Project: Potemkin, a Star Trek Fan Film

Discussion in 'Fan Productions' started by Potemkin_Prod, Jan 11, 2010.

  1. FalTorPan

    FalTorPan Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

    I look forward to your upcoming releases, as well as more behind-the-scenes pages and photos on your website!

    Once you've figured out the door pulley, would you mind sharing some information, including photos, about how you set it up?
     
  2. Potemkin_Prod

    Potemkin_Prod Commodore Commodore

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    Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

    Will definitely do so!
     
  3. Potemkin_Prod

    Potemkin_Prod Commodore Commodore

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    Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

    Definitely having some issues with the pulley system. May be necessary to rethink the automatic door system this weekend. So the rest of the week, I'm going to concentrate on the rear alcove and see if the folding door contraption I have envisioned will actually work.

    Meanwhile, Tom Scott is finishing up the editing, Bill Walker continues to work on the SPFX, and we're about to turn it over to Ralph Miller for Sound and Steve Gallant for Music.
     
  4. Melonpool

    Melonpool Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

    Did you go with the Traverse Rod system, or did you have to make something from scratch?
     
  5. Potemkin_Prod

    Potemkin_Prod Commodore Commodore

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    Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

    The traverse rod was a miserable failure, possibly due to the fact that it just didn't seem capable of pulling the doors. Right now, I've purchased four pulleys and heavy duty cord, and will give that a try either this evening or Friday.

    I also am convinced I may need to trim 6"-8" off each door to make the effect more effective... if you get my drift. ;)

    Rained heavily this afternoon, so work on the rear alcove can't proceed. Not going to get lumber and plywood in a heavy downpour.

    May rework the control panels as cabinet pieces. Definitely not going to back light them, but have been experimenting with using SPFX to animate them. Looks pretty darn good, but will certainly add to the length of the post-production process.
     
  6. Tom Hendricks

    Tom Hendricks Vice Admiral Premium Member

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    Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

    Have you thought about contacting James Cawley over at Phase 2/New Voyages what ever they are calling themselves this week, to see what they did? I bet if you send over a link to your photos and describe your issue, they would be more then willing to help. http://www.startreknewvoyages.com/contact.html
     
  7. Potemkin_Prod

    Potemkin_Prod Commodore Commodore

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    Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

    The problem lies not within the stars, but within ourselves.

    IOW, the problem we're having aside from the inadequate traverse rod is that we didn't leave enough room on one side for the pulley system.

    But I will contact the Phase 2 guys and the Farragut guys and see what they've come up with. Thanks for the suggestion!
     
  8. lennier1

    lennier1 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

    Well, if the rest of the show is even half as much fun as the bits and pieces of the vignette I've seen exchanged internally, people will love the chemistry between the cast.
    Makes me miss Farragut and the special touch the chemistry between their actors gives to the whole show.
     
  9. Potemkin_Prod

    Potemkin_Prod Commodore Commodore

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    Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

    Thanks, Lennier! Actually, the whole cast got along famously on the set of both the Klingon Bridge secondary footage we've shot for "Void" and on the set of "The Old Guys." Frankly, we all had a good time -- despite the heat -- and we're looking forward to the results. If the on-screen chemistry matches that on the set, we're going to see something special, I think.

    Tom Scott's going to upload the final version of the live action footage for Sound and Music on Monday, and Bill Walker's almost finished with his mesh for the starbase so the special effects should be ready soon, too.

    Ricky Thompson moved his family to Florida today, so we're down to just a few folks available to help with construction. I'm still having trouble with the danged doors; haven't had a chance to ask around yet, but Melonpool's quite right about the traverse rods. That's what everyone tells me they used. May just need to go find a heavy duty traverse rod.

    Tomorrow's schedule is the back door alcove and another attempt on the turbolift.
     
  10. DestinyCaptain

    DestinyCaptain Commander Red Shirt

    Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

    Okay, it's killing me... I've been checking a couple of times a day for the last few. Any updates and or pics?
     
  11. Melonpool

    Melonpool Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

    I'm the same way! LOL!
     
  12. Potemkin_Prod

    Potemkin_Prod Commodore Commodore

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    Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

    LOL Thanks for asking!

    There's not much picture worthy opportunities right now. We're supposed to head over to JCPenney and pick up a heavy duty curtain traverse rod to install this weekend on the turbolift doors. We've begun moving stuff out of the existing Fast Copy office so we can build the Ready Room set. It's rained every evening practically lately, making getting plywood impossible for the backdoor alcove, but we should be purchasing it Saturday or Sunday, again depending on the weather.

    Editing for the vignette, "The Old Guys," has been completed by Tom Scott. He did an awesome job. Bill Walker is finishing up the special effects for the approach to Starbase 211. Ralph Miller says he wants the effects in it before he begins work on the sound. Once the effects are in it, we'll be sending it over to Steve Gallant and Andrew Morgan Smith for the music.

