Re: New Star Trek Fan Film Is the alcove necessary for filming? Why not put up a large static display back there like was on Excelsior/Enterprise B or another "Standing only" station? The first six Star Trek movies never gave any indication how the crew got back to the airlock section of Deck 1 (other than Chekov taking one of the Turbo Lifts there to retrieve Spock in ST:TMP). Why not do the same? Just curiosity more than anything else. The shots look good so far!
Re: New Star Trek Fan Film It sounds a little hollow. You'll definitely want to hang up blankets and stuff off camera to get rid of that echo-y quality. You might know this, but here's a tip about recording sound: If you have a stereo mic, don't record both channels at the same level. Set one channel about 10% lower than the one you set as the ideal. That way, if the audio clips on the main channel you have the second channel to fall back on. Also, don't use a zoom from across the set when shooting closeups. It flattens the image too much. Keep at it!
Re: New Star Trek Fan Film We want to be able to walk to the ready room quickly. The airlock's still back there. We were also thinking of saying there's a head back there. For the vignette, we used a huge vinyl tarp, unprinted, that we were quickly about to put up and take down. The problem was that I didn't realize that white is a terrible choice for a background, and the vinyl began drooping and wrinkling. I don't think any of the footage with the vinyl was usable. We're going to be added just a two-dimension flat structure with a hinge on it so that it can be folded and moved out of the way. The rear alcove literally leads to my kitchen, and we leave the door open with fans blowing full blast in order to help cool or heat the carport. We turn the fans and the portable AC off for filming, of course. Thanks. Linda and I were talking last night about how colorful it is, and how that somehow really works for what we're doing. We're also thinking we want to outline the appliques with white vinyl tape to hide the seams better. I did not know that trick. Jeff (Dir of Photography) has me looking for some egg carton-patterned padding (like bedding mattress padding) on a roll to hang where the soffit currently hangs. He wants us to hot glue the padding to the soffit to reduce the echoing. Hmmm, not sure if that was done. Might have been done with the engineer's close-up. Definitely working on that. Thanks for the encouragement!
Re: New Star Trek Fan Film Hang heavy blankets or sound insulation on surfaces that could be sound-reflective, including set pieces that are out of shot. Use clamps or C-47s (clothes pins) so that you can quickly put them up and take them down. I was...either a zoom or a long lens (or a hi-def shot was blown up), as I can see the top of the helmsman's head peeking into the frame, making it a slightly "dirty" shot. Always!
Re: New Star Trek Fan Film That might be easier on my back than trying to climb the ladder and hanging that insulation, assuming I even find it! THanks for the suggestion!
Re: New Star Trek Fan Film This is what I think you're looking for. I wouldn't make it permanent, on the off chance your shot might show the ceiling. You might check around for a better price on "Egg Crate Foam" http://www.foambymail.com/Eggcrate.html
Re: New Star Trek Fan Film Excellent. Will make a phone call tomorrow. Hopefully I can get it in white. Thanks for the link!
Re: New Star Trek Fan Film Didn't they use a hexagonal version of this stuff in the TMP turbolifts? Seems like it might have been in the TNG transporter room after it was altered for their production... http://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/twok/ch5/twok0279.jpg Okay, it's not hexagonal, but I think it is foam sound proofing. Could use it and it look natural on the set, If you can find it. http://tng.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/s1/1x08/lonelyamong006.jpg Here's a little different stuff in the girders for the TNG transporter set.
Re: New Star Trek Fan Film Quite so. We're using burgundy fabric on padded boards. If I'd seen this site earlier, I'd've gone with that material instead.
Re: New Star Trek Fan Film The elevator foam in the WOK image is a type of carpet padding. I'm pretty sure that the wall material in the TNG image is a type of Celotex ceiling tile that has been painted.
Re: New Star Trek Fan Film We'll be posting some pics tomorrow, Monday or Tuesday of the turbolift. It looks good. Just have to add the railing and some textured doo-dads to the right and left of the light, and we'll be done with it. Tonight, we got the rough edit from Thomas Scott, and we're all excited about how good it looks. We see a few spots we want to work on for our episode, but all in all, we're very pleased. Hopefully, we'll have the whole episode soon for Ralph Miller to do the sound engineering. We went ahead and took the step of creating a page on FACEBOOK. You can join us there at: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=144864755532468
Re: New Star Trek Fan Film I am really looking forward to this! I have been following the projects' website for quite a while now, gauping at the new pictures..
Re: New Star Trek Fan Film Thanks. I hope it films well, too. Just finished the hand rails on the turbolift, and will be uploading pics within the hour. Think I'm going to get a cherry slush first, though.
Re: New Star Trek Fan Film Cherry slush went down great, and here's the update with the turbolift pics promised: http://www.projectpotemkin.com/taking_on_the_turbolift.htm Tuesday evening, we will be shooting a few pickup scenes for "The Old Guys" and will be doing some test footage for a short short turbolift video.
Re: New Star Trek Fan Film Wow! It looks great! I'd love to see what it looks like from the Bridge with the Turbolift doors open. I'll bet the illusion of a completed Turbolift works great!
Re: New Star Trek Fan Film Thanks! After looking at it last night, it's clear we need to trim about 6" off the sides of each turbolift door, but I'll try and post a picture here tomorrow.
Re: New Star Trek Fan Film Thanks for the interest in our little project! On Tuesday, we shot some additional video for "The Old Guys" and footage for "Care for a Lift?" -- a turbolift vignette. "The Old Guys" is currently being edited, and will soon be turned over to Ralph Miller for Sound and to Steve Gallant for Music. Bill Walker is currently working on the special effects for this episode; we're considering animating the graphics on some of the stations in post-production, but I'd like to go ahead and get "The Old Guys" out as soon as possible. "Care for a Lift?" is a silly little vignette set a few hours after "The Old Guys." We're going to go with Bill Walker for both the editing and special effects since he's also got to provide his voice over role. Haven't had time to even think about Sound or Music, but I'm sure we'll figure that out this coming week. We did have a few scenes with the door and turbolift background in place, but we're not happy with the fact that the doors didn't (manually) close at the same time. We are planning on installing the cord pulleys tomorrow. We may have a really odd situation with them. We're using the turbolift as an exit for the house. We created our set on the carport, as you recall, and we park on the concrete pad outside the set. We're concerned that if we just slide the doors open and close (as we do now) that the cords will come off-track or off-pully, and we can't have that happening. We may have to make a really extended cord system where the door can be opened from the "back door" alcove (where our house's kitchen door is at) AND from the outside of the turbolift. That would make sure that the door system won't come off-track. This coming week, we've got to replace the communications overhead panel -- Randy vs the dreaded Paper Wasps! The wasps lost, but the comm panel applique suffered damage from the Raid Wasp & Hornet Spray. Fortunately, that was the only infestation we've had since building the set. We inspect it every other day for that sort of thing as well as carpenter ants, termites, etc. Orkin actually sprays it monthly as part of our home service. Also this coming week, we'll be working on the folding contraption for the back door alcove. I wish Kim were still home for the summer; I'd put her on a few pads for the wall assembly. Maybe I can talk Linda into it. Next week, we'll be starting on the captain's ready room for sure. Right now, I'm trying to conceptualize whether the ready room should be on the starboard or port side...