that information is something we haven't spelled out yet. There are answers, however, and as Season Two progresses, you'll learn more.

Question: Was the rest of humanity completely wiped out on the homeworlds? Or are there some pockets of resistance in remote areas along the lines of the classic movie "Red Dawn"? I would imagine that there would be survivors and groups would form, especially by those in the Colonial Marines and Army that survived, as well as by law enforcement personnel and other citizens. The Cylons would have to deal with an insurgency, which is always hard to fight unless they are willing to completely scorch the planets. Nuclear winter did not occur on Caprica so it must not have been nuked to that point. War is ultimately a test of wills, and I am sure some holdouts would exist and they would not sit on their assess but go find Cylons and get some.

Answer: I think you're going to like Season Two.

Question: Why does Commmander Adama wear glasses? (I'd very much like to see an episode explaining this, but focusing more on his son, Apollo.) I realize Mr. Olmos wears them... and by the way, I do too. I have since 5th grade, about 15 years now. You don't see many science fiction shows with people wearing "lenses", and I'd like to see that played up a bit.

Answer: It's another way of saying that this society and these people are much closer to us and our society today than they are to some made-up space world. It's a nice bit of texture for a character and I think it helps ground the show in the reality we're creating. Sure, you can argue that a space-faring society is too advanced for things like glasses, but just because the technology and medical know-how is available doesn't mean that all members of that society have access to it or have chosen to avail themselves of it for one reason or another.

Question: Why did you choose jerky camera movements?? I'd like to know just why you chose to do this? To me, the camera work looks like it's been done by a first-year film student trying to impress his instructor. It does not emphasize the documentary style you say you're looking for. It's a lazy way to try to instill some kind of emotion to a scene that's lacking in that emotion. If the dialog cannot convey the emotion, new-age and/or lackluster camera work is not going to aid in that conveyance. A weak story line isn't going to be made interesting by "creative" camera work so I would suggest you concentrate on script content, not photographic tricks.

Answer: The visual style of the show was deliberately chosen to evoke a sense of realism to a world that, by its very nature, is fundamentally unreal. Ours is a world of many conceits, in which the viewer is asked to believe a great many things that he knows do not exist and so we strive to create a mood that implies, in ways both explicit and subliminal, the idea that, "Yes, in fact, this is a real place and you are watching real events occur." By doing so, we hope to encourage the viewer to suspend his natural disbelief and invest himself into the drama. One of the tools we use to achieve that is to use a visual style which suggests that the viewer is eavesdropping on the proceedings, peering into an objective reality that was captured in some way by an imaginary documentary film crew. The same holds true for the exterior space shots, which are designed to continually suggest that a real cameraman is filming the action as a way of implying that someone had to go "out there" and shoot these objects. The audience has a built-in awareness, whether they are conscious of it or not, of exactly how real cameras move and behave when they are being aimed at real objects, and more we can suggest to the audience that a real camera was involved, the more they're willing to accept unreal objects as actually existing.

Then again, maybe it just looks cool and we like it, so there.

Question: Apollo's betrayal of Adama's decision to arrest the president is detracting from the believability of the show for me. I'm listining to your podcast of ep. 113 as I write this and you just said Lee is "a more capable, more competent, leader . . .". He's also struck me as a fairly honorable character. If he had doubts about this mission I think he would have at least voiced them and then not gone along with the strike team so he would not have been put in the position he was. I hope you won't use Adama's near death experience at the end of season one/start of season two to "write off" these betrayals, esp. Apollo's. His was much more unforgivable considering his relationship with Adama, his leadership role in the fleet, and the battle between the president and Adama. I find it hard to see Lee continuing as CAG after this.

Answer: You bring up valid points and we are planning to play out the consequences of Lee's decision as it impacts both him and his father over the course of the season.

And finally,
Question: I do have one question if you have an opportunity to answer. I feel that many critics and viewers of Space: 1999 often missed the point about the show. It wasn't warm and fuzzy like Trek for the specific reason that this crew never meant to become interstellar travellers and they had barely the technology or the psychological mindset to meet yet overcome the incredible challenges they faced. Also, the fact that the show was based on the moon wandering speedily across space wasn't the issue anymore than getting hung up on how a baby from Krypton could become the incredible Superman on earth.

The point was "IF" this were to happen to a crew of relatively normal humans from earth habitating a moonbase then these are the stories that could occur. It represented the awe, spectacle, thrills and constant imminent danger of deep space better than any show I've seen and showed a crew that wasn't usually joking around or having a good time because they were working tooth and nail just to survive. However, in spite of their situation the observant viewer would always see clues that they did have a obvious caring for and about one another that was represented by looks and actions that went beyond words.

Thus, my question is what impact if any has Space: 1999 had in the work that you've done?

Answer: I'm not sure Space: 1999 has had a direct impact on anything I've done other than influence our main title sequence. I must admit the show is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me, since it has one of the more ludicrous premises of all time (the moon?!) and some of my pleasures things like glee at watching how quickly Commander Koenig goes to the "We're all doomed and going to die," card during a crisis and watching Barbara Bain turn like she's a mannequin on a lazy susan during the main title. But, I do own the DVD set and I think the Eagles are one of the better spaceship designs ever. Okay, I'm a closet fan, you found me out.

As Season Two continues to advance, we will be sure to provide you with all the latest information on BSG right here. Hang in there. The wait for all new episodes of our favorite sci-fi show will not be a long one.