    We've also shot "Care for a Lift?," a short turbolift vignett. We wanted to test out an older technology digital camera. The quality is grainy, but we're still going to release it to YouTube. It is in the backseat, so to speak, behind "The Old Guys." Bill Walker will be doing the editing of this one (and test some means of cleaning up the graininess).

    I'm not going to put up a release date of any sort for either "The Old Guys" or "Care for a Lift" until we've released them. We're beginning to look at our Fall shooting schedule for "The Void" (our 30 mins episode). Looks like shooting will take place in November, with some in October and December. Shooting an episode like "The Void" will be tricky, especially with divergent schedules. Our plan literally is to shoot one side of the bridge on a Thursday, then shoot the other side of the bridge on a Friday, then shoot the front of the bridge on a Saturday, and finally shoot the back of the bridge on a Sunday, with any needed pickups on Monday.

    We've secured a great location for building a corridor set, and that will be awesome. Won't have need of it yet, but it'll be something to work on when we're not shooting.

    We've also had a couple of productions asking to use our bridge, and we're coming to an agreement on the terms, eg. NO PYROTECHNICS. LOL
     
  13. Potemkin_Prod

    Potemkin_Prod Commodore Commodore

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    Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

    We've also updated the Project Potemkin website with what we've been working
    on lately (sorry, nothing really photo-worthy), but progress continues on
    all fronts! Visit it weekly for updates! We're hoping to finish "The Old
    Guys" soon!
     
  14. Potemkin_Prod

    Potemkin_Prod Commodore Commodore

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    Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

    This is just in from Bill:
    "At long last I have finished Starbase 211!! Well, finished enough for the work on "The Old Guys" anyway -- there are a number of things I want to make better on it. Plus, the undersides of the two "mushroom-shaped" hulls aren't done, but they won't be seen in any of these FX shots. I will try to get the flashing beacon on the lower spire working tonight, and get started on the moving starfield for the end credits. Once I finish that moving starfield, I can plop it on the second system to render so I can continue using my primary system to work on the other sequences."

    He adds:
    I have now completed 18 FX shots for the console animations. The easier ones are about finished, leaving the really difficult ones to complete (the ones with major camera motion), with just a handful that don't need any FX. I think you'll like what I did...

    Getting there, getting there....
     
  15. Potemkin_Prod

    Potemkin_Prod Commodore Commodore

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    Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

    Construction began on the dreaded rear alcove this evening. Slow going without any help (my son was too sore from football practice to help this evening), but managed to get 3/4th of the frames constructed. Should be a snap to finish up the frames and secure the service board tomorrow. Thursday, I'll be painting.

    We're going to be starting on the ready room Saturday. Will be posting pics for the alcove in Sunday's update. Will post ready room pics as construction proceeds.

    Hope to have an update on the special effects shortly.
     
  16. Melonpool

    Melonpool Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

    It's too bad I can't fly out to Georgia for a week and help you build, then have you fly out to California for a week to help me build. We'd probably both get a lot more done!

    Not that i have two weeks of vacation to use, mind you. ;)
     
  17. Potemkin_Prod

    Potemkin_Prod Commodore Commodore

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    Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

    Or airfare on my end. :)

    I was a little disappointed with last night's progress, but I realized this morning that in actuality, I'm almost done with the alcove.

    I'm trying to develop a plan of attack on the ready room. The guy who was going to help me tells me he can help with this and that, but not those and these. Funny, I think it's all the same. Still, I'll get the ready room going on Monday or so at the latest.

    Just exchanged emails with Bill Walker. One of the things that we're doing is animating the console lights (we don't need no stinking Christmas lights), and I've told him about one more thing in that vein to do. He's working on this sort of animation at home. Meanwhile, he's got the starbase and Potemkin ready for the starfield. He's got a challenge with the starbase. I want a shot similar to the one from "Devil in the Dark" (and "The Cage") where we have a starfield and we draw up to the starbase orbiting a planet.Then the Potemkin swings into view. It's a very difficult shot, but it's the only special effect in the vignette. Bill's been working on it for a while now, and hopefully sees the light at the end of the tunnel.
     
  18. Potemkin_Prod

    Potemkin_Prod Commodore Commodore

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    Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

    Finished construction last night, and installed the alcove partitions (three of them) in place with Jeremy's help. Fit perfectly (a little tight at one point), but going to paint them Saturday, and then construction will begin on the Ready Room.
     
  19. Potemkin_Prod

    Potemkin_Prod Commodore Commodore

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    Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

    Bill Walker is nearly finished with the post-production control panel display effects. You can view samples of what he's been working on in our YouTube channel or by going directly to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dnyv3_P81og. We deliberately did not post the entire video, nor did we include sound with this preview. Just wanted to share what we've been working on lately.

    Will be updating the Potemkin website with shots from the rear alcove build this evening or tomorrow. Honestly, it was the easiest build we've had. We're expecting to start construction on the ready room Monday afternoon.
     
  20. Potemkin_Prod

    Potemkin_Prod Commodore Commodore

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    Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

    Have updated the Project Potemkin website with the webarticle on "Alcove Construction" as well as the release of our "Series Bible."