Filming Locations / Engineering

[M'Sharak]

Maybe they needed a area large enough for main engineering and didn't have the space open at the studio. What if they rented a large empty industrial building, and built the set there?

It sounds to me as if the building wasn't completely empty, but that's pretty much what they did, possibly for the very reason you've proposed. It's not an uncommon practice at all; there are many properties not owned by any of the studios in a given area which are regularly leased/rented by them as shooting sets/locations, just as there are are businesses which specialize in providing furniture, fixtures, vehicles and other items to dress up these sets as whatever a particular production requires them to be.

 

[PowderedToastMan]

Sounds like Engineering is one element of cost cutting they needed to do. Presumably the bulk of money is on CGI for exteriors and interior extensions, then physical sets, the rest locations and redressing actual places.

this is entirely untrue. They have plenty of cash for sets. Locations have been used when Abrams and his team wanted a certain look, that is all.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Sounds like Engineering is one element of cost cutting they needed to do. Presumably the bulk of money is on CGI for exteriors and interior extensions, then physical sets, the rest locations and redressing actual places.

this is entirely untrue. They have plenty of cash for sets. Locations have been used when Abrams and his team wanted a certain look, that is all.

It would also go along with Abrams and company's assertion that they want this movie to "feel real." By using a large, physical location it makes the set more visceral than say a CGI extension. It also cuts down on production costs and set construction by using an existing locale with some dressing.

 

[shatastrophic]

It's gonna look like crap, but i'll still love it.

 

[Timo]

...Which reminds me: didn't Space: Above and Beyond do this as well? In the one about frozen invitros aboard a freighter whose crew pondered jettisoning the freezers when coming under attack. The engine room wasn't particularly futuristic-looking, as the only "spacey" thing they added was some CO2 smoke, but I guess it served the purpose, as it was big and mazelike.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[EJD1984]

The only thing that I can figure is that they either found an "industrial location" that looked similar to the new engineering or that there wasn't any studio space available.

I don't think it was a size issue for the new set. Since from the teaser is appears that the Enterprise is going to be dimensionally very close to the original. Which should translate to size of the secondary/engineering hull. In TMP we saw the cargo deck which appeared to have taken up most of the diameter of the secondary hull, and that set was built in a Paramount studio.

See Reference Pictures:
http://probertdesigns.com/Folder_DESIGN/ART/TREK/MinorCARGO-2.jpg
http://images.wikia.com/memoryalpha/en/images/9/94/TMP_Enterprise_cut.jpg

What I'm really getting at, is that yes it sounds like the new Engineering is going to be a huge set, but there are limitations as to how big it can actually get.

 

[Michael]

I don't think it was a size issue for the new set. Since from the teaser is appears that the Enterprise is going to be dimensionally very close to the original.

We rather not get into that again, but when the teaser was released there were some heated discussions on this board, because some were sure the new Enterprise was much too big compared to the original. Something about deck height and whatnot ...

 

[EJD1984]

I don't think it was a size issue for the new set. Since from the teaser is appears that the Enterprise is going to be dimensionally very close to the original.

We rather not get into that again, but when the teaser was released there were some heated discussions on this board, because some were sure the new Enterprise was much too big compared to the original. Something about deck height and whatnot ...

I vividly remember that discussion as well, and I'm not trying to get it all stirred up again. I'm just going by known logical assumptions. Since I do remember that there was an edict from the Paramount brass that the producers couldn't drastically change the look of the Enterprise (though no mention of actual size).

I'd just like to know what "industrial location", so as to get a general overall feel of the new engineering design & layout.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I'll admit it's slightly worrying after years of sets standing on the lot... even if they needed to employ forced perspective and actors under four foot.

You don''t think JJ is up to a challenge?

 

[Therin of Andor]

In TMP we saw the cargo deck which appeared to have taken up most of the diameter of the secondary hull, and that set was built in a Paramount studio.

And was further extended by camera trickery and matt paintings.

 

[EJD1984]

In TMP we saw the cargo deck which appeared to have taken up most of the diameter of the secondary hull, and that set was built in a Paramount studio.

And was further extended by camera trickery and matt paintings.

Though the production did expand the cargo bay set using matte paintings, this was primarily done from a financial (and practical) standpoint.

From the looks of these pictures of the filming set, there looks to have been plenty of room in the studio stage to have expanded the set.

http://probertdesigns.com/Folder_DESIGN/CargoBay-2.html

That's what leads me to think that either there was a scheduling issue at the studio, or most likely this mysterous "industrial location" looks very close to the new engineering.

Someone out there has to know where this was filmed.

 

[EJD1984]

Since there now appears to be more location pictures popping up on the net.

Has there been any indication where they filmed the engineering scenes at?

 

[Stag]

I found a pre-production drawing of the engineering set...notice the warp coils suspended above the engineers on duty...

 

[SalvorHardin]

I found a pre-production drawing of the engineering set...notice the warp coils suspended above the engineers on duty...

Fucking J.J ...What did he do ???
This is not The Trek I grew up with... At least the engineering crew uniforms look good.

 

[superstring01]

Yeah, I'm quite curious about that myself. How did they transform an industrial location into a 23rd century Engineering section?

Well, if you consider it, they probably used something like a power plant, or old factory. The logic in this is sound: there is no need to "buid" the framework which can be prohibitively expensive. With an FX crew there to build sets, and you have a great idea. It's very common to do this in the industry.

A good CGI can do it.

Well, thankfully Abrams has stated that he avoided CGI as much as possible and went with models and sets to create the base, and only used CGO to flesh out the details. That's smart. I can spot a CGI image in a second and I hate it.

~String

 

[Stag]

I found a pre-production drawing of the engineering set...notice the warp coils suspended above the engineers on duty...

... At least the engineering crew uniforms look good.

True, although I prefer the minis. I guess the long skirts block radiation better.