For years Stargate fans have known and loved his work. Without him, Stargate may never have become the memorable franchise that it is. Now the man who took the amazing and helped elevate it to the astounding is gone. Composer Joel Goldsmith died yesterday, April 29th, at the age of 54.
Joel composed the music for all 334 episodes of the three series of the Stargate franchise, plus the two SG-1 DVD movies. Joel was the one to take the original Stargate theme by David Arnold and adapt it into the SG-1 theme we all love. He collaborated with his famous father Jerry Goldsmith to create the score for Star Trek: First Contact in 1996. He was nominated for two other Emmy Awards, including his music for the SG-1 Season One episode “The Nox” and the Atlantis Season Two episode “Grace Under Pressure.”
When I saw the news yesterday I was indescribably sad. I never had the opportunity to meet him. I suspect very few fans ever got that chance. The closest I ever came was by ordering a copy of the Stargate Continuum soundtrack from his website, and for a few extra dollars he signed the CD booklet. It has always had a special spot in my collection of memorabilia.
Joel’s work has had an effect on so many fans. How many of us have scrambled to get to the TV as soon as we hear our favorite title theme? How many of us proud geeks can identify each theme that Joel created, from the Goa’uld’s chanting theme to the airy chords of the Ancient’s theme? In the years since Stargate Continuum was released I have often seen fans commenting on how well the first piece, ‘A Day in the SGC’, captures the very essence of the series. If anything more ever comes out of the Stargate franchise, the composer will have a very high standard to strive for.
To following up on my original review and report, there have been some new developments regarding Michael Shanks’ new series, Saving Hope. The date has been set, so everyone should mark their calendars and set reminders to tune in to NBC on June 7th!
But wait, it gets better! The man who swore to fans that he would never join the growing ranks of celebrities (and his own wife) on Twitter has finally gone and done it! The @MichaelShanks profile, previously held by the Michael Shanks Online website team, has been handed over to the man himself! If you have never had the chance to meet Michael I recommend you pull up his Twitter feed, look for the tweet on March 19th when the account was handed over, and read from there. Reading as he fields questions, chats with fans, and interacts with other Stargate names like David Hewlett and James “Bam Bam” Bamford is the next best thing to seeing him at a convention Q&A!
Of course a big reason for Michael’s unexpected tweeting frenzy is to help spread the word for Saving Hope, so make sure you tweet using #savinghope and follow him for pictures from the set and the very latest news! If you haven’t seen the beautiful trailer for saving hope, check it out now!
Having never read a graphic novel before and coming into a series (JETTA -Tales of the Toshigawa) I was a bit skeptical about getting much out of a graphic novel mid series.
Gratefully, the inside cover has PREVIOUSLY that not only set me up with the story, but actually got me exited to read further.
I found myself connected to the story visually right away. It’s a story of betrayal, family, romantic love, and the heroine’s potentially devastating decision that weighs heavily on her.
JETTA The female warrior! I do like strong female warriors, my favorite being Aeyrn Sun of Farscape fame. And Shianndrea makes a particularly strong character – one you want to see win!
Ninja! Shianndrea, who has now taken the foreboding name, Jetta, is caught up between the Toshigawa Clan and her Father, Terminus’. She’s been through the ringer, and only wants this fight to end.
Incredibly visual fights, especially between our heroine and her father makes for some exciting reading/viewing.
The art is awesome. The dialog crisp and precise. I recommend this graphic novel to all.
I suppose I’m going to let my long term ‘Femi-Nazi’ out. A name an ex-boyfriend was fond of calling me and I sorta embraced – not in the way he would have wanted me to! Anyway, there are lots of big breasted extreme body defining cat-suited ladies. Sword wielding, fist punching, karate kicking, bad ass women! I. Love. It! Really. (and Terminus is rather hot, himself).
Let me say I intend to seek out women graphic novelists in hopes of finding some sexy body revealing clothed, male counterparts. Or perhaps I will write my own!
