Opening Teaser and Part of Act I of "Enemy:Starfleet" Released

[Captain Robert April]

I seem to recall a few hints that we might see another ship get the Phase II upgrade treatment.

Like, say, a certain starship that got the royal crap kicked out of it during a certain wargames exercise...

 

[Rat Boy]

If it's the ship I'm thinking of, they better get an exorcist to clear the place out just to be on the safe side.

 

[QuasarVM]

OMG...Is someone actually quibbling over HAIR?

 

[darkwing_duck1]

I liked the firefight, except that in a couple of places it seemed like there was dialogue missing. I understand that this is a WIP, so it's not that big of a deal.

The music track was odd. Temp again?

The last question I had was the Bridge scenes. They were so dark (at least on the You Tube version) that you could hardly see past the foreground characters. Is there a reason for this?

 

[GSchnitzer]

I liked the firefight, except that in a couple of places it seemed like there was dialogue missing. I understand that this is a WIP, so it's not that big of a deal.

The music track was odd. Temp again?

The last question I had was the Bridge scenes. They were so dark (at least on the You Tube version) that you could hardly see past the foreground characters. Is there a reason for this?

I don't think there's any dialogue missing; I'm not sure what dialogue you were expecting that didn't ultimately appear. But it's all just temporary; the episode is still months away--probably in the Spring.

Yes, it's temporary music.

Yes, YouTube is a lousy delivery system for our High Def productions; YouTube makes everything look dark. When I watch the "Enemy: Starfleet!" footage on my HD TV played from a DVD, it looks great.

 

[darkwing_duck1]

I don't think there's any dialogue missing; I'm not sure what dialogue you were expecting that didn't ultimately appear. But it's all just temporary; the episode is still months away--probably in the Spring.

I was expecting some dialogue when Peter went after the readshirt, if only an exclamation from Checkov of his name or a "Don't!". And when he got hurt I didn't hear much in the way of a "pain noise". I just assumed that you still had some ADR to do.

Yes, YouTube is a lousy delivery system for our High Def productions; YouTube makes everything look dark. When I watch the "Enemy: Starfleet!" footage on my HD TV played from a DVD, it looks great.

Thanks for the information. When I play DVDs on my computer, I have the same problem. I have to turn the brightness WAY up to make out details...

Oh, and on the music. Even for a temp track the cut choice I thought was strange. I would have expected one of the more "fight-y" cuts during the planetside firefight. Instead the "marching" or "exploring" cuts were used.

Either way, I definitely saw the potential in the material. The gunbattle choreography was excellent. Well done!

 

[Calhoun24]

Seeing the footage, it looks just fine. And it's nice to see a old-fashioned firefight on occasion. Can't wait for the full release.

Just one question:

Spoiler: About something that might be in the ep

Isn't the Enterprise supposed to undergo a refit? I saw the design on the site, and it's supposed to be in this episode, yet the Enterrprise looks like it always did. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself.

 

[GSchnitzer]

Seeing the footage, it looks just fine. And it's nice to see a old-fashioned firefight on occasion. Can't wait for the full release.

Just one question:

Spoiler: About something that might be in the ep

Isn't the Enterprise supposed to undergo a refit? I saw the design on the site, and it's supposed to be in this episode, yet the Enterrprise looks like it always did. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself.

Eh. Plans change. There was mixed reception to the plan (which is nothing new, of course--there's mixed reception to everything we do). But I think the deciding factor that made us want to keep the old design (as cool as the new one might be) was the recent J.J. Abrams movie. I think people just missed the classic TOS look of the Enterprise. So I think we decided that we wanted to be the guys to keep the look of the old Enterprise, not become just another production to "update" the look.

We might yet do it at some point. (We still have that itch we'd like to scratch.) But proudly keeping the look of the ol' girl is also an itch we want to scratch now. It's competing itches. (We might show off the design in a sister ship to the Enterprise--like a newly-repaired Potemkin, or something like that. Who knows? I don't even know what I'm doing for lunch today.)

 

[ST-One]

Seeing the footage, it looks just fine. And it's nice to see a old-fashioned firefight on occasion. Can't wait for the full release.

Just one question:

Spoiler: About something that might be in the ep

Isn't the Enterprise supposed to undergo a refit? I saw the design on the site, and it's supposed to be in this episode, yet the Enterrprise looks like it always did. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself.

Eh. Plans change. There was mixed reception to the plan (which is nothing new, of course--there's mixed reception to everything we do). But I think the deciding factor that made us want to keep the old design (as cool as the new one might be) was the recent J.J. Abrams movie. I think people just missed the classic TOS look of the Enterprise. So I think we decided that we wanted to be the guys to keep the look of the old Enterprise, not become just another production to "update" the look.

And, to be honest, the updated version of the big E Dochterman built for you just didn't look very good.

 

[GSchnitzer]

Seeing the footage, it looks just fine. And it's nice to see a old-fashioned firefight on occasion. Can't wait for the full release.

Just one question:

Spoiler: About something that might be in the ep

Isn't the Enterprise supposed to undergo a refit? I saw the design on the site, and it's supposed to be in this episode, yet the Enterrprise looks like it always did. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself.

