Rating The Directors

[Starbreaker]

Hmm...

1. Meyer
2. Frakes
3. Nimoy

The rest are up for grabs.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

My biggest problem with Generations is the completely untested use of the color yellow. While some might say TWOK was too red or TSFS had too much blue, they six had films to try different lighting schemes.

The depressing amber mood ligthing is how my beloved Enterprise-D went out and I am pissed. TNG had so many opportunities to do this before hitting the big screen.

I felt the opposite. During the series, I always felt the Enterprise sets, especially after the second season, were overlit, and the lighting scheme was bland and uninteresting. The characters were washed out by the bright white lights on the sets.

Whereas in GEN, I finally felt TPTB finally lit the sets, particularly the bridge, in interesting and dynamic ways that allowed for the characters to really pop out against the sets.

 

[Xerxes1979]

How often is Ten Forward overlit? Only for weddings and parties. It was very dark season 2 and generally dark for concerts and recitals.

If I ever open a bar it is sure not going to use sodium vapor lamps for area lighting.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

How often is Ten Forward overlit? Only for weddings and parties. It was very dark season 2 and generally dark for concerts and recitals.

If I ever open a bar it is sure not going to use sodium vapor lamps for area lighting.

I was speaking more to the ship sets in general and not particularly Ten Forward. And you're right, that set wasn't overlit but it's lighting wasn't that dynamic at all. At least in GEN, the reason for the bright yellow lighting was because they were near the Armagosa star. Moreover, the lighting also tied in thematically with the scene with Soran and Picard, adding a bit of texture to the dialogue about "time is the fire in which we burn." Whereas in the series proper, the lighting often was the same no matter what the context of the scene, not adding any texture at all.

 

[Basil]

I think Carson is actually a very talented guy; look at some of his stuff like REDEMPTION II and you can see how he used long lenses to stack characters, making scenes a lot more crowded and real than they actually were. If he hadn't been sabotaged by Bernie Williams (Berman's alter-ego on GEN), he might have delivered in a more engaging fashion.

I think Carson and Shatner both had really interesting visual styles, and I think Meyer was kinda hit-and-miss in that regard, but miles ahead of Nimoy. Frakes was a good TV director, but the features just didn't seem like movies to me at all.

Baird, even after three movies (all terrible), simply cannot shoot for shit. I knew film students who had a better idea of how to shoot when started out than him, so a career as an acclaimed film editor doesn't get him any points in directing, because he just doesn't get how to work on a set.

Except for Wise and Meyer, they all basically film like TV directors, with lots of closeups and unimaginative blocking. Part of it, too, is the times -- by the mid-1970s, a lot of classic film styles were replaced with the more TV-like approach to film that continues today. (Now, it's the NYPD Blue/Law&Order shaky cam.) Oddly, it's the SFX shots that generally seem the most cinematic.

 

[Basil]

How often is Ten Forward overlit? Only for weddings and parties. It was very dark season 2 and generally dark for concerts and recitals.

If I ever open a bar it is sure not going to use sodium vapor lamps for area lighting.

I was speaking more to the ship sets in general and not particularly Ten Forward. And you're right, that set wasn't overlit but it's lighting wasn't that dynamic at all. At least in GEN, the reason for the bright yellow lighting was because they were near the Armagosa star. Moreover, the lighting also tied in thematically with the scene with Soran and Picard, adding a bit of texture to the dialogue about "time is the fire in which we burn." Whereas in the series proper, the lighting often was the same no matter what the context of the scene, not adding any texture at all.

The room is dimly lit, but that fluorescent light coming off the bar looks garish. Whatever happened to soft light?

 

[ltcmmanderdata]

i rate nimoy best. i consider star trek iv the best of the movies.

 

[I am not Spock]

Meyer
Frakes
Wise
Nimoy
Carson
Shatner
Baird

 

[I am not Spock]

I actually quite liked Carson's work visually in GEN. The darker Ent D sets were quite interesting.