Although filmed on massive budgets and aimed at more general audiences who might not be familiar with the franchise (or even previously adverse to it) the new films by Bad Robot somehow seemed to reduce the scope of Star Trek. Everything seems smaller, everything comes back the earth, the galaxy seems very small, etc.
Up until recently, the franchise has always had to fight uphill battles with regards to what it can show on relatively limited budgets compared with a lot of other shows and films, and, while almost all Star Trek shows and films concentrate on one crew or one ship, what I like are those scenes that help offer a sense of the true scope of the Star Trek universe and how vast it is, all while staying within a tight budget. Sometimes these moments make the universe itself seem bigger, or at least make that individual adventure seem bigger and more important.
Examples:
Most of Star Trek 6 The Undiscovered Country was filmed on sound-stages or at least in areas near Los Angeles. A few days of pick up shooting featuring none of the principles was done on a glacier in Alaska for the prison escape scene, and were perfectly color-matched to close-ups which were shot at a different time. The location photography in Alaska comprises a mere two or three minutes (if that) of the film, and yet those shots are vast and expand and somehow elevate this film, making the entire film seem bigger. It's pretty brilliant.
Similarly, in Star Trek First Contact, we cut back to the Enterprise after spending some time on Earth talking to Cochran, and we find a great montage of crew-members fighting Borgs and becoming part of their drone army. Originally, the scene would cut to the guy reporting to the bridge saying "things are pretty bad down there" but after a rough cut of the film everyone agreed that a bit more action was needed, and the studio gave the production some extra dollars to film the montage. It was done very late in the game, which is why the principle cast is not seen in these scenes, but I think it is such an important moment in the film. The scene lasts all of a minute or two, and makes the film seem like it has a lot more action, and it gives the Borg sharper "teeth" than they would have had without it, as the audience can see how they assimilate. This is an example how you can really increase the scope of the film and the action with only one the addition of once scene, where as so many modern blockbusters over stuff films with so much damn stimuli that it all becomes boring. I mean, one "Borg Assimilation Montage" was necessary and perfect, but even two in would have been overdoing. I have much more respect for First Contact than I do, for example the reboots even the Marvel films.
Sometimes the scope can be done with almost just good dialogue. For a good while the Deep Space Nine episode Improbable Cause seems like a very intriguing mystery that is only about the mystery itself, who was targeted and how the crime was committed. But then, when Odo takes a runabout to a mysterious world and speaks with his Cardassian contact, the show's scope becomes more expansive. In fact, I would argue that this scene alone made the entire franchise seem more expansive. We knew about Romulans and Klingons and Cardassians before this moment, but hearing the contact speak of them as being all in a single plot in some way like players in a chess match gave a feeling of the vastness of Star Trek's universe unlike any other single moment had been able to do. And how great is this scene!! The recently deceased Joseph Ruskin offers his fantastic voice and presence to the mostly-unseen mysterious Cardassian contact and makes him an unforgettable character. You can't help but be like Odo: whatever this guys saying, you have to pay attention to it. And the character has a very dramatic and dry sense of wit. I love the fact that we only see his eyes and his silhouette, and we are subconsciously thrown off by the fact that the head and eye moments don't quite match with what he is saying. coupled with a big score for this scene, I felt that this moment makes the entire scope of Deep Space Nine feel huge, and it remained that way for the rest of its run.
Any examples where Star Trek has used a simple moment or suggestion to really increase it's own scope and make it all seem "of a piece"?
Up until recently, the franchise has always had to fight uphill battles with regards to what it can show on relatively limited budgets compared with a lot of other shows and films, and, while almost all Star Trek shows and films concentrate on one crew or one ship, what I like are those scenes that help offer a sense of the true scope of the Star Trek universe and how vast it is, all while staying within a tight budget. Sometimes these moments make the universe itself seem bigger, or at least make that individual adventure seem bigger and more important.
Examples:
Most of Star Trek 6 The Undiscovered Country was filmed on sound-stages or at least in areas near Los Angeles. A few days of pick up shooting featuring none of the principles was done on a glacier in Alaska for the prison escape scene, and were perfectly color-matched to close-ups which were shot at a different time. The location photography in Alaska comprises a mere two or three minutes (if that) of the film, and yet those shots are vast and expand and somehow elevate this film, making the entire film seem bigger. It's pretty brilliant.
Similarly, in Star Trek First Contact, we cut back to the Enterprise after spending some time on Earth talking to Cochran, and we find a great montage of crew-members fighting Borgs and becoming part of their drone army. Originally, the scene would cut to the guy reporting to the bridge saying "things are pretty bad down there" but after a rough cut of the film everyone agreed that a bit more action was needed, and the studio gave the production some extra dollars to film the montage. It was done very late in the game, which is why the principle cast is not seen in these scenes, but I think it is such an important moment in the film. The scene lasts all of a minute or two, and makes the film seem like it has a lot more action, and it gives the Borg sharper "teeth" than they would have had without it, as the audience can see how they assimilate. This is an example how you can really increase the scope of the film and the action with only one the addition of once scene, where as so many modern blockbusters over stuff films with so much damn stimuli that it all becomes boring. I mean, one "Borg Assimilation Montage" was necessary and perfect, but even two in would have been overdoing. I have much more respect for First Contact than I do, for example the reboots even the Marvel films.
Sometimes the scope can be done with almost just good dialogue. For a good while the Deep Space Nine episode Improbable Cause seems like a very intriguing mystery that is only about the mystery itself, who was targeted and how the crime was committed. But then, when Odo takes a runabout to a mysterious world and speaks with his Cardassian contact, the show's scope becomes more expansive. In fact, I would argue that this scene alone made the entire franchise seem more expansive. We knew about Romulans and Klingons and Cardassians before this moment, but hearing the contact speak of them as being all in a single plot in some way like players in a chess match gave a feeling of the vastness of Star Trek's universe unlike any other single moment had been able to do. And how great is this scene!! The recently deceased Joseph Ruskin offers his fantastic voice and presence to the mostly-unseen mysterious Cardassian contact and makes him an unforgettable character. You can't help but be like Odo: whatever this guys saying, you have to pay attention to it. And the character has a very dramatic and dry sense of wit. I love the fact that we only see his eyes and his silhouette, and we are subconsciously thrown off by the fact that the head and eye moments don't quite match with what he is saying. coupled with a big score for this scene, I felt that this moment makes the entire scope of Deep Space Nine feel huge, and it remained that way for the rest of its run.
Any examples where Star Trek has used a simple moment or suggestion to really increase it's own scope and make it all seem "of a piece"?