Eh. Plans change. There was mixed reception to the plan (which is nothing new, of course--there's mixed reception to everything we do). But I think the deciding factor that made us want to keep the old design (as cool as the new one might be) was the recent J.J. Abrams movie. I think people just missed the classic TOS look of the Enterprise. So I think we decided that we wanted to be the guys to keep the look of the old Enterprise, not become just another production to "update" the look.

And, to be honest, the updated version of the big E Dochterman built for you just didn't look very good.

Well, like I say: it had a mixed reception. To be honest, some people thought it was great and brilliant work. Others thought it just didn't look very good. In the end, I think we on the production team are probably our own harshest critics.

 

[QuasarVM]

Seeing the footage, it looks just fine. And it's nice to see a old-fashioned firefight on occasion. Can't wait for the full release.

Just one question:

Spoiler: About something that might be in the ep

Isn't the Enterprise supposed to undergo a refit? I saw the design on the site, and it's supposed to be in this episode, yet the Enterrprise looks like it always did. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself.

Eh. Plans change. There was mixed reception to the plan (which is nothing new, of course--there's mixed reception to everything we do). But I think the deciding factor that made us want to keep the old design (as cool as the new one might be) was the recent J.J. Abrams movie. I think people just missed the classic TOS look of the Enterprise. So I think we decided that we wanted to be the guys to keep the look of the old Enterprise, not become just another production to "update" the look.

We might yet do it at some point. (We still have that itch we'd like to scratch.) But proudly keeping the look of the ol' girl is also an itch we want to scratch now. It's competing itches. (We might show off the design in a sister ship to the Enterprise--like a newly-repaired Potemkin, or something like that. Who knows? I don't even know what I'm doing for lunch today.)

I think most people would be satisfied if you just had it in one episode and then reset things at the end. At least I know I would be satisfied with that -- I'd just like to see the real PII Enterprise animated and brought to life by folks like the PII team who can do good FX work.

Some guy has attempted it and it's out on YouTube but it looks terrible.

At any rate, while I am a Dochterman fan -- I didn't care for his PII Enterprise because it didn't look very accurate. If you look at the painting of it in the ST:TMP poster, there's a LOT more windows (and bigger windows because you can see inside them on the painting) on it...and definitely more of a pattern than what was on Dochterman's model.

I hope you guys end up doing something with it eventually...like I said, even if it's just for one episode.

 

[Captain Robert April]

Well, if you ask me, and you haven't , I think it's best to stick with the classic design for now, until such time as it's determined that the five year mission is finally concluded (a live action version of "The Doctor and the Enterprise" is an idea worth considering; I might even work up a screenplay).

Then, after a brief hiatus for retooling, really start off with Phase II as originally intended, to depict the second five year mission.

Now, something to take into account with this approach is whether to pick up where TMP left off, since it's set only a few years after the end of initial five year mission, or, at this stage, say to hell with the established timeline from this point forward and start plowing some new ground.

If you decided to stick with the established timeline, there's a matter of how much of the TMP designs to stick with and for how long. The ship is pretty much set in stone, thanks to the subsequent movies, but there's nothing to say that the gray pajama uniforms went over about as well with the personnel as they did with the fans (like the proverbial lead balloon), and Starfleet went back to the TOS styles for a time, maybe with the addition of the medical scanning belt buckles, wrist communicators, and upgraded phasers, eventually transitioning to the TWOK uniforms.

It's an idea...

As for Dochterman's Phase II E rendering, I think the most off-putting aspect was that there was a little too much TMP in there. The original idea was that the saucer would be largely unchanged; it was the secondary hull and nacelles that would be swapped out with higher powered versions.

I think something along these lines might've gone over better...

 

[QuasarVM]

As for Dochterman's Phase II E rendering, I think the most off-putting aspect was that there was a little too much TMP in there. The original idea was that the saucer would be largely unchanged; it was the secondary hull and nacelles that would be swapped out with higher powered versions.

I think something along these lines might've gone over better...

Agreed -- the changes to the saucer were the two turbolift shafts on the back of the bridge, the impulse drive, and the additional windows. There may have been hexagonal airlock doors (for the geometrically shaped travel pods) on the domed area under the bridge -- one on either side -- but I can't remember if that was just one of the drawings I saw or if that was actually part of the model. Other than that, the secondary hull changes (pentagonal airlock doors and the registration number on the hull).

The painting of the ship on the ST:TMP poster actually shows some greebly detail on the front inside of the nacelles...again, not sure if that was going to be included on the model or just "artist's license".

 

[GSchnitzer]

Well, if you ask me, and you haven't , I think it's best to stick with the classic design for now, until such time as it's determined that the five year mission is finally concluded (a live action version of "The Doctor and the Enterprise" is an idea worth considering; I might even work up a screenplay).

Then, after a brief hiatus for retooling, really start off with Phase II as originally intended, to depict the second five year mission.

Now, something to take into account with this approach is whether to pick up where TMP left off, since it's set only a few years after the end of initial five year mission, or, at this stage, say to hell with the established timeline from this point forward and start plowing some new ground.

If you decided to stick with the established timeline, there's a matter of how much of the TMP designs to stick with and for how long. The ship is pretty much set in stone, thanks to the subsequent movies, but there's nothing to say that the gray pajama uniforms went over about as well with the personnel as they did with the fans (like the proverbial lead balloon), and Starfleet went back to the TOS styles for a time, maybe with the addition of the medical scanning belt buckles, wrist communicators, and upgraded phasers, eventually transitioning to the TWOK uniforms.

It's an idea...

As for Dochterman's Phase II E rendering, I think the most off-putting aspect was that there was a little too much TMP in there. The original idea was that the saucer would be largely unchanged; it was the secondary hull and nacelles that would be swapped out with higher powered versions.

I think something along these lines might've gone over better...

Never underestimate the degree to which the high expenses associated with building all new sets and all new props and all new costumes act as a motivator for us to keep things exactly as they are. Our sets, props, and costumes were amassed gradually over a decade or more at a cost of, well, a lot. It would be a shame/difficult/impossible to start all over again.

 

[DEWLine]

The reticence to make that particular set of changes is understandable from here, believe me. I do have a meddling sort of suggestion if you decide to show the alt.design off with another guest starship and prefer to not use one of the ships that appeared on TOS.

Why not use "Kumari"?

 

[DestinyCaptain]

I don't see why this version couldn't be introduced as another conney post refit project. Have her in the background as a nod to the existance of the program and it's implementation of new systems and test-beds....

 

[Captain Robert April]

So long as we don't see anything substantial of the interior, I don't see the problem, especially since the CGI model has apparently already been done.

 

[Data Holmes]

Just watched the teaser and I have to say, I'm really interested to see this one now. It definitely nailed down that TOS pacing for a pre-credit sequence.

I agree with the earlier poster that the moment really yearned for a McCoy line. Perhaps even an "I'm a doctor..." line. "Dammit, Jim. I'm a doctor not a commando. I'm tired of getting shot at every mission!"

I don't see why this version couldn't be introduced as another conney post refit project. Have her in the background as a nod to the existance of the program and it's implementation of new systems and test-beds....

Ya, perhaps a quip from scotty about how they are "doing it wrong" and how he won't let them mess with the old girl.

I would really love to see a more restful/fun eps from you guys. The ship docked at a starbase for a quick overhaul and the crew getting some R&R would be fun. Scotty getting hammered in the local "pub" with young Kirk and Xon in tow would be an interesting bit. McCoy and Spock spending the entire time getting on each others nerves. Kirk getting annoyed about sitting still for so long, and the sector admiral hinting to him that his name is being looked at for promotion to the flag roster, something which Kirk says he will never do. How his place is on the bridge of his ship. Chekov and Sulu going on some quest to solve a station mystery which turns out to be nothing in the end. And Uhura and Rand volunteering to serve as watch officers on the enterprise during the time period.

A fun cool down from all the heavy drama and action which has been going on on the show, but also little touches, sprinkles on the sundae if you will, of future things to come.

 

[Professor Moriarty]

Neat! I had huge reservations about Ben Tolpin and Andrew Bray the first time I saw either of them, and they turned out to be two of my favorite actors in the series, so I look forward to seeing how Brandon Stacy and Jonathan Zungre step into the Spock and Chekov roles.

And FWIW, count me firmly in the camp that prefers Daren Dochterman's beautiful Enterprise model to stay just the way it is in all her 1960's TOS glory. There was nothing wrong with his Phase II model*; it was the design itself that was the problem. (Warning! Completely arbitrary personal opinions ahead.)

Matt Jefferies' TOS Enterprise is a timeless classic--a design that will always be #1 in my heart (as I'm sure it is for millions of fans of the original Gray Lady). Andrew Probert's refit Enterprise is a close second--a gorgeous update of the classic design that honors the original while bringing it firmly into the Second Age of Star Trek.

Joe Jennings' and Matt Jefferies' design for Star Trek: Phase II? Not so much. Yes, I readily acknowledge that Probert's Enterprise was heavily influenced by Enterprise "version 1.5"; indeed; without the Jennings/Jefferies--another "JJ"! --Enterprise we likely would have seen a very different refit in theaters thirty years ago this week.

Stylistically though (and with all due respect to Messrs. Jennings/Jefferies), the Phase II starship was a mess--an awkward amalgam of what came before and what was ultimately to follow. And yes, I say this fully aware that Enterprise 1.5 was designed and built before Probert hit the scene at Robert Abel and Associates--but there it is. To my eye, the Phase II Enterprise will always look like half a (mis)step between the television and movie era.
____
* - OK fine, I suppose I would have gone in a different direction on those highly-saturated sky-blue sensor domes...pick pick pick

 

[PattyW]

I liked the firefight, except that in a couple of places it seemed like there was dialogue missing.

There was one piece of dialogue missing from this temp version. When Kirk calls the Enterprise on his communicator, DeSalle is supposed to answer with static that the ship is being attacked. THEN Spock says the signal is being jammed locally.

This missing piece explains why later Kirk says "what's going on up there?!"