Phase II: Blood and Fire Part 1 Released!! (SPOILERS)

[Sean Aaron]

Well, that sucks, now I have to wait to see the rest! I should have stuck with my first instinct and waited for the whole episode to be available, but I just couldn't help myself.

Truly the best fan production out there. Brilliant!

 

[TRP]

when viewed in full high def, on TV this episode looks EXACTLY as it should it is not too dark! Trust me, it appears dark on your computer monitors because of the low res file and crappy monitors.
James

I got to watch this as downloaded and played on an HD flat-screen television--it surprised me how much brighter it was there than on my computer screen.

The Enterprise is damaged and the lighting certainly says that and sets the mood all at the same time--darker content, darker episode, darker lighting.

 

[vtcrusade]

It should be noted also that the lighting crew unfortunately had no control over the "vividness" of the bridges blinky panels. That's completely my fault and has to do with the quality and position of the LCD panels attached to the set as well as the plexiglass in front of them. We are working to make some significant changes to LCD's on the set and you will begin to see in the episode The Child some changes where the LCD's are much more bright.

Charles Root

 

[The Badger]

I for one found it very enjoyable, with some excellent scenes, great special effects and good dialogue.

I must say, however, I do think that the New Voyages/Phase II team should spend a bit more time on script editing. Whilst there are few outright mistakes there are some moments that don't make a lot of sense, or could do with better explaining.
For example, why exactly was the Enterprise fighting that Klingon ship at the start? It made for an exciting opening, but what caused it?
If the crew of the Copernicus had deliberately set their ship on a self destruct course, to destroy the infestation, why did they also send out a distress signal that did nothing to inform anyone as to the nature of the emergency? All they did was lure another ship into danger.
The boarding party searching the Copernicus find a dead body slumped in a corridor. They give it no more than a passing glance. Only when they find a second body on the bridge do they scan for cause of death.

It's not just Blood And Fire. In To Serve Them All My Days Kirk calls the Ambassador to the bridge. She arrives just in time to identify the enemy vessel. There is no explanation of what Kirk originally summoned her for. It's like Elaan of Troyius popping up for no adequately explained reason, just so Spock can detect her wedding jewels are dylithium.

Better editing would perhaps help the story flow too. The scene between Peter and Alex, though well written and directed, drags on for far too long.

I must stress that I make this point for the simple reason that I like the productions. If they were no good I simply would not watch them. As it is, small niggles like these detract from an otherwise excellent piece of work

 

[Tom]

It should be noted also that the lighting crew unfortunately had no control over the "vividness" of the bridges blinky panels. That's completely my fault and has to do with the quality and position of the LCD panels attached to the set as well as the plexiglass in front of them. We are working to make some significant changes to LCD's on the set and you will begin to see in the episode The Child some changes where the LCD's are much more bright.

Charles Root

No need to appologize Charles, those displays are very cool, when i was up there during the filming of B&F I was checking those out and admiring the setup on how you had a few little Dell Dimension PC's controlling all the displays. in fact, if you need some more of those PC's i have a few of the same type of models (Dimension L433c) I can could get you for a very very cheap price or possibly for free as i'm phasing a bunch of older pc's and CRT monitors at work.

 

[Rat Boy]

It should be noted also that the lighting crew unfortunately had no control over the "vividness" of the bridges blinky panels. That's completely my fault and has to do with the quality and position of the LCD panels attached to the set as well as the plexiglass in front of them. We are working to make some significant changes to LCD's on the set and you will begin to see in the episode The Child some changes where the LCD's are much more bright.

Charles Root

As someone who's worked in video production as well, I can understand the pain of reflective surfaces when it comes to lighting and filming. Best I can recommend is someone keeping an eye out for unusual light reflections in frame and especially if the plexiglass shows production crew and equipment. It's a lot to watch out for, but then again I never worked with a crew that's probably as big as yours.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

One of the things that I wish had been more explicit was my suggestion of the Enterprise's own ongoing repairs throughout "Blood and Fire." I'm not sure enough of that was portrayed in order to make the point that the dimmer lighting was intentional and story-related, not merely an aesthetic.

Regards,
/carlos

I think that the ship under repair is thoroughly conveyed as we constantly see crewmembers fixing things in the ship's corridors under the Captain's Log and several transition shots. Although, I kinda got confused in the briefing scene. Are they repairing/checking things prior to Kirk and McCoy's entrance or are they waiting for them?

 

[MikeH92467]

Very well done! I have to admit that the gay story line is not to my taste, but so be it. Art at times should be discomfiting and challenging. Overall, the level of acting continues to improve. John Kelly continues to make great progress and I really don't see why there should be any grief for Charles Root over Scotty's accent. I mean, who knows what an accent will sound like in two or three centuries anyway?

It was nice to see Nick Cook. By the way Nick congratulations on dying the most horrific death of New Voyages/Phase II. It's quite a distinction of sorts!

