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Science Fiction » alt.startrek » New York Times Article On Fan-Produced Star Trek Episodes
| New York Times Article On Fan-Produced Star Trek Episodes [message #279245] |
So, 18 Juni 2006 07:05 |
|
June 18, 2006
'Star Trek' Fans, Deprived of a Show, Recreate the Franchise on Digital
Video
By DANNY HAKIM
MASON NECK STATE PARK, Va. — Paul Sieber was wearing a "Star Trek"
uniform in the deep Virginia woods when he found himself surrounded by a
leathery-looking gang.
Fortunately, the ruffians were dressed up as Klingons, and Mr. Sieber,
with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, was preparing to film them
with a $6,000 digital video camera. At times like this, Mr. Sieber, the
writer and director of "Starship Farragut," must come to grips with the
obvious — not all Klingons are trained actors — and bellow, "Quiet on
the set!"
From these Virginia woods to the Scottish Highlands, "Star Trek" fans
are filling the void left by a galaxy that has lost "Star Trek." For the
first time in nearly two decades, television spinoffs from the original
1960's "Star Trek" series have ended, so fans are banding together to
make their own episodes.
Fan films have been around for years, particularly those related to the
"Star Wars" movies. But now they can be downloaded from the Web, and
modern computer graphics technology has lent them surprising special
effects. And as long as no one is profiting from the work, Paramount,
which owns the rights to "Star Trek," has been tolerant. (Its executives
declined to comment.)
Up to two dozen of these fan-made "Star Trek" projects are in various
stages of completion, depending what you count as a full-fledged
production. Dutch and Belgian fans are filming an episode; there is a
Scottish production in the works at www.ussintrepid.org.uk.
There is a group in Los Angeles that has filmed more than 40 episodes,
according to its Web site, www.hiddenfrontier.com, and has explored gay
themes that the original series never imagined. Episodes by a group in
Austin, Tex., at www.starshipexeter.com, feature a ship whose crew had
the misfortune of being turned into salt in an episode of the original
"Star Trek," but has now been repopulated by Texans.
"I think the networks — Paramount, CBS — I don't think they're giving
the fans the 'Trek' they're looking for," said Mr. Sieber, a 40-year-old
engineer for a government contractor who likens his "Star Trek" project,
at www.starshipfarragut.com, to "online community theater."
"The fans are saying, look, if we can't get what we want on television,
the technology is out there for us to do it ourselves," he added.
And viewers are responding. One series, at www.newvoyages.com, and based
in Ticonderoga, N.Y., boasts of 30 million downloads. It has become so
popular that Walter Koenig, the actor who played Chekov in the original
"Star Trek," is guest starring in an episode, and George Takei, who
played Sulu, is slated to shoot another one later this year. D. C.
Fontana, a writer from the original "Star Trek" series, has written a
script.
For many Trekkies, contemporary science fiction on television — like
"Battlestar Galactica" and the more recent Star Trek spinoffs — are too
dark.
"Modern science fiction takes itself too seriously," said Jimm Johnson,
37, who presides over Starship Exeter.
John Broughton Jr., who founded the Farragut project, agreed. "One thing
about the classic 'Star Trek' is at the end of the episode, it was
pretty much a happy ending," he said. "It was sort of like 'The Brady
Bunch.' It was all tidied up."
Mr. Broughton, a wiry Navy veteran with spiky hair, is a serious
collector of all things "Star Trek." His avocado tunic, he said, is made
from bolts of the nylon used for the original "Star Trek," purchased at
$100 a yard. His boots are made by the son of the man who made the boots
used in "Star Trek," he said. His megaphone, bought for $325 on eBay,
was the one used by William Shatner when he directed "Star Trek V."
In the woods with the Klingons, Brad Graper, 52, finished detailing a
pair of Nerf guns painted gray, with sections of chrome tailpipe added
to them as gun barrels. Mr. Graper sat at a cluster of picnic tables in
this lush 1,814-acre park. Klingon re-enactors from Virginia, Maryland
and Pennsylvania played extras.
"I'm General DuraD," Mr. Graper said. "The D and the D are capitalized."
Around him, Klingons applied swarthy face paint and black hair dye,
adjusted silvery sashes, and tottered in platform boots. They usually
portray the more heavily costumed Klingons from "Star Trek: The Next
Generation," the series spinoff that started in 1987. Those Klingons had
big ridges on their heads requiring elaborate prosthetics.
