Some Suggestions for Fan Films

[Mark 2000]

I've been watching some of the latest and greatest fan films that have come out lately, and they certainly are getting more interesting. Having had my own 5 minutes of fan filmery fame I thought I'd join DS9Sega and chime in with some thoughts and tips based on what I've seen. Acting and writing are, of course the biggest concerns in a film, and I could got on about that for hours. But, instead, I thought I would mention some stuff about the casts. These are pretty broad observations and tips, so I'm not pointing my disruptor at anyone in particular.

1) Get in shape and stand up straight.

This first one is probably the hardest hitting, but it needs to be said. If you look at anyone ever on Star Trek, even Spock, they have a good physique. You may say, "Oh it's the impossible standards of Hollywood", but that would be neglecting that these are military people. They have to be in shape. McCoy didn't have the leg kicking thing on the wall for nothing. It was to make sure the crew was in shape for any Gorn mortar dodging they may have to do. So unless you're over 50, if you're in Star Fleet you better look like you're lifting some kilos three times a week and not binging out on Thalian chocolate mousse.

Also keep good posture. Military men stand up straight. They don't slouch. David Gerrold once wanted a cameo on TwT and he was turned down because he was skinny and slouchy and generally a mess. Don't be a mess.

2) Wear the right size uniform

A lot of times I notice that actors in fan films are not wearing uniforms that fit. Most of the time they just look too big and bunchy. You've built a whole bridge set and you've got glittery special effects. Spend $30 to tailor your suits a bit. Or not. Just think what size shirt you would normally wear and buy the next size smaller. That would fix everything. Remember, the sleeves are supposed to be short so they don't get in the way of the computer controls. You don't want to brush the self destruct button with your cuff, now do you?

3) Shave.

You know what you see very little of on Trek? Facial hair. Riker, Worf, and Scotty. Oh, and that hillbilly who helmed Sulu's Excelsior. Riker's beard could beat Chuck Norris's in a wresting match. Worf was a Klingon. Scotty? Scotty was a fat drunk. And hillbilly dude sounded like a dope reading "She'll fly apart" off a teleprompter. You don't want to be that guy. That guy never made captain. Military men are professional and clean. They don't wear van dykes or soul patches or mutton chops.

I admit I have an ugly hipster beard. It comes and goes. Once I even had an ironic handle bar mustache. I got bored of it. I shaved it off. A month later I wanted it back, so I stopped shaving my lip for three weeks and TA DA. That's the thing, dudes: it grows back. Quickly. Anyone asks why you shaved tell them "I was making a goddamn Star Trek film!" and they'll STFU.

This goes for hair cuts too. Make them short and tight. No pony tails, comic book nerd. It grows back and you can wear it like a badge of honor. You're in Star Fleet. Now go get a razor and get to work, soldier!

 

[USS Intrepid]

Delivered with suitable humour, but nothing I could disagree with.

I know we don't always adhere to those standards, but we at least try not to slouch, and to make sure our costumes fit properly. As for the fitness, we do *try*.

 

[Maurice]

I certainly agree about the facial hair.

One of the actors I work with is very open to doing whatever a part requires, and for "Stagecoach in the Sky" that meant he let me take him to a barber and let me direct the barber what to do. So, in minutes his hair went from long to a late-40s hairstyle (I showed the barber photos of Cary Grant and Gregory Peck from that same era). His full beard went down to a pencil stache. And, of course, it all grew back (until the next time I needed him for a film).

Hell, Josh Johnson shaved off his eyebrows to play B'fuselek on Exeter! If Josh can sacrifice his brows, you can sacrifice your goatee (okay, technically a "circle beard") for a few days or weeks.

 

[USS Intrepid]

Dennis Bailey, evil dictator that he is, made me shave my pointed sideburns for Polaris. I'm still traumatised.

 

[Maurice]

Dennis Bailey, evil dictator that he is, made me shave my pointed sideburns for Polaris. I'm still traumatised.

Be glad he rejected the "skant" uniform variant or else you'd have had to shave something else, too!

 

[Captain Robert April]

Ew.

 

[Mark 2000]

I think the First Contact uniforms are easier to pull off than the TOS ones because they aren't as form fitting and the material is thicker. And I think the Polaris outfits are top notch.

William Ware Theiss stuff should never wrinkle more than thin lines in the chest area. It should look like a second skin.

 

[Captain Randy Hall]

And here I thought this was a thread about what we'd like to see fan films do, such as teaming up Star Trek and Doctor Who. But hey, I've hit people with a wet noodle about the characters having too much hair for our 2011 sensibilities.....

 

[Mark 2000]

2011 sensibilities?

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Dennis Bailey, evil dictator that he is, made me shave my pointed sideburns for Polaris. I'm still traumatised.

Be glad he rejected the "skant" uniform variant or else you'd have had to shave something else, too!

