Editing Space: Above and Beyond (section)

== Production ==
While drawing comparisons with [[Robert Heinlein]]'s novel ''[[Starship Troopers]]''<ref name="Auto9Q-4"/> and [[Starship Troopers (film)|the movie]] of the same name, according to the [[television producer|producers]], the main fictional work that influenced ''Space: Above and Beyond'' was one written in response to that story,<ref name="Haldeman"/> the 1974 [[science fiction]] novel ''[[The Forever War]]'' by [[Joe Haldeman]].<ref name="Auto9Q-5"/> In addition, it was inspired by fictional works, such as the 1948 [[World War II]] [[biography|biographic]] novel ''[[The Naked and the Dead]]'' by [[Norman Mailer]], the 1895 [[American Civil War]] novel ''[[The Red Badge of Courage]]'' by [[Stephen Crane]], the ''[[Iliad]]'', and the 1962 television series ''[[Combat!]]''<ref name="Auto9Q-6"/> At the same time, ''Space: Above and Beyond'' also shares [[conspiracy]] elements with other television shows co-produced by the same team, such as ''[[The X-Files]]'' and ''[[Millennium (TV series)|Millennium]]''.

=== Cinematography and visual effects ===
The series featured a very dark and [[saturation (color theory)|desaturated]] [[color grading]], apparently inherited from the [[cinematography]] of series as ''The X-Files'' and ''Millennium'', co-produced by the same team, but taken to a greater extreme. The strength of desaturation employed in many scenes reaches the level that makes them almost [[black and white]] (quantitatively, the saturation in [[CIE 1931 color space|CIE xy color subspace]] of a typical scene in ''Space: Above and Beyond'' is in the range 0.03–0.15, approximately 1/4 of a typical contemporary film or television program).

With the increasing affordability of computer systems with performance suitable for 3D [[rendering (computer graphics)|rendering]], ''Space: Above and Beyond'' relied heavily on [[computer generated imagery]] (CGI) for space scenes with physical [[special effects]] still playing a significant role. The computer generated effects of ''Space: Above and Beyond'' were created by the visual effects company ''Area 51'' using ''[[NewTek]] [[LightWave 3D]]''. In 1996, the team at Area 51 were nominated for an [[Emmy Award]], for Outstanding Special Visual Effects, with each member being named.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.televisionacademy.com/shows/space-above-and-beyond |title=Outstanding Special Visual Effects - 1996 |website=televisionacademy.com |date=1996}}</ref>

=== Music ===
Wong and Morgan were looking for a more traditional musical approach than the [[synthesiser]] scoring favored on ''The X-Files''; visual effects supervisor Glenn Campbell introduced the producers to the music of [[Shirley Walker]], who had worked on ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]''. Wong and Morgan were initially unconvinced on hearing Walker's synth demos, until it was explained that her musical ideas would be filled out by an [[orchestra]]. Wong went on to describe the scoring session as "(his) favorite part of filmmaking."<ref name="Auto9Q-7"/> Walker scored the pilot and the entire series, receiving an [[Emmy nomination]] for "The River Of Stars," <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.televisionacademy.com/shows/space-above-and-beyond |title=Outstanding Music Composition For A Series - 1996 |website=televisionacademy.com |date=1996}}</ref> and she reunited with Wong and Morgan on many of their later projects (her final film score was for their [[Black Christmas (2006 film)|remake]] of ''[[Black Christmas (1974 film)|Black Christmas]]'').

In 2011, La-La Land Records issued a three-disc limited edition featuring Walker's score for the pilot and music from most of the episodes ("The Enemy", "Choice or Chance", "Level of Necessity", "R&R", and "Stardust" do not have any score cues on the album).

=== Sound effects ===
The [[sound effects]] used on the show are often reused on the animated series ''Futurama''.

=== Criticism ===
The actor [[Joel de la Fuente]] described his perception of a possibly [[stereotype|stereotypical]] nature of his character Lt. Paul Wang, for which he felt discomfort for the role of "a cowardly soldier who betrayed his comrades":<ref name="Auto9Q-8"/>

{{cquote|Whenever I see Asians in military uniform, I cannot help but recall common images of Asians from the [[Vietnam War]] and World War II. They were "yellow-bellied cowards" who took the lives of loyal Americans. They were treacherous and crafty, impossible to gauge. Wang could be seen as all of these stereotypes, I thought. Even though this ignores the fact that the Americans they were killing had invaded their country and napalmed their children, but people tend to leave out the important details...}}