Born To The Purple
"Born to the Purple" is the third episode of the first season of the science fiction television series, ''Babylon 5''. Plot Commander Jeffrey Sinclair is trying to negotiate a treaty between the Narn and Centauri governments over a disputed sector of space, with help of telepath Talia Winters. While Narn ambassador G'Kar cooperates freely, they have trouble drawing Centauri ambassador Mollari from his love interest, an exotic dancer named Adira Tyree. Unknown to them, Adira is a slave owned by Trakis who wants Adira to acquire Mollari's "purple files": files that contain high-level information about the Centauri government. Adira is conflicted between her love for Mollari, and Trakis' threats. She tricks Mollari into drinking a sleeping agent that gives her time to learn his passwords and access the files. However, when she is scheduled to trade them to Trakis, she flees. Trakis approaches Mollari, convincing him that Adira was working against him, and showing him the papers which ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Babylon 5
''Babylon 5'' is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label, in association with Straczynski's Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Warner Bros. Domestic Television. After the successful airing of a test pilot movie on February 22, 1993, '' Babylon 5: The Gathering'', Warner Bros. commissioned the series for production in May 1993 as part of its Prime Time Entertainment Network (PTEN). The show premiered in the US on January 26, 1994, and ran for five 22-episode seasons. The series follows the human military staff and alien diplomats stationed on a space station, ''Babylon 5'', built in the aftermath of several major inter-species wars as a neutral ground for galactic diplomacy and trade. Major plotlines included ''Babylon 5'' embroilment in a millennial cyclic conflict between ancient races, inter-race wars and their aftermaths, and intra-race intrigue and upheaval. The human characters, in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Computer-generated Imagery
Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the use of computer graphics to create or contribute to images in art, printed media, video games, simulators, and visual effects in films, television programs, shorts, commercials, and videos. The images may be static (still images) or dynamic (moving images), in which case CGI is also called ''computer animation''. CGI may be two-dimensional (2D), although the term "CGI" is most commonly used to refer to the 3-D computer graphics used for creating characters, scenes and special effects in films and television, which is described as "CGI animation". The first feature film to make use of CGI was the 1973 film ''Westworld''. Other early films that incorporated CGI include ''Star Wars'' (1977), ''Tron'' (1982), '' Golgo 13: The Professional'' (1983), ''The Last Starfighter'' (1984), ''Young Sherlock Holmes'' (1985) and ''Flight of the Navigator'' (1986). The first music video to use CGI was Dire Straits' award-winning " Money for Nothing" (1 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The A
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with pronouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of pronoun ''thee'') when followed by a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Murder, She Wrote
''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series focuses on the life of Jessica Fletcher, a mystery writer and amateur detective, who finds herself becoming involved in solving a series of murders that take place in the fictional town of Cabot Cove, Maine, as well as across the United States and abroad. The program ran for 12 seasons from September 30, 1984, to May 19, 1996, for a total of 264 episodes, and included amongst its recurring cast Tom Bosley, William Windom and Ron Masak, as well as a vast array of guest cast members including Michael Horton, Keith Michell and Julie Adams. The series proved a ratings hit during its broadcast, becoming a staple of CBS Sunday night TV schedule for around a decade, while achieving distinction as one of the most successful and longest-running te ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Christopher Franke
Christopher Franke (born 6 April 1953) is a German musician and composer. From 1971 to 1987, he was a member of the electronic group Tangerine Dream. Initially a drummer with The Agitation, later renamed Agitation Free, his primary focus eventually shifted to keyboards and synthesizers as the group moved away from its psychedelic rock origins. While he was not the first musician to use an analog sequencer, he was probably the first to turn it into a live performance instrument, thus laying the rhythmic foundation for classic Tangerine Dream pieces and indeed for the whole Berlin School of electronic music, Berlin school sound. After his departure from the group, he founded the Sonic Images record label, a new-age music label called Earthtone and the Berlin Symphonic Film Orchestra, and produced a number of solo music works. After leaving Tangerine Dream, his only live concert was on 9 October 1991 at the Astoria Theatre in London. He performed on stage with Edgar Rothermich (a.k. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Video Toaster
The NewTek Video Toaster is a combination of hardware and software for the editing and production of NTSC standard-definition video. The plug-in expansion card initially worked with the Amiga 2000 computer and provides a number of BNC connectors on the exposed rear edge that provide connectivity to common analog video sources like VHS VCRs. The related software tools support video switching, chroma keying, character generation, animation, and image manipulation. Together, the hardware and software provided, for a few thousand U.S. dollars, a video editing suite that rivaled the output of contemporary (i.e. early 1990s) professional systems costing ten times as much. It allowed small studios to produce high-quality material and resulted in a cottage industry for video production not unlike the success of the Macintosh in the desktop publishing ( DTP) market only a few years earlier. The Video Toaster won the Emmy Award for Technical Achievement in 1993. Other parts of the origi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lightwave 3D
