Back from LA with Honorverse move news

I am actually quite exited regarding the movie. Here is my opinion regarding two of the issues:

1. The need to differentiate between the ships of the two major navies (Heaven and Manticore) is of course there, but it does not need to be extreme.

As RFC mentioned, the real life differences between ships of different navies are subtle to a lay person, because similar constraints guide the design and if something works for one Navy, the other will adopt is as well.
The Honorverse has the same realistic approach to design and the movie should reflect this realism.

For example, if you look at WW2 ships of the Japanese Navy and the US Navy, they are visually very similar. Basic hull form, position of weapons, sensors etc.
Despite this, people do not have problems telling who is who in a WW2 war movie. Subtle design differences, different uniforms, flags, music, lighting, colours etc. should be sufficient.
There is no need for grey inverted spoons vs green birds like Star Trek. Cigars with hammerheads vs slightly different cigars with hammerheads is just fine.

2. In most scifi movies the battles are fought 10 metres apart between ships. This is done to get them in one frame and show the sparkling action.

This is also not necessary. If you look at submarine movies, such as Hunt for Red October and in my opinion the best one Das Boot, they do not usually show the opposing ship in one frame.

Tension and action can be generated without the ships being in viewing distance of each other and works very well. They show the actions of one ship and then the effect of these actions on the other. Personally, I believe that such submarine movie style action would be appropriate for the Honorverse.
This style lends itself well to the type of weapons the Honorverse has:

Missiles are visible and can be shown when fired and when they impact. The rest of the time they are shown on a plot, which the characters look at on the bridge.

Lasers, Grasers etc. are invisible in vacuum. A firing sequence can be shown as a glowing point on the hull. The beam itself would be invisible. Then the enemy ship is shown. When the beam passes through its side walls, it can become visible (just the end of it where it passes through them) and the impact.

That does not mean that there is no room for Honor to come straight at a battle cruiser in a cruiser, slice it in half and emerge victorious on the other side. But it should be kept at a certain realistic level.

Welcome orangesky. hope you have fun around here.


and agreed on your points.

Orangesky wrote:I am actually quite exited regarding the movie. Here is my opinion regarding two of the issues:

1. The need to differentiate between the ships of the two major navies (Heaven and Manticore) is of course there, but it does not need to be extreme.

As RFC mentioned, the real life differences between ships of different navies are subtle to a lay person, because similar constraints guide the design and if something works for one Navy, the other will adopt is as well.
The Honorverse has the same realistic approach to design and the movie should reflect this realism.

For example, if you look at WW2 ships of the Japanese Navy and the US Navy, they are visually very similar. Basic hull form, position of weapons, sensors etc.
Despite this, people do not have problems telling who is who in a WW2 war movie. Subtle design differences, different uniforms, flags, music, lighting, colours etc. should be sufficient.
There is no need for grey inverted spoons vs green birds like Star Trek. Cigars with hammerheads vs slightly different cigars with hammerheads is just fine.

2. In most scifi movies the battles are fought 10 metres apart between ships. This is done to get them in one frame and show the sparkling action.

This is also not necessary. If you look at submarine movies, such as Hunt for Red October and in my opinion the best one Das Boot, they do not usually show the opposing ship in one frame.

Tension and action can be generated without the ships being in viewing distance of each other and works very well. They show the actions of one ship and then the effect of these actions on the other. Personally, I believe that such submarine movie style action would be appropriate for the Honorverse.
This style lends itself well to the type of weapons the Honorverse has:

Missiles are visible and can be shown when fired and when they impact. The rest of the time they are shown on a plot, which the characters look at on the bridge.

Lasers, Grasers etc. are invisible in vacuum. A firing sequence can be shown as a glowing point on the hull. The beam itself would be invisible. Then the enemy ship is shown. When the beam passes through its side walls, it can become visible (just the end of it where it passes through them) and the impact.

That does not mean that there is no room for Honor to come straight at a battle cruiser in a cruiser, slice it in half and emerge victorious on the other side. But it should be kept at a certain realistic level.

Some nice ideas in there Orangesky. Welcome to the forums.

Movie better be longer than RFC's stated 90min or its a guaranteed flop or at best mediocre. Name one good movie that is this short? One that isn't a cartoon anyways.

Orangesky wrote: 2. In most scifi movies the battles are fought 10 metres apart between ships. This is done to get them in one frame and show the sparkling action.

This is also not necessary. If you look at submarine movies, such as Hunt for Red October and in my opinion the best one Das Boot, they do not usually show the opposing ship in one frame.

Tension and action can be generated without the ships being in viewing distance of each other and works very well. They show the actions of one ship and then the effect of these actions on the other. Personally, I believe that such submarine movie style action would be appropriate for the Honorverse.

No disagreement here, I'm sure they'll have to find a method of shortening the minutes it takes the missiles to reach detonation range, but that's for the script writers to worry about.

This style lends itself well to the type of weapons the Honorverse has:

Missiles are visible and can be shown when fired and when they impact. The rest of the time they are shown on a plot, which the characters look at on the bridge.

Not impossible, but I'd be willing to bet a dirham or two that you see the missiles in transist, see them getting blowed up by counter-missiles (which we also see) and seeing them detonate--if you're going to grab an audience that by and large haven't read the books (and whose grasp of physics is shaky at best), you need them to visually see the things, not just dots on a tac board.

