Wikipaedia

which, if I'm not wrong in this assumption, is what people used at the
time(?) for putting contact lens in place.

Nat

going back to lurking now.

nafofu wrote:

Sounds good to me.

Jeff

naughtyhector <[hidden email]> wrote:
How about something like...

Meddings work reached a pinnacle of excellence with this his last work
for the Anderson's TV shows. He left and had an extensive movie career
winning an Oscar as part of the effects team on Superman: The Movie.

Barry

--- In [hidden email], Marc Martin <marc@...> wrote:
>
> > "As with all the later Anderson series, the special effects,
> > supervised by Derek Meddings, were of the highest quality and
> > outstanding for their day,..."
> >
> > This passage is wrong. If I recall correctly, Derek Meddings had
no





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Sorry for coming in a bit late in this. Just wanted to add a few I hope
helpful comments.
The old original hard contact lens were indeed taken off and put in with
a sort of suction cup device like the one shown in Identified. I saw one in a
old movie with Kirk Douglas called Mousey.
The green breathing liquid turning the skin green would be more likely
due to long contact. If from breathing it would enter the bloodstream via the
lungs and get into the skin and rather than on it and the effect would me
rather like a tatto and be perminate.
As to reusing uniforms from UFO in Space:1999 I don't recall any but I do
recall that they did reuse the space suits in the episode Mission of the
Darians.

James K.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

> The old original hard contact lens were indeed taken off and put in with
> a sort of suction cup device like the one shown in Identified.

All this talk about contact lenses... I wore hard contact lenses in the
1970's, and while indeed they *could* be taken out with a suction cup
(called a "suction device" or "plunger"), most people just pulled on
the skin around the eyes and then blinked them out with their eyelids.

But I'm not sure that I'd call what the Aliens wore "contact lenses",
as they were huge, and only had a pinhole to see through. "eye
protectors", perhaps?

Marc

--- In [hidden email], Marc Martin <marc@...> wrote:

> But I'm not sure that I'd call what the Aliens wore "contact lenses",
> as they were huge, and only had a pinhole to see through. "eye
> protectors", perhaps?

Corneal shields.

On Oct 26, 2006, at 11:06 AM, Marc Martin wrote:
> But I'm not sure that I'd call what the Aliens wore "contact lenses",
> as they were huge, and only had a pinhole to see through. "eye
> protectors", perhaps?

Techinically, they're called "sclera lenses", because they cover the
entire eye. They're made for people with a dead eye, but were co-
opted for film and tv effects early on.
AT




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

CONTENTS DELETED

Yes quite correct perhaps it was a bit early in the morning when I
was trying amend it!

--- In [hidden email], Jeffrey Nelson <1shado1@...> wrote:
>
> Yes. It still says that the green hue was caused by BREATHING the
liquid. I could have sworn that in a couple episodes it was said
that the skin ABSORBED the green tint. So even though the aliens
WERE breathing a green oxygenated liquid, the skin turning green was
not caused by the act of BREATHING it, but rather by being in
contact with it. : )
>    
> Jeff
> P.S. Thanks for your efforts!
>
> naughtyhector <rod.mitchell@...> wrote:
> I've amended the first two lines to this...
>
> Captured aliens are human in appearance except for the green hue
of
> their face caused by breathing a green oxygenated liquid, which is
> believed to cushion their lungs against the extreme acceleration
of
> interstellar flight.
>
> Anyone see a problem with this?
>
> Barry
> > Excellent point, Marc! And more nitpickiness on my part:
> >
> > "Captured aliens are human in appearance except for the green
hue
> of
> > their skin caused by breathing a green oxygenated liquid, which
is
> > believed to cushion their bodies against the extreme
acceleration

Yes I'll have a look to revising that to something more suitable.
Personally I think there was a lot of good model work in Space 1999
but there was naff stuff as well - the 2d cutouts of Eagles blowing
up! But I do not know the difference in budgets as that may have had
a bearing on the work.

Regards,
Barry


--- In [hidden email], Jeffrey Nelson <1shado1@...> wrote:
>
> To each his own. My problem isn't the praise of Meddings
abilities, per se, but the statement about his work in "later
Anderson series" (inferring Space:1999, etc.). The effects in
Space:1999 SUCKED compared to Meddings work, and he shouldn't be
credited with doing them by inference. Just my 2 cents...
>    
> Jeff
>
> naughtyhector <rod.mitchell@...> wrote:
> Good point!
>
> I have a bit of trouble with articles that keep praising Meddings
to
> the sky. Yes, he was an exceptional effects guy but the Lydeckers
had
> done the same sort of excellent work before him.
>
> Barry
>
> --- In [hidden email], "nafofu" <1shado1@> wrote:
> >
> > As long as we're on the subject of the UFO Wikipedia entry,
here's
> > something else I noticed:
> >
> > "As with all the later Anderson series, the special effects,
> > supervised by Derek Meddings, were of the highest quality and
> > outstanding for their day,..."
> >
> > This passage is wrong. If I recall correctly, Derek Meddings had
no
> > involvement with the special effects of Space:1999, which would
be

I seem to remember that a Dr Morton Greenspoon pioneered these. I
think some research is needed.

--- In [hidden email], Anthony Taylor <highcotton51@...>
wrote:
>
>
> On Oct 26, 2006, at 11:06 AM, Marc Martin wrote:
> > But I'm not sure that I'd call what the Aliens wore "contact
lenses",
> > as they were huge, and only had a pinhole to see through. "eye
> > protectors", perhaps?
>
> Techinically, they're called "sclera lenses", because they cover
the  
> entire eye. They're made for people with a dead eye, but were co-
> opted for film and tv effects early on.
> AT
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

I think the suits were from Moon Zero Two but one of the helmets may
have been from UFO - I need to check that.

