Pretty bold statement. Have you ever won a major award for your makeup work?
TOS Aliens = The Best??!
- Thread starter VulcanMindBlown
- Start date
Westmore did his best work on DS9 - Odo, Weyoun, the Jem'Hadar etc.
IIRC, Ted Cassidy only appeared on camera once on Star Trek, and that was as Ruk. All the rest of his ST work was voices; the Gorn, the fake Balok, etc.
I appreciated the creative work done by the team who worked on the series; everything about the appearances of the aliens supported the stories told. It's great work and I love rewatching them on Blu.
He had some hits and misses, but I thought he was top of game when he had to develop the loads of new aliens on DS9. The 1st 3 seasons were brilliant IMO, he gets my credit for introducing strange aliens from the Gamma Quadrant... well... at least... in the beginning.
I recall a critic describing the aliens of being more like victims from a car accident than people from outer space.
I still enjoy the craftmanship, and I thought the remastered version was done well; making the creature's eyes blink.
Same here, those Klingons from TOS were intelligent and sinister, while in TNG universe, THAT INCLUDES ENT, they were loud and very stupid; I doubt a race like TNG Klingons could fly a ship or operate a cloak, or run an Empire. I would roll my eyes every time they would get hyped up about... EVERYTHING.
It's the 1 thing I actually liked about JJtrek is the Klingons got their sinister side back.
Worf is one of my favourite characters but I too liked the original series Klingons more. They were so stupid and limited in the other shows. I did enjoy the villainous ones like Gowron, Duras, Lursa and B'Etor though. Martok was pretty good too.
I have to agree that the aliens from TOS were the best and most iconic. Vulcans, Klingons, Romulans, Gorn, Andorians, Orions and the many one shot alien races. The Borg, Ferengi and Cardassians are the best of the TNG era aliens.
I have to agree that the aliens from TOS were the best and most iconic. Vulcans, Klingons, Romulans, Gorn, Andorians, Orions and the many one shot alien races. The Borg, Ferengi and Cardassians are the best of the TNG era aliens.
Duh moment on my part. Obviously he wasn't in the suit or else Kirk's travails would have been even more daunting!!!!
I don't know the provenance of JRoss's highlighted statement above, but it presents an interesting rebut to the dismissive attitude you maintain to the same matter, TREK_GOD_1. He mentions something substantive that would certainly warrant a make-up artist, however innovative, to hew to other's intentions, whereas you just seem to take it as an obvious, without providing any foundation, that these auteurs, as a matter of course, but specifically in this instance, have the unquestioned ability to act as free agents. If the two of you can offer proof of this substantive distinction, it would be quite interesting as a reflection of how this arena of show production functions, or at least did at that time. The varying vision presented certainly has piqued my attention.
It is how products tons work. You're on a schedule and the brass doesn't care about art, only results. That's why Dax and later Trills ended up looking different than they did in TNG, the producers wanted Terry Farrell's beauty to be unaffected by makeup. The team was also under orders not to mess with Michelle Forbes' face, which is why Bajorans have minimal makeup.
It takes a lot of time and money to make film-worthy prosthetics. They have to show as few seams as possible (which is why the Klingons tend to have lots of hair around the area where the appliance meets the actors' faces. That is also the reason most Romulans and Volant wore ear-obscuring helmets. Mark Len are was cast as Sarek because they already had a mold of his ears.
Cost- and time-saving measures aren't limited to Star Trek. Watch Doctor who and notice that pretty much only one Judoon ever takes off his mask and few Sontarans remove their helmets.
Creating rubber forehead aliens means that you don't have to make complex flexible pieces. It also makes the aliens more relatable to us humans. Toys are easy to create and package from slightly modified stock molds.
The reason for Westmore's perceived laziness on TNG is not due to lack of talent or care.
It takes a lot of time and money to make film-worthy prosthetics. They have to show as few seams as possible (which is why the Klingons tend to have lots of hair around the area where the appliance meets the actors' faces. That is also the reason most Romulans and Volant wore ear-obscuring helmets. Mark Len are was cast as Sarek because they already had a mold of his ears.
Cost- and time-saving measures aren't limited to Star Trek. Watch Doctor who and notice that pretty much only one Judoon ever takes off his mask and few Sontarans remove their helmets.
Creating rubber forehead aliens means that you don't have to make complex flexible pieces. It also makes the aliens more relatable to us humans. Toys are easy to create and package from slightly modified stock molds.
The reason for Westmore's perceived laziness on TNG is not due to lack of talent or care.
Nonsense.
Exactly, Kor. That is the usual fan defense for anyone making rational assessments about the object of their fandom--attack the one making the assessment, instead of a person who repeated the same make up designs over and over again, when it should have been expected that it would become worn out (to audiences) on a weekly series.
Again, I look to Jack Pierce, or Roy Ashton, or Dick Smith--people who did not repeat one make up design over and over and over again. They were able to create great, innovative work--not rest on a singleminded, creatively challenged idea which did nothing positive for Star Trek, other that add "bumpy head" to any overview of the TNG-ENT era.
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