Star Trek: Axanar

[MikeH92467]

I certainly understand the concern that Axanar could just be another collection of space battles with a few lines of dialogue to break things up. (That's kind of the formula porno films used to use...now they don't even bother with breaking things up...sorry I digress)\

However, I do think that there is real potential for something more than just mindless shoot em up action here, since we've come to accept that Axanar was the moment that solidified the Federation and allowed it to become what we've come to know as the Trek Universe.

From what I've seen I think that's being taken into account and we have the possibility of seeing some well-rounded characters and some interesting ideas.

 

[tobiasrichter]

Thought this very thing.
Tobias I loved each beautiful shot but I am curious as to why the decision was made to downsize the gigantic JJ era ships to TOS sizes.

We had a lot of discussions about that, believe me. Basically two reasons:
- The Federation ships would be huge compared to the Klingon ships. It would be visually very difficult to convey the Klingons as a threat to such a fleet.
- The Enterprise should be the biggest, boldest ship in the fleet, so again, it would visually be impossible to convey that with a ship that is dwarfed by those "old" vessels.

Internally we would like to think that Starfleet has made some technology advancements after the Kelvin, so the new ships do not need to be that big anymore.

 

[Maurice]

A few things to consider.

A trailer is designed to tease an audience into wanting to see the product. That's what's been posted. No one can be surprised when not everyone is "teased". Some are going to go "Bring it on!" and others are gonna go, "What's new on Vsauce?"

People frequently post that they don't think criticism is "helpful" or "productive". Is it? Turn that phrase around: how is fawning over something "helpful" or "productive" other than to give its makers ego boo? It isn't.

Which is a good entrée as any about what it means to "criticize"

1. indicate the faults (of someone or something) in a disapproving way

2. form and present a sophisticated judgement of (a literary or artistic work)​

A lot people conflate these two. They think "to criticize" a film is to indicate its faults in a disapproving way. It's not. To critique a work is to discuss its merits both positive and negative. "You take the good you take the bad you take them both and there you have..."

And on the topic of being "helpful", I'd humbly point to the two long-running topics I created in this forum specifically for fan filmmakers to share tips and information on everything from simple lighting setups to script formatting, all with an eye to help them make their films better. My motives are purely to help them. Sometimes that comes in the form of tough love.

Finally, anyone who's worked with me knows that I invite fair critique. Heck, I only work with people capable of giving and taking it. (A running critique between my writing partner and I on a comedy we were writing a few years ago was to say "just like that, only funny" which is about as brutal a thing as you can say about a joke.) I want to hear what works and what doesn't. Sure, a lot of it's going to be influenced by individual tastes, but there's nothing wrong with hearing it. If only one or two people like or dismiss something that might just be their taste. If seven or ten all comment on the same thing, good or bad, then I should take notice.

Thanks for hearing (reading?) me out.

 

[mos6507]

Finally, anyone who's worked with me knows that I invite fair critique. Heck, I only work with people capable of giving and taking it.

I really think there's a difference in attitude between professionals who have made a life-long commitment to hone their craft and keep moving from one project to the next and hobbyists who, in most cases, have just one deeply personal pet-project that they've been dreaming to do for decades. I think that explains why hobbyists tend to be more defensive of their vision, because they're doing it, first and foremost, to satisfy themselves. I don't mean that as a bash. Hobbyists can take more risks, which is ultimately a good thing.

 

[Lord Garth FOI]

Thanks Tobias understood
Very excited for the project
Best of luck

 

[ChristopherPike]

It's fun to consider how large Starfleet ships became, might ultimately have rested on the fate of the U.S.S. Kelvin.

And ironically, the opposite of how you might think that evolution would go. The ship survives and it's never seen as anything other than what it actually is. A hulking great misstep, with a straight forward decision made not to carry on with classes of that scale.

In another universe, it's destroyed and there's a sense of stubbornly continuing out of pride and exact rebuilding, improving on what was seen as having been taken away before its time. Because that's human nature, I guess...

 

[USS Intrepid]

Too, Alec, during his time here was completely and consistently unable to handle anything other than absolute praise for what he was doing, and that's naturally off-putting. There is a whole wide range of useful, constructive reaction that can be offered up for discussion in these film reviews, and like USS Intrepid stated above, those opinions should not get thrown out just because of the usual deluge of the haters and mindless trolling comments.

In Alec's defence, I've found him open to both discussion and critique. As I recently said to him, I suspect you two would get on fine if you met face to face. Sometimes, people just clash online when they never would in real life.

I've found Alec gregarious, generous and helpful. And for what it's worth, I believe he has a good, solid script.

 

[diriel]

@Pindar,

Is it the Acting you expect to be less than Professional? Or is it the Fx? I have watched and re-watched the trailer, what is less that straight up professional about it?

This is a sincere inquiry.

Thank you,
Gary

 

[diriel]

@Maurice,

At one point I wondered about your comment about the space battle, I admit. Having taken time to read more of your comments, and D05's comments, I find myself looking for yours and D05's posts to see what it is you have to say. I too am a critical thinker. I always appreciate honesty, even when it stings!

