• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Which productions just "stick the landing" with you?

You've.... never seen a Ken Burns documentary, have you?
You don't see any influence from Ken Burns' Civil War series on Prelude to Axanar? The transitions from the talking head interviews to narrative descriptions of the conflicts are really similar.

I mean, even the intro to Prelude to Axanar is styled after a PBS documentary intro.



I mean, even the intro to Prelude to Axanar is styled after a PBS documentary intro.

Yeah, I'm not sure about Ken Burns per se (been a while but I feel like he's way heavier on the narration stuff) but there's definitely a lot of History channel war documentaries it reminds me of.

This fan work nails the Ken Burns-style documentary than Axanar:

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGQ1tJP_26A[/yt]

And this:

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk9pP9-_1NA[/yt]

------------

You want Ken Burns? Ya Got Ken Burns. In a Nasa/Space Spoof (warning... the focus here is race- but is not at all racist - sensitives, be advised. If you are offended by South Park (or don't get its messaging), you won't get past the faux space program premise here). Also NSF language warning at 6:20. Otherwise it's harmless.

An aside- It's just sad that it took 'til the shuttle for there to have been be a black person in space.

Introductory narrator is "Bookman" from Good Times.

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxjV74pfevA[/yt]
 
Last edited:
As an odd little sidebar, when Star Trek New Voyages was nominated for a Nebula Award, there were some voters who felt that our production was not "professionally produced" as required by the Award rules. They wanted us removed from the ballot. Ultimately the Executive Committee had to meet and they decided to leave our episode on the Nebula ballot. They figured if people were upset that a fan made episode was there, they could just not vote for it. Problem solved. In the end, we lost to the piece of cinematic trash, Pan's Labyrinth.

At any rate, the one and only time in Nebula history that something was determined to be "not professionally produced" and therefore got kicked off the Nebula ballot was "The Old Negro Space Program."

More info here:

https://m.facebook.com/notes/star-t...the-old-negro-space-program/10150601914000934
 
That was when the Nebulas still included a "best script" award, before that category was dropped in favor of the Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation (which technically isn't a Nebula).

So, whether the final production was "professionally" produced or released or not shouldn't have had any bearing if the award at that time was purely for the written script, which was a separate thing from the filmed production (unless the rules specifically stated that they only considered the scripts of professional productions?). :confused:

The news release explaining the disqualification of "The Old Negro Space Program" actually talks about "professional release", which is different from "not professionally produced." A production might have one but not the other, i.e. The Blair Witch Project.

Interestingly, the currently posted rules for the Nebula Awards don't say anything at all about "professional" production or release.

Kor
 
@Greg, @Kor

Thanks to each of you. I hadn't known about the lost Nebula opportunity for Old Negro Space Program.

That's some Bull$#@! right there.

I would imagine that there was no mechanism at the time to evaluate web productions against their peers... as back then there were so few peers? I mean is it dark comedy, a message, is it long form, short form, mockumentary? Who is its audience? Etc.

So without a precedent the powers that be chickened out.

I am dumbfounded (but not surprised) by Kor's list of gymnastics /contortions - both in the interpretation of the rules as well as the wording of the news release.

Oh, and Reaves and Zicree should have gotten some sort of recognition for the WEAT story/premise. Would liked to have been a fly on the wall for that set of (Nebula Judge) closed door conversations.
 
I've never been that impressed with WEAT's story/premise, let alone its idle protagonist melodrama. But that's just me. :D
 
My main issue with WEAT is that Kirk is once again sidelined and doesn't make any decisive, difficult decisions.

I had a bit of trouble with the Excelsior moments- Voyager Flashback redux? But I found the overall story and its execution- quite moving.

I usually agree with Ryan, so I'm surprised I came away with a different view of Kirk here. He leaned on the older, savage, tired Sulu- Hard- almost broke him- leveraging all that had come before (prior Trek adventures). I don't know that we always have to see Kirk as Alpha in every scene.

A corollary- I recently read Ellison's set of visions for City on the Edge of Forever. I believe it was stronger in the original (save for the over-the top expensive moments). Kirk doesn't always have to do the saving.

If one looks back over the eps & movies (perhaps when the Shat man was too preoccupied to tinker with the scripts) - often it's Spock that kinda sets 'em up for Kirk to knock down.

TMP- Kirk is a spectator on an amusement ride... Undiscovered Country - Spock (Sherlock?) nearly solves everything.

I think (and this is me) it was clear the production succeeded when I was yelling at the screen, yelling at Kirk (Not Cawley, Kirk) - "Do ... something!" And the moment comes where he just ... can't. The writers didn't package everything up into a sugary sweet ending. The crew thought she was amazing- we thought she was amazing- and then she's just... gone.

Keep in mind that in the "Lolani" ep of Star Trek Continues Kirk is effectively shut out of the win-win as well. He also is also kinda along for the ride in "The White Iris"- and doesn't work very hard to figure out how or why they're trapped (or talk about an escape plan!) in "Divided we Stand".

