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Dayton Ward Interview – Star Trek TOS “From History’s Shadow”

TrekCore Staff

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July 31, 2013

Dayton Ward Interview – Star Trek TOS “From History’s Shadow”

For 15 years, Dayton Ward has sparked our imaginations with some of the most memorable entries in the huge evolving world of Star Trek literature.

His latest book “From History’s Shadow” is framed in the canon and timeframe of Star Trek: The Original Series but will pull readers back to mid-20th Century Earth to the height of alien-encounter hysteria. We caught up with Dayton to discuss the book, his work on the upcoming series The Fall and much more!

TrekCore: This month sees the release of your much-anticipated TOS novel, From History’s Shadow. We already know from the information that’s been released so far that it has to do with the 1947 Roswell Incident, as well as a few of the characters from that encounter. What other tidbits can you reveal about this story?

Dayton Ward: As you’ve probably guessed, the story has ties to the Deep Space Nine episode “Little Green Men,” but there also are links to other Star Trek episodes: “Assignment: Earth” from the original series, and “Carbon Creek” from Enterprise. The story is actually something I’ve had in my “idea file” for several years.

A long while back, I had this idea of taking the basic premise I’d set up in a short story called “The Aliens Are Coming!,” which I’d written for the third Star Trek: Strange New Worlds contest, and expanding it into a novel. Well…I finally got around to doing just that.

As it happens, the outline I wrote years ago featured the Deep Space Nine crew, leading out from the events of “Little Green Men.” I pitched that back when Pocket was still doing two Star Trek novels a month, but when the decision was made to streamline to one such book per month, oddball projects like my idea didn’t really fit with the other efforts underway at that time.

Then, a year or so ago my editor asked me for a TOS novel to be published in 2013. Now that things have started to swing back the other way a bit, and there’s something of a balance between multi-book arcs and standalone tales, I thought something like this quirky notion of mine could work. So, I dug this outline out of my files and reworked it to feature Kirk and the gang.

TrekCore: Although From History’s Shadow is labeled as an original series story, it seems as though it might be somewhat “genre-busting” in nature, given what we know of the plot and the kind of “pulpy” appearance of the cover. In what ways does From History’s Shadow differ from the typical Star Trek novel?

Dayton Ward: While there is a framing story set in the timeframe of the original series, the bulk of the novel is set on Earth in the mid-20^th century, starting in 1947 and progressing forward to 1969. Along theway, our main character is James Wainwright, the Army Air Forces captain introduced in “Little Green Men,” and the book will involve weaving bits of Trek lore and real history in and around the story I’ve set during this period.

If you get the idea that this approach is in a vein similar to The Eugenics Wars novels written by Greg Cox, go with that feeling, as I wanted from the beginning to make sure that From History’s Shadow complements those books. I also tried to make sure that it runs in line with Christopher L. Bennett’s Department of Temporal Investigations novel Forgotten History.

“From History’s Shadow” centers around Captain James Wainwright,
first introduced in Deep Space Nine’s “Little Green Men”

TrekCore: Most of your stories seem to be based in the Original Series-era of Trek. However, you have also written quite a few novels and short stories that take place in other time periods and settings. What is your favorite era of Star Trek to write about, and why?

Dayton Ward: I grew up with the original series, and it’s still my favorite, both as a fan and as a writer. I enjoy writing in the 24^th century with the Next Generation crew, as well, and I’d love to do something set during the Star Trek: Enterprise era, or even that time period between Archer and Kirk’s adventures. For a real challenge, I’d like to try something set between “now” and Archer’s era. But, if I was forced to pick only one? It’d have to be the original.

TrekCore: January 2014 features another book from you, this one the fifth and final book in The Fall miniseries, entitled Peaceable Kingdoms. You mentioned on your blog that it will showcase the TNG crew on the Enterprise-E. What else can you reveal about the plot of this novel?

Dayton Ward: Well, I can’t say a lot, as I don’t want to risk spoiling anything from the books which will come before Peaceable Kingdoms. I’m picking up a couple of plot points established in those books, as well as writing my own story to (hopefully) bring it all together to a satisfying conclusion. There’s a lot going on in the other books, most of it being set into motion by Revelation and Dust by David R. George III.

Though the first four books will feature various characters from Next Generation and Deep Space Nine as well as ships and crews created in the novels – the Titan and the Aventine – mine will largely focus on the crew of the Enterprise-E, with one of the major subplots involving Beverly Crusher going off on a mission of her own. Expect hijinks to ensue.

TrekCore: Your work on The Fall involves collaborating with four of your fellow authors. Tell us a bit about that process. Are the stories closely tied together, or are they more stand-alone? What was it like to coordinate your writing efforts?

Dayton Ward: While each of the books is fairly standalone, certain plot threads are “handed off” in one fashion or another with each successive book. While the intent is that each book can be read on its own, readers of course will get the full experience by reading the entire series. (Shameless marketing plug ends.)

As for the collaboration process, it was pretty involved. Lots of emails sent back and forth, as well as coordination and oversight by our editor, along with feedback offered on each of the manuscripts. This level of teamwork can add to the complexity of the project, but it also makes it more fun (for me, anyway). I like brainstorming with fellow writers, as it can result in some great story plotting sessions.

I spent one afternoon talking with James Swallow as he helped me to talk through ideas I was working out for my novel, and how it would carry forward from the story he was developing for The Poisoned Chalice. That was a lot of fun.

TrekCore: Many of your Trek writing credits are with writing partner Kevin Dilmore. Is there any chance we could see another collaboration between the two of you in the future?

Dayton Ward: Count on it. Stay tuned for an announcement to that effect, which hopefully will come sooner rather than later.

A selection of Ward’s entries in the “Vanguard” series

TrekCore: The Vanguard series, which you contributed to along with Kevin Dilmore and David Mack, was a fascinating and refreshing take on Star Trek, and the TOS universe in particular, bringing a really cool mix of “grittiness” and sophistication to it. Would you be interested in taking part in a project like that again? What era/situation would you be interested in exploring that hasn’t been tackled before?

Dayton Ward: Vanguard was something very special, and while it was David’s baby (along with co-creator Marco Palmieri), Kevin and I were privileged to contribute to it. There’d been nothing quite like it done before for Star Trek fiction, and I don’t mind telling you that that the brainstorming sessions we had over the years were epic. It was a total blast from start to finish, and I’m very proud of what we were able to accomplish.

I’d absolutely collaborate with Kevin and David again on another such project, be it for Star Trek or something completely different. We’ve had a few discussions about that very thing, and even tossed around a few ideas for each other to chew on. Who knows? Maybe one of those ideas will stick.

TrekCore: As someone who has written Star Trek stories professionally for the past fifteen years, it is safe to refer to you as a veteran of Star Trek fiction. In that time, what would you say is the best or most memorable experience you’ve had as a result of writing Star Trek?

Dayton Ward: There’s a bunch of them. We already talked about Vanguard, which I consider a high point of my writing for Star Trek. Another project of which I’m very proud is a collaborative effort from 2006: the Star Trek: Mere Anarchy e-Book mini-series that was done as part of Pocket Books’ celebration of Star Trek’s 40^th anniversary. Getting a chance to work with the other writers on the project was rewarding by itself, but when one of those writers is Howard Weinstein, who wrote an episode for the animated Star Trek series (“The Pirates of Orion”)? What a treat, that was.

Along with the writing, which has opened various doors and presented numerous opportunities to me, I’ve made so many friends along the way—fellow writers, editors, fans. Some of these people I only see once a year at conventions, but it’s always wonderful to catch up, and we always make a few new friends every year, as well. The friendships are the truly wonderful gift from all of this.

TrekCore: What are your feelings on the legacy of the Strange New Worlds fan-fiction contest that ran for a decade and brought you into the Trek lit arena?

Dayton Ward: I obviously have strong feelings toward the contest, as it opened the first of those doors we were just talking about. I’m very proud of my association with Strange New Worlds, and I’ve missed it since it ended. I used to so look forward to seeing each new year’s list of winners. Would friends of mine make a second or third sale? Perhaps someone I knew who was entering the contest for the first time might make the cut.

I know it was never a big money-maker for Pocket Books, but it did bring in some new voices, both to Star Trek fiction and other genres. Several past contest winners have gone on to have amazing writing careers. Like most anthologies, the logistics an editor must navigate when assembling such a book present their own special set of challenges, but I’d love to see the contest revived in some manner at some point, and perhaps using the e-Book platform. I’d certainly be a cheerleader for it if it came to pass, but those kinds of decisions are way, way above my pay grade, though.

Ward was featured in an impressive three installments of “Strange New Worlds”

TrekCore: Prior to writing Star Trek novels, you spent time serving in the US Marine Corps. How has that experience influenced your writing? Is there anything you learned during your service that informs what you write about in the Star Trek universe?

Dayton Ward: I think it’s fair to say that those experiences get channelled into my writing from time to time, such as how I write certain types of characters. For the non-Star Trek fiction I’ve written that features a military bent, I’d like to think those experiences helped me to—for example—provide accurate descriptions and depictions of battle sequences and weapons or equipment, craft authentic-sounding dialogue, and so on.

Outside the stories themselves, I also tend to apply a “military mind set” to the actual work. It’s almost second nature for me to approach tasks and problems this way. Discipline with respect to schedules, work ethic, loyalty and support with respect to colleagues, that sort of thing. I’m not saying this method is better than other approaches, but it works for me and I get it right more often than not. Plus, I can still yell really loud when I need to!

TrekCore: You seem to be very well-connected with your fanbase, maintaining a very active blog and doing a lot of regular features on podcasts and Trek websites. What is the most rewarding part about keeping up a high level of interaction with the fans?

Dayton Ward: I just really like shooting the breeze with readers and fans. Yes, these venues can be marketing and promotional tools, but there’s a balance a writer or other creative type needs to strike when it comes to social media. You don’t want to stray too far to either side of the line separating promotion from simple “hanging out” and being…well…social. I think if you engage your readers and not always look to make it about selling something, the lion’s share of the marketing tends to take care of itself.

I’ve seen writers who go way overboard with the self-promotion push. Every Tweet or Facebook update or blog post is just another sales pitch for their book, comic, artwork, music, indie film, or whatever. It becomes so much noise after a while; an annoying buzz that people tune out. So far as my blogging or time spent on Facebook and Twitter, I definitely try to keep a healthy balance. Yes, I’ll talk up a new book, but I always attempt to present it without the “hard sell” tactics. Instead, I prefer to keep things light and have fun. There have been days where I was feeling grumpy or just flat out pissed off, and a few minutes joking around with people on Twitter or Facebook turns everything right around. So, I like to give back a bit of that.

Yes, some of these people might also be the same ones buying and reading my books, but that’s usually not what I’m thinking about when I post a funny picture or a snarky Tweet or Facebook update. For the most part, I just get a kick out of making people laugh, or at least getting a smile or chuckle out of them. To that end, I do goofy things on my own blog, or answer crazy questions every week from an internet radio program (the Sunday G&T Show, hosted by Nick Minecci, Terry Lynn Shull, and Mike Medeiros). Making people laugh on a deadline is a challenge, which is the main reason I do it in the first place, instead of….I don’t know….sleeping in on Saturday mornings, or whatever.

