You've inspired me. Using the DE and DE bonus material, I'm going to take a crack at this myself.
TMP Re-Edit & Restoration Project - Ideas, Feedback, Advise
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I don't want to beat a dead horse from earlier, but reading through the opinions presented, I find myself in agreement with Maurice regarding the transporter scene. It was very engrossing, and dramatized the ship being unready for the mission. I'm in favor of most all creative endeavors, this one too, but I feel that scene is vital to the story. Not to mention it'd leave the story going from "I'm taking over the center seat, Will." in engineering, to "We have to replace Commander Sonak." in the corridor. It'd feel like an edit of the original series on SYFY, like when they cut out the Spock/Charlie chess scene in Charlie X, leaving a new viewer wondering what that little lumpy thing Kirk showed Charlie was all about. I shut off the television right then and there, vowing to get the DVD's, which I did.
Anyhow, regarding your project, good luck. I'll be curious to see what you come up with!
(I just feel strongly about the transporter scene. Besides, the beginning of this movie nowhere near drags.)
Anyhow, regarding your project, good luck. I'll be curious to see what you come up with!
(I just feel strongly about the transporter scene. Besides, the beginning of this movie nowhere near drags.)
Well, my DVD player kicked the bucket tonight, but I realized the old VCR is still hooked up, so I proceeded to find a tape to put on for background noise. Why I still have the VCR is anyone's guess, since I only own a very small handful of tapes anymore. Well, one of the ones happens to be Star Trek: The Motion Picture, so based somewhat on this thread, I popped it in!
I'm not getting any real, palpable sense of "drag" until the rec deck...briefing, or whatever you want to call it. Back in the series, this would have been a "This is the Captain speaking" scene, with reaction shots from various crew at various locations around the ship. Funny thing is, if they did that here, they would've been able to show much, much more of the new ship than one big room could, regardless of its size. (Come to think of it, that comm message that Uhura had to walk halfway across that room to answer would actually have be rather loud to be heard in that room, no?)
Since I can't sleep too well tonight, I thought I'd throw this in.
I'm not getting any real, palpable sense of "drag" until the rec deck...briefing, or whatever you want to call it. Back in the series, this would have been a "This is the Captain speaking" scene, with reaction shots from various crew at various locations around the ship. Funny thing is, if they did that here, they would've been able to show much, much more of the new ship than one big room could, regardless of its size. (Come to think of it, that comm message that Uhura had to walk halfway across that room to answer would actually have be rather loud to be heard in that room, no?)
Since I can't sleep too well tonight, I thought I'd throw this in.
I've started the tram shots and have a few questions.
The sequence you are envisioning would be:
1. The tram approaches StarFleet HQ in a shot similar to the Director's Edition but matching the unused Tram shot in it's depiction of San Franscisco. I would use the provided photo of San Francisco bay to reconstruct the shot as needed.
2. The second shot shows the tram entering StarFleet HQ from the outside like the screenshot provided. I am currently breaking that shot apart to be able to composite the various elements and color correcting/grain removal as well to get a clean plate. I'm thinking that the clouds in the BG could move a bit and some sort of slot gag to bring some life to the water.
Do you intend to use the shot of the shuttle approaching StarFleet HQ that was used in the 1979 release between these two additional shots? If so, then I'll have to make certain that all three shots (the two new and the one existing) will all match color-wise.
Finally, I'm assuming that the shots should look like they could have come from the 1979 release rather than have lots of digital bells and whistles like multi-plane/parallax movement. Is this correct?
Thanks as always!
Pierre
The sequence you are envisioning would be:
1. The tram approaches StarFleet HQ in a shot similar to the Director's Edition but matching the unused Tram shot in it's depiction of San Franscisco. I would use the provided photo of San Francisco bay to reconstruct the shot as needed.
2. The second shot shows the tram entering StarFleet HQ from the outside like the screenshot provided. I am currently breaking that shot apart to be able to composite the various elements and color correcting/grain removal as well to get a clean plate. I'm thinking that the clouds in the BG could move a bit and some sort of slot gag to bring some life to the water.
Do you intend to use the shot of the shuttle approaching StarFleet HQ that was used in the 1979 release between these two additional shots? If so, then I'll have to make certain that all three shots (the two new and the one existing) will all match color-wise.
Finally, I'm assuming that the shots should look like they could have come from the 1979 release rather than have lots of digital bells and whistles like multi-plane/parallax movement. Is this correct?
