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Science fiction space film in the works


dbarak

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Hello everyone,

I'm new here, so if what I'm posting isn't permitted, please let me know.

Anyway, I'm working on a short film that I hope to later turn into a feature, and I figured I'd mention it here - you all seem like you might be interested in this (I've been a space fan since the Gemini days, and I would have been since Mercury if I'd been old enough to realize what was going on).

The film is "...and miles to go before i sleep." http://www.milestogo-movie.com

"A deadly flu pandemic strikes Earth as a team of astronauts work on the moon. A solar storm wipes out communications and an injury forces them to leave for Earth "in the blind," not knowing what to expect back home. "

What's unusual about this film, especially for an independent short film, is the level of realism we're trying to achieve. We have some plans for simulating zero-g by using a rotating spacecraft set (rotated between shots, so that what was up is now down or left or right, etc.), along with some other tricks. We'll also be simulating the one sixth gravity on the moon, something I don't believe I've ever seen another film attempt.

We're also working to make the spacecraft set realistic. The instrument panels are based on those found in spacecraft from Mercury through the Space Shuttle. Not exact, but based on them. Some will even be interactive so that when the actors press a button, something will happen.

It's ambitious, yes, but it would be cheating if it weren't.

The website has links to photos, videos, social media sites and downloadable wallpapers, etc. Visit the site and see what the film is all about!

Again, if this isn't something appropriate for this forum, please let me know and I'll delete the post or see if I can have an admin do it. I don't want to break any forum rules.

- Dave

title-patch-1.png

Edited by dbarak
Added a missing comma so I don't look like an idiot.
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Good luck with your idea, we need more hard sci-fi films! Some thoughts:

We have some plans for simulating zero-g by using a rotating spacecraft set (rotated between shots, so that what was up is now down or left or right, etc.), along with some other tricks.

It might be easier (and much cheaper) to do that with a camera mount that's able to move into odd positions and angles, rather than the potentially dangerous option of having the whole set move around, if I understand your intention at least.

We'll also be simulating the one sixth gravity on the moon, something I don't believe I've ever seen another film attempt.

I believe that was done for a scene in Apollo 13 where Lovell imagines what walking on the moon would be like. They tied helium balloons to the actors to cancel out 5/6 of their weight.

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Good luck with your idea, we need more hard sci-fi films! Some thoughts:

It might be easier (and much cheaper) to do that with a camera mount that's able to move into odd positions and angles, rather than the potentially dangerous option of having the whole set move around, if I understand your intention at least.

I believe that was done for a scene in Apollo 13 where Lovell imagines what walking on the moon would be like. They tied helium balloons to the actors to cancel out 5/6 of their weight.

First, thanks NovaSilisko, we need all the good luck thoughts coming our way! As for the rotating set, it would only be rotated between shots with the actors gone. In the long run, they'd all still be on what is actually the bottom of the set. We may have them lie on a platform or something now and then so their hair is streaming "up" or "out." Our number one goal is safety. We don't want a tragic Sarah Jones death or injury, and if any actors or crewmembers have any concerns at any time, they'd be addressed. I couldn't live with myself if something like that happened.

Helium balloons? Cool idea, and possibly better than mine. I was thinking of using black bungee cords (I can buy it in bulk), and hanging the actors (only one in a shot at any one time) and hanging them a couple of feet of the ground with the cords under their arms or attached to some sort of harness. It would also need to be shot in slow motion since dust falls back down slower than here (one sixth the speed? I'll have to check on that).

- Dave

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Helium balloons? Cool idea, and possibly better than mine. I was thinking of using black bungee cords (I can buy it in bulk), and hanging the actors (only one in a shot at any one time) and hanging them a couple of feet of the ground with the cords under their arms or attached to some sort of harness. It would also need to be shot in slow motion since dust falls back down slower than here (one sixth the speed? I'll have to check on that).

That might depend on what you're using for dust. If you can find something light enough (or fine enough) you might not have to worry about it falling too fast.

And also on that, where are you shooting the lunar scenes? If anything is getting green-screened, you might save yourself a lot of trouble and CGI the dust particles. In terms of post production effects, dust is pretty easy and cheap to do.

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Green screen is an option, but my hope is that we can do it as a live effect so the actors have a bit more to react to. There are a few sand and gravel quarries here in San Diego that might work if I can get permission (and permission to shoot at night). There are dunes east of here that could work too, but the actors might not be too keen on driving two or three hours (I wouldn't either!). But green screen is an option that we may end up having to go with.

That might depend on what you're using for dust. If you can find something light enough (or fine enough) you might not have to worry about it falling too fast.

And also on that, where are you shooting the lunar scenes? If anything is getting green-screened, you might save yourself a lot of trouble and CGI the dust particles. In terms of post production effects, dust is pretty easy and cheap to do.

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A set would perhaps be a better idea for the moon. With a quarry you could get lots of little annoyances like small plants that have come up between rocks, footprints, tire tracks, etc.

