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Cynthetiq

09-15-2006 04:54 PM

The George Lucas Effect applied to Star Trek

Well it looks like CBS Paramount will mess with Star Trek: The Original Series.

Quote:

Original Star Trek Gets Upgraded
Reuters 16:45 PM Sep, 15, 2006
LINK
LOS ANGELES -- Four decades after Capt. Kirk and crew zoomed off at warp speed to "the final frontier," the iconic sci-fi series Star Trek returns to broadcast television this week with an extensive digital face lift.

CBS Paramount Domestic Television, a unit of CBS, is digitally remastering all 79 episodes of the original series to enhance the show's 1960s-era visual effects with 21st-century computer-generated graphics.

Digitally created images will replace the miniature-scale models used for exterior shots of the various spacecraft on the show, including Kirk's starship Enterprise and the enemy war vessels of the alien Klingons and Romulans.

Shots of distant galaxies and planets also will be touched up with computer graphics to give them greater depth. The flat matte paintings used as backdrops on the surface of the strange new worlds visited by the Enterprise crew will be digitally enhanced to add texture, atmosphere and lighting.

Moreover, the music and sound for the show's opening sequence have been rerecorded in state-of-the-art digital stereo, and William Shatner's classic 38-word introduction, beginning with "Space, the final frontier," has been digitally remastered.

CBS Paramount says the make-over is intended to enhance the show's visual appeal while staying true to the original look and feel of the series.

"Nothing really has changed except for the fact that it's just prettier to look at," said John Nogawski, president of CBS Paramount Domestic Television, in a recent conference call with reporters. "Right down to placement of stars, it is being resimulated to be exactly what was there in the first place."

Visual effects producer David Rossi said one subtle change avid fans may notice in the opening sequence was in the flight of the Enterprise, recreated as a computer-generated graphic with measurements taken from the original model of the craft now on display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.

In the original sequence, the ship's flight path seems to shift slightly to the left and right, a flaw in perspective caused by limitations in the physical length of the dolly track used for the camera shot. The digital rendering creates a more realistic perspective.

"We smoothed out the motion of the Enterprise. It flies more dynamically now," Rossi said. "It occupies real space. It doesn't look like a model anymore."

In honor of the series' 40th anniversary, the remastered episodes will begin airing Saturday on more than 200 TV stations across the country.

It will mark the first time in 16 years the original series will be seen in U.S. broadcast syndication, though it currently airs on the cable network G4TV and will begin running Nov. 17 on cable's TV Land channel.

Conceived by author Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek debuted Sept. 8, 1966, introducing TV viewers to a 23rd-century team of space explorers led by Shatner as Capt. James T. Kirk, the Enterprise commander and an interstellar Lothario.

The series co-starred Leonard Nimoy as his stoically logical first officer, the half-human, half-Vulcan Mr. Spock, DeForest Kelley as the cranky ship's doctor Leonard "Bones" McCoy, and James Doohan as trusty chief engineer Scott.

Running on NBC for three seasons, Star Trek was canceled in 1969 due to mediocre ratings. But it developed a strong cult following in reruns that helped establish the show as a pop culture staple.

Shatner and Nimoy insist the series endures because its visual effects were secondary to transcendent themes dealing with social justice, race relations and even Cold War tensions.

"Shows about explosions and special effects, go away," Nimoy said in a recent interview. "We didn't have a lot of production values. It all had to get into your head somehow and resonate somewhere. And I think that's why it survives."

Shatner, who jokes he doesn't watch Star Trek reruns anymore because "the aging process is so painful," added that fans saw past "the cheesy costumes, and the bad sets and the ill-gotten special effects" because of the show's substance. "It's almost like theater of the mind."

I'm not a fan of updating the series or any series for that matter. I think it's disrespectful to the WHOLE group of people who appear at the end of the show who are all in the credits as ORIGINAL creators and participants. I am of the opinion that it's the whole mashup/remix scene that is trying to "capture" this and repurpose it into something new.

Charlatan

09-15-2006 05:08 PM

Digitally remastering I can agree with. Old tape isn't getting any fresher and archive quality digital masters can be a bonus. That said, they needn't mess with the original content.

It is a classic for a reason. It has stood the test of decades, a rare thing in Television.

This is almost as bad as Ted Turner's desire to colourize all black and white films. Almost.

Willravel

09-15-2006 05:36 PM

I guess it's cool. I liked the episodes of ST Enterprise that featured a digitally remastered Constitution class (the classification of the NCC1701 Enterprise from TOS). Still, I REALLY enjoy the original series because of the camp.

ratbastid

09-15-2006 06:08 PM

Kirk shot first!

