BSG >>>> EVERYTHING ELSE. TRUTH.

[rogueslayer452]

Our characters are living, breathing people with all the emotional complexity and contradictions present in quality dramas like "The West Wing" or "The Sopranos." In this way, we hope to challenge our audience in ways that other genre pieces do not. We want the audience to connect with the characters of Galactica as people. Our characters are not superheroes. They are not elite. They are everyday people caught up in an enormous cataclysm and trying to survive the best they can.

They are you and me.

An excerpt taken from the Battlestar Galactica series bible. (.pdf link)

YES YES YES. JUST, YES. *_____*

Reading through the Series Bible itself makes me appreciate and respect Ron Moore even more then I already have, because this was written during the miniseries, I think even before they started the miniseries; the entire mapping out the story, the universe, the characters, pretty much giving us a clear structural layout and outline of what they wanted to present to us in a spectacular series. It's clear from day one what their intention was for Battlestar Galactica. Hell, there's even some statements supporting why the series ended the way it did because it was in the formatting of the entire storytelling process since day one. *__* Of course, the Series Bible itself definitely had been expanded as the series continued on since the miniseries in greater detail, but this is just a taste about the basic structure and mission statement they were going for with the show. Even with some changes as they went on, as it often does with creating a story, the message and statements stayed the same and they never strayed away from it. Ever.

Seriously though, everyone needs to read this, even if you have never seen the show before in your life, because it pretty much is a fantastic and it clearly tells you precisely why I absolutely love and fangirl BSG as much as I do. In my opinion, every single show should have a series bible of their own, because I feel like with certain shows they just go with whatever and they forget their own footing and mission statement along the way.

Reason why I love BSG, #2838492834. ♥ ♥ ♥

Comments

[nicole-anell.livejournal.com]

Aaah, that quote. :) The bible is pretty fascinating, I still haven't devoured the whole thing but I've read bits and pieces (the parts Relevant To My Interests especially).

Next to that paragraph, I think my favorite line in the whole thing is about the Cylons and how their human-likeness is vital. And then it says: "They are not the Borg. When in doubt, remember they are not the Borg." Hee.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

Heee, that part made me giggle. ;)

I know there's more to it than just this, though. Wasn't there some kind of script or excerpt somewhere that had descriptions of the different Cylon models and how they each represented a particular human trait? Since Six is only described here as "the Woman is Machine" (as Tricia mentioned long ago that's all they had for her character background at the time of the miniseries), I'm kind of interested in the other half that they're not showing here about the Cylons/other character backgrounds as well. If that ever gets put out in the future, as well.

I am, however, deeply intrigued by such descriptions of the Cylons in this excerpt here. Obviously. ;D

[nicole-anell.livejournal.com]

I remember Tricia saying "the Woman as Machine" was all she got initially, yeah. I'm not sure if they ever wrote out the traits of each of the Cylon models but that would be fascinating -- I know they made a document just about the Cylons right before season 3. I would love to see that!

(I should track down that BSG story-so-far special where Moore and Eick said a brief word or two of each of the Cylon models, 'cause I remember really liking what they said.)

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

You mean this one? ;)



I would love to be more thoroughly detailed, like how they managed to hold each Cylon model, their prime purpose and overall evolution over the course of the series. But perhaps I'm just reaching, since I know they probably have dozens of notes but that was for their own personal use while making the show to go back to for reference on the characters and their stories and little tidbits here and there. It would be nice to bend their ears for some of our burning curiosities, amirite? ;p

[nicole-anell.livejournal.com]

That's what I was looking for, yeah!

And I totally agree, it would be fabulous but who knows if they ever wrote all that down or if it was just notes over the years or what.

[sixphanel.livejournal.com]

Oh. My. Gods. That is made of win :| I'm astonished!!
Yeah, this is one of the many reasons BSG is one of the greatest tv shows ever... :')

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

Pretty much, yeah. :) Like, I love a lot of my shows but, BSG will always remain my absolute favorites simply because of this alone. The way it was structured from the beginning, how Ron Moore knew that this is what he wanted for the show at its essential core and just, a;ljfdakljsf;dlajsfd. SHOWWWWW. ♥

[onlyechoes.livejournal.com]

Oh wow thanks for the link, I really need to look into this Series Bible. I really love that quote, and it's so true.

I miss Battlestar Galactica, I should probably re-watch it at some point if I ever have the time hahah.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I really need to marathon the show myself at some point. I miss it terribly. But these little things make my love for the universe grow more and more. ♥

[allodole.livejournal.com]

That quote is wonderful- that's what I feel towards a lot of my favourite characters. They stop being characters, they are people.