"This is the first time I've ever done an original Klingon," said Sally
Arkulari, 46, who works on a large farm in Lancaster, Pa. "It's a lot
less work."
Ms. Arkulari is a tall woman, in a shimmering green dress, heavy
eyeliner and orange hair extensions. What's her view on the Klingon woman?
"Love 'em because they're so tough," she said. "Part of that is not my
personality. I need to be more aggressive as a person, and I'm not, so I
like that."
The couple of dozen people on the set are either related, are friends or
met at a Star Trek convention. David Sepan, 31, who plays a security
officer, is a spacecraft analyst at the Johns Hopkins University Applied
Physics Laboratory and monitors a space probe heading to Mercury. Mr.
Sieber is a family friend. Mr. Sepan's sister Amy, 29, is Farragut's
makeup artist and costume designer.
"I'm also Dr. Christina Hawley," she said, and then performed a line
from her script: "Captain — he's dead!"
Holly Bednar, 42, who plays an engineer, is the executive director of a
theater in southern Maryland and one of the few participants here with
theater experience. Her husband, Mike Bednar, 45, is the prop man,
cameraman, science officer and a friend of Mr. Broughton's. The Bednars
were childhood sweethearts who lost touch for 23 years and then
reconnected and got married in 2004.
Ms. Bednar came late to "Star Trek" and considers herself in the
married-to-Trekkie category.
"It was kind of a nice thing for Mike and I to work on together," she
said. "For Mike, it's the 'Star Trek' stuff. For me, it's the acting."
At 11 a.m., Mr. Sieber rounded up the Klingons and explained plot
points. "You guys are generating a cloaking field from the planet around
the orbiting weapon," he explained. Heads nodded. "They heard a rumor
from some Orion spies that you guys might be trying to do something on
this planet, not knowing that there's this many of you here, and that's
why they end up getting ambushed."
Fair enough. The group packed into a caravan of cars and headed into the
woods at the park south of Washington. They had the camera, a boom mike,
even a Hollywood scene marker. Mr. Sieber yelled "Action!" A trio of
Klingons charged a gully, crouched into firing positions and tumbled as
they pretended to be shot.
Later, they filmed 12 takes of a scene in which Mr. Broughton, as the
captain of the Starship Farragut, and the Bednars walk through the
gully, talking. There are sound problems, battery problems, glare problems.
Next scene: the three jump behind a fallen tree. They pretend to be
pinned down by Klingons.
"Reinforcements! Crossfire!"
In a quiet moment, Mike Bednar reflected on what brings a man into the
woods, wearing a form-fitting blue tunic, jet-black pants and shiny
ebony boots, and carrying a camera. He recalled meeting Mr. Broughton
years ago, when his friend was ending his stint in the Navy.
"I used to joke with him, 'You'd never get me in a "Star Trek" uniform,
even on Halloween, it's not going to happen,' " he said. "Next thing I
know, I'm wearing a uniform."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/06/18/us/18trek.xla rge1.jpg
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/06/18/us/18trek.190 2.jpg
http://tinyurl.com/momtw
--
Steven D. Litvintchouk
Email: sdlitvin [at] earthlinkNOSPAM.net
Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me.
|
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| Re: New York Times Article On Fan-Produced Star Trek Episodes [message #279248 ] |
Mo, 19 Juni 2006 01:38 |
|
Steven L. wrote:
"I used to joke with him, 'You'd never get me in a "Star Trek" uniform,
even on Halloween, it's not going to happen,' " he said. "Next thing I
know, I'm wearing a uniform."
LOL, thank you for this post.
--
"Status Quo was never my favorite Roman" - Mordecai Richler
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| Re: New York Times Article On Fan-Produced Star Trek Episodes [message #279274 ] |
Di, 20 Juni 2006 02:32 |
|
"Steven L." <sdlitvin [at] earthlinkNOSPAM.net> wrote in message
news:3a5lg.14312$921.10491 [at] newsread4.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> June 18, 2006
> 'Star Trek' Fans, Deprived of a Show, Recreate the Franchise on Digital
> Video
> By DANNY HAKIM
>
> MASON NECK STATE PARK, Va. — Paul Sieber was wearing a "Star Trek"
> uniform in the deep Virginia woods when he found himself surrounded by a
> leathery-looking gang.