TrekCore: Outside of Star Trek, do you have any current projects on the go that you would like to inform our readers of? Also, where can fans of your work follow you online?

Dayton Ward: I’ve got a couple of short stories I’m working on for various small press or indie efforts, and I’ve been toying with the notion of a SF/Steampunk novel idea for a while, but that one keeps getting pushed back to make way for work where people are already paying me.

A while back, I also wrote a pulp SF short story, “The Terror of Entropia’s Ice Cannon!” that’s in the process of being adapted for audio format, and will hopefully be the first tale for a series we’re calling The Adventures of Space Marshal Dylan McCade. The goal is to have the first story ready to go in August, presented one “chapter” a day for a total of six chapters and each with its own cliffhanger ending like the old radio serials.

Beyond that? Well, Pocket Books seems to like keeping me busy, as I’ve been asked to write two more Star Trek novels: One for summer 2014 and another for early-mid 2015. I should hopefully be free to talk about the first of those projects within the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

Star Trek The Original Series: From History's Shadow

Order Star Trek TOS “From History’s Shadow”

Review: Star Trek: The Next Generation – “Redemption” Blu-ray

TrekCore Archives

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July 25, 2013

63

Review: Star Trek: The Next Generation – “Redemption” Blu-ray

Star Trek: The Next Generation – “Redemption”
Release Date: July 30, 2013
Blu-Ray Disc • 1 Disc
CBS Home Entertainment

After the successful release of the single-disc feature length “Best of Both Worlds” Blu-ray in April, CBS Home Entertainment have given Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s, “Redemption” the same lavish treatment. Both parts – the cliffhanger to Season Four and the opener to Season Five – have been edited together as a 90-minute feature presentation in this Blu-ray which also sports a healthy dose of exclusive Klingon-themed bonus material.

Few fans will argue that “Redemption” doesn’t have the same punch as “The Best of Both Worlds”, but revisiting the 2-part Klingon Civil War saga in high definition is a whole lot of fun and will gave many a new appreciation for the episodes.

Loyalties are divided when civil war splits the Klingon Empire. When Worf sees a chance to regain his wrongfully lost family honor, he must choose between his duty as a Starfleet officer and his heritage as a Klingon warrior. Meanwhile, Picard struggles to keep the Federation from being dragged into the fray. But a shocking new adversary from the past threatens to destroy both the Federation and the Klingon Empire.

Turning the attention to the feature-length edit, the transition between the two parts of “Redemption” isn’t quite as smooth as “The Best of Both Worlds”. In the two-part story, there is a clear passage of time between the end of Part 1 and the start of Part 2 (how much time is not certain, but a few weeks to a couple of months would seem a sensible estimate.) This helps to make Picard’s sudden change of heart about Federation involvement at the start of the second part more palatable. In this feature-length edit, we don’t have quite the same benefit of an imagined time jump, and you may be left trying to understand why things have changed so much in the first few moments of Part 2!

http://youtu.be/ZsH7nbHdqsg

Nevertheless, this single-disc release is yet another affordable, great quality introduction to TNG remastered and will serve both the casual and die-hard fan alike! I should also mention that the release comes with a special “Ultraviolet” version included, allowing you to stream or download the episode in HD. This isn’t a feature found on the season sets, but is perfect for those of you wanting to watch “Redemption” on your portable devices.

Remastering Quality

To maintain consistency over the two parts, CBS Digital were assigned both parts of “Redemption” to remaster. The quality is very much in-line with the superb job the team did on TNG’s third season (for a far more detailed look at how I rate the remastering of Season Three by CBS Digital, check out my review here.)

Yet again I’m blown away with the high quality work on display from the remastering team at CBS Digital. Klingon-themed episodes have always been dark, moody and atmospheric – attributes which never translated well at video resolution on DVD or when broadcast. In high definition I found myself noticing so much more detail in the grand sets on the Klingon Homeworld and the bridges of the various starships showcased in “Redemption”. There are a couple of occasions where blacks are slightly crushed resulting in a loss of some detail in dark areas, but this is minor and hardly detrimental to the otherwise perfect picture.

The much derided 4-foot model of the Enterprise looks superb here – there wasn’t one shot I noticed which lacked realism or depth. Yet it’s not just the Enterprise – fans will undoubtedly be thrilled to see the standards to which the Klingon Vor’cha class battle cruiser has been restored and remastered here. The visual effects work on display is truly feature-quality and I’m thoroughly confident that it won’t disappoint even the most critical fan!

The remastered Klingon First City burns in “Redemption”

I must make one final note regarding the terrific shot of the burning Klingon First City. The newly-created inferno underneath the city is truly hellish in design and the billowing clouds of smoke add a great sense of perspective. You’re going to be hitting “rewind” to check out those few seconds over and over again – the movement and scale of the flames are so realistic – great work and a vast improvement over the original!

Bring on Season 5!

Bonus Material

The single disc Blu-ray of “Redemption” comes with a healthy portion of Klingon-themed bonus material presented exclusively for this release. After the mildly disappointing new special features on the fourth season set, Redemption’s VAM (Value Added Material) is very much back on the high-quality track with a thoughtfully created 30 minute tell-all Klingon documentary, “Survive and Succeed: An Empire at War” and an insightful 90-minute audio commentary from episode writer Ronald D. Moore accompanied by Mike and Denise Okuda.

“Survive and Succeed: An Empire at War” serves as the ultimate behind-the-scenes resource to the Klingon mythology. Chancellor Gowron himself – actor Robert O’Reilly – introduces the segment with his customary exuberance recounting how he went nuts in his original audition, a technique which seemed to impress producers. “Redemption” writer Ronald D. Moore gives a nice overview of TNG’s Klingon arc and the battles he faced to get a Worf-centric cliffhanger while actor Michael Dorn takes us through the development of Worf as a character. The doc also sports a very nice interview with B’Etor actress Gwynyth Walsh who touches on everything from being taken aback by her costume (which apparently made Paramount very nervous) to the King Lear inspired Shakespearean “big acting” of the Duras Sisters. Throw in more interviews with Denise Crosby on the return of Sela, Dan Curry on designing the Bat’leth and Dennis Madalone on Klingon weapon training and you’re set for half an hour of engrossing entertainment fit for any warrior of the Empire!

Gwynyth Walsh (“B’Etor”) interviewed for the “Redemption” documentary

Audio Commentary: The newly recorded 90-minute audio commentary with writer Ronald D. Moore (accompanied by Mike & Denise Okuda) is simply dripping with Klingon factoids. Ron Moore went through the original early versions of the episode before recording the commentary and brings with him a wealth of information. Moore reveals how “Redemption” was originally set to be a single episode featuring Gowron as the nemesis and finishing with Kurn killing Gowron and offering his brother Worf a seat on the council, an act which shatters the Federation-Klingon alliance. Quite a departure from what the final episode became! There are more than a few laughs as Moore recounts his hatred for the Romulan uniforms and problems telling the Klingon sisters apart.

The Bottom Line

Another solid single-disc feature release from Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s collection of two-part episodes. Great episodes, a stunning remaster and engaging bonus content make “Redemption” on Blu-ray a tantalizing prospect for any fan. That’s without mentioning the (extremely) cool Klingon-themed disc navigation menus and packaging… CBS have certainly gone the extra mile (or should that be kellicam) with this release! I certainly hope they continue to release the remaining two-part episodes of The Next Generation in the same format… they make a wonderful addition to the season sets. Qapla’!

– Written for TrekCore.com by Adam Walker, July 25, 2013

	Order Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4 Blu-ray today!		Order TNG - "Redemption" Feature Blu-Ray today!

	Order Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4 Blu-ray today!		Order TNG - "Redemption" Feature Blu-Ray today!

Review: Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season 4 Blu-ray

TrekCore Archives

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July 23, 2013

164

Review: Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season 4 Blu-ray

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4
Release Date: July 30, 2013
Blu-Ray Disc • 6 Discs
CBS Home Entertainment

The unenviable task of following the critically acclaimed third season of Star Trek: The Next Generation was never going to be easy, yet somehow when the show returned in September of 1990 it felt fresh, energized and full of new purpose. Season Four saw a gentle shift in tone as executive producer Michael Piller started to steer TNG towards featuring more emotional and often serialized storytelling. Plotlines such as Worf’s discommendation – left hanging in Season 3 – were suddenly picked up and developed into a recurring story arc throughout the fourth year with the burgeoning Duras/Romulan plot hanging over the Federation.

Once again the writers’ room saw its fair share of changes with the departure of mainstays Richard Manning and Hans Beimler and the arrival of familiar Star Trek alums Jeri Taylor (Co-creator, Executive Producer Star Trek: Voyager) and Brannon Braga (Executive Producer, Star Trek: Voyager / Co-creator, Executive Producer Star Trek: Enterprise). The fourth season also marked the departure of everyone’s favorite Ensign as fans said farewell to Wesley Crusher with Wil Wheaton bowing out of the series in “Final Mission”, paving the way for a revolving door of different bridge officers taking the conn each week. Much like the third year, storytelling in Season 4 continues to be engaging and thought-provoking with any number of episodes being possible contenders for your all-time favorite Top 10 lists (I only need mention the likes of “Brothers“, “The Drumhead“, “The Wounded“, “Family” and “Qpid“).

The first appearance of the Cardassians in Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season Four

Remastering Quality

Many of our readers will already be familiar with the hoops that CBS have been jumping through to remaster Star Trek: The Next Generation into high definition. The show is – in essence – being pieced together as if it had just been filmed, with the original 35mm camera negatives being rescanned and episodes edited together to match the broadcast versions from the 1990s. Because of the scale of such a project, the fourth season was outsourced to post-production company Modern VideoFilm.

After the uneven remastering of the show’s second season by HTV-Illuminate, there has been a lot of discussion and speculation amongst fans on whether Modern will match the high quality of CBS Digital‘s visual effects and compositing work from the first and third seasons. Firstly it should be noted that both parts of “The Best of Both Worlds” and “Redemption” were done wholly by CBS Digital to ensure consistency across those two-parters. Modern Video took care of the 24 episodes sandwiched in between. Thanks to a close working relationship between staff from both companies, the finished Season Four appears to be – on the whole – stylistically consistent with the stunning third season remaster by CBS Digital.

I. Live Action Footage

Locating original film elements for thousands of minutes of a television show as structurally complicated as Star Trek: The Next Generation undoubtedly deserves the label of “needle in a haystack”. Sarah Paul, Kiki Morris, Sean Sweeney and the whole film-hunting gang at CBS never give up searching, even when they’re against a release deadline. Despite their best efforts, film for a couple of very brief shots in Season 4 couldn’t be tracked down and as a result has been substituted for upscaled SD footage in the final Blu-ray presentation. Fans who already picked up April’s release of “The Best of Both Worlds” will already be aware of one of these shots – Riker on the battlebridge, engaging with Locutus (see our BOBW Blu-ray review for more information). The second upscaled shot occurs in “The Drumhead” and features a 2 second look at the damaged warp core. It really is so transitory that it’s hardly worth the mention (especially as the shot itself is already somewhat “foggy” because of the setting.)

The re-scanned HD live-action footage is yet again a joy to behold. I’ve waxed lyrical many times about the tremendous boost in resolution, detail, color and contrast yet seeing the dramatic transformation never gets old. The fourth season has always been blighted by strangely uneven color timing in standard definition (both broadcast and DVD). It’s only when you compare episodes one after the other (under the same lighting conditions) that you are able to see the dramatic shifts brought about by the inherent limitations of transferring footage at videotape resolution back in the 1990s.

