Review Star Trek: Of Gods and Men Part 1.

[MikeH92467]

^^^Well answered on all points.

I think that all of us on every side of the fan/amateur/pro issue really have to deal with the issue of what standard to use to judge the quality of these productions. I guess where I come down is if it's a non studio production, even if full time pros are involved then I'm willing to fall on the side of judging them by a lesser standard. That said, I thought the fx on the Vulcan sequence didn't measure up to what New Voyages has been able to do, so even by the lesser standard, I think it could have been better.

If there's ever been a situation where YMMV, this is it.

 

[Chris3123]

Arlo said:
- Was I supposed to believe this was the original Enterprise rebranded as a Museum? What about the refit?

You just answered your own question.

 

[Amaris]

Tulin said:
I would be fine with that IF Fontana's story was actually good.

It wasn't.

They promised us the world and instead we got Walter koenig sitting in a room talking to a younger version of himself about Edith Keeler and the hippies from "The Apple".

As a friend of mine said, "If they are going to get Koenig in, actually have him DO something!"


Considering the furore it created with the death scene, the payoff of the episode was NOT worth it. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE what the NV people are doing but that episode was really quite odd. Personally, I wasa more interested in the political intrigue b-story and what was happening on the colony worlds.

Really? I highly enjoyed that episode. I thought the story was first rate.


J.

 

[Tom]

Well if you like acting the best performaces are in act 2 hands down, if you like action then act 3 is for you.

 

[Tallguy]

My favorite acting is in Act 3 as well.

 

[Tallguy]

Arlo said:
"1701-M" confused the hell out of me until they said the word "museum" later, and even then it was still a "Wtf?"

- Was I supposed to believe this was the original Enterprise rebranded as a Museum? What about the refit?
- If not, was it a *brand new* ship built as a museum? What a bizarre waste of resources
- And given *that*, it is a museum staffed by people in retro uniforms? So they can stare at each other and say, "gee, don't we look authentic!"

Weird.

Brand new ship, referred to as such in the dialog. It's a stretch, but not an overwhelming one. I'm sure I can come up with a canon facility that is at least as silly. (Not off the top of my head, I grant you...) The very existence of the E-M seems to have gotten a lot more attention than some other details I worried about more. Personally I wanted it to be NM-1701, but 1) it didn't read as well and 2) we never got around to it. (As some of you MIGHT have noticed, we originally had a much more aggressive production schedule.) I will never criticize the markings in a Ships of the Line calendar again!

Me? I was more worried about "Only ship in the quadrant". The novel will explain that the Enterprise-B and the Gunterman were on a joint mission rescuing orphans mere moments after dropping off Uhura and Harriman. Yeah, that's it.)

CaptJimboJones said:
There I agree with you 100%. Which is why it's so startling to suddenly see these professional actors popping up in what otherwise is a fan movie. It would be like seeing Michael Caine suddenly walking on stage to play a role in your high school's production of "Our Town."

You know, that's about what my reaction was when I heard about the project, before I ever dreamed I'd be involved in it. My comparison was to Galaxy Quest, where fans would build their own Protector sets and get the actors to come over and play on them. We live in an amazing age.

MikeH92467 said:
That said, I thought the fx on the Vulcan sequence didn't measure up to what New Voyages has been able to do, so even by the lesser standard, I think it could have been better.

I'm amused and delighted at how New Voyages is now the gold standard. A year (or so) ago, this wasn't the case. I think NV has really kicked booty in the last two episodes after being not nearly so watchable on their first outing. For our first (and given the kind of story this is, probably only) outing, I'm very pleased with the reception we've gotten. Thank you.

-- Bill

 

[MikeH92467]

^^^Thanks for being part of the forum, Bill! I've been part of a radio drama for several months and when I think about the headaches we have to deal with I can only imagine how many orders of magnitude of things a video production involves. I'm glad you guys stuck with it and got it done. You've got a lot to be proud of and you can be sure I'll be eagerly awaiting parts 2 and 3.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Re: Review Star Trek: Of Gods and Men Part 1. *DELETED*

Post deleted by Babaganoosh

 

[Psion]

My wife and I enjoyed the guest appearances by Cawley and NVSpock. Actually, Cawley is getting pretty good with his acting ... he was a great choice for Peter Kirk.

 

[STIntergalactic]

I just watched it for the second time. I must admit, it cames off MUCH better the second time around. After my first viewing, I was kind of "eh..", but now I'm like, "cool". I think the first time I watched it I was in too much of a scrutinizing mood. Now, I really can't wait for the next parts.

Well done.

 

[DarKush]

I don't think part one lived up to the hype. However, it was good to see Uhura, Chekov, and Harriman in starring roles. It was also good to see some of the other Trek regulars. The sets, costumes looked pretty good. Also, the CGI ships. However, I didn't like the Omega weapon effect.

I also thought the pacing/direction of part one was a little off. Some of the acting needed to be tweaked as well.

However, I'm looking forward to seeing the rest. I give Tim Russ, et. al credit for taking the time to do this. It is a better valentine to the fans than TATV ever was.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Yeah, why did the Omega 'beam' effect keep changing as it made its way to the planet?

 

[CaptJimboJones]

Tallguy said:
My comparison was to Galaxy Quest, where fans would build their own Protector sets and get the actors to come over and play on them. We live in an amazing age.

