Jewel Staite Says More Firefly Coming
OK. we got your attention and we’re not exactly lying but here’s the deal.
Jewel Staite attended the Supanova Expo in Melbourne, Australia this weekend and over the two days graciously answered a lot of questions from fans of Firefly and Stargate Atlantis. During the first session Jewel was asked what she thought the storyline of Serenity would go. Jewel replied, “I always wanted Kaylee to become a mother” and added “hopefully there’ll be a Serenity 2″.
In the Q&A session the following day, a fan asked if there was any reason to still hope for another movie, Jewel’s response was “Absolutely!”.
Jewel also told fans that she’d been asked to go to LA in the Spring to record a commentary for the new special edition of Firefly that they’re working on. Great news for fans, but Jewel wonders why they don’t just make more instead of re-releasing it again.
March 30th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
This is super shiny my fellow Browncoats! If anyone is so inclined to join in and second our little Kaylee here, then please feel free to some to the Universal HD Firefly/Serenity fan forums and misbehave with 2000+ other Browncoats who are letting Universal know we want a BDSequel.
http://boards.nbcuni.com/universalHD/index.php?showforum=4
March 30th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
The film aperture of the movie Serenity is too dark!!! Hopefully Joss will fix it instead of releasing a new DVD set of Firefly. I’d actually like to see an alternative edit of Serenity…one that deeply re-aaranges the film as we know it…so we get to see the same scenes from different angles and what not. I’m sure he has the footage to do it, so why not??? I’d also like Joss to raise the money to film and include the cut scripted scene where Mal fights the Reavers in Zero Gs atop the Serenity as they leave the planet Miranda.
March 30th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
yeah, why DON’T they just make more Firefly eps instead of just re-releasing them?
fanbase is exploding by the day, so I say it’s a shiny idea. ^_^
March 31st, 2008 at 1:24 am
Blue - it can’t be and either/or when it comes to Serenity & Firefly - different companies own the rights to each.
I’d much rather Universal spend the amount of money it would required to do a complete edit (which I disagree is necessary) on another movie - that edit would be a huge waste of money - but then, that said, like Jewel, I wish Fox would spend the money they’re putting into this new release of Firefly into a new series too… and THAT said, boy am I ever looking forward to more commentaries - I’ve always wanted more.
March 31st, 2008 at 2:17 am
Looking forward to getting Firefly and Serenity on Blu-ray.
March 31st, 2008 at 3:25 am
I will be bringing this up on my internet unnamed geek show @ http://radio.tstc.edu Why cant SciFi Channel which is owned my Universal just make a Serenity TV Show. Pick up where the movie left off and move forward. I think Joss is still stuck in Buffy mode to start something like that. BSG and Serenity on SciFi would blow all other TV shows off the air if that happened. But SciFi is stuck on Stargate and Ghost Hunters to let that happen. Hell we have season 8 of Buffy in comics and nothing from Joss on Firefly/Serenity comics. I know there is a new one out and I love it. But go to the comic shop and look around, 100 times more Buffy comics than Serenity comics! whats up with that???
March 31st, 2008 at 3:26 am
opps, not “MY Universal” , but “BY Universal”, sorry, typo
March 31st, 2008 at 3:40 am
wtf is a film aperture? that doesn’t make any sense.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:53 am
Hello Matta:
The aperture of the film is the light to dark ratio that the camera lens receives throught the film shutter. It can also be controlled or changed in post production. The film as processed is just too dimly lit. Look, I love Joss to the point of not being a fan…I look at myself as someone who, in many ways, has been mentored by Joss through his work. I respect this man and would love to work with him someday and exchange ideas. I have the material to prove it–and it is really good stuff. But Serenity…which is a fine film…needs the full bells and whistles treatment.
