::: Area #51 (Dr. Who.......... [General])
Message: #12734 (Read 2 times, has 0 replies, 5996 bytes)
Date   : Fri Nov 14 00:39:00 1997
From   : Joe Siegler of fidonet#1:124/9006
To     : All
Subject: Red Dwarf Remastered

Hello All.

(This is not to be confused with Red Dwarf Extended which I just posted about.)

Ed Note: Oh great.  I already have two full copies of the run of Red Dwarf.
	 I'm gonna have a third now?  Sheesh.  :)

THE LOWDOWN:
RED DWARF REMASTERED

The biggest news of recent months from the world of Red Dwarf must be the
fact that after ten years in production the original series is to be
remastered. The easiest way to explain what's happening is to say that
Grant Naylor Productions and BBC Worldwide are doing to the orginal series'
of Red Dwarf what Lucasfilm did to the Star Wars trilogy. However, the the
early episodes of Red Dwarf will look more different to their originals
than Star Wars Special Edition did to it's original because not only are
every episode from series 1-6 having their soundtrack digitalised and their
pictures toned up, the majority of the special effects are being totally
re-shot. Also, all of the footage of Norman Lovett's Holly in series 1 and
2 has been scrapped and re-filmed.

The biggest change is in the models of Red Dwarf and Blue Midget; Red Dwarf
particularly will have a new look making look a lot more like a space ship
(theoretically) and the seldom-seen Blue Midget ship which was dropped
completely from series 4 onwards in favour of Starbug has been re-designed
to give it a spidery look.

Doug Naylor is very positive about the project, which will be completed
next year. Series 1, 2 and 3 are to be released in their new package on BBC
video in the first half of 1998 and Red Dwarf 4, 5 and 6 should follow soon
after. This project has taken up most of this year at great expense but for
Doug Naylor it's worth it.

To quote Doug:

"We're basically remastering the whole of the first six series' for BBC
Worldwide (the video company) who feel that they would be able to sell it
more easily in Europe and America if there was a more unified look and feel
to the whole of the series. What this means is... consistent opening
titles; it means that in places we can replace and improve the model shots.

"Red Dwarf originally, the actual model, wasn't built by the BBC vis FX
guys, they were in fact at the time working on 'Star Cops', and weren't
able to do it, so, they've always hated it. It was commissioned outside of
the BBC... and then it fell of a shelf... and it turns out that Red Dwarf
could, in fact, have been murdered!... Because the BBC FX guys didn't like
it and it fell off a shelf, I mean, work it out for yourselves!!! So we
have had a new Red Dwarf built, which the BBC Vis FX guys have done, and
it's, I think, much better than the original; it's a slightly different
shape, it's more elongated, it's 12 feet long, and has far more detail. I
don't know what the original one cost but, the cost of this one is UKP
37,000...

"But then, the ship was too big to shoot, it was impossible to shoot in the
studio so we've got a great ship which is impossible to shoot, so we were
going to have Computer Generated material and a model shoot miniature. It
took Chris Veale, who did the last series, nine weeks to take photographs
of the ship from all angles and then scan them into the computer...

"There's also a new model of Blue Midget, for a new sequence in 'Thanks for
the Memory'. It's much like a small dome shape, like Starbug is, except
it's got legs, walkable legs... and in 'Thanks for the Memory'; if you all
remember where they're all drunk? Well, there's a new sequence and they're
now driving a ship, or walking in a ship, which is drunk!!!

"So, that basically's, the main project that we're doing this year.
Inevitably there's going to be a lot of 'Oh, why are you releasing these
videos, you're only doing this to exploit the fans'. In fact, in terms of
video sales, we don't need to release these videos at all, but BBC
Worldwide want to recupe the money they've spent on this to get it back;
for us, it's just an opportunity to put right some of the things that have
always annoyed us about the series, the glitches that we can now get out,
and an opportunity to use technology which we didn't have then."

There has been concern over the appearance of Holly throughout the series.
In series one Norman Lovett's Holly appeared as a pixellised image on a
blue screen, and then in series two the image was crystal clear with not a
pixel to be seen. This is also the case with some of thes tories featuring
Hattie Hayridge's Holly, although more strangely, look closely at the three
series in which Hattie appeared and see how many different hair cuts you
can spot her with! In re-shooting Holly's sequences the Holly scenes will
look much more consistent. Also, it is planned that Hattie will provide an
introduction to series 3, 4 and 5 episodes such as those Norman provided
for the first two series' episdodes.

Grant Naylor Productions have spoken of concern that many fans won't
appreciate the change, particularly the new look to the main ship, however,
when the new look was premiered at Dimension Jump 97 the general opinion
was very positive. The new look Blue Midget hasn't been seen by the public
eye yet, but it sounds pretty good and it's feature in Remastered will pave
the way for it's major involvement in series 8.

The remastered series won't be on TV in the foreseeable future, except for
episode one, 'The End', which is expected to feature as part of the evening
of Red Dwarf on February 15 to celbrate the tenth anniversary.

There will be an exhibition of Red Dwarf at Blackpool Tower in the summer
of 98 for everyone to come and see. The new RD model will be on show.

Joe Siegler

--- GoldED/386 2.50+ 424LM1 Fnord!
 * Origin: The Jupiter Mining Corporation - Garland, TX (1:124/9006)