Contrasting the uneven color-timing of TNG’s Fourth Season in standard definition (top row) with the newly remastered and freshly color timed high definition Blu-ray (bottom row). The episodes featured, from left to right: “Suddenly Human“, “The Loss“, “The Wounded“, “Clues“

So what’s our verdict on the look of an HD Season 4? The stability and consistency in color coupled with the huge boost in detail that high definition offers brings these new transfers tantalizingly close to being perfect.

One of the multitude of benefits brought about by remastering TNG is the ability to finally see the work of the talented designers, artists and craftsmen come alive and appreciate it as it was originally intended. The lavish costumes designed for characters such as Lwaxana Troi, Ardra the Devil, the Cardassians and Guinan (to name but a few) can’t fail to impress. Diligently designed sets such as the Courtroom in “Devil’s Due” and the Romulan Holodeck in “Future Imperfect” can be admired like never before with details you never even noticed were there becoming visible for the first time in 25 years. It truly is like watching the show for the first time.

Two episodes which immediately jump out over the rest are “Family” and “Qpid” on account of their heavy reliance on shooting on location. The glorious greens of the Picard Family Vineyard in France (“Family“) and Sherwood Forest (“Qpid“) burst off the screen in high definition. There’s such a depth of realism when watching these episodes in high definition, realism which was entirely lacking with the standard definition transfers. I challenge any fan not to be totally amazed at how much detail was in the original 35mm camera negative – every leaf, every blade of grass comes to life and draws the viewer in like never before.

Sherwood Forest comes to life in “Qpid” thanks to the glorious quality inherent in the 35mm film and some top-notch color correction by CBS colorist Marvin Hildebrandt

II. Visual Effects

Undoubtedly the area which comes under most scrutiny from fans, visual effects and compositing make up the largest part of the workload for remastering a show like TNG. As the bulk of visual effects were originally created at videotape SD resolution – planets, transporter effects and the like – had to be recreated from scratch. CBS Digital are a hard act to follow yet Modern have done an admirable job of trying to match the high standards of the third season’s remastering. Season Four has undoubtedly benefited from a closer working relationship between the two teams. Max Gabl heads up planet creation again, and gives us some truly spectacular pieces of art with his usual creative flair. Of particular note is the newly created Peliar Zel planetary system from “The Host” – quite a departure from the original version, changing from an incongruous yellow/blue sphere to a lush Earth-like planet with contrasting moons. I inspected all the planets from the fourth season and didn’t see anything that I was disappointed by. Brilliant work!

The Enterprise approaches Peliar Zel II and its two moons,
newly created by Max Gabl (“The Host“)

On to the compositing of ship scenes, and you’ll be pleased to hear that the majority of ship shots have been handled very satisfactorily. Modern have clearly made an effort to reproduce the compositing style of Eric Bruno and his team at CBS Digital in most of their work. While not quite at the (admittedly high) standards of CBS Digital, most of the shots of the Enterprise and other ships look fantastic and really benefit from extra care taken with the compositing. Particular models which stand out include the Nebula-class U.S.S. Phoenix and Galor-Class Cardassian Warhip from “The Wounded” and the Argus Array space telescope from “The Nth Degree“. The iconic shot of the Enterprise docked at McKinley Station in “Family” looks fantastic – despite being a little bright, the grandeur of the Enterprise in this shot cannot fail to impress in high definition.

The Nebula-Class U.S.S. Phoenix hangs in space with the Enterprise, composited by Modern Video (“The Wounded“)

On the flip-side there are several instances throughout the season of shots which could certainly have used a bit of “extra love”. Virtually every shot of the 4-foot model in “The Loss” looked poor to me, overly bright with lackluster compositing and a distinct cartoony-feel to it (excluding the deflector dish closeups). There are a smattering of other shots like this throughout the season but thankfully they are very low in number with “The Loss” being, by far, the worst offending episode.

“Galaxy’s Child” is one of those rare episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation which relied quite heavily on CGI for the creation of “Junior”, the spaceborne lifeform. Originally the shots were produced by Rhythm & Hues, the same CG company responsible for the famous Bajoran Wormhole in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Sadly a lot of the replacement CG shots in this episode disappointed me, moreso after the spectacular CG creation of the Crystalline Entity in Season 1 by Niel Wray and his team at CBS Digital. The birthing sequence of “Junior” in which the Enterprise uses its phasers to cut out the “baby” looks particularly poor with virtually no grain and a very plastic, cartoonlike appearance. Thankfully, it’s brief but it certainly reinforces the importance of working on shots like this far in advance to ensure that they are up to scratch.

The rather cartoonlike birthing sequence, newly rendered using CGI (“Galaxy’s Child“)

Finally, I must end the analysis of the remastering effort with a special note about the many LCARS computer display animations used throughout the season. The original elements for most (if not all) of the LCARS display screens which were originally inserted in post-production have been lost. This presented the team with an incredible challenge of recreating virtually everything from scratch. When recreation is limited to simply re-entering text on a scrolling display, it may not present too much of a challenge for the remastering team. However, more often than not the LCARS displays contained increasingly complex animations of 2-dimensional (and later 3-dimensional) objects which are incredibly difficult to reproduce from scratch with only SD resolution reference material to go on. Thankfully the results on display in Season 4 are stunning – there is so much attention to detail in these recreated displays that their authenticity with respect to the original versions cannot be questioned. A tour de force for the talented people involved in this difficult job.

All in all, I walk away from Season 4 happy that Modern have done the best they could with their limited time, budget and experience when it comes to remastering something as technically complex as Star Trek: The Next Generation. The result is a polished, quality remaster which will have you returning to your favorite fourth season episodes over and over again to marvel at how good they look in HD.

Bonus Material

I’ve made no secret about my huge admiration for the work done by Roger Lay, Jr. and Robert Meyer Burnett on the newly commissioned VAM (“Value Added Material”) for these Star Trek: The Next Generation Blu-ray releases. The no-holds-barred style of documentary film-making on display in the first three seasons captivated my interest and made Disc 6 the first “must watch” when I receive the new sets through. As I described in my Season 3 review, the guys really ramped things up a gear on the previous set with the stunning Inside the Writers’ Room reunion and three-part documentary. Keeping up that level of quality original content season after season was always going to be impossible yet I was still left a little disappointed with the VAM on offer for Season 4.

“Relativity: The Family Saga of Star Trek: The Next Generation” combines two thirty-minute documentaries, “Homecoming” and “Posterity”.

“Homecoming” starts off quite strong with writer Ronald D. Moore talking about his deep desire for more arc-based storytelling and the resistance he met from Rick Berman and the higher-ups in the studio. Ron – by far the most engaging speaker in this segment – throws in a few more cute nuggets including how he would hold story meetings with the writers on the Observation Lounge set and the battles he went through to get the script to “Family” approved. There are a few anecdotes from Wil Wheaton about why he left the show (mostly due to the “terrible writing” for Wesley, it turns out) but beyond that, this part of the documentary feels a tad directionless with interviews from Larry Nemecek, Lolita Fatjo, Brannon Braga and René Echevarria edited together with no overriding structure.

Ronald D. Moore

“Prosperity” is the strongest of the two parts and features new interviews with most of the primary cast. There are some cute stories from Brent Spiner on how he came to get three roles in one episode (“Brothers“) while Jonathan Frakes talks about the Riker/Troi dynamic, Gates McFadden chats about dancing with Data and Michael Dorn gives us insights into Klingon humor. Conspicuously absent is any cast reaction to Wil Wheaton‘s decision to leave the show. It seems a strange oversight after we’ve previously had very touching commentary from the primary cast on both Denise Crosby and Gates McFadden’s departures. Michael Westmore rounds this off with some interesting talk about the origin of the Cardassians whose shoulder ridges, it turns out, are all down to actor Marc Alaimo‘s long neck!

Wil Wheaton

“In Conversation: The Star Trek Art Department”: After the previous reunion pieces (Season 2’s Cast Reunion and Season 3’s Writers’ Room Reunion), Robert and Roger decided to revisit Star Trek The Next Generation‘s Art Department for Season 4, bringing together Herman Zimmerman, Rick Sternbach, Mike and Denise Okuda, Doug Drexler and Dan Curry in a 65-minute special. Fans expecting the same level of engagement from this segment as the superb Cast and Writers reunions are likely in for a disappointment. The dynamic of the Art Department staffers is clearly very different to that of the writers or cast and this directly impacts on the pacing and energy of the piece. Don’t get me wrong, there are some touching moments to witness (Herman Zimmerman in particular was a joy to listen to) but much of the time I found myself thinking that an hour was far too long. The piece could comfortably have been edited into a 30-minute special and doesn’t hold anywhere near the same re-watch-ability as its predecessors.

The TNG Art Department Reunion (Left to Right: Rick Sternbach, Dan Curry, Mike & Denise Okuda, Herman Zimmerman, Doug Drexler)

Gag Reel: More on-set frivolities from the cast. With the remastering team now seeking out bloopers and outtakes from the original 35mm camera negative, these special gag reels have become a regular feature on the Blu-ray season sets. Sadly this one only runs to 3:34, but the material presented will have you in stitches as per usual. Frakes losing it as he discovers a dead Dr. Soong (Brent Spiner) was particularly standout!

Picard and Riker fall apart laughing in the Season 4 Gag Reel

Audio Commentaries: The set contains two audio commentaries, newly recorded especially for this set.

4×03 “Brothers” with Rob Bowman and Mike & Denise Okuda – NEW
4×07 “Reunion” with Ronald D. Moore, Brannon Braga and Mike & Denise Okuda – NEW

Deleted Scenes: Certainly the highlight of the bonus material on this release. CBS have dug through the archives to unearth a range of deleted scenes from eight episodes! There is some wonderful material here, so much so that we’ve got a whole separate article dedicate to it. Check out our full breakdown of the deleted scenes included on the 4th Season set!

Putting an interesting spin on post-Season 3 VAM was always going to be challenging for a show like Star Trek: The Next Generation which, after the third season, was a well-oiled machine, smoothly sailing through safe ratings territory and churning out one solid season after another. If anything, my main issue with the fourth season set’s VAM is that it feels rushed. The usual “special touches” of behind-the-scenes photos, footage, sketches, visual effects compositing breakdowns (the different model passes) and archival interviews are mostly missing here. The documentary feels like it lacks direction and the absence of any real reaction to Wil Wheaton’s departure (from either the primary cast or – more importantly – the writers and producers) was a disappointment.

Hopefully Season Five will see Roger and Robert returning to the high standards they established in the releases of Seasons One through Three. In the meantime, Season Four’s VAM isn’t a total write-off, just don’t be expecting quite as much excitement as you’ve seen before.

The Bottom Line? I don’t find any reason to hesitate recommending you pick up TNG’s Fourth Year on Blu-ray. The episodes are sublime, the remastering is more than enough to draw your appreciation and there’s a nice collection of bonus material both new and old for you to feast on once you’re done. A great release!

– Written for TrekCore.com by Adam Walker, July 23, 2013

	Order Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4 Blu-ray today!		Order TNG - "Redemption" Feature Blu-Ray today!