Willravel

09-15-2006 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ratbastid

Kirk shot first!

Damn it, ratbastid wins the thread. Good game everyone.

longbough

09-15-2006 06:12 PM

I agree with Charlatan and willravel 100%

The 60s effects go with the campy acting and costumes. It just ruins the whole characteristic aesthetic of the old series. In fact, the upgraded special effects will just draw attention to the low-budget sets and costumes.

Charlatan

09-15-2006 06:46 PM

Bows down to Ratbastid...

Willravel

09-15-2006 06:58 PM

The studio hopes the updated effects will attract a younger audience, primarily by digitally replacing Chekov with Raven-Symone.

cyrnel

09-15-2006 07:17 PM

Yes, and they'll also be replacing James Doohan's Scotty with Jar Jar.

longbough

09-15-2006 08:21 PM

If they replace the tribbles with living palm-sized boobies I'd say Lucas was a genius.

fresnelly

09-16-2006 05:59 AM

Apparently many of the original effects are ruined when viewed on HD format. I don't mean in a cheesy way, but that you can see through backgrounds and so on. This is the main impetus for the remastering.

I don't have a problem with this per se, but if they're reinventing the look of the show, and not merely compensating for flaws revealed in HD, it's disgraceful.

Stupid short sighted Paramount Execs.

I'm a big fan of the old Doctor Who, dated effects and all. Given its influence and the reverence for its place in British pop culture history, I doubt such a process would even be considered. Updating those just wouldn't be cricket!

stevie667

09-16-2006 09:09 AM

I think its a good idea personally, i've always watched TOS and wanted them to bring it 'up to date', as it were.

Granted, there is something to be said for the classics as is, but i like things that are good on the eyes.

As for the High Def stuff, you can see that when they changed the shooting on enterprise to high def, some of the sets were so obviously sets (like the bit where reed talks to the section 31 agent in an alley), even viewing on normal tvs.

Zeraph

09-16-2006 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ratbastid

Kirk shot first!

As a non ST fanatic, huh?

I'm guessing that is some reference to an oft debated internet topic of ST?

filtherton

09-16-2006 03:51 PM

I hope that they find a way to insert advertisements.

shakran

09-16-2006 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zeraph

As a non ST fanatic, huh?

I'm guessing that is some reference to an oft debated internet topic of ST?

Wow, cool, someone who hasn't heard of this. Congratulations Zeraph. You have, until now, kept your head above the nerd-waters ;)

In the original Star Wars, in the scene between Han Solo and Greedo (the green spiky alien thing) in the bar on Luke's home planet, Han shot Greedo before Greedo even went for his blaster.

In the special edition, Lucas changed that so Han did not shoot first.

That pissed off a bunch of people who care about Star Wars a lot more than is healthy, and started a huge nationwide movement that "Han shot first."

Willravel

09-16-2006 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shakran

That pissed off a bunch of people who care about Star Wars a lot more than is healthy, and started a huge nationwide movement that "Han shot first."

I was one of those pissed off people. That scene established Han Solo as a real renegade, not just a reluctant hero. This guy is a theif and a sumggler, and it was necessary for people to understand he was dangerous, and possibly not to be trusted. That intruduction served to make his change of heart at the end of Episode 4 all the more exciting.

Gilda

09-16-2006 06:02 PM

I don't mind the changes to the Star Wars movies. They were Lucas's to do with as he wished, and the Greedo thing seems pretty minor to me. Then again, I've never seen the original versions, so I'm not missing anything.

The Star Trek stuff is more problematic because the original artists responsible for the making of the episodes aren't involved, but the changes don't seem to be the kind that would change an essential artistic element, rather than enhancing certain elements to better fit modern technology.

Gilda

longbough

09-16-2006 06:07 PM

Here's a list of things I'll bet they edit in the original series:

- Put CG ridges on the klingons foreheads.
- Add "fireworks" to the warp drive scenes (just like the NOS in Fast&Furious)
- Jazz up the phaser beams (a dumb idea that will be more of a distraction than anything else)
- Add more characters to crowd scenes (unnecessary but so were the additions to Star Wars)
- If ILM gets bold maybe they can even give Kirk sixpack abs when he's fighting hand-to-hand

Maveric

09-16-2006 06:47 PM

http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?t=106885

Willravel

09-16-2006 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by longbough

Here's a list of things I'll bet they edit in the original series:

- Put CG ridges on the klingons foreheads.

But if you watched Enterprise, you'd understand why they looked more human. (Season 4, "The Augments")

Quote:

Originally Posted by longbough

- Add "fireworks" to the warp drive scenes (just like the NOS in Fast&Furious)

Why not simply put giant nitrus bottles on the outside and call them "tachion tanks".

