Blood and Chrome

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Blood & Chrome
Blood & Chrome
Created by David Eick and Michael Taylor
Starring
Theme music by Bear McCreary
Statistics
Production company NBC Universal
Number of seasons 1
Number of episodes 1 episode consisting of 10 installments (list)
Debut channel Machinima Prime
US first-run airdates USA November 9 through December 7, 2012[1]
UK first-run airdates UK
DVD release
Production staff
Executive producer(s) David Eick
Michael Taylor
Producer(s)
Supervising producer(s)
Associate producer(s)
Co-producer(s)
Story editor(s)
Online Purchasing
Available at iTunes – [ Purchase]
Related Media
@ BW Media

Blood and Chrome (also known as Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome) is a webisode series that follows the exploits of a young William "Husker" Adama (Luke Pasqualino), Coker Fasjovik (Ben Cotton), and Dr. Beka Kelly (Lili Bordan) during the First Cylon War.

Blood and Chrome is a sequel to Caprica and a prequel to the Re-imagined Series.[2] On the condition that it performed to expectations, it would act as a "backdoor pilot" (much like the Miniseries) for a future series, to be aired either online or through the traditional television route.

The produced story is split into ten parts, each between seven to twelve minutes in length, debuting on Machinima's YouTube channel, Machinima Prime, starting Friday, November 9, 2012. Additional parts will be aired over the following four weeks.[3]

Unlike previous installments in the Re-imagined Series universe, Ron D. Moore was not involved in this production due to his development contract with Sony Pictures. However, many of the creative personnel who worked on Blood and Chrome have worked on both the Re-imagined Series and its prequel Caprica, including Michael Taylor, Doug Drexler, Glenne Campbell, David Eick, Bradley Thompson, David Weddle, and Jonas Pate.

Production History[edit]

Blood and Chrome was officially announced[4] on 27 July 2010 by Syfy Channel executive vice president of programming Mark Stern and Blood and Chrome's co-producer Michael Taylor. The plan called for the production of a two-hour backdoor pilot [2] to be directed by then co-executive producer of Caprica Jonas Pate.[5]

On 2 February 2001, Mark Stern published a photo of a production meeting for Blood and Chrome showing co-creator and producer David Eick and many other crew members on the set of SyFy's Eureka.[6] As of 10 February 2011, production had commenced on the pilot on green screen stages in Vancouver, British Columbia.[7] Principal photography wrapped at the end of February commencing an extensive post-production period that lasted until December 2011.

In a 21 July 2011 article interviewing actress Lili Bordan has suggested that Blood and Chrome could be presented in 3-D[8]

In August 2011, uncertainty arose as to whether or not Blood and Chrome would air on SyFy or get an online distribution as originally intended for the series. Some confusion persisted as to what the issue was as it has been reported that the screenplay for the pilot was "good". The project had reached rough cut stages, and had been screened for SyFy executives. It was noted that the project was, for the most part, been filmed in front of a green screen.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15]

In December 2011, Doug Drexler reported that a decision regarding the fate of Blood and Chrome would be made around February 2012.[15]

On 21 March 2012, an unofficial teaser trailer for Blood and Chrome began appearing on YouTube, however NBCUniversal quickly ordered its removal. At that time, several sources revealed that the project would not be moving forward as a TV series on SyFy, but could still be viable as a webseries. It was also stated that the pilot episode could air on SyFy as a standalone television movie [16][17][18]

Nearly eight months later on 5 November 2012, an Entertainment Weekly exclusive revealed SyFy's plans for Blood and Chrome, detailing the pilot episode's division into ten shorter episodes to be aired on Machinima's YouTube channel, Machinima Prime, beginning Friday, November 9, 2012. The additional seven to twelve minute episodes would be released in the following four weeks, with the complete pilot episode airing on SyFy in January of 2012. [19] On 7 November 2012, Machinima Prime released a clip from Blood and Chrome featuring a short scene from the episode. [20] An unrated, uncut Blu-ray and DVD version of the pilot episode was announced on 8 November 2012, with a 19 February 2013 release date. As announced, the Blu-ray and DVD will include deleted scenes and a behind-the-scenes documentary, “Blood & Chrome: Visual Effects”. [21] The announcement coincided with the release of another teaser trailer featuring additional footage from Blood and Chrome. [22]

