Spoilers ST:DSC Elements Borrowed from JJ Trek

[Long Syntax]

Starting a list of elements - effects, tendencies, storytelling approach, etc. - that we see in the new Discovery that shares a lineage derived from JJ Trek movies. They can be positive or negative.

Starting things off... the warp effect. It seems a very close representation of how JJ Abrams envisioned warping of spacetime from a visual perspective. I think I was expecting more of the star streaking we have come to know from the ST the movie and later shows. The jury is still out as to whether I prefer the new warp effect.

Please, add your own observations.

(I marked this as spoilers to be sensitive to those that don't wish to know yet)

 

[JediMindMeld]

Patiently waiting for someone to start the thread: "JJ Trek: Elements borrowed from Star Trek".

 

[CorporalClegg]

The lens flares obviously. But a lot of them felt artificially inserted in post, whereas with Abrams it was literally someone shining a light into the camera.

And the off-center, "swooping" camera is signature Abrams. Though funny enough, a lot of the glide exterior shots felt more like the stuff Lin did in BEY.

 

[cultcross]

I see more borrowed behind the camera, as per @CorporalClegg 's point, than in front of it. The captain's chair is quite JJ. The busy nature of the space shots - there's always something other than empty starfield in view, which is characteristic of JJ trek.

 

[Long Syntax]

How about bald Klingons - I believe Into Darkness introduced the bald Klingons in the scene where Kahn surrenders to Kirk. It seems DSC continues this tradition. Why bald? I assume the creative folks at ST see this as trait that would be prevalent among Klingons. Do they shave it or are they born bald? I'm trying to remember if the flashback T’Kuvma had depicted Klingon children as having hair.

 

[cultcross]

They were bald in JJTrek because the helmets caught on the wigs. There are hairy ones about, especially in the deleted scenes.

I'm trying to remember if the flashback T’Kuvma had depicted Klingon children as having hair.

They don't

 

[Long Syntax]

They were bald in JJTrek because the helmets caught on the wigs. There are hairy ones about, especially in the deleted scenes.


They don't

Speculate - bald as a cultural norm or lacking hair follicles?

 

[cultcross]

Speculate - bald as a cultural norm or lacking hair follicles?

I'd imagine the latter - shaving all those bumps all the time would be an arse. Plus in the flashbacks I get the impression that T'Kuvma is living as something of a street urchin equivalent, and yet is shaved clean. I'd say this design of Klingons don't have hair at all.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Lens flare (ninja'd).

Bridge windows with graphics overlays as the viewscreen. Interesting, actually, that this was critiqued with being unable to adequately filter the bright signal light. It's also interesting that the lack of windows, in particular characters not just looking out the window to see what's there whenever sensors were having problems, that previous series were guilty of on numerous occasions was also criticized with the telescope scene.

 

[Jedi_Master]

Big windows, lots of brightness in the corridors and in space. JJ loves his bright lights, and so does Discovery.

 

[Morpheus 02]

I was thinking the 3-D holographic displays were JJ Abrams'ish. How about anyone else?

 

[F. King Daniel]

Alex Kurtzman co-created Discovery and co-executive-produced Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness. Neville Page designed aliens for both the Kelvin movies and DSC, and John Eaves goes even further back to the TNG movies.

When you have the same people design or re-design the same things, you're gonna have similarities. The USS Vengeance is a big black ship with gaps in the saucer, and so is the Discovery. The USS Shenzhou looks like one of the ships from the Borg battle in First Contact, because that same guy who designed both the prior examples, designed these too. The Klingons look like the ones from Into Darkness because they're both the work of the same guy.

 

[seigezunt]

I don't mind them. The warp effect frankly makes more sense and has more "punch."

I'm probably the only person who doesn't notice/care about lens flares.

It is a shame, though. They could have easily avoided some needless wrath by dialing those back a bit.

I thought the sitting hologram was funny, tbh, and frankly very TOS in its "eh, it's ridiculous but works for the story" quality.

 

[cultcross]

I'm probably the only person who doesn't notice/care about lens flares.

You're not. I've never understood either complaints about lens flares or things being 'too dark'. Maybe my eyes work differently, but neither have affected my following a scene either here, or in JJ.

 

[MvRojo]

You're not. I've never understood either complaints about lens flares or things being 'too dark'. Maybe my eyes work differently, but neither have affected my following a scene either here, or in JJ.

They never bothered me either. I certainly noticed them in the JJ films, but didn't really notice them in Discovery

 

[The Super Brando]

Window viewscreens.

Phaser pulses.

Blue jacketed uniforms.

The anachronistic technology (holograms, robots, etc).

The biggest one is the Klingon design.

 

[Dukhat]

Alex Kurtzman co-created Discovery and co-executive-produced Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness. Neville Page designed aliens for both the Kelvin movies and DSC, and John Eaves goes even further back to the TNG movies.

When you have the same people design or re-design the same things, you're gonna have similarities. The USS Vengeance is a big black ship with gaps in the saucer, and so is the Discovery. The USS Shenzhou looks like one of the ships from the Borg battle in First Contact, because that same guy who designed both the prior examples, designed these too. The Klingons look like the ones from Into Darkness because they're both the work of the same guy.

Actually, Alex Jaeger designed the First Contact ships (including the Akira), not John Eaves. Eaves only designed the Ent-E for FC.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Actually, Alex Jaeger designed the First Contact ships (including the Akira), not John Eaves. Eaves only designed the Ent-E for FC.

Oops, my mistake.

The Shenzhou really would look at home in that First Contact fleet, though.

 

[notwendium]

The lens flares I can do without.

I also don't understand why every space scene has to be so busy. It's very "JJ"esque, but also very "hey, look at us, we have a budget now!". Trek always did better when they had to build ships out of plumbing supplies and hobby model kit parts.

 

[cultcross]

The biggest one is the Klingon design.

Except these aren't JJ Klingons, they are another new design. At least the 4th, and arguably the 7th at this point.