How to fix the mess that is The Shadow Chronicles.....

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How to fix the mess that is The Shadow Chronicles..... was created by Brooklyn-Red-Leg

Okay,

let's be bluntly honest. TSC is awful. There is no way you can put enough lipstick on this pig to make it look good. There are so many problems, from continuity to animation, that it simply needs to be revamped. I think, however, that if Harmony Gold put enough money back INTO the production that it would make a huge difference.

To whit:

1.) Remove all animation for The Battle of Reflex Point. That can be spun-off into its own animated short telling the battle from the REF's point of view (packaged with The Shadow Chronicles). The start date SHOULD be 6 months or so AFTER The Battle of Reflex Point (as implied at the end of The New Generation where we see a visible change of season). This also removes the severe continuity hole of the SDF-03 being near the Event Horizon of a Black Hole (which would cause time-dilation for the crew) according to the theory.

2.) Redo all the CGI to be cell shaded. This would vastly improve the overall quality of the product.

3.) Start off with the whole Scott/Ariel the Invid debacle so as to get them assigned to the Icarus. Ariel should come to the REF as a representative of her people, saying that she has information that is vital to their survival vis-a-vis The Children of the Shadow.

4.) Place the Icarus and the REF Fleet in a battle line trying to cut through the Haydonite Fleet to get to the SDF-03. Use much of the Battle of Reflex Point footage as practicable to beef up this fight. The Icarus makes it through to rescue the Deukalion before the Haydonites execute their own spacefold, taking the SDF-03 with them (would require a few seconds and/or minutes of new animation).

5.) For God's sake, have Alex be Marcus's Weapon's Officer in the Beta. There was NO reason whatsoever for the Beta's to be treated as spare parts for the Alpha anymore. This was a failing in The New Generation that would have been addressed, oddly enough, in The Sentinels and this is a perfect opportunity to correct such a gaff.

6.) Animate a few scenes of Ariel piloting a Gosamu during the battle. Maybe she could save Scott in battle. Mix the Shadow Fighters in with Shadow Drones and the Super Shadow Fighters (it is supposed to be, after all, a fleet action).

7.) Get new dialogue to fill in the gaps.

8.) Do NOT blow up Space Station Liberty. That was stupid in the extreme (no one in their right mind is going to sacrifice a major industrial/logistical hub to destroy a fleet when said hub held off an equally tough foe a generation before...yes, I wrote correctly, SSL held off The Robotech Masters as per dialogue in Mind Games).

9.) The ending needs to be revamped. Period. Remove the Janice Em singing piece to a lounge on SSL as the Icarus and her crew are reassigned to provide armed escort for the UES Ark Angel colony ship. End with the ship arriving (months later at least) at its destination and preparing to land.

There, you have an ending that sets up the next chapter (if it ever arrives....).
Last edit: 12 years 11 months ago by Brooklyn-Red-Leg.
12 years 11 months ago #15273

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Replied by ps99041 on topic Re: How to fix the mess that is The Shadow Chronicles.....

I like your ideas, especially the idea of improving the cg and the pilot in the Beta. I'd also ask that the "Super" Shadow Fighters look a bit more distinct. But that's asking A LOT. I'd be happy if they just updated the cg animation and removed the singing.
12 years 11 months ago #15274

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Replied by tredwards on topic Re: How to fix the mess that is The Shadow Chronicles.....

Well of course they had to blow up SSL. That's from The Masters and it's painfully obvious that anything from The Masters must be destroyed. They only keep Louie around because they needed someone to replace Dr. Lang.

I do like the ideas (especially the cel-shaded thing, I've been saying that since I first saw it), but they're gonna need a much bigger hard drive for all this. :laugh:

One thing that always bothered me though was why does Ariel save Marcus, but she doesn't save Alex only a few hours prior. Did she not like Alex?
12 years 11 months ago #15280

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Replied by blackconvoy_D01 on topic Re: How to fix the mess that is The Shadow Chronicles.....

The only way to fix the shadow chronicles is for HG to up their game and put out a fantasic production of Shadow Rising, making up for any production/storyline mishaps prior.
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12 years 11 months ago #15283

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Replied by rtsurfer on topic Re: How to fix the mess that is The Shadow Chronicles.....

The character animation is okay but it does need something done with the vessel/fighter cgi, its not so good. Cell shading or tooning it up might help, it couldn't hurt. I don't suppose there's anything they can do about the stiffness short of new animation which won't happen. Maybe some edits or re-composites might help. They definitely need to redo the missiles and explosions to make them more Robotech-like in movement and appearance.

