Category: SG-1

Includes the 10 seasons of SG-1 and the post-S10 movies.

SG-1 Spoilers: The Ark of Truth

Introduction

Filming is currently underway in Vancouver for the first direct-to-DVD SG-1 movie, Stargate: The Ark of Truth, written and directed by Robert C. Cooper. Executive producer Joseph Mallozzi has been publishing pictures from the set of the movie in his personal blog.

The following contains some spoilers for the movie.

Details

SG-1 will be going to the Ori’s home galaxy in search of the Ark of Truth and for the underground resistence in order to stop the next wave of warships in the Ori’s crusade in the Milky Way, with Earth as their primary target. Not really knowing if the Ori are truly dead, the team risks a very short trip in the Odyssey, but they feel that the risk is worth it.

From images published by Mallozzi from the beginning of the movie’s shooting schedule, it appears that SG-1 makes it to the Ori’s galaxy. The sets appear to represent a prison and the standard medieval-like village of the Ori home galaxy (such as Ver Ager and Ver Isca), bringing a feeling of familiarity to the Ori’s strict handling of their humanity. According to Mallozzi, dailies produced on one day of shooting included Daniel, Vala, and Teal’c in a sandy setting, perhaps indicating that the team is split up once they arrive.

Included in Mallozzi’s entry for May 1 are images of the testing of the stunt gel used when full-body burns are done. Mallozzi commented:

So I was strolling across the lot today […] when I happened to notice a guy in a funny suit having his face smeared with gel. I suspected something was up. I suppose the guy standing off to the side clutching the flamethrower tipped me off. SG-1 Stunt Coordinator Dan Shea waved me over and explained they were about to test a fire-retardant gel for Ark of Truth. As I looked on, everyone took a giant step back and the guy with the flamethrower opened up, torching the test subject. Happily, the stunt man was not reduced to a crispy chicken wing despite enduring temperatures of 300 degrees Celsius (that’s 572 Fahrenheit!).

Those who’ve seen the Inside the Stargate Special Effects Department featurette in the Season Nine DVD collection were given more details about how a full-body burn is done when the stunt woman Melissa Stubbs performed the burning of Vala stunt in “Avalon Part 2”. The “fire gel” contains aloe and other properties that protect the stunt person from being burned, but blisters can still result if the fire gets to be too hot. Stubbs said that she soaked her NOMEX flame-resistant underwear in the gel overnight and that it ended up being freezing cold. The gel is also applied to all exposed skin.

In the burning of Vala scene from Season Nine, Dan Shea tested the material of Vala’s dress and the proper gel applications to make sure they performed the stunt safely. A full-body burn can last up to fifteen seconds, but because Stubbs was to have a mask over her and breathe through a tube, her time was limited to about eight seconds. As Shea called out the seconds, Stubbs moved as if in pain from the fire, but according to her, she didn’t know she was on fire, which is a good thing because she wasn’t feeling the heat of the burn, and trusted that her stunt crew would keep her safe. Stubbs commented that if you feel the heat while covered in the fire gel, it’s too late, and the stunt has gone on longer than it should have.

Dan Shea tests Vala burn Melissa
Dan Shea tests gel and dress material for Vala’s burn. Shea helps Melissa Stubbs remove gel after the burning of Vala stunt.

Stunt Coordinator Dan Shea tested the burn before Stubbs performed it, so seeing a man testing out the fire gel on the lot of the studios for The Ark of Truth gives no clue as to the gender of who ends up being burned in the movie.

Filming for Stargate: The Ark of Truth is to be completed May 8, and then the film goes into post-production. Stargate: Continuum, the second direct-to-DVD movie to be released, written by Brad Wright and directed by Martin Wood, will resume filming this month in Vancouver.