We do indeed.

 

[Tallguy]

Babaganoosh said:
Yeah, why did the Omega 'beam' effect keep changing as it made its way to the planet?

Well, the Omega isn't a beam weapon, it's a torpedo (at least on THIS ship). The changes as it flies were my conceit of a multi-stage missile, but Star Trek style. We always (post TWOK) saw these hard physical torpedoes, but whenever they were fired they became these glowing points of light. So this is the Omega going through stage after stage, but as a glowy Trek weapon.

I originally had the torpedo just kind of dropped in front of the ship. Spit out, as it were. Then as the missile powered up the Conqueror got the heck out of the way. THEN the torpedo jumped away. But it was even lengthier than it is now (and all in an uninterrupted cut, so thank heavens for editors), and probably not as dramatic or clear as "Fire!" But in my head, that's how the torpedo really fires.

 

[Noname Given]

I guess I'll need to see how all three parts play out, but a couple of comments:

1) I would like to thank all the cast and crew of the various Star Trek series that worked on the project. It's a nice kudos to Star trek fandom in general, and as a Star Trek fan, I do appreciate it as I can only imagine what the set conditions were like - and honestly (and this ISN'T meant as a swipe at all) at the age some of the more veteran actors are, I doubt it was a comfortable working enviroment (temperature wise, etc.)

2) For what Part One is, it flowed okay, except for the whole planet Vulcan portion. It honestly felt like there was a scene or more missing because we go right from Uhura talking about Vulcan's decision to seceede (and a mention of a later meeting with Spock); her son attempting to alay her fears; to the Conquerer approching Vulcan (withe what I assume from the dialog is the remnents of the Vulcan Defense fleet (for want of a better term); and then the shots of ships fleeing Vulcan, and the destruction of the planet.

Overall, it bothered me in that (imo) some potentially interesting stuff was just 'glossed over' here. I think it could have been handled better (story wise); but I will wait until I see the whole thing.

Overall, the acting was fine; and as far as all the veteran actors, on par with anything they've done with Star Trek previously, so I guess I don't see what others are seeing. As for the cinematography, and selection of shots/angles, etc. While it's definately a workable set; I don't think they had all the equipment resources a big studio production might have, so again, I think it was fine given the constraints they were working under. I will be honest though and say that, in regards to Visual Effects - the later New Voyages episodes, and the 3 parts of the Starship Exeter episodes have this one beat as to 'look and feel'; and a merging of the 'old TOS style' with modern SFX composition; but what was shown here does what it needs to to convey the story OGaM is attempting to tell.

All in all, a fun romp in the Star Trek universe, populated by a number of familiar faces. I'm interested enough to want to see the whole thing.

 

[cfauteux]

Well, as a fan film maker myself, I have a lot of things to say about this.
So sure, I make a spoof with much less budget than OGAM and actors who are my friends, but one thing they could have done right is CGI andsound effects. The CGI was ugly, very ugly. I have 1 CGI artist who does my show and I honestly think his work is more consistent than this was. Recycling a ship flyby 2 times in a 25 minute video is unacceptable. As for the sound effect in the CGI...ugh. Not impressed at all. There are so many ways to get royalty free sound effects out there I would have thought the scenes would actually sound good at times. Instead, we get barren silence and rehashed sound effects from The Recordist.
It was great to see all the Alumni back in the film, but as many have said, the pacing, editing and directing were off. So I'm a huge critic, pessimist and other things, but we've been waiting for this for way too long for it to stink like this. Here's hoping that Part 2 comes out sometime in 2008 and they take the time to make something that resembles what they each acted in for up to 7 seasons.

 

[Tom]

Ralph miller did the sound effects, he does them also for New Voyages. The problem is the movie was presented in mono (22000) as a part of dragonfly trying to make it small enough in file size to please all views with different speed connections. There is work being done to fix these issues. Ralph is the best guy for doing these sound effects it is not his fault there the sound quality hampered it.

 

[cfauteux]

Makes sense. Mono would sound awful, hence the reason there is no separation and everything is drab. Lets hope the higher quality version doesn't sound so...empty.

 

[GothTrek]

cfauteux said:
Well, as a fan film maker myself, I have a lot of things to say about this.
So sure, I make a spoof with much less budget than OGAM and actors who are my friends, but one thing they could have done right is CGI andsound effects. The CGI was ugly, very ugly. I have 1 CGI artist who does my show and I honestly think his work is more consistent than this was. Recycling a ship flyby 2 times in a 25 minute video is unacceptable. As for the sound effect in the CGI...ugh. Not impressed at all. There are so many ways to get royalty free sound effects out there I would have thought the scenes would actually sound good at times. Instead, we get barren silence and rehashed sound effects from The Recordist.
It was great to see all the Alumni back in the film, but as many have said, the pacing, editing and directing were off. So I'm a huge critic, pessimist and other things, but we've been waiting for this for way too long for it to stink like this. Here's hoping that Part 2 comes out sometime in 2008 and they take the time to make something that resembles what they each acted in for up to 7 seasons.

Actually, we (the CGI team) had another shot for that second flyover that was supposed to be used. Not sure why it wasn't, that's an editing issue. I already brought this to Sky's attention.

 

[cfauteux]

Gotta hate the editors, heh I always do things like that to my CGI artist!