Awards

1993 Hugo Award Nominee: “The Gathering” Emmy Award Winner: “The Gathering” OUTSTANDING INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS PAUL BEIGLE-BRYANT, Computer Imaging Supervisor; SHANNON CASEY, Visual Effects Coordinator; RON THORNTON, Visual Effects Designer 1994 Emmy Award Winner: “The Parliament of Dreams” OUTSTANDING INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP... [Read more]

Special Effects

Overview – Notes Overview All special effects for Babylon 5 are computer generated. Foundation Imaging, headed by Ron Thornton, produced the special effects for the pilot movie and seasons one through three. Starting in Season 4, the special effects were moved in-house to Netter Digital Imaging, another subsidiary of the parent of B5′s production company. The B5 effects teams, both... [Read more]

“Ulysses”

quoted by JMS in “The Gathering” and “The Parliament of Dreams” “Ulysses” by Alfred Lord Tennyson It little profits that an idle king, By this still hearth, among these barren crags, Match’d with an aged wife, I mete and dole Unequal laws unto a savage race, That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me. I cannot rest from travel; I will drink Life to the... [Read more]

The Philosophy

JMS’ main criteria for a good science fiction television series include that it must be good science fiction and good television; it must be geared towards adults, not kids (one slogan on the set is, “No Cute Kids, No Cute Robots. Ever!”) doing for science fiction what Hill Street Blues did for police shows. It must be done on a reasonable budget and it should look like nothing ever... [Read more]

The War Prayer by Mark Twain

title is a reference to the first season episode, “The War Prayer” The War Prayer by Mark Twain It was a time of great and exalting excitement. The country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism; the drums were beating, the bands playing, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers hissing and spluttering; on every hand and far down the... [Read more]

History Babylonia

At the request of a few people, I’ve written a brief sketch of the history of ancient Babylonia. I’ve written this article because JMS has mentioned that there may be many parallels between Babylon 5 and ancient Babylon; however, for the same reason, I have to be extensively careful not to turn this article into a bunch of what some people may consider “story ideas.” In other... [Read more]