Intrepid Updates

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

BAF also suffers the cardinal sin of making that scene longer than any televised love scene on Trek, and gives us characters we just met and expects us to give a damn. That's a mistake straight, gay, or ambisexual porkchop fetishist.

I think Maurice puts it pretty well here. I still believe it was a simple case of trying too hard to present the relationship as a non-issue (which it is). It just doesn't quite work out as intended.

Maurice and I have discussed this many times, and I've stated my opinion before in this forum. My main beef with the relationship is that the script tries too hard to make a non-issue of it that it's treated with kid gloves. Peter and Freeman's romance has none of the complexity of any relationship, none of the good and none of the bad. It's just there and it's too perfect in places. There's no complication of the emotions. It's too superficial and comes across as if it were written for the 1990s version of "Melrose Place."

I applaud the effort and hope PHASE II writes another LGBT relationship, but treat it as a real relationship. Doing that instead of holding it delicately as if it would break would be far more progressive — saying that no matter if you're gay, bi, transexual, straight or have polkadots instead of genitals, relationships are hard, they work and they don't at the same time.

 

[lennier1]

True, the characters' relationship wasn't established in previous episodes but simply came out of the left field, this made it harder to emphasize with them.
It was a rare family moment for Captain Kirk, but the wedding couple was supposed to be the focus and driving force of the scene.
At least it wasn't Hidden Frontier (a pioneer in the modern Trek fan film scene, but far from perfect). There, on the other side of the spectrum it was already established that the audience liked both characters, but it took seemingly forever for those two, pushing most of the rest of the show into the background.

 

[doubleohfive]

Blood and Fire is such a mixed bag. It gets so much right, but then so much wrong. I don't watch these fan films to watch Kirk talking to Klingons on the viewscreen for half the episode. I will say though that Hodell's death was just about the most gruesome thing I've seen in any of the fan films to date, so they got that right (and Nick, you did a great job there.)

As for Hidden Frontier, I liked all of it, but the biggest problem I had with that show was the pacing of their arcs. There was just so much stretching out of everything; I think had there been more of a focus on season-based arcs rather than as one giant series arc over the course of seven years, it wouldn't have tried my patience as much. That being said, there were some really great moments sprinkled throughout - the explosion at the starbase toward the series end, the relationship of Shelby and Hunter, and even getting James Cawley to show up as Calhoun was neat.

All that said, I'm curious as to whatever happened to Rob Caves' plans for the "first" 3D Star Trek fan film he mentioned he was working on a few years ago.

 

[USS Intrepid]

Thanks!

I rewatched Blood and Fire recently, and there's a whole lot I really wish I'd played differently, but it is what it is. I am still proud of the death scene (implausible though it may be). It is, however, a prime example of why actors (especially inexperienced ones) need good direction. I had really good direction and feedback on that scene, and I think it made a difference.

I was lined up to write the script for that 3D film Rob was talking about. It never really got past the idea stage, and last time I saw Rob he simply didn't have the time for it.

 

[doubleohfive]

Oh, now I'm really sorry to hear it isn't happening. Though I can certainly understand how real life and time can affect things like this.

 

[USS Intrepid]

Yeah it's a shame. I was looking forward to maybe working with Rob again.

 

[doubleohfive]

Perhaps you still will. Never say never!

 

[Maurice]

I'd like to direct you sometime, Nick. Actors seem to like me because I'm always trying to get them to stretch...plus I give really oddball direction about the feeling I want from the scene as opposed to telling them how to say the line.

 

[USS Intrepid]

I'd like to direct you sometime, Nick. Actors seem to like me because I'm always trying to get them to stretch...plus I give really oddball direction about the feeling I want from the scene as opposed to telling them how to say the line.

I'd like that. I often feel I don't get the sort of direction I really need, and get left to my own devices. As a result, I regularly end up looking at footage and wishing someone had told me to do things differently (different emotions, less wooden, less over the top, etc, etc).

No doubt, you'd kick my ass, Maurice.

Actually, I'd really like to do some acting workshops and classes, but that's not terribly likely.

 

[Maurice]

I'd like to direct you sometime, Nick. Actors seem to like me because I'm always trying to get them to stretch...plus I give really oddball direction about the feeling I want from the scene as opposed to telling them how to say the line.

I'd like that. I often feel I don't get the sort of direction I really need, and get left to my own devices. As a result, I regularly end up looking at footage and wishing someone had told me to do things differently (different emotions, less wooden, less over the top, etc, etc).

No doubt, you'd kick my ass, Maurice.

Actually, I'd really like to do some acting workshops and classes, but that's not terribly likely.

Actually, workshops and classes are a good idea. I have an actor friend who's been on Grimm who told me he's in an ongoing class/workshop which completely changed his approach to acting for the better.

As to direction, I like to cast against type to get actors out of their comfort zone. And I always encourage actors to give me something other than the obvious. Playing angry as angry isn't as interesting as playing furious buried under a veneer of cheerfulness, for instance.

 

[USS Intrepid]

Yeah, I really should try and make the time.