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76-458: In February 2013, Margaret Weis Productions announced they now had a license to produce a game based on the Firefly TV series, this time with the rights to the characters who appeared in the series rather than those who appeared in the film. At Gencon 2013, a preview of the system entitled Gaming in the 'Verse was offered for sale both at GenCon and for a limited time as a PDF . In 2014,

152-411: A Series . TV Guide ranked it No. 5 on their 2013 list of 60 "shows that were canceled too soon". The show's post-airing success led Whedon and Universal Pictures to produce Serenity , a 2005 film that continues the story from the series. The Firefly franchise expanded into other media, including comics and two tabletop role-playing games . The series takes place in the year 2517, on

228-475: A bizarre purée of wisecracks, old-timey Western-paperback patois, and snatches of Chinese." Tim Minear and Joss Whedon pointed out two scenes that articulated the show's mood clearly: In the original pilot "Serenity" when Mal is eating with chopsticks with a Western tin cup by his plate; and in "The Train Job" pilot when Mal is thrown out of a holographic bar window. The DVD set's "making-of" documentary explains

304-428: A casting office and several months later was called in for an audition, where he met with Whedon. He was called back to test with two candidates for the role of Zoe (Wash's wife) and was told that it was down to him and one other candidate. The Zoes he tested with were not selected (Gina Torres eventually received the role), and Tudyk was sent home but received a call informing him he had the part anyway. His audition tape

380-428: A challenging world, and that makes for great storytelling. And no aliens!" For Adam Baldwin , who grew up watching westerns, the role of Jayne Cobb was particularly resonant. Canadian actress Jewel Staite videotaped her audition from Vancouver and was asked to come to Los Angeles to meet Whedon, at which point she was cast for the role of Kaylee Frye , the ship's engineer. She was asked to put on weight for

456-408: A crew. Find a job. Keep flying. The film Serenity reveals that the planets and moons are in an extensive system, and production documents related to the film indicate that there is no faster-than-light travel in this universe . The characters occasionally refer to "Earth-that-was", and the film establishes that long before the events in the series, a large population had emigrated from Earth to

532-529: A new star system in generation ships : "Earth-that-was could no longer sustain our numbers, we were so many." The emigrants established themselves in this new star system, with "dozens of planets and hundreds of moons", and many of these were terraformed , a process that was only the first step in making a planet habitable. The outlying settlements often did not receive support in the construction of their civilizations. This resulted in many border planets and moons having forbidding, dry environments, well-suited to

608-400: A secret government institution; she displays symptoms of schizophrenia and often hears voices. It is later revealed that she is a "reader", one who possesses telepathic abilities. Simon gave up a career as an eminent trauma surgeon in an Alliance hospital to rescue her, and they are fugitives. As Whedon states in an episode of a DVD commentary, every show he does is about creating a family. By

684-475: A ship in the image of a firefly. During the pilot episode filming, Whedon was still arguing with Fox that the show should be displayed in widescreen format . Whedon filmed scenes with actors on the edge of both sides so that they could only be shown in widescreen. This led to a few scenes on the DVD (and later Blu-ray) where objects or setups that were not visible in the original 4:3 broadcasts were displayed—such as

760-616: A show where existence was more physical and more difficult. Whedon also read a book about Jewish partisan fighters in World War II . Whedon wanted to create something for television that was more character-driven and gritty than most modern science fiction. Television science fiction, he felt, had become too pristine and rarefied. Whedon wanted to give the show a name that indicated movement and power and felt that "Firefly" had both. This powerful word's relatively insignificant meaning, Whedon felt, added to its allure. He eventually created

836-443: A signature: Eastern European or Middle Eastern melodies over a low drone. Simon and River's signature was a piano played sparsely with a violin in the background. This contrasts with the portable instruments of "Serenity": the piano is an instrument that cannot be easily moved and evokes the image of "the distant house and family they both long for." The signatures were mostly established in the first pilot, "Serenity", and helped enhance