Thanks as always!
Pierre
Basically yes. I've included a few more concepts I dug up to help with conceptualizing the city scape (you might also look to memory alpha to see how it's been represented in other Trek and draw inspiration there). From what I recall, Gene's idea was that the smog would be gone, original cost line restored, a lot of city sprawl removed, and that the greenery would be lush.
Concerning the photo, you can use or combine others if you wish. I just suggested that one due to it having the right angle and a very high resolution (though it does have a lot of jpeg compression artifacts).
Here are a few other photos from a similar angle that might help as well:
http://deansli.st/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/ggbpano.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped..._San_Francisco_and_the_Golden_Gate_Bridge.jpg
http://scott.cragg.info/misc/Golden Gate Panorama 19x4.3.jpg
Sounds like a good idea!
Yes I do plan on using it, or a modified version of it between the two shots. I haven't color corrected it yet so if you have ideas concerning that feel free to give them.
They had multi-plane cameras back then which were applied to matte paintings.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g_faz1iag...joe-motion+control+rig+films+paintingCU02.jpg
I'd say probably nothing too elaborate as it would lack continuity with the other matte shots. That being said, movement of clouds, a little parallax, water plate would be welcome. When I did my Vulcan matte I applied a small jiggle or twitch effect to the foreground layers and background layers to mimic the film effect of the plate and painting layers not lining up 100% every frame, in addition to the film grain. These sort of small things I believe help sell the illusion of period authenticity.
http://youtu.be/S7YdWQC8QRA
Best to watch in HD, though keep in mind a lot of film grain and detail are compressed out (look at photo for such details).
Most of the reflections I've done on the pod ride look somewhat fake but that's in keeping with the reality that they would have been done in post production and not on set.
trevanian
Rear Admiral
http://youtu.be/S7YdWQC8QRA
Best to watch in HD, though keep in mind a lot of film grain and detail are compressed out (look at photo for such details).
Most of the reflections I've done on the pod ride look somewhat fake but that's in keeping with the reality that they would have been done in post production and not on set.
No more fake than the SpockWalk faceplate reflections, might even be more subtle (which makes sense since this is more of a low-contrast environment.)
not bad at all (any chance you can make the little guy escaping from epsilon9 look a little bit less like a Major Matt Mason toy falling off his wire? That probably bugs me more than any other shot in the movie, even more than those out of focus vger exterior shots when Kirk asks for reverse angle on viewer during flyover. )
Not to rush ahead too far...but I'll be curious to see what happens when you got to the Spock-walk scene. I didn't understand then, and do not understand now, the need for the viewer to become so familiar with the operation of a thruster suit. I don't see the plot-gain there...
trevanian
Rear Admiral
I've often wondered if Trumbull was thinking of an arcade game spinoff when he wrote the dialog for the spockwalk (Yeah, he wrote it), because it seems like the kind of thing the console would tell you before the game started in earnest.Not to rush ahead too far...but I'll be curious to see what happens when you got to the Spock-walk scene. I didn't understand then, and do not understand now, the need for the viewer to become so familiar with the operation of a thruster suit. I don't see the plot-gain there...
MAURICE, did you know that Hanks is trying to get a live-action MAJOR MATT done as a feature? I think it is supposed to basically be a thriller a la GRAVITY but set on the moon (maybe A FALL OF MOONDUST?) A.C. Clarke & M.M.M., mmmmm-hmmm. I still think MMM should be done as a mirror universe thing, one where everything works like an old POPULAR MECHANICS article, instead of like TNG technobabble.
I think the thruster suit thing as "verisimilitude" run amuck. I liked the detail, but it was utterly superfluous.
I hear about Hanks and Major Matt Mason, but never seemed to hear about progress. I like your idea of "the future that never was".
I doubt he was thinking of arcade games in late 1979. I don't believe voice synthesis appeared in any video games prior to Stratovox and then Berzerk in 1980.
I hear about Hanks and Major Matt Mason, but never seemed to hear about progress. I like your idea of "the future that never was".
I doubt he was thinking of arcade games in late 1979. I don't believe voice synthesis appeared in any video games prior to Stratovox and then Berzerk in 1980.
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Thanks!