	Order Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4 Blu-ray today!		Order TNG - "Redemption" Feature Blu-Ray today!

Star Trek TNG Season 4 Blu-ray: Deleted Scenes Breakdown

TrekCore Staff

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July 23, 2013

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Star Trek TNG Season 4 Blu-ray: Deleted Scenes Breakdown

We’re just days away from the release of TNG Season Four on Blu-ray (read our full review), and one of the most exciting parts of the new set is the collection of never-before-scene deleted scenes… this time, presented in full high definition!

Unlike the Season Two release, where the two scenes included were only able to be recovered via a VHS master, all of the new footage for Season Four has been rescanned from the original film negatives, just like the restored episodes.

Each cut sequence is featured in context with the final episode – just like the way we’ve been presenting our deleted scenes packages here on TrekCore – and we’ve got a full breakdown and analysis of all fourteen scenes below.

Episode 4.01: “The Best of Both Worlds, Part II“

Act One, Scenes 15 – 16: Riker tries to come to terms with his promotion to Enterprise captain and with his feelings for having tried to kill Picard.

This scene, set entirely in the Ready Room, begins with the newly-minted Captain Riker staring out into space – Troi enters, and they discuss the crew’s reaction to the attempt to destroy the Borg ship at the beginning of the episode. Riker admits that Picard was “more of a father to me than my own”; Troi reveals that she could still “sense his humanity” as they tried to kill him.

It’s nice to see the mention of the other thousand people on the ship – for such an overwhelming loss, it always seemed a bit odd that we only witnessed reactions from the core cast… but frankly, the later Ready Room scene between Riker and Guinan plays out much better.

Troi doesn’t do anything to challenge Riker’s feelings, or his plan to keep the Enterprise working like it’s still Picard’s ship; having Guinan metaphorically slap some sense into him carries a lot more weight.

. . .

Episode 4.02: “Family“

Act Five, Scene 35: Wesley sees a hologram of Jack, his late father. Most of Jack’s speech is in the final episode, but two paragraphs in which Jack tells his son about their family history were omitted. This brief expansion of the final scene reveals that Wesley was named after Jack’s grandfather, Richard Wesley Crusher, who first gave him flying lessons as a boy.

Jack goes on to tell Wesley about the scholars and artists in the family line, including the great-great-grandfather who had artwork featured in the illustrious Museo del Prado in Spain; some of the “skeletons in the closet”, briefly mentioning the Crusher who was “a horse thief on Nimbus III“; the fallen heroes, like the Crusher who died for the Confederacy at Bull Run, and the one killed at Station Salem-One.

Stuffing all of this family history feels like a bit of an infodump to be sure, but this kind of familial backstory is the kinds of cut we hate to see – just like the long Troi scene from “The Bonding”, where she talks about how she was affected by her father’s death as a child.

This passage also contains the second reference to Station Salem-One (last mentioned in Season Three’s “The Enemy“), and the Nimbus III namedrop is a cute callback to Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, which had just been released the previous year.

. . .

Episode 4.03: “Brothers“

Act Three, Scene 37: Data meets his creator, legendary scientist Dr. Soong, for the first time.

An expansion of the “this is your lucky day, Data!” scene, this additional footage includes Soong testing Data’s equilibrium by making him stand on one foot, and quizzing him on his environmental sensitivity by asking him how a humid day “feels”, as compared to a dry day – all the while, bragging about how hard he worked to make those systems function properly.

Spiner clearly enjoyed playing the Soong role in this episode, and an extra two minutes of his performance is a welcome addition to the scene. This really feels like a sequence that was removed for time, because there’s certainly nothing crucial in the scene that was lost in the final cut.

. . .

Episode 4.09: “Final Mission“

Act Three, Scene 37: Picard and Wesley are trapped in a cavern on a distant planet. Picard tells Wesley that for a moment, he saw Jack Crusher’s face on the young ensign as he fought to keep Picard alive – and he starts to ramble about Jack’s “senseless death”, which “should have happened at night, not on a bright, cloudless afternoon”.

Act Five, Scene 63: The bridge crew finally locates Picard and Wesley’s crashed shuttlecraft. Data says he can’t get a strong fix on the wreckage, so Geordi “narrows the frequency range on the sensor array”. This allows Data to tell that it is the shuttle, but the “the magnetic flux would mask any bio-energy emanations”, and requires an away team to skip the transporter and go down in their own shuttle.

While there’s absolutely no reason to keep the technobabble-filled bridge scene, the brief, delirious rambling from the injured Picard is one more big piece of the very hazy mystery surrounding Jack Crusher’s death.

A full account of his demise is featured in Michael Jan Friedman’s novel Reunion – but his narrative has Crusher dying in space, working to repair critical damage to the Stargazer.

. . .

Episode 4.12: “The Wounded“

Act One, Scene 15: The senior staff expresses their concerns about allowing Cardassians aboard the Enterprise; Picard advises them to keep an open mind.

Act One, Scene 16: Riker and Troi ask O’Brien for his opinion of Ben Maxwell.

Act Two, Scene 26: Miles and Keiko discuss letting go of grudges over dinner.

Act Two, Scene 30: Picard reluctantly releases the USS Phoenix prefix codes to the Cardassian military.

Act Four, Scene 41: On his way to Picard’s Ready Room, Maxwell is surprised to see a Cardassian officer on the Enterprise bridge.

Act Four, Scene 42: Maxwell reveals that he has no real proof of Cardassia’s military buildup, just a strong suspicion.

These scenes are cut together exactly as in our first Next Generation workprint video, published by TrekCore back in March 2013.

We’re proud to have sparked the search for more never-before-seen footage with our series of deleted scenes, and we’re very excited to see them fully restored in high definition for this release.

. . .

Episode 4.16: “Galaxy’s Child“

Act One, Scene 13: Everyone is fascinated by the bizarre space creature on the main viewer.

With wonder in his voice, Picard begins to recite a nursery rhyme from his youth: “Asked the child of the stranger without any name… whither you go… and whence you came?”

He pauses, and Worf completes the poem, amusing the bridge crew in the process: “To the child’s delight the answer came clear… To the end I go for it all starts here.”

Strangely enough, this is the second deleted scene featuring Worf reciting poetry on the bridge. It’s a funny moment – and it wouldn’t have made sense before we met the Rozhenkos in “Family” – but it is really out of place this rather dramatic episode.

. . .

Episode 4.19: “Qpid“

Act Three, Scene 39: Q, as the Sheriff of Nottingham, schemes with Sir Guy of Gisbourne on how to best make life difficult for Robin Hood and Maid Marian.

Q advises Sir Guy to keep his upcoming wedding to Marian (Vash) a secret, so that Robin Hood (Picard) will think her life is still in danger, and be tricked into coming to the castle to be killed.

These few lines are really just padding on a sequence that didn’t need the extra complication – after all, it’s revealed immediately after this cut sequence that Robin Hood was already undercover in the castle, listening to the whole thing – and its removal leaves the rest of the episode working just fine.

. . .

Episode 4.23: “The Host“

Act Three, Scene 34: It’s poker night on the Enterprise, but after being joined with Will Riker, Odan finds it hard to face Riker’s friends. Odan – in Riker’s body – shows up at the door, and clearly Geordi, Data, and Worf are as apprehensive about his arrival as Odan himself.

He’s never played poker, but thanks to his joining with Riker, he knows exactly what to do; he’s surprised to know Riker’s experiences, as his previous hosts “had no personality”. Realizing that he’s making the other players uncomfortable, Odan makes a quick exit from the game.

On Deep Space Nine, we learned a lot about joined Trill – they move from host to host, blending personalities and carrying memories down the line – but in this early incarnation of Trill joining, it’s made clear that Odan – the symbiont – is the only existing consciousness in a “normal” joining, and Riker’s personality has thrown him for a loop.

He exhibits many of the same confused tendencies as Ezri Dax in early DS9 Season 7: knowing how to play a game he’s never even heard of; showing up at Data’s quarters for the game, without even knowing it was taking place.

. . .

We hope you enjoyed this look inside the deleted scenes included in the TNG Season Four Blu-ray release – and we’re looking forward to the next round of recovered footage, coming with Season Five later this year!

	Order Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4 Blu-ray today!		Order TNG - "Redemption" Feature Blu-Ray today!

TrekCore’s Shore Leave 35 Author Interview Preview

TrekCore Staff

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July 23, 2013

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Just a few weeks ago, we brought you a preview of this year’s 35th Annual Shore Leave Convention, which takes place in Hunt Valley, Maryland this August – and now, we have an inside look at the biggest Star Trek literature event of the year with five of the past decade’s most well-known Trek lit contributors – authors Christopher L. Bennett, Greg Cox, Keith R.A. DeCandido, David Mack, and former Pocket Books Trek editor Marco Palmieri!

Shore Leave 35 Preview with Christopher L. Bennett, Greg Cox, Keith R.A. DeCandido, David Mack, and Marco Palmieri

TrekCore: First of all – for those readers unfamiliar with the event – could you talk a little about the literary focus of the Shore Leave convention?

David Mack: Unlike many fantasy and science-fiction conventions, whose guest rosters tend to be dominated by media guests (i.e., actors), the majority of Shore Leave’s featured guests are authors. Most of us are well established as writers of Star Trek tie-in fiction, though most of us also have several non-Star Trek credits, as well. For fans of literary science fiction and fantasy, Shore Leave is the best con of its kind on the east coast of the U.S.

Keith R.A. DeCandido: For a long time, the primary literary focus of Shore Leave was on Star Trek fiction, but it’s expanded over the past few years, partly due to many long-time Star Trek novelists expanding their portfolio. The works of regular Shore Leave guests Peter David, Michael Jan Friedman, Robert Greenberger, Aaron Rosenberg, and others is the focus, with a recent addition of other authors local to the Baltimore area.

Christopher L. Bennett: There’s always a mass autograph session with all of the author guests on the first night of the con, called “Meet the Pros”. The convention organizers work with a local bookstore to make sure copies of our books are available for sale. There are also plenty of author discussion panels and writers’ workshops throughout the weekend.

TrekCore: This year is Shore Leave’s 35^th anniversary – how long have you been attending?

Keith R.A. DeCandido: I first went to Shore Leave in 1992 with The Chronic Rift, the public access TV show I was involved with that has since become a podcast. We interviewed many of the guests there for the show. In 2000, when my first Star Trek fiction had come out, I started going again, and have been back every year since.

Marco Palmieri: I first started attending Shore Leave in 1999, I think, so this year’s con should be my fourteenth. I was editing media tie-in fiction for Pocket Books at the time, and I knew Shore Leave as an annual event where many of our Star Trek authors got together to promote their work, commiserate, and just enjoy a pleasantly nerdy weekend. It far exceeded my expectations, and in subsequent years I tried to increase Pocket’s profile at the con with signage, book giveaways, publishing presentations, coordinated novel releases, and by facilitating special orders for the con’s participating book vendor.

Marco Palmieri entertains during Shore Leave 32

Greg Cox: I honestly can’t remember when or how I started attending Shore Leave. It’s been a high point of my summer for over a decade now. I haven’t missed it in years. I’ve even managed to squeeze it in when tight deadlines have urged me to stay home and write instead!