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912-602: A variety of planets with numerous habitable moons. The TV series does not reveal whether these celestial bodies are within one star system, only saying that Serenity ' s mode of propulsion through space is a "gravity-drive". Each episode begins with either Book or Captain Reynolds providing the backstory. Book's narration runs as follows: After the Earth was used up, we found a new solar system, and hundreds of new Earths were terraformed and colonized. The central planets formed

988-652: Is an asset used or a complication on the other party, the two highest are used for task resolution. Serenity won the 2005 Origins Award for the Gamer's Choice Best Role Playing Game of the Year. Serenity won the 2006 Gold Ennie Award for "Best Production Values". Firefly (TV series) Firefly is an American space Western drama television series, created by writer and director Joss Whedon , under his Mutant Enemy Productions label. Whedon served as an executive producer , along with Tim Minear . The series

1064-478: Is dead in the episode " Serenity ". The most memorable use of "Sad Violin" is at the end of " The Message ", when the crew mourned the death of Tracey . This was also the last scene of the last episode the actors shot, and so this was seen by them and Edmonson, as Firefly 's farewell. To denote danger, "Peril" was used, which is "a low pulse, like a heartbeat, with deep chimes and low strings". The reviewer also noted character signatures. The criminal Niska has

1140-712: Is gross class inequality. As a result of the Sino-American Alliance , Mandarin Chinese is a common second language; English-speaking characters in the show frequently curse in Mandarin. The show features slang not used in contemporary culture, such as adaptations of modern words or new words. "Shiny" is frequently used as the real world slang "cool", and "gorram" is used as a mild swear word. Written and spoken Chinese, as well as Old West dialect, are also employed. As one reviewer noted: "The dialogue tended to be

1216-407: Is included in the special features of the DVD release. Gina Torres , a veteran of several science fiction/fantasy works ( Cleopatra 2525 , The Matrix Reloaded , Alias , Hercules: The Legendary Journeys ), was at first uninterested in doing another science fiction show but "was won over by the quality of the source material". As she recalled, "you had these challenged characters inhabiting

1292-434: Is set in the year 2517, after the arrival of humans in a new star system, and follows the adventures of the renegade crew of Serenity , a " Firefly -class" spaceship . The ensemble cast portrays the nine characters living aboard Serenity . Whedon pitched the show as "nine people looking into the blackness of space and seeing nine different things." The show explores the lives of a group of people, some of whom fought on

1368-556: The Firefly Role-Playing Game was released, followed by four game supplements in 2014 and 2015. The book was published in full colour, and includes character attributes as well as biographies written in the words of Mal , the protagonist of the Firefly franchise. Each chapter opens with a narrative to characterize the tone and mood of the setting. These narratives alternate between a crew created by MWP and

1444-662: The Origins Game Fair in five categories: Best Professional Game , Best Amateur Game , Best Professional Magazine , Best Amateur Magazine and Adventure Gaming Hall of Fame . Since the first ceremony, the game categories have widened to include Board games (Traditional, Historical and Abstract), Card games (Traditional and Trading ), Miniature wargaming (Historical, Science Fiction and Fantasy ), Role-playing games and play-by-mail games . There are additional categories for Graphic Design , for game expansions and accessories, and for game-related fiction . During

1520-597: The Reavers , a cannibalistic group of nomadic humans. The captain of Serenity is Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds ( Nathan Fillion ). The episode " Serenity " establishes that the captain and his first mate Zoe Washburne , née Alleyne ( Gina Torres ) are veteran "Browncoats" of the Unification War, a failed attempt by the outlying worlds to resist the Alliance. A later episode, " Out of Gas ", reveals that Mal bought

1596-615: The Serenity RPG in 2008 ( Serenity Adventures , a collection of short adventures and winner of the 2008 Origins Award, and Six Shooters and Spaceships , a ship and technology sourcebook) with a third the following year titled Big Damn Heroes Handbook , a rule expansion that won the 2009 Origins Award for Best Supplement. The first installment of the Echoes of War series for the Firefly RPG, The Wedding Planners Cortex Classic Set ,