I plan on not including that shot (and trimming the out of focus section of the V'Ger shot). Rather, I plan on having some sort of graphic representation on the screen when Kirk asks for exterior, as I do not see how they could have a camera close by like that. This will allow me to shift the shadow creeping shot from the rec deck screen in to the sequence that shows the station being eaten. I'll then show the next three shots, while omitting the escaping figure shot, cut to crew reactions, constructing a new shot of EP9s final dissolve, capped by a shot on the rec deck of a graphic of EP9 gone.
... or at least that is the plan.
I'll need to put the project on hold for an amount of time as I'm a poor soul and cannot afford a colormeter right now; I have a beautiful FW900 Trinitron monitor that was used by most Hollywood grading facilities before CRTs were replaced by LCDs, however it really needs a profiling as the colors are way off and I cannot eyeball it. Considering I'm tending to the FX shots and color grading now, I need to put things on pause.
trevanian
Rear Admiral
I was thinking of a game I remember playing in Tahoe in 75 or 76 that involved what I guess was rear-projection, where you square off against a live-action film of a gunfighter, and depending on how fast you 'draw' he either falls dead or smiles and knows you're dead. There was dialog in it, & I guess i was thinking this could be along the same lines (FIREFOX's game used footage from the 1982 movie I think).
Then again, Trumbull's thinking was always ahead of its time, wouldn't surprise me to find he and Don Bluth were both thinking about laserdisc tech ... Bluth did a dragon kind of game in the early 80s,I think, based on LD tech.
JJTrek4ever!
Lieutenant Junior Grade
Those Tom Cranham* storyboards are very interesting, but it is obvious that Gene Roddenberry was an aficionado of the beton brut architectural movement (interspersed with the occasion Bucky Fuller geodesic dome) as per the unused Yuricich SF matte painting and insisted on its appearance in ST:TMP in opposition to Cranham's pseudo-googie skytram terminal and cityscape. A virtually identical brutalist architectural style is also depicted in Genesis II (Tyrannia), Planet Earth (Pax - a really shitty matte painting, it must be noted) and even the titular city in the ST:TNG episode Angel One.
*Cranham, incidentally, also designed the Tyrell Corporation pyramid for Blade Runner.
Ah yes, into which I put so many quarters....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrKaPpp-Yjs
I vaguely remember the gunfighter game you described. I was on summer vacation somewhere, when I saw and played it just the once. Definitely remember Firefox, too.
trevanian
Rear Admiral
Those Tom Cranham* storyboards are very interesting, but it is obvious that Gene Roddenberry was an aficionado of the beton brut architectural movement (interspersed with the occasion Bucky Fuller geodesic dome) as per the unused Yuricich SF matte painting and insisted on its appearance in ST:TMP in opposition to Cranham's pseudo-googie skytram terminal and cityscape. A virtually identical brutalist architectural style is also depicted in Genesis II (Tyrannia), Planet Earth (Pax - a really shitty matte painting, it must be noted) and even the titular city in the ST:TNG episode Angel One.
*Cranham, incidentally, also designed the Tyrell Corporation pyramid for Blade Runner.
If somebody has the super-pricey Ralph McQuarrie book, maybe we can see which of his PLANET OF THE TITANS images (if any) represent Earth of the future, and see if any of this bites off of that. I remember a lot of images on his website, but don't think they were captioned, and I don't even know if it differentiated between his TITANS work and his work on TVH. Ken Adam's rock candy-looking alien fortress for TITANS doesn't really compare to any of this as I recall.
Your writing style seems very familiar, JJTREK4real-LY?. Do I know you from some other board or time in which I might have called you friend?
I have the McQuarrie book. There's not really anything much of Earth in the Titans section. There's one drawing of linked, flat round structures, identified as "landing platforms", presumably for the starship saucers seen landed in other drawings.
trevanian
Rear Admiral
I figured all the thumbnails of saucers in flight on his site were from when the saucer separation happened over the titular planet, with the E dish making rough planetfall. Hmm, now I'm really confused. If they made a big show of the saucer taking off to meet the star drive in Earth orbit, it wouldn't have been much of a payoff to see it sep OR relink later.
Maybe this image is something from the TITAN planet? I mean, the McQuarriePrise is suppose to launch from inside an asteroid-dock, right?
Somebody needs to get answers on this ... and at this point, I don't know that the screenwriters or Ken Adam remember enough about any of this.
Maybe this image is something from the TITAN planet? I mean, the McQuarriePrise is suppose to launch from inside an asteroid-dock, right?
Somebody needs to get answers on this ... and at this point, I don't know that the screenwriters or Ken Adam remember enough about any of this.
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