>
> Fortunately, the ruffians were dressed up as Klingons, and Mr. Sieber,
> with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, was preparing to film them
> with a $6,000 digital video camera. At times like this, Mr. Sieber, the
> writer and director of "Starship Farragut," must come to grips with the
> obvious — not all Klingons are trained actors — and bellow, "Quiet on
> the set!"
>
> From these Virginia woods to the Scottish Highlands, "Star Trek" fans
> are filling the void left by a galaxy that has lost "Star Trek." For the
> first time in nearly two decades, television spinoffs from the original
> 1960's "Star Trek" series have ended, so fans are banding together to
> make their own episodes.
>
> Fan films have been around for years, particularly those related to the
> "Star Wars" movies. But now they can be downloaded from the Web, and
> modern computer graphics technology has lent them surprising special
> effects. And as long as no one is profiting from the work, Paramount,
> which owns the rights to "Star Trek," has been tolerant. (Its executives
> declined to comment.)
>
> Up to two dozen of these fan-made "Star Trek" projects are in various
> stages of completion, depending what you count as a full-fledged
> production. Dutch and Belgian fans are filming an episode; there is a
> Scottish production in the works at www.ussintrepid.org.uk.
>
> There is a group in Los Angeles that has filmed more than 40 episodes,
> according to its Web site, www.hiddenfrontier.com, and has explored gay
> themes that the original series never imagined. Episodes by a group in
> Austin, Tex., at www.starshipexeter.com, feature a ship whose crew had
> the misfortune of being turned into salt in an episode of the original
> "Star Trek," but has now been repopulated by Texans.
>
> "I think the networks — Paramount, CBS — I don't think they're giving
> the fans the 'Trek' they're looking for," said Mr. Sieber, a 40-year-old
> engineer for a government contractor who likens his "Star Trek" project,
> at www.starshipfarragut.com, to "online community theater."
>
> "The fans are saying, look, if we can't get what we want on television,
> the technology is out there for us to do it ourselves," he added.
>
> And viewers are responding. One series, at www.newvoyages.com, and based
> in Ticonderoga, N.Y., boasts of 30 million downloads. It has become so
> popular that Walter Koenig, the actor who played Chekov in the original
> "Star Trek," is guest starring in an episode, and George Takei, who
> played Sulu, is slated to shoot another one later this year. D. C.
> Fontana, a writer from the original "Star Trek" series, has written a
> script.
>
> For many Trekkies, contemporary science fiction on television — like
> "Battlestar Galactica" and the more recent Star Trek spinoffs — are too
> dark.
>
> "Modern science fiction takes itself too seriously," said Jimm Johnson,
> 37, who presides over Starship Exeter.
>
> John Broughton Jr., who founded the Farragut project, agreed. "One thing
> about the classic 'Star Trek' is at the end of the episode, it was
> pretty much a happy ending," he said. "It was sort of like 'The Brady
> Bunch.' It was all tidied up."
>
> Mr. Broughton, a wiry Navy veteran with spiky hair, is a serious
> collector of all things "Star Trek." His avocado tunic, he said, is made
> from bolts of the nylon used for the original "Star Trek," purchased at
> $100 a yard. His boots are made by the son of the man who made the boots
> used in "Star Trek," he said. His megaphone, bought for $325 on eBay,
> was the one used by William Shatner when he directed "Star Trek V."
>
> In the woods with the Klingons, Brad Graper, 52, finished detailing a
> pair of Nerf guns painted gray, with sections of chrome tailpipe added
> to them as gun barrels. Mr. Graper sat at a cluster of picnic tables in
> this lush 1,814-acre park. Klingon re-enactors from Virginia, Maryland
> and Pennsylvania played extras.
>
> "I'm General DuraD," Mr. Graper said. "The D and the D are capitalized."
>
> Around him, Klingons applied swarthy face paint and black hair dye,
> adjusted silvery sashes, and tottered in platform boots. They usually
> portray the more heavily costumed Klingons from "Star Trek: The Next
> Generation," the series spinoff that started in 1987. Those Klingons had
> big ridges on their heads requiring elaborate prosthetics.
>
> "This is the first time I've ever done an original Klingon," said Sally
> Arkulari, 46, who works on a large farm in Lancaster, Pa. "It's a lot
> less work."
>
> Ms. Arkulari is a tall woman, in a shimmering green dress, heavy
> eyeliner and orange hair extensions. What's her view on the Klingon woman?
>
> "Love 'em because they're so tough," she said. "Part of that is not my
> personality. I need to be more aggressive as a person, and I'm not, so I
> like that."
>
> The couple of dozen people on the set are either related, are friends or
> met at a Star Trek convention. David Sepan, 31, who plays a security
> officer, is a spacecraft analyst at the Johns Hopkins University Applied
> Physics Laboratory and monitors a space probe heading to Mercury. Mr.
> Sieber is a family friend. Mr. Sepan's sister Amy, 29, is Farragut's
> makeup artist and costume designer.
>
> "I'm also Dr. Christina Hawley," she said, and then performed a line
> from her script: "Captain — he's dead!"
>
> Holly Bednar, 42, who plays an engineer, is the executive director of a
> theater in southern Maryland and one of the few participants here with
> theater experience. Her husband, Mike Bednar, 45, is the prop man,
> cameraman, science officer and a friend of Mr. Broughton's. The Bednars
> were childhood sweethearts who lost touch for 23 years and then
> reconnected and got married in 2004.
>
> Ms. Bednar came late to "Star Trek" and considers herself in the
> married-to-Trekkie category.
>
> "It was kind of a nice thing for Mike and I to work on together," she
> said. "For Mike, it's the 'Star Trek' stuff. For me, it's the acting."
>
> At 11 a.m., Mr. Sieber rounded up the Klingons and explained plot
> points. "You guys are generating a cloaking field from the planet around
> the orbiting weapon," he explained. Heads nodded. "They heard a rumor
> from some Orion spies that you guys might be trying to do something on
> this planet, not knowing that there's this many of you here, and that's
> why they end up getting ambushed."
>
> Fair enough. The group packed into a caravan of cars and headed into the
> woods at the park south of Washington. They had the camera, a boom mike,
> even a Hollywood scene marker. Mr. Sieber yelled "Action!" A trio of
> Klingons charged a gully, crouched into firing positions and tumbled as
> they pretended to be shot.
>
> Later, they filmed 12 takes of a scene in which Mr. Broughton, as the
> captain of the Starship Farragut, and the Bednars walk through the
> gully, talking. There are sound problems, battery problems, glare
problems.
>
> Next scene: the three jump behind a fallen tree. They pretend to be
> pinned down by Klingons.
>
> "Reinforcements! Crossfire!"
>
> In a quiet moment, Mike Bednar reflected on what brings a man into the
> woods, wearing a form-fitting blue tunic, jet-black pants and shiny
> ebony boots, and carrying a camera. He recalled meeting Mr. Broughton
> years ago, when his friend was ending his stint in the Navy.
>
> "I used to joke with him, 'You'd never get me in a "Star Trek" uniform,
> even on Halloween, it's not going to happen,' " he said. "Next thing I
> know, I'm wearing a uniform."
>
> http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/06/18/us/18trek.xla rge1.jpg
> http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/06/18/us/18trek.190 2.jpg
>
> http://tinyurl.com/momtw
Cool, hadn't heard of Starship Farragut before, although after watching the
trailer I'll give it kudos for FX but it gets the cheesiest acting award out
of all of them (tied with "Hidden Frontier")
(The crew wasn't "turned to salt" though... 200 crew members including the
Captain were killed by the dikironium cloud creature on Tycho IV. (TOS:
Obsession)
--
Qapla'
Kweeg
Ten of Canadian Clubs in the Eeeevil Trek Cabal
"Half a gallon a'scotch!" Scotty (Spectre of the Gun)
1,079,252,848.8 km/h, not just a good idea, it's the law.
"So say we all!"
|
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| Re: New York Times Article On Fan-Produced Star Trek Episodes [message #279284 ] |
Mi, 21 Juni 2006 01:31 |
|
Cool i have seen hidden frontiers, but had not heard about faragut.
just wish that the acting was better.
peace
Zonker
http://2000ah.blogspot.com
Steven L. wrote:
> June 18, 2006
> 'Star Trek' Fans, Deprived of a Show, Recreate the Franchise on Digital
> Video
> By DANNY HAKIM
>
> MASON NECK STATE PARK, Va. - Paul Sieber was wearing a "Star Trek"
> uniform in the deep Virginia woods when he found himself surrounded by a
> leathery-looking gang.
