Special effects maestro and co-producer John Dykstra poses with the original shooting model of the titular Battlestar Galactica warship during production of the pilot film. "Saga Of A Star World," back in early '78.
Aside from the overwhelming treachery and backstabbing that permeated the 2005 remake, the Galactica model was another reason I preferred the original show. It did seem to give a good sense of very large scale which I never got with the faux shakycam CGI of the newer show.
Pity Dykstra didn't get to do more effects work for Galactica instead of having us bombarded with the same space shots episode after episode.
Yes that was one of the drawbacks to the traditional models based effects the amount of time and money it took to do them add to that the fact that it was very much an art that only a small number of specialist groups could do well meant that large numbers of effects shots were constantly reused on shows like galactica and buck rogers
Beautiful- finely detailed models shot blue screen (or on wires); that's SF/X artistry! Most of the shots from the BSG premier are still amazing today!
Heres a link to a company in Hollywood called Custom Replicas that built two really incrediblly accurate Battlestars, the accompanying photosets offer some fantastic behind the scenes shots of its construction. It's really cool to see something this amazing still being built by hand these days, anyone that loves the design of the original ship and appreciates the craft of SPFX model making will get a real kick out of it. http://www.customreplicas.com/gallery_galactica.html
Aside from the overwhelming treachery and backstabbing that permeated the 2005 remake, the Galactica model was another reason I preferred the original show. It did seem to give a good sense of very large scale which I never got with the faux shakycam CGI of the newer show.
ReplyDeletePity Dykstra didn't get to do more effects work for Galactica instead of having us bombarded with the same space shots episode after episode.
Yes that was one of the drawbacks to the traditional models based effects the amount of time and money it took to do them add to that the fact that it was very much an art that only a small number of specialist groups could do well meant that large numbers of effects shots were constantly reused on shows like galactica and buck rogers
DeleteThe original Battlestar was and is still impressive. She's a beauty.
ReplyDeleteSGB
Beautiful- finely detailed models shot blue screen (or on wires); that's SF/X artistry! Most of the shots from the BSG premier are still amazing today!
ReplyDeleteHeres a link to a company in Hollywood called Custom Replicas that built two really incrediblly accurate Battlestars, the accompanying photosets offer some fantastic behind the scenes shots of its construction. It's really cool to see something this amazing still being built by hand these days, anyone that loves the design of the original ship and appreciates the craft of SPFX model making will get a real kick out of it.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.customreplicas.com/gallery_galactica.html
John Dykstra one of the original FX masters love this picture Chris!
ReplyDeleteI saw what might have been one of those replicas at the Seattle SciFi museum back in January.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sight to behold!
I was in awe, staring at that thing and snapping photos for a good 20 minutes. The level of detail is staggering.