Mallozzi Blog Features Movie Set

Stargate Atlantis executive producer and co-showrunner Joseph Mallozzi has published photos taken on the set of Stargate: The Ark of Truth, written and directed by Robert C. Cooper, in his personal blog. Mallozzi writes:

Production has begun on SG-1 movie #1: The Ark of Truth with writer-director-producer Robert C. Cooper at the helm (looking particularly fearsome and fiery-eyed in his “Get the f*** [*beep*] off my set!” gangsta pose). Check out the man in action, working with DOP Pete Woeste, the Ori warriors winding down, Ori warrior Jason Calder, Ivon Bartok shooting me shooting him, and, of course, the set.

Filming began on April 17 and is due to wrap May 8.

Sci Fi Wire: MGM Announces SF DVD Slate

Sci Fi Wire has published a list of science fiction films for DVD being produced by MGM, featuring Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum. The article doesn’t mention dates for the release of these DVDs, but does mention production dates:

MGM announced an ambitious development slate of new films for DVD, including science fiction titles aimed at young men and women, as well as two telemovies based on SCI FI Channel’s Stargate SG-1: Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum.

The Ark of Truth begins production on April 15 [filming began April 17], while Continuum, which will feature epic ice-camp scenes shot on location in the Arctic, will resume filming on May 15 [previous reports have May 22]. The films will feature SG-1 stars Richard Dean Anderson, Ben Browder, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge, Claudia Black and Michael Shanks.

MGM has plans to release 12 or more projects per year, primarily based on popular film and television franchises with wide appeal to young-adult entertainment consumers.

Visit Sci Fi Wire for a list of other SF&F MGM DVD titles under development, including a film based on another popular TV series, Dead Like Me.

"The Ark of Truth" Begins Filming April 17

Introduction

The first direct-to-DVD movie to be released after the cancellation of Stargate SG-1 is Stargate: The Ark of Truth. This movie, written and directed by Robert C. Cooper, will close the Ori story arc that was started in Season Nine. MGM is aiming for a fall of 2007 release.

Production Details

According to the British Columbia Film Commission, The Ark of Truth will be filming from April 17 to May 8.

ARK OF TRUTH, THE
Kawoosh Productions DTV I Inc.
Director: Robert Cooper
Exec. Prod: Brad Wright, Robert Cooper
Prod: N. John Smith
DOP: Peter Woeste
PD: James Robbins
PM: George Horie
PC: David Magee
LM: Lorne Davidson
ALM: Dominic Main
SPFX Coord::
Wray Douglas
Casting: Sean Cossey
Sched: Apr 17/07 – May 08/07

All of Season Ten’s main cast will be returning to reprise their roles. Additionally, it is anticipated that Tim Guinee (Tomin), Greg Anderson (Prior), and Morena Baccarin (Adria) will also be returning, but there were some scheduling concerns brought up by Baccarin in a recent interview with The Scifi World, “We’re trying to work that out right now. I am shooting a tv series at the same time (called Heartland).” Heartland is being filmed in Los Angeles and will be making its premiere on TNT in June.

The actual budget for this movie has not been revealed, but there is some indication when its companion movie, Stargate: Continuum, was referred to in a Reuters press release as “MGM’s $6 million-$7 million extension of the long-running sci-fi series Stargate.”

With a larger budget than episodic television, the movie will feature a new soundtrack composed by Joel Goldsmith. In an interview conducted with GateWorld in November 2006, Goldsmith stated, “As a matter of fact, just last night Brad [Wright] and I were talking about how we’re going to work live orchestra into the movies. And we were just discussing that and how, logistically, we were going to do that. Because there is a little more budget on that. So we can do it.”

Plot Details

Robert C. Cooper said the following in an MGM video interview from December 2006:

And now I feel like I’ve really put a lot into Season Nine and Ten, the whole Ori storyline, and the story between Vala and her daughter Adria — and Tomin — and the new characters Mitchell and Vala. I wanted to participate in how that all resolved, and I had an idea for how that was going to resolve and had originally intended, as I’ve said, for that to be kind of arced out over a full season, in Season Eleven, but now it’s going to be kind of condensed into a very exciting two hours.