>
> Fortunately, the ruffians were dressed up as Klingons, and Mr. Sieber,
> with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, was preparing to film them
> with a $6,000 digital video camera. At times like this, Mr. Sieber, the
> writer and director of "Starship Farragut," must come to grips with the
> obvious - not all Klingons are trained actors - and bellow, "Quiet on
> the set!"
>
> From these Virginia woods to the Scottish Highlands, "Star Trek" fans
> are filling the void left by a galaxy that has lost "Star Trek." For the
> first time in nearly two decades, television spinoffs from the original
> 1960's "Star Trek" series have ended, so fans are banding together to
> make their own episodes.
>
> Fan films have been around for years, particularly those related to the
> "Star Wars" movies. But now they can be downloaded from the Web, and
> modern computer graphics technology has lent them surprising special
> effects. And as long as no one is profiting from the work, Paramount,
> which owns the rights to "Star Trek," has been tolerant. (Its executives
> declined to comment.)
>
> Up to two dozen of these fan-made "Star Trek" projects are in various
> stages of completion, depending what you count as a full-fledged
> production. Dutch and Belgian fans are filming an episode; there is a
> Scottish production in the works at www.ussintrepid.org.uk.
>
> There is a group in Los Angeles that has filmed more than 40 episodes,
> according to its Web site, www.hiddenfrontier.com, and has explored gay
> themes that the original series never imagined. Episodes by a group in
> Austin, Tex., at www.starshipexeter.com, feature a ship whose crew had
> the misfortune of being turned into salt in an episode of the original
> "Star Trek," but has now been repopulated by Texans.
>
> "I think the networks - Paramount, CBS - I don't think they're giving
> the fans the 'Trek' they're looking for," said Mr. Sieber, a 40-year-old
> engineer for a government contractor who likens his "Star Trek" project,
> at www.starshipfarragut.com, to "online community theater."
>
> "The fans are saying, look, if we can't get what we want on television,
> the technology is out there for us to do it ourselves," he added.
>
> And viewers are responding. One series, at www.newvoyages.com, and based
> in Ticonderoga, N.Y., boasts of 30 million downloads. It has become so
> popular that Walter Koenig, the actor who played Chekov in the original
> "Star Trek," is guest starring in an episode, and George Takei, who
> played Sulu, is slated to shoot another one later this year. D. C.
> Fontana, a writer from the original "Star Trek" series, has written a
> script.
>
> For many Trekkies, contemporary science fiction on television - like
> "Battlestar Galactica" and the more recent Star Trek spinoffs - are too
> dark.
>
> "Modern science fiction takes itself too seriously," said Jimm Johnson,
> 37, who presides over Starship Exeter.
>
> John Broughton Jr., who founded the Farragut project, agreed. "One thing
> about the classic 'Star Trek' is at the end of the episode, it was
> pretty much a happy ending," he said. "It was sort of like 'The Brady
> Bunch.' It was all tidied up."
>
> Mr. Broughton, a wiry Navy veteran with spiky hair, is a serious
> collector of all things "Star Trek." His avocado tunic, he said, is made
> from bolts of the nylon used for the original "Star Trek," purchased at
> $100 a yard. His boots are made by the son of the man who made the boots
> used in "Star Trek," he said. His megaphone, bought for $325 on eBay,
> was the one used by William Shatner when he directed "Star Trek V."
>
> In the woods with the Klingons, Brad Graper, 52, finished detailing a
> pair of Nerf guns painted gray, with sections of chrome tailpipe added
> to them as gun barrels. Mr. Graper sat at a cluster of picnic tables in
> this lush 1,814-acre park. Klingon re-enactors from Virginia, Maryland
> and Pennsylvania played extras.
>
> "I'm General DuraD," Mr. Graper said. "The D and the D are capitalized."
>
> Around him, Klingons applied swarthy face paint and black hair dye,
> adjusted silvery sashes, and tottered in platform boots. They usually
> portray the more heavily costumed Klingons from "Star Trek: The Next
> Generation," the series spinoff that started in 1987. Those Klingons had
> big ridges on their heads requiring elaborate prosthetics.