It’s official! NBC has picked up Michael Shanks’ new series, Saving Hope! According to Gateworld.net, NBC has ordered thirteen episodes. This sadly has become a standard for new series rather than a twenty episode season, and it may indicate that NBC has its qualms about the potential of the show. I am equally skeptical that NBC is going to give Saving Hope a fair chance to prove itself. They don’t exactly have an exemplary track record with fans, thanks to the SyFy Channel.
In Saving Hope, Shanks’ character of Dr. Charlie Harris become a patient in his own hospital. While his body is stuck in a coma, Harris’s spirit wanders the halls where his fiancée and fellow surgeon, Alex Reid (Erica Durance), also works. If you haven’t seen the trailer yet you should really click play below!
Saving Hope will premiere this Summer on NBC, and at the same time it will also air on CTV in Canada. The exact date has not been released, but we can expect NBC to start running promotional ads soon.
Want to read more about why you should tune in to Saving Hope this Summer? Check out my first reaction to the series in my review here!
Remnant is the creative brain child of Penny Dreadful Productions and a collaborative effort of Atlanta’s creative community. Remnant made its debut as a line of steampunk inspired costumes at Dragon*Con 2011. The costumes, displayed beautifully in the photography of Dim Horizon Studio, were an instant hit among fans and Atlanta’s thriving independent film community took notice. Drawing inspiration from the intricate costumes, rich back story and Amy Houser’s fabulous poster art with logo by Jim Ware, PDP are setting out to create a multi-platform experience that includes costumes, films and live entertainment.
Space Gypsies recently met with Matt Young to talk about Remnant. Matt and his brother Jared form the production company The Brothers Young. Space Gypsies readers might remember The Brother’s Young from the astounding “Galactic Perry’s Learning Starship.”
What drew you first to Remnant?
I first saw the costumes at Dragon Con when PDP debuted them. Jared and I were immediately drawn to the world that PDP was starting to create. We really felt like we could bring the costumes to life through the medium of film. Jared and I wrote a short film for each costume, 6 total. The goal was to tell the story of an individual character. Each video is a glimpse into that characters life on the eve of a battle.
You are known for children’s television and parody/comedy works such as Doritos commercials and Galactic Perry, how was the Remnant experience different? How much fun was it and why?
Remnant is a very fun world to play in from a storyteller’s perspective. We did not feel the need to be funny, which immediately relieves a large amount of stress. Jared and I love visuals and we felt like our history with our past productions benefited us in Remnant. The combination of incredible costuming from PDP, make fx from Andre Freitas at AFX, Film production from Owen Smith at Kalon Media and some Brilliant co-directing by our buddy Chance White really made for a great end product.
Tell me about the location shots?
Many of the sets were constructed at our Studios in Marietta, Ga, including all green screen shots. We also had the benefit of using Afterlight Pictures’ office space. We shot on location 2 out of the 6 production days. We shot at the Duluth Train Museum, which is an incredibly rich and diverse environment and we shot at The Old Roswell Mill machine shop which sit next to the covered bridge. We felt like both these locations were a great combination of old and new, modern and historic.
And green screen was used?
There are a handful of CGI shots in Remnant. Chance White and friends will be doing a good bit of post to bring these shots to life.
What do you see as the next natural step for Remnant?
Remnant has such wonderful potential. The opportunities for stories are endless. We are planning an interactive live show in the coming months and we would love to start building support for a feature film.
How did the concept translate to film?
I think the concept is going to translate very well to film. You always to be careful, it is easy to film something that looks cool. But what is your story? We are always focusing on building a compelling story that people will want to be a part of.
How amazing were the special effects? What else do you want to say about them?
We were blessed to have two creatures designed by Andre Freitas. I think everyone will see that they bring some extra artistic production value to an already fantastically rich world created by PDP.
Any word of moving forward with Perry Con II?
Haha, shockingly enough Perry is not dead. Our friends at School of Humans Productions are working diligently at securing us some more funds to bring the next episodes to life.
For years Stargate fans have known and loved his work. Without him, Stargate may never have become the memorable franchise that it is. Now the man who took the amazing and helped elevate it to the astounding is gone. Composer Joel Goldsmith died yesterday, April 29th, at the age of 54.