Some fans who attended the Vancouver Creation Con in March said that Cooper read a few pages from the script for the movie that were most likely from the movie’s opening scene. Similar to Stargate Atlantis pilot “Rising”, the scene is set millions of years ago and shows some Alterans hiding the Ark of Truth before fleeing from their galaxy from the Ori to find a new home in the Milky Way.

Somehow, Daniel Jackson discovers the existence of the Ark and his team goes in search for it, but comes up empty-handed. In the meantime, Vala’s husband Tomin surrenders to them at Dakara and volunteers to lead the team to the underground resistence and to a place called “Ortus Mallum”, most likely the place where the Altera and Ori split and the Altera hid the Ark. They decide that the Ark is in the Ori’s home galaxy and plan to take Odyssey there. Not knowing if the Ori are truly dead, they realize that their mission into the enemy’s territory to stop another wave of Ori warships could be very short and accomplish nothing. Adding to the trouble is IOA representative James Merek who believes that Tomin is not telling the truth.

The Ark of Truth is a valuable artifact, one that Daniel believes will stop the Ori army from furthering their invasion of the Milky Way and enlighten all that the Ori weren’t everything that their worshippers were told they were. It was the hope of Fannis, one of the members of the underground resistence met by Daniel and Vala in the Ori’s galaxy (“Avalon” and “Origin”), that eventually Daniel and Vala would return to his home galaxy and tell the truth about the Ori. Before his death, he said, “If I can help you speak the reality of our existence to your people, maybe one day in turn, you will spread that word back here. Harrid, Sallis, and I, all those who believe as we do, have known for some time that we may give our lives for our cause. We can only hope one day the truth comes to bear as a result.”

Sci Fi Friday Returns With New Episodes

Reminder to US viewers – April 13 is the big day

Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis return to the Sci Fi Channel on Friday, April 13!

The night starts off at 7pm (Eastern) with a special hosted by SG-1’s Michael Shanks and Christopher Judge, entitled Behind the Mythology of Stargate SG-1. According to TV Guide, this special will cover the use of Egyptian, Norse, and Arthurian mythology in building the Stargate universe. Concerning the hosts, executive producer Joseph Mallozzi commented in his blog, “They both do a terrific job and look quite dashing in their dark suits. Set your tivo’s, ladies.”

Then, at 8pm, it’s SG-1‘s “The Quest Part 2” in which the team, Adria, and Ba’al must face the protector — the fire-breathing dragon — in their search for Merlin’s Anti-Ori Weapon, the Sangreal.

Atlantis‘s “The Return Part 2” follows at 9pm and picks up with the team returning to Atlantis to save Gen. Jack O’Neill and Richard Woolsey from the Pegasus Replicators.

Wrapping up the new Sci Fi Friday line-up is the pilot for the new original program Painkiller Jane in which you’ll see Stargate SG-1‘s Noah Danby (the Jaffa Cha’ra).

Here’s the summary of the line-up that includes repeats:

07:00 PM SPECIAL: BEHIND THE MYTHOLOGY OF STARGATE SG-1
08:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (SEASON 10) THE QUEST – PT 2
09:00 PM STARGATE ATLANTIS (SEASON 3) THE RETURN – PT 2
10:00 PM PAINKILLER JANE PILOT
11:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (SEASON 10) THE QUEST – PT 2
12:00 AM STARGATE ATLANTIS (SEASON 3) THE RETURN – PT 2
01:00 AM PAINKILLER JANE PILOT

Prepare for the premiere of Stargate SG-1‘s second half by watching the Season Ten marathon starting at 8am:

08:00 AM STARGATE SG-1 (SEASON 10) FLESH AND BLOOD
09:00 AM STARGATE SG-1 (SEASON 10) MORPHEUS
10:00 AM STARGATE SG-1 (SEASON 10) THE PEGASUS PROJECT
11:00 AM STARGATE SG-1 (SEASON 10) INSIDERS
12:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (SEASON 10) UNINVITED
01:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (SEASON 10) COUNTER STRIKE
02:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (SEASON 10) COMPANY OF THIEVES
03:00 PM STARGATE SG-1 (SEASON 10) THE QUEST – PT 1

