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"Needs of the Many"

I agree, once more, with Dennis! Engaging and leaving me wanting more. Music and sound made the experience complete! Well done!
 
Wow! Thank you all so much for all the positive feedback! We are all so thrilled that our little project has come across so well. It makes us twice as proud so thanks again for the kind words and constructive criticism, especially to those who create fan produced content that I've seen growing up! :D

Please check out my FB page - www.facebook.com/AVFilmmaker as I've just uploaded a small photo gallery of stills from the production. You can also see just how large some of the sets were, for the little you see of them on screen.

That was very good. I'm guessing you're in the UK?

Thanks Nick! We're actually located in Australia, but young Harriet is originally from Cambridgeshire.

Marvelous. Are there more Trek films in the series, or will this be the only one we get to enjoy?

Thank you! At the moment, it's probably unlikely we'd do another Star Trek short, despite the fact that the sets now take up a small portion of my house. Ahaha! Having said that though, if another little story does come to me, we'll definitely give it another crack.

The story was simple, but heartfelt. I loved it, thank you so much. As someone who also has an interest in theology and Dr Who, I also really liked ‘The Council of Nicaea’ mini episode on your YouTube page. Can’t wait to see what you guys do next. Please do more Star Trek. :techman:

Thank you Philip! I'm really glad to hear you enjoyed "The Council of Nicaea" as well. That was another little set design I am very proud of! Not sure what the future holds as of yet, but if another story set in the Star Trek universe appears in my head, we'll definitely consider it.

Well done telling a simple, effective story of two people in a dire situation, with one having to make a sacrifice. This short proves that you can erect partial sets and not have a lot of CGI effects to make a good fan film.

There is one missed opportunity in this piece. Dramatically, it would've been better if the Lieutenant made the decision, ordering the crewperson to do what is needed. Thus, the drama isn't whether they'll survive this but hinges on the decision that the Lieutenant must make to get everyone else out of it. Give us the gut-wrenching emotion that comes from ordering someone to their death. Something we've rarely seen in STAR TREK. It's hinted at, but we never really see anyone do it.

There's a bit too much technobabble for my taste. And at times the sound is weak.

All in all, great job. I wish more fan films told smaller stories instead of the bloated, overwrought yarns with lots of pew pew and connect-the-canon-dots.

Thanks Ryan! I have to agree that the concept of one character having to order another character to there death is something Star Trek has never really explored. If I remember correctly there was that one TNG episode with Troi having to order La Forge to his death in a command simulation, but still nothing comes to mind that so heavily focused such a topic. I suppose we're so use to seeing the captain willing to sacrifice themselves for the good of their crew, or crewmen behaving as if it is accepted that it is an honour to risk their lives to save their friends. Still, an interesting story point.

On the technobabble, my greatest fear for this film was not getting the right balance. Aha!.
 
Here's a playlist of AaronJay 2015 shorts (link), of which "Needs of the Many" is the last.

I thought a few of these were really cute and sweet.

Here are the individual films if anyone doesn't want to go out to the playlist.
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I get the feeling these are shot pretty damned fast, and sometimes what hurts them a smidge are the limited setups and an over-reliance on singles when you'd be better served going wider of seeing both characters at once. Sometimes the audio levels are a little weak, too. I go from being able to hear characters fine to going "huh?"

Keep up the good work.
 
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Excellent fan film. It's well acted. It's so nice to see a fanfilm take place in the Enterpise series era.
 
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Wow! Thank you all so much for all the positive feedback! We are all so thrilled that our little project has come across so well. It makes us twice as proud so thanks again for the kind words and constructive criticism, especially to those who create fan produced content that I've seen growing up! :D

Please check out my FB page - www.facebook.com/AVFilmmaker as I've just uploaded a small photo gallery of stills from the production. You can also see just how large some of the sets were, for the little you see of them on screen.



Thanks Nick! We're actually located in Australia, but young Harriet is originally from Cambridgeshire.



Thank you! At the moment, it's probably unlikely we'd do another Star Trek short, despite the fact that the sets now take up a small portion of my house. Ahaha! Having said that though, if another little story does come to me, we'll definitely give it another crack.



Thank you Philip! I'm really glad to hear you enjoyed "The Council of Nicaea" as well. That was another little set design I am very proud of! Not sure what the future holds as of yet, but if another story set in the Star Trek universe appears in my head, we'll definitely consider it.



Thanks Ryan! I have to agree that the concept of one character having to order another character to there death is something Star Trek has never really explored. If I remember correctly there was that one TNG episode with Troi having to order La Forge to his death in a command simulation, but still nothing comes to mind that so heavily focused such a topic. I suppose we're so use to seeing the captain willing to sacrifice themselves for the good of their crew, or crewmen behaving as if it is accepted that it is an honour to risk their lives to save their friends. Still, an interesting story point.

On the technobabble, my greatest fear for this film was not getting the right balance. Aha!.

What a great piece of work you have shared with us.

I, too, agree that ordering a character to sacrifice herself for the survivors would have created a great piece of drama, but that's a 'with hindsight' idea - although a great one. I really like the atmosphere created in 6 minutes - I think it's a great twist to start after the collision, which would have been way outside the budget you probably worked with.

