Star Trek: Phase II's "The Holiest Thing" - Delayed
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Among all the difficult things involved with fan productions putting out a firm release date is one of the hardest. There are so many variables involved that the date can go right by leaving the production team with egg on their collective faces.
The alternative is to wait until the whole product is finished and in the can and then release it, which presents it's own problems.
Trust me, any frustration that we're feeling the Phase 2 team is feeling even more!
doubleohfive
Fleet Admiral
After all the years of Phase II fans constantly deriding and pointing out how long it was taking Exeter to finish their episode, it's nice to see that the Exeter crew isn't reciprocating that same kind of behavior.
As I always say when people get squirmy about things like this: It will be released when it's released; we'll see it when we see it.
As I always say when people get squirmy about things like this: It will be released when it's released; we'll see it when we see it.
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Daren Dochterman worked miracles to get the episode delivered to us as quickly as he did. It was delivered to us on the morning of February 13--not only in time for our pre-announced release date of February 14, but also in time for a scheduled public screening of the episode at the Alamo Draft House in Kalamazoo, Michigan on the evening of the 13th. This screening took place as planned.
Despite Daren's feverish post-production work over the past few months trying to meet our self-imposed deadline (the word we seem to be using most often related to Daren's efforts seems to be herculean), the Producers didn't think the episode as delivered by him was quite ready enough. It was a tough call and was made just a couple of hours before the planned release, but ultimately, we decided to take the time to make it even "ready-er" than what we received from Daren. Of course, an episode's final release might end up being anywhere on a quality continuum (e.g., "City on the Edge of Forever" and "And the Children Shall Lead" were both "ready"), and I think being "ready" is probably descriptive of a simple passing grade--not something more laudable. (I'm trying to be candid, yet professionally courteous; I don't want my comments to be construed as throwing Daren and all his enormously hard and high-quality work under the bus.)
As has been mentioned--and without getting into the specific improvements we want to make to the February 13th deliverable (which we hope to have resolved soon)--the tweaking we are making to the episode involves two major aspects: 1) better, more consistent color grading and color correction, and 2) improving the sound a bit more in some scenes.
Another comment I'll make--and it's sort of an open comment to my fellow Phase II team members--is a reminder that the final delivery of an episode is not actually the final step in the process. Providing the episode to our various mirror sites around the world needs to happen several days in advance of its actual release date to allow time for those mirror sites to download, transcode, apply properly-timed subtitles and captioning in different languages. and then upload the episode for the public's consumption. There are still miles (well, furlongs, at least) for us to go even after the episode is finalized; we actually need the final episode in hand several days before it can finally be released to the public to allow the lead time for our mirror sites to work their magic. Receiving the final episode 24 hours before it's supposed to go live doesn't really provide sufficient time to perform all the many and lengthy tasks that can only be initiated once we get the final product delivered to us. Of course, in a world where we don't actually announce release dates until after we decide we have our final episode in hand, this shouldn't be a problem any longer.
Lastly, our production is spread a little thin right now as we're in the throes of moving to a new larger studio facility. Everything must go, go, go! Sets, lights, costumes, props--the whole kit n' kaboodle--we need to move it all. In truth, our post-production people aren't actually involved intimately in the move, and the movers aren't intimately involved in our post-production. But, like always, the exception is James Cawley; James remains integral to all aspects of the production and has a lot of Phase II irons in the fire right now.
I haven't heard of a revised release date, and I don't actually know how close we are to finishing up our tweaking project. There wasn't a super lot to fix on it, so I wouldn't expect it to be too long. But the other factor to consider is the anticipated release of the final act of Starship Exeter's "The Tressaurian Intersection" ("TTI") on April 1st. If we release "The Holiest Thing" before April 1st, people will get (understandably) pulled away from us and lose interest when the last part of "TTI" is finally released. Conversely, if indeed "TTI" gets released as expected, releasing "The Holiest Thing" right on the heels of "TTI" could steal their well-deserved thunder--which would make us look, well, kind of dickish. So for both technical and political reasons, I wouldn't expect our episode for at least a month.
