Star Trek: Axanar

Discussion in 'Fan Productions' started by Linnear, Sep 24, 2012.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. MikeH92467

    MikeH92467 Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 31, 2001
    Location:
    Boise, ID
    Hope your wait was rewarded. Mine certainly was. Wow!!
     
  2. RCAM

    RCAM Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Nov 27, 2013
    Very nice product right there. I was concerned going in that a few of the performances would be lacking, but there was no one who was less than solid. JG Hertzler was on another level -- 100 percent authentic; everything sounded extemporaneous.
     
  3. Psion

    Psion Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 19, 2001
    Location:
    Lat: 40.1630936 Lon: -75.1183777
    Very nice. The whole family sat riveted with wife and kid peppering me with history questions like they do with real historical documentaries.

    I burst out laughing at "Narrated by John Gill". They hadn't a clue.

    Tobias, your work was amazing. The actors gave solid performances. Loved the Andorian references. Excellent music and sound. I realize that there was a little cheating here in that the format made it easy to do one character at a time, but that wasn't at all obvious while watching it.

    My wife found the idea of a soft-spoken, articulate Klingon like Kharn a little odd, but I'm glad they stayed away from a cliché. If you look at the first three, major Klingons in Trek -- Kor, Koloth, and Kang, you see great variation among their people. Kharn fits in quite nicely with that and he looks gorgeous. I sure hope to see more of Kharn in the final production!
     
  4. FatherRob

    FatherRob Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    What an outstanding film... Watched it twice tonight.

    My only complaint is that I cannot watch it with my kids due to the language...

    Great VFX, wonderful sound, plenty of subtle but appropriately positioned references to what has gone before, and the ships... Holy cow the ships!

    That said, I have to say That Kharn is still taking some getting used to, more because I feel his visual look is off than any other reason. Gary Graham really brought it as Soval. I enjoyed Hertzler and Vernon were very good as well.

    Mostly, though, having read a few reviews prior to tonight, I was blown away by Peters as Garth. He hit a perfect tone in his role, not a professional before the camera, but a starship commander. Outstanding work in this format, and I hope it translates over to the full length feature.

    Great work.

    Rob+
     
  5. Borgminister

    Borgminister Admiral Moderator

    Joined:
    May 30, 2001
    Location:
    California
    Outstanding work! I do agree that Garth was a little meeker as a character by comparison to the other more rough-hewn cast, to include the b-- um, never mind.

    But overall very slick and professional, and whet my appetite for the full-length feature itself... :)
     
  6. Barbreader

    Barbreader Fleet Captain In Memoriam

    Joined:
    Jul 13, 2009
    Location:
    New York, New York
    Nice work, and for anyone reading this with no clue how to find the Kickstarter, If you click on the link in my signature, you will find a link to the film in my Headline Dated July 30, 2014. If somebody reads this months from now and wants to find this film, look at at the Star Trek: Axanar page, Blog 57, in the Table of Contents.
     
  7. Ithekro

    Ithekro Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2012
    Location:
    Republic of California
    For now, Star Trek: Prelude to Axanar, can be seen here:
    Star Trek: Axanar

    (second video down, the 21 minute long one)

    This will be the only known place to see it until after the Kickstarter is over in a months time.
     
  8. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 8, 2005
    From a technical standpoint, it was very well put together for a fan film, perhaps the best I've ever seen. That doesn't make it anywhere close to a major motion picture on a technical level.

    From a dramatic standpoint, I didn't find much of interest. We're told how inspiring Admiral Ramirez's speech was, and then we watch as Tony Todd tries to shout his way through flat material. We spend a lot of time hearing how great Garth is, but it isn't dramatized, and Alec Peters doesn't demonstrate the charisma the role requires. It's not a help that he's cast himself opposite so many professionals, which make the limits of his performance quite apparent.

    Really, though, the whole thing is less a short film than a trailer. As a trailer, it demonstrates technical proficiency and showcases the film's cast. The faux-documentary format doesn't give a lot of insight into how well the final project will be realized, but as a trailer, the Kickstarter campaign is proof that it is quite effective.
     
  9. Kruezerman

    Kruezerman Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2012
    Location:
    Meatloaf with Macaroni and Cheese
    That was fabulous. Y'all knocked it out of the park, I loved watching the D6 fall into the ground, looked perfectly like the Vengeance and was absolutely beautiful to watch. The characters were awesome, it was fast paced, there's action, y'all are doing a fan film right. Y'all made something fun.

    Only nitpick are the sound effects, they seem to be slapped on instead of fitted into the scenes.

    Keep going y'all. I can't wait!
     
  10. Borgminister

    Borgminister Admiral Moderator

    Joined:
    May 30, 2001
    Location:
    California
  11. BigJake

    BigJake Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2013
    Location:
    No matter where you go, there you are.
    Frankly, speaking as the Layperson Viewer, one isn't much concerned with its proximity to a Major Motion Picture on a Technical Level. And due respect to Harvey -- which I'm not just saying as a formality, by the way -- but I'd actually kind of like to propose that we suspend carping along those lines. I get that this sort of thing is foremost in the minds of industry hands, but the viewers mostly care whether it's fun. It's obviously not made on a two hundred million dollar budget, and that also doesn't matter that much to entertainment value.

