Whatever happened to Starship Exeter?

[Amaris]

I'll say up front that I love Star Trek Phase II. Love it. Great cast, great crew.
However, for the most at home Trek feel, that has to be Starship Exeter. I'd almost swear it was filmed in the same era as TOS. Just brilliant all around.

 

[Maurice]

"Tressaurian" was capably directed, which helps immeasurably. The lighting and camera work is several notches any of the other fan Trek films, IMO. The script also manages to walk the fine line between homage and fanwank without teetering into either: there are allusions to other TOS episodes, but no attempt at continuity porn.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I was interested in doing a pastiche of sorts of the kinds of situations and incidents that I remembered responding to as a kid watching the show for the first time, but not interested in a lot of specific call-outs - "continuity porn," as DS9Sega says. I still worked in a bit of it, though, like "Corinth IV" and the like. And I wanted, along with Jimm Johnson, to put in some "wouldn't it be cool if they'd done that" moments like the last shot in the teaser.

 

[DestinyCaptain]

continuity porn....ah that comment smells like a Braga. Mmm Braga, me no likey.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I do like Braga, for having coined the useful term "continuity porn" among other things.

 

[CaptainKen]

I just re-watched The Tressaurian Intersection this weekend (well 4/5 of it) and is really is GREAT!

Again, Dennis, I say to you WELL DONE! And to all the cast and crew and Jimm, WELL DONE!

I even re-watched all the deleted scenes and other video stuff... Did you write that line, "Send Cutty first"? Love it!

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Thanks for the kind words.

Yeah, "send Cutty first" was mine. We had a lot of digging at Cutty going on in the script, but it was too much . Seeing it in the rough cut, it made Harris look like a bitch - she's his superior officer, he never does much in response other than shrug or look annoyed, whatever Spock/Bones "homage" was supposed to be going on there wasn't happening. So there are only one or two of those lines left in the show and yet it's still more than clear, IMAO, that they don't get along well. Less is more - or, at least, less is more than enough.

 

[xortex]

She doesn't like him because Garrovik prefers him to her because they collude together over rank and woman in rank. I like this friendly chiding. She exasporates their male covenant. wd?

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

The Spock/McCoy thing worked because McCoy was the provocateur in the relationship - he was, at least in principle, the less authoritative of the two characters and he was challenging the chain of command. Spock would presumably have been satisfied to treat the Doctor as he did the other lower-ranking officers with whom he dealt - Uhura, Sulu, Scott etc - impersonally and with respect.

Gender politics aside, Harris is the more powerful character here. Having her kick Cutty every few minutes makes her look both abusive and insecure. I'm embarrassed that I didn't understand that when I was writing the thing.

 

[xortex]

Yea, but Cutty takes things a little too seriously and likes to cut corners with a chip on his shoulders.

 

[Amaris]

While we're talking about Starship Exeter, is anyone else unable to watch the show online? When I try to watch any of the episodes, the video will act like it's starting to load up and then stops. I tried this on several PCs to no avail.

 

[Barbreader]

Axiom... as I recall you are in the PRC. The PRC seems to block Trek. It may have to do with your local censors.

If you are not, see if you have the most recent version of your browser. I know that older versions of, for example, Safari, loaded on older Apple operating systems do not handle a lot of the current software which permits websites to show motion.

If neither of those things is true, all I can say is that I will not be rewatching the first parts of Exeter's second episode again until the last part is released... or hell freezes over, whichever happens first. Yes, Dennis Bailey has produced a brilliant script, but there are hundreds of completed fan films I'm still working my way through, there is no reason for me to frustrate myself with this excellent, but incomplete, effort.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

While we're talking about Starship Exeter, is anyone else unable to watch the show online? When I try to watch any of the episodes, the video will act like it's starting to load up and then stops. I tried this on several PCs to no avail.

I think all the parts are on YouTube.

 

[Maurice]

Yea, but Cutty takes things a little too seriously and likes to cut corners with a chip on his shoulders.

The chip on his shoulder is a Frito. It's too dull to cut anything, let alone corners.

Regarding the Cutty/Harris relationship, as Jimm explained it to me, Cutty's issue is that Harris was named 1st officer instead of him, even though he was Garrovick's choice. She's also younger and less experienced, and Cutty thinks her posting is about nepotism somewhere up the chain of command. This makes him bristle at her, and she gives back as good as she gets...if not better. This tense relationship was actually the centerpiece of the script I was writing but abandoned when "Tressaurian" post-production ground down to a snail's pace.

 

[MikeH92467]

One of the things I enjoyed about TTI is the distinctly different crew chemistry. Garrovick is not the dashing, charismatic figure that Kirk is and the crew doesn't have the same family feeling of TOS, but that's fine. It stands to reason that every ship and every captain will have a different personality and command style. Despite the tensions between Exeter's Big Three they are able to operate effectively as a team and it is also clear that Exeter is under competent command and that Garrovick is capable of the kind of "outside the box" decision making that makes for an outstanding commanding officer.
I do hope to see the finished product, just like everyone else. There are several efforts out there, that I simply have no interest in watching all the way through even once.

 

[Amaris]

^ Agreed. This is nothing against any other fan production, but the only two fan productions that have truly blown me away in terms of quality of production is Exeter and Phase II. To me, they both surpass even more top heavy productions like ST:OGAM (far surpass, in my opinion), and so, for me, these two carry the torch in the world of classic Trek.

Dennis, I will check out Youtube.

 

[CaptainKen]

While we're talking about Starship Exeter, is anyone else unable to watch the show online? When I try to watch any of the episodes, the video will act like it's starting to load up and then stops. I tried this on several PCs to no avail.

Your experience is typical; I don't think it has to do with your location. As far as I know, ever since the website went down about a month ago, the videos have not worked. They're on the net, but this seems to be the most orderly place to view them:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xkyghl9Elg

Dennis: Any idea of how Jimm will release the final act since the videos on the Starship Exeter site do not seem to be functional?

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I imagine that he'll get them functional again, same as he does the website when someone draws his attention to it. Maybe I should call him.

 

[Barbreader]

I imagine that he'll get them functional again, same as he does the website when someone draws his attention to it. Maybe I should call him.

He takes your calls? Or do you just leave a message? I has this picture of a dried deceased body by a PC, having passed away leaving the last chapter unfinished...

 

[Kelso]

It's also possible that the dude has a career and/or family.