STAR TREK PHASE II: "The Child" Full Episode Now Released on YouTube

We released the last couple of acts of “The Child” a little bit earlier than planned. At the moment, the entire episode is available via YouTube:


[SIZE=3][FONT=Consolas]Teaser:[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Consolas][yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBh7v-Pu-2M&list=UUJO6Wf_dV2pY60_-nvbQ6Cg[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Consolas]&index=5&feature=plcp[/yt][/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=Consolas][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Consolas]Act 1:[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Consolas][yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jy1kcIyke_A[/yt][/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=Consolas][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Consolas]Act 2:[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Consolas][yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdNqJ7rPKRY&list=UUJO6Wf_dV2pY60_-nvbQ6Cg[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Consolas]&index=3&feature=plcp[/yt][/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=Consolas][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Consolas]Act 3:[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Consolas][yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvFHGSkJ_QY&list=UUJO6Wf_dV2pY60_-nvbQ6Cg[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Consolas]&index=2&feature=plcp[/yt][/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=Consolas][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Consolas]Act 4:[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Consolas][yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYNDFr942u0&list=UUJO6Wf_dV2pY60_-nvbQ6Cg[/FONT][/SIZE]
&index=1&feature=plcp[/yt]

 

Re: STAR TREK PHASE II: "The Child" Full Episode Now Released on YouTu

Can't wait to watch this tonight. Thanks for the heads-up!

 

Re: STAR TREK PHASE II: "The Child" Full Episode Now Released on YouTu

Congratulations to all on another outstanding effort!

 

Re: STAR TREK PHASE II: "The Child" Full Episode Now Released on YouTu

Thanks for the episode. Today's my 51st birthday, and this is an awesome birthday present.

 

Re: STAR TREK PHASE II: "The Child" Full Episode Now Released on YouTu

I have posted an article about this episode which you can see here.

 

Re: STAR TREK PHASE II: "The Child" Full Episode Now Released on YouTu

I really enjoyed that. Well done to all involved.

 

Re: STAR TREK PHASE II: "The Child" Full Episode Now Released on YouTu

My early impression after watching Act 1:

* Peter Kirk - 2 words: Shampoo & Haircut!!! and then shampoo again!!!
* New actor playing Sulu: awful
* Lighting on bridge - seems to be way too dark
* New communications officer- She's a keeper! I won't miss Uhura at all!
* Alien cylinder....another one? Seriously? Is it the Doomsday machine or the probe looking for whales?

 

Re: STAR TREK PHASE II: "The Child" Full Episode Now Released on YouTu

Thanks for the feedback.

1. Yes, but we'll see Peter Kirk's hair get shorter and shorter with each episode as he becomes more a model officer. In the meantime, we're giving him a 1976-era Phase II haircut instead of a 1966-era TOS haircut (just as was the style in the U.S. Navy back in 1976--kind of like Battlestar Galactica hair) It's important to not have him look like TOS.

2. J.T. Tepnapa as Sulu. I'm sorry you didn't like him. (His price was right, though, and he had the availability.)

3. Yes, the bridge is a little too dark--and it's made much darker by YouTube.

4. Yes, Riva Gijanto is lovely as Lt. Zahara. More about her here: http://amybethinverness.com/2011/09/30/interview-with-missriva/

5. Yes, another cylinder--and I suppose it does look something like "The Doomsday Machine." I suppose it's like the whale probe, too, except that the cylinder from "The Child" predates the cylinder from Star Trek IV by a decade.

 

Re: STAR TREK PHASE II: "The Child" Full Episode Now Released on YouTu

Ok...I just finished the whole episode and I must say I really enjoyed it. This story blows the TNG version out of the water.

I think the actress playing Isel did a great job. Same with the actress playing "The Child."

Did I mention Lt. Zahara? I would love to see her in future episodes with more screen time.

Very interesting to see Lt. Xon alongside Spock. I think there is potential for some great interaction between them...the Full Vulcan vs. the Half Vulcan.

The whole episode just had a TOS feel to it, I can easily imagine this being filmed with Shatner and the rest of them.

The Enterprise looks great, the sets look great, even the music and sound effects were spot on!!

Great job...looking forward to the next one!

 

Re: STAR TREK PHASE II: "The Child" Full Episode Now Released on YouTu

Act I appears to be listed as a "private video."

 

Re: STAR TREK PHASE II: "The Child" Full Episode Now Released on YouTu

Act 1 can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jy1kcIyke_A. You just have to check Star Trek Reviewed for the right links, silly!

Getting the right links is my job... making and watching fan films is other people's job...

