At this point, we're looking at...

 Posted on 1/17/1992 by STRACZYNSKI [Joe] to GENIE


At this point, we're looking at same-diameter sections rotating at
different speeds. My feeling is...if you can buy hyperdrive, you can buy that
we've got some spiffy new construction technologies.

Regarding the NewTek tape...did the video you saw feature a ship entering
the docking bay of the station? And were there huge solar collectors at one
end? Were sections rotating at different speeds? If so, then yes, that was
BABYLON 5. (Though that must be an odd copy, or they've done some strange
color correcting, because B5 is steel grey in color, augmented by black in
some areas and the solar collectors are a metallic blue, though not garish.)
My *suspicion* is that yes, that was BABYLON 5, especially since you mentioned
the flickering stars, which are present in the rough test demo (was there also
a ringed planet in the background)?

What I'm *pretty sure* you must've seen was the very first test demo of
the Babylon 5 station. Later, the length of the video was expanded, we
layered in an early version of the B5 logo, music was added, plus the shot of
a single ship docking. (That was for perspective; for those who might see
this, the ship at the beginning of the sequence is about the size of a Boeing
727...and when we first see it from a distance approaching the station, it
looks practically like a fly until you zoom in on the docking bay.)

So, based on what you saw, I gather you approve?

Regarding ads and publicity, yes, thus far I've been consulted, as was
the case with the color brochure. As we gear up more, I'll be further
involved in all aspects of publicity, in order to control the image that goes
out. I'm not that involved in the NATPE stuff mainly because that's a
specialization of the marketing guys, and they know that aspect more than I
do.

jms