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Bless you. Hope you keep enjoying the journey. (Or should I say, "The Adventure"?)
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Posted: |
Mar 4, 2015 - 8:54 AM
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By: |
Howard L
(Member)
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...the tale of Mr. Shatner coming to my high school somewhere between the end of the TV run and like 5 years before ST: TMP. He was doing Bell, Book and Candle [I think] off-off-Broadway and they got him to come over and address 2 humanities classes. He was great with us teenagers...
I've gotten through the first 50 pages and am ever delighted to be informed of what was going on behind the scenes between '69 and '79. Boy, does this clear up a lot of misconceptions I had back then.
Hey, I can be forgiven and claim youthful ignorance as I was but a youngster when the series began airing. Full-fledged early fandom was not mine but the province of my next older brother. Still, I was aware of things and managed to catch a smattering of episodes. The Man Trap sticks in mind because of my kid reaction to the monster at the end. As does A Piece of the Action; older brother was so amused to hear the crooks refer to phasers as "heaters."
No, I became a bonafide Trekker, like so many, during the rerun stage. It was junior year in h.s., northern NJ when the ship's captain came as described above. By then I had discovered some mail order Trek merchandiser in California and spent my paper route money on all sorts of little things. Still have a few. Then a couple years later I went into The City and attended the 2nd convention for a day. It was at the Statler Hilton a/k/a Hotel Pennsylvania a/k/a Pennsylvania Six Five Oh Oh Oh and pretty much the whole crew was there, save for Nimoy. One thing I remember coming away with was not coming away with a neat 'phaser' for sale that had a built in strobe light or something for effect.
Oh and can't forget devouring The Making of Star Trek.
"Whither Star Trek?" HA!
And then maybe a couple years after that Mr. Roddenberry put on a one-night event at Nassau Coliseum out in Long Island that I attended along with friends. It lasted a few hours. It was a little weird because he and a few other trucked-in minds of intellegentsia started off with lectures about what it was that was bringing us together with all this pop psychology philosophical yada yada yada and the stands got pretty restless and vocal about it. He was humbled, acknowledged the feedback, and they lowered a huge screen and put on a terrific gag/blooper reel that quickly restored happy order.
He addressed the idea of a movie and said things were in the working stage. I don't think any Trekkers could believe that NOTHING had happened by then, we all knew it would be a hit.
And now with The Book everyone can know why it was taking so long. Who knew a ST2 series on a proposed 4th network was brewing? That like 10 episode scripts had been prepared?? And that's just a tidbit.
Indeed, there was "a whole different Thrall game" going on. 
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Posted: |
Mar 4, 2015 - 8:07 PM
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By: |
Howard L
(Member)
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Saturday, after admonishing him that Star Trekkers hate being called "Trekkies", he laughed and admitted he just doesn't understand it all.
The one doing the admonishing (good-naturedly, 'twas more like ribbing) was Yours Truly. The one on the receiving end was Jerry Goldsmith. Our exchange took place after his 2nd of 3 consecutive concerts in Detroit in June, 2000. I took grief from a couple of fellow FSMessageboarders for that. Next day, however, he turns to the audience after conducting the ST:TMP theme and inquires, "Are there any Trekkers in the audience?"
He obviously had taken it good-naturedly, too. I let my buddies have it.
Jerry, I luv ya. 
From PART ONE:
NICHELLE NICHOLS, "Uhura"
"I never lost faith in the Star Trek fans. They're incredible, and indomitable...They are the real heroes of Star Trek. I love them."
"And I'm with them in disliking the word 'Trekkies.' It sounds diminutive, and it sounds like someone blindly following the herd, but they're not."
Luv ya, too, Nichelle.
From INTRODUCTION (1999):
"What I did not consider myself to be was a Trekkie. (This word alone will tip off the initiated to the depth of my ignorance: I didn't know enough to use the less condescending term, 'Trekker.')"
Preston, I luv ya.
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Posted: |
Mar 6, 2015 - 8:17 AM
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By: |
Howard L
(Member)
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ROBERT WISE, Director
"We hoped that when we were finished the fans who didn't want to change anything would feel that we'd only improved the original in terms of the look and the feel of the thing. And we hoped that the people who'd wanted it upgraded would feel we had done a proper job."
LINDA DeSCENNA, Set Decorator
"One thing I found out was that we had to please the Trekkers."
I've completed PART ONE and have noticed a recurring theme, that of ultimately-the-picture-is-in-our-hands-and-we-can-have-a-field-day-with-it-but-we-must-not-compromise-the-integrity-of-TOS-lest-we-face-the-wrath-of-the-hand-that-feeds-us. It's made clear from comments of both non-Trekker (if I see "Trekkie" one more time so help me...) personnel and same from the Trekker side. Wise and Roddenberry, as convenient representatives of both camps, would have none of it and the philosophy was sounded down.
It was no mean feat to not really go all the way and turn it into a SFX extravaganza. There was no set budget! This is extraordinary to me, and I've especially loved reading of the genius and creativity and sheer pride among the technical crew who were given this rare free rein. They really believed in what they were doing. And knew they'd probably have to scale it back some. Good thing; if pride got in the way, they would be dead ducks.
STEPHEN COLLINS "Decker"
"What I like about it—and of course not knowing anything about Star Trek, I didn't expect this—was what a thoughtful movie it was, what a comparatively less action-[oriented] and more cerebrally oriented film. It's since been criticized on that very basis by a lot of people, but I happen to think it was one of the strengths of the script."
"The people making the movie, by and large, had the attitude that it had to be made cautiously and intelligently..."
There are times the reading becomes a cerebral chore what with the massive amounts of technical details—one of the drawbacks of a literary roadshow version--and during the [infrequent!] times when it becomes too much I give the text a surface scan. And for that reason alone it is such a treat whenever the comments of SAM NICHOLSON and BRIAN LONGBOTHAM/Production Kinetic Lighting Effects are interspersed. A wise piece of editing! They are a regular Rosencrantz & Guildenstern hiding in the wings, wondering what exactly did this huge expanding Paramount universe want from them. What a fun couple of young guns, would have loved to have been a fly on the wall during their creative jags.
"Who would ever think of making a motion picture out of a television show?"
Indeed, Mr. Kelley. And a defunct one, at that. That's why I'm enjoying reading the evolving goings-on behind the finished product with an internal subtext: they didn't know if this was going to be a one-shot deal or...well, what?
PS
CREATOR JONES
"As a result of Roddenberry's emphasis, Spock is to V'Ger what Dr. Carrington was to The Thing, but without the anti-science bias: while everyone else deals with the alien from a motivation of self- [and home planet-] preservation, the crew's scientist seeks primarily to communicate with and to learn from it."
You keep talking like that and this is the continuance of a beautiful friendship. Same goes for the futuristic Abbott & Costello aside hee Hee HEE you couldn't resist, could you LOL 
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Posted: |
Mar 8, 2015 - 7:22 PM
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By: |
Howard L
(Member)
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"Surveying Stage 9, [Gene Roddenberry] told the [New York Times], 'Wandering through here is like being a kid again. We used to shoot the television show for $186,000 an episode...I always thought of what I could do if I had an extra five grand a week. This is everything I've ever dreamed of."
It is evident as I hit page 200 that everyone from the producer to the director to the cast to the lowliest of support staff felt like kids again. They were all so committed to something they believed in. They badly wanted it to come out right because hey, this is Star Trek it's got to be done right. Forget the fans, we'll never forgive ourselves if it tanks.
JEFFREY KATZENBERG, Vice President in Charge of Production
"We made a lot of mistakes. I'm sure we would do everything differently if we were doing the picture now. Would we allow ourselves more time? Well, if we hadn't made all these mistakes, we'd have had more time."
It seemed every day had their share of mistakes. But there was a deadline and it's a shame there wasn't more time. The "Director's Edition" only proves this last point.
Latest reports indicate Harve Bennett passed away a couple days before Mr. Nimoy. Although ST:TMP would not result in the critical nor ultra-overwhelming fan success everyone hoped, the ensuing productions under the hand of Mr. Bennett would take what everyone hoped for and feverishly worked on to the desired level. That is not a bad little legacy. So what...
GRACE LEE WHITNEY, "Rand"...
"We had no way of knowing if the movie would take off the way the series had, but we really hoped so."
...expressed as a collective hope would become a hope fulfilled. Just not right away!
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Posted: |
Mar 11, 2015 - 7:08 PM
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By: |
Howard L
(Member)
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How in the world did they finally manage to pull it off?
That is what was running through my mind while completing the last hundred pages of PART TWO. Phrases such as "organized chaos" and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder come to mind at this moment. The production was a massive undertaking; beyond massive, the biggest ever. That's what it feels like.
BRICK PRICE, Property Manufacturer
"There were all sorts of peculiar things that were happening because of the extreme deadlines and pressures."
GEORGE TAKEI, "Sulu"
"Grace [Lee Whitney] mentioned four versions of the script? Oh, there were many more than four. A lot of transmorgrifications."
TODD RAMSAY, Editor
"The writing of the script was a pressure cooker situation, just absolutely terrible. It's a credit to [writer Harold] Livingston, Roddenberry, et al., that they did as well as they did under those circumstances, because they had to work under dreadful conditions and perform tremendously under the deadline they had at the time."
These are samples of what was going on in just the writing dept. It was one big fat let's-make-it-up-as-we-go-along routine that obviously spilled over onto the set. Things were not all hunky dory with the cast, sad to say. And that is one of the more painful things to read. Oh we all know about creative temperaments, rivalries, power plays, jealousies, etc. They were all there. And in no way limited to the cast. Actually, the cast were relative peaches compared to other rosters. Real pros. The best news, however, is that the whole lot of 'em were determined to rise above that which could have easily led to a...shutdown. The nuclear option.
The sense of dread was palpable. I found myself filled with so much empathy that I wanted to buck them up, tell 'em to hang in there. But how could they know that I knew (forgive the R. Kramdenism) this was not going to be a one-shot deal but would be the start of something big, even bigger than ST:TMP if that were possible!
Oh, but if there is a whipping boy in all the madness it has to be the original crew responsible for special effects.
DeFOREST KELLEY, "Dr. McCoy"
"If I had to attribute our going so far over budget to any one factor, I think it would be the great time lost with the first special effects team....I think it was just such a complex picture that a lot of things took place in the production that you'd never have anticipated. When you're working on a picture that technically complex, so many things go wrong."
Yeah but when all was said and done...
SAM NICHOLSON, Production Kinetic Lighting Effects
"So much material never made it to the screen."
LESLIE EKKER, Animation and Graphics
"...they [executives] never should have pre-sold the distribution rights, because special effects run late."
...it was sheer dogged bottom-line determination on the part of everyone involved that they were able to pull it off. By the December 7 release date. Which could have been a severe date of infamy for Paramount Pictures if not for...
HAROLD LIVINGSTON, Screenplay
"I worked with the actors before and during shooting. There were always changes and transitions to devise. The actors were extremely helpful. I've never met a crew that helped me this way. I give full credit to the cast and director, because nobody could have done this picture alone. No one mind could have conceived it, it's too goddamned big. If anybody says, 'This is my picture,' that's patently untrue. It was 100 percent collaboration, more than any show I've ever worked on."
..."Collaboration." Teamwork. Chemistry. Despite the pressure. And tension. Not to mention anxiety. Gotta love it. He mentioned the director. Everyone mentioned the director. Every one.
Robert Wise was pure glue. The guiding hand. The calming force. The rock.
Pick your metaphor, pick your cliche'. Whatever. Suffice it to say he was The Man.
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Posted: |
Mar 13, 2015 - 9:24 AM
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By: |
Howard L
(Member)
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At times I have characterized myself as something between a non-techie and neo-Luddite. But even I know what happens when you thrust a pair of titans with the names Douglas Trumbull and John Dykstra into the picture, literally and figuratively.
DAVE STEWART, Photographic Effects Director of Photography
"We did, I think, something like 500 special effects shots in the movie overall...which is remarkable. As I recall, there were maybe 350 in Star Wars, and something like 185 or 201, something like that, in Close Encounters. Star Wars took a couple of years, we took a year and a half on Close Encounters. We did all the effects shots in this movie from about February until November."
EVANS WETMORE, Electronic and Mechanical Design
"One of the needs that had to be met, however, was for a new camera tracking system that could surpass the capacities of those used on the groundbreaking effects in Star Wars and Close Encounters."
Dykstra was basically subcontracted to add his SFX wizardry while Trumbull's job was to play artist, supervisor and overall BMOC i.e. fullfill the duties of creator and savior in an otherwise divine miracle-producing capacity. He told the suits great things could be accomplished with a wee bit more time, but if time were Paramount they'd have to settle for adequate-to-good things.
ROBERT WISE, Director
"The main thing that we heard, the one constant that came from the front office was, 'Make that release date. Just make that release date. However you do it, whatever shape the film may be in, make the date. If you lose something, it's your judgment to do what you have to do. But we must not fail to make that date.'"
Time was paramount.
It's not that the original effects guy, Robert Abel, was some kind of slouch...
LESLIE EKKER, Animation and Graphics
"He does great work, but it's always late, and it's always over budget, and Paramount should have taken that into consideration."
...but footage was woefully scarce after like a whole year. And as Mr. Ekker adds, with all due fairness, "Abel should have taken that into consideration, since he was the guy who signed the contract."
Thus, he was let go.
JON POVILL, Associate Producer
"To have assembled that effects film in the time allotted was an achievement that is just staggering. Because of the special cirumstances, Trumbull and the other effects people didn't get geared up until—hell, they didn't get started on gearing up—until February. In nine months they turned out an effects picture!
***
This is the gist of the first hundred pages of PART THREE. Make no mistake, you could call this the "bad blood" as well as "suck it up and show some guts" phase of the project. And this chronicle. But again, there were some welcome moments of levity, too.
ROBERT FLETCHER, Costume Designer
"Gene Roddenberry appreciates women's legs, which should come as no surprise to those familiar with the original series, and I tried to accomodate him with some of the extras' costumes in San Francisco."
And poignancy.
MARK LENARD, "Klingon Captain"
"I've been very closely associated with Star Trek, almost as though I were one of the bunch. The fans just haven't allowed me not to be. I only did two episodes....Star Trek seems to have permeated everybody's life. Men and women have come up to me and told me, 'It was always on about 6:00. I'd get home, grab a beer, put my feet up on the coffee table and watch Star Trek.'...There have been clubs, organizations, demonstrations, Star Trek Lives!...every place you look...and I always thought, somehow, in my heart, that I never believed it would come back. And then, it has."
And resolve.
JAMES DOOHAN, "Scotty"
"I don't think there was any different feeling for us in the cast. You see, being under Robert Wise's control, nothing was really upset or anything. We just kept on going."
"Control." Controller? He was controller, was he not? But what of the Scorer??
ROBERT WISE, Controller
[Jeffrey Katzenberg, Vice President in Charge of Production] really rode herd on the whole thing, from my end, to the special effects, to the scoring—although a little less there..."
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Posted: |
Mar 16, 2015 - 9:05 AM
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By: |
Howard L
(Member)
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JOHN DYKSTRA, Special Photographic Effects Supervisor
"The Klingon sequence was all shot bluescreen...So we were trying to figure out how to make it exciting without making it so that you just came close to the ship and so on....So they went out and rigged it all up, and shot the center ship, which really served for all of them....We'd shoot it in the middle position, then again on the right, and finally once more on the left, then combine them optically...so we decided to show that to Bob Wise and see what he and Doug [Trumbull] thought of it. They liked it, so we did it for the picture....I've seen the film with a paying audience and people like it. They get a big reaction out of it, but that's what the shot was designed to do, the same thing as the Star Wars shot was designed to do."
ROBERT SWARTHE, Special Animation Effects
"The warp effect was of course Doug Trumbull's idea, and he and Dave Stewart, who photographed the miniatures and models, photographed that....They call it the rubber band effect. Because the Enterprise is sitting there and then this streak effect stretches off to infinity, then the ship catches up to it like a rubber band. And that worked out very nicely."
SCOTT SQUIRES, Photographic Effects Cameraman
"Doug was thinking about the scenes where the Enterprise is flying over the V'Ger surface, and he had the idea of, 'Let's create three-dimensional slit-scan photography so we can do terrains, not just flat art that everybody's seen 10,000 times."
***
We've reached the Stella page (#500) and because of all the compelling, fascinating, and general I-can't-put-the-book-down discussion about the creative wizardry in these sequences (not to mention that of the Enterprise in drydock, Ilia probe entrance) over the past hundred pages, I simply could not resist and pulled out the "Director's Edition" and watched the entire picture last night. And was utterly blown away. I mean first instincts tell me to go all orthodox academic i.e. "why not match what I'm reading to the cited sequence in the film and just fast forward and rewind and pause/stop my way through and that way I can get the full benefit of what I'm reading, and THEN when I'm done with the book and parsing the film watch the whole shebang as a pièce de résistance." In consideration of real life, practicality won out. Besides, I was psyched! And that's what a good book does, no?
PRESTON NEAL JONES, Author/Prospective Interviewer
"'Jerry Goldsmith doesn't like to be interviewed,' warned one of his longtime associates when the composer was first being approached about contributing to this oral history of the Star Trek saga. 'You'll never get him to talk to you.'"
JERRY GOLDSMITH, Music Composer
"This was the hardest go I've ever had on a picture, but ultimately the most rewarding. Now that I look back on it, I had fun."
Evidently, the interviewer won him over. Not only did Jerry talk but he talked plenty.
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Excuse me, please, Howard, and pardon my ignorance, but what's a "Stella page"? Are we suddenly talking "Stella for star," A STREETCAR NAMED ENTERPRISE, or perhaps A STARSHIP NAMED DESIRE?
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As you were, sailor.
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Thanks for asking! The first edition sold out, and the second edition has just arrived:
http://creaturefeatures.com/shop/books/returntotomorrow/
For those in the greater L.A. area, I should mention that we'll probably have a belated but gala launch bash for the book next month at Creature Features in Burbank...
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]. It has been quite a while since last tackling a 'board "challenge" such as this but another labor of love it is. Like Saul, I'm trying to read (and write) just so much a day. Done in a month? Sure hope that's my story, too. Engrossing piece of non-fiction from beginning to end and suspenseful, even if you 'kinda' know the outcome ahead of time. 