For ALL of them, which ALL work: http://startrekreviewed.blogspot.com/2012/04/headline-news-last-month-only.html or http://startrekreviewed.blogspot.com/2009/06/20.html

 

Re: STAR TREK PHASE II: "The Child" Full Episode Now Released on YouTu

Thanks for the link. I'll sit down and watch it all in order tomorrow or Wednesday.

R

 

Re: STAR TREK PHASE II: "The Child" Full Episode Now Released on YouTu

Finally got a chance to watch the episode and just finished.

The only real thought that comes to me is this: Too many lens flares.



































The good:

The two principal guest actresses were superb. The color in this episode was as vibrant as ever. The visual effects were outstanding. The effect of Irska as a floating blob of light was incredible, well matched with the actors and integrated seamlessly. Cawley isn't substituting squinting for acting anymore, which is nice.

The actor playing Spock doesn't seem to possess the uncanny hint of arrogance Ben Tolpin had in Blood and Fire, but he does a good job nonetheless. At various points it felt like he was channeling Zachary Quinto too, which I guess could be a good thing as well.

The bad:

Much of what I'm going to say here falls under the story and logic department.

-McCoy bitching out Kirk during Act 1 via the intercom, and Kirk relenting. Firstly, entirely unprofessional. Secondly, even if McCoy was going to go off on Kirk like this (he did something similar at the beginning of "Enemy: Starfleet" except that time it was in person), it might be forgivable, but the fact that Kirk basically takes it (and likely in front of the rest of the crew) was disheartening. More to the point, the entire need for the scene - to have it made clear that Kirk = gonna kill the kid if he has to vs. McCoy = gonna protect the kid was done in such a lazy way that it necessitated this very scene undermining Kirk's status as captain and leader of his crew. Obviously, it's not a HUGE infraction, but there are at least a dozen other ways this could have been handled to achieve the same basic plot point without sabotaging Kirk by making McCoy all vitriolic.

-Even then, it didn't end there for McCoy. Later on, when Spock suggests scanning Irska, McCoy blows his lid again, even though McCoy should know that that she was inherently connected to whatever was going on. Just because he's the firecracker of the group doesn't mean he's the loudmouthed idiot. Again, his character was sabotaged here to get a point across and make Spock seem more Spock-like.

-The actress playing the communications officer had something along three lines in the entire picture and delivered them all horribly. That might be a subjective call, but I thought she could have done better.

-Though it's nice to see him, Xon has far too little to do in this (what I presume is his first episode (was he in "Enemy: Starfleet" ? I can't remember)... and maybe its just me, but in this outing he seemed to be channeling a little bit of Howard Wolowitz.

-I'm not sure if this could be fixed, so I'm stashing it under the "bad:" At various points in the story, characters start to run. That's fine, but on the bridge - which is seemingly a smaller space that we seem to perceive on screen, it's patently obvious how not-large the space is when McCoy bolts for the turbolift, and later Isel whips around the captains chair for the turbolift. It's just awkward. They're awkward doing it, and it's awkward to watch.

The alien ship looks like a better-rendered 2012 version of Babylon 5.

Lastly: While it is more evident than ever how far Phase II has come since its humble days with "Come What May", this episode was, from a camera standpoint, incredibly dull. Nothing but two shots, medium close-ups and over the shoulder work. But the time there's any energy or movement in the camera work (there's maybe one or two wide angles on the bridge in the entire thing), its just too little too late.

I get that P2 is trying to replicate the TV show in several ways, but previous episodes have managed to avoid this particular trope, so it was rather disappointing to not see more interesting things done with the camerawork. I'm genuinely trying to decide if I'm glad or disappointed that there wasn't even a nice soft-light glamour shot of Isel akin to the same soft-light glamour shots all the TOS women inevitably got each week.

The "could have avoided/fixed" if we'd done another revision to the script:
-A minor nitpick but the term "immaculate conception" is bandied about regarding Isel, and it is in fact used incorrectly here. The Immaculate conception refers to Mary's being born and kept free of sin until such time that she became impregnated with Jesus Christ. The biblical referent that McCoy should have used here was in fact "virgin birth."

-The Irska-Scotty scene at the beginning of the episode in his quarters is unseemly and awkward. I half expected him to mutter "Do you like gladiator movies?" or something of that ilk. I get why the scene is there though - to establish Irska's willingness to help him later as well as callback her knowledge of the ship's systems, but as shown it was clumsy. The entire issue could have been solved by setting the scene in the rec room or the ship's mess.

-The episode begins on the night shift. But then we're told 10 days pass between the end of Act 1 and the beginning of Act 2... yet we spend the entire episode on the night shift. Don't get me wrong, the "mood" lighting is great and as I said above, the use of color was inspired in this episode, but again, handing your script to someone to check for these kinds of inconsistencies will save a lot of grief later on.

