Star Trek: First Frontier on Kickstarter

[jackoverfull]

I'd have to rewatch it but I think it was based on a radio countdown frequency that the alien was giving off. I think I followed that correctly.

I think something like that was the idea once it suddenly activated itself in the meeting room, but I didn’t get it was already active in sickbay (why bring it to the meeting room at all, then?).

Truth be told, until they started talking about it at the meeting I didn’t even know there was a device at all and even now I’m not sure what it was supposed to do (beside blowing up). Uops!

 

[scifieric]

So freaking good, Eric!

is this your first credit in a production??

Thank you, Irishman! I think they only model they actually used of mine was the exterior of the shuttle craft. I made a shuttle interior and the first model they bought from me was the Pike-era USS Enterprise ... and then they didn't use that (or the shuttle interior) either. Dang!

And yes, this is my first credit in a production. No one has ever asked before!

So proud of you Eric. Marvelous!!!

Thank you VERY much, my friend!

Can't merge threads from two separate subfora as a mod, so I just moved it to Fan Productions. If she feels so inclined, @jespah can merge the two threads from here.

Thank you very much!

All set.

Thank you very much!

 

[Ssosmcin]

32 minutes of this film and still zero adventure, I would love to see the characters upbeat and are already out there in outer space. This fanfilm doesn't feel like Star Trek at all.

I long for the days when a pilot is just an episode, like the original series. Not sure why so many fan films have to be this huge emotional epic with set ups and intros out of the Deep Space Nine School of Tragedy.

 

[thribs]

I enjoyed it but the sound mixing was very bad. Did Christopher Nolan do it?
They also missed a bit of continuity with Archer dying the same say the Enterprise launched.

 

[fireproof78]

I long for the days when a pilot is just an episode, like the original series. Not sure why so many fan films have to be this huge emotional epic with set ups and intros out of the The Cage School of Tragedy.

Fixed that for you
@Maurice touched on this as a common trope, but it has been around since the foundation of the show, so I guess people go with what they feel is familiar.

Star Trek: First Frontier on Kickstarter

 

[MikeH92467]

I guess that going the "tortured/reluctant" captain route is just a desire to avoid the "Mary Sue" trap. I remember a Rockford Files episode where Tom Selleck played the irritatingly perfect detective Lance White. It was a great gag and really played against the hard-boiled detective trope. The problem with something like that it takes a talented and skilled writer to pull it off. Productions like this show just how hard it is to make one good, stand-alone episode, let alone do a series. A chain...the weakest link...etc

 

[Ssosmcin]

Fixed that for you

Well, I said Deep Space Nine because that was more of a "tragic past of the main character who doesn't want the job but warms to it by the end while we are given laborious introductions to everyfrickingbody in the cast and the sets and then we cap it with a giant assed space battle." The Cage gave us a guy who, I presume, wanted the job when he took it and is now tired after years of dealing with the stress of command and finally losing valued members of his staff. There's a bit of a difference between a guy who doesn't want the command and a guy who did but just needs a week off. "First Frontier" is the former.

 

[fireproof78]

Well, I said Deep Space Nine because that was more of a "tragic past of the main character who doesn't want the job but warms to it by the end while we are given laborious introductions to everyfrickingbody in the cast and the sets and then we cap it with a giant assed space battle." The Cage gave us a guy who, I presume, wanted the job when he took it and is now tired after years of dealing with the stress of command and finally losing valued members of his staff. There's a bit of a difference between a guy who doesn't want the command and a guy who did but just needs a week off. "First Frontier" is the former.

Part of April seemed to be he had wanted to be a captain (or at least out in space), but then bad stuff happened, which is why I felt the Pike analog was appropriate.

And part of my comment was just tongue in cheek

 

[marillion]

Quibbles and concerns about CGI and sound quality aside, seeing Barry Corbin (Northern Exposure, War Games, etc...) in the cast was pretty neat!

My hats off to the production!

 

[Forsythe]

I have a hard time nit picking a labor of love.
That said, the sound needs a rework.
Fan films are funny. One aspect is lacking, while the other excels.
In this instance, good actors, terrible sound.
I hope they fix it .

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

I was interested in the story's time period, and the fact the producers created their own 11ft miniature. As some have observed, the "reluctant/depressed" captain bit (and the alien with a family who does not support the relative's career choice and/or is making any sort of cultural arguments) is a one-time only trick. After that--within the world of Star Trek--and its instantly derivative, and tiresome. The plot was hit and miss and could have benefited from being edited down by five minutes or more. Probably a bad pacing thing that gives that impression. Yes, its a fan film, and a lot of hard work was put into it, but its missing the kind of heart a first ST adventure should have (or 2nd pilot in the case of WNMHGB).