Still trying to get myself into BSG, though. Sci-fi is far from favourite genre and I've never really gotten into it, I was kinda meh about Firefly, but I did love Star Wars (and the new Star Trek).

I've watched 8 episodes of this so far and I like a few characters (and some I dislike) and the atmosphere is amazing and the world is interesting, but I find it rather confusing at times not to mention quite.. uh, how would I put it, heavy to watch? I'm not saying it's bad, but it's definitely not something I usually watch so it kinda takes part of the enjoyment away. But I don't intend to stop now that I've started, so I'll at least watch the entire first season and then re-think my opinion about it. I'm not made for too complicated plots and too many characters, I get confused. :(

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I think that's awesome that you're getting into it. \O/ Normally I wasn't that into scifi myself, in fact I was quite picky about the kinds of things I watched in terms of scifi. But BSG is a mixture of many things which made me enjoy it, and I consider it my favorite show ever. :)

As for the show being heavy in its content, it's definitely meant to be like that. It's meant to make you think and question certain motives and situations that are happening, challenging the mind of the audience. As the quote above says, it's about taking the genre of science fiction and doing something that nobody has done before, which is take it seriously. Many of the subjects they will be dealing with are going to be heavy-handed and controversial, and uncomfortable to watch. But I think it makes for amazing storytelling, particularly with the way BSG handles the majority of what they present on the screen, from character interactions and relationships to the situations they are put in. And I'll be honest, the first season is the lighter of the seasons with what they deal with. It will continue to get darker and darker, but don't let that scare you away! It gets more interesting and if you're still into it, you'll be in for one hell of a ride. Trust me.

Also, if you get confused I'm always here to answer any questions you have. I am such a huge BSG fangirl, I know things forwards and backwards. ;)

[allodole.livejournal.com]

Hee, well I've only heard good things about it from many different people so it must have That Something. So far, I'm not exactly impressed but as I said, it's mainly 'cause I'm definitely no fan of sci-fi and it's only been eight episodes (and the mini-series I watched out of curiosity)- I warm up to shows very slowly, after all. The characters are usually the biggest reason why I watch something and BSG's got those well down, even though some of them I already despise or just don't care about.

I'm aware it's meant to be heavy (after all, how could it not), but in a way it gets a little intimidating. As said, it's definitely not common to see a scifi-show that's so realistic it's actually uncomfortable and painful to watch! And something that could very easily happen in some faraway future. None of these are bad things and I'm not backing away once I've started. It might take a while, but I'll get there.

Sure, I'll bombard you with questions if I get more confused from now on. Part of it has to do with the fact that I wasn't paying attention as well as I could have at the first few episodes /cough

Lee Adama is my favourite so far. I also really like Laura Roslin and Starbuck.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

That's understandable. It really is a different kind of genre of scifi altogether with taking a more realistic approach the show deals with, and it will definitely take some people to get used to it for sure. I didn't get into the show until like before the third season premiered, but once I did (marathoned the entire miniseries, first and second season) I was completely hooked and wanting more.

I'm just glad that you're sticking with it and warming up to it. Definitely see whether you like what you see the further you get into the show. But even if you don't absolutely love it or become as obsessed as I am, I think you'll enjoy it.

Sure, I'll bombard you with questions if I get more confused from now on. Part of it has to do with the fact that I wasn't paying attention as well as I could have at the first few episodes /cough

lol! Just hit me up with anything bb, I'll answer the best to my ability without giving too much away of spoilers. ;)

[allodole.livejournal.com]

I've been getting into scifi anyway so I'm downloading the rest of the first season as we speak.

It's easy to entertain me and if there's even a tiny thing, even just a one character I like, I'll stick with it. Dunno if I'll completely love it or anything, but it's definitely gonna be an experience of its own. :D :D I'm excited to watch more because my interest has awoken and I wanna know what will happen to everyone.

Cylons are so creepy. Awesome, but creepy. :(

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

Hey, as long as it's grabbed your interest that's good enough.

Cylons are so creepy. Awesome, but creepy. :(

Oh, just you wait bb.... ;)

[allodole.livejournal.com]

If that doesn't sound ominous then I don't know what does. Oh dear!

[actourdreams.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is exciting! Thank you for posting it. BSG was a huge part of my life for a long time... I'm delighted to get a look at the inner workings, so to speak.

After just a skim of the contents, it's surprising how much things changed and how much they stayed the same, to be cliché.