We're right in the middle of a two-week-long shoot of our latest Star Trek Phase II episode "The Holiest Thing" by Mr. Rick Chambers. A pivotal scene in the episode takes place between Captain Kirk (Mr. Brian Gross) and Dr. Carol Marcus (Ms. Jacy King) in the "INT. SHIPS' ARBORETUM." We never really saw a "INT. SHIP'S ARBORETUM" set in TOS, so we combined elements from the INT. BOTANY LAB" set from "The Man Trap" with elements from the "INT. HERBARIUM" set (both planned and realized) from "Is There In Truth, No Beauty?" We gave the set a bit of the brighter, third season look of cinematographer Al Francis, rather than the noir-ish look of the first and second season of Jerry Finnerman (although these are, of course, publicity photos and not actual production footage.) From set construction and painting, to obtaining and/or constructing set pieces, to set decorating, to lighting, to costuming, a lot of people worked hard to get this scene all set up on a sooner-than-we-had-anticipated schedule. I'm proud of everyone on the whole team for pulling this whole thing together as quickly as they did.
Looks good. Am I right in expecting to see this after the release of Kitumba and Bread and Savagery, with the Protracted Man theoretically to follow?
Not trying to open a can of worms here: What is the technical difference between Phase II and Continues? Phase II, in stills and footage, looks quite digital (you know, that "video" look). Continues looks MUCH closer to the film look of TOS. Do they use other digital cameras than Phase II, other post processing techniques, or do they even use film?
We're shooting our current episode with a RED EPIC, although over the course of our ten years, eleven full-length episodes, and four vignettes, we've actually used a variety of cameras. The above publicity shots were done using a digital SLR camera and they were posted right after being taken, so no post-processing was done to apply a "film grain look." Generally, the addition of an artificial film grain overlay is one of the last steps done to the footage once the final edit is completed, so if you see early sneak-peek trial balloon releases that we put out, they often haven't yet gone through that final "addition of film grain" step. It's actually a dial it up or dial it down feature on the software, and I'm hearing that you would like it dialed up a bit on our final releases. It's actually a bit of an artistic choice we make. I think Continues might be honing a bit more closely to The Original Series by making their footage more closely resemble Eastman 5251 (and the third season 5254) color negative film stock. I think our two productions actually make a variety of different artistic decisions regarding how much to resemble TOS. A similar example is the aspect ratio: Continues seems to be using the traditional television aspect ratio of 4:3 for "Pilgrim of Eternity." But ever since our episode "To Serve All My Days," with Walter Koenig, New Voyages/Phase II has been shooting in the newer 16:9 HD video standard. I think not everything about TOS is worth emulating. (Shhhhhh. Don't tell anyone I said that: I might have to watch out for God striking me down with a lightning bolt for daring to say such a thing.) I'm thinking, for example, of this shot from "Charlie X:" I don't know if I'd be all that flattered if we got comments like "You Phase II guys are great! I like how you can see crappy wood grain on the cheap painted plywood on your set that is supposed to be providing access to some 23rd century plasma conduit-thing on the Enterprise--just like on the 1968 sets! That cheap-ass quality you've captured looks MUCH closer to the original Desilu studio sets! What a classic look you've been able to successfully emulate!" So how closely to make our respective series resemble TOS and in which regards, and to which things we should be faithful, and which things could or should be improved upon are just artistic choices we all make. But we hear you: you're one of the viewers who'd like to have the footage post-processed to more closely resemble old Eastman 5251 film stock.
It may sound funny, but I really like that Phase II and Continues are making different artistic choices. From where I sit, they are both excellent productions trying to do their best with their own interpretations of the source material. I think the differences add value to both.
What we really need is a name for some kind of futuristic, newfangled philosophy that celebrates the vast array of variables in the universe--one that expresses that the glory of creation is in its infinite diversity, and the way those differences combine to create meaning and beauty. That would be cool.
I agree, that would be cool - something that we could infuse into Star Trek that would elevate its meaning and bring joy to its fans.