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1672-686: The 1980s and 1990s, awards were also given to Computer games . Starting in 2003, the Origins Awards began a new category called the Vanguard Award, which honored highly innovative games. Charles S. Roberts Awards Originally, the Charles S. Roberts Awards and the Origins Awards were one and the same. Starting with the 1987 awards, the Charles S. Roberts were given separately, and they moved away from Origins entirely in 2000, leaving

1748-464: The Alliance and decided all the planets had to join under their rule. There was some disagreement on that point. After the war, many of the Independents who had fought and lost drifted to the edges of the system, far from Alliance control. Out here, people struggle to get by with the most basic technologies. A ship would bring you work. A gun would help you keep it. A captain's goal was simple: Find

1824-651: The DVD release. The soundtrack to the series was released on CD on November 8, 2005, by Varèse Sarabande . Fox Music released a 40-minute soundtrack in September 2005 as a digital EP. "The Ballad of Serenity" was used by NASA as the wake-up song for astronaut Robert L. Behnken and the other crewmembers of STS-130 on February 12, 2010. The series was picked up in December 2001, and casting started in January 2002. In casting his nine-member crew, Whedon looked first at

1900-595: The United States on the Fox network on September 20, 2002. By mid-December, it had averaged 4.7 million viewers per episode and was 98th in Nielsen ratings . It was canceled after 11 of the 14 produced episodes were aired. Despite its short run, it received strong sales when it was released on DVD and has large fan support campaigns. It won a Primetime Emmy Award in 2003 for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for

1976-603: The Western genre. The show takes its name from the " Firefly -class" spaceship Serenity that the central characters call home. The Firefly -class ships, some 40,000 still in use, is so named for the resemblance to the shape of a firefly , complete with a tail section that lights up during acceleration, analogous to the bioluminescent insect's abdomen . The Serenity was named for the Battle of Serenity Valley, where Sergeant Malcolm Reynolds and Corporal Zoe Alleyne were among

2052-501: The Wings ". Two weeks later, Whedon called her to tell her she had the part. Veteran television actor Ron Glass has said that until Firefly , he had not experienced or sought a science-fiction or western role. Still, he fell in love with the pilot script and the character of Shepherd Book . Whedon selected Tim Minear to be the show runner , who serves as the head writer and production leader. According to Whedon, "[Minear] understood

2128-510: The actors and considered their chemistry with others. Cast member Sean Maher recalls, "So then he just sort of put us all together, and I think it was very quick like right out of the gate, we all instantly bonded." All nine cast members were chosen before filming began; while making the original pilot "Serenity", Whedon decided that Rebecca Gayheart was unsuitable for the role of Inara Serra , and shot her scenes in singles so that it would be easier to replace her. Morena Baccarin auditioned for

2204-510: The cargo bay walls are "reminiscent of interlaced, overlapping Asian designs, cleverly reminding us of the American-Chinese Alliance setting while artistically forming a patterned plane for background scale reference." Dixon has also remarked on how the set design contributed to the storytelling through the use of color, depth, composition, lighting, as well as its use of diagonals and patterned shadows. Their small budget

2280-488: The central government, the Alliance. Tracking and steady cameras were used to show the sterility of this aspect of the Firefly universe. Another style employed was lens flares harking back to 1970s television. The need for this particular style resulted in the director of photography ( David Boyd ) favoring cheaper lenses over cutting-edge equipment. Firefly portrays space as silent, as sounds cannot be transmitted in

2356-448: The character and setting, giving a brief history of The Verse and the basic concepts of play. The next few chapters deal with character creation as well as details on Attributes, Skills, and Traits. Following the character creation chapters, there are chapters pertaining to more detailed play systems, additional setting information, equipment, how to run the game, and samples of crews and ships as well as attributes for secondary characters in