Lasers, Grasers etc. are invisible in vacuum. A firing sequence can be shown as a glowing point on the hull. The beam itself would be invisible. Then the enemy ship is shown. When the beam passes through its side walls, it can become visible (just the end of it where it passes through them) and the impact.

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.

And I find that I am ok with that.

Good first post, please continue. We seem to have added a number of new posters here recently. Enjoy yourselves and keep bringing new ideas up.

Hutch 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.

And I find that I am ok with that.

Such an approach is of course valid and we will see what the artists come up with.

Personally, I would prefer a dark and realistic take on the Honorverse. Something different from the usual scifi fair. A lot of it is quite colourful. Loud explosions in the vacuum of space, red, green, blue glowy balls of light racing towards each other. Visible lasers etc.

Realistic does not mean not dramatic. Have you seen the recent trailer for Gravity where the ISS is hit, as far as I can tell, by orbiting space junk?

The junk is moving fast and you cannot see it. Just the effect on the station is visible. Frankly it is very ominous, unpredictable and terrifying. There is a feeling of danger, since you do not know where it will strike next.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuMU2q00w3I

Now, I admit they do use sound effects, but they are subtle, not the "pew, pew, pew" of the usual scifi stuff.

Being dark, gritty and realistic is a possible way for the Honorverse to differ from the rest.

Starting with HotQ? That's great news in my opinion.

I was hoping for such a decision. While OBS is a great story to read, I just can't imagine it being impressive in a movie.

In wet-navy terms: OBS would be a slugfest between an underarmed frigate and an armed tanker. HotQ on the other side is a duel between two fast, lethal cruisers (one just a little bit more deadly than the other).

(probably with at least some flashback to OBS)

Well, that would be nice. Similar to the first new Star Trek movie. Which begins with USS Kelvin getting pounded into scrap by Nero (and Kirk's father dying a hero). That would be a nice start for the movie. Honor remembering her battle in OBS, and then waking up - or similar.


Regarding sound effects:

I always thought that there's one perfect way, to make the soundlessness of space warfare audible (as paradox as this statement may appear) - and that is using Subwoofers. Using sounds, which are so deep that they are more or less felt by the audience than heared.


Regarding different ships:

I don't have an idea for dealing with outside issues, but for inside ones there's the great precedent of Hunt for Red October (already mentioned in this thread) - give each ship's bridge another colour!
If I remember correctly, USS Dallas' bridge had a bluish tint, Red October a green one and the Alpha-class (can't remember the name) was red.


And last but not least:

Will the movie be 3D?
And will it be a cinema-movie, or a TV-one?

I was just reviewing photos and video clips of Moon Bloodlove again which only confirm that she would be perfect for the part of Honor Harrington. She has the height, exotic appearance and athleticism to play Honor Harrington.

They certainly proved the concept of combat at realistic range in the movie Battleship. I loved Wrath of Kahn but it set a horrible precedent for the Star Trek genre.

Orangesky wrote:I am actually quite exited regarding the movie. Here is my opinion regarding two of the issues:

1. The need to differentiate between the ships of the two major navies (Heaven and Manticore) is of course there, but it does not need to be extreme.

As RFC mentioned, the real life differences between ships of different navies are subtle to a lay person, because similar constraints guide the design and if something works for one Navy, the other will adopt is as well.
The Honorverse has the same realistic approach to design and the movie should reflect this realism.

For example, if you look at WW2 ships of the Japanese Navy and the US Navy, they are visually very similar. Basic hull form, position of weapons, sensors etc.
Despite this, people do not have problems telling who is who in a WW2 war movie. Subtle design differences, different uniforms, flags, music, lighting, colours etc. should be sufficient.
There is no need for grey inverted spoons vs green birds like Star Trek. Cigars with hammerheads vs slightly different cigars with hammerheads is just fine.

2. In most scifi movies the battles are fought 10 metres apart between ships. This is done to get them in one frame and show the sparkling action.

This is also not necessary. If you look at submarine movies, such as Hunt for Red October and in my opinion the best one Das Boot, they do not usually show the opposing ship in one frame.

Tension and action can be generated without the ships being in viewing distance of each other and works very well. They show the actions of one ship and then the effect of these actions on the other. Personally, I believe that such submarine movie style action would be appropriate for the Honorverse.
This style lends itself well to the type of weapons the Honorverse has:

Missiles are visible and can be shown when fired and when they impact. The rest of the time they are shown on a plot, which the characters look at on the bridge.

Lasers, Grasers etc. are invisible in vacuum. A firing sequence can be shown as a glowing point on the hull. The beam itself would be invisible. Then the enemy ship is shown. When the beam passes through its side walls, it can become visible (just the end of it where it passes through them) and the impact.

That does not mean that there is no room for Honor to come straight at a battle cruiser in a cruiser, slice it in half and emerge victorious on the other side. But it should be kept at a certain realistic level.

One question I have is just what kind of production the movie will be and if there is a major studio ultimately behind it, at leaast for distribution. Is it going to be a wide-release theatrical movie with a decent budget, something like Serenity? A lower-budget limited-release then right to video? Or is this a direct-to-video/cable TV low-budget production? The 90-minute run time seems to me that it's intended for cable broadcast--add 3o minutes for commercials and there's your standard 2-hour time slot.