David Mack: I’ve been attending Shore Leave as an author guest since 2004, when I premiered my first direct-to-paperback novel, A Time to Kill, at Shore Leave 26, and Shore Leave 35 marks my tenth consecutive year as an author guest of the convention.

I first became aware of the convention after hearing Keith and Greg sing its praises. Back then, I was leery of volunteering to take part in the convention circuit. Fortunately, they persuaded me that this convention was different and would win me over – and they were right. Ever since my first trip to Shore Leave, it has been my favorite Science Fiction / Fantasy convention, and it’s the only one I insist on never missing.

Christopher L. Bennett: To my own amazement, this year’s Shore Leave will be my ninth. I’ve been attending every year since Shore Leave 27 in 2005. Shortly after my first novel, Star Trek: Ex Machina, was published, Marco – who was my editor at the time – suggested me as a prospective guest to the Shore Leave people, and they invited me. It actually took me a few months to decide whether I could afford to go and how to get there; I wasn’t much of a traveler at the time, and money was tighter at that stage of my career. But I eventually did decide to attend, and I was glad I did. I haven’t missed one since.

TrekCore: Tell us a bit about the annual traditions at the event, like “Meet the Pros”, or any of your favorite moment from years past.

Greg Cox: From a writerly point of view, the high point is always the Friday night “Meet the Pros” mass-autographing sessions. For those who haven’t attended, rows of tables are lined up along a long hallway and, for about two-plus hours, all of the attending authors are on hand to sign books, chat with fans, and generally schmooze. To make things even more convenient, a friendly local bookseller is on-site with a generous supply of our most recent books. I also make a point of occasionally camping out at the bookseller’s table throughout the weekend, to meet and sign books for readers who might have missed the Friday event.

David Mack: “Meet the Pros” has always been a special treat for Shore Leave’s author guests, though some of my fondest memories have been made while relaxing in the hotel’s bar with my fellow writers. It was at Shore Leave that I first met Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore, who became my creative partners on the Star Trek: Vanguard literary series. It’s also thanks to Shore Leave that I’ve developed rewarding friendships with Christopher and other such wonderful fellow authors as Kirsten Beyer, David R. George III, Scott Pearson, Amy Sisson, Bill Leisner, Allyn Gibson, Dave Galanter, and many others.

David Mack signing for fans during 2010’s “Meet the Pros”

Christopher L. Bennett: I’d say the high points would be the friendships I’ve made with colleagues like Marco, Keith, David, Greg, and Kirsten Beyer. In particular, I enjoyed the Shore Leaves where the group of us who collaborated on the Star Trek: Mere Anarchy miniseries (myself, Keith, Dayton Ward, Kevin Dilmore, Mike W. Barr, Dave Galanter, Howard Weinstein, and Margaret Wander Bonanno) were able to get together and discuss the project as a group, conduct panels, or just hang around. I’ve also enjoyed the couple of opportunities I’ve gotten to do dramatic readings from my work. I’ve always enjoyed getting to ham it up like that.

Keith R.A. DeCandido: The best moment for me was when I was roasted, the first of three comedy roasts for charity done at Shore Leave — the other victims were Michael Jan Friedman and Robert Greenberger, and all three were an absolute blast. Beyond that, Shore Leave is primarily a social experience for me. It’s an annual opportunity to hang out with fans, friends, and colleagues whom I seldom get to see in the flesh anymore. It’s like a yearly high school reunion for Trek writers and editors!

Marco Palmieri: There’s a constant festive atmosphere at Shore Leave, which allows me to just enjoy the company and conversation of other con-goers, fans and pros alike. I would mention the many late nights spent with friends in the hotel bar, but I usually can’t remember them the following day.

Greg Cox: Trust me – books have been plotted and character arcs worked out over drinks in the hotel bar!

Marco Palmieri: In addition, the publishing presentations, in which I got to reveal upcoming projects, were loads of fun. We did a few dramatic readings over the years, including one in which we were joined by Klingon actors J.G. Hertzler and Robert O’Reilly. In more recent years, I was a regular participant in the Shore Leave Comedy Roasts for Charity, which David produced to benefit the Red Cross.

David Mack: Other highlights of the weekend are the Robbie Greenberger Memorial Poker Tournament (at which I’ve never played, but I plan to one of these years), and the venerable institution known as Mystery Trekkie Theater, in which authors Peter David, Michael Jan Friedman, and Robert Greenberger add their uniquely witty commentary, MST3K-style, to one of the franchise’s less than-praiseworthy episodes. I’ve attended only a few of these, but they’re always a hoot.

TrekCore: I know it’s still a bit early for the schedule to be finalized, but could you tell us about any panels or workshop sessions you will be a part of during this year’s weekend?

Keith R.A. DeCandido: I plan to do a self-defense workshop, which will be tremendous fun.

Keith DeCandido and his many published works at Shore Leave 31’s signing

Greg Cox: I’ve volunteered to do panels on superheroes, movie novelizations, and other topics I may know something about!

Christopher L. Bennett: We’ll likely to do a panel covering my new Rise of the Federation novel series as well as other projects examining Star Trek history. There may also be panels about superhero novels and comparisons of tie-in versus original fiction, which would let me promote the upcoming paperback release of my original novel Only Superhuman and the audiobook adaptation of my Spider-Man novel Drowned in Thunder.

Marco Palmieri: If all goes according to plan, this year I will once again team up with Greg – my fellow Tor Books editor – for an informal presentation of Tor’s current and upcoming releases, which will include a chance for some lucky folks who attend the panel to leave with free new books. I’ve also requested panels focusing on two of my current favorite television series: Orphan Black and The Legend of Korra. I was also invited to take part in a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 20th Anniversary panel.

David Mack: I suspect I will take part in a panel about my recent Star Trek trilogy Cold Equations, and I might end up discussing any number of recent Science Fiction / Fantasy movies or TV series. There may also be a writing seminar of some kind, though the specific topics change from year to year.

TrekCore: For Trek literature fans, the annual Shore Leave announcements for the upcoming years’ Simon & Schuster / Pocket Books releases used to be a highlight of the show. Could you offer some insight into why that’s no longer part of the weekend’s events?

David Mack: Because some fans obsessively track information in the Simon & Schuster internal sales catalogs – which, inexplicably, are publicly available online – the information is almost always out before it can be announced. These days, most of us authors promote the upcoming books as soon as our publisher gives us permission to do so.

Many of us, however, still try to break news of upcoming projects at Shore Leave when we can, because it’s a very receptive audience. For instance, I will be announcing a major new Star Trek project at this year’s Shore Leave convention, slightly ahead of when the information will be posted to the publisher’s website.

TrekCore: As a fan-run organization, do you find Shore Leave to be different from other conventions you’ve been involved with?

Keith R.A. DeCandido: Shore Leave is delightful convention that has a real sense of family. One of the reasons why I never miss the show is because it feels like a family reunion. There’s genuineness to the convention that is often missing from the larger cons. And it also puts the guests on the same level as the fans. It’s a personal interaction that you don’t always get at the larger shows.

Greg Cox: It feels less like a “show” – where you pay your ticket and attend an event – and more like a friendly get-together. There’s usually lots of activity in the bar, in the restaurants and snack bars, around the pool, etc. When I’m not actually participating in a panel, I’m usually chatting with old and new friends in the halls, coffee shop, or dealer’s room.

Greg Cox at 2011’s Shore Leave 33

David Mack: It’s less concerned with the bottom line, and more focused on the quality of the convention experience, for both its invited guests and its fan attendees. There is a camaraderie and a team spirit that arises from its nature as a volunteer show, and I think it makes it feel more like a weekend spent with friends than one spent with mercenaries. I think one can feel the difference when attending a convention that’s being produced out of love and passion for the genre and respect for those who help create it, as opposed to a convention being run to fill a cash register.

Marco Palmieri: In general, I find fan-run conventions to have a much more pleasant, friendly, and productive atmosphere than their larger, professionally-run cousins – and even then, Shore Leave is a standout. You really feel the love there, and it flows in both directions.

TrekCore: What projects are you working on now? Is there anything you might be previewing at Shore Leave?

Greg Cox: As it happens, I just delivered a new Original Series book to Pocket Books a few weeks ago, and am now awaiting their comments – hopefully, I’ll have more to say about that book at the convention. In the meantime, I have two books which came out in June: the official movie novelization of Man of Steel, and a new trade paperback edition of Riese: Kingdom Falling, a steampunk adventure based on the Syfy webseries. I also have a short story in a new anthology, The Avenger: Roaring Heart of the Crucible starring the classic 1940s pulp hero, The Avenger. (Not to be confused with Steve and Tony, or Steed and Emma.)

Christopher L. Bennett: I’m in my final weeks of work on Tower of Babel, the second novel in the Star Trek: Enterprise — Rise of the Federation series, due out in April 2014. The Spider-Man: Drowned in Thunder audiobook should be out sometime in August; the mass-market paperback of Only Superhuman will be out at the end of August or so; and I have a novelette, “Make Hub, Not War,” appearing in the November 2013 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact, which should probably be on sale by September.

Christopher Bennett shows off of his first original novel, ‘Only Superhuman’

David Mack: My next book scheduled for publication is Star Trek: The Fall, Book III — A Ceremony of Losses, which will be released October 29, 2013. Sadly, I don’t have anything newer than the Cold Equations trilogy to promote at Shore Leave, though as I mentioned, I will be announcing a new Star Trek project at the convention, and I promise this is news my readers won’t want to miss.

As for what I’m working on now, I have several projects in various stages of development: an original novel project that I’ve been researching and outlining for a few months; that proposal is with my agent, from whom I am expecting revision notes someday soon. To fill my time until then, I’m drafting a new spec screenplay that’s been on my mind for a few years. If I finish that, I’ll start revising another screenplay I adapted last year from my original urban fantasy novel The Calling.

Keith R.A. DeCandido: I have a new project that I hope to be able to announce at Shore Leave. I also have two new short story collections out this year, one of which is being published shortly after Shore Leave, called Ragnarok and Roll, which takes place in Key West, Florida. I also just had Tales From Dragon Precinct released in May, which is a collection of short stories in the same universe as my novel Dragon Precinct and its sequels.

Marco Palmieri: I have a growing list of really exciting original fantasy and science fiction titles that I’m acquiring and editing for Tor Books, so I’ll be chatting up those quite a bit, along with other books on Tor’s upcoming schedule. Shore Leave’s increasing focus on a range of Fantasy and Science Fiction literature makes it a great place talk about what’s coming up from one of genre’s leading publishers.

TrekCore: I have one final question about the current state of Trek literature, which has changed dramatically over the last decade and a half, transitioning from a time of standalone “numbered” novels to today’s largely-interconnected stories, blurring the lines between the different television series labels which appear on the covers – some fans have gone as far as writing up intricately-connected guides for readers new to the print releases.

Could you comment on how that change has affected storytelling? Has there ever been a concern about extending the landscape too broadly?

Greg Cox: I’ve been happily focusing on standalone Original Series novels for the last few years, while letting my distinguished colleagues explore the interconnected continuity of the 24th Century – but my impression is that both kinds of Trek books have their fans, so I would hope that there would always be room for both grand multi-book sagas and good, old-fashioned, standalone adventures.

