Spoilers Yorktown Base

[Jedi_Master]

That shot reminds me of an atom... which is cool as this station would be a fundamental part of the Federation's presence in that area of space.

On a side note: what I loved about Yorktown was its scale. Trek has always tended to keep things - for lack of a better term - TV sized, the kind of stuff you can do on a television budget. Even the films would embellish things, but with the exception of V'Ger and perhaps the Scimitar, there hasn't been anything that has been jaw-droppingly gorgeous and monumental in scale.

Finally, somebody said - "hey, we have a blockbuster budget - lets build a blockbuster thingy"

 

[Smellmet]

That shot reminds me of an atom... which is cool as this station would be a fundamental part of the Federation's presence in that area of space.

On a side note: what I loved about Yorktown was its scale. Trek has always tended to keep things - for lack of a better term - TV sized, the kind of stuff you can do on a television budget. Even the films would embellish things, but with the exception of V'Ger and perhaps the Scimitar, there hasn't been anything that has been jaw-droppingly gorgeous and monumental in scale.

Finally, somebody said - "hey, we have a blockbuster budget - lets build a blockbuster thingy"

You must have missed the mushroom space dock from Star Trek 3, 4 & 6.

 

[Jedi_Master]

You must have missed the mushroom space dock from Star Trek 3, 4 & 6.

Nope, I didn't. Boring and tiny.... although it could accommodate multiple large space vessels it's onscreen "presence" wasn't very inspiring.

 

[retroenzo]

The very first post mentioned a comparison with the Citadel from Mass Effect. Funnily enough, that's exactly what I thought when I first saw inside it it. However, that comparison quickly fell away when I realised how massive it was.

However, when I first saw it, and hearing McCoy call it the snowglobe, I couldn't help but think, "Yep, that's not gonna last the whole movie" so kudos to the creators for proving me wrong.

As for 'getting used to it' I can't see anyone would get used to it. For all we know, some people just chill out in observation areas just to be able to look around and take it all in.

After all, NASA factor in the whole 'WOAH I'm in space' scenario for new recruits on the ISS, and they do get time out to reflect on the beauty of gazing down to our planet from space.

 

[fireproof78]

Nope, I didn't. Boring and tiny.... although it could accommodate multiple large space vessels it's onscreen "presence" wasn't very inspiring.

I tend to agree. Spacedock was a cool bit. Yorktown felt truly massive in scale, very epic and grand. They took several moments to establish different buildings, the day to day life (transporters for commuting) as well as the approach by the Enterprise. It felt very lived in as well as grand.

Definitely a big budget moment for Trek.

 

[Jedi_Master]

When I see a Spacedock, I don't really want to explore it... but when I saw the Yorktown, I thought "I want to live there someday."

 

[CaptainDonovin]

That shot reminds me of an atom... which is cool as this station would be a fundamental part of the Federation's presence in that area of space.

On a side note: what I loved about Yorktown was its scale. Trek has always tended to keep things - for lack of a better term - TV sized, the kind of stuff you can do on a television budget. Even the films would embellish things, but with the exception of V'Ger and perhaps the Scimitar, there hasn't been anything that has been jaw-droppingly gorgeous and monumental in scale.

Finally, somebody said - "hey, we have a blockbuster budget - lets build a blockbuster thingy"

I will say though when I first saw the Borg Cube in First Contact had me just stunned because it finally looked frightening instead of what was seen on TV.

 

[Jedi_Master]

I will say though when I first saw the Borg Cube in First Contact had me just stunned because it finally looked frightening instead of what was seen on TV.

First Contact did a great job making the Borg into a terrifying menace instead of robot space zombies.

 

[Trekfan12]

Also, good thing there was no "Vulcan arm". Yorktown supposedly is older than the loss of Vulcan, and if there really are millions living in that bubble (and the dimensions would seem to justify it), then dedicating a whole arm to Vulcans would result in an uncomfortably large offworld community. Uncomfortable in the sense of undermining the "there are only 10,000 of us left" line, that is.