--- In [hidden email], SumitonJD@... wrote:
>
> Sorry for coming in a bit late in this. Just wanted to add a few
I hope
> helpful comments.  
> The old original hard contact lens were indeed taken off and
put in with
> a sort of suction cup device like the one shown in Identified. I
saw one in a
> old movie with Kirk Douglas called Mousey.
> The green breathing liquid turning the skin green would be
more likely
> due to long contact. If from breathing it would enter the
bloodstream via the
> lungs and get into the skin and rather than on it and the effect
would me
> rather like a tatto and be perminate.
> As to reusing uniforms from UFO in Space:1999 I don't recall
any but I do
> recall that they did reuse the space suits in the episode Mission
of the
> Darians.
>
> James K.
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

> I seem to remember that a Dr Morton Greenspoon pioneered these. I
> think some research is needed.

I wonder if we're not getting bogged down in things which aren't
really relevant. This is, after all, an encylopedia entry for
UFO. I suspect that anything that's not made its way to my
website or to this discussion group in the past is really
not appropriate for such an overview of the series.

This is probably why I never have bothered to edit that entry for
UFO -- I'd probably be deleting half of the information there, on
the grounds that it contains unneccessary information. Besides, my
take on UFO is adequately documented on my website's episode guide
and FAQ -- better to let someone else get their say.

Marc

--- In [hidden email], "Marc Martin" <marc@...> wrote:
>
> > I seem to remember that a Dr Morton Greenspoon pioneered these.
I my
> take on UFO is adequately documented on my website's episode guide
> and FAQ -- better to let someone else get their say.
>
> Marc
>

Of course, you're absolutely right, Marc. But it's so much fun to
nitpick such things, when not much other activity is currently going
on. : )

Jeff

> This is probably why I never have bothered to edit that entry for
> UFO -- I'd probably be deleting half of the information there, on
> the grounds that it contains unneccessary information.

Looking at the UFO wikipedia entry, I'd make a number of
big changes (but like I said, I'm not going to):

* I'd change the photos -- there should be a photo of Straker,
a photo of Foster, and perhaps some other photos taken from
the series. I'd move the photo of the DVD cover down to a
"video releases" section, rather than make it the main photo.
I'd drop the CGI of the Alien, as I think the photos here
should mostly be things taken during the production of the
series. And what about some hardware shots?

In the intro, it was not Gerry who felt ready to produce
a live action series -- he was directed to do this by
his boss, Lew Grade.

In the 2nd paragraph, I'm not sure what is meant by
"experience with the one-hour format" (perhaps this
is a mistake, since Thunderbirds was also an hour).

I don't think you can really say that the show was
aimed at children, can you?

I think the whole paragraph on how UFO was pronounced
could be deleted.

I think the reference to the UFO's sound being made
by an Ondes Martenot is false (it is my understanding
that this instrument was only used for the music
in IDENTIFIED?)

I think the reference to the contact lens being taken
out of the alien's eye can be deleted. :-)

There is some redundancy in that 2 paragraphs note
the cost-cutting cleverness of using a film studio
as the cover for SHADO.

The series never states that the Interceptor missiles
are "nuclear".

More redudancy -- in two paragraphs the Aliens are
stated to be looking for human organs.

It claims that Meddings had limited resources, yet
everything I've read claimed that UFO's budget was
huge for the time. Also, it implies that UFO's
effects were improved over 2001: A Space Odyessy,
which I'd disagree with.

I'd delete the paragraph about the Alien helmet
being filled with liquid.

The implication that several years passed between
the cancellation of UFO and the creation of UFO
is false. This all happened in 1973 -- UFO season 2
was cancelled around March 1973, and Space:1999
started filming in November 1973.

Under DVD releases, you could add that it's also been
released in France, Italy, and Japan.

Did Foster become more cynical after the Alien
was killed in SURVIVAL? I don't think so.

Was Lt. Ellis attracted to Ed Straker? I don't think so...

Was the International Astophysical Commision a "front"
for SHADO? Hmmm...

I do think Lt. Barry did show some hints of being
attracted to Straker (but not Ellis)

This write in inconsistent about when the production
break was -- in one place it says 3/4 of the way
through the series, in another it says 2/3. I'd
say 2/3 is more accurate.

It says that Joan Harrington appears to dislike
Lt. Ellis -- where did this come from???

On the subject of Miss Ealand being replaced by
Miss Holland, you might want to note that the
actress was pregnant, and that's why she
was temporarily replaced.

I'd drop the paragraph referring to SHADO equipment
showing up in other productions.

I'd drop the reference to Gerry Anderson's worries
about Michael Caine.

I'd drop Sylvia Anderson's comments about Patrick
Allens trousers.

If one is going to refer to the compilation move
INVASION:UFO, then one should also refer to the
several Italian compilation movies which were
shown in theaters.

Granada is the current copyrights holder, not
Carlton.

I'd drop the reference to "Threshold" being
similar to UFO.

In the links section, I'd add a link to the
Italian Section of SHADO.

And that's "all" ! :-)

Marc

> The implication that several years passed between
> the cancellation of UFO and the creation of UFO
> is false.

Sorry... I meant "the creation of Space:1999"...

> This write in inconsistent about when the production
> break was

... and here I meant "the writing is inconsistent"...

Marc (fixing my own fixes!)

Marc Martin wrote:

> Marc (fixing my own fixes!)


October 27, 2006 comments about Wikipedia at Slashdot:

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?threshold=4&mode=nested&commentsort=0&op=Change&sid=203190

[relevant only because of the recent list comments from people updating
the UFO entry that Marc recently commented-on)

Paul