Star Ship AJAX Production

[x32]

Everyone.

I would like to apologize on behalf of the Ajax production crew for the out of line comments made in our former thread. These problems should never have been made public and names should never have been slandered.

I haven't checked in on this post in a couple of weeks and I am embarrassed by statements made on our behalf. It was a valiant effort to point out that this set us back and try to find us some assistance but unfortunately it was turned into a mud sling with people not with our project speaking as if they were.

Please let me point out that there are three people on the Oklahoma production team John Hughes, JC England and myself Richard Wells. We are the only people who should be answering questions and supplying information in these forums as we are the only ones with the complete information. Others who are speaking on our behalf haven't the right.

It is unfortunate that we lost the sets from the south hanger but being in charge of the build I am not concerned. It is a set back but those sets are not our priority and there really wasn't much other than some poorly built flats that we can easily replace.

Also if there is anyone who feels they have been treated unfairly by the Ajax team, or anyone implying they are part of the team, please contact John or myself personally and let's try to work things out. There is NO ONE else who should be contacting or communicating with anyone about Starship Ajax business.

The budget is tight and we are considering storage as one of the options but NOT our only option. My focus is completing the bridge set, not only for the Ajax production but for any production wishing to use it. As we continue along we will add sets as needed and hopefully soon be able to return to the original goal of being able to provide a complete duplicate of the stage 9 sets for any Star Trek fan film to use for their production.

With that being said, I hold no malice with any of the parties involved. Our open door policy WILL remain in effect and everyone, even the parties mentioned in the other thread, is welcome to come to Oklahoma and film on our sets.

To make sure this new thread stays focused I promise to start being more active with this forum and provide the updates on our progress. As always I welcome any feedback from the rest of you.

I want to make this point absolutely clear. If you are not one of the three people listed above DO NOT presume to speak on our behalf.

I hope we can put this unfortunate indecent behind us and get back to work.

 

[DestinyCaptain]

Hey guys,

I think I left my keys in the old thread before it was locked...anybody seen them?

 

[Captain Atkin]

It would be great to see something new posted about the production, beyond the current set issues. Is there any chance we could see some character bios posted, or a brief synopsis/plot outline for the first episode? Beyond the ship itself, not many people really know what Starship Ajax is all about. Knowing a bit more about the ship and her crew would be fantastic.

 

[x32]

Is there any chance we could see some character bios posted, or a brief synopsis/plot outline for the first episode?

I don't see why not, it's time we start publicizing the show more. I'll get with JC and set what we can put together.



I want to point out that none of what I said before was directed toward JimTheBuilder. Jim has been a great asset to the Ajax team and I appreciate the work he is doing in that far away land of his. Wish it was a little closer.

Thanks again Jim.

 

[x32]

Hey guys,

I think I left my keys in the old thread before it was locked...anybody seen them?

I turned a set into lost and found. Check with the moderator and see if they were yours.

 

[MikeH92467]

Not to be a smart ass or in any way critical of anyone involved with Ajax or any other production, but it really does make you look at a weekly network TV series differently after you've been involved with a fan production doesn't it? Getting a fan production released and completed is (rightfully) treated as a major accomplishment. When you start thinking about what it would take to turn out a show per week, well, just the thought of that makes me very nervous.

 

[x32]

I can't imagine doing a weekly series. I should say doing a weekly series again. I used to be part of a cable public access show back when Wayne's World made them popular. In the 56 weeks of production we put out 56 shows, but that was in a fully equipped studio with editing facilities, made for that purpose. After a while we learned to edit while filming and could literally pop out a 30 minute show in a couple of hours.

Doing this type of show I think quarterly is more likely to be the target.

 

[Maurice]

I think quarterly is more ambitious than I think is possible for a side-time production.

 

[Melonpool]

I think quarterly is more ambitious than I think is possible for a side-time production.

I agree. I'm into my second year of production on my epic and we haven't rolled frame one of it yet. I could image making three more in a year!

 

[dayxday1000]

John Broughton's timely blog on Top 10 Things Regarding Star Trek Fan Films:

http://mycaptainsblog.com/

 

[Maurice]

John Broughton's timely blog on Top 10 Things Regarding Star Trek Fan Films:

http://mycaptainsblog.com/

All good points, but he forgot the most important one:

11. Without a good script, the best you can hope to do is make beautifully produced junk.

 

[dayxday1000]

John Broughton's timely blog on Top 10 Things Regarding Star Trek Fan Films:

http://mycaptainsblog.com/

All good points, but he forgot the most important one:

11. Without a good script, the best you can hope to do is make beautifully produced junk.

Someone should pass that one along to the pros in Hollywood.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Someone should pass that one along to the pros in Hollywood.

They know how to competently construct a filmable story. That's step one.

 

[MikeH92467]

Someone should pass that one along to the pros in Hollywood.

