ValueSubtracted
@ValueSubtracted@startrek.website
Have you ever considered that the Prime Directive is not only not ethical, but also illogical, and perhaps morally indefensible?
- Comment on What It Took to Bring Those Viral Star Trek Short Films to Life 13 hours ago:
The Roddenberry Archive is probably the best place - navigate to the section called “765874”.
They just link to YouTube videos, but I find the actual YouTube channel challenging to find stuff in.
- Submitted 1 day ago to startrek@startrek.website | 3 comments
- Comment on Just Finished Lower Decks 6 days ago:
I was able to find a couple of things I found interesting about Section 31, but I had to dig pretty deep to do it.
- Comment on Just Finished Lower Decks 6 days ago:
I don’t think there’s any question that it was well-liked by the fandom.
However, I used to check in with Parrot Analytics fairly frequently - they’re a site that purports to measure the overall “demand” of a series through a variety of means that I don’t fully understand…but the industry uses their metrics.
“Lower Decks” was typically the second-lowest “in demand” new series - only “Prodigy” had a lower score.
That said, the demand for all of the new series was categorized as “outstanding.”
- Comment on Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1 Wraps Filming 1 week ago:
Time will tell on that one.
I think I read that Giamatti’s character has a connection to one of the leads, so I’m kind of hoping he’s someone’s Bad Dad.
- Comment on Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1 Wraps Filming 1 week ago:
Yeah, they announced the second season renewal very early - right around the time production on season one was starting.
Hopefully it’s a good sign.
- Comment on Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1 Wraps Filming 1 week ago:
The jacket looks really nice. It’s a shame it’s probably a crew thing.
- Submitted 1 week ago to startrek@startrek.website | 11 comments
- Submitted 1 week ago to startrek@startrek.website | 9 comments
- Comment on "Star Trek is dying." How would you sell it to a younger audience? 1 week ago:
Agreed, though it seems unlikely that we’re going to get any more of it, sadly.
- Comment on "Star Trek is dying." How would you sell it to a younger audience? 1 week ago:
Sure, I don’t think anything is absolute. But I think there’s a general impression that as the older fans literally die off, there aren’t enough younger ones to replace them, let alone expand the popularity of the franchise.
- Comment on "Star Trek is dying." How would you sell it to a younger audience? 1 week ago:
I’m struggling to find it now, but I read a Jonathan Frakes interview last year (I think) where he expressed a similar sentiment.
Basically, he said that the fans that he sees at conventions are getting noticably older, and there aren’t as many younger people joining the fold.
- Comment on "Star Trek is dying." How would you sell it to a younger audience? 1 week ago:
I think the current approach is the correct one, even if it produces a few misses here and there.
A variety of tonally distinct projects, aimed at different demographics, telling stories.
- Submitted 1 week ago to startrek@startrek.website | 0 comments
- Submitted 1 week ago to startrek@startrek.website | 0 comments
- Submitted 1 week ago to startrek@startrek.website | 12 comments
- Comment on 9 Years Later, 'Star Trek: Discovery's Co-Creator Just Revealed a Wild Alternate Cast 1 week ago:
I definitely wouldn’t assume that any of Fuller’s ideas were in the show being the first season.
- Comment on 9 Years Later, 'Star Trek: Discovery's Co-Creator Just Revealed a Wild Alternate Cast 1 week ago:
Like Brian, I would love to see an in-depth book about the first two seaons of Disco in particular.
- Comment on 9 Years Later, 'Star Trek: Discovery's Co-Creator Just Revealed a Wild Alternate Cast 1 week ago:
Related to this article, VFX supervisor for “Picard,” “Strange New Worlds,” and season 4 of “Discovery” posted this rather interesting thread to Mastodon:
Reading the article going around about Bryan Fuller’s Discovery, and people’s “What If” scenarios reminds me of 2016 and my brush with it interviewing for the VFX department there:
I got a chance to interview as a potential Compositing Supervisor. It’s a trend which continues today that some productions have small in-house groups to concept things, sometimes do shot work, directly interface with a show to do certain things faster and cheaper than going to vendors, like previs.
I get to Los Angeles Studios downtown to talk to the Producer, and the first thing I notice in being in the offices; no real concept art to be found, no white board with scheduling info; I think I saw 3 pieces of artwork (only one of which was ever reflected in the show, but more about that later). No one really in the office yet, but it was also a late evening and they weren’t in production yet.
Kinda a red flag, but maybe the stuff was somewhere else I just couldn’t see.
I go through a pretty standard interview process, and when asked what questions I might have, I start with some pretty standard ones: How many hours a week? 60. How big a team? 20ish. What types of work are you planning on doing, concept, prep shots, actual shot production? All the VFX work of the show.
OK big red flag.
That is not enough to do this kind of show in the 2010s. Maybe a TNG show with TNG amount of effects an episode, but not modern TV.
When do you start shooting? In months. Do you have scripts to breakdown and budget staff? No. Any scripts at all? No.
WHAT? These two things do not go together, especially on a new show. Pilots for shows will float around for sometimes years being prepped and budgeted.
Do you have art for phasers, transporters, warp, or even ships? They showed me like a temp transporter. And the 3 pieces of art on the walls. Maybe they had more and didn’t want to show me. I did sign an NDA
What kinds of shot pipeline do you have? We have Lightwave and Nuke. No I mean pipeline. Nope.
