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− | {{Titleicons|real}} |
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− | {{Infobox Film |
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− | |name=R. Tam sessions |
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− | |caption=The title card to one of the segments |
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− | |director=[[Joss Whedon]] |
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− | |producer= |
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− | |writer=Joss Whedon |
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− | |starring=[[Summer Glau]]<br />Joss Whedon |
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− | |music= |
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− | |cinematography= |
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− | |editing= |
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− | |distributor= |
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− | |released=August 16, 2005 - September 5, 2005 (internet)<br />August 21, 2007 (DVD) |
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− | |runtime=8 min. |
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− | |country=United States |
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− | |language=English<br />Chinese |
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− | |budget= |
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− | |preceded_by= |
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− | |followed_by="[[Serenity (episode)|Serenity]]" |
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− | |amg_id= |
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− | |imdb_id=}} |
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− | Although released unofficially, the videos were meant as a form of [[Wikipedia:Viral marketing|viral marketing]] for the 2005 film ''[[Serenity (film)|Serenity]]''. The sessions were released on the internet between August 16 and September 5 |
+ | Although released unofficially, the videos were meant as a form of [[Wikipedia:Viral marketing|viral marketing]] for the 2005 film ''[[Serenity (film)|Serenity]]''. The sessions were released on the internet between August 16 and September 5 of 2005. |
− | ==Story== |
+ | == Story == |
− | Set before the events of the '' |
+ | Set before the events of the ''Firefly'' television series and the film ''Serenity'', the R. Tam sessions depict excerpts of counselling sessions with the character River Tam while she is held at a "learning facility" known only as "The Academy." The counsellor in these sessions is played by Joss Whedon himself. The videos shed some light on the experiments and torture "The Academy" conducted on River. They "document" her change from a shy child prodigy to the mentally unstable character of the television series. The clips can be found in [http://ia300116.us.archive.org/1/items/R._Tam_Sessions_Complete_4/R_Tam_Sessions_Full.mov this quicktime movie]. |
− | ==Sessions== |
+ | == Sessions == |
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The five clips are listed here in the order in which they were released, but the actual chronological order is indicated by the numbering, session 1 being the first clip and session 416 being the last. |
The five clips are listed here in the order in which they were released, but the actual chronological order is indicated by the numbering, session 1 being the first clip and session 416 being the last. |
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− | ===R. Tam, Session 416 - Second Excerpt=== |
+ | === R. Tam, Session 416 - Second Excerpt === |
⚫ | We see a man sitting in a chair by a table. After a few seconds of silence, he puts his hands to his |
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⚫ | We see a man sitting in a chair by a table. After a few seconds of silence, he puts his hands to his neck and begins to cough violently. We see him pull what is apparently a pen out of his neck and throw it onto the table. After a few seconds of struggling, he falls out of his chair onto the floor. River, with blood on her hand, then appears on screen, looks directly at the camera, and whispers, "I can see you." |
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⚫ | We are introduced to a young girl named River. She is being interviewed by the same man who we were introduced to in the first clip. The setting is apparently the same room by the same table. This clip takes place ''before'' the previous one, as indicated by the numbering and River's personality. The interviewer begins to question River about her life, such as how school is going, and asks her if she would be interested in joining what is presumably "the Academy." This clip establishes River as being extremely intelligent, and hints at her having extremely intuitive, or possibly psychic, powers. |
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⚫ | We are introduced to a young girl named River. She is being interviewed by the same man who we were introduced to in the first clip. The setting is apparently the same room by the same table. This clip takes place ''before'' the previous one, as indicated by the numbering and River's personality. The interviewer begins to question River about her life, such as how school is going, and asks her if she would be interested in joining what is presumably "the Academy." This clip establishes River as being extremely intelligent, and hints at her having extremely intuitive, or possibly psychic, powers |
