Back from LA with Honorverse move news

rdt wrote:So why DOES Maria Sharapova sound like she was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley?

Well, she basically lived in tennis academies in Florida from when she was 7 until she went pro and still lives in the US (which is not an uncommon story for tennis pros).

I was thinking about Babylon 5´s Susan Ivanova for Honor at a time, but that would´t work anymore :/

Edit: can´t work the link, but just google her if you haven´t watched Babylon 5 (which you should! )

And I mistook Elysium for Oblivion, I hope you guys noticed. Not seen Elysium yet.

Justifying sound in space

It's easy.

These are gravitational drive weapons. They induce local fluctuating strong gravitational fields in nearby objects. The fluctuating fields introduce localized vibrations, which generate sound waves that the characters can hear.

NeverendingWar wrote:I was thinking about Babylon 5´s Susan Ivanova for Honor at a time, but that would´t work anymore :/

Edit: can´t work the link, but just google her if you haven´t watched Babylon 5 (which you should! )

And I mistook Elysium for Oblivion, I hope you guys noticed. Not seen Elysium yet.

Yes, Claudia Christian has come up a few times She is indeed too old for Honor, but she might do well as Mercedes Brigham or Iris Babcock - maybe even Lady Emily?

The E wrote:

Monty wrote:If the movie must have sound in space, at the end (even after the credits), the camera could pull back from a noisy space battle to show RMN cadets in a theatre and an instructor explaining that the computers add sound to draw human attention to important events.

This is a concept that has lingered around SF for a while. Problem is, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense if you think about it.

If you're going to use sounds to provide battlefield information to a pilot (and you should, because information is vital), why would you go for startling noises that don't carry a lot of information beyond "there was an explosion here"? Why not go for a more sophisticated, more useful way of representing information?

It's a question of verisimilitude, really, and astonishingly enough, JJ Abrams' first Star Trek film did have a very good balance between realism and the need to provide spectacle in this regard.

I'm not saying I want sound in space - I'd prefer total silence (except for music), perhaps with a bit of camera shake and some buffeting sounds whenever a blast wave-front passes the "camera drone".

As for augmented reality, a computer could superimpose a "visible laser beam" and provide a "zap" sound that appears to come from the source of the beam to alert humans to the source of the event. Otherwise, it's "Bang!" "...Who hit us?!"

"You are undoubtedly correct. And I would be willing to wager another dirham that the beams will be visible and accompanied by sound effects--again, sacrificing physical realities to tell the story in a dramatic, visual way."


No sound effects in space! This isn't Star Wars. The sounds can be effect music and the missle tracking beeps/alerts at the tactical stations of the ships.

What I want to see/hear is the scene's inside the ships when they get hit. Let's have explosions, massively blown circuits, battle steel shrapnel, damage control parties scrambling to save lives and fix the ship, etc.

captainofthelist wrote:"You are undoubtedly correct. And I would be willing to wager another dirham that the beams will be visible and accompanied by sound effects--again, sacrificing physical realities to tell the story in a dramatic, visual way."


No sound effects in space! This isn't Star Wars. The sounds can be effect music and the missle tracking beeps/alerts at the tactical stations of the ships.

What I want to see/hear is the scene's inside the ships when they get hit. Let's have explosions, massively blown circuits, battle steel shrapnel, damage control parties scrambling to save lives and fix the ship, etc.

I'll sign on to this.

I personally like the dramatic effect of seeing on the screen some missile streaking through space (or, seeing a bolt of energy, even though it would likely not be visible--artistic license given for that) in absolute silence towards its target, and then the sudden blast of mayhem and carnage resulting on the targeted ship. This seems to me to be not only very eerie and spooky, but has the added benefit of being more realistic.

I do like that and having the relative quiet and semi unreality of a simulation to the area right up until the big hole gets ripped through the area could be an interesting contrast.

For showing battle information without getting the ships in knife fighting ranges a probably very challenging but possibly rewarding approach could be to make a tactical plot that can provide the necessary information even to the audience. Of course this would also come with the added problem of making sure that it always show what is actually happening rather the occasional gibberish. (I can't help think it would be really cool to have a plot that also unobtrusively show all the other information not really needed by the audience if you look deeper into it.)There is also a potentially good opportunity in HoTQ to enplane the tactical plot when it is shown to the Greysons.