They know how to competently construct a filmable story. That's step one.

As has been noted before the acting skills and technical aspects such as camera work, editing and audio are so good in "Hollywood" productions that they can for the short term distract attention from a weak script. Look at Miami Vice sometime. In a lot of cases those episodes don't hold up simply because the scripts were weak. On first viewing, the camera work, the stylish sets, the beautiful clothes and overall atmosphere created by the flashy editing were enough to call attention away from the fact that the scripts were full of holes and in some cases the acting wasn't all that great. What often happens with fan films, in my opinion, is that the amateurish camera work, editing and acting leave the weaknesses in the scripts exposed for God and everyone else to see. When you view the various parts of Exeter's "Tressaurian Intersection" the acting is overall good (with a couple of exceptions) and the script is damn good, but there are still problems with jerky cutaways and sluggish transitions that simply wouldn't happen with a "Hollywood" production.
Again, that's no knock on anyone involved with a fan production. Just an honest assessment of what I see.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

As has been noted before the acting skills and technical aspects such as camera work, editing and audio are so good in "Hollywood" productions that they can for the short term distract attention from a weak script. Look at Miami Vice sometime. In a lot of cases those episodes don't hold up simply because the scripts were weak. On first viewing, the camera work, the stylish sets, the beautiful clothes and overall atmosphere created by the flashy editing were enough to call attention away from the fact that the scripts were full of holes...

I don't agree. We're talking about the difference between competent and not competent. In Maurice's thread on writing he talks about things like three act structure, etc. - the people making a movie like Transformers II at least get this kind of thing right; most fan films don't.

 

[dayxday1000]

Back in high school, my friends and I wrote, produced, directed and starred in vairous super 8 films. One of the books we used to teach us the craft of screenwriting was Syd Field's "Screenplay". I don't know if this book has been surpassed by something else, but we found it to be an excellent guide to writing a proper script.

 

[MikeH92467]

As has been noted before the acting skills and technical aspects such as camera work, editing and audio are so good in "Hollywood" productions that they can for the short term distract attention from a weak script. Look at Miami Vice sometime. In a lot of cases those episodes don't hold up simply because the scripts were weak. On first viewing, the camera work, the stylish sets, the beautiful clothes and overall atmosphere created by the flashy editing were enough to call attention away from the fact that the scripts were full of holes...

I don't agree. We're talking about the difference between competent and not competent. In Maurice's thread on writing he talks about things like three act structure, etc. - the people making a movie like Transformers II at least get this kind of thing right; most fan films don't.

I'm not really disagreeing. My overall point is that the weaknesses and errors of fan films are of a sort that you just don't see in the vast majority of fully professional productions. You just don't see things like framing errors, bad edits or off-mic audio in professional productions and that makes them really jump out. Viewers may not know how to label the mistakes, but they do notice them.

 

[x32]

I suspect your all right to one degree or another. If all the production components, scripts, actors, camera, ect. is top notch then is easy to make a good film. If one has weak spots here and there then the others can make up for it.

I also suspect that if you don't have a good script to start with then the others don't have anything to work with or the means to make up for it.

Weaknesses can be hidden if there are enough strengths to fill in the void.

 

[Maurice]

It's never "easy" to make a good film. You can trainwreck it at any stage. If you want to see how a film project that has EVERYTHING going for it fails, read the book "The Devil's Candy" about the making of "The Bonfire of the Vanities", and you can literally watch as all the little decisions add up to make a supposedly sure-fire hit become a gigantic bomb. (The book is also valuable because it's a rare journalistic look at how a film is make, from greenlight to release).

 

[MikeH92467]

I suspect your all right to one degree or another. If all the production components, scripts, actors, camera, ect. is top notch then is easy to make a good film. If one has weak spots here and there then the others can make up for it.

I also suspect that if you don't have a good script to start with then the others don't have anything to work with or the means to make up for it.

Weaknesses can be hidden if there are enough strengths to fill in the void.

It's never "easy" to make a good film. You can trainwreck it at any stage. If you want to see how a film project that has EVERYTHING going for it fails, read the book "The Devil's Candy" about the making of "The Bonfire of the Vanities", and you can literally watch as all the little decisions add to to make a supposedly sure-fire hit became a gigantic bomb. (The book is also valuable because it's a rare journalistic look at how a film is make, from greenlight to release).

Well said, Maurice. There's plenty o f bad stuff out there, some of it made by some of the best in the business. Take "Ishtar"...on second thought, don't. One strong area won't make up for a substandard area, but you are right about the script. If you don't have a good script, even if everything else is great, you'll end up with nothing more than eye candy. If you compare Exeter's "Savage Empire" to "The Tressaurian Intersection" I think you'll see what I mean. Sure, the Exeter crew gained a lot of experience the first time around and put it to work, but the biggest difference IMHO is a professional quality script.