David Mack: The most notable effect this editorial shift has had upon officially licensed Star Trek fiction is that, especially in the case of tales set after the events of the film Star Trek Nemesis, we are often no longer beholden to “reset button” thinking. This has enabled us to attempt more daring story arcs than were previously possible within a strict framework that necessitated the preservation of the franchise’s narrative status quo.

It also has encouraged those of us writing and editing the books to think on a grander scale, to consider the long-term implications and effects that our stories will have on the Star Trek universe as a whole, rather than just on the characters immediately involved in each story. We need to think beyond the ends of our respective novels to consider how our stories will inspire or restrict others, and to coordinate with one another in mapping out timelines and consequences.

Today’s Trek books have become increasingly interconnected across several series

As a result, the post-Nemesis era of Star Trek has in recent years seen the creation of some of the most cohesive, internally consistent, and thematically complex licensed tie-in fiction in the franchise’s history. Keeping it all straight has required a tremendous degree of planning, coordination, and communication between editors and authors, and there have been some missteps and miscommunications along the way. Overall, however, the process has been incredibly rewarding for those of us who collaborate to craft this shared universe, and we hope that it has been at least as rewarding for those who read it.

With regard to a fear of spreading the landscape too broadly, that’s not something I’ve ever worried about, nor have I heard the editors or other writers voice such concerns. The galaxy is a huge place, full of cultures and individuals and brimming with tales to be told. I think that, for the foreseeable future, the Star Trek books will continue to depict the further adventures of established characters from the television series and films, but I hope they will always have the freedom and opportunity to explore alternative visions of the Star Trek universe, with characters whose fates need not be preordained and tales whose outcomes are not written in stone.

Portions of this interview have been condensed or edited for clarity.
Photos courtesy of Shore Leave.

Christopher L. Bennett is the author of numerous critically acclaimed science-fiction tie-in novels novels including Star Trek: Ex Machina, Star Trek: Titan — Orion’s Hounds, Star Trek: The Next Generation — The Buried Age, two Star Trek: Department of Temporal Investigations novels (Watching the Clock and Forgotten History), and the new Star Trek: Enterprise — Rise of the Federation series, as well as X-Men: Watchers on the Walls and Spider-Man: Drowned in Thunder. He has had multiple works of short fiction published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact and other magazines, and his first original novel Only Superhuman was published by Tor Books in 2012. He lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, and can be found online here.

Greg Cox has written numerous Star Trek books and stories, including The Weight of Worlds, The Rings of Time, To Reign in Hell, The Eugenics Wars, The Q Continuum, Assignment: Eternity, and The Black Shore. His official website is: www.gregcox-author.com.

Keith R.A. DeCandido is the author of some 50-odd novels, many of them in a variety of media universes such as Star Trek, Supernatural, World of Warcraft, and many others. He’s currently doing a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Rewatch on Tor.com, and his 2013 releases include Tales From Dragon Precinct and Gryphon Precinct, two books in his high fantasy police procedural series, Leverage: The Zoo Job, and the urban fantasy short story collection Ragnarok and Roll: Tales of Cassie Zukav, Weirdness Magnet. Find out more, including his various podcasts, his blog, his social media, and more, at DeCandido.net.

David Mack is the New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty novels, including the Star Trek: Destiny and Star Trek: Cold Equations trilogies. Follow him on Twitter @DavidAlanMack.

Marco Palmieri is an editor of imaginative fiction at Tor Books. He is also the founder and editor of Otherworld Editorial, providing private consultations for writers of fantasy and science fiction. Marco can be found online at OtherworldEditorial.com, on Facebook (facebook.com/mxpalmieri or facebook.com/Otherworld.Editorial), or you can follow him on Twitter at @mxpalmieri.

Star Trek: The Art of Juan Ortiz – Pre-Release Info

Books

TrekCore Archives

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July 21, 2013

1

Star Trek: The Art of Juan Ortiz – Pre-Release Info

Juan Ortiz’s unique retro-style artwork for episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series has gathered quite a following since the ever popular Quantum Mechanix creative studio started issuing them as posters. Now fans have the chance to own a full collection of prints from all 80 Original Series episodes in the upcoming back Star Trek: The Art of Juan Ortiz. The new hardcover title will be released by Titan Publishing on September 3, 2013. CBS sent over a nice teaser description for TrekCore’s readers:

What if every Star Trek: The Original Series episode was a movie event? What would the movie poster look like? This was the inspiration to develop a one-of-a-kind set of images for the series that launched a franchise. Artist and avid Star Trek enthusiast Juan Ortiz has created unique retro-style art with the look of 1960s movie posters, comic books, pulp novel covers and advertisements, one each for all 80 classic Trek episodes.

If you would prefer to own larger versions of the artwork selected episodes, you can also pick up the separate sets (each containing four episodes). The large versions feature plated-printed lithographs on 100-pound, aqueous-coated, satin-finish paper sized at 18 inches x 24 inches.

We’ll have more information on the new release soon. In the meantime, you can pre-order the book from Amazon using the links below – it’s set to be released on September 3, 2013.

Pre-Order Star Trek: The Art of Juan Ortiz

EXCLUSIVE: Star Trek The Next Generation – Season 4 Blu-ray: More HD Preview Images

Blu-ray (TNG)

TrekCore Archives

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July 20, 2013

130

EXCLUSIVE: Star Trek The Next Generation – Season 4 Blu-ray: More HD Preview Images

Last week we posted a small selection of tantalizing HD preview stills from the upcoming release of Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4 on Blu-ray. With the July 30 release date fast approaching, we’re once again putting the spotlight on the gorgeous remastering of Star Trek: The Next Generation with another collection of high definition images from the 4th Season set for our readers to enjoy.

The selection showcases a variety of shots from a number of different episodes, including “Family“, “Reunion” and “Galaxy’s Child“. As usual, we have a full breakdown of the new shots, side-by-side comparisons with the SD DVD and extended analysis on the remastering. Enjoy!

Original SD (DVD)	Remastered HD (Blu-Ray)

Many episodes in Season 4 suffered from washed out color due to the limitations of the videotape resolution. The rescanned 35mm camera negative looks vibrant and fresh after being color timed by CBS Digital’s Colorist Marvin Hildebrandt. There’s some nice bluescreen compositing on display in this shot from “Family“, with care taken to reproduce the reflections of Earth in the observation lounge table. Fans can also relax as there’s a healthy amount of grain present with little DNR visible.


The iconic matte painting of the Picard Family Vineyard in La Barre, France by Illusion Arts’ Syd Dutton always managed to amaze me when watching the series on TV and DVD, but remastered in high definition it simply blows me away. The improved color timing of the lush green vineyard and the blue skies gives the painting such a boost in realism. Tiny buildings in the background all of a sudden resolve into an ancient French chateau surrounded by 24th century architecture. Truly breathtaking! (“Family“)


Certainly the shot which we’ve received most questions about, the Enterprise docked at McKinley Station in Earth orbit from “Family” has always been overly bright and toy-like in appearance. Modern Video‘s HD remaster certainly improves over the standard definition copy, retaining the original NASA photography of Earth that was used back in 1990 and giving us some wonderful detail in the model of McKinley Station. However, to my eyes the ship is still a touch too bright and could have really benefited from some more shading and blending to better integrate the Enterprise into the shot and give the shot a greater sense of realism.


The trio of Talarian ships from “Suddenly Human” look fantastic composited into this shot. The detailing visible on the models is terrific – tiny little windows can now be distinguished, giving us a better reference to determine a scale for the ships. The vessels’ hulls now have a clear texture and configuration which was totally obscured in standard definition. Great work on display here – as well as the other shots of the Talarian ships we’ve shown (in our previous S4 images article)


This shot of Starbase 133 from “Remember Me” was originally reused from Starbase 74 in the first season episode “11001001“. Modern Video have taken the original assets from CBS Digital (who remastered Season 1) and thrown in a nice bit of variation in the planet to distinguish both starbases from each other. The new green-hued oceans add an alien feel to the world, a departure from the standard Earth-like appearance. An effective and welcome change!

More color timing magic on display! Many of the dimly lit scenes in crew quarters (like this one from “Legacy“) would be especially affected by the limitations of standard definition and made even worse on DVD on account of the compression techniques used. This unique shot of Riker’s quarters bathed in green lighting looks particularly impressive in high definition with some great color contrast between the flowers on the table, Riker’s uniform and the green background. Shots like this are almost as exciting for me to see and compare as the visual effects due to the major improvements in clarity and color timing.


This has to be one of my favorite angles of the 4-foot Enterprise model – it has a commanding presence and the rich blue glow of the ship’s large arboretum viewports (under the main shuttlebay) really draws the eye. There’s some beautiful compositing work on display here from Modern Video as the Enterprise is bathed in a nice amount of shadow, going nose-to-nose with the three Klingon vessels in the episode “Reunion“. It’s in keeping with the style Eric Bruno and his team at CBS Digital have established for the VFX compositing and a testament to the fact that the two companies worked closely to ensure consistency.


Another nice use of blending and shadow to better integrate the often overlit 4-foot Enterprise model into the scene. This shot from “Galaxy’s Child” features the original physical model of the spaceborne lifeform built by Tony Meininger shot from three differing angles, and it holds up pretty well! We can make out “veins” on the organisms (or at least some indication of a circulatory system) and some very cool skin textures which are finally visible in HD.


A second shot of the rather unique spaceborne lifeforms seen in “Galaxy’s Child“. The asteroid field in high definition is a reuse of the original element and holds up very well. Yet again I’m impressed with the look of the spaceborne lifeforms in HD – the surface texture on the physical model looks fantastic and really shines on the Blu-ray! “Junior”, the younger lifeform in the middle of this shot, was originally created using CGI by Rhythm and Hues. For the remastered Blu-rays, the team have rendered a new Junior and the results are rather convincing!

In addition to all 26 original Season 4 episodes, the Blu-ray set comes with a host of newly produced bonus features, including:

In Conversation: The Star Trek Art Department
Relativity: The Family Saga of Star Trek – The Next Generation (2-Part Documentary)
Gag Reel
Deleted Scenes
Audio Commentaries

I’m sure everyone has seen the trailer many times by now, but just in case you want a re-watch:

[iframe src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/zfR5T2mlCts” width=”560″ height=”315″]

Let’s hear your thoughts on the new images! McKinley Station yay or nay? How do the Galaxy Child aliens look to you? And what about that beautiful rear-angle shot of the 4-footer in Reunion?

If you haven’t preordered the set already, what are you waiting for!? Head over to Amazon with the links below and lock in your copy… it’s time to set a course for Season Four!

	Order Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4 Blu-ray today!		Order TNG - "Redemption" Feature Blu-Ray today!

Voyager’s Visual Effects: Creating the CG Voyager with Rob Bonchune

Star Trek: Voyager

TrekCore Staff

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July 19, 2013

50

Voyager’s Visual Effects: Creating the CG Voyager with Rob Bonchune

We’re wrapping up Voyager Week with a very special behind-the-scenes article from former Star Trek: Voyager Senior CG Supervisor Rob Bonchune. Rob’s tenure at the franchise led him to work on all three CG-heavy Trek shows: Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise, eventually becoming the Senior CG supervisor for the last seven years of the franchise’s television run.

In this new column written exclusively for TrekCore, Rob discusses the history and challenges of creating a CG version of the U.S.S. Voyager.