I do wonder why the Phaser rifles were altered to be so..hmm...dingy? They looked more like an assemblage of rusty plumbing parts than the original prop.

 

[XCV330]

it would be nice to have a captain that likes being a captain "I get this huge cabin, duty free booze, and I can set my own course because I'm avoiding getting served papers for child support. and my skant is made of velourr.. there is absolutely not one bad thing about being a captain."

ok i haven't watched the entire thing yet, and with the snarky comments in the credits and also because I don't like it so far, i probably wont.

So my thoughts, such as they are:

I kind of hate that they convinced Nichols to be involved in this pile of crap, presumably the last of the "big" full length fan productions. I hope she was fully aware of what she was getting her name attached to, anyway.

Captain April developed his British accent later in life? did he make a deal to swap with Carol Marcus?

The SFX are.. well some are OK, some are Birdemic level bad. They would have been better off just being consistently good or bad.

They shouldn't have used an existing sound track. It's jarring.

A species that lives to destroy for the sake of destruction is kind of stupid.

awkward line of the century: "Robert if my wife were half as radiant as yours, I'd want to be near her too". uh.. does this mean he doesn't have a wife, or he does albeit one lacking sufficient radiance, and that's why he's on a space station? Also, can that spider Charlotte write radiant above her bed in the morning?

Professional Wilford Brimley Impersonator Barry Corbin was a surprise. It's nice that April's dad showed up to give Robert some advice about diabeetus

things I did not know: If you're stuck on a space station that's too close to an exploding spaceship the thing to do is "Everybody run" to some other part of the space station, presumably.

 

[fireproof78]

Professional Wilford Brimley Impersonator Barry Corbin was a surprise. It's nice that April's dad showed up to give Robert some advice about diabeetus

He was my favorite part.

 

[Nyotarules]

Found this by accident on Youtube. I agree the sound mix is poor, the acting is ok however the show comes across as a 2020 version of a 1960's show set in the 23rd century, rather than a 21st century production version of the 23rd century. Discovery and the Kelvin movies did it much better.
Also maybe the makeup budget was very low, and the casting director had limited vision but in universe Starfleet should be more than 'White North Americans in space'.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I thought Paramount had issues with longer productions like this. Didn't they set a cap of 15 minutes or somesuch after Axanar got their attention?

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

I thought Paramount had issues with longer productions like this. Didn't they set a cap of 15 minutes or somesuch after Axanar got their attention?

When the guidelines were implemented, CBS stated any production that was in progress before the guidelines were established could go forward as is. First Frontier was one of those productions even though it took them years to cross the finish line.

 

[jackoverfull]

I thought Paramount had issues with longer productions like this. Didn't they set a cap of 15 minutes or somesuch after Axanar got their attention?

30 minutes (2 15 minutes segments), but those are “guidelines”, they don’t necessarily sue or CaD every production that breaks them (and so far they haven’t sued anyone til they were released, I think). Also, they have unofficially stated that productions that were shot before the release of the guidelines could be completed as they are.

What surprises me the most in this production is the prominent use of the TWoK soundtrack, which is of course something expressly prohibited by the guidelines (and, since paramount/CBS don’t necessarily own that music, put the authors in risk of being sued by third parties).

 

[Noname Given]

I thought Paramount had issues with longer productions like this. Didn't they set a cap of 15 minutes or somesuch after Axanar got their attention?

The guidelines are ONLY guidelines. They even state that they are legally not any kind of 'implied contract' either. CBS still reserves all rights to pursue ANY legal remedy if you use the Star Trek IP. Following them doesn't 100% ensure you WON'T be sued, and not following them doesn't mean you will be sued either.

 

[USS Intrepid]

The guidelines are ONLY guidelines. They even state that they are legally not any kind of 'implied contract' either. CBS still reserves all rights to pursue ANY legal remedy if you use the Star Trek IP. Following them doesn't 100% ensure you WON'T be sued, and not following them doesn't mean you will be sued either.

This exactly.

 

[fireproof78]

I thought Paramount had issues with longer productions like this. Didn't they set a cap of 15 minutes or somesuch after Axanar got their attention?

I believed they were grandfathered due to when they started their project.