>
> "This is the first time I've ever done an original Klingon," said Sally
> Arkulari, 46, who works on a large farm in Lancaster, Pa. "It's a lot
> less work."
>
> Ms. Arkulari is a tall woman, in a shimmering green dress, heavy
> eyeliner and orange hair extensions. What's her view on the Klingon woman?
>
> "Love 'em because they're so tough," she said. "Part of that is not my
> personality. I need to be more aggressive as a person, and I'm not, so I
> like that."
>
> The couple of dozen people on the set are either related, are friends or
> met at a Star Trek convention. David Sepan, 31, who plays a security
> officer, is a spacecraft analyst at the Johns Hopkins University Applied
> Physics Laboratory and monitors a space probe heading to Mercury. Mr.
> Sieber is a family friend. Mr. Sepan's sister Amy, 29, is Farragut's
> makeup artist and costume designer.
>
> "I'm also Dr. Christina Hawley," she said, and then performed a line
> from her script: "Captain - he's dead!"
>
> Holly Bednar, 42, who plays an engineer, is the executive director of a
> theater in southern Maryland and one of the few participants here with
> theater experience. Her husband, Mike Bednar, 45, is the prop man,
> cameraman, science officer and a friend of Mr. Broughton's. The Bednars
> were childhood sweethearts who lost touch for 23 years and then
> reconnected and got married in 2004.
>
> Ms. Bednar came late to "Star Trek" and considers herself in the
> married-to-Trekkie category.
>
> "It was kind of a nice thing for Mike and I to work on together," she
> said. "For Mike, it's the 'Star Trek' stuff. For me, it's the acting."
>
> At 11 a.m., Mr. Sieber rounded up the Klingons and explained plot
> points. "You guys are generating a cloaking field from the planet around
> the orbiting weapon," he explained. Heads nodded. "They heard a rumor
> from some Orion spies that you guys might be trying to do something on
> this planet, not knowing that there's this many of you here, and that's
> why they end up getting ambushed."
>
> Fair enough. The group packed into a caravan of cars and headed into the
> woods at the park south of Washington. They had the camera, a boom mike,
> even a Hollywood scene marker. Mr. Sieber yelled "Action!" A trio of
> Klingons charged a gully, crouched into firing positions and tumbled as
> they pretended to be shot.
>
> Later, they filmed 12 takes of a scene in which Mr. Broughton, as the
> captain of the Starship Farragut, and the Bednars walk through the
> gully, talking. There are sound problems, battery problems, glare problems.
>
> Next scene: the three jump behind a fallen tree. They pretend to be
> pinned down by Klingons.
>
> "Reinforcements! Crossfire!"
>
> In a quiet moment, Mike Bednar reflected on what brings a man into the
> woods, wearing a form-fitting blue tunic, jet-black pants and shiny
> ebony boots, and carrying a camera. He recalled meeting Mr. Broughton
> years ago, when his friend was ending his stint in the Navy.
>
> "I used to joke with him, 'You'd never get me in a "Star Trek" uniform,
> even on Halloween, it's not going to happen,' " he said. "Next thing I
> know, I'm wearing a uniform."
>
> http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/06/18/us/18trek.xla rge1.jpg
> http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/06/18/us/18trek.190 2.jpg
>
> http://tinyurl.com/momtw
>
>
> --
> Steven D. Litvintchouk
> Email: sdlitvin [at] earthlinkNOSPAM.net
> Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me.
|
|
|
| Re: New York Times Article On Fan-Produced Star Trek Episodes [message #279293 ] |
Mi, 21 Juni 2006 15:49 |
|
Kweeg wrote:
> "Steven L." <sdlitvin [at] earthlinkNOSPAM.net> wrote in message
> news:3a5lg.14312$921.10491 [at] newsread4.news.pas.earthlink.net...
>> June 18, 2006
>> 'Star Trek' Fans, Deprived of a Show, Recreate the Franchise on Digital
>> Video
>> By DANNY HAKIM
>>
>> MASON NECK STATE PARK, Va. — Paul Sieber was wearing a "Star Trek"
>> uniform in the deep Virginia woods when he found himself surrounded by a
>> leathery-looking gang.