Unless the Vulcan arm were mostly artificial desert with a few huts, that is. Again Mezieres/Christin stuff...

Timo Saloniemi

Vulcan arm?

 

[fireproof78]

Vulcan arm?

A wing or a whole section of the base dedicated to Vulcans.

 

[Trekfan12]

A wing or a whole section of the base dedicated to Vulcans.

Oh did I miss that when I saw the movie. I mean I saw the Vulcans go to Spock to bring him the bad news about Ambassador Spock, but I didn't get the impression there was a whole Vulcan wing on the station.

 

[David cgc]

Vulcan arm?

One of the interviews linked to said that in early concepts, the cities on the various arms would reflect the architecture of different alien worlds. That would've been a lot of additional designing, and they were pressed for time as it was, so they decided to simplify a bit and go with a style that was more generically futuristic.

Concept artist Sean Hargreaves has posted some of the design paintings for Yorktown on his Facebook.

Yorktown Cities

Yorktown Docking Tunnel

 

[fireproof78]

Oh did I miss that when I saw the movie. I mean I saw the Vulcans go to Spock to bring him the bad news about Ambassador Spock, but I didn't get the impression there was a whole Vulcan wing on the station.

The post you quoted said that they thought it was a good thing that there was no Vulcan arm. So, no, you didn't miss it.

 

[Seven of Five]

I was reading this interesting article in indiewire (referenced below) where they talk about Yorktown's design and something which really caught my attention is that they mention that each "arm" of this station is based on a different culture or similar, something which reminded me of Babylon 5 and the Citadel in Mass effect. The most surprising fact in the interview was that there was supposed to be a KLINGON arm?

I have to agree with what you say. When I first saw Yorktown, I turned to my Trek/Mass Effect friend and said it looked like the Citadel.

I really loved the design of; it was one of my favourite visuals in the film. I like the thought that had apparently gone into it regarding different cultures in each arm, and I wish I'd seen some of this.

The last part of the film where Thrall is heading to Yorktown to destroy it hit me more than the destruction of the Enterprise.

I tend to agree. Spacedock was a cool bit. Yorktown felt truly massive in scale, very epic and grand. They took several moments to establish different buildings, the day to day life (transporters for commuting) as well as the approach by the Enterprise. It felt very lived in as well as grand.

Definitely a big budget moment for Trek.

I loved the original Spacedock, and I used to think that was big. I agree that this was an awesome event, and has nicely outdone the original.

 

[Jedi_Master]

I am glad they didn't follow through with the "ethnic enclave" idea and have each arm be dedicated to a particular species.

Interestingly enough, a film that did a fantastic job showing city sections carefully constructed to fit the environmental needs of their inhabitants was Zootopia.

 

[Seven of Five]

I still need to see that. It looks good anyway.

 

[Smellmet]

Nope, I didn't. Boring and tiny.... although it could accommodate multiple large space vessels it's onscreen "presence" wasn't very inspiring.

Granted, the yorktown absolutely pisses on it but it was very good for 1984.

 

[dswynne1]

Nope, I didn't. Boring and tiny.... although it could accommodate multiple large space vessels it's onscreen "presence" wasn't very inspiring.

I think Spacedock 1 is still a fantastic design...for a starbase, just for Starfleet (I never got the sense that civilian vessels were allowed to dock there). But if you want to host civilians, the aesthetics have to be less "military" in my opinion.

 

[Jedi_Master]

I still need to see that. It looks good anyway.

Zootopia? Not a kids movie by any stretch of the imagination, but a decent movie overall. The DMV scene made me laugh so hard I almost pissed myself.

The Spacedocks were all impressive in their own way, and I like them although they are a bit boring. But Yorktown is in a class of its own.

 

[Seven of Five]

Zootopia? Not a kids movie by any stretch of the imagination, but a decent movie overall. The DMV scene made me laugh so hard I almost pissed myself..

Yes, Zootopia.