Universal should either sell the rights for Serenity to Fox…or Fox should sell its rights for Firefly to Universal, so we can get the new series and or film sequels that we, as fans, deserve…but first, I would like to see Joss repair the flaws in Serenity. I would like to see him fix the Reaver bank robbery gone wrong scenes, specifically during the chase sequence. Joss, said himself, he got that wrong and would love to fix it…and as a follower of his…I felt it myself. Also the bar scene, where River went all Bruce Lee on everyone. I would love to see a digital redo of the set to really add a sense of scope and value to the set. And of course, there is the Reaver World, Miranda. A digital redo and polish of that planet as well as that of several of the other worlds that we saw in the film could give the film more of an epic scope.
That said…my chief concern is something more practical, a simple adjustment of the movie’s aperture, thus bringing more light to the film negative.
March 31st, 2008 at 7:14 am
PS-Admin
I hope I made myself a bit clearer in the above post. It is my viewpoint that if Serenity can be made into more of an event film, via a special edition polish, that version of the film will only help to increase interest in Serenity, as more and more people begin to see it on cable, broadcast television and via DVD. This will also better serve the cause when any new series version or sequel for and of Serenity debuts on tv or movie screens. It’s about branding, and building the best branding opportunity possible for Serenity/Firefly as a franchise.
No…I’m not a nutty fan–there is real thought that has gone into my reasonings. Hopefully, Joss will surprise me with and email one day…so we can talk.
You Can’t Stop The Signal!!!
March 31st, 2008 at 7:26 am
My point is, while I appreciate your opinion (and I do see where you’re coming from) I don’t recall anyone ever having watched the movie and thinking it stunk because of the lighting - I just don’t see how altering something like that is going to make a whole lot of difference and it would cost plenty to do (time) so that money would be better spent towards something new…as I commented above. Nothing wrong with your opinion though, it’s welcome here.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Blue,
Um… you can’t adjust aperture in post. It’s set on the camera, before light hits the negative. You can’t change the amount of light that passed through the film after it’s already been printed. You can apply digital color correction in post, but you can’t increase the amount of light that was on set. And even brightening the picture digitally can create an ugly “haze”, taking the form of grain which will show up prominently in dark areas.
In any case, I don’t think the film was too dark… in fact, while watching it, I’m always appreciative of the fact that it’s one of those rare action films in recent years, in which you can actually see what’s happening during the action-heavy scenes.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:57 pm
This all sounds to me like an attempt on the part of 20th Century Fox to milk the FIREFLY cow a bit more. That’s OK. I’ll bite. I’ll get the set to go along with my other one.
But I want to echo Blue Hand’s sentiment: let Universal and 20th Century Fox work something out. To me the most logical thing would be for Universal to buy the rights — TV and film — from FOX. Then they could try to restart the series on the SF Channel, which NBC Universal owns. The problem is that not everyone is available for a relighting of FIREFLY. I’m sure Jewel could work out something with ATLANTIS and Nathan Fillion with DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES. But Summer Glau, who is pretty crucial to the show, seems locked in at TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES for some time. All the rumors are that the show will renewed. And Adam Baldwin is on CHUCK in a pretty decent role. Seems to me that a TV show is out of the question. At least right now.
But I really don’t see why Universal doesn’t pull the trigger on a movie, even if it is direct to DVD.
March 31st, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Was any footage shot with Rebecca Gayheart? I know she split after one day or something like that…”artistic differences”…or something like that…
March 31st, 2008 at 9:45 pm
Blue … aperture is just one aspect of the overall exposure that hits the film. If you mean that it is underexposed, to be honest … I would suspect your TV/Monitor. Having worked in the industry and seen the QC that goes into exposing and developing film, I would have to say that very, very few Hollywood flicks are improperly exposed on filming or improperly developed. I would put the blame either on your monitor or on some post production process involved in the digitization of the film and subsequent transfer to DVD.
Have you set your monitor/tv up with a decent batch of test patterns like Joe Kane’s Digital Video Essentials?