LightWave 3D is a 3D computer graphics 3D computer graphics, or “3D graphics,” sometimes called CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for th ... program developed by NewTek. It has been used in films, television, motion graphics, digital matte painting, visual effects, video game development, product design, Architectural visualization, architectural visualizations, Virtual product development, virtual production, Music video, music videos, Previsualization, pre-visualizations and advertising. Overview LightWave is a software package used for rendering computer graphics, 3D images, both animated and static. It includes a fast rendering engine that supports such advanced features as realistic reflection, Radiosity (computer graphics), radiosity, Caustic (optics), caustics, and 999 Parallel rendering, render nodes. The 3D modeling com ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Amiga 2000
The Amiga 2000, or A2000, is a personal computer released by Commodore in March 1987. It was introduced as a "big box" expandable variant of the Amiga 1000 but quickly redesigned to share most of its electronic components with the contemporary Amiga 500 for cost reduction. Expansion capabilities include two 3.5" drive bays (one of which is used by the included floppy drive) and one 5.25" bay that could be used by a 5.25" floppy drive (for IBM PC compatibility), a hard drive, or CD-ROM once they became available. The Amiga 2000 is the first Amiga model that allows expansion cards to be added internally. SCSI host adapters, memory cards, CPU cards, network cards, graphics cards, serial port cards, and PC compatibility cards were available, and multiple expansions can be used simultaneously without requiring an expansion cage like the Amiga 1000 does. Not only does the Amiga 2000 include five Zorro II card slots, the motherboard also has four PC ISA slots, two of which are inline wit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Foundation Imaging
Foundation Imaging was a CGI visual effects studio, computer animation studio, and post-production editing facility. History The company was founded by Paul Beigle-Bryant and Ron Thornton. It pioneered digital imaging for television programming using Newtek's LightWave 3D, originally on Commodore Amiga based Video Toaster workstations. Dissolution The company was dissolved after work on season one of ''Star Trek: Enterprise'' had been completed and the company assets were sold off in a public auction on December 17, 2002 by Brian Testo Associates, LLC. Legacy The company's pioneering work on Babylon 5 popularized using the software package Lightwave 3D on US TV shows for CGI visual effects, which led to it becoming an industry standard throughout the 1990s. Key animators from the company and Emmy Award-winners Adam "Mojo" Lebowitz and John Teska remain major figures in the visual effects field for their work on shows such as the rebooted Battlestar Galactica and Lost. Notabl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Empire Strikes Back
''The Empire Strikes Back'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back'') is a 1980 American epic film, epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas. The sequel to ''Star Wars (film), Star Wars'' (1977), it is the second film in the ''Star Wars'' film series and the fifth chronological chapter of the "Skywalker Saga". Set three years after the events of ''Star Wars'', the film recounts the battle between the malevolent Galactic Empire (Star Wars), Galactic Empire, led by the Palpatine, Emperor, and the Rebel Alliance, led by Princess Leia. Luke Skywalker trains to master the Force so he can confront the powerful Sith lord, Darth Vader. The ensemble cast includes Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, David Prowse, Kenny Baker (English actor), Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, and Frank Oz. Following the success of ''Star Wars' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Larry DiTillio
Lawrence G. DiTillio (February 15, 1948 – March 16, 2019) was an American film, TV series, and tabletop role-playing game writer. His creations include ''He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword'' and the award-winning ''Masks of Nyarlathotep''. Education Larry DiTillio attended the film school at New York University for four years. He then spent an additional two years at UCLA's film school. Career After graduating, DiTillio decided to make a career as a Hollywood writer. He knocked on agency doors until he was able to find an agent willing and able to find him work as a film writer. DiTillio wrote for both television and movies in the 1970s, including a stint on Filmation's ''Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids''. He then became a staff writer for the original ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe'' series and over its two seasons, wrote 17 episodes, more than anyone else. He also directed one episode. During a writers' strike in 1983, DiTillio searched for other ways to gene ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Emperor Palpatine
Sheev Palpatine, also known by his Sith name Darth Sidious, is a fictional Character (arts), character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. Initially credited as the Emperor in the original trilogy films, ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980) and ''Return of the Jedi'' (1983), he serves as the main antagonist of the nine-film Skywalker saga, in which he is portrayed by Ian McDiarmid. In the Star Wars original trilogy, original trilogy, Palpatine is depicted as the Emperor of the Galactic Empire (Star Wars), Galactic Empire and the master of Darth Vader. In the Star Wars prequel trilogy, prequel trilogy, he is portrayed as a charismatic politician—and, secretly, a Sith Lord—who orchestrates the Clone Wars (Star Wars), Clone Wars, all but exterminates the Jedi, Jedi Order, ends the Galactic Republic, and seduces Jedi Knight Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker to the dark side of the Force. In ''The Rise of Skywalker'' (2019), the final film in the Star Wars sequel tr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |