Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a 1979 American science fiction film directed by Robert Wise and based on a television series of the same name made by Gene Roddenberry, who also acts as a producer. This is the first installment in the Star Trek movie series, and starred in the original television series. The film is set in the 20th century, when a mysterious and very powerful alien cloud known as V'Ger approached Earth, destroying everything in its path. Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) took over the recently revised USS Enterprise command, to lead him on a planet-saving mission and determine the V ' Ger Origin -usul '.
When the original television series was canceled in 1969, Star Trek Creator Gene Roddenberry lobbied Paramount Pictures to continue the franchise through feature films. The success of the series in syndication convinced the studio to start work on the film starting in 1975. A series of authors attempted to make the "epic corresponding" script, but the attempt did not satisfy Paramount, thus the studio canceled the project in 1977. Paramount instead planned to return the franchise to its roots, with a new television series titled Star Trek: Phase II . The success of the box office Close Encounters of the Third Kind, however, convinced Paramount that a science fiction movie other than Star Wars could run well at the box office, so the studio canceled the production Phase II and went on to make a movie Star Trek . In 1978, Paramount assembled the biggest press conference held in the studio since the 1950s, to announce that twice Academy Award-winning director Robert Wise will direct a $ 15 million budget adaptation film from his original television series. With the Phase II cancellation, the authors rushed to match the planned pilot episode, "In Thy Image", into the movie script. The constant revision of shooting stories and scripts continues until an hourly script update on the date of shooting. Enterprise modified inside and out; costume designer Robert Fletcher provides new uniforms, and production designer Harold Michelson creates new devices. Jerry Goldsmith compiled a movie score, starting a relationship with Star Trek that will continue until 2002. When the original contractor for the optical effect proved unable to complete their assignments in time, the stock executive Douglas Trumbull was awarded carte blanche to meet the release date December 1979 film. Movies come together just days before the premiere; Wise took the recently completed film in Washington, D.C., opened, but always felt that the final version of the movie was a rough cut of the movie he wanted to make.
Released in North America on December 7, 1979, Star Trek: The Motion Picture received mixed criticism from critics, many of whom blamed the movie for lack of action scenes and relied too heavily on special effects. The cost of production eventually ballooned to about $ 46 million, and earned $ 139 million at box offices worldwide, far from studio expectations, but enough for Paramount to propose a cheaper sequel. Roddenberry was forced out of creative control for the sequel production of the 1982 film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. In 2001, Wise oversaw the director's cut to release the movie's special DVD, with audio remaster, tightened and added scenes, and new computer-generated effects.
Video Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Plot
In 2271, the Starfleet monitoring station, Epsilon Nine , detects alien forces, hidden in enormous clouds of energy, moving through space toward Earth. Clouds easily destroyed three new warships Klingon Empire K't'inga and monitoring stations on the way. On Earth, the space ship Enterprise is undergoing major repairs; former commander, James T. Kirk, has been promoted to Admiral and worked in San Francisco as Head of Starfleet Operations. Starfleet sends Enterprise to investigate cloud entities because the vessel is the only one within the intercept range, which requires that its new system be tested on the way.
Kirk took over the command of the ship citing his experience, infuriating Captain Willard Decker, who had overseen the reparations as a new commander. The new system testing Enterprise ' went bad; two officers, including Vulcan Enterprise the Sonak science officer, were killed by a malfunctioning transporter, and a machine that was calibrated incorrectly nearly destroyed Enterprise . Kirk's incomprehension of the ship's new system increases the tension between Kirk and Decker, who are temporarily relegated to the first officers. Commander Spock arrives as a substitute science officer, explaining that while in his home world undergoing rituals to cleanse all emotions, he feels the realization that he believes comes from the cloud, and can not complete the rituals because half the manusiaya feel emotional connection to consciousness.
Enterprise cuts off the cloud of energy and is attacked by foreign ships in it. A probe appeared on the bridge, attacked Spock and kidnapped the navigator, Ilia. He was replaced by a robotic replica, another probe sent by "V'Ger" to study the crew. Decker is puzzled over the disappearance of Ilia, with whom he has a romantic history. She becomes restless as she tries to extract information from doppelgÃÆ'¤nger, which has memories and feelings of Ilia buried in them. Spock takes spacewalk into the interior of the alien ship and tries the telepathic mind to blend in with it. Thus, he learned that the ship was V'Ger himself, a living machine.
Other actors from the return television series include Majel Barrett as Christine Chapel, a physician on the Enterprise ship; and Grace Lee Whitney as Janice Rand, formerly one of yeomen Kirk and now a transporter operator. David Gautreaux, who once starred as Xon in the second canceled television series, cameos as Branch, commander of Epsilon communications station 9. Mark Lenard plays Klingon commander in the movie opening sequence; he also acted as Spock's father, Sarek, in the television series and in later films.
Maps Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Production
Initial development
The original Star Trek television series went for three seasons from 1966 to 1969 on NBC. The show never hit with network executives, and low Nielsen ratings showed their support. When the show was canceled, the owners of Paramount Pictures hoped to recoup their losses by selling syndicated rights to the show. The series went into reruns in the fall (September/October) of 1969, and in the late 1970s has been sold in over 150 domestic markets and 60 international markets. The event evolved following the sect, and rumors of reviving the franchise began.
Roddenberry first proposed the Star Trek feature at the 1968 World Scientific Fiction Convention. The film was set before the television series, showing how crews from the Enterprise met. The popularity of the Star Trek syndication led Paramount and Roddenberry to start filming in May 1975. Roddenberry allocated $ 3 to $ 5 million to develop the script. By June 30, he had produced what was considered an acceptable script, but studio executives disagreed. This first draft, The God Thing , features a ground-based Admiral Kirk collecting old crews in Enterprise to clash with the divine entity many miles away, gliding toward Earth. It turned out to be a super-sophisticated computer, a remnant of a cunning race that was removed from their dimensions. Kirk wins, entity returns to its dimensions, and crews Enterprise continue their journey. The basic premise and scenes like the transporter accident and Vulcan Spock ritual are discarded, but then back to the final script. The film was postponed until spring (March/April) 1976 while Paramount inserted a new script for Star Trek II (title work) from famous writers like Ray Bradbury, Theodore Sturgeon and Harlan Ellison. The story of Ellison has a serpent-like alien race that destroys Earth's history to create the same race; Kirk reunites with his old crew, but they are faced with the dilemma of killing the reptilian race in the prehistoric Earth only to maintain human dominance. When Ellison presented his idea, an executive suggested that Ellison read the Chariots of the Gods? and incorporate the Maya civilization into his story, which infuriates the writer because he knows Maya did not exist at dawn. In October 1976, Robert Silverberg was signed to work on the scenario along with the second author, John D. F. Black, whose treatment featured black holes threatening to consume all existence. Roddenberry teamed up with Jon Povill to write a new story featuring an Enterprise crew that governs the universe that is altered exactly by the passage of time; like the Black idea, Paramount does not consider it epic enough.
Original Star Trek actor - who has agreed to appear in a new movie, with unsigned yet unsigned script consent contracts - becomes worried about constant delays, and other acting offers received pragmatically when Roddenberry works with Paramount. The studio decided to divert the project to the television division, arguing that because the roots of the franchise are on television, the authors will be able to develop appropriate scripts. A number of screenwriters offer a rejected idea. When Paramount executives' interest in films began to wane, Roddenberry, backed by fan letters, put pressure on the studio. In June 1976, Paramount commissioned Jerry Isenberg, a young and active producer, to be the project executive producer, with the budget expanded to $ 8 million. Povill was assigned to find more authors to develop the manuscript. The list includes Edward Anhalt, James Goldman, Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, Ernest Lehman and Robert Bloch. "Povill - almost praised: The Story of Star Trek II (with Roddenberry) It will be a big blow someday, to be hired now when he is cheap and humble." The end result is a list composed of 34 names, no one selected for writing scripts. Finally, British scriptwriters Chris Bryant and Allan Scott, who have written Donald Sutherland's thriller Do Not Look Now are employed to write the script. Bryant believed that he got the script assignment because his view of Kirk resembled what Roddenberry modeled; "one of Capatio Horatio Nelson in the South Pacific, six months from home and three months away with communication". Povill also wrote a list of possible directors, including Coppola, Steven Spielberg, Lucas and Robert Wise, but all were busy at the time (or unwilling to work on small script money budgets). Philip Kaufman was signed to direct and was given a crash course in the series. Roddenberry screened ten episodes from the original series for Kaufman, including the most representative of the show and which he considers the most popular: "The City on the Edge of Forever", "The Devil in the Dark", "Amok Time", "Journey to Babylon "," Shore Leave "," The Trouble with Tribbles "," The Enemy Within "," The Corbomite Maneuver "," This Side of Heaven "and" A Piece of the Action ". The initial work was promising and, in the fall of 1976, the project built momentum.
During this time, fans organized a mail campaign that flooded the White House with letters, influencing Gerald Ford to recharge the Space Shuttle the Constitution to Enterprise , and Roddenberry and most > Star Trek player present for the roll-out on September 17, 1976.
On October 8, 1976, Bryant and Scott provided a twenty-page treatment entitled Planet of the Titans, which was favored by executives Barry Diller and Michael Eisner. In care, Kirk and his crew meet a creature that they believe to be a mythical Titan and travel back millions of years in time, accidentally teaching primeval humans to make fire. The Titan planet also explores the concept of the third eye. With studio acceptance of this treatment, Roddenberry immediately stopped working on another project to refocus on Star Trek, and the screenwriter and Isenberg were flooded with thankful fan letters. Isenberg started looking for shooting locations and hired designers and illustrators. The key among them was the famous production designer Ken Adam, who said that "I was approached by Gene Roddenberry and we were like a burning house", and thus he was hired to design the movie. In turn, Adam hired the freshest artist Ralph McQuarrie to release Star Wars. They work on designs for planets, planets and asteroid bases, black holes "shroud", "crystal super brains", and new concepts for Enterprise, including interior concepts that Adam then revisits for the film. Moonraker and the design of the hulled spaceship (often credited to McQuarrie, but which McQuarrie own art of the book identifies as Adam's design). McQuarrie writes that "there is no manuscript" so much of the work "takes over". When the film was folded after three months for Adam and "one and a half months" for McQuarrie, their concept was suspended, although some of them were reviewed in later production.
The first manuscript of the full text was not completed until 1 March 1977, and it was described as "a script by the committee" and rejected by the studio a few weeks later. Bryant and Scott have been caught between the controversial notions of Roddenberry and Kaufman about what should have been Paramount's films and doubts. Feeling it was "impossible physically" to produce a script that satisfied all parties, they abandoned the project by mutual consent on March 18, 1977. "We plead for dismissal." Kaufman reinvented the story with Spock as his own ship captain and featured Toshiro Mifune as Kockon's arch-rival, but on May 8 Katzenberg told the film director that it was canceled less than three weeks before Star Wars would be released.
Stage II and restart
Barry Diller was increasingly concerned about the direction of Star Trek taken in Planet of the Titans, and suggested to Roddenberry that it was time to return the franchise to its roots as a television series. Diller plans a new Star Trek series that forms the basis for a new television network. Although Paramount is reluctant to leave his job in the film, Roddenberry wants to bring many production staff from the original series to work on the new show, entitled Star Trek: Stage II .
Producer Harold Livingston is tasked to find a writer for a new episode, while Roddenberry prepares an author guides that read out who does not know about the canon of the franchise. From the original players, only Leonard Nimoy stated he would not return. To replace Spock, Roddenberry created a logical Vulcan intelligence called Xon. Since Xon was too young to fill the role of first officer, Roddenberry developed Commander William Decker, and then added Ilia. The new series episode of "In Thy Image" is based on a two-page outline by Roddenberry about a NASA investigation returning to Earth, having gained experience. Alan Dean Foster wrote the care for the pilot, which Livingston turned into a teleplay. When the script was presented to Michael Eisner, he declared it worth to be told as a movie. At the same time, the success of Close Encounters of the Third Kind shows Paramount that Star Wars' success in the science-fiction genre at the box office can be repeated. On Nov. 11, just two and a half weeks before production at Phase II will begin, the studio announces that the television series has been canceled for the sake of a new movie. Players and crew employed on Monday were laid off on Friday, and construction halted. Production was moved to April 1978 so that necessary scripts, sets, and cabinets could be upgraded.
On March 28, 1978, Paramount gathered the biggest press conference held in the studio since Cecil B. DeMille announced he made the Ten Commandments . Eisner announces that Academy Award-winning director Robert Wise will direct the film adaptation of the television series, titled Star Trek - The Motion Picture . Wise saw only a few episodes of Star Trek, so Paramount gave him about a dozen to watch. The budget is projected at $ 15 million. Dennis Clark ( Comes a Horseman ) was invited to rewrite the script and insert Spock, but he did not like Roddenberry, who demanded a single credit. Livingston returned as a writer, and although he also found Roddenberry unreasonable, Wise and Katzenberg convinced him to continue rewriting the manuscript throughout the production.
The authors began adapting "In Thy Image" to a screenplay, but the script was not completed until four months after production began. Wise feels that the story sounds, but his actions and visuals can be made more interesting. When the beginning of filming in late spring 1978 approached, it was clear a new start date was needed. Time is the essence; Paramount is worried that their science fiction movie will appear at the tail end of a cycle, now every big studio has such a movie in his works. Livingston described the writer's problem with the story, calling it "unworkable":
We have extraordinary antagonists, so omnipotent that for us to defeat him or even communicate with him, or to have any connection with him, makes the initial concept of the story false. This is a giant machine that is a million years ahead of us. Now, how can we handle this? At what level? As the story progresses, everything works to the end. How do you overcome this? If humans can beat this amazing machine, it really is not that great, right? Or if it is really great, will we like the man who defeated him? Should they defeat him? Who is the hero of the story? That's the problem. We are experimenting with all sorts of approaches... we do not know what to do with the endings. We always end up with a blank wall.
Scripts receive constant input from manufacturers and from Shatner and Nimoy. The discussions caused repeated rewriting, exactly on the day the pages were taken. At one point, scenes rewritten so often it becomes necessary to note on the manuscript pages of the revision clock. Although the change is constant, the greatest impulse for change revolves around the end. Most rewrites relate to Kirk and Spock, Decker and Ilia, and Enterprise and V ' ger relationships. The last draft of the third act was adopted at the end of September 1978, but not because of a Penthouse interview where NASA director Robert Jastrow said that mechanical life forms may, the end may not have been approved at all.
Design
The first new set (intended for Phase II ) was built from July 25, 1977. Fabrication was overseen by Joseph Jennings, an art director involved in the original television series, special effects expert Jim Rugg, and former designer Tracks Matt Jefferies, loaned as a consultant of Little House on the Prairie. When the television series was canceled and plans to make the film, a new set was required for the large 70 mm film format.
Wisely asked Harold Michelson to be a film production designer, and Michelson worked to complete the incomplete set of Phase II . The designer starts with the bridge, which is almost done. Michelson first moved the new weapon station Chekov, a semi-circular plastic bubble that was grafted onto one side of the bridge wall. The idea for Phase II is that Chekov will look towards the space while the viewfinder in the bubble tracked the target. Wise even wants Chekov stations to face the main reviewer of Enterprise ', a difficult request because the main set is circular. Production illustrator Michael Minor creates a new look for the station using a flat edge in the corner of the set.
The bridge ceiling was redesigned, with Michelson taking a structural inspiration from the jet engine fan. Minor builds a central bubble for the ceiling to give the bridge a human touch. Conceivably, the bubble serves as part of a sophisticated device designed to inform the captain of the ship's attitude. Most of the bridge consoles, designed by Lee Cole, remain of the television series being discarded. Cole remains on film production and is responsible for many of the visual artworks created. To inform the actor and author of the series, Lee prepares the USS Company Flight Guidelines as a continuity guide to control the function. It is necessary for all major players to get familiar with the control sequences at their stations because each panel is activated by touch through a heat-sensitive plate. Watts from the light bulb under the plastic console button is reduced from 25 watts to 6 watts after the resulting heat begins to melt the controls. The chairs are covered in corset material, used because of the stretching capacity and ability to be easily dyed. For science stations, two consoles are rigged for hydraulic operation so that it can be rolled onto the wall when not in use, but the system is disconnected when the crew finds it will be easier to move it by hand.
Aside from the control interface, the bridge set is filled with an animated iteration monitor. Each oval monitor is a rear projection screen in which the super 8 mm and 16 mm film sequences are looped for each special effect. This production received 42 films for this purpose from a company based in Arlington, Virginia, Stowmar Enterprises. Stowmar's footage lasted only a few weeks in filmmaking, and it became clear that new monitor films would be needed faster than outside suppliers could send them. Cole, Minor, and other production designers, Rick Sternbach, work with Povill to devise quick ways to record new recordings. Cole and Povill hire an oscilloscope for a day and film the distortion. Other loops come from Long Beach Hospital, the University of California at San Diego, and an experimental computer lab in New Mexico. Overall, more than two hundred pieces of monitor recordings were made and included in the seven-page list.
The engine room Enterprise is redesigned while remaining consistent with the theory that the interior appearance should match the corresponding area seen in the exterior view of the space ship. Michelson wants the engine room to look spacious, the effect is difficult to achieve at a small sound stage. To create the illusion of depth and distance that can be seen, the art department staff is working on a design that will take advantage of a forced perspective; designer set Lewis Splittgerber considers the most difficult engine space to manifest. In the film the engine room appears hundreds of feet long, but the actual set is only 40 feet (12 m) in length. To achieve the right view, the floor tilts upward and narrows, while small actors with three, four, and five feet tall are used as extras to give the impression of being away from the camera. For the "bottom shots" of the engineering complex, floor painting extends the length of the cores of several story windings. J.C Backings Company created these paintings; Similar backing is used to extend the length of the ship's aisle and set of recreation rooms.
Redesigning the Enterprise corridor is also Michelson's responsibility. Initially the corridor was a straight plywood construction reminiscent of the original series, called Roddenberry as "Des Moines Holiday Inn Style". To get away from this hotel look, Michelson created a new crooked and corner design. Roddenberry and Wise agree with Michelson that in three hundred years, lighting does not need to be overhead, so their lighting shines up from the floor. Different lighting schemes are used to simulate different vessel decks with the same corridor length. The aluminum panels on the walls outside Kirk and Ilia's room are covered with orange ultrasuede to represent the living room of the ship.
Transporter was originally developed for the television series as a matter of convenience; it would be very expensive to show the mainland Enterprise on every new planet. To redesign Michelson feels that the carrier should look and feel stronger. He added a closed control room that would protect operators from strong forces at work. The space between carrier and carrier platforms is filled with complicated machines, and cinematographer Richard Kline adds a scary light to the scene to create atmosphere.
After the Enterprise set design was completed, Michelson turned his attention to creating the original set needed for the film. The recreation deck occupies the entire sound stage, dwarfing a small room built for the planned television series; this is the biggest interior in this film. The device is 24 feet (7.3 m) tall, decorated with 107 specially designed pieces of furniture, and packed with 300 people for shooting. Beneath the large display screen at one end of the set is a series of art panels containing illustrations of previous ships under the name Enterprise . One of the vessels belongs to NASA Enterprise , added to Roddenberry's request:
Some fans stated that our new Enterprise should carry a plaque somewhere that commemorates the fact that it was named after the first space shuttle launched from Earth in the 1970s. It's an interesting idea. It also has the benefit of publicity if it is released right at the right time. It will not hurt NASA's feelings either. I'll hand it to you where you want it on board.
Another major construction task is a set of V ' ger , called by the production staff as "Coliseum" or "microwave wok". The device is designed and built in four and a half weeks, and can be filmed from all angles; part of the set is designed to withdraw to better camera access at the center. Throughout production Star Trek uses eleven of thirty-two Paramount sound stages, more than any other movie done there at the time. To save money, construction coordinator Gene Kelley strikes the set with his own crew soon after the filming, just in case Paramount collects the production for the set to be unloaded. The final cost for building the set runs about $ 1.99 million, excluding the additional costs for Phase II fabrication . Props and models
The first Star Trek movie model built was a small research model for Planet of the Titans based on design by Adam and McQuarrie but the Enterprise concept was abandoned when the movie was canceled (although one later used in spacedock in Star Trek III movie: Search for Spock , and the other then appeared in Star Trek: The Episode Next Generation "The Best of Both Worlds ").
As the Phase II series is in development, original designer Matt Jefferies updated Enterprise designs to showcase larger plates with twin elevators (turbolifts) to bridges, wider secondary hull , docking ports, a collection of special photon torpedo guns at the base of the neck of the ship, and a tilted stunt supporting the nacelles. The nacelles themselves are completely transformed into less cylindrical shapes and are designed to display luminous grids on the sides. Likewise, the orbiting drydock, complex office space, and V'ger have been designed by artist Mike Minor. At Phase II canceled a model about five feet long Enterprise is being built by Don Loos from Movie Price Thumbnail, and the drydock and V 'ger models are being built as well. All of these models are left unfinished (although the Company's Company has been changed as a corporate shipwreck that exploded in Star Trek III: Search for Spock ).
When the project finally became The Motion Picture Robert Abel and Associates, art director Richard Taylor wanted to completely redesign the ship, but Roddenberry insisted on the same form as Jefferies designed for Phase II me. Taylor focused on the details, giving him a stylization that he considered "almost Art Deco". The artist Andrew Probert helped refine the redesign. The general shape and proportion of the vessels Phase II is maintained, but the angles, curves and details are perfected. Taylor took the nacelles, and Probert the rest of the ship. Changes include "radiator grill" nacelle caps, luminous deflector plates, new impulse machines, new shapes for rear ends and secondary gastric hangar doors, more docking ports, round windows, hatches and windows for observation rooms, deck recreation, and arboretum. Probert also replaced the Phase II's ship guns with a twin-rolled torpedo boat deck and added elements such as features to separate landing plates and landing pads that were never used on any movie featuring the model.
Most models in The Motion Picture are created by Magicam, a Paramount subsidiary. The main Enterprise model is eight feet long, for scale scale of 1/120th, or 1 inch (2.5 cm) to 10 feet (3.0 m). It took 14 months and $ 150,000 to build. Instead of the standard fiberglass used for older, new Enterprise models built with lightweight plastic, weighing 85 pounds (39 kg). The biggest design issue is making sure that dorsal dorsal neck and twin warp nacelle struts are strong enough so that no part of the ship model will sag, bend, or vibrate when the model is being moved, which is achieved through a welded arc. aluminum frame. The finished model can be supported in any of five possible points as every photography angle is required. The second model, 20 inches (50.8 cm) of the ship is used for long shots. While the stomach surface remains smooth, it is treated with a special paint finish that makes its surface appear colorful in a certain light. The transparency of the film set was inserted behind a few windows, and as a joke, some featured Probert, other production staff members, and Mickey Mouse. Enterprise revised after Abel & amp; Partner dismissed.
Magicam also produced an orbital dry dock that was visible during the first appearance of Enterprise ' in the movie. With a size of 4Ã, ft x 10Ã, ft x 6Ã, ft (1.22m x 3.05m x 1.83m), 56 fluorescent panels require 168,000 volts of electricity to operate, with separate desks to support transformers; the final price for dock installation is $ 200,000.
The creation of V'Ger causes problems for the entire production. The crew were dissatisfied with the original four-foot clay model made by the Abel group, which looked like a modern Nemo submarine Nautilus . Industrial designer Syd Mead was hired to visualize a new version of the mammoth craft. Mead creates machines containing organic elements based on input from Wise, Roddenberry, and the effects it produces. The final model is 68 feet (21 m) in length, built from back to front so that the camera crew can record the recording while the next section is still made. This model is built from a large number of materials - wood, foam, macramà ©  ©, Styrofoam glasses, incandescent lamps, fluorescent lamps and strobe lights.
Dick Rubin handles film props, and sets up a temporary office at the corner of stage 9 during production. Rubin's philosophy as a property host is that almost every actor or extras should have something in their hands. Thus, Rubin designed and made around 350 props for the film, 55 of which were used in the San Francisco tram scene alone. Many of the props are updated design items that were previously seen on television series, such as phasers and handheld communicators. The only remaining support of the original television series was the Uhura wireless earpiece, which Nichols specifically requested on the first day of the photo shoot (and all the production crew rescued those who had worked on the television show had forgotten it). The new scanner is fully self-contained, with its own circuit, battery, and four flashing lights. Prop comes with a hefty $ 4000 price tag; to save money, lights dropped, reduce the size of phaser by one third. A total of 15 devices made for the film. The communicators were radically altered, because in the 1970s micro-miniaturization of electronics convinced Roddenberry that the large handheld device from the television series was no longer reliable. A wrist-based design was decided, provided that it looked much different from the watch Dick Tracy had used for decades before. Two hundred communicators were formed, but only a few were a $ 3,500 top model, used to cover the device in action. Most props are made of plastic, because Rubin thinks that in the future man-made materials will be used almost exclusively.
Costume and makeup
Roddenberry firmly believes that the disposable clothing is the future of the industry, and this idea is incorporated into The Motion Picture costume. William Ware Theiss, the designer who created the original television series costumes, was too busy to do the film. In contrast, Robert Fletcher, considered one of the most successful designers and fashion designers in American theaters, was chosen to design new uniforms, coats and robes for production. Fletcher avoids man-made synthetics for natural ingredients, finding that these fabrics sew better and last longer. Over time has changed, Starfleet uniforms, with their bright red, blue, green, and gold, should be revised: the mini skirts worn by women in the original series will now be considered sexist. Wise considers the original colorful uniforms too dorky, and Fletcher believes that the brilliance of this old design will work against trust when viewed on the big screen - the designer's first task is to create a new uniform that is less conspicuous.
In the original series, divisions in ship assignments were denoted by the color of t-shirts; for the movie, this color code is moved to a small patch on each person's uniform. The Starfleet delta symbol, which previously shows the branches of tasks, science, medical, engineering, and so forth - replaced with a command symbol for all branches, is superimposed on top of the color circle showing the service area. The previous uniform blue color is discarded, for fear they might disturb the blue screen used for the optical effect. Three types of uniforms are made: uniforms used for special occasions, Class A uniforms for regular assignments, and Class B uniforms as an alternative. Class A designs are double knit in gabardine and rated gold braid designations. It is felt that the four traditional golden arm lines for the rank of captain are too overtly militaristic. Povill had to send a memo to Fletcher with a modified stripe rating system, as the designer continued to get the twentieth and the twenty-first century bewildered. Fletcher designed a Class B uniform similar to an evolved T-shirt, with shoulder boards used to show ratings and service divisions. Each costume has a shoe built on the legs of the pants for a futuristic look. An Italian shoemaker decorated by the Italian government for making Gucci shoes assigned to create futuristic shoes. Combining shoes and trousers is difficult, time-consuming, and expensive, because every shoe should be sewn by hand after being fitted to each of the main actors. There are difficulties in communication, because the shoemaker speaks limited English and sometimes confuses the order of shoes because the name sounds similar. Jumpsuits, serving more useful functions, are the only costumes to have a pocket, and are made with heavyweight spandex that requires a special needle to puncture thick material. A variety of field jackets, casual wear, and spaceship were also created; because these sections must be designed and completed before most of the actor's part is cast, many roles are filled out by considering how well the actors will match the costumes.
For the civilian population of San Francisco, Fletcher decided to be more free in dress. Most of the ingredients for these casual wear are found in old warehouses at Paramount, where large numbers of unused or forgotten silk, crepes, and leather are stored in warehouses. One bolt of material was chosen by Cecil DeMille in 1939, and in perfect condition. Brocades of red, black, and gold were woven with real gold and silver wrapped around silk threads; the costumes produced were used for the Betelgeusean ambassador and, at a price of $ 10,000 for the cloth itself, were the most expensive costume worn by Hollywood. Fletcher also recycles suedes from the Ten Commandments for Zaranite costumes. With Roddenberry's approval, Fletcher created a complete backdrop for alien races visible on Earth and a series of recreational decks, describing their looks and the composition of their costumes.
Fred Phillips, the original designer of the Vulcan Spock ears, acts as The Motion Picture makeup artist '. He and his staff are responsible for fifty masks and makeup for strangers seen in the film. The design was developed by Phillips himself or another of Fletcher's sketches. In a long relationship with Star Trek Phillips earned 2000 Spock ear during the production of The Motion Picture . Each ear is made of latex and other ingredients are mixed together in a kitchen mixer, then burned for six hours. Although Phillips has rescued the original television series used to make the equipment, Nimoy's ears have grown in decades since then and new prints have to be made. While on the small screen the ears can be used up to four times, because nicks and tears do not appear on television, Phillips must make about three pairs a day for Nimoy during filming. Vulcan's raised eyebrows need hair smeared with hair for the right detail, and Nimoy takes more than two hours to prepare for filming - twice longer than for television.
In addition to developing Vulcan ears and alien masks, Phillips and his assistant Charles Schram apply more regular makeup to the main actors. The head of Khambatta should be shaved every day, then given a makeup application to reduce the glare from the heat lamp. Khambatta did not hesitate to shave his head at first, but began to worry if his hair would grow back properly. Roddenberry proposes to insure Khambatta's hair after the actress voiced his concerns, believing that such insurance rates are insignificant. Roddenberry also sees other benefits for taking the policy:
... Secondly, [insurance] will have the advantage of convincing [Khambatta] and making her feel more comfortable during her role. Third and finally, if the price turns out to be negligible, John Rothwell, our publicist, assures me that we may get many times return fees in publicity about insurance.
The idea was eventually abolished, as it turned out that such a guarantee would be very expensive; insurance companies believe that there will be difficulties in proving that hair grows back exactly as it was before. Instead, Khambatta visited the Skincare Salon of Georgette Klinger in Beverly Hills, where experts recommended that she receive six facial and scalp treatments during the production process. Salon also prescribes daily scalp care routines from cleaning bars, shiny lotions, conditioners, makeup erasers, and cleaning lotions. The studio agreed that these measures were necessary and filling the bill while Khambatta spent six months following boring instructions (his hair finally regretted without any problems, though he kept locking his hair after the production ended.)
Technical consultation
In the decade between the end of the Star Trek television series and movies, many of the futuristic technologies that emerged on the show - automatic open doorways, hypodermic injections, talking computers, stun guns rather than killing, and personal communication devices - has become a reality. Roddenberry insists that the technology above Enterprise is based on science and established scientific theory. The Motion Picture also received technical consultations from NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as individuals such as former astronaut and science fiction writer Isaac Asimov.
The largest amount of technical advice for production comes from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which provides fans of Jesco von Puttkamer as an advisor to the film. Roddenberry has known Puttkamer since 1975, when they were introduced by a friend, Assistant Director of Astronautics at the Smithsonian Institution. From 1976 until the completion of the film, Puttkamer provided writers, producers and directors with memos on all technical matters in the manuscript; the scientist checks every line in the script, and is not paid for his help. "Sci-fi movies, including the latest films, have very little scientific advice," he says. "Star Wars is not really science fiction, I like it, but it's a fairy tale of princes and knights in other galaxies, that technology is impossible, science is impossible."
During the rewrite of the last scene, studio executives clashed with Roddenberry about the end of the script, believing that the concept of a living machine was too contrived. The executives consult Asimov: if the writer decides the life machine makes sense, it can eventually remain. Asimov liked his ending, but made one small suggestion; he feels that the use of the word "wormhole" is incorrect, and that the anomalies that Enterprise find in him would be more accurately referred to as "temporary tunnel".
Filming
The The Motion Picture ' took place on August 7, 1978. Some ad-libbed ceremonies were performed before the camera was rolled out; Roddenberry gave Wise his baseball cap, decorated with "Enterprise" in gold letters (the hat was a gift from the company's nuclear captain.) Wisely and Roddenberry then broke a special bottle of champagne on the bridge set (no liquid in because the flying champagne will damage the set that has been prepared.) The planned scene is a chaotic mess on the Company's bridge as the crew prepares the ship for space travel; Wisely directed 15 take to the afternoon before he was satisfied with the scene. First day shots using 1,650 ft (500 m) film; 420 feet (130 m) is considered "good", 1,070 feet (330 m) rated "not good", and 160 feet (49 m) wasted; only one and one eighth of the pages have been taken.
Alex Weldon was hired to be a special effects watchdog for the film. Weldon plans to retire after working 42 years, but his wife urges him to take Star Trek because he thinks he does not have enough to do. When Weldon is employed, many effects have already begun or been resolved by Rugg; it's up to Weldon to complete a more complex and higher budgeted effect for the film. The first step of preparation involves the analysis of scripts in the number, duration, and type of effect. Before a fee can be determined and Weldon can shop for the necessary items, he and other members of the special effects team work out all possibilities to withdraw from the effect in a convincing manner.
Richard H. Kline served as a film cinematographer. Working from the concept of sketch artist Maurice Zuberano, Wise will judge whether they are on the right track. Kline and Michelson will then discuss the look that they want (along with Weldon, if any effect is involved.) Each sequence is then storyboarded and submitted to Kline for execution. The cinematographer calls its function to "interpret pre-tuning and make it indelible in the movie.This is the way everyone is on the same wave." Kline will remember that there is not a single "easy shot" to produce an image, because each scene requires special consideration. Bridges, for example, are powered with low light density to make console monitors better. It is difficult to frame the shoot so that the crew's reflections on the monitor or light spilled through the floor grille are not visible in the final mold.
While Kline is concerned with lighting, print quality, and color, Bonnie Prendergast, the script supervisor, notes who will be written after the company is finished for the day. The role of Prendergast is to ensure continuity in wardrobe, actor position, and prop placement. Any changes in the dialog or libbed ad-path are both written. Assistant director Danny McCauley is responsible for collaborating with production unit manager Phil Rawlins to complete the shooting and commission extra commands. Rawlins, McCauley, Lindsley Parsons Jr. production manager, and Katzenberg are all assigned to keep things moving as quickly as possible and keep the budget under control; every hour on stage production cost $ 4000.
Production is for the majority of the manufacture of closed-film sets, with large steps taken to maintain plot secrecy. The manuscripts are numbered and the lists are stored that receive each copy. The press was not informed of the story and only a few productions were allowed to be published. During construction, a young visitor to the sound stage steals a copy of the blueprint for the bridge set and sells a duplicate to a fan who will pay him $ 75; Paramount reported the matter to the FBI, who submitted the case to the Los Angeles Police Department. The police arrested, convicted, and fined the perpetrators of $ 750; then it was discovered that the stolen plan was not a final copy. A visitor badge is created to track guests, and since the limited number is constantly checked; among the visitors including friends of players and crew, press, fan leaders, and actors like Clint Eastwood, Tony Curtis, Robin Williams, and Mel Brooks. The safety of the sweeping car leaves a lot of stolen goods; even the principal actors are not spared this inconvenience.
On August 9th, production has been a full day behind schedule. Despite the delay, Wise refused to shoot more than twelve hours on the set, feeling he lost his lead afterwards. Patient director on set; bets are placed when he will eventually lose his temper, but the pool manager returns the money when Wise never loses his composure. Given his unfamiliarity with the source material, Wise relies on actors, especially Shatner, to help ensure dialogue and characterizations are consistent with the show. While the bridge scene was shot early, the difficulty with filming the transporter space scene delayed further work. Crews working on the transporter platform found their footwear melting in the glowing grid while performing the test. Problems with the worm sequence cause further delay. The recording for the scene was filmed in two ways; first, at a standard of 24 frames per second, and then at frame 48 faster; Normal recording is a backup if the slow motion effects generated by faster frame rates do not change as planned. The photoshoot lasted so long that it became a joke for cast members to try and defeat each other with a worship-related word game. The scene was finally completed on August 24, while the transporter scene was being filmed at the same time on the same sound stage.
The Vulcan planet setting is created using a mixture of photography on site at Minerva Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park and organizing recreation. Yellowstone elected after filming in Turkish ruins proved too expensive. Securing permission to shoot the scene was difficult in the middle of the summer tourist season, but the Ministry of Gardens granted as long as the crew remained on the sidewalk to prevent damage to geological formations. Zuberano, who has helped pick a site for photo shoots, traveled to Yellowstone and returned with a number of photos. Minor also travels and returns to create great paintings depicting how the scenery was seen. In consultation with Michelson, the crew decided to use a miniature in the foreground to create a Vulcan temple, combined with the actual hot springs in the background. In the film, the lower third of the frame consists of miniature staircases, stones, broken glass and Vulcan statues. The center of the frame contains photographs of Nimoy and garden settings, while the last third of the frame is filled with matte paintings. On August 8, the day after production began at Paramount, eleven units of the two men set out for Yellowstone. The sequence takes three days to shoot.
Upon returning to Paramount, the art department had to recreate the Yellowstone section in a large "B" tank, 110 x 150 feet long (34 x 46 m). The tank is designed to be flooded with millions of gallons of water to represent large bodies of water. Minor set the miniature on the tank floor before construction and ensure that the shadows that fall on Spock in Yellowstone can be properly recreated. A plywood base is built on a metal platform to create a stone silhouette, reinforced with chicken wire. Polyurethane foams are sprayed over the framework under the supervision of the Los Angeles Fire Department. The miniature portion of the statue is represented by a 16-foot (4.9 m) fiberglass foot. Weldon matches the effects that were filmed in Yellowstone using dry ice and steam engines. To recreate the whirling whirlpool in the actual Yellowstone, a combination of evaporated milk, white poster paint, and water poured into a pool. The vapor pressure channeled into the pool through a hidden pipe causes considerable movement in the whirlpool to duplicate the location recordings. Due to the requirement that the sun be in a particular location for filming and that the environment is well-lit, production fell behind schedule when it was a cloudy season for three consecutive days. Further scenes to create the Vulcan would not have been possible, as the set was quickly torn down to be used for parking for the rest of the summer.
The computer console blast causing transporter malfunctions is simulated using brillo pads. Weldon hides the steel wool inside the console and installs the arc welder to operate with the remote control when the actor pulls the wire. The welder was designed to create a spark rather than a weld, causing steel wool to burn and make sparks; very effective is the arrangement that the cast members continue to be surprised by the flare-ups, which results in addition. Various tubes and cargo containers appear to be suspended by Anti-gravity throughout the film. These effects are executed by some Weldon assistants. The crew builds a circular path that has the same shape as the corridor and holds the anti-gravity prop on four small wires connected to the track. The wires are treated with a special acid that oxidizes metals; The reaction contaminates the wires into a dull gray that will not appear in the dark blue corridor lighting. The cargo box is made of light balsa wood so that fine wire can be used as a support.