The critical side of me would like to see the distances spread out, and the battles be a _Little-Bit_ more realistic, but not too realistic! I would like to see a scene where a fight turns flight, and the pursuer wins by hammering the enemy at warp speeds for instance.

 

[diriel]

@ChristopherPike,

A realistic analogy would be the huge battleships of WW2. They were so expensive, both sides hesitated to fully utilize them if they had any choice in the matter. To loose one in a fight would make both the Admirals, and the Bean Counters shed a tear or two!

 

[JRoss]

Is there a newsletter to which I can subscribe? I'd like to know the day any further Kickstarter campaign debuts.

 

[diriel]

The Axanar team have requested Facebook as the first line of dissemination.

https://www.facebook.com/StarTrekAxanar

They do have a web page as well.

http://startrekaxanar.com/

 

[Maurice]

Too, Alec, during his time here was completely and consistently unable to handle anything other than absolute praise for what he was doing, and that's naturally off-putting. There is a whole wide range of useful, constructive reaction that can be offered up for discussion in these film reviews, and like USS Intrepid stated above, those opinions should not get thrown out just because of the usual deluge of the haters and mindless trolling comments.

In Alec's defence, I've found him open to both discussion and critique. As I recently said to him, I suspect you two would get on fine if you met face to face. Sometimes, people just clash online when they never would in real life.

I've found Alec gregarious, generous and helpful. And for what it's worth, I believe he has a good, solid script.

Very likely so. Sadly his track record here often failed to demonstrate that. It's easy to hit the wrong tone (no inflection in ASCII as we said in the Permian age of computers). It's why I typically write the post, hit Preview, walk away, come back a bit later and read it again before hitting Submit.

The Axanar team have requested Facebook as the first line of dissemination.

https://www.facebook.com/StarTrekAxanar

They do have a web page as well.

http://startrekaxanar.com/

Requested? Meaning what.

 

[diriel]

@Maurice,

Requested is probably the wrong way to put it. That was an internal request for us (Axanar Marines etc...) to put forward Facebook as the best way to interact with the Axanar project. Alec and crew are pretty responsive to Facebook.

 

[Maurice]

That's fine if that's their chosen venue, but not everyone uses Facebook.

Also, sometimes people want to discuss something in a given online community rather than an official channel.

 

[diriel]

I enjoy interacting in the forums personally. For quite a long time I refused to touch Facebook. My wife finally talked me into using it.

For anything Trek related, I really enjoy Trekbbs. Good bunch of people here!

 

[Pindar]

@Pindar,

Is it the Acting you expect to be less than Professional? Or is it the Fx? I have watched and re-watched the trailer, what is less that straight up professional about it?

This is a sincere inquiry.

Thank you,
Gary

I think everything looks fantastic, the production values are great and I can't wait to see it.

I was making a joke as "Top Shelf" usually refers to Adult/Pornographic material in the UK.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Thought this very thing.
Tobias I loved each beautiful shot but I am curious as to why the decision was made to downsize the gigantic JJ era ships to TOS sizes.

We had a lot of discussions about that, believe me. Basically two reasons:
- The Federation ships would be huge compared to the Klingon ships. It would be visually very difficult to convey the Klingons as a threat to such a fleet.
- The Enterprise should be the biggest, boldest ship in the fleet, so again, it would visually be impossible to convey that with a ship that is dwarfed by those "old" vessels.

Internally we would like to think that Starfleet has made some technology advancements after the Kelvin, so the new ships do not need to be that big anymore.

I see your reasoning, although it still rankles a bit. I wonder if a few lines of dialogue could have explained bigger not necessarily being better - but as you say, the issue has been discussed (no doubt to death!) and the decision made.

That quibble aside, the CG is utterly fantastic. I'm looking forward to seeing orthos of the other ships and close-ups showing the detail in those windows. And more shots of that city too!

 

[USS Intrepid]

Very likely so. Sadly his track record here often failed to demonstrate that. It's easy to hit the wrong tone (no inflection in ASCII as we said in the Permian age of computers). It's why I typically write the post, hit Preview, walk away, come back a bit later and read it again before hitting Submit.

I think hitting the wrong tone is the cause of the vast majority of disagreements on the net.

I also think, that no matter how hard you try, there will always be people that will misunderstand what you've said.

 

[Maurice]

Very likely so. Sadly his track record here often failed to demonstrate that. It's easy to hit the wrong tone (no inflection in ASCII as we said in the Permian age of computers). It's why I typically write the post, hit Preview, walk away, come back a bit later and read it again before hitting Submit.

I think hitting the wrong tone is the cause of the vast majority of disagreements on the net.

I also think, that no matter how hard you try, there will always be people that will misunderstand what you've said.

Oh, some people are just geared to take offense when anyone disagrees even slightly with their take. A typical tip-off is "chill out" or "calm down" in response to a perfectly rational message.