March 31st, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Uh, Blue Gloves, the aperture is the ratio of the lens opening to the focal length. If Serenity is too dark (and that’s a big IF), it isn’t the fault of the aperture of the camera, but rather a conscious choice of the director and director of photography, and should be respected as such. Turn up the brightness on your monitor the next time you watch it if you don’t like the light level ;-).
March 31st, 2008 at 11:16 pm
I say “MORE” and “NEW”. I’m happy with Serenity as it is. I don’t think the print is too dim but I can see how others might feel that way.
Just for my own fanboy enjoyment, I’d like to make an edit reincorporating some bits and pieces of the extended and deleted scenes. I might do the same with some of the Firefly deleted scenes, too, re-incorporating them into the episodes.
Having said that, though, if I had a choice between a new Serenity cut and a new Serenity sequel, I’d go for the sequel.
Thanks for reading…!
*Seth Asa
April 1st, 2008 at 4:50 am
To: Robert
Thanks. I really believe that this is the most worthy solution. Fox has lost interest in the show and they don’t seem to have any intent to make any movies so it would seem that the proper thing to do is to sell the rights to a studio that wants them. With the rights, under the control of one entity, for the series and the movie…it would serve to maintain quality control for any future film of TV efforts in respect to Serenity and Firefly related projects. If this should occur, look for Serenity to be retitled. Firefly: Serenity…much like the Indy films. Raider of the Lost Ark is now officially titled…Indiana Jones: And The Raiders of The Losk Ark for DVD stocking purposes at stores, etc. The same will be true for Firefly and any spin off projects like Serenity.
To: Walt
You are wrong!!! Did you know that the opening night sequence of Jaws was actually filmed during the day…the sun shinning brightly??? The Aperture on the print was changed in post. In addition, I have had communications with people who say they saw early preview screenings of Serenity and the lighting was brighter. Yes, light saturation can be change in the lab in post and these days, you can change it digitally on a simple editing machine.
I grew up in the industry and have studied this stuff. I know it like you know how to breathe.
To: Archer
You are correct, I assume…since i believe that this was clearly Joss’ decision…and many directors darken up the print to hide FX mistakes, or unfinished FX…which I think may be the case here. Still, I have a problem with the fact that this hurt the overall look of the film. How is it that the Cinematography for the Firefly series, looks better than the movie Serenity, especially knowing that Joss used Clint Eastwood’s legendary director of photography for the film??? That makes no sense!!!
To: Gaki
I have seen the movie on different TV screens. And having bought both versions of its release, I can honestly say both versions of the film…the regular and special edition, have the same dim aperture. It hurts my eyes to look at the screen and certain details of sets…and the movements of actors are lost in shadow throughtout the film.
April 1st, 2008 at 5:00 am
PS-To: Walt
Even some of the Death Star fly by impact explosions seen in the climatix battle in Star Wars were filmed outside in the rear of a pick-up truck as effects techs threw little explosive on a miniature Death Star exterior as they drove by in another vehicle. It was shot during the day…sun shinning, and the aperture was changed in post.
You would be amazed at what they can do in a lab…and now with digital editing and effect equipment–they can lighten an aperture or darken it at will with no big effort or cost.
April 1st, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Blue.
Aperture is the hole on a lens through which light is admitted to the film. A film negative does not have an aperture, a lens does. If you’re talking about changing the EXPOSURE on a negative, that’s a different story. But you can’t change the f-stop after you’ve already gotten the shot.
And yes, I know that you can apply several filters or digital color correction in post, in fact I mentioned that before. But making day look like night is a far different process than trying to make it appear that MORE light is hitting a scene. As I mentioned, brightening an image in post will create grain and lower the overall quality of the image.
Bottom line is, one should never rely on post to give a scene a certain look, especially when it comes to lighting. Shooting day-for-night does work (usually done by applying a blue filter), but you can always tell by looking at the sky in the shot, it’s always way lighter than it should be.
