Phase II Blood and Fire Part 2 Grading and Commentary

[Tom]

Was there a gay couple in the original story as well? I remembered hearing quite some time ago that Paramount pulled the plug on BAF because they thought it was too controversial and might come too close to AIDS for their comfort.

Keep in mind that If Paramount did accept the original story all they would have to do is demand Freeman be cast as a woman and some minor re-writes, case closed.

As for this episode overall there were some elements that were a bit over the top and some more subdued then they could have been. The bloodworm bird in the nebula was a VFX masterpiece for fan film, IMO, certainly raising that bar even more. The scene with Kirk and Peter at the end was very well done, I kinda thought Kirk would say, "He's Really not dead, so long as we remember him" , it had the sort of Trek II feel to it there.

When I visited the set that one day in June of 2007, I remember them filming the "Your a Fool" part and there were a few retakes and questions on how that scene of Kirk yelling at Kargh should be played out, well I'm happy to see that it did indeed come ot perfect in the final product.

All in All, great job, looking forward to Enemy Starfleet, hope they catch those "Renegades" (cough, cough).

 

[Tom]

First, I would like to say, thank you for the Trek. It is a wonderful gift, and it will be loved and bring joy to hundreds of thousands of fans, if not millions of fans.

Hey Barb, your from NY right? You should take a ride up to the set next time (with James or Greg's permision, of course) they are in production and do and first hand editorial piece for your site. I can garauntee it would be enjoyable and well worth it.

 

[GSchnitzer]

There were no Klingons in David Gerrold's original hour-long story. That's one of the elements that was introduced making it a longer two-part story.

There was a single reference to the characters of Eakins and Freeman being gay. Riker asks one of them (I can't remember which one): "How long have the two of you been together?" And the response was "Ever since the Academy." So their entire relationship was reduced to a single throwaway line; nothing was ever shown. But even when this single line was excised and the relationship between the two characters was made more ambiguous (or even non-existent), the subject of the story (being so terrified of a life-threatening disease that those who contract it are pariahs) was still too controversial and the episode was rejected.

In the twenty years since the story was written, it needed some updating. We didn't need to just hint at the relationship; in a post-Will & Grace era, we felt we could and probably should be a bit more overt. That, along with the Klingons, makes up the rest of the expansion of the episode from one hour to two hours.

But mostly, it's still a fear-of-AIDS allergory.

Find an old 1992 article about David Gerrold's original "Blood and Fire" script for The Next Generation here:

http://www.webpan.com/dsinclair/dwb107.pdf

 

[Barbreader]

First, I would like to say, thank you for the Trek. It is a wonderful gift, and it will be loved and bring joy to hundreds of thousands of fans, if not millions of fans.

Hey Barb, your from NY right? You should take a ride up to the set next time (with James or Greg's permision, of course) they are in production and do and first hand editorial piece for your site. I can garauntee it would be enjoyable and well worth it.

Fleetlord, while I would love to do that, the dirty little secret is, that I have alergic sinusitus, which means, I have an unpredictable (but not catching) cough. I'm about as welcome on a sound stage as... well, if blood worms were real...

I'd much rather do that than go to a convention (I've never been to a Star Trek convention) but I suspect my presence would be less obnoxious there. The truth is, the sinusitus makes my attendance of almost all group events unhappy for the other people there. People who know me know it's alergic, so they don't mind... much. But it's an instinct to want to be far away from somebody who coughs. My pet turtle doesn't mind!

Cough or no, I can still be grateful to those who make Fan Trek! If you, or Dennis, or any of the Phase II people are ever in New York and want a bit of a tour by a local, I'll show you some interesting stuff most tourists never see. And no, you can't catch what I have, it's allergic...