    For my money -- and after watching this, I will definitely be kicking down for Axanar itself -- Prelude is damned fun, aside from being just outright incredible for a fan production. The actors deliver in spades*, and in this I'd actually include Alec (I really don't care at all what personal hangups people have with him), whose choice to play Garth as understated and humble I think actually works quite well as a counterpart both to the other personalities and to the OT insane version of him that is TOS canon. I found the backstory of the Four Years War convincing and involving and the setup, as it was meant to do, left me wanting more. Can't wait to see the finished product.

    * Agreed that Ramirez' Speech is a bit flat content-wise. But hey, Tony Todd works it admirably anyway. Ultimately I like it.
     
  12. Joel_Kirk

    Joel_Kirk Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 16, 2009
    Location:
    In the Joel Zone, identifying as Sexually Fluid.
    I'm watching it now, and so far it's pretty interesting....and well paced.

    My only major gripe is Soval quoting the infamous Shran: "Don't push the pinkskins into thin ice." As aforementioned in other threads, this is saying that humans = Caucasians. Admiral Ramirez (i.e. Tony Todd) definitely ain't a 'pinkskin'...nor is the black man typing this post. ;)

    Aside from that racial blunder, I'm enjoying it.
     
    Last edited: Jul 31, 2014
  13. Mage

    Mage Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jun 17, 2007
    That was simply amazing!!
     
  14. Maurice

    Maurice Snagglepussed Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2005
    Location:
    Real Gone
    I'm going to focus only on the positive here for now:

    I liked the idea. I thought it was a great way to break out of the typical and and the obvious format. Some clever bits here and there. Good production values throughout. Well lit. Good sound. Mostly convincing CGI backdrops.

    Good acting for the most part. Kate Vernon was tops. She was the best of the performances. There's only one person I found flat.
     
  15. Mage

    Mage Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jun 17, 2007
    Ok, a little bit more expanded then my previous post....


    I think it's hard to judge actors on something like this. A lot of small moments, little shots in front of green screens, no true sense about where your character came from and where it is going. So yeah, in some shots the acting felt perhaps a bit flat. But never to a point that it really bothered me.

    Plot..... well, it's a documentary, so really, what plot? But it did exactly what it needed to do, which was being a prelude. This had me wanting for the complete story, the actual film, needing to know what happened. So, purpose served, and then some!!

    Now, the biggest thing here.... the visuals. A lot of shots were clearly there just to show some starship porn. To show what can be done for fanfilms, when you take the right time and are not simply satisfied with a half finished product. Granted, the budget here was a lot bigger then most fanfilms have, but in the end the day, no where that of huge productions, and still it didn't feel low-budget. It showed that a group of people who really care for their product would only put it out when THEY were satisfied, and it showed.

    This was, simply put, one of the best appetizers I've had. And I'm ready for the main course. :D
     
  16. Bixby

    Bixby Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Aug 4, 2011
    Location:
    Canada
    I really, REALLY liked the sound design for all the FX shots. Honestly, it's been a long time since I took as much notice for any film of this genre. It really brought me back to when I was a youngster and came across a behind-the-scenes CBS tv special for The Empire Strikes Back which showed stop-motion models, tracking shots, but most notably the efforts of sound designer Ben Burtt as he revolutionnized the sound FX industry...

    Tobias Richter and his team should also be lauded for their amazing work, gorgeous space and ground-level shots throughout this film. Why do I get the feeling that after the full AXANAR project gets released, Tobias will finally and deservedly be scooped up by feature studios for big-money projects? I'll be sad for all Trek productions but so happy for this master craftsman.

    My only disappointment with this film? the lack of Michael Hogan...
     
  17. BeatleJWOL

    BeatleJWOL Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2012
    Location:
    Winston-Salem, NC
    ho lee carp

    Okay, I'm in. That was absolutely fantastic. Starship porn? You say that like it's a bad thing!

    More Star Trek like this? Yes please!
     
  18. Tosk

    Tosk Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 7, 2001
    Location:
    On the run.
    Thoroughly enjoyable. Huge kudos to every single person involved!
     
  19. dswynne1

    dswynne1 Captain Captain

    Joined:
    Nov 5, 2013
    Why would this be a "racial blunder" if most of the humans the Andorans know are "pinkskins"? Remember, this is drawing from "Star Trek: Enterprise", which depicts Andorans as a bit on the xenophobic side. However, it does bring up a better point: why are most of the leads in these productions Caucasians? Granted, the sci-fi genre is not exactly a big thing in the general audience, but still...
     
  20. Joel_Kirk

    Joel_Kirk Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 16, 2009
    Location:
    In the Joel Zone, identifying as Sexually Fluid.
    It is a racial blunder because the show is supposedly in an era where humans are a multi-cultural race. Yet, Andorians are written to somehow only see white people, ignoring others of different shades and backgrounds....and we are never told that back in ENT.

    Does he see whites as superior in this era? (I'm sure we saw Shran visit Earth in ENT, was he still racially incompentent?)

    Realistically, 'most humans' wouldn't be 'pink' in that era anyhow, given the racial changes that are already happening in our current times. (If we were to add a bit of reality to that aspect).

    Lastly:
    Yeah, why are the leads always Caucasians? Things that make one go 'Hmmmmm....'

    There is a black man in the lead of the fanfilm production of "Starship Ajax"). Also, you have Caucasian fans who want to see themselves as starship captains and leads, so that kind of adds to the reason.

    Maybe we'll see more black producers coming in overtime with ideas -and non-white leads - they want to bring to the fans.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.