Caprica: Should old Cylons return as suits or CGI?

[Whitestar]

Recently, the Sci-Fi Channel announced plans for a prequel spinoff series to Ron Moore's Battlestar Galactica entitled, "Caprica". The series is set 50 years before the events of Battlestar Galatica and will focus on the lives of two families: the Adamas (ancestors of future Galactica commander William) and the Graystones. The Twelve Colonies are at peace and on the verge of a technological breakthrough: the first Cylon.

Here is the link: http://en.battlestarwiki.org/wiki/Caprica_%28series%29

And just in case you're having trouble with the link, here's the article:

Caprica is a proposed television series to be produced by Ronald D. Moore and David Eick for the SciFi Channel. Writer Remi Aubuchon ("24") is the third executive producer, and is the actual showrunner. It is a prequel to the Re-imagined Series that deals with the Adama and Graystone families on the planet Caprica and the invention of the Cylons.

Summary

The SciFi Channel will delve into the backstory of "Battlestar Galactica" with a new series that looks at the creation of the race of robots known as Cylons by the humans of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol and the eventual revolt of the Cylons against their human masters, which will lead the two races to become locked to the death in a bitter war for their respective survivals.

The prequel, called Caprica, heads a list of development projects the cable network unveiled April 26, 2006. Caprica begins over 50 years before the Ron D. Moore-created Battlestar Galactica series (RDM). Caprica will be set more than 50 years prior to the events of "Battlestar Galactica" and focus on the lives of two families: the Adamas (ancestors of future Galactica commander William) and the Graystones. The Twelve Colonies are at peace and on the verge of a technological breakthrough: the first Cylon.

As Battlestar Galactica is about a lot more than space battles, Caprica will be as much family drama as sci-fi tale. Remi Aubuchon (The Lyon's Den, 24) is writing the pilot script; "Galactica" veterans Ronald D. Moore and David Eick will executive produce it.

The Scifi.com news release on April 27th, 2006 stated:

"SCI FI Channel announced the development of Caprica, a spinoff prequel of its hit Battlestar Galactica, in presentations to advertisers in New York on April 26. Caprica would come from Galactica executive producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick, writer Remi Aubuchon (24) and NBC Universal Television Studio. Caprica would take place more than half a century before the events that play out in Battlestar Galactica. The people of the Twelve Colonies are at peace and living in a society not unlike our own, but where high-technology has changed the lives of virtually everyone for the better. But a startling breakthrough in robotics is about to occur, one that will bring to life the age-old dream of marrying artificial intelligence with a mechanical body to create the first living robot: a Cylon. Following the lives of two families, the Graystones and the Adamas (the family of William Adama, who will one day become the commander of the Battlestar Galactica), Caprica will weave together corporate intrigue, techno-action and sexual politics into television's first science fiction family saga, the channel announced. " The series in only in early planning stages at the moment and the pitch by Ron Moore has not yet been formally picked up, and it might be a year or two before it begins. It is described as not just focusing on scifi battles and action, but on the complex family and character relationships and connections which interplay during this major event in human history.

Production

According to an interview with IFmagazine, David Eick said that they had been contemplating a spinoff prequel series since season 2 began and were tossing around ideas. About the same time, 24 writer Remi Aubuchon pitched a series that had a lot of similarities to the Cylon storyline. Realizing that they could not devote their full time to both Battlestar Galactica and a spinoff, Moore and Eick decided to merge with Auchubon, seeing it as an opportunity: "We took some of what we had and some of what he had ".


According to a post on the official Scifi.com messageboard by Ron Moore's wife Terry Dresbach, executive producer Remi Aubochon will be the showrunner for "Caprica", in charge of the writing staff. Ron Moore will oversee and approve the story arcs, casting, sets, and read the scripts, though Moore will probably rarely write an individual episode for Caprica.

In an interview in Dreamwatch Magazine in May 2006, Remi Aubuchon said that he originally pitched a series which was an "allegorical story about slavery with robots", when approached by Moore and Eick. Aubuchon stated that William Adama will be 11 years old when the series begins. Aubuchon described the new show by saying, "This is a very human story about how our own hubris can lead us to disaster". He goes on to say that Caprica is meant to stand on its own from BSG: while still addressing backstory issues from Battestar, it will not be required to have watched it to enjoy Caprica. However, "certain elements have been embedded into the first few episodes of season 3" of Battlestar Galactica, which might refer to things which will be further fleshed-out in the prequel series.

Well, it may appear that we'll finallly get to see those old "walking chrome toasters" again for this new series, afterall, Ron Moore's Battlestar Galatica has acknowledged them in the mini-series. The question is, will Moore rent out those old Cylon costumes and put actors in them, or will they be CGI? Discuss!

Whitestar

[Sonic_Siddhartha]

it's kind of a toss-up. I think the costumed version would just cheese-out in these days, but i think a less evolved robot form would be acceptable.

I think they should not have their hands as the weapons. Possibly they can have them carry actual firearms like in the original. The hands changing to the firearm could be played off as an evolution for the current series.

if i made any sense please tell me,.

[Perpetual Man]

I'm in two minds really. Although I like the look of the CGI 'modern' Cylons I think prolonged exposure to them and interaction with human actors lowers their credibility slightly - TV just does not have the budget yet to make CGI characters work well unfortunately, because they look so good.

It could be argued that a more simple form would be smaller, based more on a human, so a suit could be a good option - although I believe the old shiny ones were really hard to work with, because they were so refelctive they reflected studio lights and cameras.

Perhaps a mix of suit, prosthetic and CGI might work...

[Pherdnut]

There ain't nothin' scary about a dude in a Cylon suit. They'll need CGI to maintain a much more frigthening level of mobility. Also, there is no reason to believe that the classic 0005 model is necessarily the only type that partook in the revolution.

[McHorde-Trooper]

This sounds like a promising series. Though a military fiction about the actual war might be more interesting.

Suits and CGI that is a tough question. I'm not sure what to decide, but Pherdnut makes a great point about multiple robot types.

Especially since we're dealing with prototypes their could easily be more than one model AND that means there could be more than won way of rendering it. One model could be a prop, another could be a suit, and another could be CGI. And there could be all kinds of combinations of either.

The early prototype may not even be humanoid. Maybe it could look a little like a small robot with a head reminiscent of the classic cone headed leaders from the original.

Hmm . . thinking of the suit . . we have MUCH better materials that could be used for a high end look. I remember seeing some pretty nifty fake aluminum in a dull color.

You could make some high end Cylon suits and add a CGI light effect for there red eye.