Something I see in a lot of moon scenes in various films is dust billowing around after it's been kicked up - but it doesn't do that in a vacuum. All the dust particles travel in perfect arcs from their point of origin, yielding a very distinctive "rooster-tail" effect, as I believe the Apollo astronauts called the dust thrown up by the lunar rover.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Ap16_rover.ogg

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Exaclty! I've been watching quite a few videos of astronauts on the moon, and a lot of people forget there's no wind to help spread things around. Now that I think about it, kicked-up dust may be something that needs to be added later on.

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You might also want to perhaps check out the www.nasaspaceflight.com forums to ask around for some information and advice. I'm not sure what subforum you'd have to post it in there, though.

Recommendation: give some sort of subtle explanation in dialogue as to how the crew can navigate to return home from the moon without tracking data from Earth, given trajectory calculations usually depend on that.

Edited by NovaSilisko
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Exaclty! I've been watching quite a few videos of astronauts on the moon, and a lot of people forget there's no wind to help spread things around. Now that I think about it, kicked-up dust may be something that needs to be added later on.

By the way, my brain knows how to spell but my fingers don't. I meant "ex-ACT-ly". I'm not really stipud. :sticktongue:

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You might also want to perhaps check out the www.nasaspaceflight.com forums to ask around for some information and advice. I'm not sure what subforum you'd have to post it in there, though.

Recommendation: give some sort of subtle explanation in dialogue as to how the crew can navigate to return home from the moon without tracking data from Earth, given trajectory calculations usually depend on that.

Actually, navigation isn't something I'd even considered! That's a good point, and I'll figure that into the story. I know I won't be able to get everything technologically right, but hopefully I'll get enough either right, or likely correct based on projections into the near future. I want to avoid anything groan-worthy. (I'm also doing some fairly heavy research into optical and radio-astronomy, astrobiology and SETI for another film I want to do someday - think "Contact" if it were to REALLY happen.)

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Actually, navigation isn't something I'd even considered! That's a good point, and I'll figure that into the story. I know I won't be able to get everything technologically right, but hopefully I'll get enough either right, or likely correct based on projections into the near future. I want to avoid anything groan-worthy. (I'm also doing some fairly heavy research into optical and radio-astronomy, astrobiology and SETI for another film I want to do someday - think "Contact" if it were to REALLY happen.)

I will happily provide feedback on things, science and otherwise. Like I said earlier, there aren't enough good hard sci-fi films out there, so it would be nice to help change that.

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I will happily provide feedback on things, science and otherwise. Like I said earlier, there aren't enough good hard sci-fi films out there, so it would be nice to help change that.

Oh, you don't know what you've gotten yourself in to... :D Actually, I would appreciate your advice on things! Should I do that offline here, or via the forum? What I may do is collect my thoughts a bit and send a few questions at once so I don't clobber the forum or your in-box.

Dave

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I'm all for lending a helping hand as well. And this is two of my favorite subjects balled into one. Realistic space adventures, and speculative "how would people react?" disaster scenarios.

The navigation problem might easily be remedied depending on the era in which this takes. Since this is a moon 'base,' we're talking twenty years ahead at the very least. And computers are WAY better than they were during the Apollo missions. With the kind of electronic gear we can build these days, isn't it conceivable that the ship could find its own way home? Either way, surely NASA (or whoever this is) has a plan in the event of a long-term communication failure (either from Mission Control OR the astronauts).

'course, if the flare hit the moon as well and knocked out the autopilot, having your guys whip out the old pen and paper to start planning things out the old-fashioned way could be pretty fun to see.

Edited by vger
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Actually, this all relates to another issue I had considered - radio frequency transmissions from unattended transmitters. My thought was some power generation systems could continue to run unmonitored for awhile.

Although I understand - vaguely - the workings of GPS, I assume it would be of no value in space, at least the way the system is set up right now. But then again, as you mentioned, computer systems are more powerful now. In fact, I just read an article about some crewmembers from the ISS preparing to return to Earth, and how they would need to fire the ending for four minutes, 41 seconds in order to begin a descent under the correct parameters. Even with Apollo 13, the crew did a fair amount of manual calculation for things like rocket burn times.

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I'm sure someone out there is already smart enough to have generators in the event of a massive solar flare. I'd be pretty surprised actually, if NASA didn't have them. Easy way to find out is to just call up and ask. That wouldn't necessarily help the transmitters though. If the computers get knocked out, anything that sends out signals is going to get fried. However, on a more general level, it's conceivable that even damaged equipment would be transmitting. It might not be anything a receiver would be happy to hear from, but Earth is probably still going to be sending out some kind of a signal, even if it's just a lot of very loud static. Even the aurora borealis sends out radio waves when they're active, and I'll bet Earth is producing one heck of a light show when this hits the fan. Whether or not it could be heard from the Moon though, I have no idea.

If they're going to do manual calculations though, they don't need a signal. As long as shipboard clocks are still working and they know everything they need to about their local orbit, they can calculate out where they are, and where the Earth is, relative to the moon, and go from there.

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So it sounds like a solar flare may or may not damage radio equipment. I guess that's a matter of the flare's strength and maybe the fragility of the equipment. The plan for this film is for the flare to last a few days, which I understand is possible, but in the case of a short-duration flare, would electronic equipment on the night side of the Earth be safe?

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