I'd have allowed the skant if Nick had been willing to go along with the black panty hose and thigh boots.

Poopday, thanks for the kind words about our wardrobe.

 

[GSchnitzer]

It was not too long after Star Trek: The Original Series finished its original network run on NBC in 1969 that Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt issued Z-gram #57 "Elimination of Demeaning or Abusive Regulations" on 10 November 1970.

One of the important instructions of Z-gram #57 involved grooming throughout the United States Navy:

"It appears that my predecessor’s guidance in May [of 1970] on the subject of haircuts, beards, and sideburns is insufficiently understood and, for this reason, I want to restate what I believe to be explicit: in the case of haircuts, sideburns, beards, and contemporary clothing styles, my view is that we must learn to adapt to changing fashions. I will not countenance the rights or privileges of any offers or enlisted men being abrogated in any way because they choose to grow sideburns or neatly trimmed beards or mustaches or because preferences in neat clothing styles are at variance with the taste of their seniors, nor will I countenance any personnel being in any way penalized during the time they are growing beards, mustaches, or sideburns."

So, Admiral Zumwalt made clear that longer hair, sideburns, mustaches and beards were acceptable in the U.S. Navy and that the Navy had to adapt to changing fashions.

Coincidentally, it was during this time of longer hair, sideburns, mustaches, and beards in the U.S. Navy in response to changing fashion that the Star Trek: Phase II series was developed. Test footage from the aborted television series shows hairstyles that would be expected of a late 1970’s production. Importantly, the U.S. Navy was already accommodating such style changes.

In the end, the Star Trek: Phase II series wasn’t made; it evolved into Star Trek: The Motion Picture. But just as grooming styles have changed in the U.S. Navy, they will continue to change in the future, too. Two hundred years from now—who knows? But most importantly, just as Star Trek: The Original Series reflects the styles of the 1960s, the Star Trek Phase II series (and our attempted interpretation/re-creation of it) reflects the styles (and U.S. Navy regulations on grooming) that were in effect from 1970 until 1984.

I can’t really speak for other fan productions that aren’t deliberately trying to emulate a fashion sense from the 1970s. But in the case of our Star Trek Phase II fan production, a grooming style that doesn’t look like the 1960’s and that doesn’t look like the very early decades of the 21st century is a deliberate production decision. A "high and tight" hairstyle just ends up looking like today's military.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

The only pictures of Xon that exist are from an audition. I very much doubt that the producers had any intention of featuring the character in anything like the hairstyle affected by the actor, any more than they would have presented him with those clumsy one-size-fits-all plastic ears or waxed-out eyebrows, or Ilia wearing a cheap bald cap. Given that the feature film Star Trek - The Motion Picture began shooting only a year or two after the Phase II audition stuff, and that the hairstyles in it are much more conservative, it's hard to argue that the difference between it and Phase II was a matter of changing styles. Neat military moustaches and hair brushing the tops of men's ears is apparently the extent of contemporary variation that they were willing to allow.

People dressed up in TOS uniforms wearing long hair, pony tails and beards really usually do look silly - as Poopday suggests, more like fans hanging out in the halls at a convention than like actors in character.

 

[Maurice]

Well, I've frequently pointed out that beards were not uncommon in the military in various periods, however, part of what a uniform look like a uniform is that there is a "uniform" look to those wearing them, and when you have too many variations in hairstyles and facial hair you start to lose the look of people being in uniform, despite what shirt or skant they're wearing.

 

[Mark 2000]

I don't think the original series was trying to capture the style of the 60's in their hair cuts. Unless you think pudding bowels and pointy side burns are very 60s. I'd say unless you're talking about the odd beehive or Khan's Golden Girls mullet its very hard to point to when Trek was made by just the looking and the hair of the officers. Xon/Sonak never made it to screen in that hipster bouffant. And again, there is precedent. About 5 or 6 people tops in all of Trek had facial hair. It's just not common. And when I look at a guy with a Todd Palin circle beard in a fan film I think "Was that thing really that important to him?"

Comparing Trek to the real world is kind of silly. I don't really care what the modern Navy does. We have nearly 200 years of style to look at on Trek. You don't have to mimic it to a tee, but you can get a sense of what works in that universe and what doesn't.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

According to Frakes the producers fussed a lot with his beard before they'd approve him keeping it for the show. One memo indicated that it needed to be trimmed up something like one quarter of one inch in one area.

 

[GSchnitzer]

Well, it's pretty doubtful David Gautreaux would have had a hairstyle anything other than exactly what he had in the audition. Xon is described as being "twenty-two years old," Kirk thinks of him as "little more than a boy," and he looks something like a "young Michael York with pointed ears." Here's Michael York from the last big science fiction movie before Star Wars: Logan's Run-- the year before they started working on Star Trek Phase II:

I'm not convinced that if they wanted to convey a 22-year-old boy who looks like a young Michael York, that they would have given him a high and tight military cut. If it were up to me (and on our show, it kind of is), I think they would go with a youthful Vinnie Barbarino look--and they'd most definitely want a hairstyle that would distinguish Xon from Mister Spock.