Navy Lab Chronicles Stargate Filming

Personnel from the Applied Physics Laboratory Ice Station (APLIS), near the North Pole publish web “post cards,” blog-like descriptions of their fascinating activities. When about 18 Stargate cast and crew arrived to film scenes for the upcoming SG-1 TV Movie Continuum, the bloggers chronicled bits of the visit, including photos. You may read the entries below:

SG-1 Spoilers: The Ark of Truth Casting

Introduction

Stargate: The Ark of Truth is the the first of two direct-to-DVD movies that will be produced this year following the cancellation of Stargate SG-1. The movie is being written and directed by Robert C. Cooper and produced by Cooper and Brad Wright, and is meant to close the Ori story arc that was started in Season Nine. Filming is set to start around April 15 in Vancouver.

The following includes spoilers for the movie and for the last half of Season Ten.

Details

Greg Anderson, the Administrator-turned-Prior from Ver Ager (“Avalon” and “Origin”), will be reprising his role according to Anderson himself in his “Ask Greg Anderson” thread on The Scifi World’s forum. Anderson stated, “Well I guess it is official. I found out yesterday that I am booked for the Stargate movie! So you guys are the first to know.” Anderson added, “I can’t wait to read the script!”

Anderson’s Prior has a lot of history with the members of SG-1. Before he was converted into a Prior, he was the Administrator of Ver Ager and placed Vala/Sallis in the Ara to be burned to death. His transformation into a Prior by the Ori themselves was the first time viewers were witness to how a man is advanced in his evolution to possess great mental powers as a Prior of the Ori. This Prior is also the one who rubbed his conversion of P8X-412 in Daniel’s face after they held a public debate about false gods and free will. He was instrumental in the conversion of the Jaffa leader Gerak into a Prior, and he has been seen in Season Ten’s second half as well, when he was challenged by Vala’s husband Tomin concerning his twisted interpretation of the scriptures of The Book of Origin.

In Stargate: The Ark of Truth, the team travels to the Ori home galaxy in search of an artifact that could make the difference in the fight against the Ori’s army in the Milky Way. Their search for the Ark of Truth is complicated when the IOA gets involved.

[Thanks to Platschu for the tip.]

Sci Fi Magazine: Col. Carter Gates to Atlantis

June issue of Sci Fi Magazine now on stands

Season Four of Stargate Atlantis is in full production in Vancouver and SCI FI MAGAZINE had a chance to talk with executive producer Robert C. Cooper and actors Amanda Tapping (Col. Samantha Carter) and David Hewlett (Dr. Rodney McKay) about Tapping’s joining the show’s cast. The article didn’t address the issue of how Carter’s promotion will affect the dynamics of the SG-1 team in the two upcoming direct-to-DVD movies.

The article implies that Tapping’s Carter will be a full-bird Colonel when she becomes the Atlantis base commander in civilian Dr. Elizabeth Weir’s stead. Concerning Weir’s replacement and Torri Higginson’s reduction to recurring status, executive producer Robert C. Cooper stated:

“I can’t make people feel better who just love Torri and Dr. Weir and want to see her on the show,” sighs [Robert C.] Cooper. “Unfortunately, that’s just not going to happen. All I can say is that Sam Carter is a wonderful character, and Amanda Tapping is a wonderful actress, and I think she will fill the role on Atlantis admirably. I’m excited about seeing the evolution of her character. Brad [Wright] and I created the character Dr. Weir and we love the character and Torri, but the change needed to be made.”

Hewlett, who plays Dr. Rodney McKay, was enthusiastic about Tapping’s joining the cast. His character and Carter have a “love-hate” relationship that Hewlett is anxious to develop further:

“I think there’s a lot of potential there. The great thing is that Amanda’s character is struggling to be a leader now, after being someone in the field getting dirty with the troops. She’s being thrown into a leadership position, and McKay has never been very good at taking commands from anybody. I think there is a lot of potential for some fun, because they are both brilliant. […] There’s also the fact of the matter that McKay is absolutely smitten with her. It’s great for me on a completely selfish level. First off, I love working with Amanda.”