 

[jamesmc]

Barb,
Cough or not, You are indeed welcome to come up and visit or play anytime!
Just let us know that you are coming!
James

 

[Barbreader]

Barb,
Cough or not, You are indeed welcome to come up and visit or play anytime!
Just let us know that you are coming!
James

I'm pretty good with a hammer, nails, and a paint brush. My dad was an licensed electrician before he became an electrical engineer, so I could help with basic electrical wiring, too. I do my own wiring. If you have a project you can use help for with something like that, I'd love to come. You just don't want me around when you are filming... or recording sound, unless you need an old lady with a cough, of course. Including one that takes a spill. 5 years of judo gave me minor stunt creds. I'd need to take a few refreshers if you wanted me thrown against a wall with a thud, but I used to be able to do that. My doctor says I have the bones of a 25 year old, so no breakage problems. I'd be great for that! I mean, I could be fine. I go for days without coughing... then... well, I've been kicked out of lectures at the American Museum of Natural History because they MIGHT want to put the audiotape online... and I'm a contributing member. You'd think they wouldn't kick me out!

Of course, the cross country skiing up there is wonderful, too!

Anyway, I'd love to come. I love upstate. I love Phase II. What's not to love?

 

[Joel_B]

Hey, everyone. As the visual effects supervisor of both parts of "Blood and Fire", I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the efforts of the f/x team that brought you the visuals for "Blood and Fire, Part 2". I did my share of the work, but, as always, this was by no means a one-person effort.

Ben Alpi worked tirelessly on the observation lounge scenes, pulling a key from a very challenging green screen setup. That was huge work right there.

Juve Vique took on the phaser fire, blood worm shots, and containment fields in Part 2. Such a great guy to work with!

Pony Horton did his usual, fantastic job with all the transporter shots and we got to see his blue dwarf / red giant stars at the end again. He also worked on airbrushing shots and he contributed to the wavicles-in-the-jar shots, and we got to see him as a klingon in the end credits, which was a real treat

Cynthia Lin created the matte painting of the wide-angle view of the binary system, variations of which were used throughout Part 2.

Spencer Lindsay worked on many airbrushing shots. They're tedious and not terribly fun and just as important as every other shot in the episode.

Thank you, team! You were truly a pleasure to work with.

Although I didn't work directly with him on Part 2, I also want to give a shout out to Jeff Hayes and the exquisite 2D monitor animations he created for the episode. That's a talented artist, ladies and gents.

This marks the end of my journey with Phase II as a member of the post-production team. It was a terrific episode to end on and I'll always be grateful for the friends I've made through the show and the experiences it's afforded me. Needless to say, I'll always be a fan

Best always,

Joel
(Former) Vf/x Soop

 

[Captain Robert April]

Barb,
Cough or not, You are indeed welcome to come up and visit or play anytime!
Just let us know that you are coming!
James

You're lucky I'm in Denver, or I'd be hanging out on a regular basis.

 

[Tom]

Hey, everyone. As the visual effects supervisor of both parts of "Blood and Fire", I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the efforts of the f/x team that brought you the visuals for "Blood and Fire, Part 2". I did my share of the work, but, as always, this was by no means a one-person effort.

Ben Alpi worked tirelessly on the observation lounge scenes, pulling a key from a very challenging green screen setup. That was huge work right there.

Juve Vique took on the phaser fire, blood worm shots, and containment fields in Part 2. Such a great guy to work with!

Pony Horton did his usual, fantastic job with all the transporter shots and we got to see his blue dwarf / red giant stars at the end again. He also worked on airbrushing shots and he contributed to the wavicles-in-the-jar shots, and we got to see him as a klingon in the end credits, which was a real treat

Cynthia Lin created the matte painting of the wide-angle view of the binary system, variations of which were used throughout Part 2.

Spencer Lindsay worked on many airbrushing shots. They're tedious and not terribly fun and just as important as every other shot in the episode.

Thank you, team! You were truly a pleasure to work with.

Although I didn't work directly with him on Part 2, I also want to give a shout out to Jeff Hayes and the exquisite 2D monitor animations he created for the episode. That's a talented artist, ladies and gents.

This marks the end of my journey with Phase II as a member of the post-production team. It was a terrific episode to end on and I'll always be grateful for the friends I've made through the show and the experiences it's afforded me. Needless to say, I'll always be a fan

Best always,

Joel
(Former) Vf/x Soop

You guys did an amazing job with the VFX! I May look you up for something related..

Anywho, another shout out to Jeff Hayes!!, He recently helped us by doing the graphics on our new web site at Renegade-studios.com. Check out some of his work great work on his site:
http://www.plasmafiregraphics.com

Great Stuff!

 

[PattyW]

Barb: Don't worry about the cough. I spent the entire "The Child" shoot with horrible bronchitis. Not contagious, but spent my time in the green room while they were shooting.. coughing my brains out...and working my butt off. I only had to leave when they filmed in the transporter room. well, because the bronchitis might have been transported to the Klingons where it would be deadly...

 

[Tom]

Could have been worse. Star Trek: Wrath of the Swine Flu!! ..Oh wait, thats actually Abrams next film..

 

[Rat Boy]

Had a chance to sit down and watch it today, so here's my thoughts:

This episode had a lot of expectations to live up to, first and foremost being the adaptation to a sadly lost chapter of Trek and to the great episode that set it up. As before, the heart of this production is in the Kirk family: Peter Kirk, dealing with the tragic death of his almost husband and Jim Kirk, juggling his responsibilities as a father figure and the broader ramifications of the situation starting aboard the Copernicus. If there was an Emmy category covering actors in internet productions, Bobby Rice would win one hands down. His portrayal of Peter's grief could have easily become way over the top to the point where one might have mistaken him as a long lost Skywalker relative rather than a Kirk, but he sells it to at least this member of the audience, from the horror over hearing (or maybe seeing, even) Freeman vaporize himself rather than get torn to pieces by the blood worms. Whereas the relationship between Peter and Freeman felt a little awkward in how it was portrayed in Part 1, their final moments were as strong as any other relationship in Trek, gay or straight.

James Cawley was on his game here again and at his strongest during the three way confrontation with Blodgett, Peter, and Kargh. Here we see a Captain Kirk pushed to his limits throughout the episode, a man torn between his obligations to family and to the Federation. That he initially volunteered to sacrifice himself to end the blood worm threat isn't that much of a surprise. Not only is it something we'd expect Kirk to do, but also what Kirk in this particular moment would do. At the same time, though, we also see a Captain Kirk struggling to grasp his role as a parent in Peter's life, something that was touched upon in TWOK and TSFS. I have to wonder if the existence of David Marcus and Kirk's absence in his life was part of the portrayal of the captain here. I also have to wonder if perhaps in a future episode Kirk will open up to Peter about the fact that he has a cousin somewhere out there.

Outside of Kang, Koloth, and Kor, Kargh is becoming my favorite TOS era Klingon, which is in no small part thanks to John Carrigan's portrayal of him. Kargh watched the events of the episode unfold like he was amused by the struggle he was seeing, as if he was watching it like he was a member of the audience. One could have forgiven him for having a bowl of the Klingon equivalent of popcorn handy to go with his frothy drink. I'd easily forgive the coincidence if Kargh shows up again in future episodes.

But, the real antagonist of this piece was Commander Blodgett of Section 31. The introduction of this aspect of Trek lore was handled well, with Thirty-One's interest in a biological weapon of mass destruction a not too subtle foreshadow of the climax of DS9's final season. But, as opposed to DS9's Sloan and ENT's Harris, I felt that Blodgett was perhaps too over the top. Maybe I'm too used to 31 operatives being portrayed as cold and calculating as opposed to fanatical and deranged as Blodgett was when he was cornered on the bridge. Felt too much like a caricature of similar "win at all costs" characters from other pieces fiction than from the morally ambiguous types we've seen in Trek.

The other notable guest star whose mere presence could have overshadowed everything else if handled improperly was Denise Crosby as Dr. Jenna Yar. It could have been easy to feel otherwise, but I never felt that she was in the episode just to be there. She was both integral to the plot while at the same time taking nothing away from the rest of the episode. Credit to the writers and production team for avoiding the trap of centering the show around a former Trek star to the point where it might have been easily considered fanwank (note that I didn't have a problem with the guest turns of Walter Koenig and George Takei).

One flaw I wasn't too fond of in Part 1 was the technobabble involving the blood worms and it was still hard to follow here. Mind you, I've been hit with a lot of difficult to grasp concepts during the runs of VOY and ENT, but I have to admit that it times I felt a little lost in trying to wrap my head around it. Fortunately, it was only minor didn't detract from the core drama of the episode, which is what should happen in good Trek episodes.

That leaves one thing I found to be unfortunate, the audio from Act 3 onwards. I've worked in video production long enough to know that the audience will forgive bad video but not audio. I can understand the sound of motorcycles or footsteps on the set, but what bothered me was the lack of any audio during the FX shots, from Yar's transformation to the disintegration of the Copernicus. Now I don't know the story behind what happened here, but it's a glaring issue I have with the show and look forward to the final version.

But, in spite of those quibbles, I find "Blood and Fire, Part 2" to be an example of not only the best of what this series has to offer, but fan films in general. It only took 22 years, but David Gerrold finally told the story he wanted to tell that "mainstream Hollywood" didn't back then. It's no wonder why Star Trek New Voyages: Phase II is the envy of fan film makers and fan fic writers such as myself. Congratulations to all involved for another rousing success and I'm sure I'm not the only one looking forward to what the series has to offer in the months and years to come.

- M.F. Kidd

 

[MikeH92467]

I played hooky from my post production assignment on an audio fan production to watch Blood and Fire part 2. I respect the decision to go ahead with the less than perfect audio since I understand the dilemma everyone here faced. I'll be interested in how much difference there is in the cleaned up audio tracks.

I thoroughly enjoyed the show and feel that the overall standards continue to move up. James, Charles, John all of you deserve great credit for refusing to coast and continuing to stretch your acting skills. Keep going!

When I describe fan productions to people I often ask them to temper their expectations by thinking of the comparison between community theater and broadway. ST/PII is getting so darn good that the comparison no longer feels right ... and that's all credit to James and everyone involved.

Congratulations. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got audio tracks to lay down!

 

[Rat Boy]

Yeah, I was hoping to use the holiday week to get cracking on my project, but that all got shot to hell thanks to this and my review. Time well spent, I think.

 

[ALF]

It's pretty amazing... all things considered once the episode starts and you can sink into it... when the suspension of disbelief drifts away and you release you are actually watching a never before seen TOS episode. What a labour of love. Cheers to all involved. These Phase II stories are above and beyond.

 

[Tim]

Superb. Excellent story with transcendent themes that don't take a back seat to special effects...basically the opposite of what we got with JJ's movie.

 

[PattyW]

It's pretty amazing... all things considered once the episode starts and you can sink into it... when the suspension of disbelief drifts away and you release you are actually watching a never before seen TOS episode.

That's what got me involved! I saw TSAMD at a convention (and not finished, by the way) and after I moved past the new actors I suddenly found myself watching a TOS episode..that I couldn't recite all the lines to! I found it to be a ridiculously heart-stopping, nail-biting experience that was unbelieveable.

No, I'm not saying these episodes are perfect... I'm just too young to have experienced this with the original airings of TOS and, to be honest, I LIKE that experience... and to me, NVP2 is a close to new episodes as I could hope for!

 

[RobertMfromLI]

Rat Boy:

Don't worry, the audio for Acts 3 onwards will be replaced soon with the final tracks. The current tracks are just temporaries to get the episode out by the 20th.

Best,
Rob

 

[ALF]

... and to me, NVP2 is a close to new episodes as I could hope for!

Absolutely. The closest any of us could hope for... and we are thankful! Although I loved the new Trek film this summer, I have always felt that Trek was best portrayed episodic. So these productions really resonate with me. The pacing of the writing is spot on with ol' Desilu. Cheers!

 

[Barbreader]

Rat Boy:

Don't worry, the audio for Acts 3 onwards will be replaced soon with the final tracks. The current tracks are just temporaries to get the episode out by the 20th.

Best,
Rob

When will we know the episode is final? Will it become available at the regular website then?