Star Trek Secret Voyage: E01 Whose Birth These Triumphs Are

Potemkin_Prod · August 8 2012, 04:48 AM

Now on-line, Craig Sheeler's production of a new Star Trek web series: http://youtu.be/ofvvWIqJtGM

Maurice · August 8 2012, 08:44 AM

Is it just me of is the audio out of sync for much of this?

Potemkin_Prod · August 8 2012, 02:28 PM

It was out of synch -- re-dubbed? -- at the beginning. It got better as it went along.

Potemkin_Prod · August 8 2012, 02:41 PM

Here's the Vimeo version: https://vimeo.com/47136546

CaptainSerek · August 8 2012, 04:12 PM

I am looking forward to watching this.

Mike 1732 · August 8 2012, 06:12 PM

Maurice wrote:

Is it just me of is the audio out of sync for much of this?

Not just you. And I had trouble making out a lot of it the first time through. Had to watch it a few times to get enough of it to follow the story.
Nevertheless, this shows promise, and I'm looking forward to more.

MikeH92467 · August 8 2012, 07:16 PM

I have a serious crush on the xenobiologist!

Potemkin_Prod · August 8 2012, 07:36 PM

MikeH92467 wrote:

I have a serious crush on the xenobiologist!

Hey, I saw her first! LOL

MikeH92467 · August 8 2012, 11:30 PM

Potemkin_Prod wrote:

MikeH92467 wrote:

I have a serious crush on the xenobiologist!

Hey, I saw her first! LOL

Great looks, plenty of smarts and a good shot! A Trekker's dream if I ever did see one!

Maurice · August 9 2012, 12:13 AM

The audio sync problem doesn't seem to occur on the Vimeo version.

Captain Randy Hall · August 9 2012, 12:22 AM

Well done, though it's taking me a little while to wrap my head around not having Kirk as captain of the Enterprise.

We'll see how it goes in future episodes.

Maurice · August 9 2012, 12:53 AM

Just pretend it's another ship, Randy Hall.

Bixby · August 9 2012, 10:33 PM

Secret Voyage's first episode was a good first effort, still with some rough edges, but I encourage the group to keep at it, and like all the other fan ''studios'', to strive to keep polishing their films with each installment.

I would just have a few comments on some elements that, quite frankly bugged me as I was watching:

(1) The randomly-placed cutaways to ''reaction'' shots of Mercer as he listens to Admiral Hernandez smack more of nightly-news type of cutaways, rather than clear emotional reactions by the actor to what is being said by another (4:44 to 4:57 ; 5:00 to 5:40)

(2) I realize this is a fan-film, but the sight of what are supposed to be members of Starfleet, as far as I know a semi-militaristic body, sporting some VERY unmilitaristic hairdoes takes me right out of the story. I'm speaking about the red-headed security guy (13:10), Banks the geologist (13:19), and Albright the super-curly-haired security guard (13:39)

(3) At the 21:57 mark, there are two totally different cast shadows of what is supposed to be the same crab-like monster, one shown before the end of ''act 1'', and another at the beginning of ''act 2''

(4) Too many jump cuts! At 23:53-24:30 as Jones and redshirt search around, and at 34:17 as Mercer approaches Dr. Bernice, to name two examples. Longer takes broken with tighter angles on the characters would make those bits less jarring...

(5) Maybe I've been spoiled by Starship EXETER's B'Fuselek, but I just find U'nara the Andorian to try too much to play ''Vulcan Lite'', rather than a different interpretation of alien. Also, she shouldn't really respond to a question by saying ''yeah'' IMHO. I don't think in TOS, the actors ever said anything but a proper YES (well except in ''A PIECE OF THE ACTION'' perhaps)

Maurice · August 10 2012, 08:05 AM

Congrats to the makers for getting this out there. But color me surprised that they didn't come onto the board to promote it.

Making a film of any length isn't easy, so kudos to this group for finishing.

That said, I have to say that whatever merits this show might have, it's difficult to judge them because of one thing: the sound. The audio quality is very very uneven, and it's often difficult to make out what the characters are saying. The uneven audio levels, noise, and even inconsident "room tone" in scenes is very distracting. Sound trumps picture, so my advice to the producers would be to put a lot more effort into getting good sound in future productions.

northstar · August 10 2012, 12:55 PM

I second what Maurice posted - I wasn´t able to follow the story completely because I couldn´t hear what the actors were saying.