Voyager’s Visual Effects: Creating a CG Voyager

Rob Bonchune for TrekCore.com

Hello to all you ship fans!

If you’re like me, nothing beats some nice orthographic views of your favorite ships from all the cool sci-fi television shows and movies we love. I came across some CG renders of Voyager in the TrekCore image archives – I spent 5 solid years working on Star Trek: Voyager, even contributing to the practical miniatures for the pilot before moving on to the CG realm – and I felt they were truly unacceptable, and that they didn’t reflect the quality of lighting and textures of the model I used in the show.

CG was coming into play more and more on television shows during the mid-1990’s, as a way to get a faster turnaround for the money spent and to make redoing shots far easier without the high expense of repeating an entire motion control miniature shot.

Although a practical filming miniature of Voyager was built for the show, the producers – especially the VFX Producer that worked with me, Mitch Suskin (and of course Dan Curry) – were planning to move completely towards CG models by the last few years of the series, if the technology proved viable.

Two versions of the CG Voyager were scanned from the physical model, and built before the series began – one was built in Lightwave by John Gross, Bruce Hall, and D. H. Jones from Amblin Imaging; the other was created by Santa Barbara Studios using “Dynamation,” their in-house design software.

Dynamation was also used for the Son’a ships in Star Trek: Insurrection – but because of the software’s incompatibility with Lightwave, it was virtually impossible to translate those digital models into a Lightwave-ready format.

A wireframe view of the Amblin Imaging model; a final render, as seen in “Unity“

The opening title sequence for Star Trek: Voyager had six distinct segments – three used motion-control shots of the studio model (here, here, and here), and three were made with Amblin Imaging’s Voyager model (here, here, and here). The segments done by Santa Barbara Studios where the ones that had volumetric-type effects, like the smokey nebula which Voyager passes through. At the time, Lightwave did not have these capabilities, although they would be added in a software update a few years later.

Amblin Imaging had access to the physical miniature, and took detailed shots of the model as closely as possible – to use the actual physical model’s surfaces as textures on the Lightwave CG Voyager. It turned out to be a great idea, and for the most part, it worked very well.

I was working for Foundation Imaging when I was finally assigned to Voyager full time, and that’s when I had the chance to examine the existing Voyager CG model we had to use every week. I really wanted to give the CG model a major facelift so being new to the show, I asked Mojo – who was my Supervisor at Foundation Imaging on Voyager – and Mitch Suskin who was his Mojo’s supervisor from Paramount – if, even on my own time, I could implement some changes to more accurately match the filming model as I felt we could not use it as it existed at the time. (This was all new to me back then and little did I know what the future held!). Using both good, clear shots of the physical model, and looking at the maps that Amblin had created, I set about pinpointing the areas that needed most work… and I’m not sure how it happened, but those ship image maps were tinted purple!

Of course, if the ship was lit correctly and not used for close-up shots – which is how it was being utilized at first – you didn’t really notice, but the purist in me couldn’t allow the purple hue to remain in place. According to Rick Sternbach, the Voyager hull was really a “duck egg blue” color, and when you saw the physical model in person it couldn’t be more obvious. I knew that we were probably never going to use the physical model for any additional shots going forward so there was no way a fanatical, nitpicking ship perfectionist like me was going to let that color discrepancy stand. I spent quite a few evenings correcting all of the image map colors to match the physical model’s shade of blue.

Mike Okuda working on the noticeably blue-tinted studio model

With the time I had, I did my best to change all colors and textures to match the filming miniature as closely as possible. I got most of it done – all the big surfaces and larger details made matching CG shots to stock miniature shots pretty much a non-issue with some basic lighting. Once that was complete, the “new and improved” CG Voyager – approved by the Mitch and Dan – was given to Digital Muse and EdenFX, so that we were all working with the same source.

Maybe I was nuts, or maybe I cared too much, but I know that I wasn’t the only one. Every member of the Star Trek team at Foundation – even as the roster changed over the years – were always the type that would put in the time needed to do their absolute best, and to make something look as good as possible. Considering the late nights and weekends spent in front of monitors, I guess we were crazy – but damn, I couldn’t use a purple Voyager when a few nights worth of work would make it far more realistic!

There was one thing I remember changing – one horrid thing that truly did NOT work on the CG Voyager at the time – that was the blue glow behind the deflector dish. It was originally just one luminous surface and one solid color with glow, whereas the physical model had variations in the brightness as angles changed because it was lit through frosted clear resin and had a single light source. I tried my best to reproduce that look using fade maps and other texturing procedures to duplicate the variations, so it wouldn’t stand out as being obviously different.

Later, with Lightwave’s newer materials/texture features, I could REALLY get it identical – but for the time, it was a lot closer, and most people couldn’t tell if what they were looking at was the physical or CG model. A few years later, Lightwave acquired even more surface types – such as translucent surfaces – and I was actually able to truly imitate the real-world look by creating a “frosted glass” material and putting real lighting behind the panels.

Top: The studio model; the model in use on-screen
Bottom: Early CG in “Unity”, more refined CG in “Thirty Days“

I redid the warp nacelles in the same fashion, and was finally able to add the proper dimensional copper striping that went across the blue nacelle surface. This was really only visible when the warp drive was off, but it was a pleasure to be able to match it to the physical filming miniature exactly.

Throughout the run of the show, we used three separate CG versions of Voyager. We had a very low-resolution, low-polygon “stand-in” model for use in quickly and easily blocking out shots; we usually did this for all the ships we built, since the modelers sometimes needed more than a week to complete a final model – but we couldn’t wait that long to begin doing animatics or blocking out the ships’ motions. On some occasions – totally by accident – the Voyager stand-in was left in the final version of the show for some some distant shots… and nobody caught it! It was mapped with the orthographic images of our “normal” CG model, so from very far away you just couldn’t tell – but it was considerably less heavy in polygons, by a factor of 100!

For almost all the regular CG shots we created, the Voyager I “refitted” was used, but for those close-up, paint-scraping shots where the camera was maybe a few meters above from the hull – like the opening sequence in “Good Shephard” – we had a special up-rezzed Voyager. At first, we built just the section we needed to hold up to the camera’s increased scrutiny, but after a few seasons of having to do many of these types of shots on nearly every part of the ship, we ended up with a much heavier high-resolution model that we could use for any occasions that called for it.

You may wonder why we didn’t just use that high-resolution model all the time, but the memory allocation and processor speeds on the rendering computers were much smaller and slower compared to today’s options, and we were trying to economize on memory usage all the time. The less we used, the more other things we could do – like adding two or three more ships in the shot, or rendering a planet with a high-resolution map. Then the model would render faster, so it was always a bit of win-win when optimizing each scene and model.

So, for my friend Adam at TrekCore – and because I put so much care and time into bringing the CG Voyager up to par with the filming miniature – I hope you enjoy these new new high definition orthographic views of the USS Voyager used throughout the series, rendered EXCLUSIVELY for TrekCore.

Here are just a few of the upgrades I’ve put into the model:

Added the red brackets around the three docking ports on the saucer that are on the miniature, but were never included on the CG model
Added more texture detail to certain surfaces, and completely redid the sensor panels with all the nurnies (in terms of color, panel lines, and weathering); they were too dark previously
Added edges to the corners of all the surfaces within the deflector dish (and other panels across the ship); they were just impossibly-perfect square edges rather than including at least one slim 45 degree bevel for added realism
Replaced the silly light flares that represented the navigation and running lights with actual “glass” fixtures; no more little fuzzy pom-poms
Added docking port door paneling details and lighting panels that encircle the doors; cast a very dim light highlighting the doors for realism
Updated and lightened all the surfaces that were painted too dark, as compared to the filming miniature

For a lot of the actual shots from the series you see, especially the snow crash in “Timeless”, none of the work could have happened without the help of the amazingly talented people I worked with, was taught by and had fun with!

Of course, Ron Thornton – Owner of Foundation Imaging – who took a chance and hired me, John Allardice, Koji Kuramura, Brandon McDougal, Pierre Drolet, Kevin “Q” Quattro, PJ Foley, Chris Zappara, Emile Smith, Kyle Toucher, Lee Stringer, the great and wonderful John Teska, Sean Scott, Sean Jackson, Dave Morton and several guest CG Artists over all those years.

I left the most infamous one for last: Mojo, who passed on the torch and taught me quite a bit, both with Lightwave and Hollywood politics!

Readers, let me know what you think!

— Rob Bonchune, Senior CG Supervisor · Voyager, Deep Space Nine, Enterprise

Star Trek Voyager: Toys and Merchandise from the Delta Quadrant

TrekCore Staff

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July 18, 2013

8

Star Trek Voyager: Toys and Merchandise from the Delta Quadrant

Our special Voyager week continues today, with a look back at some of the popular – and rare – Star Trek: Voyager merchandise released in conjunction with the show. The majority of the Voyager tie-in products were released while the series was still on the air; aside from the 2002 Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments featured below, it seems that the sales potential of Voyager merchandise seemed to have dropped off when the series ended its run in 2001.

USS Voyager – by Playmates (1995)

Unlike the other Star Trek series, each of which had several different playsets and ship/station models released, the Voyager line by Playmates had only two: the extremely rare Maquis fighter from the “Innerspace” line (right), and this highly-detailed USS Voyager model.

USS Voyager: Maquis fighter:

The Voyager model featured adjustable warp nacelles, internal lighting, and a sound chip to recreate weapons fire. A removable section of the hull allowed it to be mounted on the stand included with the set.

. . .

Voyager Action Figures – by Playmates (1995-96)

Playmates Toys took on the Star Trek action figure license in 1992 with the first post-Galoob wave of Next Generation 4.5″ toys – each came with a host of accessories, sized for the figure to hold while reenacting epic space adventures. The first line of Voyager figures arrived with the show’s premiere in 1995, and featured each of the main cast.

While the line sold well enough for a second wave of figures in 1996 – featuring Joe Carey, Seska (as a Bajoran), a Vidiian, a Kazon, Chakotay in Maquis clothing (from “Caretaker“), and a full-Klingon B’Elanna Torres (from “Faces“) – the line did not continue past that year.

Future Voyager figures were grouped under the generic Star Trek titling, including all Seven of Nine figures, an evolving Tom Paris (from “Threshold“), Security Officer Neelix (from “Before and After“/”Year of Hell“), and several other releases.

A handful of limited Voyager figures were released over the next few years as well, including a version of Janeway from “Flashback” (as a mail-order exclusive), and the infamous “1701 Barclay” from “Projections“, which was released in a run of only 3,000 units. To the annoyance of collectors – some of whom paid rather inflated prices for the extremely rare original release – the Barclay figure was included in the “1701 Collectors Set” two years later.

. . .

Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments (1996 – 2002)

An annual tradition dating back to 1991, the Voyager line of Hallmark ornaments lasted just a bit longer than the series itself. 1996’s USS Voyager model, 2000’s Borg Cube, and 2002’s Delta Flyer featured illuminated internal lighting and built-in audio to recreate authentic moments from the series; they were sculpted by Lynn Norton.

The three crew ornaments – 1998’s Captain Janeway, 2000’s Seven of Nine, and The Doctor from 2002 – were all sculpted by frequent Hallmark artist Anita Marra Rogers.

. . .