Quote:

Originally Posted by longbough

- If ILM gets bold maybe they can even give Kirk sixpack abs when he's fighting hand-to-hand

Maybe they could make Janeway less irritating, too.

longbough

09-16-2006 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willravel

But if you watched Enterprise, you'd understand why they looked more human. (Season 4, "The Augments")

I didn't follow the new shows very much. After the first season sucky season of The Next Generation I pretty much stopped watching.

Quote:

Originally Posted by willravel

Why not simply put giant nitrus bottles on the outside and call them "tachion tanks".

My point exactly.

I wouldn't be surprised if ILM decides to introduce a new character or two ...

I, honestly just got this really, really creepy premonition that they're going to add a "yodalike" alien to the "Journey to Babel" episode.

shakran

09-16-2006 08:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willravel

There's a difference between being annoyed at someone for changing the story (So was I, just like I was annoyed that Spielberg removed the guns in ET) and starting a giant internet campaign with the "HAN SHOT FIRST" slogan being repeated ad infinitum. I have the original movies on VHS. If Lucas wants to screw the movies up, I don't have to buy them, and can keep watching the ones where Han really did shoot first ;)

Gilda

09-16-2006 09:02 PM

Has anyone seen the new releases of the original versions? I don't consider it worth it to buy them again just to get he originals and I'm satisfied with the 2004 versions, but I have been reading that the quality is generally not very good.

Gilda

rockogre

09-16-2006 09:29 PM

As someone who sat glued to the television during the very first showing of the very first episode, I disagree with doing any "enhancements". As was mentioned, no one wants to see the original Dr Who episodes "enhanced". What next? Do we update all of the original Batman episodes? Leave my cultural icons alone, dammit!

And Han did shoot first cause he was a badass! To bad it wasn't that damn Jar Jar Binks he blasted!

longbough

09-17-2006 01:46 PM

You have to ask yourself ... why change the original?
I can understand if it is to enhance the quality of the print but, seriously, you're never going to turn it into a show with "modern" production values.

If a viewer is seeing the "enhanced" series for the first time it's still going to look lackluster compared to modern shows.

And for the older viewers and fans of the original series - we're fans because of the plots, dialogue and characters. The extra effects aren't going to add much more to the show's appeal.

Fans will remain fans. And new viewers won't be impressed. The whole exercise just gives an excuse for the studios to charge TV networks $$$ for recycled material repackaged as "enhanced" instead of investing in developing new expensive programming.

As someone pointed out above it's not unlike Ted Turner's colorization of old B&W films to recycle all that celluloid as new and improved. But a colorized Casablanca will never be mistaken for a modern movie.

I have another prediction. In "Trouble with the Tribbles" they're going to alter or delete McCoy's line about Tribbles being "bisexual."

Val_1

09-17-2006 02:36 PM

As long as the originals are always available (inlike SW), I'm ok with the updates. I still think they're stupid, but I won't write a bunch of hate mail, like I did to Lucas.

Cynthetiq

09-17-2006 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Val_1

As long as the originals are always available (inlike SW), I'm ok with the updates. I still think they're stupid, but I won't write a bunch of hate mail, like I did to Lucas.

The rub is that one cannot say the originals will be available especially once they move from DVD to Blue Ray or HD-DVD...

SecretMethod70

09-17-2006 06:51 PM

Sorry, but this thread is lacking in a lot of pertinent information. From the already posted article:

Quote:

"Nothing really has changed except for the fact that it's just prettier to look at," said John Nogawski, president of CBS Paramount Domestic Television, in a recent conference call with reporters. "Right down to placement of stars, it is being resimulated to be exactly what was there in the first place."

They're not changing anything in the episodes, only slightly updating it. I recommend checking out this promo trailer for one...

http://206.130.103.146/vid/strmpromo.wmv

A very important point which was not touched upon in the article starting this thread is that many of the people involved in this remastering are people who have been involved in Star Trek for quite some time. Among those people are Michael Okuda, who has worked on Star Trek since Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, and his wife, Denise.

Furthermore, as Wikipedia notes,

Quote:

There will be few digital alterations to live-action scenes. Some obvious, original errors will be fixed, such as one scene in which the usual beam effect is missing when a character uses a hand phaser, but alterations such as erasing visible costume zippers that were meant to be hidden or adding forehead ridges to Klingons will not be done.