But hey, you should already know all this, like I “know how to breathe”. Fact of the matter is, the “knowledge” you’re regurgitating is recycled from DVD special features. I may not have “grown up in the industry” (whatever that’s supposed to mean - they have nurseries on set now?), but I make a living out of this now, and I wasn’t trying to start an argument, I just wanted you to know what you’re talking about.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:04 pm
I am speaking in shorthand. We both know exactly what I am talking about. I have heard experts refer to it both ways…aperture…light exposure, etc. The point is…the film is too dark. And yes…you can fix the master print in terms of light exposure in post. That said, we both know that they would have spotted a lighting problem while watching the dailies within the first week of shooting…hence, it is clear that Joss Whedon intentionally darkened up the print in post…a move that I disagree with.
As for my background, actually, I was child actor and grew-up in a family of actors, so this industry is all I know. It has been my film school from day one, or at least since I was 3 and a half years old. I learned much of what I know by watching the work being done on sets, speaking to industry professionals, reading special effects books and magazines, taking film courses and watching documentaries at length. You see, I had intended to become a special effects man…and a director…and did become a camera tech early on…but found too much drama in the industry…so I have become a writer instead…and hopefully a producer or an exec one day–that is where the power is.
But, I digress. Light exposure can be increased on the negative in post. Since we both know that, what is your argument? You seem to be in agreement with me…but upset over my use of the word aperture versus exposure???
April 1st, 2008 at 11:16 pm
To clarify…I’m talking about making a duplicate print/film transfer off of the original film master and perforning the tweaks on tha duplicate. Of course, that can be done digitally these days via a film master to digital transfer, at a low cost. Once in the digital format, there can be no loss of generations or degradation in the copy, at least not one that would noticible to the naked eye, like the grainy look you mentioned, since it will be almost an exact duplicate of the original film master.
April 3rd, 2008 at 3:27 am
I don’t own a Blu-Ray player yet…BUT…if they happen to bring out a Firefly in HD…that’ll be my ONLY reason to get one.
April 3rd, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Sorry, Blue, I disagree with your gripe about the film being too dark–it’s full of extremes, from the bleached-out Mirancda sequences to the very dark Serenity scenes, to the saturated Maidenhead, and I like it that way.
I do, however, wish that the color scheme in the film was more like the series. I was disappointed by the blue/grey production design on the interior of the ship, which made Serenity feel much colder and more impersonal than the warm browns and oranges they used on the series. In the film, the ship never felt like the home it was on “Firefly.”
All that being said, I think it would be silly and pointless to futz with Serenity now. Remember when George Lucas decided to make his original trilogy “more epic in scope”? Bad move. Serenity’s relative failure at the box office had nothing to do with the scope and polish of the sets. It had to do with the fact that the script was a little too sophisticated for a broad audience. Look at a list of box-office blockbusters and you will find heroes and villains who are painted in black-and-white, plotlines that are very easy to follow, and a decided lack of incoherent teenage killing machines with suicidal tendencies. Unfortunately, the things we love about Firefly and Serenity are the very things that prevent it from being wildly commercial.
April 4th, 2008 at 12:27 am
Blue, you were simply… wrong. You used incorrect technical terminology for basic concepts that even former child actors shouldn’t confuse. But then you compounded it by trying to bluff your way out with an “I’ve been in the business” stance. You got called out, politely I might add, on both counts. Prudence would suggest that you just let it go at this point.
Having said that, though, I very much ‘agree’ with what I think you were trying to get at initially: the movie, visually, was too dark. “Dark” covers lots of concepts, such as aperture, exposure, gamma, contrast, saturation, ISO, production/postproduction/mastering methods, yada yada.
“Dark.” Sometimes the not-so-fancy word is simply the best one to use.