As August ended, production continued to slip further behind schedule. Koenig learns that instead of being released within 14 days after the scene is over, his final day is on October 26 - eight weeks later than expected. The next bridge scene to be filmed after the wormhole sequence, Enterprise ' approaches V'Ger and engine-generated attacks, suspended for two weeks so special effects for the scene can be planned and implemented , and machine room scenes can be shot. The Chekov burn that survives in V'GER attacks is difficult to film; although the incident was only a few minutes in the film, Weldon spent hours preparing for its effects. A piece of aluminum foil is placed around the Koenig's arm, covered by a protective cushion and then hidden by a uniform arm. Weldon prepared a solution of ammonia and acetic acid touched onto Koenig's arm, causing it to become smoke. Difficulty producing scenes shot ten times; it's very uncomfortable for an actor, whose arm is slightly burned when some solution leaks into his arm.
Khambatta also faced difficulties during filming. Due to personal objections of the actress, she will not appear naked as mentioned in the script during the appearance of Probe Ilia. The producers made him agree to wear thin skin-colored body stockings, but he was cold from the shower haze, made by dropping dry ice into warm water and running steam into the bathroom with a hidden tube. Khambatta must leave the site repeatedly to avoid hypercapnia. One scene requires the Ilia probe to cut through a steel door in the sick room; doors made of paper, corrugated cardboard coated with aluminum foil, and corks tested before proper effect is achieved. The illuminated button inside the probe's throat hollow is a 12-volt light bulb that allows Khambatta to live and die through hidden cables; bulb heat eventually causes a slight burn.
The last week of production is full of problems. The red gel light appears orange when reviewing daily recordings; the lights were broken, and three people were almost electrocuted. On January 26, 1979, the film was finally wrapped up after 125 days. Three leads (Shatner, Nimoy, and Kelley) sent their finish line at 4:50 pm. Before the crew can go home, the last shot should be filmed - fusion climax of Decker and V'Ger. The text puts heavy emphasis on lighting, with blinding and blinding white light. Collins was covered with a bit of cotton glued to his jacket; These highlights are designed to create a halo body. Helicopter chandelier, 4000 watt lamp and wind machine are used to create Decker blending effect with live engine. The first attempt to record the scene was a nightmare for the crew. Extreme lighting causes dust particles normally not seen in the air to be illuminated, creating the impression that the actors are trapped in a snowstorm. During retakes throughout the week, the crew mops and cleans the sets constantly, and technical work is needed in the future to completely remove the dust in the final print.
Two weeks later, all the cast and crew joined the studio executive for a traditional wrap party. Four hundred people attended the meeting, which spilled into two restaurants in Beverly Hills. While most of the crew are prepared for postproduction, Wise and Roddenberry are grateful for the opportunity to take a short vacation from the film before returning to work.
Postproduction
While the players set out to work on other projects, the post-production team was tasked with completing the film in time for a Christmas release; the resulting work will take two times longer than the filmmaking process. Editor Todd Ramsay and his assistant spent alignment films and main audio tracks of photography. The resulting rough cuts are used to formulate plans for sound effects, music, and optical effects to be added later.
Roddenberry also provides a large number of entries, sending memos to Ramsay via Wise with ideas for editing. Ramsay tries to cut as many unnecessary recordings as long as the character of the film and the development of his story is not broken. One of Roddenberry's ideas is to make Vulcan speak in their own language. Since the original Vulcan scene has been photographed with an English speaking actor, "language" is required to align with the actor line.
After innovative optics Star Wars, Motion Picture Producers realize that the movie requires the same high-quality visuals. Douglas Trumbull, an excellent Hollywood film director who worked at 2001: A Space Odyssey, was the first choice for the director of special effects, but declined the offer. When approached, Trumbull is busy at Close Encounters , and is tired of being ignored as a director and has to issue special effects for the production of others; Upon completion of the effect, Trumbull plans to launch its own features using a new movie process. The next choice, John Dykstra, is also wrapped in other projects. Post-production supervisor Paul Rabwin suggested Robert Abel, Robert Abel and Associates production companies might be able to do the job. The scope and size of the effect grew after the television film became The Motion Picture. Abel and Associates bid $ 4 million to do movie effects and Paramount is accepted. When new effects are added, Abel increases their bid by $ 750,000, and Roddenberry suggests that the effects and schedule costs will be reviewed.
Rumors arose about difficulties regarding special effects. A year after production, millions of dollars have been spent, but almost no recordings can be used; Abel and Associates are not experienced in film production and the steep learning curve worries the producers. Due to contractual obligations, Trumbull served as a consultant to Abel and Associates, while the effects artist Richard Yuricich acted as a liaison between Abel and Paramount. To speed up the work, Abel handed over the task of painting miniatures and matte to Yuricich. Although free of nearly half of the successful effects, it became apparent in early 1979 that Abel and Associates would not be able to finish the rest on time. Creative differences grew between Abel and Associates and the Paramount production team, and in mid-February 1979 the two companies split up.
The studio has spent $ 5 million and a year with Abel and Associates, although Abel is reportedly gaining a new production studio full of Paramount money tools. Trumbull, meanwhile, has completed Close Encounters but its full feature plan has been canceled by Paramount, a move considered punishment for forwarding Star Trek. With Trumbull now available, the ultimate responsibility for the Motion Picture optical effect ' is forwarded to it. In March the studio offered Trumbull a virtual carte blanche if he could get the optical job completed in December, the release date at which Paramount was financially committed (after receiving progress from exhibitors planning Christmas deliveries)
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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