Voyager Ceramic Figural Mugs – by Applause (1996)

Applause, Inc. released several highly-detailed ceramic mugs featuring the faces of Star Trek actors from all of the series – though curiously, a Picard design was never issued – and their Voyager selection included Captain Janeway, Neelix, and a generic Kazon. While some may choose to drink their coffee out of a giant actor’s head, these were really meant for display purposes.

. . .

Star Trek: Voyager Dioramas – by Applause (1997)

Throughout the mid-1990’s, US-based Applause, Inc. put out a whole host of hand-painted dioramas recreating scenes or characters from all of Star Trek to that point – including Armus killing Tasha Yar in “Skin of Evil“, Captain Kirk fighting Khan in “Space Seed“, and Odo shapeshifting into a bird.

For the Voyager line, they chose to focus on three concepts: Neelix cooking up a pot of stew, a generic “action” pose with Chakotay, Tuvok, and Captain Janeway, and the memorable first meeting of Freya and the EMH from “Heroes and Demons“.

While the figures were limited in numbers, the Neelix and EMH scenes appear to be relatively inexpensive, while the Janeway-and-crew piece goes for a higher price.

. . .

Latinum Gallery 12″ Seven of Nine – by Playmates (1998)

Later in the decade, Playmates began to focus on the “high-end” collector market, offering more detailed (and more expensive) sculpted figurines and dioramas. This “Latinum Gallery” Seven of Nine sculpture measured 12″ tall (14″ with base), was sculpted from cold-cast resin by artist Steve Varner… and cost $129.00.

. . .

A Vision of the Future – Star Trek: Voyager (1998)

The 2003 Star Trek: Voyager Companion arrived as a rather notable disappointment, after the popular Next Generation and Deep Space Nine companion books offered so many behind-the-scenes details on the formation of those two series. Luckily, two oversized books released during the Voyager series run serve well as supplemental works to that lackluster publication.

A Vision of the Future – Star Trek: Voyager by Stephen E. Poe begins the Voyager story from a series of secret meetings between Rick Berman, Michael Piller, and Jeri Taylor, and follows the show’s development through the two years of planning and pre-production that went into the formation of the show with eyewitness accounts of Genvieve Bujold disatrous performance as Captain Janeway, and the budget-blowing reshoots required for “Caretaker” after the studio couldn’t decide which hairstyle best suited Kate Mulgrew.

The well-researched book contains dozens of interviews with everyone from the art department to the cast and production staff, and even the Paramount security guards tasked with keeping uninvited guests off of the sets – along with several full-color, exclusive photos from the construction of the Voyager sets in the early days of production.

Highly recommended.

. . .

Star Trek: Action! (1998)

Our second literary entry – Star Trek: Action! by Terry J. Erdmann and Paula M. Block – the pair behind the amazing Star Trek: The Next Generation 365 – is an intense, in-depth look at the creation and production of three action sequences, one each from Voyager, Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Insurrection.

The Voyager feature contains behind-the-scenes accounts of the climactic ending to Season Four’s “Hope and Fear“, with set concept drawings, preliminary makeup sketches, action sequence storyboards, and crew interviews covering just what it took to put that Borg-infested ending together.

For those of you who love examining every little detail that goes into putting together a sequence for film, this is the book for you!

We hope you’ve enjoyed this look back in to the world of Star Trek: Voyager merchandise – and maybe you even learned something new along the way! Voyager week wraps up tomorrow with an EXCLUSIVE look into the creation of the USS Voyager digital model, with brand new HD renders of the Intrepid-class ship from Voyager‘s CG Supervisor, Robert Bonchune!

Star Trek: Voyager A Vision of the Future	Star Trek: Voyager Complete Series on DVD	Star Trek: Voyager A Celebration

Voyager’s Visual Effects: Inside “Scientific Method”

Star Trek: Voyager

TrekCore Staff

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July 17, 2013

5

Voyager’s Visual Effects: Inside “Scientific Method”

We’re continuing our look behind the scenes of Star Trek’s visual effects, focusing this time on a Star Trek: Voyager Season Four favorite, “Scientific Method“!

As with the previous entries in this exclusive video series, we’ve got a full before-and-after video comparison below, and TrekCore contributor Justin Olson provides scene-by-scene breakdowns of the technical processes used to complete each effect – along with some additional commentary by Voyager Senior CG Supervisor Robert Bonchune!

We have used two versions of “Scientific Method” in this presentation: a production-era workprint VHS tape dated September 10, 1997, and the completed version of the episode included in the 2004 DVD release.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCpXuKI8aDc

1997 Workprint	2004 DVD

TEASER, SCENE 1: In the workprint, Paris and Torres (Robert Duncan McNeill and Roxann Dawson) are filmed separately in front of bluescreen. Foundation Imaging’s artists created an X-Ray effect animation utilizing CG models of Paris’ and Torres’ skeletons with some visible musculature. The footage and animation are superimposed together, composited with a suitable background plate of the Jefferies Tube intersection. The completed Srivani scanning effect adds a rippling “frosted glass” distortion to the footage as well as a feathered area where the inner anatomy can be seen which scans up and down. Also added is a HUD (heads-up display) interface with Srivani data to give the impression that this is a POV shot of some kind. The angle then subtly changes as Torres gets the feeling they are being watched.

ACT ONE, SCENE 4: In the workprint, the foreground plate is used of Chakotay and Janeway (Robert Beltran and Kate Mulgrew) on the bridge filmed against bluescreen. In the finished shot, the blue color is “keyed out” and a traveling matte created, a sort of silhouette of the actors which allows their image to remain while the viewscreen area becomes transparent to the footage behind it – in this case, CG animation provided by Foundation Imaging of the binary pulsars.

ACT ONE, SCENE 12A: In the workprint, Robert Beltran is filmed separately in front of bluescreen. In similar fashion to Scene 1, Foundation Imaging’s artists created an infrared effect animation utilizing a CG model of Chakotay’s inner anatomy, focusing primarily on his digestive system and the coffee that pours down his esophagus and into his stomach. The footage and animation are superimposed together and composited with a suitable background plate of Chakotay’s quarters. The overall look of the Srivani scanning effect differs somewhat here, but retains the HUD interface text readouts. A white-hot burst effect is added at the base of Chakotay’s skull to coincide with Beltran’s reaction in the scene.

ACT TWO, SCENE 18: In the workprint, the science lab console merely has practical (and static), backlit elements courtesy of the art department. However, the script calls for an animated graphic or “Okudagram” of a DNA segment sending out a short range signal via the Srivani molecular tags. Mike Okuda and his team created these animations – in what look to be two separate areas above and below the midline of the back-lit element – and they were simply composited on top of the footage.

ACT TWO, SCENE UNKNOWN: Here we have a locked-off shot which allows a couple subtle effects to play out rather effectively. In the workprint, we can see that the action of Torres collapsing in pain and losing consciousness and the Doctor coming to her aid were filmed first. Then, Robert Picardo walked out of the shot and Roxann Dawson had to lie perfectly still for several seconds so the VFX artists would have a clean plate in which to erase the Doctor. The workprint simply has him blink out momentarily then eventually dissolve away. In the finished shot, a custom, semi-transparent hold-out matte was created by an artist in the shape of the Doctor. This matte partially “holds-out” the background, allowing the alternating pattern of vertical streaks to be seen through his body which simulate the malfunctioning of the mobile emitter. Similarly, when the Doctor transfers himself to the Holodeck, a subtle distortion effect with a dissolve removes him from the shot. His mobile emitter prop is then filmed separately from the same camera position and dropped from the same height, with an artist likely painting-in its shadow to complete the effect.

ACT THREE, SCENE 28: In the workprint, the Doctor (Robert Picardo) is filmed from what would be Seven’s (Jeri Ryan’s) POV. The panning footage is treated to simulate what she sees: the image is distinctly tinted “Borg green” and intentionally smeared and blurry with a pincushion-like effect and a subtle varying distortion.

ACT THREE, SCENES UNKNOWN: More of Seven’s POV. The background actors are filmed with the grotesque-looking Srivani devices on their bodies and the footage is treated with the same pincushion effect, green Borg hue and subtle distortion.

ACT FOUR, SCENE UNKNOWN: Seven grabs Tuvok’s (Tim Russ’) phaser and shoots at one of the Srivani intruders. In the workprint, the intruder (named Alzen in the script and played by Rosemary Forsyth) simply cross dissolves into view. In the completed shot, the phaser beam is added along with an energy effect that is reminiscent of a transporter beam-in. A semi-transparent hold-out matte is created by an artist in the shape of the actor. This matte “holds-out” the background to allow the effect to be seen just inside the body. The effect is comprised of a blurred interior of the alien’s body and tendrils of green energy along with two vertical streaks which converge, deflect off of one another and disperse, then slowly dissolve away.

ACT FOUR, SCENE UNKNOWN: The brig’s force field effect appears here in a pattern of sparkles reminiscent of the third stage of the transporter effect originally produced by Rick Zettner & Associates, Inc. for the TNG pilot “Encounter at Farpoint“. Two identical areas (one inverted) appear over Janeway’s body and expand in size, then dissipate while other areas come to life intermittently before also disappearing.

ACT FIVE, SCENE 60: Similar to Scene 4 but without the requirement of bluescreen (because no actors were filmed in front of it and hence no traveling matte was needed) the foreground plate of the viewscreen is composited with CG animation provided by Foundation Imaging of the binary pulsars as they get brighter and closer to the ship.

ACT FIVE, SCENE 60 (con’t.): In the workprint, the Srivani leader (named Takar in the script and played by Annette Helde) simply dissolves away. In the completed shot, her beam-out effect occurs in a manner essentially identical to Alzen’s appearance in Engineering. . . .

Star Trek: Voyager Senior CG Supervisor Robert Bonchune (whom we spoke to back in May regarding Deep Space Nine‘s visual effects) won a host of Emmys for his CG work on several episodes (including Voyager‘s “Dark Frontier” and “Endgame“) gave us his thoughts on the effects featured in “Scientific Method” – after all, he helped put them together!

On CG skeletons: “In terms of the skeleton and muscles animations and all that, well, they weren’t easy – John Teska did those shots, and had to build and texture the inner muscles and bones… and then eyeball match/move things to match the actors performance. Straightforward, but long and hard detailed work.”

On binary stars: “It was of one of the first effect things I did for Voyager – the binary star system with the accretion disc around them, with the odd tendril-like extensions inwards instead of a solid ring like Jupiter. I remember it was a bit tricky to do back then, now I wouldn’t even break a sweat!”

On climactic finale: “The bigger effect was the ships suction-cupped to Voyager, which finally “uncloak” and remove themselves from the hull before getting burned in the plasma the ship was flying through. That was a tough bit, and I wanted a sequence like the [Praxis shock wave] which hit the the Excelsior at the beginning of Star Trek: VI – obscuring clouds of plasma, and energy racing by the hull and over it. I still remember how I did it without using any volumetrics, which we just could not back then (although it might have been more ideal). Still, I was happy at the time with what I came up with.”

TrekCore’s special Voyager Week isn’t over yet – stick around for tomorrow’s special article profiling the forgotten gems in Star Trek Voyager merchandise. Don’t miss it!

Star Trek: Voyager A Vision of the Future	Star Trek: Voyager Complete Series on DVD	Star Trek: Voyager A Celebration