Police interview witnesses to a crime to find out what happened. Military intelligence agents interview prisoners to learn about enemy plans and capabilities. These interviews are often called interrogation.
Athelstan
Athelstan or Æthelstan, (893/4–27 October 939), called the Glorious, was the first King of England. He reigned from 924 to 939. He was the son of King Edward the Elder. Athelstan's reign is sometimes overlooked but it was of great importance to political developments in the 10th century.
Athelstan was the son of Edward the Elder, and grandson of Alfred the Great. His father succeeded, after some difficulty, to the Kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons formed by Alfred. His father had also been the King of Mercia. When Edward died Athelstan quickly became King of Mercia but he was not immediately accepted as King of England. His brother, Ælfweard, had more support in England but died soon after Edward. This made it easier for Athelstan to become king.
For Athelstan it was very important to have many allies. A year after his crowning he married one of his sisters to the Viking King of Northumbria, Sithric. However, Sithric died only a year later, and Athelstan seized Northumbria. This move made him king of more land than any other before him, roughly the same as modern England. Historical records indicate that the other rulers in Great Britain accepted him as king at Bamburgh around this time.
Athelstan died at Gloucester in 939 and was succeeded by his half-brother, Edmund I.
Firefly (TV series)
Firefly is an American science fiction television series. It first aired in the United States and Canada on September 20, 2002. It is set in the future, but also has many things about it which would be expected in a story of the American Old West. This combination of past and future gives a unique science fiction setting for the story. It was created by writer and director Joss Whedon, creator of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel". He created it with his production company, Mutant Enemy. Whedon was the executive producer, along with Tim Minear.
"Firefly" was first broadcast on the FOX network. It was cancelled after only eleven of the fourteen episodes were shown. Even though the show did not last long, it sold very well when it was released onto DVD and had great fan support. Because of this, Whedon and Universal Pictures made a movie based on the series, titled "Serenity". The movie was named after the fictional spaceship in the show. It won an Emmy in 2003 for "Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series".
The series is set in 2517 AD. It follows the adventures of the crew of "Serenity", a "Firefly"-class spaceship. The cast play the nine characters who live on "Serenity". Whedon described the show as "nine people looking into the blackness of space and seeing nine different things". The show looks at the changing lives of people who fought on the losing side of a civil war. It also shows the pioneer culture that is on the edges of their star system. It is a future where the only two superpowers, the United States and China, joined to create a single government. This government was called the "Alliance". This also caused the two cultures to blend into each other. Whedon said that nothing has changed in the future. There are more people with better technology, but they still have the same problems politically, morally and ethically.
Whedon came up with the idea for the show after reading "The Killer Angels", a novel about the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. He wanted to follow people who had fought on the losing side of a war. He wanted to look at their lives after the war on the edges of civilization. It was meant to be the kind of drama with a lot of people trying to figure out their lives in a pioneer environment. Whedon wanted to have a show that was about when life was physical and things did not come easy to people. Whedon was also very interested in science fiction and wanted to make something for television that was character-driven and dirty.
For the name of the show, Joss Whedon wanted something that had strength and movement. He felt that the word "firefly" had both. The fact that it was also something small with a powerful name made him like it more. From there, he created the ship in the image of a firefly.
While making the first episode, Whedon was arguing with FOX that the show should be shown in widescreen format. Because of this, he filmed scenes with actors on the edge of both sides so that they would have to show it that way. However, the pilot was turned down by the FOX executives. They thought that it did not have enough action. They also did not like the captain. FOX told Whedon on a Friday afternoon that he had to make a new script by Monday morning or they would not do it. Whedon and Tim Minear spent the weekend writing a new episode, "The Train Job". In this new episode, the captain was more "happy" and they added "larger than life" characters. These characters were the henchman "Crow", and the "hands of blue" men, that also introduced a "X-Files"-type ending.
Production designer Carey Meyer built the ship "Serenity" in two parts. It was built as a complete set. It had ceilings and working lights built in as part of the set that the cameras could use. It also had movable parts. This helped with moving the camera around inside the set. There were other good things about this set design. One was that it let the people watching feel that they were really in a ship. For Whedon, the design of the ship was very important. It defined the known space for the viewer. He wanted to show that it was simple and that it was "beat-up but lived-in and ultimately, it was home". Each room had a feel to it, usually shown by the paint color.
Their small budget was a reason to use the ship for much of telling the story. When the characters did go off of the ship, the worlds all had Earth atmosphere and colors. They could not afford to build alien worlds.
The theme song, "The Ballad of Serenity", was written by Joss Whedon and performed by Sonny Rhodes. Whedon wrote the song before the series was approved by Fox. An early recording done by Whedon can be found on the DVD release.
The soundtrack to the series was released on CD on November 8, 2005 by Varèse Sarabande. The musical score matches the blending of cultures in the show. Cowboy guitar blended with an Asian feel was the musical background for the series. Greg Edmonson wrote the music for the series. He said that he wrote for the emotion of the moment.
In casting his nine-member crew, Whedon looked first at the actor and how they got along with others. All nine cast members were chosen before filming began. However, while filming the original pilot "Serenity", Whedon saw that the actress cast as Inara Serra (Rebecca Gayheart) was not right for the role.Morena Baccarin auditioned for the role and two days later was on the set in her first television show.
Whedon asked Nathan Fillion to play the lead role of Malcolm Reynolds. After telling him the idea for the show and showing him the pilot, Fillion wanted the role. Fillion was called back several times to read for the part before he was cast.
Alan Tudyk auditioned and was told to come back in to test with the possible Zoes (the character's wife). It was down to him and one other person. The Zoes did not work out and Tudyk was sent home. He got a call telling him he had the part anyway.
Veteran science fiction-fantasy actress Gina Torres ("The Matrix Reloaded", "") did not at first want to do another science fiction show, but "was won over by the quality of the source material." As she recalled, "So you had these challenged characters inhabiting a challenging world and that makes for great storytelling. AND NO ALIENS!"
Adam Baldwin grew up watching westerns. The character of Jayne Cobb was a role that was perfect for him.