[caption id="attachment_4084" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Chloe (Elyse Levesque), Colonel Young (Louis Ferreira) and Eli (David Blue) prepare to use the Ancients communications stones while Sgt. Riley (Haig Sutherland) sits and observes in "Earth." Photo by Carole Segal and copyright of the Syfy Channel"]
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SPOILER ALERT!! - With the situation onboard the Destiny dire, General O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) and Home World Command orders Colonel Young (Louis Ferreira) to execute a high risk plan by the IOA (International Oversight Authority) scientists which, in theory, could return the crew to Earth. The colonel tries to buy more time so that he can consult those on the ship whose lives are at stake. While using the communications stones, Camile Wray (Ming-Na) is approached by IOA representative Dale Strom (Carlo Rota), who suggests that she steer opinion on the ship in favor of the plan.
[caption id="attachment_4085" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Camile Wray (Ming-Na) meets up with fellow IOA rep Dale Strom (Carlo Rota) when her consciousness makes a far too brief return visit to Earth. Photo by Carole Segal and copyright of the Syfy Channel"]
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Eli (David Blue) and Chloe (Elyse Levesque) are allowed to use the communications stones to visit Earth and their loved ones for what may be the last time. Their homecoming is not what they expected and the two try to drink away their worries at a club (featuring Janelle Monae), but are unable to ignore the looming fate of the Destiny that they have left behind. Earth airs Friday,November 6th @ 9 p.m. on The Syfy Channel.
[caption id="attachment_4086" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Colonel Telford (Lou Diamond Phillps) makes a return visit to the Destiny. Photo by Carole Segal and copyright of the Syfy Channel"]
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Click on the following link for a preview of this episode - https://rcpt.yousendit.com/766636113/0984fa63a0b73a3801d15e22987879ab
As noted above, all photos by Carole Segal and copyright of The Syfy Channel, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!
Stargate Universe
11/06/2009
10/29/2009
This Week On Stargate Universe - 10 - 30 - 09
[caption id="attachment_3883" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Sgt. Greer (Jamil Walker Smith) and Colonel Young (Louis Ferreira) in "Water." Photo by Carole Segal and copyright of The Syfy Channel"]
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SPOILER ALERT!! - Despite severe rationing and around the clock security, the water reserves onboard the Destiny continue to drop. Dr. Nicholas Rush (Robert Carlyle) has no explanation for this latest setback but, if they are to survive, they must find a new water source soon. The only planet within range is a frozen wasteland surrounded by a thin and poisonous atmosphere. Donning two of the ship's deteriorated spacesuits, Colonel Young (Louis Ferreira) and Lt. Scott (Brian J. Smith) head to the planet's surface hoping to retrieve enough ice to replenish their water supply. Once there, however, tests reveal that the ice near the Stargate contains traces of highly toxic chemicals. Young and Scott take off in search of drinkable samples, knowing they don't have long before their air runs out and Destiny jumps back into FTL (faster-than-light) drive. Back onboard the ship, Lt. Johansen (Alaina Huffman) works with the crew to catch an intruder who they believe is responsible for the lost water rations. Water airs Friday, October 30th @ 9 p.m. EST on The Syfy Channel.
[caption id="attachment_3884" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Lt. Scott (Brian J. Smith, second from left) and Colonel Young (Louis Ferreira, far right) suit up in preparation for their trip to the ice planet. Photo by Carole Segal and copyright of The Syfy Channel"]
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[caption id="attachment_3885" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Colonel Young's and Lt. Scott's mission becomes more complicated than originally anticipated in "Water." Photo by Carole Segal and copyright of The Syfy Channel"]
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Click on the following link for a preview of this episode -
https://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=batch_download&send_id=759393135&email=2c6518ae6b12f6fc424b6b2403f246bf
As noted above, all photos by Carole Segal and copyright of The Syfy Channel, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!
10/22/2009
This Week On Stargate Universe - 10 - 23 - 09
[caption id="attachment_3709" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Eli (David Blue), Sgt. Riley (Haig Sutherland) and Dale Volker (Patrick Gilmore) face an uncertain future in "Light." Photo by Carole Segal and copyright of The Syfy Channel"]
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SPOILER ALERT!! - The Destiny is still without power and an attempt to alter its collision course with a star has failed. The situation is now critical. A plan is born to abandon ship using the last working shuttle, with the hope that one of the three planets in close proximity will be habitable. Although this strategy initially raises the crew's spirits, it is short-lived when Colonel Young (Louis Ferreira) announces there is only room for 17 people, and a lottery will determine who goes and who stays. Stunned by the implication of this news, everyone considers their fate. Some, including Dr. Rush (Robert Carlyle) and Colonel Young, opt to stay onboard. Others, determined to survive, vie for a seat on the departing shuttlecraft.
[caption id="attachment_3710" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Dr. Rush (Robert Carlyle) and Colonel Young (Louis Ferreira) consider their options in "Light." Photo by Carole Segal and copyright of The Syfy Channel"]
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[caption id="attachment_3711" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Will Chloe (Elyse Levesque) and/or Eli be among the lottery winners in "Light." Photo by Carole Segal and copyright of The Syfy Channel"]
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In the short time that remains, alliances are forged and others damaged while Eli (David Blue) tries to create a message in a bottle with the aid of a Kino. But, unbeknownst to all, forces are at work that no one could have foreseen. Light airs Friday, October 23rd @ 9 p.m. EST on The Syfy Channel.
Click on the following link for a preview of this episode - https://rcpt.yousendit.com/757628031/8d3f636c07006034c0eb9c9380cb0fe5
As noted above, all photos by Carole Segal and copyright of The Syfy Channel, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!
10/15/2009
This Week On Stargate Universe - 10 - 16 - 09
[caption id="attachment_3619" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Sgt. Hunter Riley (Haig Sutherland) and Eli (David Blue) find themselves literally in the dark this week on Stargate Universe. Photo by Carole Segal and copyright of The Syfy Channel"]
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SPOILER ALERT!! - Dr. Nicholas Rush (Robert Carlyle) has been working throughout the night to try to determine why the ship's power reserves are critically low. He reiterates his mounting concerns to Colonel Young (Louis Ferreira), who advises the crew to limit their power consumption to essential services only. Suddenly, the lights dim to emergency levels and everything but life support goes dead. Overwhelmed by fatigue and frustration, Rush declares that all onboard will perish within days. But when Destiny's flight path towards a solar system reveals the existence of three planets, they hope that one of them is habitable. Darkness airs Friday, October 16th @ 9 p.m. EST on The Syfy Channel.
[caption id="attachment_3620" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Colonel Everett Young (Louis Ferreira, second from left) and Sgt. Vanessa James (Julia Anderson) in "Darkness." Photo by Carole Segal and copyright of The Syfy Channel"]
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As noted above, photos by Carole Segal and copyright of The Syfy Channel, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!
10/07/2009
This Week On Stargate Universe - 10 - 09 - 09
[caption id="attachment_3551" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Lt. Scott (Brian J. Smith), Dr. Rush (Robert Carlyle) and Eli (David Blue) try to unravel the Destiny's secrets. Photo copyright of The Syfy Channel"]
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SPOILER ALERT!! - With the air supply failing on the Destiny, a team gates to a desert-like planet in Air: Part 2 to search for the mineral needed to scrub the ship's air of carbon dioxide. After testing numerous sand samples without success, and with their window of opportunity closing fast, the group opts to split into two to cover more ground, despite the unbearable heat. While one team presses on to find the treasured mineral, the other has another goal in mind. When it is apparent that Dr. Rush (Robert Carlyle) can't go on, Lt. Scott (Brian J. Smith) decides to go it alone and orders Sergeant Greer (Jamil Walker Smith) to return to safety with the exhausted scientist. Meanwhile, with life on the ship looking bleak, and with the aid of the communication stones, Colonel Young (Louis Ferreira) reports in to General O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) and Chloe (Elyse Levesque) has one last chance to see her mother. Air: Part 2 airs Friday night, October 9th @ 9 p.m. EST on The Syfy Channel.
