F131, you are correct. :thumb:
Actually "Gun" was the second episode to be produced after the pilot "Saga of a Star World" and was seen as a mix of "Guns of Navarone" and "Dirty Dozen". In the original script of "Saga" Cassiopeia is killed on Carillon and Serina dies because she was exposed to the toxic radiation which destroyed the molecular structure of the food in the fleet. This explains why both are missing in that episode.
John Dykstra was very upset because of Universal's decision to make Galactica a weekly show. He knew that his team would never have been able to meet the deadlines to deliver enough VFX sequences. When he learned that the studio was turning "Saga" into a theatrical movie he left the show. Main reason for this was that the VFX had been designed specifically for the small screen. Many details were over-emphasized (most notably the stars shaped as white blobs) and there were numerous printing errors (chasing mattes, ghost images, Vipers chasing their engines and so on). In his opinion all those issues wouldn't be noticed on TV but would totally ruin a theatrical performance. This took place at the end of "Gun, Part 1" which marked the end of the Apogee participation. :cry:
When ILM prepared shooting the VFX shots for "Empire" their house was literally flooded with people from all studios taking pictures and even copying blueprints of the optical printers. When George Lucas found that out he immediately ordered to close the doors. However, this order came too late because Universal had already collected enough data for rigging up their own VFX department, Universal Hartland. When Dykstra left Hartland took over and produced the effects for the subsequent episodes of BSG, Gal1980 and Buck Rogers.
When Lucas saw that the camera used for shooting BSG VXF was a virtual clone of the Dykstraflex he got very angry and sued Universal. Universal in turn sued Lucas because R2-D2 and R5-D4 were virtual clones of Huey, Lewie and Duey from Universal's "Silent Running". :twisted:
My favourite moments are the forced landings (Dykstra at his finest) and the Cylons in the snow (always wondered why they didn't freeze).
The avalanche seen in "Gun, Part 2" was no stock footage: The VFX department built a complete mountain and used tons of artificial snow. When the avalanche was filmed at high speed the chief model maker hit the ground plate of the mountain with a hammer which caused the "snow" to come down.
So, class dismissed. And now, show us your Ram, please! :mrgreen: