Project: Potemkin, a Star Trek Fan Film

[Potemkin_Prod]

Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

Just printed out the MSD background for the 2nd Unit. An absolutely outstanding beauty! Getting it ready to ship tomorrow!

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

Just spent the afternoon updating the Project: Potemkin website, and the Episodes page in particular. Our plans for the first season are in place, and fans can expect a number of releases this year (10 total, 2 vignettes already released plus 5 more and 3 half-hour episodes).

We've already started laying the ground work on the second season's episodes. If you have a story you'd like to share with us, we'd be more than glad to take a look at it!

We're also looking for donations to cover the cost of additionaluniforms. We had a number of turtlenecks to fall into our lap at a ridiculous price ($5 each), and so contributions would be most welcome at this time at our PayPal account. Contact us directly for additional details.

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

We're getting ready to film "Doctor's Orders" on Monday. We need a few extras! If you're available this holiday and would like to appear, let us know asap!

We're also beginning to look to filming "The Night the Stars Fell from the Sky" (David Eversole's script) for which we will need around two dozen extras (one dozen dressed as Jedi-looking Vulcans and one dozen Vulcans dressed in camo). We're hoping to film this in April and May, and if you're interested in attending, let us know!

We also really appreciate the donations that have come in this week. We've got around 20% of the uniforms covered. Keep 'em coming in if you can! Our PayPal account is orionpress@fastcopyinc.com. Every little bit helps!

 

[Sir Rhosis]

Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

Second unit filming for "The Void" completed this evening. I play Admiral Hunter, my girlfriend does a walk-on as a Yeoman. This footage is half of a subspace communication between Grigory and Starfleet. If I ever had any illusions of being an actor (I never had a single one!), they would be dashed now. Hard, tedious, boring work. Hats off to you actors and directors who do this for a living or for fun. I'm going back behind the typewriter. There my bald spot doesn't show!

Sir Rhosis

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

LOL! We're looking forward to your footage. And now you know how I felt in "The Old Guys." I couldn't remember a single line (even though I had written them!). There's something about that camera--when it comes on, I shut down.

 

[lennier1]

Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

^^ Happens to everyone. Just like an occasional giggle fit that lasts at least half a dozen takes.

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

I forgot -- you've seen the raw footage of the Klingon scene, haven't you?

 

[lennier1]

Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

The files where the "electricity" look had me drooling for several minutes?
I was quite impressed, except for 151-152, where the stars aren't moving and the ship behaves similar to the original New Voyages pilot.

BTW: Please don't forget to have someone look up the properties of that lens you're planning to use (24mm, 35mm or whatever), so I can take care of those camera angle proposals we've been talking about.

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

151-152 are on the viewscreen. Do you think it should be slower? The Potemkin is at a dead-stop when that shot occurs.

Re: your BTW: It is on my list of things to discuss with Renda Carr's husband, Tim.

1) What kind of camera exactly?
2) What kind of lens is he using?
3) What kind of sound is he employing?
4) What kind of lights is he using (quartz, I'm told).

I'm going to talk with him at length about shooting "The Lucky One" in March. While that is technically a Season 2 episode, I suspect that it will be the hardest to do in post-production.

 

[lennier1]

Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

That explains the static starfield but that turn is still too tight for comfort. Either the guys maintaining the RCS thrusters were working overtime or someone has glued a Babylon 5 Starfury to that Klingon's hull.

The type of lights is only of secondary importance for what we're planning, since both kinds of footage will have to be matched and then color corrected anyway. But it's the mismatched lens distortion we absolutely want to avoid.

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

Understood. Like I said, we'll know tomorrow, and I'll let you know after we're finished shooting.

 

[lennier1]

Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

No need to hurry. I'll be stuck in meetings for most of the day anyway. :/

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

Linda's got to work, so we're going to be a little shorthanded in the kitchen staff for filming. Lovely...

 

[Barbreader]

Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

That explains the static starfield but that turn is still too tight for comfort. Either the guys maintaining the RCS thrusters were working overtime or someone has glued a Babylon 5 Starfury to that Klingon's hull.

The type of lights is only of secondary importance for what we're planning, since both kinds of footage will have to be matched and then color corrected anyway. But it's the mismatched lens distortion we absolutely want to avoid.

I know this isn't Trek convention, but the starfield should appear static as long as the spaceship is moving at impulse. Nearby planets may move slowly out of sight. Trek almost always makes this stuff move too fast. Anyway, there is no such thing as dead still. There is only not accelerating. In a gravity field, even that is a matter of perspective.

Isaac Newton said it: An object in motion tends to remain in motion, an object at rest tend to remain at rest.

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

The ship is at station keeping, which is a dead stop. The SPFX sequence is a viewscreen shot of another ship. Lennier is quite correct that the stars aren't moving (which they're not supposed to be), and it's his opinion that the other ship departs the scene in a B5-esque manner.

Meanwhile, here's the prop I worked on today.

http://i1112.photobucket.com/albums/k485/Project_Potemkin/MedicalBagProp.jpg

 

[lennier1]

Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

Glad the image worked out after all.
And since Trek used cases like that for everything, including Phaser gun lockers they're par for the course. Heck, their scientists repurposed a bread-making machine and Sickbay healed people with a potato peeler.

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

I kept the background in the file you sent. It makes for a more visually interesting prop. Thanks for sending it to me!

And this was a K'nex Robot World box. My son, Ryan, loved them as a kid!

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

It's a Wrap on "Doctor's Orders"

On Monday, January 17th 2011, Renda Carr, Doug Harper, Stephanie Burke, Jeremy Landers and Randy Landers braved the chill of the bridge set to complete the vignette, "Doctor's Orders," under the direction of Tim Carr. Temperatures on the set rarely got above 50 degrees, but the cast put themselves out there and shot the entire vignette. While it took 4-1/2 hours of filming for the 4-1/2 page vignette, everyone had a good time. The vignette is a humorous one as Dr. Maura Drake confronts Commander Mike Delaney over a violation of Starfleet Medical regulations.

We've posted a few pics to the Project: Potemkin website. Hope you enjoy!

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

Just a quick update: spent the weekend doing storyboards and polishing scripts. We're going to be shooting another vignette, "Miscommunication," in February. We hope to shoot the vignette, "Delivery," in March. A lengthy vignette, "Assigned Duties" in April, and then begin work on the next two full length episodes, "The Night the Stars Fell from the Sky" and "Callie" in May, June and July. All in all, it's going to be a busy spring for Project: Potemkin.

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

Re: New Star Trek Fan Film

We've got two more vignettes which may be added to the schedule. "The Lucky One" will be a green-screened episode which means it may be released this season or next. "The Engineer's New Clothes" will be shot soon, and released after "Doctor's Orders."