Interestingly, we see one other man in the Star Trek Phase II test footage--and his shag hairstyle is no shorter than Gautreaux's. So what we're seeing hairstyle-wise doesn't appear to be some anomaly unique to Xon.

But most importantly in all this is the notion that styles of the late 70s as exemplified in Phase II and the more permissive grooming standards of the the U.S. Navy at that same time would seem to have been on a parallel track.

The only pictures of Xon that exist are from an audition. I very much doubt that the producers had any intention of featuring the character in anything like the hairstyle affected by the actor, any more than they would have presented him with those clumsy one-size-fits-all plastic ears or waxed-out eyebrows, or Ilia wearing a cheap bald cap. Given that the feature film Star Trek - The Motion Picture began shooting only a year or two after the Phase II audition stuff, and that the hairstyles in it are much more conservative, it's hard to argue that the difference between it and Phase II was a matter of changing styles. Neat military moustaches and hair brushing the tops of men's ears is apparently the extent of contemporary variation that they were willing to allow.

People dressed up in TOS uniforms wearing long hair, pony tails and beards really usually do look silly - as Poopday suggests, more like fans hanging out in the halls at a convention than like actors in character.

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

Greg, are you saying that P2 is deliberately making Peter Kirk's hair this long because of the test footage from Phase II?

 

[Kelso]

I like the 70's hair. I think they should keep it.

It certainly isn't any sillier looking than the beehives or Chekov's Davy Jones wig.

 

[Mark 2000]

But most importantly in all this is the notion that styles of the late 70s as exemplified in Phase II and the more permissive grooming standards of the the U.S. Navy at that same time would seem to have been on a parallel track.

You're still basing this off of a few minutes of test footage, three photos, and your best interpretation of a few sentences in an unproduced show bible, not 40 years of what actually made it on screen - including that the actor had much shorter hair when he finally played the role of Commander Branch in TMP. I mean, if you have a vision that is your own that doesn't depend on the actors refusing to change their look for the show then mazel tov. You don't need to defend it with any unlikely source material.

 

[GSchnitzer]

Yes, I'm saying with Peter Kirk's hair, we deliberately emulate the test footage from the aborted Phase II series--and other production materials from that series that most people don't have access to. (I think I've said that in about ten posts here on TrekBBS by now.) There are other reasons for Peter's long hair, too, of course: making him stand out from all the other characters in the way that Mister Spock's green skin and pointed ears make him stand out, gradually shortening Peter's hair with each successive episode as he evolves and becomes more of a model soldier, making him appeal to a younger demographic, and other reasons.

In fact, as I've said before, at the producers' request, Bobby Quinn Rice grows his hair out longer in advance of each shoot. He would prefer to keep his naturally shorter hair, but he humors his producers and grows it longer at our request. (You can see him with his somewhat shorter hair in our footage from Buck Rogers Begins.)

I recall that when they introduced "22-year-old" Chekov, they gave him a younger demographic Beatle-ish, Davey Jones hairstyle. I think in the late 1970s, a 22-year old Ensign would have to have even longer hair in order to appeal to that same demographic. (The Phase II footage seems to bear that out.)

If we actually wanted to emulate TOS faithfully we'd give everyone TOS hair; if we wanted to emulate TMP faithfully, we'd give everyone TMP hair (and update all the sets, props, and costumes, of course). But the entire premise of our silly fan-made series is that there is this odd short-lived window called "Phase II" where there were elements from TOS, TAS, TMP, and the aborted Phase II series. We bought a crapload of original Phase II costumes that were made for the aborted series and never used (well, except for in the test footage). Should we throw out those old costumes? "Why use those costumes when they are from unlikely source material?"

Our notion (well, I speak for myself: my notion) is that we should make our sets and costumes and graphics and characters stories look like what we imagine the Phase II series would have looked like based on sketcy evidence. But we also understand some people who say "Yes--but not the hair!" The hair is sacrosanct--and there's not enough evidence to support any styles other than TOS or TMP hair!"

I hear and understand the concerns. In the end, it's our creative decision of course. And as flimsy as the limited Phase II source material might be, in conjunction with other Phase II production materials we have, it does actually guide much of our decision making. I understand others might not place much credence in it.

It's important that folks understand that the 70s grooming is a conscious decision on the part of the producers--not based on the whims of the actors. (Actually, now that I think about it, it's not actually all that important that folks understand it.)

But, yes, some fans think the gooming on our show should be more like a 2011 military style. I get that.

Greg, are you saying that P2 is deliberately making Peter Kirk's hair this long because of the test footage from Phase II?