But that's more like a prediction than an announcement.
Despite Daren's feverish post-production work over the past few months trying to meet our self-imposed deadline (the word we seem to be using most often related to Daren's efforts seems to be herculean), the Producers didn't think the episode as delivered by him was quite ready enough. It was a tough call and was made just a couple of hours before the planned release, but ultimately, we decided to take the time to make it even "ready-er" than what we received from Daren. Of course, an episode's final release might end up being anywhere on a quality continuum (e.g., "City on the Edge of Forever" and "And the Children Shall Lead" were both "ready"), and I think being "ready" is probably descriptive of a simple passing grade--not something more laudable. (I'm trying to be candid, yet professionally courteous; I don't want my comments to be construed as throwing Daren and all his enormously hard and high-quality work under the bus.)
As has been mentioned--and without getting into the specific improvements we want to make to the February 13th deliverable (which we hope to have resolved soon)--the tweaking we are making to the episode involves two major aspects: 1) better, more consistent color grading and color correction, and 2) improving the sound a bit more in some scenes.
Another comment I'll make--and it's sort of an open comment to my fellow Phase II team members--is a reminder that the final delivery of an episode is not actually the final step in the process. Providing the episode to our various mirror sites around the world needs to happen several days in advance of its actual release date to allow time for those mirror sites to download, transcode, apply properly-timed subtitles and captioning in different languages. and then upload the episode for the public's consumption. There are still miles (well, furlongs, at least) for us to go even after the episode is finalized; we actually need the final episode in hand several days before it can finally be released to the public to allow the lead time for our mirror sites to work their magic. Receiving the final episode 24 hours before it's supposed to go live doesn't really provide sufficient time to perform all the many and lengthy tasks that can only be initiated once we get the final product delivered to us. Of course, in a world where we don't actually announce release dates until after we decide we have our final episode in hand, this shouldn't be a problem any longer.
Lastly, our production is spread a little thin right now as we're in the throes of moving to a new larger studio facility. Everything must go, go, go! Sets, lights, costumes, props--the whole kit n' kaboodle--we need to move it all. In truth, our post-production people aren't actually involved intimately in the move, and the movers aren't intimately involved in our post-production. But, like always, the exception is James Cawley; James remains integral to all aspects of the production and has a lot of Phase II irons in the fire right now.
I haven't heard of a revised release date, and I don't actually know how close we are to finishing up our tweaking project. There wasn't a super lot to fix on it, so I wouldn't expect it to be too long. But the other factor to consider is the anticipated release of the final act of Starship Exeter's "The Tressaurian Intersection" ("TTI") on April 1st. If we release "The Holiest Thing" before April 1st, people will get (understandably) pulled away from us and lose interest when the last part of "TTI" is finally released. Conversely, if indeed "TTI" gets released as expected, releasing "The Holiest Thing" right on the heels of "TTI" could steal their well-deserved thunder--which would make us look, well, kind of dickish. So for both technical and political reasons, I wouldn't expect our episode for at least a month.
But that's more like a prediction than an announcement.
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Thanks for the update, Greg. We appreciate it!
A poet once said that poems are never really finished. They're just abandoned. I think that may be true of just about any creative endeavour.
Now that's real class, Greg--not wanting to steal Starship Exeter's thunder with, say, an April 2nd release date. Very classy, indeed. 
Now that's real class, Greg--not wanting to steal Starship Exeter's thunder with, say, an April 2nd release date. Very classy, indeed.
Maybe going a week later could compliment both releases? Getting fans pumped on a dose of a few new episodes of Trek. You could promote each other.