I did like the actors and their performance and I applaud everyone who tries to produce a full episode of trek - it is an awful lot of work, not only in front of the camera, but foremost after the actual filming. And there is what needs massive improvement for the next episode.

The editing was at times not that good, especially in dialogue, where sometimes very shot cuts were done that disturbed the flow.

The greenscreen work was pretty bad. Not only where the rooms lit to dark and different from the filmed elements, but the motion of the camera was not matched. If tracking this is too difficult, then just refrain from moving the camera - or just tilt the camera, so you can easily track that in a compositing software.

The visual effects of the Enterprise were pretty ok, but the shots on the planet need also major improvement. The phaser beams were much too slow and should be brighter than the environment.

The movement of the fighter (why this is a ship of the expanded Star Wars universe remains a mystery) was very jerky, especially in scenes were the camera moved. And what happened to the color of the clothes (especially the blue one) and the sky. They kept changing all the time...

What I liked was the castle and it´s appearance and the integration of the landed shuttle.

I´m sure the rest can all be improved for the next episode.
I am looking forward to it...

August 8 2012, 04:48 AM	#1
Potemkin_Prod Fleet Captain Location: Southwest Georgia	Star Trek Secret Voyage: E01 Whose Birth These Triumphs Are Now on-line, Craig Sheeler's production of a new Star Trek web series: http://youtu.be/ofvvWIqJtGM __________________ Randy -------------------- Project Potemkin http://www.projectpotemkin.com

August 8 2012, 08:44 AM	#2
Maurice Rear Admiral Location: Maurice in San Francisco	Re: Star Trek Secret Voyage: E01 Whose Birth These Triumphs Are Is it just me of is the audio out of sync for much of this? __________________ * * * "Star Trek…at times sparkled with true ingenuity, and pure science fiction approaches, and at other times was more carnival like, and very much more the creature of television than the creature of a legitimate literary form." —Rod Serling, 1970"

August 8 2012, 02:28 PM	#3
Potemkin_Prod Fleet Captain Location: Southwest Georgia	Re: Star Trek Secret Voyage: E01 Whose Birth These Triumphs Are It was out of synch -- re-dubbed? -- at the beginning. It got better as it went along. __________________ Randy -------------------- Project Potemkin http://www.projectpotemkin.com

August 8 2012, 02:41 PM	#4
Potemkin_Prod Fleet Captain Location: Southwest Georgia	Re: Star Trek Secret Voyage: E01 Whose Birth These Triumphs Are Here's the Vimeo version: https://vimeo.com/47136546 __________________ Randy -------------------- Project Potemkin http://www.projectpotemkin.com

August 8 2012, 04:12 PM	#5
CaptainSerek Commander Location: Sun Valley, California, USA	Re: Star Trek Secret Voyage: E01 Whose Birth These Triumphs Are I am looking forward to watching this. __________________ I've come a long way for the power of Genesis, and what do I find? A Square Pegs reject, another actress playing Saavik, and Leonard Nimoy's stand-in.

STAR TREK

CSI

ABOUT US

August 8 2012, 07:16 PM	#7
MikeH92467 Vice Admiral Location: Tampa, FL	Re: Star Trek Secret Voyage: E01 Whose Birth These Triumphs Are I have a serious crush on the xenobiologist! __________________ "The world is made for people who aren't cursed with self-awareness." Annie Savoy

August 9 2012, 12:13 AM	#10
Maurice Rear Admiral Location: Maurice in San Francisco	Re: Star Trek Secret Voyage: E01 Whose Birth These Triumphs Are The audio sync problem doesn't seem to occur on the Vimeo version. __________________ * * * "Star Trek…at times sparkled with true ingenuity, and pure science fiction approaches, and at other times was more carnival like, and very much more the creature of television than the creature of a legitimate literary form." —Rod Serling, 1970"

August 9 2012, 12:22 AM	#11
Captain Randy Hall Commodore Location: Columbia, Maryland USA	Re: Star Trek Secret Voyage: E01 Whose Birth These Triumphs Are Well done, though it's taking me a little while to wrap my head around not having Kirk as captain of the Enterprise. We'll see how it goes in future episodes. __________________ Randy Hall Captain of the U.S.S. Chesapeake Star Trek Club http://www.usschesapeake.org

