• 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!

April Art Challenge - Flux Capacitor

Tiberius Jim

Vice Admiral
Admiral
It has been a long, long time since I've done any Trek art, but I was intrigued by the theme this month. Since I don't have much in the way of 3D modeling or scene creation experience, I utilized some high quality Bridge Commander models and some composting work. I tried to give a look at a famous scene from a perspective we never saw. I was going for kind of a painted/faded film look.

beautyandbeast_zpsf41d9dff.jpg
 
I'm not really getting the theme here (Yes, I can see why you did this)
 
Just enter it if you want. Don't change based on the opinion of one poster you don't actually know. Others might like it just fine (aside from Kaiser who thinks all art is epic or awesome).
 
reliant, with a distinctly redder cast of light, impulse and other red lighting visible, firing bright orange blasts from its phasers... clearly the beast, i think.
 
I'm with Finn on this one. It's just one Federation ship firing on another, and there's no context at all without knowing the history behind the image. Subtle lighting does not a beast make.
 
I'm with Finn on this one. It's just one Federation ship firing on another, and there's no context at all without knowing the history behind the image. Subtle lighting does not a beast make.

Hold on! are there any Star Trek fans on this board who don't get the context here?

This is like stumbling into a catholic church and seeing a sculpture of some lanky sad looking dude on a cross and asking for the context.

Really? We get it.

--Alex
 
reliant, with a distinctly redder cast of light, impulse and other red lighting visible, firing bright orange blasts from its phasers... clearly the beast, i think.

Exactly. The red lighting was inspired by the SFX guys in TWOk itself who gave the Reliant model some red lights in certain places to make it seem more "evil" to the viewer.

I'm with Finn on this one. It's just one Federation ship firing on another, and there's no context at all without knowing the history behind the image. Subtle lighting does not a beast make.

Hold on! are there any Star Trek fans on this board who don't get the context here?

This is like stumbling into a catholic church and seeing a sculpture of some lanky sad looking dude on a cross and asking for the context.

Really? We get it.

--Alex

Thank you. I was under the impression that I didn't need to spell out the context when it relates to one of the most storied films in the franchise this entire site is about. I would imagine that with the lighting and the fact that one ship is clearly attacking the other, even an uninitiated viewer could tell who the aggressor is.
 
I'm with Finn on this one. It's just one Federation ship firing on another, and there's no context at all without knowing the history behind the image. Subtle lighting does not a beast make.

Hold on! are there any Star Trek fans on this board who don't get the context here?

This is like stumbling into a catholic church and seeing a sculpture of some lanky sad looking dude on a cross and asking for the context.

Really? We get it.

--Alex

Bad analogy. I knew what Flux had in mind. I just didn't think the image was a good fit for the theme.

I'd go for an image that even a casual fan would get. The other entry would be understood even by some of those who don't follow Trek. I'm gonna bet many casual viewers who have seen several movies and watched some episodes once in a while won't get Flux's entry.
 
I'm with Finn on this one. It's just one Federation ship firing on another, and there's no context at all without knowing the history behind the image. Subtle lighting does not a beast make.

Hold on! are there any Star Trek fans on this board who don't get the context here?

This is like stumbling into a catholic church and seeing a sculpture of some lanky sad looking dude on a cross and asking for the context.

Really? We get it.

--Alex

Fine, so let's put it in context as Star Trek fans.

In this context, Reliant herself isn't the beast. The beast is the genetically engineered a-hole that hijacked her. Do you see an image of Khan anywhere? No. Do you see any of his crew? No. What you see here is one Federation Starship firing on (but not yet hitting) another Federation Starship, and, I reiterate, two contemporaneous Federation Starships alone in one shot does not provide enough contrast to name one "Beauty" and one "Beast", no matter how much red lighting you add.
 
casual fans are irrelevant. they don't vote on Trek BBS art contests.

Most Trek fans don't post in trek message boards...

The point is I'm not gonna judge an piece of photoshopped art based on who posts and votes here. It'd be like Egbert giving two thumbs to a movie based on a small of people who go to see it and likes it when everybody else didn't see it.
 
Last edited:
I'm with Finn on this one. It's just one Federation ship firing on another, and there's no context at all without knowing the history behind the image. Subtle lighting does not a beast make.

Hold on! are there any Star Trek fans on this board who don't get the context here?

This is like stumbling into a catholic church and seeing a sculpture of some lanky sad looking dude on a cross and asking for the context.

Really? We get it.

--Alex

Fine, so let's put it in context as Star Trek fans.

In this context, Reliant herself isn't the beast. The beast is the genetically engineered a-hole that hijacked her. Do you see an image of Khan anywhere? No. Do you see any of his crew? No. What you see here is one Federation Starship firing on (but not yet hitting) another Federation Starship, and, I reiterate, two contemporaneous Federation Starships alone in one shot does not provide enough contrast to name one "Beauty" and one "Beast", no matter how much red lighting you add.

I got what the image was the second I saw it.

The Enterprise\Reliant battle is probably the most well known Star Trek battle ever. You don't need to see Khan. We're on a Star Trek board and the Fan Art section is populated by people who are so enthralled by Star Trek that they feel compelled to make art about it. The people visiting Fan Art love the show enough to view amateur artwork based on Star Trek. It's safe to say they got what Flux was going for here.
 
Guys, this is supposed to be fun. No need to argue about his entry. Don't like it then don't vote for it.
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top