number6
Vice Admiral
Sweet Fuck All
Starfleet Academy spy photos at AICN
- Thread starter Cranston
- Start date
Sweet Fuck All
I'd say that the vehicle is as shown....some background dressing. Any vehicle could be used as a CG place-holder for tracking purposes.
It may be a contemporary car, but it certainly doesn't look like one. It looks like a futuristc car designed for a sci-fi movie.
I've never seen it before. Based on the reactions of several others in this thread, they haven't ever seen it before, either.
And we're the geeks! If we don't recognize it, how is the general public going to recognize it?
It would make perfect sense to use it as a futuristic car. They can use it as is, or tweak it in post-production (make it fly/hover; remove/alter the license plate; add rotating nacelles and wings; etc.).
I've never seen it before. Based on the reactions of several others in this thread, they haven't ever seen it before, either.
And we're the geeks! If we don't recognize it, how is the general public going to recognize it?
It would make perfect sense to use it as a futuristic car. They can use it as is, or tweak it in post-production (make it fly/hover; remove/alter the license plate; add rotating nacelles and wings; etc.).
Well, I've seen it. It's been in AutoMags and such. As I said, I really think they'd have made at least a passing effort to change it. It is pretty distinct, so those of us who have seen or read about it would instantly recognize it. So I still think they'll do some Digital alterations or replacement, or keep it in the background only.
I would guess it will only be on screen for a few seconds. So they could spend a million bucks designing and building a future-car that would only be on screen for a few moments, or they could rent/borrow an existing futuristic-looking car (which most people will not recognize) for a fraction of the price and tweak it a little in post-production.
That makes sense ... instead of spending two or three hundred thousand to get a cool looking prop that might break down on set and cause delays (consider R2D2's antics in Star Wars), or spend two or three thousand dollars to rent someon's Aptera. I recognized the car immediately, though, and thought: Cool! Someone working on the movie owns an Aptera! But it sure looks like it's going to be a prop instead. I can shrug my shoulders and ignore it as long as they don't make a big deal out of the vehicle. For all we know, there's someone at the Academy who likes antique cars and maintains that and an AMC Pacer for fun.
We also may be seeing senior cadets wearing gray vs. junior "plebe" cadet red, or cadets wearing "dress gray going out" uniforms vs. the red duty uniforms.
I hope we don't have to go there again.
Sometimes being British brings a whole new dimension to this. One for the unrrated DVD cut. Although most of us figured that's how Kirk graduated...
I had never heard of Aptera before, so when I saw those pictures I thought it was designed for the movie. I think it's perfectly OK to use it, specially if it gets some cgi enhancements in post production.
Those of you who are familiar with Aptera should look at it this way: it's such a cool design that it gets reused a few centuries from now (it will be considered a retro design by then). Sort of like NX-01/Akira (hopefully I am not opening a can of worms with that comparison).
Those of you who are familiar with Aptera should look at it this way: it's such a cool design that it gets reused a few centuries from now (it will be considered a retro design by then). Sort of like NX-01/Akira (hopefully I am not opening a can of worms with that comparison).
Nowhere Man
Commodore
Four!Nowhere Man
Commodore
I'd like to see red stripes and a delta shield on that car then give it a name, that would be cool. Jim Kirk rolls up in that,takes his shades off and pulls out his wallet that say's bad motherfucker on it and flashes his ID. as an Acedemy Security officer and takes down some young punk fighting an Andorian or something, now ttheres a good scene
I'm sure they'd make a specialized prop if it is prominently featured.
But let's get to the real issue. Was the car built in space or on the ground? I hear that in the future, they build cars in space sometimes. And did they use torches to build it? Does it fold into a briefcase?
But let's get to the real issue. Was the car built in space or on the ground? I hear that in the future, they build cars in space sometimes. And did they use torches to build it? Does it fold into a briefcase?
The darker charcoal unis remind me of some of the early test unis for "The Cage". See: http://startrekhistory.com/restoration/cagepage.html
Nowhere Man
Commodore
the Aptera launched in september of 07' how is that antuiqe?
I'm pretty sure he means that, by the time in which the movie is set, the car will be an antique. That's what the "getting your head into the future" part was supposed to convey.
Right -- just like the Commodore PET on the desk in Kirk's apartment in TWOK (in the background, very top of the image, directly above McCoy's left hand).
http://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/twok/ch2/twok0059.jpg
http://retrothing.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/11/01/babypet.jpg
This always bugged me, even in the early '80s -- I assumed (and still assume) that it was used as an easy background prop because Kirk would certainly have a computer in his home (in a situation analogous to what we're talking about here with the Aptera), but it looked dated even to me at the time. Of course, now I just rationalize it as part of Kirk's antique collection....
Last edited by a moderator:
It may also have been a sly wink at the fact that Shatner did a TV commercial or two for the PET when it was new.
Interesting point -- I hadn't thought of that. I think I assumed that Shatner's shilling for Commodore postdated the movie, but I'm not sure why.
That's pretty funny, actually. Good point. Product placement!