I want to live in Sci Fi (or Vancouver)
I finally got to see the Caprica pilot thanks to my successful installation of DirecTV OnDemand (for only $35, no less.) As the first two episodes premiered in April, there are plenty of reviews of things like plot and characters already online. So, instead of focusing on these things, I’ll instead be talking about the two topics I really cared about: technology and aesthetics.
Caprica being set a few years into another culture’s future certainly sets a geek up for quite a bounty of lust-worthy gadgets. It doesn’t hurt, either, that the family Graystone is rolling in cubits from their diverse and expansive tech empire. In just the first two hours we’ve seen immersive virtual worlds delivered via holobands, a robotic butler/target, swanky maglev train system and more. But what I was most smitten with was the electronic paper interfaces that Zoe, Ben and Lacy favor. Example:
I want this. I have no idea how it would work, really, but I want it.
And all of this gizmo-y goodness is wrapped in a far more grey depiction of Caprica City than we ever saw in Battlestar. Any time filming takes place in the Pacific Northwest I’m likely to be won over (Twilight, anyone?) by the finished product. But Caprica goes a step further than just a great, dreary locale by presenting a world that reads as believable and beautiful. It’s science fiction, but not campy from fashion to industrial design. The styling goes above and beyond BSG (who wasn’t tired of Roslin’s suits?) with compelling touches like Victorian mourning garb and references to the show’s Grecian mythology. Sets are minimalist but richly textured. I was particularly pleased to see the same predilection for artifacts and sculpture in Joseph Adama’s home as in his son’s future quarters. I’m excited (as I’m sure the cast and crew are) to see how style evolves without the limitations of refugees and the same damned warship.
Overall, I want to live in Caprica City at the brink of The Fall of Humanity. But, since it’s fictional, I’ll settle for it’s skyline donor, Vancouver.
Can’t wait for the remaining 19 episodes this January!