No sounds in space, but in the theater there's always the ringing of cell phones and the clicking of texters and even the crying of babies. Yes indeed, I will definitely go for the senior matinee.

I’ve read all 29 pages of posts, although the scientific debate on nuclear weaons and observation in space I glossed mostly over. Personally, I prefer the internal and interstellar politics in Honor Harrington over the hard science part of the series and hope some of it is depicted on screen.

Here are a few things on my mind regarding the new movie and some of my suggestions:

1. Although Honor of the Queen is a good way to introduce Honor Harrington to the big screen, I think that Chapter 1 from On Basilisk Station should be in the movie. That sets up the PRH’s motivations for taking on Manticore and provides a primer on the astropolitical situation in the Honorverse especially if it becomes a series of movies.

2. I know it is introduced much later with the Crown of Slaves and Shadows of Saganami series, but have Mesa involved from the beginning. Although text evidence does not provide a clear link between Mesa and the PRH, it is implied at the end of Mission of Honor. Why not have a rewritten Aldona Asinimova play the role of a shadowy operative for Mesa’s interests in the PRH, with perhaps Hereditary President Harris playing the role of Vice Commissioner Hongbo? For the Babylon 5 fans in this group, she could play the role of Mr. Morden for the Shadows.

3. Although the ones here are the Honorverse fanboys who have absorbed everything Honor Harrington since Day 1, for the movie to be successful, some things have to change to adapt the books to the visual medium. In addition we have a series of 13 mainline books (and counting) and 7 spinoff books between the Shadows of Saganami/Crown of Slaves series. It means that huge portions of some books will have to be ignored if you ever going to get a true movie series out of the books.

4. Having said that, it means we will have to accept lasers visually showing up as streaks of light and perhaps even sound in space. Just gnash your teeth, breathe in a few times and don’t let that minor detail take away the experience if the rest of the story is well done. As the Celery Runner is heavily involved, I’m hopeful it will be the first of a Honor Harrington series.

5. Regarding the space battles, I think it can be done graphically without being minimalist. Although a minimalist approach has been done, I don’t think it will work in a movie business which now gets most of its revenues from international box office receipts. This is the crux of the balancing act Evergreen, the director, and David Weber will face during production. The same thing goes for aiming for a PG-13 rating. An R movie means lower revenue in the United States, period. Lower revenue in the United States could mean a weak international showing. So as much as we would love seeing blood splatters, they will probably be sanitized.

6. Babylon 5 did a good job portraying countermissiles and the Battlestar Galactica remake portrayed space battles at a distance. Perhaps the production team could take some ideas from them. I think they will come up with a good visual depiction of space battles that is grand but at the same time does justice to the distances involved.

7. One issue that no one has raised during this debate is the time it takes for ships to travel in the Honorverse. We know that it takes days, weeks even, for ships to travel in the Honorverse. The only thing I can think of to stay true to the story without making the movie too long would be to use a caption with date, time, and location.

8. Regarding the whitewashing issue, I concur. The best thing about the Honorverse is the sexual equality and ethnic diversity. I sincerely hope they translate that into the screen. I'm looking forward to seeing San Martinos with their huge Bane-like (as in the comics and accent) look. If I could act, I'd volunteer for the role of Tomas Ramirez. As a 6'8" rugby player build Latino, I'm a dead ringer for his character!

One concern is that female-led action movies are few and far between. The Heat did relatively well as a female-led buddy cop movie, but the challenge of making a Wonder Woman movie is a clear warning of the challenges a Honor Harrington faces.

A good barometer on the prospects of a Honorverse movie is how the Ender’s Game movie does in the box office. It is more of a “hard” sci-fi movie. The way it does in the big screen will provide a glimpse on the chances of a Honorverse movie getting green-lit.

I’m hoping it is a success, but how would you group the following movies? I suggest

A Short Victorious War
Field of Dishonor/Flag in Exile
In Enemy’s Hands/Echoes of Honor
Ashes of Victory/War of Honor
At All Costs
Mission of Honor/A Rising Thunder

That still makes six movies, quite an undertaking. The reason I did not include Honor Among Enemies in the list is that this book is similar in its style and tone to On Basilisk Station.

Well, quite long enough. Hope I make sense.