Tapping was cautious about the decision to make the move to Atlantis, but is looking forward to establishing positive relationships with the current cast:

“I’m certainly going onto Atlantis knowing that it’s not my show. I’m not going to try and put my stamp all over it. I really do feel, like the character, that there has to be a lot of tact involved, for Carter and Amanda. I’m very cognizant and respectful of their show and their dynamic. For Carter and Amanda it will just be finding my place. I don’t want to make ripples in the lake.”

Cooper compares Carter’s move to become the leader of the Atlantis Expedition to that of O’Neill’s when he left his team and became the commander of the SGC. But, Cooper also stressed that the characters and their leadership styles are different enough that they will not “be stepping on well-trodden territory there.” For Cooper, Carter’s promotion to command the Atlantis base is a natural step in the character’s evolution:

“It’s about time she [Carter] got a command, and we had to keep that from happening on SG-1 because we wanted her to be part of the team. This is a perfect opportunity to evolve her character in the natural way that it should have in the franchise.”

Tapping looks forward to her character’s evolution:

“I really love the Atlantis cast, and they are a great cast of people. Plus, the way Joe [Mallozzi] and Paul [Mullie] presented it to me, when they sat me down and asked how I felt about it, they presented it in such a way that it seemed like a really exciting opportunity for the character. Not only is it for me personally, but also for Carter. It’s a whole new level to her, and I thought, ‘This is actually going to change her.'”

Read the complete article in the magazine, available on stands now, or order it through their website at: http://www.scifi.com/scifimag/

SG-1 Spoilers: Martin Wood on Continuum Location

Introduction

Reuters has released an update on the incredible experiences of the filming crew of Stargate: Continuum, the second direct-to-DVD movie to be released this fall. This article contains spoilers about six scenes being shot in their dangerous location.

Reuters: Stargate Filmmakers Risk Lives…

From Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
“Stargate” filmmakers risk lives in Arctic Circle
By Borys Kit:

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – As the submarine slips under the ice, water splashes a cameraman who is lying on the ice’s edge with a submersible camera. Here in the Arctic Circle, the temperature is minus-37 degrees Fahrenheit — the point at which mercury turns solid — and this crew member is in immediate danger of freezing.

Martin Wood, the director of the direct-to-video movie “Stargate: Continuum,” quickly radios for help, and the cameraman is whisked away by helicopter to the base camp. He’s treated and will be OK.

The shoot is taking place as close to the North Pole as possible — at the Navy’s Applied Physics Laboratory Ice Station, 3,000 kilometers north of Vancouver and 200 nautical miles north of Prudhoe Bay, the northernmost city in Alaska. A team of about 15 crew and actors arrived Thursday for a seven-day shoot of six scenes for MGM’s $6 million-$7 million extension of the long-running sci-fi series “Stargate.”

The article also mentions the crew’s spotting of polar bears nearby, another one of the risks the crew is taking in order to film exciting and realistic scenes for the movie. Wood also talks about the USS Alexandria, the submarine being used in the film, and how difficult it is for the vessel to break through the ice at the right spot marked by an “X”.

Even though the landscape within the Arctic Circle changes constantly, Wood is enthusiastic about the location because the production crew were convinced that it couldn’t be replicated in a studio or generated with visual effects (although, they are building sets in Vancouver to accommodate Michael Shanks’s scenes; see previous story). “I don’t think it could have been done with the same sort of intensity that you’re going to have by shooting it real,” Wood said. “I don’t think you can capture the right feeling and sound if you tried to re-create it in an unnatural way.”

[Thanks to minigeek for the tip.]

SG-1 Spoilers: Continuum Locations and Sets

Introduction

The following article contains spoilers concerning the locations and sets for Stargate: Continuum, the second direct-to-DVD movie being produced over the next few months by Robert C. Cooper and Brad Wright.