On 9 November 2012, CGSociety published an an interview with VFX supervisor Gary Hutzel detailing the creation of Blood and Chrome and its 1,800 CGI shots. The article stated that Blood and Chrome carried a budget of $2 million. [23]

Plot[edit]

According to Taylor, the series is "about a young man's [William Adama] initiation into war: both the realities of war as fought by soldiers on the ground (and in Battlestars and Vipers), and the somewhat less real version portrayed in the media."[4]

Further, Taylor points out that the scope of the series "isn't confined to Galactica. Far from it. It's a story that will take us to new corners of the Battlestar world (or worlds), and yet it aims to be a very contemporary war movie in a lot of ways. I would say I'm thinking as much of Afghanistan and Iraq--the reality of [The] Hurt Locker, Sebastian Junger's Restrepo, and similar movies--as I am about about the largely implied past of Battlestar."[4]

Blood and Chrome was also meant to feature adult situations as, according to Taylor, the series will not "[shy] away from R-rated blood and guts and sex" due to it being initially meant for online consumption.[4] Given its status as a televised feature, it is possible that the "adult situations" may be retooled to make it appropriate for broadcast with an unrated version appearing on DVD. This was the case with The Plan, which featured nudity and near-explicit sexual situations.

Cast[edit]

Crew[edit]

References[edit]

  1. Hibberd, James (5 November 2012). 'Battlestar Galactica' prequel being released online Friday -- EXCLUSIVE (backup available on Archive.org) (in ). Retrieved on 5 November 2012.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Syfy Greenlights "Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome", TV By the Numbers, October 22, 2010
  3. Hibberd, James (5 November 2012). 'Battlestar Galactica' prequel being released online Friday -- EXCLUSIVE (backup available on Archive.org) (in ). Retrieved on 5 November 2012.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Ryan, Maureen (27 July 2010). Exclusive: 'Battlestar Galactica' sets up a Young Adama spinoff (backup available on Archive.org) (in ). Retrieved on 27 July 2010.
  5. Andreeva, Nellie (22 November 2010). Deadline.com: Four Drama Pilots Land Director (backup available on Archive.org) (in ). Retrieved on 23 November 2010.
  6. http://twitter.com/stern3000/status/32978506933604352
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Blastr.com Article on Production Starting
  8. Airlock Alpha 3-D
  9. Cinema Spy article
  10. Cinema Blend
  11. Airlock Alpha
  12. IO9
  13. Movie Hole
  14. The Mary Sue
  15. 15.0 15.1 Trek Web article
  16. Deadline article
  17. http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/03/21/battlestar-galactica-blood-and-chrome-not-moving-ahead-as-a-tv-show/ Bleeding cool article]
  18. Eonline article
  19. http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/11/05/battlestar-galactica-prequel-date/
  20. http://www.cinemablend.com/television/Battlestar-Galactica-Blood-Chrome-Clip-Shows-Young-Adama-Viper-Maneuvering-Skills-49086.html
  21. http://www.amazon.com/Battlestar-Galactica-Blood-Chrome-Blu-ray/dp/B00A3718IS/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1352428671&sr=1-1&keywords=blood+and+chrome
  22. http://www.thehdroom.com/news/Battlestar-Galactica-Blood-and-Chrome-Blu-ray-Release-Date-New-Trailer-and-Clip/11589
  23. http://www.cgsociety.org/index.php/CGSFeatures/CGSFeatureSpecial/battlestar_galactica_blood_chrome
  24. 24.0 24.1 Blastr.com Article on Adama Casting
  25. Mike Dopud's casting has been confirmed via his Twitter feed.
  26. 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 26.4 26.5 26.6 26.7 26.8 This casting has not been confirmed by official channels, as yet.
  27. Hero Complex article