As noted above, photo courtesy of and copyright of The Syfy Channel, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!
07/20/2009
07/02/2009
05/26/2009
Andy Mikita - The Direct Approach
[caption id="attachment_1007" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="Director Andy Mikita hard at work on the Stargate Atlantis season five episode "First Contact." Photo by Eike Schroter and copyright of the Sci Fi Channel"]
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As a longtme member of the Stargate family, Andy Mikita has lent his creative talents to directing as well as helping produce dozens of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis stories. He kicked off the fifth season of Atlantis directing the opener, Search and Rescue, followed by The Daedalus Variations and The Shrine, in which one of our heroes almost met his maker. Mikita barely had time to catch his breath before he began prepping to direct the mid-season two-parter First Contact and The Lost Tribe, which guest-starred SG-1's Michael Shanks as Dr. Daniel Jackson.
"First off, I want to say how great to was to have Michael on the show," enthuses Mikita. "He just brings so much to the table and the chemistry between his character and David Hewlett's [Dr. Rodney McKay] was phenomenal. We shot both these episodes, which were written by [Atlantis executive producer] Martin Gero, together, and he did some of the directing as well. Martin did the lion's share of the scenes with Michael and David, including the one where the little Asgard alien came out of the spacesuit. So it was a really sensible approach to shooting these stories. We were able to divide the schedule between Martin and myself, which kept us on track financially and time-wise. Because Martin is also a director I felt completely confident in his execution of things, and I really enjoyed all the work he did.
"Probably the biggest challenge with First Contact and The Lost Tribe was making sure that the spacesuits were going to be functional as well as believable and have the desired impact. Real kudos go to our art department and model shop for designing and constructing some incredible suits. They had qualities of a lot of different ideas in there. Also, Iron Man was just coming out at the time we were building these suits, and while we didn't want there to be obvious comparisons to the movie, I will say that we went straight out and copied the inside-of-the-helmet shots. In The Lost Tribe, specifically, we did close-ups of Michael and David when they were wearing the suits and we literally put in an inside-the-helmet point of view using VFX [visual effects] graphics.
"The VFX team did an amazing bit of work, and I thought the effects in both these episodes were incredible, especially in First Contact where the aliens in their spacesuits came out of their ship and entered Atlantis. The whole concept that Martin came up with involving the transport bubble that allowed the aliens to move through multiple surfaces was really clever and extremely well-executed by the VFX guys. With that, you got another sense, again, of the size of Atlantis, and the concept of finding Janus' [Gildart Jackson] secret lab was quite compelling. It was a fun episode, or episodes, to shoot and I'm very pleased with how they turned out."
[caption id="attachment_1010" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Mikita confers with Amanda Tapping (Colonel Samantha Carter) on the set of "Search and Rescue." Photo by Eike Schroter and copyright of the Sci Fi Channel"]
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Mikita's next episode, The Prodigal, sees the return of the human/Wraith hybrid Michael (Connor Trinneer), who comes to Atlantis to execute yet another insidious plan. "This was a tremendous action-packed story with some great fight sequences choreographed by Bam Bam [stunt coordinator James Bamford]," says the director. "The Michael/Ronon [Jason Momoa] fight was really cool and culminated with Ronon actually going over the Atlantis Gate Room balcony. Then there was the big penultimate fight on the rooftop with Michael versus Sheppard [Joe Flanigan] and Teyla [Rachel Luttrell]. That was a tough sequence to shoot. We were fairly limited as far as how large in scope we could build that [rooftop] set piece. To help sell that idea, we used a large projection screen so we could see off into the background and the moonlit sky. Then there was the big sort of helicopter shot that shows the very top spire of the city and just how high up our heroes are when they're fighting. That was another impressive VFX sequence.