Serenity Role Playing Game - Misplaced Pages Continue

2432-467: The characters were often getting shot, Trpcic would make up to six versions of the same costume for multiple takes. Since the cancellation of the series, various cast and crew members have revealed details they had planned for the show's future: Firefly consists of a two-hour pilot and thirteen one-hour episodes (with commercials). The series originally premiered in the United States on Fox in September 2002 on Friday nights . Three episodes, including

2508-449: The characters: "Edmonson has developed a specialized collection of musical symbolism for the series." To help illustrate the collection, the reviewer gave leitmotifs , or "signatures", various names, noting that "Serenity" recalls the theme of the show and is used when they return to the ship, or when they were meeting in secret; it was "the sound of their home". The slide guitar and fiddle used in this piece are portable instruments that fit

2584-465: The crew of Serenity. All of the photographs in the book are sampled from the film Serenity as opposed to the show Firefly . This is due to MWP acquiring their rights from Universal Studios rather than 20th Century Fox . Thus, the previously mentioned narrative text may seem similar to something that happened in an episode of Firefly but will diverge in some way to stay within the license purchased through Universal . The first chapter introduces

2660-465: The die for their appropriate skill. The Firefly Role-Playing Game was produced under the Cortex Plus system, and the dice pool includes three basic sections; an attribute (Physical/Mental/Social), a skill, and a distinction chosen from a list that may be rolled to gain a plot point. Each distinction comes with two possible traits, and starting characters pick two out of the possible six. If there

2736-474: The distinctive frontispiece of the series (wherein Serenity soars over a herd of horses) as Whedon's attempt to capture "everything you need to understand about the series in five seconds." Whedon struggled with Fox over the tone of the show, and especially over the character of Malcolm Reynolds. Fox pressured Whedon to make Mal more "jolly", as they feared he was too dark in the original pilot, epitomized by

2812-447: The environment worked for us and there weren't a lot of adjustments that needed to be made". This design allowed the viewers to feel they were really in a ship. For Whedon, the design of the ship was crucial in defining the known space for the viewer and that there were not "fourteen hundred decks and a holodeck and an all-you-can-eat buffet in the back." He wanted to convey that it was utilitarian and "beat-up but lived-in. Ultimately, it

2888-418: The episodes out of sequence, making the plot more difficult to follow. The double episode "Serenity" was intended as the premiere , and therefore contained most of the character introductions and back-story . Fox decided that "Serenity" was unsuitable for opening the series, and "The Train Job" was specifically created to act as a new pilot. In addition, Firefly was promoted as an action-comedy rather than

2964-423: The episodes were filmed in a documentary style with hand-held cameras, giving them the look of " found footage ", with deliberately mis-framed and out-of-focus subjects. As Whedon related: "don't be arch, don't be sweeping—be found, be rough and tumble and docu[mentary] and you-are-there". Computer-generated scenes mimicked the motion of a hand-held camera; the style was not used when shooting scenes that involved

3040-400: The feel was that we wound up using a lot of places or exteriors that just felt too Western and we didn't necessarily want to go that way; but at some point, it just became the lesser of two evils—what could we actually create in three days?" Greg Edmonson composed the musical score for the series. He stated that he wrote for the emotion of the moment. A reviewer stated that he also wrote for

3116-539: The film. At the end of the book, there is an appendix for common Chinese phrases that are used in the world of the Firefly , giving players the option to use these phrases during the course of the game. Out in the Black by Laura and Tracy Hickman , the system's first adventure , was released on March 15, 2006. Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd has also released a gamemaster's screen as well as specialty d2 die for sale on their website. Two more books were released for

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3192-517: The gaming industry. They are presented by the Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for games released in the preceding year. For example, the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 game fair. Award categories include board games, card games, tabletop role-playing games, strategy games, and game accessories. History of Categories The Origins Awards were initially presented at

3268-487: The heat generated in the ship's tail. Whedon was keen on using vertical space; having the crew quarters accessible by ladder was important. The set design allowed the actors to stay in the moment and interact, without having to stop after each shot and set up for the next, helping contribute to the documentary style Whedon aimed for. The set had several influences, including the sliding doors and tiny cubicles reminiscent of Japanese hotels. Artist Larry Dixon has noted that