At that point, I knew this was going to be a disaster and wanted no part of it. I finished up pleasantly with them, and got the hell out of Dodge. There is bootstrap small high performance team work, which I’ve been a part of, and there’s throwing yourself into a meat grinder. It didn’t matter if they wanted me, I didn’t want them. Which was crushing for a lifelong Star Trek fan.
Months away from shooting and no scripts on a completely new show that was supposed to launch a streaming network is a recipe for disaster.
Later, I found out that after spending millions of dollars in prepro, Fuller had “departed” and all those people were sacked. Fuller, while being responsible for some really loved shows, also has a history of lots of aborted projects, or projects he left really early on. But I’m sure other people actually know that story better than I.
At that point Alex Kurtzman was brought in to actually make a show that could be produced. I went back to the VFX place I was working for, and would just be a viewer like everyone else. I wouldn’t get a chance to work on Trek until 2019 working on Star Trek: Picard for DNEG.
Anyway millions were wasted for nothing that was able to be shot. Just something to consider with “What Ifs” of Star Trek. I really hope someone writes a book about Star Trek production someday.
- 9 Years Later, 'Star Trek: Discovery's Co-Creator Just Revealed a Wild Alternate Castwww.inverse.com ↗Submitted 1 week ago to startrek@startrek.website | 6 comments
- EXO-6 Brings the Strange New Worlds / Lower Decks Crossover to Life with Unique Collectibleswww.startrek.com ↗Submitted 2 weeks ago to startrek@startrek.website | 1 comment
- Comment on Alex Kurtzman Gives Live-Action Comedy Update, Says Star Trek Can “Broaden” 3 weeks ago:
I’ve heard Tawny Newsome talk about this show on a podcast, and in this particular case, it’s the opposite - Paramount+ wanted a live-action comedy, Kurtzman wasn’t sure it would work, and Newsome had to talk him into it.
That said, the industry as a whole has been in a state of contraction, and the big Paramount merger is imminent, so who the hell knows what will happen?
- Comment on Alex Kurtzman Gives Live-Action Comedy Update, Says Star Trek Can “Broaden” 3 weeks ago:
From a structural standpoint, it seems like a good way to have a rotating cast of guest stars while still having an ongoing mystery for the leads to explore.
- Submitted 3 weeks ago to startrek@startrek.website | 18 comments
- Details Revealed For ‘Star Trek: Red Alert’ Experience Coming To Universal Fan Fest Nightstrekmovie.com ↗Submitted 3 weeks ago to startrek@startrek.website | 2 comments
- Comment on Canon Connections: Star Trek: Section 31 3 weeks ago:
Well, Bashir (and I think his buddies from the Institute?) are proof that it’s possible. I’ve never delved into novels or other things about the Eugenics Wars, though.
- Comment on Canon Connections: Star Trek: Section 31 3 weeks ago:
Controls’ file says that Georgiou was brought to the prime universe in 2257, ”but after a few years we lost contact.” The events of season two of DIS take place almost immediately after season one, unless there were ”a few years” between the resolution of the Klingon war, and the USS Discovery setting out from Earth to pick up her new captain on Vulcan in “Will You Take My Hand?”.
I wonder if our boi Ash Tyler had something to do with that when he covered up what happened to Discovery (and, I guess, to Leland). Maybe he decided to remove Georgiou from that whole situation and falsify a record saying she disappeared some time later.
I also wonder if Ashy T. is still involved with S31 at this point - the man’s a Klingon, so he’s got the life span for it.
- Comment on Interview: Alex Kurtzman on Section 31 and the "evolution" of Star Trek 3 weeks ago:
This is pretty thoughtful, and I get where you’re coming from.
I do, however, think that the newer shows are frequently aspirational…but the focus has shifted toward doing the right thing in an environment that makes it difficult. There’s a lot more emphasis on struggle, in a way that hasn’t really been explored outside of DS9, and perhaps certain parts of ENT. That works for me, as I think it’s the more salient message for the times we live in: there are always going to be struggles, the greatest dangers often come from within, and doing the right thing can be incredibly hard.
we rarely ever get any breathing room downtime with the characters!
I definitely get this - it’s unfortunately something we’re going to have to learn to live with, because I don’t see longer seasons coming back any time soon (and honestly, they come with their own sets of drawbacks).
- Comment on Film Discussion | Star Trek: Section 31 3 weeks ago:
we didn’t really learn much more about her than we already knew.
Yeah. I said in my original comment that the Georgiou storyline is the strongest one, but it still feels very much like the first chapter that sets up future development, rather than something that pushed her story very far forward. It basically positions her as realizing that maybe a “monster with a conscience” isn’t so useless after all, and that she can work to atone for her past misdeeds.
Which is fine…but it’s still a setup for future stories that may never happen. It very much feels like a series pilot, rather than a standalone movie.
I completely agree with all of the other stuff you mention about the other characters, and I think it just screams, “we tried to compress an entire season’s worth of story into a single movie.” A lot of stuff happens, but everything that would get us invested in the characters was cut.
The Fuzz reveal makes a lot more sense if if happens in, say, episode 7 out of 10.
- Comment on Michelle Yeoh Told Us The Perfect Story To Prove That She’s Committed To Playing Star Trek: Section 31’s Philippa Georgiou For A Long Time 3 weeks ago:
I would be happy to see these characters again, under a different writer/director team.