Here is the Bittorrent link and direct MP3 download for the EGC clambake for July 11, 2005.
I play an unreleaased song by Jill Sobule; the majority of this episode is part one of my interview with John Rogers about the Global Frequency phenomenon; I play a song by Dick Richards for the soundtrack to Dhalgren and then it’s all over.
Don’t forget, you can fly your EGC flag by buying the stuff package.
This show as a whole is Creative Commons licensed Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 1.0.
Links mentioned in this episode:
- Jill Sobule
- John Rogers’ weblog
- Global Frequency Vol. 1: Planet Ablaze, the graphic novel the TV show was based on
- Sine Fiction soundtrack to Dhalgren
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Loved this show. You unwittingly convinced me to get Bittorent. I thought I was done with p2p. At least it doesn’t have spyware in the installation. How the hell does the same person who likes Jill Sobule like the Sine Fiction soundtrack? You are eclectic my friend. You are an enigma wrapped in a paradigm shift wrapped in another enigma.
The audio quality is much better. No doubt due to a higher quality A/D converter than you had before, also looking at the audio in a wave editor, I can see that it is highly compressed (referring to volume levels). That’s a good thing for podcasting because it makes the podcast sound louder. It has less dynamic range but we don’t worry about that with podcasts.
Not trying to be an asshole, but did you really like the show that much ?
I’d count me as someone who thought it was “OK”. However, I may yet agree that it is the best hour of SciFi TV (you’ve got to admit that’s a low bar, right ?). I certainly don’t feel like evangelising (sp?) it. I’ve gotta say that I found a lot of it pretty derivative (can you say Matrix ?) – this is where you might hand me my ass on a plate because I’ve not read the book yet (but am going to) – and we discover that the Matrix was simply derivative of the book instead.
I did love the mood (helps to watch it at midnight.)
I’ll give it another watch – this time with our son and see if it works better this time.
I do have a massive woody about the idea that a bunch of pointy-haired types decided it was not “CSI: Cedar Rapids” or “Star Trek: Another Trip To The Trough” and canned it, and now they find themselves on the receiving end of customer pull instead of cramming stuff down our necks.
Nice to hear you back in the other speaker – I can’t say I noticed the dropped channel inthe last show until I went back and listened for it.
Andy, yes I did feel exactly that strongly about it. I can’t remember the last time I was this emotionally engaged while watching an SF show with explosions and ass-kicking and such. It is a pretty low bar but as far as being derivative – what TV isn’t? Pretty much all reality shows are variations on the same few themes. I really am enthusiastic about this show in a way I haven’t been in many many years.
TE, I don’t know about compression on the Marantz but it is much easier to get it close to (or in the case of the first two shows over) 0 dB. With the recording back on the laptop, either with Wiretap or Audio Hijack level control was always a challenge.
Considering that a half decent hardware compressor alone could easily cost what you paid I would say you got a great deal.
The DVD box set subscription model for the TV isn’t that far of a stretch. Didn’t Disney make a bunch of direct to DVD movie sequels for Lion King, et. al. I remember back in college pre-ordering a box set of Kimagure Orange Road (KOR) through Animeigo. They needed a certain number of pre-orders to justify the project before obtaining the license and translating the series. The number back then was a few thousand box sets, but the price was steep $300 for 48 episodes IIRC, and on VHS no less. Animeigo went on to do similar projects w/ Macross (a.k.a. Robotech) and a few other series.
Oddly enough, there’s another similarity to the Global Frequency phenomenon. The demand for KOR was entirely built upon fansubbers pirating the japanese language laser disc sets. Then translating, subtitling and recording each episode onto VHS tapes. They would then trade/sell these tapes among other fans and fansubbers. The sales generated by these pirated tapes never really made any significant money because the fansubs were priced at almost the same cost as blank tapes. Sounds awfully similar, albeit low-tech, to Bittorrent.
At the time, there was a pretty big controversy over whether there would be enough demand for legal copies when fansubs were available and fairly easy to obtain for next to nothing. As it turned out, if a legal alternative is available, something can be arranged if the owner’s of the intellectual property have a realistic sense of business.
That said, I don’t know if the economics can be worked out to fund the filming of a TV series. Filming the anime shows had already been paid for by the japanese media companies who broadcast the shows on TV. Translating and remastering an existing show is a lot cheaper than filming original content. I think the best you could hope for is to drum up enough support to get the Sci-fi channel to take a serious look at the show.
So I watched the torrent and liked it a lot (though I’m always so happy with and forgiving of SF television this wasn’t so surprising), then watched it with several equally rabid fanboys who liked it less. One of them was extremely happy that the comic books had been made into a pilot at all, but disappointed with changes that had been made (I have yet to grab the books, but I’m told that “Miranda-fu” is a big no-no). The other was fundamentally unable to get over the derivative aspects, but the big arguments were about the science dialogue sometimes breaking. I admit that I had to wince at lines about glass being a liquid and power being “extended down to the quantum level” — I’d have preferred less exposition of the big central magic thing — but I tended to accept it and get over it without too much trouble. Short of that, though, I was a big fan.
I’ve been following the story of this pilot since it was in filming but hadn’t broken down and downloaded the pilot until just last night. I have to say that I liked it a lot. I was pretty familiar with what was going to happen because I read the original Global Frequency books in their monthly form. Hell, I remember a year ago marking my mental calendar, “Alright, in 2005 I’ll have something worth watching on tv.” I followed Warren Ellis’ blog when he visited the set during shooting. I read every tidbit to fall onto the net and figured I had probably spoiled the effect of watching it long before I saw it. But I didn’t. It was good… great even. And the thing a lot of people mention.. That its a little rough around the edges… This was the Pilot!
I’ve seen pilots before. They usually suck compaired to the real show. A pilot most times doesn’t ever get aired. Its just there to give the premise and an idea for network gnomes of what the show has to offer. The Global Frequency pilot was to be the First Look at something that would grow from there.. Hell, The phone’s ringtone wasn’t even the final one. They were planning to get something else done special for the show once it got picked up.
The big surprise for me was aftr it ended and I sat there just thinking for a couple minutes. I looked at the clock. That sure didn’t feel like 45 minutes. That felt like an hour and a half to me. If every episode managed to pack that much into an hour long show, wow.
I’m going to be screening this pilot to a couple of people in the next day or two to get some reactions. I was the rabid fan who would have killed if it hadn’t lived up to the original. I was pleased. Now to toss it at someone who read the book once and sorta liked it. And at my poor brother who I doubt knows how to read.
I just have this feeling that anyone I show it to is going to kill me when they find it this is all they’re gonna get….
I watched the Global Frequency pilot a week or so ago. I had high expectations after reading about how it was becoming a cult thing. However I can’t help thinking it’s “success” has come as an extension of the books success. I’m no fanboy but I’ve always been a big consumer of science fiction movies and TV but I was really disappointed.
I found the characters cliched and very two-dimensional. The blonde doctor whose hair comes down accidentally to show, surprise, surprise, that she’s a bombshell as well. The special ops boss who can just walk into the NSA secret jail. The faultless protagonist they pick up on the street. etc
I know it’s “just a pilot” but I thought other than the nice effects it was less than mediocre.
I like the idea of a big group of normal people working together but this pilot was setting up a small central cast (of heroes) instead of following a more decentralised focus. I like the idea that you have a new protagonist every week.
Anyway, thanks for the interview Dave. I only replied because you said you wanted to hear from those who didn’t like it. I have to say I was really surprised that you liked it so much. I’d like to hear your opinion on Firefly or Farscape – two thshoes that I’ve really enjoyed.
Josh in Japan
oh boy — should have read ‘shows’ not thshoes
sorry
Josh
A friend handed me a CD with the pilot on it after I mentioned that I heard about it on EGC. I LOVED it! Thanks Dave for turning me on to this!
Someone needs to get the SciFi channel a copy of this – right up their alley.