-This is more an issue with production vs. the script, but a glaring one: At various points in Act 4, Peter Kirk is at the conn wearing his coveralls/pajama uniform, then suddenly racing to the transporter room with security in his duty uniform, and then again back on the bridge in the coveralls again. I'm not sure how much time is supposed to transpire between all these scenes, but given the ticking clock of the problem ("The impulse engines will explode within the hour...." it seemed rather sloppy to me that this kind of obvious mistake was made.

Don't get me wrong. I really liked the episode. As others have said, it is heads and shoulders more entertaining than the TNG derivative, and the improvement of the Phase II crew is in force more than ever. I think with a little reigning in on some things and a little more closer attention to story, the next episode could be dynamite.

Finally, thank you Phase II, for another fun outing.

-005

 

Re: STAR TREK PHASE II: "The Child" Full Episode Now Released on YouTu

^^^Haven't seen the whole episode, but I thought the whole bridge crew watching the birth from the bridge was really bad. As if the crew watching such an intensely personsal event were appropriate. As if McCoy would ever allow this. As if Kirk would sit on the bridge during this event.

 

Re: STAR TREK PHASE II: "The Child" Full Episode Now Released on YouTu

This watching of events on the viewscreen thing has got to go. It was horrible in "Blood and Fire" and it's horrible here. Hell, I think it's bad in "Arena," "The Savage Curtain," "Gamesters of Triskelion" as well.

 

Re: STAR TREK PHASE II: "The Child" Full Episode Now Released on YouTu

I don't know. When used effectively, it can work (as it did, I thought, in "Arena.")

In "Blood and Fire," it was just lazy. The whole last half of Part 2 took place with Kargh watching everything via the viewscreen. In a word - boring.

Here, it's just unnecessarily invasive. McCoy's going to kick up a shitstorm over a security guard being there, but is just hunky-dory with a live feed to the bridge aimed right at Isel's babymaker?

Files this under "Could have fixed it by simply having Kirk himself in sickbay/McCoy's office when the baby is born" McCoy could have his little outburst about security on his own turf in Sickbay, not embarrass Kirk over the intercom and thus in front of his subordinates, and Kirk could be there to further the story along. As it is, the only real reason it seems the birth was viewed on the viewscreen was so we could see Chekov and Sulu gushing.

 

Re: STAR TREK PHASE II: "The Child" Full Episode Now Released on YouTu

I have downloaded the episode and I will be watching tonight, hopefully. I am looking forward to it.

 

Re: STAR TREK PHASE II: "The Child" Full Episode Now Released on YouTu

I think its good to see some thoughtful critiques as opposed to mindless criticism. I'll agree with Randy that the voyeuristic aspect of watching the baby being delivered on the main view screen really doesn't fly. Not a show stopper, but really I just don't see it as passing GR's old "believability" test. I will also agree that the Sick Bay incident with Peter Kirk could have been handled better. Probably with an exchange ahead of time between Kirk and McCoy behind closed doors. That really isn't the kind of thing that the crew should see.
I will respectfully disagree with 005 on the directing style. I would rather see simple shots, well-edited than attempts at something fancier. Jump cuts, bad camera placement and improper transitions caused by bad planning are things that a viewer may not consciously notice but they definitely cause a break in the suspension of belief and make the experience a little bumpier. While I am a great admirer of Exeter, there are several places in TTI where there jumpy cuts that are definitely a distraction. Of course, those are all just my ever-so humble opinion and everyone's mileage can, and will, vary.

 

Re: STAR TREK PHASE II: "The Child" Full Episode Now Released on YouTu

Episodes like "Arena," "The Savage Curtain," and "Gamesters of Triskelion" I can excuse, because aliens are transmitting the events to the bridge. When it comes to medical stuff, that definitley should not be watched by officers on the bridge. That would be a big breach of patient/doctor confidentiality, and it would certainly get the Captain fired, regardless of how the baby was conceived. If it was in the original TV script, I guarantee it would have been cut before it was ever filmed.

 

Re: STAR TREK PHASE II: "The Child" Full Episode Now Released on YouTu

Fair enough. I guess for me though, it's that there's a precious balance between "boring" Tv style directing as I described above vs. something more dynamic and interesting. I'm not trying to say television directing is inherently boring, or necessarily inferior. I was just disappointed with this episode's lack of general cinematic energy. That whole bridge set is right there, yet I counted one, maybe two wide/moving angles in the entire episode. Everything else was tight and closed in. Certainly the argument could be made that this was to facilitate the psychological effect of the story and enhance the shrinking of options as the crew pushed on, but watching it became very dull after a time.

Just my two cents. (I expect change!)