>>
>> Fortunately, the ruffians were dressed up as Klingons, and Mr. Sieber,
>> with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, was preparing to film them
>> with a $6,000 digital video camera. At times like this, Mr. Sieber, the
>> writer and director of "Starship Farragut," must come to grips with the
>> obvious — not all Klingons are trained actors — and bellow, "Quiet on
>> the set!"
>>
>> From these Virginia woods to the Scottish Highlands, "Star Trek" fans
>> are filling the void left by a galaxy that has lost "Star Trek." For the
>> first time in nearly two decades, television spinoffs from the original
>> 1960's "Star Trek" series have ended, so fans are banding together to
>> make their own episodes.
>>
>> Fan films have been around for years, particularly those related to the
>> "Star Wars" movies. But now they can be downloaded from the Web, and
>> modern computer graphics technology has lent them surprising special
>> effects. And as long as no one is profiting from the work, Paramount,
>> which owns the rights to "Star Trek," has been tolerant. (Its executives
>> declined to comment.)
>>
>> Up to two dozen of these fan-made "Star Trek" projects are in various
>> stages of completion, depending what you count as a full-fledged
>> production. Dutch and Belgian fans are filming an episode; there is a
>> Scottish production in the works at www.ussintrepid.org.uk.
>>
>> There is a group in Los Angeles that has filmed more than 40 episodes,
>> according to its Web site, www.hiddenfrontier.com, and has explored gay
>> themes that the original series never imagined. Episodes by a group in
>> Austin, Tex., at www.starshipexeter.com, feature a ship whose crew had
>> the misfortune of being turned into salt in an episode of the original
>> "Star Trek," but has now been repopulated by Texans.
>>
>> "I think the networks — Paramount, CBS — I don't think they're giving
>> the fans the 'Trek' they're looking for," said Mr. Sieber, a 40-year-old
>> engineer for a government contractor who likens his "Star Trek" project,
>> at www.starshipfarragut.com, to "online community theater."
>>
>> "The fans are saying, look, if we can't get what we want on television,
>> the technology is out there for us to do it ourselves," he added.
>>
>> And viewers are responding. One series, at www.newvoyages.com, and based
>> in Ticonderoga, N.Y., boasts of 30 million downloads. It has become so
>> popular that Walter Koenig, the actor who played Chekov in the original
>> "Star Trek," is guest starring in an episode, and George Takei, who
>> played Sulu, is slated to shoot another one later this year. D. C.
>> Fontana, a writer from the original "Star Trek" series, has written a
>> script.
>>
>> For many Trekkies, contemporary science fiction on television — like
>> "Battlestar Galactica" and the more recent Star Trek spinoffs — are too
>> dark.
>>
>> "Modern science fiction takes itself too seriously," said Jimm Johnson,
>> 37, who presides over Starship Exeter.
>>
>> John Broughton Jr., who founded the Farragut project, agreed. "One thing
>> about the classic 'Star Trek' is at the end of the episode, it was
>> pretty much a happy ending," he said. "It was sort of like 'The Brady
>> Bunch.' It was all tidied up."
>>
>> Mr. Broughton, a wiry Navy veteran with spiky hair, is a serious
>> collector of all things "Star Trek." His avocado tunic, he said, is made
>> from bolts of the nylon used for the original "Star Trek," purchased at
>> $100 a yard. His boots are made by the son of the man who made the boots
>> used in "Star Trek," he said. His megaphone, bought for $325 on eBay,
>> was the one used by William Shatner when he directed "Star Trek V."
>>
>> In the woods with the Klingons, Brad Graper, 52, finished detailing a
>> pair of Nerf guns painted gray, with sections of chrome tailpipe added
>> to them as gun barrels. Mr. Graper sat at a cluster of picnic tables in
>> this lush 1,814-acre park. Klingon re-enactors from Virginia, Maryland
>> and Pennsylvania played extras.
>>
>> "I'm General DuraD," Mr. Graper said. "The D and the D are capitalized."
>>
>> Around him, Klingons applied swarthy face paint and black hair dye,
>> adjusted silvery sashes, and tottered in platform boots. They usually
>> portray the more heavily costumed Klingons from "Star Trek: The Next
>> Generation," the series spinoff that started in 1987. Those Klingons had
>> big ridges on their heads requiring elaborate prosthetics.