August 9 2012, 12:53 AM	#12
Maurice Rear Admiral Location: Maurice in San Francisco	Re: Star Trek Secret Voyage: E01 Whose Birth These Triumphs Are Just pretend it's another ship, Randy Hall. __________________ * * * "Star Trek…at times sparkled with true ingenuity, and pure science fiction approaches, and at other times was more carnival like, and very much more the creature of television than the creature of a legitimate literary form." —Rod Serling, 1970"

August 9 2012, 10:33 PM	#13
Bixby Lieutenant Commander	Re: Star Trek Secret Voyage: E01 Whose Birth These Triumphs Are Secret Voyage's first episode was a good first effort, still with some rough edges, but I encourage the group to keep at it, and like all the other fan ''studios'', to strive to keep polishing their films with each installment. I would just have a few comments on some elements that, quite frankly bugged me as I was watching: (1) The randomly-placed cutaways to ''reaction'' shots of Mercer as he listens to Admiral Hernandez smack more of nightly-news type of cutaways, rather than clear emotional reactions by the actor to what is being said by another (4:44 to 4:57 ; 5:00 to 5:40) (2) I realize this is a fan-film, but the sight of what are supposed to be members of Starfleet, as far as I know a semi-militaristic body, sporting some VERY unmilitaristic hairdoes takes me right out of the story. I'm speaking about the red-headed security guy (13:10), Banks the geologist (13:19), and Albright the super-curly-haired security guard (13:39) (3) At the 21:57 mark, there are two totally different cast shadows of what is supposed to be the same crab-like monster, one shown before the end of ''act 1'', and another at the beginning of ''act 2'' (4) Too many jump cuts! At 23:53-24:30 as Jones and redshirt search around, and at 34:17 as Mercer approaches Dr. Bernice, to name two examples. Longer takes broken with tighter angles on the characters would make those bits less jarring... (5) Maybe I've been spoiled by Starship EXETER's B'Fuselek, but I just find U'nara the Andorian to try too much to play ''Vulcan Lite'', rather than a different interpretation of alien. Also, she shouldn't really respond to a question by saying ''yeah'' IMHO. I don't think in TOS, the actors ever said anything but a proper YES (well except in ''A PIECE OF THE ACTION'' perhaps) Last edited by Bixby; August 9 2012 at 10:52 PM.

August 10 2012, 08:05 AM	#14
Maurice Rear Admiral Location: Maurice in San Francisco	Re: Star Trek Secret Voyage: E01 Whose Birth These Triumphs Are Congrats to the makers for getting this out there. But color me surprised that they didn't come onto the board to promote it. Making a film of any length isn't easy, so kudos to this group for finishing. That said, I have to say that whatever merits this show might have, it's difficult to judge them because of one thing: the sound. The audio quality is very very uneven, and it's often difficult to make out what the characters are saying. The uneven audio levels, noise, and even inconsident "room tone" in scenes is very distracting. Sound trumps picture, so my advice to the producers would be to put a lot more effort into getting good sound in future productions. __________________ * * * "Star Trek…at times sparkled with true ingenuity, and pure science fiction approaches, and at other times was more carnival like, and very much more the creature of television than the creature of a legitimate literary form." —Rod Serling, 1970"

August 10 2012, 12:55 PM	#15
northstar Ensign	Re: Star Trek Secret Voyage: E01 Whose Birth These Triumphs Are I second what Maurice posted - I wasn´t able to follow the story completely because I couldn´t hear what the actors were saying. I did like the actors and their performance and I applaud everyone who tries to produce a full episode of trek - it is an awful lot of work, not only in front of the camera, but foremost after the actual filming. And there is what needs massive improvement for the next episode. The editing was at times not that good, especially in dialogue, where sometimes very shot cuts were done that disturbed the flow. The greenscreen work was pretty bad. Not only where the rooms lit to dark and different from the filmed elements, but the motion of the camera was not matched. If tracking this is too difficult, then just refrain from moving the camera - or just tilt the camera, so you can easily track that in a compositing software. The visual effects of the Enterprise were pretty ok, but the shots on the planet need also major improvement. The phaser beams were much too slow and should be brighter than the environment. The movement of the fighter (why this is a ship of the expanded Star Wars universe remains a mystery) was very jerky, especially in scenes were the camera moved. And what happened to the color of the clothes (especially the blue one) and the sky. They kept changing all the time... What I liked was the castle and it´s appearance and the integration of the landed shuttle. I´m sure the rest can all be improved for the next episode. I am looking forward to it...