Maybe season 4 and 5 Kirk is more circumspect?
 
Last edited:
My main issue with WEAT is that Kirk is once again sidelined and doesn't make any decisive, difficult decisions.

I had a bit of trouble with the Excelsior moments- Voyager Flashback redux? But I found the overall story and its execution- quite moving.

I usually agree with Ryan, so I'm surprised I came away with a different view of Kirk here. He leaned on the older, savage, tired Sulu- Hard- almost broke him- leveraging all that had come before (prior Trek adventures). I don't know that we always have to see Kirk as Alpha in every scene.

A corollary- I recently read Ellison's set of visions for City on the Edge of Forever. I believe it was stronger in the original (save for the over-the top expensive moments). Kirk doesn't always have to do the saving.

If one looks back over the eps & movies (perhaps when the Shat man was too preoccupied to tinker with the scripts) - often it's Spock that kinda sets 'em up for Kirk to knock down.

TMP- Kirk is a spectator on an amusement ride... Undiscovered Country - Spock (Sherlock?) nearly solves everything.

I think (and this is me) it was clear the production succeeded when I was yelling at the screen, yelling at Kirk (Not Cawley, Kirk) - "Do ... something!" And the moment comes where he just ... can't. The writers didn't package everything up into a sugary sweet ending. The crew thought she was amazing- we thought she was amazing- and then she's just... gone.

Keep in mind that in the "Lolani" ep of Star Trek Continues Kirk is effectively shut out of the win-win as well. He also is also kinda along for the ride in "The White Iris"- and doesn't work very hard to figure out how or why they're trapped (or talk about an escape plan!) in "Divided we Stand".

Maybe season 4 and 5 Kirk is more circumspect?

Like you, I too prefer Ellison's "City on the Edge of Forever" because it said something deeper about the human condition — that sometimes the "good" guy can't take decisive action because of his emotions. And that sometimes the "bad" guy does the right thing. That people can act in unexpected ways.

The drama is with Kirk wrestling with what decision he should make — he's still driving the action in CoTEF, in both versions. And in Ellison's he at least speculates on doing something to circumvent history (taking Edith to the future).

What I mean by decisive, difficult decision is that Kirk sits around for the episode. Sure he leans to get Sulu's memory up. But he doesn't make the difficult decision to sacrifice Alana for the ship. Nor does he make a decision to risk the ship further to give Alana a few more hours of life.

Kirk doesn't need to be the Alpha male but he needs to drive the story. He's the captain and the lead character. "Star Trek" is ultimately a show about the captain and the difficult decisions he or she makes. Stewart had it right when he said Picard should drive the story rather than Riker.
 
^^ Ryan-

I'm going to meet you in the middle. I completely get your point of view.

Perhaps, had the writers chosen to jettison the Excelsior stuff, there could have been more substance behind what came across to some as Kirk's passivity.

The opening Romulan battle seemed so rushed- I felt no sense of drama or danger there- just an exercise to get our characters and plot device where each needed to be.

Had the battle been longer- Had Kirk done something tactically amazing- then - (from a good and believable! story perspective) the pressure would be off for him to save the ship again-

Here's where the perennially underutilized doctor could have been added to the story- Jim knows he just can't shoot a bad guy and have the situation resolved. McCoy has to say it out loud :

"A good young lady's gonna die now Jim- there's no outmaneuvering it."

Obviously there's a scene with that paraphrase.

There goes the Excelsior framing device (and possibly the Scott/Alana "gift" scenes as well) - but such a scene might have gotten you where you need to be. Spock would have made it quite clear there was no win for Alana, Bones would have enabled Kirk to reluctantly accept it.
 
Last edited:
^^ Ryan-

I'm going to meet you in the middle. I completely get your point of view.

Perhaps, had the writers chosen to jettison the Excelsior stuff, there could have been more substance behind what came across to some as Kirk's passivity.

The opening Romulan battle seemed so rushed- I felt no sense of drama or danger there- just an exercise to get our characters and plot device where each needed to be.

Had the battle been longer- Had Kirk done something tactically amazing- then - (from a good and believable! story perspective) the pressure would be off for him to save the ship again-

Here's where the perennially underutilized doctor could have been added to the story- Jim knows he just can't shoot a bad guy and have the situation resolved. McCoy has to say it out loud :

"A good young lady's gonna die now Jim- there's no outmaneuvering it."

Obviously there's a scene with that paraphrase.

There goes the Excelsior framing device (and possibly the Scott/Alana "gift" scenes as well) - but such a scene might have gotten you where you need to be. Spock would have made it quite clear there was no win for Alana, Bones would have enabled Kirk to reluctantly accept it.

Well put.

The episode is well done for sure. One of New Voyages best. And I too think the Excelsior stuff is superfluous.
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top