Fw: [SHADO] Re: Gerry Anderson to make new TV series of Thunderbirds

One has to appreciate that CGI-based effects are very expensive to produce as effects shots, let alone a complete TV series. It is also difficult to keep the quality consistent. The New Captain Scarlet cost over £25m to make 26 Episodes.

That said, using miniatures and puppets could be even more.
Thunderbirds cost £32,000 an episode in 1965, which would equate to over £2m a show in today's money. People are often unaware of how expensive Supermarionation cost to produce.

Personally, I think the puppet way would be the most effective. As somebody pointed out, CGI *can* be good, but unless serious money is thrown at it, it ends up looking clunky. The new Scarlet varied from excellent (the flying shots) to seriously crap (some interiors and the lip sync) - I think if Thunderbirds were shot again using the same production values, but used digital solutions to hide strings, add backgrounds and overlay models with puppets, it could look amazing.


An attempt to do just this was made in 2005, but it ultimately failed, but I think they were definitely working in the right direction:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNF5PXBAHkg

Rob

--- In [hidden email], "virgil64" <nemo1701@...> wrote:
>
> In my opinion, there are two ways of doing this:
>
> 1)Updated CGI version. Gerry did a good update of Captain Scarlet(pity ITV trashed it), the BBC have done good with Dr Who and Star Trek: The Next Generation worked as an update on the original although strictly speaking, it's a sequel series. The recent Trek movie was an enjoyable reboot.
>
> 2) Make it exactly as it was in 1965, models, wooden puppets, wires... the lot!. It might work as a period piece:).
>
> Lets face it, Gerry rebooting Thunderbirds can't be worse than that rubbish movie.
>

It's really a question of money.
CGI can do everything the original show had and more, but it will cost pure and simple. (Much like Rob has already mentioned.)
But its worth remembering that the same is true for physical models and effects.
If you need a Big explosion to tear apart a building. But your budget isn't there you get a crap match head flash and a cardboard cutout.

I would guess that Mr Anderson feels reasonably the same way about the TBs as the bulk of it's fan base.

With that in mind he is hardly going to settle for a flash and a cardboard cutout. He's more likely to push for something with a bit of quality. After all it's hardly likely he's doing this because he needs money, or fame.

So personally I think people are over reacting slightly to not just someone making Thunderbirds. But Thunderbirds being made by the one man who hands it can be truly safely left in.

But that's just me I guess. :-)

--- In [hidden email], "Rob" <tryptych@...> wrote:

     I've just finished watching 'New Captain Scarlet', and while I have several complaints (more on those in a sec), I think that it was done very well overall, and am disappointed it didn't go any further than it did.

     For the most part, I thought the CGI was fairly consistent (there were some episodes toward the end of each series that LOOKED like they were running out of money), and they were pretty much able to overcome the issues of early all-CGI productions (gravity, weight, skin texture, et cetera), thus making it, for me, a ~very~ enjoyable update of an old favourite from my childhood.  CGI is ~not~ evil, but I understand why people are often so opposed to it if it's not used properly.

     Ironically, the problems I had with NCS were more actor-based than anything else.  I thought the gents they cast as Scarlet & Blue were completely wrong for the roles.  Scarlet's voice vacillated between wanting to be American and English, and not doing either successfully.  Blue sounded like a 'duuuuuuude' for the most part, and I had a hard time taking either one seriously (Blue more than Scarlet).  In a series like NCS - or the original, for that matter - where voices are ~all~ that are represented of the actors' portrayal of their characters, WHY would you make those kinds of choices?  Francis Matthews and Ed Bishop RULED those roles, and I feel they should've cast the main roles quite a bit more carefully.

     Back to the CGI.  I feel the series achieved most of its ambitious goal.  The motion capture of the characters and vehicles was done ~very~ well, and there wasn't really anything that drew me out of the storyline (whenever the budget was still ample!), and in fact, I think it maintained believability far more than a lot of traditionally animated series in the last 10 - 12 years.  Having watched TBs & CS growing up, I appreciate the extreme effort that went into the series, but I still feel that, with Gerry at the helm, CGI is really the way to go for a new TBs series.  As long as he's involved, the vision won't be compromised as was done with the recent travesty.

     Back to lurking --

Jamie




--- In [hidden email], "pagrin07" <pagrin@...> wrote: