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Spoilers Starship Design in Star Trek: Picard

Eaves is a TOS fan from way back; he knows his shit. I'm 100% sure that if it were up to his tastes alone, he'd probably design something more Matt Jeffries-looking. But it's not -- he's hired to deliver the particular aesthetic the producers want.

Really, because none of his ships since long before Discovery or Picard resemble Matt Jeffries' designs. In fact they're the complete opposite, overdesigned with tons of pointless details and cut-outs, dark grey with almost no colour.

They're just not a design aesthetic you subjectively prefer.

They have no common design language. Each Discovery Starfleet ship feels like it was made by a different designer. They're a mess. At least you can tell the Galaxy, Ambassador, Nebula, Olympic classes come from the same design document. Same with the Constitution refit, the Miranda, the Constellation etc.

This has nothing to do with personal aesthetics, but the principle of good vehicle design.

For Starfleet ships? Well, obviously your mileage may vary, but I don't tend to think it's a fair comparison, since PIC is not about Starfleet and only introduced a new class briefly in the season finale, and since we're comparing a show that lasted seven seasons to a show that's only had one season so far.

My point you were replying to was a comment about "how did fans who love ship porn survive TOS and TNG years". My answer, there was more ship porn in those two shows than either DIS or PIC.

I flat-out reject the assertion that TNG did better starship porn than DIS. Setting aside my subjective preference that TOS-era ships have a retro-futurist aesthetic, those ships are gorgeous. Eaves clearly made an effort to give them unique profiles that stand out from a distance; they have a sense of weight and size, and they all look like they have distinct mission profiles. DIS does damn good starship porn.

But you hardly see any of them. 95% of Discovery's first season takes place on the ship. And even when there are Starfleet ships on screen, they hardly stand out or make any impact whatsoever because of the poor cinematography. Same with Picard, ignore the ugly geometry on the Copy Paste Class, the actual angles and ultra wide field of view used in the episode barely left any impression. Compare it to the fan edit video I posted on the previous page. THAT is how you do ship porn. Even TNG did it better.
 
Eaves is a TOS fan from way back; he knows his shit. I'm 100% sure that if it were up to his tastes alone, he'd probably design something more Matt Jeffries-looking. But it's not -- he's hired to deliver the particular aesthetic the producers want.
Yeah, in the Booklet for the Eaglemoss DSC Enterprise model, Eaves said he was afraid they'd ask him to get rid of the round nacelles for the Connie redesign. He was relived when they said he didn't.
 
Maybe in your opinion.

To give two examples, The Mandalorian or Star Wars Rebels honours the legacy of Star Wars. It's clear as day. Lovingly crafted tv shows.

Picard only honours the legacy of Star Trek that Chabon likes. And that doesn't include ship porn because he himself isn't interested in it.

So yes, selfish.
 
To give two examples, The Mandalorian or Star Wars Rebels honours the legacy of Star Wars. It's clear as day. Lovingly crafted tv shows.

Picard only honours the legacy of Star Trek that Chabon likes. And that doesn't include ship porn because he himself isn't interested in it.

So yes, selfish.
Again that's your opinion.
 
Really, because none of his ships since long before Discovery or Picard resemble Matt Jeffries' designs.
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The vitriol against PIC and DSC continues to amaze me, but this one takes the cake. Pulling apart so short a scene just blows my mind.

You're in a thread called "Starship design in Star Trek Picard" and you're wondering why people in here take it so seriously?

No one is saying Picard is ruined because of that one scene or that one scene ruined their childhood. They're just saying it was disappointing given they'd waited so long to see starships in this series.
 
But you hardly see any of them. 95% of Discovery's first season takes place on the ship. And even when there are Starfleet ships on screen, they hardly stand out or make any impact whatsoever because of the poor cinematography. Same with Picard, ignore the ugly geometry on the Copy Paste Class, the actual angles and ultra wide field of view used in the episode barely left any impression. Compare it to the fan edit video I posted on the previous page. THAT is how you do ship porn. Even TNG did it better.
That's highly subjective. I remember the space battles from DSC way more than TNG, First Contact or VOY. Only DS9 kind of stands out, but that was the culmination of a huge long arc. Again, context.

What I am against is starship porn for starship porn's sake, which is what that fan edit is. It's not proper-it's fan opinion and wouldn't fit the context of the scene in Picard. Context matters.

You're in a thread called "Starship design in Star Trek Picard" and you're wondering why people in here take it so seriously?

No one is saying Picard is ruined because of that one scene or that one scene ruined their childhood. They're just saying it was disappointing given they'd waited so long to see starships in this series.
Yes, I do wonder. Because there is no love, no kindness, no grace behind the critique. It's just hate for hate's sake and then demanding it be done another way or else its not proper.

We had starships in this series. But, it wasn't about the starships. And that's the point that keeps getting missed over and over and over again.

People are disappointed-that's fine. But, it's also highly subjective.
 

You've just proved my point beautifully. That isn't a Jeffries design. That's an Eaves bastardisation of a classic and beautiful Jeffries design. You can tell because of the:

- pointless cutouts on the nacelle pylons
- pointless cutouts on the secondary hull
- harsh angles on the saucer
- pointless front of saucer detailing,
- overdesigned nacelles
- unbalanced geometry (look how heavy the secondary hull is compared to the saucer, side on)
 
I remember the space battles from DSC

Really? I don't remember anything from the pilot. I remember the season 2 finale, but only because of how ludicrous and juvenile the pew pew action was.

What I am against is starship porn for starship porn's sake, which is what that fan edit is. It's not proper-it's fan opinion and wouldn't fit the context of the scene in Picard. Context matters.

What context? Starfleet ships come in to save the day. That's literally it.

Yes, I do wonder. Because there is no love, no kindness, no grace behind the critique. It's just hate for hate's sake and then demanding it be done another way or else its not proper.

Picard does plenty right, the characters are good, the pacing is good, loads of individual scenes were excellent. One aspect that adds up to maybe 60 seconds of screen time was extremely substandard in a franchise that does it so well. It's ok to call attention to that, it's ok to admit whilst praising other aspects of the show.

We had starships in this series. But, it wasn't about the starships. And that's the point that keeps getting missed over and over and over again.

What does "it isn't about starships" mean? It's an aspect of the universe these stories are being told in and of huge significance to lots of fans. So "screw those fans" just because Chabon doesn't like ships?
 
How about it aesthetics and there is not a "proper way." We only see it as proper because Jefferies did something different than what came before.

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Really? I don't remember anything from the pilot. I remember the season 2 finale, but only because of how ludicrous and juvenile the pew pew action was.
Well, I do. Different strokes, etc, etc.
What context? Starfleet ships come in to save the day. That's literally it.
What ships would be available to Starfleet to use after the losses suffered over the years.
Picard does plenty right, the characters are good, the pacing is good, loads of individual scenes were excellent. One aspect that adds up to maybe 60 seconds of screen time was extremely substandard in a franchise that does it so well. It's ok to call attention to that, it's ok to admit whilst praising other aspects of the show.
Cool. It's nice to see praise every once in a while when things are being torn apart for being "improper."
What does "it isn't about starships" mean? It's an aspect of the universe these stories are being told in and of huge significance to lots of fans. So "screw those fans" just because Chabon doesn't like ships?
It is an aspect but it isn't the aspect. It's not "screw those fans." It is simply a recognition of the type of story being told is all. It would be like complaining there isn't enough starships in "City on the Edge of Forever" or "The Inner Light." Those stories are not focused on the ship elements. Picard wasn't focused on the ship elements.
 
there is not a "proper way."

Properly making that scene = not making an ugly ship, copy and pasting it 200 times, and then filming it so badly you can hardly make much of it out anyway.

Properly making that scene = providing a nice pay off for a section of fans who've been waiting 10 episodes to see a Starfleet ship in a series that leans so heavily on nostalgia, and making something visually stunning that people can be wowed by.
 
What ships would be available to Starfleet to use after the losses suffered over the years.

Their rescue armada was destroyed. Their actual fleet would have been intact still. If anything the fact that a copy and pasted fleet turns up even contradicts what happened at Utopia Planitia.

It is an aspect but it isn't the aspect.

No one is saying it's the aspect. No one is saying it was the single most important part of the entire series. It's just that it's well, the only Starfleet ship scene in 10 episodes, and so it's the only thing for people who like ship porn to discuss.

It would be like complaining there isn't enough starships in "City on the Edge of Forever" or "The Inner Light."

Do those episodes have a massive 400 ship face-off in them? No. So the comparison isn't valid. Picard DID have that.
 
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