I can report (since I do monitor these things) that releases that are not on the same day, but close in time do tend to compliment each other rather than detract in terms of audience interest. I saw more traffic starting Dec. 31, 2013 over the next few weeks, a period which saw several major releases, than at any time since I started monitoring these things over four years ago. MAJOR TRAFFIC. People watch Film A and enjoyed it, so they look for another Star Trek Fan Film. Most viewers are not into all the inter-group politics and other issues. I'm sure the major groups each have a few hundred, or perhaps a few thousand super-fans who care, but the major groups get tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands (indeed, over time, millions) of views, and the overwhelming majority of viewers are only interested in viewing a quality product. They see one, they try another. Hence, a release of Exeter's TTI and The Holiest Thing a week or less apart might actually INCREASE traffic to BOTH.
That said, in all cases, once they are released, these things are watched for years and years. Do the job the way you want it done.
I do not by the above in any way mean to say that if somehow it could be arranged that there was one major film released at the start of each month (or mid-month) that would not also build traffic, as people would know when to look for it. But I don't see how that can be done. Potemkin seems to be in the road to fulfilling HF's shoes and has the potential for monthly releases, but how that's handled is in the end Randall Landers's decision. I hope whatever he does builds traffic.
That said, in all cases, once they are released, these things are watched for years and years. Do the job the way you want it done.
I do not by the above in any way mean to say that if somehow it could be arranged that there was one major film released at the start of each month (or mid-month) that would not also build traffic, as people would know when to look for it. But I don't see how that can be done. Potemkin seems to be in the road to fulfilling HF's shoes and has the potential for monthly releases, but how that's handled is in the end Randall Landers's decision. I hope whatever he does builds traffic.
"So for both technical and political reasons, I wouldn't expect our episode for at least a month."
and yet, here we are a year and a half later....
and yet, here we are a year and a half later....
The updates are posted on James' and NV Facebook page. This was the latest on "The Holiest Thing", a picture of Charles Root in the captain's chair with Carl Sheldon next to him:
James Cawleyhttps://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...set=a.1153488927317.2022447.1530489018&type=3
September 26 at 10:05am ·
"A tale of Two Scotty's!" Charles Root Jr and Carl Sheldon.
Watch for our announcement of a Release Date for our Next Voyage soon!
He also had a shot of the episode on the bridge viewscreen yesterday and said he and Carl were watching the new VFX shots. (I shamelessly kinda liked the shot because it was Marcus in the P2 uniform I recreated for her to wear...last episode I outright costume designed with James)
So...it looks like the end of the wait is nearing....
James Cawleyhttps://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...set=a.1153488927317.2022447.1530489018&type=3
September 26 at 10:05am ·
"A tale of Two Scotty's!" Charles Root Jr and Carl Sheldon.
Watch for our announcement of a Release Date for our Next Voyage soon!
He also had a shot of the episode on the bridge viewscreen yesterday and said he and Carl were watching the new VFX shots. (I shamelessly kinda liked the shot because it was Marcus in the P2 uniform I recreated for her to wear...last episode I outright costume designed with James)
So...it looks like the end of the wait is nearing....
From the NV episode web page:
"COMING DECEMBER 2015!
Captain Kirk and the Enterprise investigate the devastation of Lappa III, apparently by the terraforming efforts of Dr. Carol Marcus."
Is there a date associated with this?
"COMING DECEMBER 2015!
Captain Kirk and the Enterprise investigate the devastation of Lappa III, apparently by the terraforming efforts of Dr. Carol Marcus."
Is there a date associated with this?
Finally. I'm sure everyone over there is glad to get this one out the door, at last.
James has indicated a number of times that "The Holiest Thing" would be released before year's end. I've been privy to the interactions between James and our post-production supervisor and we seem to be still on track in the next couple of weeks.
I reminded James that there is a major genre motion picture coming out soon and we might want to take that into account as we pick our release date. We haven't picked a date yet, but if we let the Star Wars hubbub die down a bit, and we end up releasing it a bit later than we had planned, I wouldn't be too surprised. Personally, I'd vote for Saint Valentine's Day--two years to the day from the ill-fated release in 2014.
That would mean no 2015 release... And is it a good idea to remind people of the false start of this episode?.. Just release the episode already, we wanna see the phase ii E in action....
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