Stargate Universe

I loved Stargate SG-1, and I loved the premise of Stargate Universe, i.e., the wrong people thrust into a precarious survival situation. It provides many opportunities for character growth and self discovery. I also loved how strongly the characters seemed to be developed. Rush, Young, Scott, Johansen, and Wallace were all solidly developed and well acted. Although I have no idea what Lou Diamond Philips role was, I was glad to see the show focus on developing the core characters rather than try to introduce everyone. But these strong elements are horribly overshadowed by poor editing and sloppy camera work.

The TV show, Highlander, was the best example of using flashbacks to provide background and supplemental story elements. The flashbacks were triggered by events within the story that were shown on camera. And whenever we were about to take a trip to the past, the camera would zoom in on the character's eyes or fade to the side. This technique provided the audience with solid visual cues that we were about to see a memory and be shown supplemental background information. The show rarely had more than 2-3 flashbacks per episode, keeping the audience firmly anchored in a single story with a single viewpoint character.

All of that was missing in Stargate Universe. Suddenly it was now, suddenly it was some unknown time in the past, suddenly were back to the present, suddenly back to the past, suddenly we're looking at an unknown character's marriage problems. It was like jumping back and fourth in a book. You read a page in chapter 4, a page in chapter 5, another page in chapter 4, then a page in chapter 3. One moment you see the Colonel welcoming civilians to an off-world base; the next moment he's back at home and collapsing after an argument with his wife. You never learn why he collapsed or even when this actually happened. The constant jumping around prevents you from connecting from the characters or becoming invested in the story. When we saw Rush crying over the picture of a woman, I thought, "Where the hell did this come from? Get back to the story!"

The sloppy camera work makes matters even worse. Not only are you kept distant from the overall story arc, but the sloppy camera prevents you from focusing during a scene. Mirror neurons in the human brain are responsible for helping people identify with characters, feeling compassion for them, and keeping the viewer interested. But mirror neurons are triggered by seeing facial expressions and focusing on them for several seconds. The constantly moving camera prevents the viewers' eyes from being able to focus on any one long enough to engage those neurons. When Senator Armstrong was holding the gun on the soldier, I wanted to sympathize with (and even respect) the character. He knew he was about to die, and he wanted to choose a death that gave life to others. But the camera wouldn't focus. I couldn't see compassion or reason in his face. The way that scene was filmed, I couldn't tell if he was delirious or a terrorist.

Sloppy camera work was one of the main reasons I quit watching Battlestar Galactica after just 2 episodes. And if SGU continues on this way, I probably won't be able to sit through an entire season. A shame for a show with such great potential.