A Short Clip from Our Episode "Mind-Sifter"

[GSchnitzer]

We've put up a short (2:42) clip from our recent shoot of the episode "Mind-Sifter." It's a rough cut with rough sound and with, well, rough everything--so all the usual caveats about "works in progress" apply. But it gives you a sense of where the episode is headed.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlr3vBjX0h4&hl=en&fs=1&[/yt]

 

[MikeH92467]

Obviously a subcurrents going on here. The new cast member is a good actor, but seems a little...intense? Of course that depends on the overall context. I'm constantly amazed at the quality of the Phase II work and eagerly await the upcoming releases!

 

[ialfan]

Looks good. I look forward to this (and the other upcoming episodes). Phase II is the closest I think we'll ever get to true Star Trek again and I'm loving every episode.

 

[GSchnitzer]

Looks good. I look forward to this (and the other upcoming episodes). Phase II is the closest I think we'll ever get to true Star Trek again and I'm loving every episode.

Oy! From your mouth to G-d's ear!

 

[PattyW]

Obviously a subcurrents going on here. The new cast member is a good actor, but seems a little...intense? Of course that depends on the overall context. I'm constantly amazed at the quality of the Phase II work and eagerly await the upcoming releases!

Thanks! Yes, the scene calls for McCoy to be very intense. It's a very intense script, in fact...and the actors did a very impressive job IMHO.

Shirley's family's response to this clip: "The scene looks great! Thanks so much for doing this. I know Mom would have loved every bit of it."

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

Wow, very impressive!!!

 

[Kelso]

Wow, great!

I love this story- can't wait for the episode!

 

[Captain Randy Hall]

Did I miss something regarding who's playing Doctor McCoy? I don't mind it when new actors come aboard, but that just leaves the Kirkster as the only original actor still boldly going. Oh, well. I promise not to say anything about the new Bones's hair....

 

[GSchnitzer]

Did I miss something regarding who's playing Doctor McCoy? I don't mind it when new actors come aboard, but that just leaves the Kirkster as the only original actor still boldly going. Oh, well. I promise not to say anything about the new Bones's hair....

Mr. David Sherin is our new "Dr. McCoy" for this episode--and probably for the foreseeable future.

Characters that we haven't recast since our first episode are James Kirk, Janice Rand, Lieutenant Kyle, and Lieutenant DeSalle.

 

[JimTheBuilder]

An excellent scene...but...

"You will STAY!" I think this is WAY over the top for Spock...I'd have had him say it in a cold, eerily calm and threateningly forceful way...Have him lean forward, his jaw set and say in a very measured tone, "You WILL stay.", the subtext being what he already said out loud; that there is no leaving without his permission, which he has no intention of giving...

...but to bark it like that was a bit much and out of character, in my opinion....just as a director myself...

I understand that we've seen Bones snap at Spock like this before, and I'm guessing the idea here was to show Spock reaching the end of his rope...but I just don't buy it. It's in times like this that we need to count on Spock to hunker down and set his defenses on high so this sort of thing doesn't happen. We admire, even envy Spock for not losing his cool in the face of such situations..and to snap like this is just off the mark...unless this is a road that Spock is supposed to go down in this particular story.......?

 

[CaptainSerek]

Thanks for the sneak peek, I am as always looking forward to the full episode.

 

[GSchnitzer]

Thanks for taking the time to weigh in and thanks for your kind comment.

As readers of the "Mind-Sifter" story will recall, we find at the end of the story that Spock was *intentionally* behaving atypically and out of character like a super-angry emotional Dick; he explains his motivations for doing this and for intentionally "going down that road" after Kirk returns. (It's sort of like Spock "reasoning that it was time for an emotional outburst" like in "The Galileo Seven"--but the hardcore Trek fans remember that there was more to it than just that.)

Like any good director, you have familiarized yourself with the original source material, right? You have read the actual story and have familiarized yourself with Spock's sneaky motivations in this specific outing, haven't you?

An excellent scene...but...

"You will STAY!" I think this is WAY over the top for Spock...I'd have had him say it in a cold, eerily calm and threateningly forceful way...Have him lean forward, his jaw set and say in a very measured tone, "You WILL stay.", the subtext being what he already said out loud; that there is no leaving without his permission, which he has no intention of giving...

...but to bark it like that was a bit much and out of character, in my opinion....just as a director myself...

I understand that we've seen Bones snap at Spock like this before, and I'm guessing the idea here was to show Spock reaching the end of his rope...but I just don't buy it. It's in times like this that we need to count on Spock to hunker down and set his defenses on high so this sort of thing doesn't happen. We admire, even envy Spock for not losing his cool in the face of such situations..and to snap like this is just off the mark...unless this is a road that Spock is supposed to go down in this particular story.......?

 

[Captain Randy Hall]

Did I miss something regarding who's playing Doctor McCoy? I don't mind it when new actors come aboard, but that just leaves the Kirkster as the only original actor still boldly going. Oh, well. I promise not to say anything about the new Bones's hair....

Mr. David Sherin is our new "Dr. McCoy" for this episode--and probably for the foreseeable future.

Characters that we haven't recast since our first episode are James Kirk, Janice Rand, Lieutenant Kyle, and Lieutenant DeSalle.

Well then, my best wishes to the new "real McCoy" and everyone else in Phase II. Playing the iconic roles from Classic Trek must be an exciting and stressful task, but judging from the quality of the episodes produced so far, you folks are up to the challenge!

 

[doubleohfive]

Nice little scene. Definitely looking forward to the full episode.

The only complaint I have is that the audio was off between the two actors. Spock's was way too low and McCoy's was up too high. I was either struggling to hear Spock or racing to turn the volume down on McCoy. Hopefully, since I assume this is just a rough cut/work print this will be addressed?

 

[GSchnitzer]

Yes. When I said in the OP that this is "a rough cut with rough sound and with, well, rough everything--so all the usual caveats about 'works in progress' apply," I really and truly did mean that the sound hasn't been cleaned up and equalized and balanced yet.

As you likely know from all the other "work in progress" clips we've released from our episodes over the years, tinkering with the sound is the very last step in post-production--after we have the final edit of the entire episode (and we still have have the episode to shoot). Of course, if the Joe Average Viewer can discern that the sound is uneven, you can pretty much rest assured that the actual production team and Co-Executive Producer already have noticed that the sound is uneven. (We'll get it cleaned up before we put out this episode--probably in about three years from now.)

Nice little scene. Definitely looking forward to the full episode.

The only complaint I have is that the audio was off between the two actors. Spock's was way too low and McCoy's was up too high. I was either struggling to hear Spock or racing to turn the volume down on McCoy. Hopefully, since I assume this is just a rough cut/work print this will be addressed?

 

[doubleohfive]

I figured as much. You guys run a tight show, and from what I've learned of professional post-production processes, it sounds also like you're on the right track in terms of the actual process as well. Looking forward to the finished product!

 

[Captain Robert April]

I'm curious to see how Cawley pulls off the asylum scenes...

 

[doubleohfive]

I wager 12 quatloos he will squint.

 

[Captain Robert April]

Fifteen quatloos he goes bug-eyed at least five times.

 

[MikeH92467]

20 to 1 he breaks into an Elvis routine... (sorry couldn't resist)