Babylon 5: Thirdspace - Episodic

[GelflingHand]

Hello! I've converted the Babylon 5 TV movie Thirdspace into a two-part story that can be watched as part of season four of the series, which is when it's set.

Part One is essentially the first 41 minutes of the movie, with only the "this happened back during season 4" opening narration removed, and season 4 style opening and closing credits added.

Part Two has about eight minutes of material cut to bring it down to the standard episode runtime. In addition to a great many small trims, three scenes are cut entirely: Marishi's breakfast encounter with possessed people, Vir telling Ivanova about his dream, and Sheridan's final monologue. It's not the edit I would have made with access to isolated dialogue, music, and effects soundtracks, but I think it holds together reasonably well.

The actual placement of the story is a bit problematic. It needs to go between Epiphanies (when Earth bans travel to B5) and Atonement (when Franklin leaves the station). In most respects it would fit better before Illusion of Truth, which marks a change in the relationship with Earth, but unfortunately that episode starts with Sheridan and Ivanova talking about how they haven't had any problems since Zach took over security. Zach's uniform is also an issue - he's fitted with his Thirdspace uniform for the first time in Atonement. But it's possible to retcon that scene as his uniform being repaired after the events of Thirdspace. The ideal chronology would be to put the first scene of Atonement and all of Thirdspace in the two week gap in the middle of Illusion, but that wouldn't be a good viewing experience.

Source: PAL DVDs.

 

[lapis molari]

Welcome to the forum @"GelflingHand" ! It's great to have another B5 fan join the community.


Other than the cut and several trims, how does your edit give us a different viewer experience beyond it looking like a two-part episode? Can post a video clip? E.g. the opening of the 2nd part? I'm curious to see how that transitions from the opening credits into (the continuation of) the story.

Loading Thirdspace into Audacity, I notice that the music and sound effects are fully present in the center channel (bad). Dialog is almost absent from the other channels (good). So if you want to move dialog across specific scenes, you may be able to achieve clean dialog by subtracting the L+R channels from the center channel.

 

[GelflingHand]

Welcome to the forum @"GelflingHand" ! It's great to have another B5 fan join the community.

Thanks!

Other than the cut and several trims, how does your edit give us a different viewer experience beyond it looking like a two-part episode? Can post a video clip? E.g. the opening of the 2nd part?

Other than that, it's not really intended to; I guess it would go under "Special Projects"? Here are the first few minutes of part two:

[video=dailymotion]

password: whatdoyouwant?

you may be able to achieve clean dialog by subtracting the L+R channels from the center channel.

Hmm... from a quick play, that does help reduce the music, but it would take a bit of work to get the best possible results, and I'm not sure how good that would be. If I do another revision, I'll investigate further!

 

[Zarius]

That looks quite professional, like you've actually worked on the show before. I'm impressed

 

[GelflingHand]

That looks quite professional, like you've actually worked on the show before. I'm impressed

Thank you! :blush:  The dream sequence is about 20 seconds shorter than in the official release.

 

[asterixsmeagol]

The ideal chronology would be to put the first scene of Atonement and all of Thirdspace in the two week gap in the middle of Illusion, but that wouldn't be a good viewing experience.

What if you made a 4-episode edit to get the scenes all in the right order?

 

[GelflingHand]

What if you made a 4-episode edit to get the scenes all in the right order?

Theoretically possible, but it would be a bit of a mess in terms of episode runtimes, placement of credits, etc. The continuity issues with the current order are minor enough that it wouldn't be worth the hassle.

 

[GelflingHand]

Would anyone be willing to give the full edit a quick look to see if it's Academy-ready? I think it is, but I'm probably not the best person to judge my own work!

 

[TM2YC]

Would anyone be willing to give the full edit a quick look to see if it's Academy-ready? I think it is, but I'm probably not the best person to judge my own work!

Sure. B5 is my favourite show, although I don't rate Thirdspace that highly. Maybe a few trims will improve it.

 

[TM2YC]

I've watched both "episodes" of this Thirdspace fanedit and it's approved.

'Thirdspace' is one of the weaker B5 movies IMO because it feels like a typical standalone episode that's just been stretched out to movie length, so some trimming of the runtime was welcome. There were no technical problems that I could see/hear. The added onscreen title fonts look very authentic, nice job.

Thread moved to completed.

 

[The Scribbling Man]

breakfast encounter with possessed people

 

[GelflingHand]

I've watched both "episodes" of this Thirdspace fanedit and it's approved.
'Thirdspace' is one of the weaker B5 movies IMO because it feels like a typical standalone episode that's just been stretched out to movie length, so some trimming of the runtime was welcome. There were no technical problems that I could see/hear. The added onscreen title fonts look very authentic, nice job.

Thanks! <does happy dance>

Any thoughts on how to categorise it? The thread is currently in the FanFixes section, and I suppose it could be considered as such, though the changes are on the minor side. It meets the technical definition of Shorts, but with a total runtime of about 85 minutes, that doesn't feel entirely appropriate. Or Special Projects, being a unique viewing experience without greatly differing from the original?

 

[TM2YC]

I've watched both "episodes" of this Thirdspace fanedit and it's approved.
'Thirdspace' is one of the weaker B5 movies IMO because it feels like a typical standalone episode that's just been stretched out to movie length, so some trimming of the runtime was welcome. There were no technical problems that I could see/hear. The added onscreen title fonts look very authentic, nice job.

Thanks! <does happy dance>

Any thoughts on how to categorise it? The thread is currently in the FanFixes section, and I suppose it could be considered as such, though the changes are on the minor side. It meets the technical definition of Shorts, but with a total runtime of about 85 minutes, that doesn't feel entirely appropriate. Or Special Projects, being a unique viewing experience without greatly differing from the original?

I think the "Fan-Mix" category is best. You've remixed the film to make a new viewing experience.

 

[Bobson Dugnutt]

Holy crud that might've been the quickest approval process I've ever seen. Congrats GelfingHand!

 

[GelflingHand]

Holy crud that might've been the quickest approval process I've ever seen. Congrats GelfingHand!

Thanks - I was expecting it to take rather longer! Your quick viewing and approval is appreciated, TM2YC.

After wasting too much time on the cover art, I've now submitted the IFDB listing and it's awaiting moderation.

 

[TM2YC]

Holy crud that might've been the quickest approval process I've ever seen. Congrats GelfingHand!

Thanks - I was expecting it to take rather longer! Your quick viewing and approval is appreciated, TM2YC.

After wasting too much time on the cover art, I've now submitted the IFDB listing and it's awaiting moderation.

Thanks, it'll go up on Sunday with this weeks other edits.

 

[lapis molari]

After wasting too much time on the cover art, I've now submitted the IFDB listing and it's awaiting moderation.

Congrats on the approval.


Your Thirdspace edit is only the second Babylon 5 edit on IFDB (joining I Zathras), so getting the cover art right is a worthwhile detail. Your edit is setting the bar for future B5 edits!

 

[TM2YC]

This edit is now ifdb. Great job with the DVD artwork! Looks like the genuine covers. 

 

[Zarius]

I have left the first review @"GelflingHand"   

 

[GelflingHand]

I have left the first review @"GelflingHand"   

Thanks! Yes, there were some tricky bits with the sound. In particular, the music at the end of the first scene of part one extended several seconds into the next scene, but the opening credits had to go in between the two.