It wouldn't hurt for them to add in some Sentinel and Masters era mecha in the background during the battle of reflex point and inside SSL, along with some ASC capital ships.

After they fix some of the other problems it needs different BGM. Here's a demo remix uploaded to youtube by Xamtaro that illustrates my point:



Anyone know the link to Rhade's video edit showing how TSC and TNG are supposed to fit together?
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Last edit: 12 years 11 months ago by rtsurfer.
12 years 11 months ago #15285

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Replied by MEMO1DOMINION on topic Re: How to fix the mess that is The Shadow Chronicles.....

rtsurfer wrote:

The character animation is okay but it does need something done with the vessel/fighter cgi, its not so good. Cell shading or tooning it up might help, it couldn't hurt. I don't suppose there's anything they can do about the stiffness short of new animation which won't happen. Maybe some edits or re-composites might help. They definitely need to redo the missiles and explosions to make them more Robotech-like in movement and appearance.

It wouldn't hurt for them to add in some Sentinel and Masters era mecha in the background during the battle of reflex point and inside SSL, along with some ASC capital ships.

After they fix some of the other problems it needs different BGM.

WELL, IF RSR GOES INTO REBUILD OF EARTH I CAN SEE SOME OF THAT BEING DONE. YOU SEE OLD MECHA HERE AND THERE. ON THE OTHER I AGREE NEW THINGS SHOULD BE DONE AS WELL. DR.MOVIE HAS IMPROVED SINCE 2004-05 ON OTHER ANIMES. ESPECIALLY HIGH SCHOOL OF THE DEAD.

HG SHOULD PAY MORE ATTENTION THIS TIME AROUND FOR THOSE CHANGES AND THEN SOME.

Anyone know the link to Rhade's video edit showing how TSC and TNG are supposed to fit together?

RHADE SAID HE WAS GOING TO PUT IT UP AGAIN LATER.

LAST TIME I THINK HE HAD SO MANY HITS THAT HE TOOK IT DOWN. DON'T KNOW IF IT WAS HIS SERVER OR SERVICE. WITH YOUTUBE NOW HE CAN GO FAR WITH IT.
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12 years 11 months ago #15288

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Replied by ps99041 on topic Re: How to fix the mess that is The Shadow Chronicles.....

I think SR, if it ever gets made, has to stay away from Earth for awhile. Afterall, how many times can it be attacked in 1 franchise? The only problem with this is that, based on how SC ended, this would leave less room for new REF mecha to be seen meaning the only truly new designs would be from aliens they encounter.
12 years 11 months ago #15292

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Replied by Last_Valk_Standing on topic Re: How to fix the mess that is The Shadow Chronicles.....

I absolutely agree on the CG issues. While i seriously doubt they would ever go back and redo as much of the film as you have listed i do think the CG components could be altered without having to rewrite the entire film. It always bothered me that the mecha looked like a child's toy. They didn't move they seemed more static even during fights and the Battle of Reflex point was a major let down. I know they can do better. I don't think any of this will ever happen but the CG part kinda killed much of the story for me.
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12 years 11 months ago #15297

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Replied by MEMO1DOMINION on topic Re: How to fix the mess that is The Shadow Chronicles.....

THERE IS STILL THE REST OF THE ROBOTECH UNIVERSE TO EXPLORE. ESPECIALLY THE HOMEWORLD OF THE TIROLIANS.

YOU GOT A NEWLY LIBERATED EARTH. A LIBERATED TIROLIAN HOME WORLD AND NOW THE HAYDONITES ARE KNOWN AS TEH BAD GUYS. WILL THE HAYDONITES TRY TO OVER TAKE WHAT THE INVID REGENT LOST?

THAT WOULD BE TOUCHING ON A LOT OF SENTINELS STORYLINE FROM THE PAST.
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Last edit: 12 years 11 months ago by MEMO1DOMINION.
12 years 11 months ago #15302

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Replied by rtsurfer on topic Re: How to fix the mess that is The Shadow Chronicles.....

Fleeing from the Haydonite treachery, the last Colony Dimensional Fortress, Archangel, leads a small shadow technology-less combat force on a lonely quest in search of Adimiral Hunter and the SDF-3, away from a defenseless planet Earth. ;)
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12 years 11 months ago #15313

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