I was perusing the IMDb page of the next film and it looks like Justin Lin is bringing his Fast & Furious collaborators to the Trek universe. (I know IMDb isn't always accurate but I did my best to get secondary sources.) Star Trek will be getting its first Australian cinematographer as Stephen Windon, ACS replaces Claudio Miranda, ASC. http://wp-a.com/#upcomingreleases Windon's previous credits include HBO's The Pacific (for which he was nominated for an Emmy), four Fast/Furious films, the second GI Joe film, House of Wax, Deep Blue Sea, and The Postman. And the costume designer will be Sanja Milkovic Hays. http://www.innovativeartists.com/upload/HAYS.SANJA.web.resume.pdf If that name sounds familiar, it's because she was the costume designer on Star Trek: Insurrection (which, IMHO, had some ugly costume design). Her other credits include all of the Fast/Furious films, Blade, Mission to Mars, the Total Recall remake, and the third Mummy film. Like most modern blockbusters, I expect this film will look just fine... but will it be distinctive and memorable? (Incidentally, my dream Trek DP would be Roger Deakins, Darius Khondji, or Emmanuel Lubezki. And my dream Trek costume designer would be this woman. Uh... the designer, not the model. )
I mentioned it somewhere in the simon pegg writing the script thread a little while ago it seems even Giacchino isn't confirmed Honestly I see no reason for replacing Kaplan as a costume designer and I was already looking forward to see what Claudio Miranda would do on the cinematography.
I'm sure Giacchino will be involved but at this point, it wouldn't surprise me if Brian Tyler gets the gig. And yeah, I was also looking forward to Miranda's work.
I love Giacchino's work for these movies and I'll really feel like something is missing if he isn't comfirmed in the last movie. So far, he would be the only connection with the other two. The costume designer..I guess she'll just work on the new ones for new characters since Kaplan already did most of the job with the reimagined iconic costumes of the crew, and I don't see them changing them because that would cost money to paramount. They didn't add the rank on Uhura's costume in the sequel, it figures if they change them all now. Still, Kaplan is cool. I love his approach because he creates stuff that is futuristic but still looks normal and something you could wear nowadays too. His reimagined version of the tos uniforms looks more realistic and functional (beside the short skirt lol) to me than the original.
Different strokes for different folks. I loved Deborah Everton's costume design for First Contact (especially Cochrane's ensemble) so the costumes in Insurrection were a bit of a letdown. Maybe it's the difference between designing 21st-century civilian clothes vs 24th-century civilian clothes. Looking over Hays' work, she's done some good stuff since Insurrection.
Good news for some of us. The INS costume credit is a little worrying... If we're discussing costumes for the TNG films, I liked the Reman outfits from NEM, with their beetle-like black iridescence.
I'm really curious how much visual continuity they'll keep between this and the first two. Even Trek movies by the same director have had massive visual changes (see: the Bird of Prey bridge between III and IV), let alone when director is changed (the Enterprise-A bridge between IV and V). Abrams' ST'09 and ID may have had the best visual continuity of the entire movie series! Most importantly of all, though, is characterisation continuity - but with Pegg co-writing I'm confident they'll get it right.
Well, at least INS had something to pass on to future movies I'm hoping that non-Starfleet clothes look pretty unique. Offtopic, but one thing that irked me about Voyager was the costumes. The crew would meet a new civilization almost every week, but many in the Delta Quadrant seemed to have the same emphasis on shoulders and collars -- like Starfleet.
I think it was the novelty of seeing mid-21st century clothes. Still, Hays seems competent and capable, so my fingers are crossed, and I'm thinking positive.
That will be a big point of interest. I think it's generally agreed they'll keep the costumes, but I have a feeling they might move a bit away from the Apple-design interior, maybe to something a bit more metallic and moody, or else to something with a more "classic" feel. I don't think the change will be drastic. Unless there's a real economy drive on the new movie, they'll probably stay with the same effects houses. The ship exterior may be tweaked, but that might be more due to the designers than the director. These are my predictions. I'm hoping the opposite - attempts to predict future fashion are generally lame (e.g. those stupid bolero jackets). Better to try for a "timeless" look. I would make an exception if all earthlings wore silver onesies!
I should clarify that I'm talking more about all the other alien races and cultures out there that comprise Star Trek in general, not just humans. With two movies centered on Earth, we've seen what humans wear already. I'd rather not have aliens that are just wearing Earth brand names -- then we get into just as much uniformity as Voyager had with its distant civilizations, who were all separated from each other by light years but seemed to have the same tailor (and, actually, did behind the scenes).
Can't argue that the Abrams uniforms are made with better, modern materials, but how do they look more "realistic and functional" as a result? I love the TOS uniforms for their time, but I wanted to see something a little more detailed and practical for an update. Making the tunics tight-fitting jackets like the TOS dress uniforms, but with a modern aesthetic, would have been an improvement over a heavier shirt with Starfleet chevron patterns.
Look at tos Spock boots and pants man. Seriously. Let's gloss over the women and their dress, but how could the men even partecipate to away missions wearing heeled boots and classic cotton pants? The reboot duty uniforms seem to be made with tech fabric that can stretch with their movements and not break easily. It seems light but resistant. The boots look like they are made to be comfortable for running and to protect the feet. The pants are subtly structured on the knee and they are inside the boots firm in place, not outside or shorter than the boots. In comparision the stiff 60s tos costumes look like..cosplay costumes. The reboot uniforms look like uniforms. I also LOVE Spock's instructor uniform. That jacket is perfectly tailored on him and there is no visible zip to it so when buttoned, it looks like one piece. Kaplan put his heart in the job. Even Uhura's wetsuit from stid was perfect. I wasn't impressed by the male version but hers was dyed with the color of her duty uniform (and mirrored the male version ) and that was a nice touch. The zip to her front instead on the back like the guys' version gave it a feminine touch but it also made it more practical for her. It was subtly sexy but not in a 'yes let's make a sexy tight wetsuit and put her into it' way (though, the thought most likely did cross their minds lol) it still looks like a regular wetsuit to me that serves the primary purpose why it was created. Sometimes, in sci-fi movies I see pretty to look at costumes or stuff that is blatantly made to make the woman (or man) sexy but I can't help but think that in real life no one would wear that in the same circumstances.. Sometimes, costume designers try too hard when it comes to futuristic costumes. Kaplan seems to understand that less is better. Years ago when you watched movies set in the 2000 you'd see people wearing ridiculous costumes with weird shapes and improbable fabrics. Now that we are in that 'future' and the more years pass, we can see that fashion isn't drastically different..or rather, you see the same stuff for the most part but just reinvented with new contemporary techniques and materials. This is what I think they did in the reboot with the iconic uniforms from tos.
I loved the TOS style officers uniforms in the JJ movies, it's one of the things I think they couldn't improve on and they got absolutely spot on, they were the same in that they were utterly recognizable but also really well updated.