You created a tense atmosphere straight away and you engaged me right from the start. The music added to the tension, I'll go back and give that some more attention especially towards the end.

A very small criticism with the script; the use of the term, "think outside the box". It's been so overused that it tends to grate on me. It was an opportunity, given the different time setting, to come up with another way of saying it, instead of the tired old cliche? However, I can't immediately come up with one myself.

Australia produces some great short films and yours is up there with them. I live in Tasmania but I'm guessing you work from Melbourne or Sydney?

Thank you for your generosity in sharing. You have started a great thread which has generated quite a few links and websites to look at, starting with some of your other work.
 
I missed this back in January. Thanks to Bluewhale bumping it up, I got to watch it. Superb job!!! Well done!
 
The makers of "Needs of the Many" might still consider doing more Star Trek in the future. Right now they are working on a Dr Who fan series called 'Sarah Jane Investigates'.

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What a great piece of work you have shared with us.

I, too, agree that ordering a character to sacrifice herself for the survivors would have created a great piece of drama, but that's a 'with hindsight' idea - although a great one. I really like the atmosphere created in 6 minutes - I think it's a great twist to start after the collision, which would have been way outside the budget you probably worked with.

You created a tense atmosphere straight away and you engaged me right from the start. The music added to the tension, I'll go back and give that some more attention especially towards the end.

A very small criticism with the script; the use of the term, "think outside the box". It's been so overused that it tends to grate on me. It was an opportunity, given the different time setting, to come up with another way of saying it, instead of the tired old cliche? However, I can't immediately come up with one myself.

Australia produces some great short films and yours is up there with them. I live in Tasmania but I'm guessing you work from Melbourne or Sydney?

Thank you for your generosity in sharing. You have started a great thread which has generated quite a few links and websites to look at, starting with some of your other work.

Thank you so much, Bluewhale! It is so pleasing to hear that the tone which were aiming for with this piece has carried across so well and I am very glad to hear that you have enjoyed our work.

My biggest worry when writing this script was making sure the language was accessible to as many people as possible, so getting the right balance between 'contemporary speech' and 'treknobabble' was an interesting challenge. I certainly agree that 'think outside the box' is probably a very dated term, but 'lateral thinking' just doesn't roll of the tongue as well. Ahaha.

I'm actually based in Perth, certainly a difficult place to do some film-making but we're getting there. Wonderful to hear from another Australia on the forum though. Thank you again.

I missed this back in January. Thanks to Bluewhale bumping it up, I got to watch it. Superb job!!! Well done!

Thank you for watching!

Excellent work. I too enjoyed this effective, heartfelt drama.

Thank you very much. It certainly was our aim to produce something with a little 'real' emotion behind it.

The makers of "Needs of the Many" might still consider doing more Star Trek in the future. Right now they are working on a Dr Who fan series called 'Sarah Jane Investigates'.

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We sure are. Very early days with this project, though, but going back to the world of Star Trek is definitely on the agenda at some point, only when a good, solid and achievable story comes along.
 
I really enjoyed your film. The atmosphere and tension is excellent. Thank you for sharing! :beer:
 
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Really great short, shows how even the tightest limitations can produce a compelling piece of drama. Really enjoyed it.
I was taken by the youth of the Lieutenant, probably quite fresh into a command role, and facing having to order someone to their death. He can't do it even though it's his only option but she does it anyway. Very compelling.
 
There's nothing I can say that hasn't been covered already, but this is phenomenal. Honestly, this is about as good as a fan film gets. I'm an Aaron Jay fan now. Look forward to watching your other shorts.
 
What a great piece of work you have shared with us.

I, too, agree that ordering a character to sacrifice herself for the survivors would have created a great piece of drama, but that's a 'with hindsight' idea - although a great one. I really like the atmosphere created in 6 minutes - I think it's a great twist to start after the collision, which would have been way outside the budget you probably worked with.

You created a tense atmosphere straight away and you engaged me right from the start. The music added to the tension, I'll go back and give that some more attention especially towards the end.

A very small criticism with the script; the use of the term, "think outside the box". It's been so overused that it tends to grate on me. It was an opportunity, given the different time setting, to come up with another way of saying it, instead of the tired old cliche? However, I can't immediately come up with one myself.

Australia produces some great short films and yours is up there with them. I live in Tasmania but I'm guessing you work from Melbourne or Sydney?

Thank you for your generosity in sharing. You have started a great thread which has generated quite a few links and websites to look at, starting with some of your other work.
I've looked at some of your other work, aaronjay and I think I can say, from what I saw, that you are very versatile. You have an adaptable face which suits a variety of roles and a body you seem comfortable in. I particularly loved the short film about the escort. There have been a few movies set in Tasmania during the last few years. The unspoilt scenery in some areas make this possible. I haven't heard of much coming out of Western Australia so it was pleasing to look at some.
 
As an Australian hoping to get his own fan film project off the ground in the future, the bar has been set pretty high. Congratulations to the production team...
 
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