On 12/26/2011 8:47 AM, Robert Green wrote:
"The Daring wrote in message
...

stuff snipped

Dollhouse was a little more cerebral than Buffy. I watched it more for
the way it made me laugh at their treatment of technology. I get a kick
out of SciFi shows where the space cowboys are running through the
engine room of the Draconian Dreadnaught starship which is full of pipes
and electrical panels that look suspiciously like the chiller plant at
the university hospital complex. At least the set dressers cover up the
part of the machines that reads "Carrier" or "Trane". o_O

P.S., I love old Japanese monster movies, I'm usually laughing so hard I
can't breathe. ROOK! GODZIRA! ^_^

I find it similarly amusing to watch how computers and CCTV gear is
portrayed on shows like 24. I've read about some of the serious fights that
break out between agencies about accessing or redirecting spy satellites.
Every second of every orbit has been parceled out long ago. To break in and
change the camera targets gets into the rice bowls of some very important
people. Tapping into satelites, traffic cams, store suveillance cams, cell
phones, etc. in one seamless pass? Arf Arf!

Sometimes location scouts come up with more creative sets like the factory
in Robocop. I imagine with the bad economy there are lots of industrial
sets available. I liked the original "Alien" because they managed to make
the spaceship they find with the huge, dead alien in the control chair look
incredibly realistic.

Nothing like Godzira. I kinda even liked the remake filmed mostly in
Madison Square Garden. When you and I started watch sci fi, FX basically
consisted of models hanging on fishing line. Then, they graduated to "green
screen" where everyone had a jagged halo outline. Now, the sky's the limit.
The funny this is how cheesy the old effects look now, but how much we
*didn't* mind way back then. I noticed Anne Francis, then a 26 year old
sexy star of "Forbidden Planet" died this year (Do you remember "Honey
West?"). Her costar, Canadian Leslie Nielsen, of Saskatchewan, passed about
a year ago. Time's marching on, my friend . . .

--
Bobby G.


Honey West was a real TV hottie back then. The special effects for
"Forbidden Planet" are actually very good for the time the movie was
made. I worked in Californiastan back in the late 80's and some of the
jobs were in "The City of Industry" one of the many small cities that
makeup Los Angeles. The City of Industry is a location for many of the
industrial shots you see in Hollywood productions. When I was there, I
saw a film crew just about every day on the street or down some alley. ^_^

TDD