>>
>> "This is the first time I've ever done an original Klingon," said Sally
>> Arkulari, 46, who works on a large farm in Lancaster, Pa. "It's a lot
>> less work."
>>
>> Ms. Arkulari is a tall woman, in a shimmering green dress, heavy
>> eyeliner and orange hair extensions. What's her view on the Klingon woman?
>>
>> "Love 'em because they're so tough," she said. "Part of that is not my
>> personality. I need to be more aggressive as a person, and I'm not, so I
>> like that."
>>
>> The couple of dozen people on the set are either related, are friends or
>> met at a Star Trek convention. David Sepan, 31, who plays a security
>> officer, is a spacecraft analyst at the Johns Hopkins University Applied
>> Physics Laboratory and monitors a space probe heading to Mercury. Mr.
>> Sieber is a family friend. Mr. Sepan's sister Amy, 29, is Farragut's
>> makeup artist and costume designer.
>>
>> "I'm also Dr. Christina Hawley," she said, and then performed a line
>> from her script: "Captain — he's dead!"
>>
>> Holly Bednar, 42, who plays an engineer, is the executive director of a
>> theater in southern Maryland and one of the few participants here with
>> theater experience. Her husband, Mike Bednar, 45, is the prop man,
>> cameraman, science officer and a friend of Mr. Broughton's. The Bednars
>> were childhood sweethearts who lost touch for 23 years and then
>> reconnected and got married in 2004.
>>
>> Ms. Bednar came late to "Star Trek" and considers herself in the
>> married-to-Trekkie category.
>>
>> "It was kind of a nice thing for Mike and I to work on together," she
>> said. "For Mike, it's the 'Star Trek' stuff. For me, it's the acting."
>>
>> At 11 a.m., Mr. Sieber rounded up the Klingons and explained plot
>> points. "You guys are generating a cloaking field from the planet around
>> the orbiting weapon," he explained. Heads nodded. "They heard a rumor
>> from some Orion spies that you guys might be trying to do something on
>> this planet, not knowing that there's this many of you here, and that's
>> why they end up getting ambushed."
>>
>> Fair enough. The group packed into a caravan of cars and headed into the
>> woods at the park south of Washington. They had the camera, a boom mike,
>> even a Hollywood scene marker. Mr. Sieber yelled "Action!" A trio of
>> Klingons charged a gully, crouched into firing positions and tumbled as
>> they pretended to be shot.
>>
>> Later, they filmed 12 takes of a scene in which Mr. Broughton, as the
>> captain of the Starship Farragut, and the Bednars walk through the
>> gully, talking. There are sound problems, battery problems, glare
> problems.
>> Next scene: the three jump behind a fallen tree. They pretend to be
>> pinned down by Klingons.
>>
>> "Reinforcements! Crossfire!"
>>
>> In a quiet moment, Mike Bednar reflected on what brings a man into the
>> woods, wearing a form-fitting blue tunic, jet-black pants and shiny
>> ebony boots, and carrying a camera. He recalled meeting Mr. Broughton
>> years ago, when his friend was ending his stint in the Navy.
>>
>> "I used to joke with him, 'You'd never get me in a "Star Trek" uniform,
>> even on Halloween, it's not going to happen,' " he said. "Next thing I
>> know, I'm wearing a uniform."
>>
>> http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/06/18/us/18trek.xla rge1.jpg
>> http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/06/18/us/18trek.190 2.jpg
>>
>> http://tinyurl.com/momtw
>
>
> Cool, hadn't heard of Starship Farragut before, although after watching the
> trailer I'll give it kudos for FX but it gets the cheesiest acting award out
> of all of them (tied with "Hidden Frontier")
> (The crew wasn't "turned to salt" though... 200 crew members including the
> Captain were killed by the dikironium cloud creature on Tycho IV. (TOS:
> Obsession)
You're confusing two different ships.
Exeter was Tracy's ship in "Omega Glory." His crew was reduced down to
the chemical salts that remain when the water is removed from the human
body. "Turned to salt" is a slight oversimplification, but not way off
base.
--
Steven D. Litvintchouk
Email: sdlitvin [at] earthlinkNOSPAM.net
Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me.
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