3344-511: The last episode, " Objects in Space ", the fractured character of River has finally become whole, partly because the others decided to accept her into their "family" on the ship. The show blends elements from the space opera and Western genres in a grounded depiction of humanity's future. Firefly takes place in a multi-social future, primarily a fusion of Western and East Asian societies (and in particular those of mainland China ), where there

3420-400: The lifestyle of the crew: "the music they make calls up tunes played out in the open, by people who were hundreds of miles away yesterday. 'Serenity' conjures the nomadic lifestyle the crew leads and underlines the western aspect of the show." Another emotional signature was "Sad Violin" used at the end of the Battle of Serenity Valley but also to set up the joke when Mal tells Simon that Kaylee

3496-511: The losing side of a civil war , who make a living on the fringes of society as part of their star system's pioneer culture. The two surviving superpowers, the United States and China, united to form the central federal government, called the Alliance . According to Whedon's vision, "Nothing will change in the future: Technology will advance, but we will still have the same political, moral, and ethical problems as today." Firefly premiered in

3572-488: The losing side of a war, their experiences afterward as pioneers and immigrants on the outskirts of civilization, much like the post-American Civil War era of Reconstruction and the American Old West . He intended the show to be "a Stagecoach kind of drama with a lot of people trying to figure out their lives in a bleak pioneer environment". Whedon wanted to develop a show about the tactile nature of life,

3648-548: The main characters appeared in every episode, except " Ariel ", from which Book is absent. Despite the series' short run, several recurring characters emerged from the inhabitants of the Firefly universe: Whedon developed the concept for the show after reading The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara chronicling the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War . He wanted to follow people who had fought on

3724-426: The moment he suggests he might "space" Simon and River, throwing them out of the airlock. Fox was unhappy that the show portrayed "nobodies" who "get squished by policy" instead of actual policymakers. Firefly maintained an ensemble cast that portrayed nine crew members and passengers of the ship, Serenity , dealing with criminals and schemers, Alliance security forces, the utterly psychotic and brutal Reavers, and

3800-506: The more serious character study it was intended to be, and the showbiz trade paper Variety noted Fox's decision to occasionally preempt the show for sporting events. Fox remastered the complete series in 1080i high-definition for broadcast on Universal HD , which began in April 2008. On March 12, 2009, the series was the winner of the first annual Hulu awards in the category "Shows We'd Bring Back". The Science Channel began airing

3876-408: The music reminds viewers of earlier events, resulting in a tighter continuity throughout the season. The musical score expressed the social fusion depicted in the show. Cowboy guitar blended with Asian influence produced the atmospheric background for the series. As one reviewer stated: Old music from the future—the music of roaring campfires and racous [ sic ] cowboys mixed with

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3952-421: The mysterious men with "hands of blue"—operatives of a secret agency known only as The Blue Sun Corporation. The crew is driven by the need to secure enough income to keep their ship operational while keeping a low profile to avoid their adversaries. Their situation is complicated by the differing motivations of the individuals aboard Serenity; the show's brief run hampered further characterization . All nine of

4028-412: The narrative. In every episode, the musical score intensified my experience of this intelligent, remarkable show. Using and combining all these signatures, Greg Edmonson brought out aspects of Firefly 's story and characters that were never explicitly revealed in the other elements of the series. Whedon's use of music in his television shows has been regarded as "filmic", as during pivotal moments

4104-482: The online Firefly Immediate Assistance campaign whose goal was to support the production of the show by sending in postcards to Fox. After it was canceled, the campaign worked on getting another network such as UPN to pick up the series. The campaign was unsuccessful in securing the show's continuation. The A.V. Club cited several actions by the Fox network that contributed to the show's failure, most notably airing

4180-559: The original pilot, were aired out of the production order. Although Whedon had designed the show to run for seven years, low ratings resulted in cancellation by Fox in December 2002 after only 11 of the 14 completed episodes aired in the United States. The three episodes unaired by Fox eventually debuted in 2003 on the Sci Fi Channel in the United Kingdom. Prior to cancellation, some fans, worried about low ratings, formed