This is what Gene Roddenberry's widow, Majel Barrett Roddenberry (known for playing Nurse Chapel in TOS, Lwaxana Troi in TNG, and the computer voice throughout most of Star Trek), had to say about the Star Trek: Remastered project:

Quote:

[Gene] wouldn’t have been bothered by it at all. [He] did the best work he could at the time, but he was also all about the future. I think he’d have thought it was terrific that the show was being made to look better because of new technology.

Finally, also from Wikipedia,

Quote:

Both the re-mastered and original versions of the series will be available when new DVDs are issued sometime after the two-year broadcast syndication run. There is no confirmation as yet when these episodes will eventually appear on DVD, HD-DVD or Blu-Ray.

I don't see anything wrong with the remastering and look forward to seeing what they come up with. :)

EDIT: Dark Horizons also has a good article about it:

Quote:

The remastering of the original "Star Trek" series, ever since it was announced last week, has drawn a lot of speculation and opinion among fans and online circles. Concerns over messing with the originals have gotten people worried - will it be a respectful update like the "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" Director's Cut DVD, or something more crass and stupid like the "Star Wars" Special Editions.

To answer the most common questions, the official site has compiled a list and presented them to the people actually overseeing the all-new and improved digital effects. The group confirmed they're working on the full length episodes (which will be cut for syndication purposes), though any DVDs with these episodes will be full-length.

All episodes are being remastered in high definition and all 79 episodes will have visual effects work done. The extent of that work will vary though between 15-70 shots per episode, which will mean ultimately a change of up to 90 seconds per episode at most.

Whilst space ship and landscape effects will be done, aliens and sets will have little to no retouching. Where it doesn't affect storytelling, they will be generating new model ships for episodes which reused old props.

Most telling are two points though - firstly the episodes are not being edited from their original full & syndicated cuts. This means there'll be no new FX shots randomly thrown in - each of the updated FX shots can only be as long as the original effects shot they're replacing.

Secondly they're very deliberately trying to fit the mold of the original series so the new effects won't leap out at you. Talking with IESB, the designers say "Right down to the placement of stars is being re-simulated to exactly what was there in the first place" and "The approach is that Star Trek is a period piece...so all the decisions are being made to honor the production styles and style of cinematography and style of editing. And that as our guidance, using the original decisions made by the directors and the editors".

longbough

09-17-2006 07:46 PM

Holy crap .... I'm sold.
I'm buying the whole series in HD when it's all done.
I want it.
I want it.
I want it.

lindalove

09-17-2006 10:57 PM

New trailer. Low resolution on YouTube. You can find a hi-res version here (30MB wmv file).

Willravel

09-18-2006 01:08 AM

I had no idea they were remastering the soundtrack. No changed notes, simply higher quality, much like the revamping with special effects. Very cool. It would seem that the camp isn't lost too much.

gnort

09-18-2006 05:49 AM

Carno

09-18-2006 06:36 AM

Did any of you actually read the article posted, besides SecretMethod???

RTFA, for the love of god and not looking illiterate.

Willravel

09-18-2006 06:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carno

Did any of you actually read the article posted, besides SecretMethod???

Yes, but I was watching a movie while reading the article and I missed the revamping of the music.

Cynthetiq

09-18-2006 09:15 AM

While I do like the prettier pictures, I do still personally feel the look and feel of what it was is just what should be.

Should we ditch the campy little army vehicles in the old Godzilla movies, updating them to something more "realistic"?

As a remix, it stands on its own, but as a person who wants to see the original in it's original form, uncut and unadulterated, I'm all about that. I even am not a fan of the syndication cuts especially now that I know some of the tricks of the trade that are done to make the syndication "profitable"

Brewmaniac

09-18-2006 12:13 PM

"Damn it, Damn it all to hell!"

cyrnel

09-18-2006 12:39 PM

I'll assume HD will be better, but from the shots above I think the old enterprise looks better. The new one looks too perfect. Unfinished.

Quote:

In the original sequence, the ship's flight path seems to shift slightly to the left and right, a flaw in perspective caused by limitations in the physical length of the dolly track used for the camera shot. The digital rendering creates a more realistic perspective.

"We smoothed out the motion of the Enterprise. It flies more dynamically now," Rossi said. "It occupies real space. It doesn't look like a model anymore."

I always liked the spaceship wiggle. Now it's a flaw? Bastards! This means war!

"War" in this case meaning I'll be one of the other 38 who don't buy a set, but just watch it reluctantly at friends' homes while raving in theatre-geek fashion.

Cynthetiq

09-18-2006 07:52 PM

hiredgun

09-22-2006 11:53 AM

Cynthetiq: that was awesome.

ubertuber

09-22-2006 03:47 PM

That's really impressive. And disturbing.

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