 

[Chaos Descending]

You guys really did a great job!

I can't wait for the conclusion.

 

[Maurice]

...I really don't see why there should be any grief for Charles Root over Scotty's accent. I mean, who knows what an accent will sound like in two or three centuries anyway?

My issue with the accent is that it makes his delivery muddy. It's a common problem when people speak with accents because they're working hard on getting the sound of the accent and the annunciation tends to get flat and sloppy in the process. Jimmy Doohan's accent wasn't authentic Scots by any stretch, but he could deliver his lines through it nice and sharp and clear.

 

[votd]

I also watched this through my HD LCD TV and the quality was excellent; the production values were top notch.

I'd also like to say James' acting has come on leaps and bounds, there was a lot of facial expressions going on in the first few episodes but I think they're well under control now; I also thoroughly enjoyed the new Spock's performance.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

Just saw B&F and i must say i was very impressed by how much the production values had improved, from the fantastic CGI, to the sound quality of the dialogue, and the acting...........all very impressive.

 

[Forbin]

Burned it to DVD and watched on my 32" Sony. In fact I had to buy the full version of Roxio to get it to burn in widescreen, since the LE version that came with my Dell refused to do that.

Excellent work fellas, keep it up.
I agree with much of the criticisms of timing and script editing above, but I keep in mind that this is a fan production. It's light-years ahead of the super-8 Trek fanflick I was involved with 26 years ago!

 

[Commandergood]

This was an amazing production, even more so because it is a fan production. I must admit I was a bit uncomfortable with the gay kissing scene but that is my personal hang-up. Some very funny lines and good dramatic moments. I think I will have to close my eyes next time I watch the scene with the blood worms eating. I think any one who loves the original series would love this production.

 

[ProwlAlpha]

First of all, whats with the overalls. They made Kirk and his boyfriend look like teenagers or more childish than the regular crewmembers on board.

I do enjoy Mr Cawley's acting when he is not trying to emulate Shatner, which is my whole basis for not watching TOS at first. I hate the stupid continuous one-liners, which is also the main reason I did not listen or watch any of President Bush's speeches.

This rant is about naming ships with names that are already used during the same era. Seriously why name it the Copernicus, when there is already a Copernicus from TVH?

Otherwise, a thoroughly enjoyable episode. The rants about space battles are pointless and absurd. If that poster did not want space battlers, he should check out Star Trek The Expedition, they just talk in front of a green screen, in some cases very loudly.

 

[Chaos Descending]

This rant is about naming ships with names that are already used during the same era. Seriously why name it the Copernicus, when there is already a Copernicus from TVH?

If you can supply a screenshot of that ship in which "USS Copernicus" is visible or an audio clip where it is mentioned by name, then cool. If not, then it's just some Joe Generic Oberth class ship sitting in Spacedock.

 

[tommulligan]

Just re-watched. Overall pretty cool but falls short.

I thought the lighting was a good choice for the most part. Especially on the Copernicus. Where I had a problem was the brighter lighting in Peter's quarters. The bridge, cooridors, sickbay and captain's quarters are all dimer than a junior bridge officer's room. Dimmer lighting in Peter's room would have worked better in that scene.

My biggest complaints is music and colored gels. Nothing screams community theatre more than colored gels lighting up each background. On stage it's fine in film production, it doesn't work. It's probably a personal pet peeve but I hate a program that has background music over every second. It comes across as lazy and amaturish, music should be the last tool used to set mood and only if necessary. Music looses it's impact when it is overused.

 

[Forbin]

TVH took place in 2286 (Okudachron), 16 or 17 years later than New Voyages is set. So you're saying "there is already a Copernicus" 16 years in the future?

16 years is plenty of time for a ship to destroyed or retired, and a new ship given its name.

 

[Daddy Todd]

I really enjoyed Blood and Fire Part I. Excellent work all around!

The battle with the Klingon in the teaser gave the episode a flavor of some of Gerrold's other writing -- specifically, it recalled Yesterday's Children/Starhunt and The Galactic Whirlpool. In both novels, an enemy vessel kept appearing on the fringes of their sensor range. For Gerrold's fans, it was a nice little surprise!

As a long-time Trek fan, I'm pleased to see Phase II tackling some legendary "lost" Star Trek scripts. I've been waiting thirty years to see "Kitumba." I think I read that it was slated for a future PII production...?

And once you run out of scripts from the '70's, give Vonda McIntyre a ring and see about adapting The Entropy Effect. It would make an awesome 3-parter!

 

[lonewriter]

My only problem was the acting and Spock's ears looked really bad. I don't have a problem with the gay relationship but I didn't see the reason for the bedroom scene other than shock value. My biggest problem with Phase II is with the bad acting. Oh and wavecycles???? Whoever came up with that stupid word should never be allowed to make up treknobabble again.