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− | ===R. Tam, Session 22 - Excerpt=== |
+ | === R. Tam, Session 22 - Excerpt === |
⚫ | River is having second thoughts about how she may not be "the right subject" for the treatments being done to her. She requests a transfer back to a normal school, despite it being "too slow." The video then cuts to another conversation. River says "it's the [[ |
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⚫ | River is having second thoughts about how she may not be "the right subject" for the treatments being done to her. She requests a transfer back to a normal school, despite it being "too slow." The video then cuts to another conversation. River says "it's the [[Pax]]" (a reference to the events of the film ''Serenity''), and makes another non sequitur about a patient who died on the table while the interviewer (apparently a doctor) was performing a surgery which could point toward her being a reader as it was something she did not see and was not told but that the interviewer was aware of. She desires very much to see her brother ([[Simon Tam|Simon]]) in person, but the interviewer obliquely denies this request, suggesting that she write to him instead. |
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⚫ | In this excerpt, River has gone into one of her psychotic moods and is pacing around instead of sitting down as in the previous excerpts. She is rambling (with the occasional stutter) about how she apparently cut up her mattress for reasons unknown to anyone else but herself, making a reference to the fairy tale ''[[Wikipedia:The Princess and the Pea|The Princess and the Pea]]'' (This hints at the premise of the film ''Serenity''; River has a 'pea' of information in her head, and it's causing a mental breakdown) |
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− | ===R. Tam, Session |
+ | === R. Tam, Session 165 - Excerpt === |
⚫ | River says that Dr. Mathias "gave [her] a mission", and is apparently aware that her brother Simon is looking for her. She says she can't tell the interviewer what this mission is, and that she'll have to write it down, extending a hand for the pen the interviewer is holding |
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⚫ | In this excerpt, River has gone into one of her psychotic moods and is pacing around instead of sitting down as in the previous excerpts. She is rambling (with the occasional stutter) about how she apparently cut up her mattress for reasons unknown to anyone else but herself, making a reference to the fairy tale ''[[Wikipedia:The Princess and the Pea|The Princess and the Pea]]'' (This hints at the premise of the film ''Serenity''; River has a 'pea' of information in her head, and it's causing a mental breakdown). She claims that she has no "mission," apparently seeking the purpose to why she is at this institution. Suddenly after a video cut, she shrieks and bends over on the table, and claims that something in the mattress is "sticking in [her]" and screams repeatedly at the interviewer that "they cut it out" (a reference to the ''Firefly'' episode "[[Ariel]]"). |
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− | *The mission Dr. Mathais gave River appeared to be to kill her interviewer, judging by her asking for the pen that she killed him with. |
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− | ==DVD release== |
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− | The sessions were released on the "''Serenity'': Collector's Edition" DVD. |
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− | ==Notes and references== |
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+ | == References == |
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*[http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2677821?htv=12 Ifilm Viral Video: Session 416] |
*[http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2677821?htv=12 Ifilm Viral Video: Session 416] |
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− | ==External links== |
+ | == External links == |
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− | *[http://www.archive.org/details/JossWhedonSummerGlau_1 Internet Archive: R. Tam Sessions (Complete] |
+ | *[http://www.archive.org/details/JossWhedonSummerGlau_1 Internet Archive: R. Tam Sessions (Complete)] |
+ | *[http://www.session416.com R. Tam Sessions - Session 416.com - Site containing all five R. Tam session videos] |
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+ | **[http://www.session416.com/complete_sessions Session 416.com - Bypass the current site into a page on the older, defunct site] |
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+ | **[http://www.session416.com/sessions_story Session 416.com - I Can See You: The R. Tam Sessions Story] |
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+ | **[http://www.session416.com/press Session 416.com - Press coverage] |
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+ | *[http://www.ourmedia.org/node/82084 Ourmedia: R. Tam Sessions (Complete)] |
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+ | *[http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/r_tam_sessions/the_pen_is_mightier The Pen is Mightier] - A fan commentary to the R. Tam sessions |
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*[http://www.checkerboardnightmare.com/d/20050824.html A parody of Session 416 - Second Excerpt] |
*[http://www.checkerboardnightmare.com/d/20050824.html A parody of Session 416 - Second Excerpt] |
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− | [[Category: |
+ | [[Category:Firefly spin-offs]] |