4256-407: The other doesn't." Next, the writers develop the scenes onto a marker-filled whiteboard, featuring "a brief ordered description of each scene". A writer is selected to create an outline of the episode's concept—occasionally with some dialogue and jokes—in one day. The outline is given to showrunner Tim Minear, who revises it within a day. The writer uses the revised outline to write the first draft of

4332-474: The other pan-Asian, explaining the blended linguistic and visual themes of the series. The central planets are firmly under Alliance control, but the outlying planets and moons resemble the American Old West , under little governmental authority. Settlers and refugees on the outlying worlds have relative freedom from the central government but lack the amenities of high-tech civilization found on inner worlds. The outlying areas of space ("the black") are inhabited by

4408-419: The part before he was cast. He noted that "it was really thrilling. It was my first lead, and I was pretty nervous, but I really wanted that part, and I wanted to tell those stories." Fillion later said he was "heartbroken" when he learned the series had been canceled. Fillion has called his time on Firefly the best acting job he ever had, and compares every job he has had to it. Alan Tudyk applied through

4484-435: The role and two days later was on the set in her first television show. "Joss brought me down from the testing room like a proud dad, holding my hand and introducing me", Baccarin recalled. Whedon approached Nathan Fillion to play the lead role of Malcolm Reynolds ; after Whedon explained the premise and showed him the treatment for the pilot, Fillion was eager for the role. Fillion was called back several times to read for

4560-528: The role. Sean Maher recalls reading for the part and liking the character of Simon Tam , but that it was Whedon's personality and vision that "sealed the deal" for him. Neil Patrick Harris also read for the part of Simon. For the role of Simon's sister, River Tam , Whedon called in Summer Glau for an audition and test the same day. Glau had first worked for Whedon in the Angel episode " Waiting in

4636-424: The scene in the pilot where Wash mimes controlling the ship with a non-existent yoke . The Fox executives rejected the pilot, who felt that it lacked action and that the captain was too "dour". They also disliked a scene in which the crew backed down to a crime boss since the scene implied the crew was "being nothing". Fox told Whedon on a Friday afternoon that he had to submit a new pilot script on Monday morning or

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4712-412: The script while the other writers develop the next. This first draft is usually submitted for revision within three to fourteen days; afterward, a second and sometimes third draft is written. After all modifications are made, the final draft would be produced as the "shooting draft". Jill Ohanneson, Firefly ' s original costume designer, brought on Shawna Trpcic as her assistant for the pilot. When

4788-404: The series on March 6, 2011. All episodes aired in the intended order, including episodes "Trash", "The Message" and "Heart of Gold", which were not aired in the original Fox series run. Along with each episode, Dr. Michio Kaku provided commentary about the real-life science behind the show's science fiction. Origins Award The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in

4864-538: The show as well as any human being, and just brought so much to it that I think of it as though he were always a part of it." Many of the other production staff were people Whedon had worked with in the past, except the director of photography David Boyd, who was the "big find" and who was "full of joy and energy". The writers were selected after interviews and script samplings. Among the writers were José Molina , Ben Edlund , Cheryl Cain, Brett Matthews , Drew Z. Greenberg and Jane Espenson . Espenson wrote an essay on

4940-473: The show was picked up, Ohanneson was involved in another job and declined Firefly , suggesting Trpcic for the job. The costumes were chiefly influenced by World War II , the American Civil War , the American Old West , and 1861 samurai Japan. Trpcic used deep reds and oranges for the main cast to express a feeling of "home" and contrasted that with grays and cool blues for the Alliance. Since

5016-653: The show would not be picked up. Whedon and Tim Minear closeted themselves for the weekend to write what became the new pilot, " The Train Job ". At the direction of Fox, they added "larger than life" characters such as the henchman "Crow" and the "hands of blue" men, who also introduced an X-Files -type ending. For the new pilot, Fox made it clear that they would not air the episodes in widescreen. Whedon and company felt they had to "serve two masters" by filming widescreen for eventual DVD release but keeping objects in-frame so it could still work when aired in pan and scan full frame . To obtain an immersive and immediate feel,

5092-400: The spaceship Serenity to travel increasingly distant reaches of space, beyond Alliance control. Much of the crew's work consists of cargo runs or smuggling . In the original pilot, "Serenity", Simon ( Sean Maher ) joins the crew as a paying passenger, smuggling his sister River Tam ( Summer Glau ) aboard as cargo. River is a child prodigy whose brain was subjected to Alliance scientists at

5168-443: The survivors on the losing side. It is revealed in "Bushwhacked" that the Independents' loss at the Battle of Serenity Valley was widely considered as sealing their fate. The Alliance governs the star system through an organization of core planets, following its success in forcibly unifying all the colonies under one government. DVD commentary suggests that the Alliance is composed of two primary systems, one predominantly Western ,

5244-479: The team is deciding where to break for commercial and ensuring the viewer returns. "Finding these moments in the story help give it shape: think of them as tentpoles that support the structure." For instance, in " Shindig ", the break for commercial occurs when Malcolm Reynolds is gravely injured and losing the duel. "It does not end when Mal turns the fight around when he stands victorious over his opponent. They're both big moments, but one of them leaves you curious, and

5320-519: The vacuum of space. Production designer Carey Meyer built the ship Serenity in two parts (one for each level) as a complete set with ceilings and practical lighting installed, as part of the set that the cameras could use along with moveable parts. The two-part set also allowed the second unit to shoot in one section while the actors and first unit worked undisturbed in the other. As Whedon recalled: "you could pull it away or move something huge so that you could get in and around everything. That meant

5396-425: The warm, pensive sounds of Asian culture and, occasionally, a cold imperial trumpet, heralding the ominous structural presence of a domineering government. Completely thrilling. —Steve Townsley The show's theme song, "The Ballad of Serenity", was written by Joss Whedon and performed by Sonny Rhodes . Whedon wrote the song before the series was greenlit, and a preliminary recording performed by Whedon can be found on

5472-428: The writing process with Mutant Enemy Productions. A meeting is held and an idea is floated, generally by Whedon, and the writers brainstorm to develop the central theme of the episode and the character development. Next, the writers (except the one working on the previous week's episode) meet in the anteroom to Whedon's office to begin breaking the story into acts and scenes. One of the key components to devising acts for

5548-699: Was also released under the rules for the Serenity RPG. In the run-up to the release of the Firefly Role-Playing Game , MWP produced four more books in the Echoes of War series of adventures— Gaming in the 'Verse (preview released at GenCon 2013), Echoes of War: The Serenity Crew (containing stats for the various members of the Serenity and quickstart rules), Echoes of War: The Wedding Planners , Echoes of War: Shooting Fish , and Echoes of War: Friends in Low Places The Serenity Role Playing Game

5624-402: Was another reason to use the ship for much of the storytelling. When the characters did leave the ship, the worlds all had Earth atmosphere and coloring because the production team could not afford to design alien worlds. "I didn't want to go to Yucca Flats every other episode and transform it into Bizarro World by making the sky orange", recalled Whedon. As Meyer recalled: "I think in the end

5700-399: Was home." Each room represented a feeling or character, usually conveyed by the paint color. He explains that the colors and mood progress from extremely warm to cooler, as you move from the back of the ship in the engine room, toward the front of the ship to the bridge. Besides evoking a mood associated with the character who spends the most time in each area, the color scheme also alludes to

5776-495: Was the first game to be produced under the Cortex System . It is a rules-light generic roll-over system using polyhedral dice. Each of a character's attributes and skills is assigned one of these dice types, with larger dice representing greater ability. When a character attempts an action, such as piloting a spacecraft, shooting a gun, or punching someone, the player rolls the die for the character's applicable attribute and

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