Filming Location: March 23-29

MGM released a news report about the 15-person crew that will be shooting scenes for the movie:

“Stargate: Continuum,” which is being co-financed by MGM and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, will shoot a variety of scenes on location in the Arctic ice, located approximately 200 nautical miles north of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. In addition to the frigid outdoor environments, the filming will also involve U.S. Navy submarine USS Alexandria (SSN-757). Among the most visually stunning and dramatic scenes to be filmed at the location involves the submarine as it bursts through the ice and into the cold Arctic air with temperatures hovering around 50 degrees below zero.

The crew includes Martin Wood, director; Peter Woeste, director of photography; Richard Dean Anderson, actor (Gen. Jack O’Neill); Ben Browder, actor (Lt. Col. Cameron Mitchell); Amanda Tapping, actor (Lt. Col. Samantha Carter), and others. Producer and writer Brad Wright and MGM executive Charles Cohen are also said to be among those spending a few days at the frigid location.

Vancouver Sets Mimic Arctic Location

Concern was raised by fans that Michael Shanks (Dr. Daniel Jackson) was not included in the Arctic crew even though the storyline for the movie indicated that he should have been with the other three. Although Michael Shanks himself was not available for the shoot as he is filming his four-episode arc for FOX TV’s 24, Daniel Jackson will be making appearances in these scenes with the team through the magic of filmmaking. Shanks will film Daniel’s scenes on sets in Vancouver, including those in a refrigerated area and submarine mimicking the locations his fellow castmembers are currently experiencing for real in the Arctic. (This information was reportedly revealed by N. John Smith at the Vancouver Creation Con held this past weekend and has been reiterated by Darren Sumner of Gateworld on the site’s forum.)

This is not the first time that Martin Wood has shot scenes in a cold set environment. His Stargate directorial debut was Season One’s “Solitudes” in which the second Stargate was found in the Antarctic. Wood has also had the honor of directing Season Six’s “Frozen” in which the Ancient woman Ayiana was found frozen in the ice not far from the site where the second Stargate was found, and Season Seven’s “Lost City” in which the team finds the Ancient Outpost in Antarctica with the advanced weapons needed to destroy Anubis’s fleet. These locations speak to Wood’s experience in directing episodes significant to the Antarctic story arc, but the news releases have not given away any plot spoilers as to whether the shoot in the Arctic is substituting for Antarctica.

The closest the team has gotten to the Arctic was in Season Four’s “Watergate” in which they visited the Russian Stargate Program base in Siberia and in Season Six’s “Descent” in which they were attempting to salvage Anubis’s ha’tak that crashed in the North Pacific.

As far as submarines are concerned, the Russian Foxtrot class submarine codenamed “Blackbird” in Season Four’s “Small Victories” was involved in the Replicator story arc. The Stargate crew got to shoot some scenes onboard a real submarine, but eventually built a matching set in which they could more easily accommodate various camera angles and the filming crew. Wood directed this episode as well.

Filming Resumes May 22 in Vancouver

The next time the cast and crew will be filming scenes for Stargate: Continuum will be in May on the 22nd. Previously, it had been announced that filming for the movie would start around June 1, but it’s possible, but not confirmed, that the Arctic shooting opportunity changed the schedule. As a result, Lexa Doig, who plays Dr. Carolyn Lam, cancelled her appearance in the Vulcon: Ladies of Sci-Fi convention to be held May 18-20 in Orlando, Florida, in order to be available for filming.

Between now and the resumption of filming Stargate: Continuum, the cast will be filming the first direct-to-DVD movie, Robert C. Cooper’s Stargate: The Ark of Truth, concluding the Ori story arc. The filming of this movie is scheduled to start around April 15 (SCI FI WIRE’s website once stated April 17 in a sidebar), and will take approximately four weeks.

MGM is aiming to release these two DVD movies in the fall of 2007.