"Obviously, staging a fight on a ledge or precipice like that is pretty tricky. For instance, when Michael throws Sheppard down the ledge and he's left dangling, the first time we shot that, the Sheppard stunt double went right over the edge of the set. If that was real life, he would have been a goner. After that, we were joking around and saying, 'Well, that's it. Michael wins the fight, the series is over.' Also tricky to shoot were the scenes in which Major Lorne [Kavan Smith] and Woolsey [Robert Picardo] run afoul of Michael's stun bubble and we had to choreograph their falls. We had a fantastic Woolsey stunt double who looked so much like Robert that at times if you were standing a little bit away from him, you couldn't tell the difference between him and Robert. And the stunt double did such an amazing job on the fall as well. This was a real highlight episode for me to shoot and definitely one of my favorites from season five.
"Something else I thought was really cool with The Prodigal was how [Atlantis executive producer] Carl Binder, who wrote this episode, gave the character of Amelia Banks a much more significant role. We got to see her as more of an active participant in the story as opposed to just being a technician when she and Ronon take on one of the hybrid guards. The actress who plays Banks [Sharon Taylor] is quite proficient at martial arts, so she got to show off some of her skills onscreen and I think the fans picked up on that."
The director along with the Atlantis cast and crew spent a little over a week last August trying to keep cool while filming inside a very hot Wraith set for the fifth season episode Infection. "We had a fairly limited Wraith set, so as our characters were walking through the ship, we were basically reusing the same set over and over again," explains Mikita. "So we had to move things around as well as relight and redress the sections in order to make it feel like we were constantly on the move and create a sense that it was a much larger space than it actually was.
[caption id="attachment_1011" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="David Hewlett (Dr. Rodney McKay) hangs around with Mikita during the filming of season five's "The Shrine." Photo courtesy of and copyright of the Sci Fi Channel"]
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"Then, of course, there's the fact that in our story, the gene therapy that Dr. Keller has been developing really isn't working as well as we hoped, so we come across these new gruesome creatures onboard the Wraith ship. They were based somewhat on the Spoils of War [season four] creatures where we saw the birthing sequence of the Wraith warriors. In this episode, we took it a step further and, as a result of the gene therapy, the Wraith lost their ability to feed with their hands. So they basically became flesh-eating monsters and needed to eat using their hands and teeth and ingesting the way we humans do. So that was another challange to make the attacks from these monsters scary and, again, believable, and I feel we achieved both to a great extent."
In mid-September 2008, Mikita took on the job of directing the 100th episode of Atlantis, Enemy at the Gate, which, ironically, was also the show's season/series finale. "I was absolutely honored to be given that opportunity," he recalls. "At the same time, it was kind of a daunting responsibility, given that the episode was shooting at the same time as Rob Cooper's [Atlantis co-creator/executive producer] Vegas. That was a big hallmark episode as well in that it was a real departure type of story that takes place in an alternate reality, so a great deal of attention was going to that one, too.
"By the time we got around to Enemy at the Gate, we had to be very careful because we didn't have any extra money or time to shoot it," continues the director. "We couldn't make it any bigger or splashier than any other story we had previously done, but we did want to make a really good, solid, conventional Atlantis episode with the stakes essentially being that the Wraith are attacking Earth. The highlight for me was having Amanda Tapping [Colonel Samantha Carter] back, which was just sensational. It was a very proud moment for the cast and crew to have made it to the 100th episode mark, but also a very bittersweet time because we'd had so much fun for five years and now the series was coming to an end."
[caption id="attachment_1015" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Director Andy Mikita. Photo courtesy of and copyright of the Sci Fi Channel"]
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Although his time on Atlantis may have ended, Mikita still remains very much a part of the Stargate franchise and has already begun his involvement in the second spin-off, Stargate Universe. "I'm hoping I can take what I've learned from SG-1 and Atlantis and apply it to whatever new challenges I'm given on Universe," he says. "We're approaching that show from quite a different perspective stylistically, so that should help me grow even further as a director for sure."
Steve Eramo
As noted above, photos by Eike Schroter and courtesy of and copyright of the Sci Fi Channel, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any form. Thanks!
04/23/2009
04/15/2009
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