April 6th, 2008 at 10:22 am
I’d rather they fixed the sound than the grading. I find the dialogue hard to understand in Serenity. At the cinema I had no idea what River said “mwadna”… Even watching it on DVD i have the same problem. It’s always, oh right, Miranda. Why didn’t she say that…
April 7th, 2008 at 8:08 am
Since the day it was aired, I have been a fan of the show and later the film. To remake the current film seems absurd to me as it is what it is and should not be tampered with. I feel that way with all films that are redone. Doing an extended cut sounds like a great idea but to change anything else seems destructive. The news of a possible second film pleases me a great deal. I must admit though that I would much rather see the series revived. I am not holding my breath. I am however attempting to grow the fan base by loaning out my copies of the series ( I own 5 ). At the end of the month we will be hosting our first Serenity party.
April 11th, 2008 at 8:55 am
Hi I’m a fan from Spain, I discovered this TV serie throught Empire magazine an their top 50, I think it is amazing I don’t understand how fox cancelled it. I hope another movie or serie will be released again…
April 16th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
Hi Folks,
all that sheit would never have happened, if Firefly would have been aired on the WB Network. Worked cool with Buffy in five years. After two years on UPN - gone. Enough with that. Message to Fox management: Sell the damned rights of a show you never wanted. Sell ‘em to Universal, guys, as far as I can say, know, how entertainment really works. Let the people have the show they want! The show they miss! So sell it and buy yourselves the 68th re-re-re-release of the Star Wars Directors Cut incl. the kazakh subtitles. He, I am very angry. By the way: You would look good in red!
D.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Very impressed with this blog… it’s good to see folks so involved in all aspects of the series & film.
I don’t understand my adoration of th Firefly/Serenity - for the last two months my girlfriend and I have continually watched the series and the movie almost daily and never get sick of it. If we’re working around the house and we have Firefly or Serenity playing in the background, I can visualize every scene - like most of you can. When we win the lottery - har dee har har - we are going to build a Serenity ship in the middle of a big ass field.
QUESTION:
The word SHINY… it seems to have a variety of meanings in the shows and film. Anybody know more about the definition (if any) of SHINY??
May 7th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
If they reissue the Firefly set every year, each time with a different commentary (but with commentary for every episode), I would buy it each time. I loooove commentaries. That said, let’s make more episodes! Do it like this, a comic book series - get paid to storyboard and write a script, followed by an animated TV series based on the comic books (already paid for the script and the first storyboards, so -cheap!) ’cause getting the original cast for voice work -much easier right now when everyone’s working. Then, live action episodes.
June 2nd, 2008 at 5:22 pm
[...] this year we posted about the new Firefly box-set release that was coming out soon (mentioned by Jewel Staite while in Australia). This new release will be blu-ray and the “powers that be” are interested in what [...]
June 22nd, 2008 at 12:18 am
I’ve had Serenity at 720p for a while now… it’s great!
Personally I reckon Jewel’s open to the possibility of continuing Firefly and there being more movies made but it sounds like she’s just being positive without there being any real facts driving a new series/movie et al.
We all hit hard for a movie. The movie was made. We waited to see how well it did at the cinemas and the asian market went straight to dvd. We know from Joss himself that the possibility of making the other two films was cut short because of it.
There’s nothing I’d like to see more than further episodes or more movies but I’m not holding my breath.
Fans have already started a petition to save Dollhouse and it’s not even started yet. Says something. Can’t the fans bankroll more episodes ?
August 28th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Hi,
May i just throw in that all the blue ray,lighting,and whatever you may think was wrong,is only cream to an apple pie that was already lovley.So don,t be greedy lets just have some new lovley apple pie as it was.
Ian T
September 8th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
G’day,
I also have been watching Fire Fly and Serenity DVD’s at 720p on a 94″ projector screen for the last few years ,the latter since it came out.I find the picture quality fine ,Serenity is perfect and Firefly is good , and you can’t ask a for a harder platform to view it on ,than blowing it up to a projector size picture to watch …It can only be better when on Bluray….Lets hope that Joss somehow brings the movie sequells back from the dead.