posted
I went to the one in Southampton, I'm fairly certain that there was a big 6ft galaxy model as you came in and I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure it was labled as the E-D
From: David Stipes Subject: Re: call to arms fleet... Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.tech View: Complete Thread (49 articles) | Original Format Date: 1997/07/03
McReynolds wrote: > > I don't suppose it would be too much to ask for a breakdown of exactly > WAS there, so we can stop arguing about things that weren't, would it? > :-) Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is what I see: > > A.) 2 Galaxy-class
Yes, 2 Enterprises (CGI)
> B.) 2 Excelsior-class (non-refit)
Yes, (the 3 foot model created for Voyager/Sulu episode)
> C.) 3 Defiant-class (including the Defiant herself)
Yes, (all CGI)
> D.) at least 3 Miranda-class
Yes, if Miranda = Reliants. (All model kits of Reliant) Not to confuse issue, there may be another Reliant in the distance. We shot several groupings of Reliants. Some were dropped because of technical problems and some ships were removed to make the shot less confusing.
> E.) a lot of K't'inga-class and Vor'cha-class Klingon ships
Maybe. I'm not sure what K't'inga is. There are a lot of old style Klingon D-7 Cruisers and Vor'chas. (D-7's are model kits and Vor'chs's are the sound making toys.)
I hope I am not spoiling it for you. In these fleet/mob shots we use every trick we can to pull off the shot.
> F.) a lot of FIRST CONTACT ships, including Sabre-class and > Steamrunner-class, Akira-class and Norway-class possible
Yes to first three. (all CGI) I believe we removed the Norway-class for technical reasons.
> G.) a lot of Birds-of-Prey, presumably of B'Rel-class and K'Vort-class
Yes, but not several classes. They are all the same BOP as we have always seen. (All CGI) If it matters, we did scale Martok's BOP up in size to appear more equal with the Defiant. That may give an impression of another class. Just artistic license. (Please forgive me. )
Martok's BOP at the beginning has his wings in attack mode to distinguish him from all the other BOP which have wings in cruise mode.
That's it. We had a limited assortment of ships to work with. I'm sorry to say there is NO Enterprise 1701 from TOS or Enterprise E. We just didn't think of them.
David Stipes, Visual effects Supervisor "A Call To Arms"
Registered: Sep 2001
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posted
^^^^
Thanks.
(OK, I believe it now. )
-------------------- "This is great. Usually it's just cardboard walls in a garage."
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted
Stipes went off to do his own stuff after DS9 wrapped, but came back as a substitute VFX supervisor of sorts for "Terra Nova" and "Breaking the Ice" last year on Enterprise.
And honestly, just because the guy isn't obsessive-compulsive about Trek detailing doesn't mean he's subhuman. His storyboard work has kicked ass, for starters, and he was critical in making a smooth switch from physical to CGI work. He's certainly more willing to exercise artistic license than the other VFX guys, yes, and my inner tech-geek does take issue with the unilateral elimination of shield bubbles and decision to start blowing up spaceships after three shots. But he's responsible for some purty work. I'll take impressive-looking VFX sequences over unique registries on four-pixel-wide background ships any day. Feel free to excommunicate me for that.
-------------------- "I was surprised by the matter-of-factness of Kafka's narration, and the subtle humor present as a result." (Sizer 2005)
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
I can't say I've ever been too impressed with the work from Stipes. After all, he's responsible for the crappy VFX in episodes such as "Valiant" and "Tears of the Prophets" - they were absolutely terrible IMO.
posted
He also, did, well, pretty much every fleet scene, ever. He was the fleet guy, I guess. By Inferno's Light, Call to Arms, Sacrifice of Angels, WYLB, etc. etc.
And whatever about your opinions on the quality of the various CGI models in "Valiant" and "Tears", you can't deny that the starship choreography (to coin a phase) in those eps was a bit more artistic than the run-of-the-mill stuff we usually get.
-------------------- "I was surprised by the matter-of-factness of Kafka's narration, and the subtle humor present as a result." (Sizer 2005)
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Stipes is definitely to be credited for introducing CGI into DS9, and although the initial CGI models were rather inferior, they hadn't been meant for closeups, only fleet shots. Unfortunately, since they now had them, they got lazy and used them in closeups as well, for instance in "Valiant", where the weird Defiant model has to be seen in a closeup because it's easily relabeled and exploded, and because no stock footage could've been used. It should've been possible to relabel the model and use motion-control for at least the regular model footage, if not the explosion. That's the big problem.
I credit Stipes for going out of his way to answer questions online. Sure, he'd only been working on DS9 since Glenn Neufeld left after "Shattered Mirror", and only occassionally on TNG and Voyager before that -- however, there's no reason to believe any other supervisors are more familiar with the special nomenclature for these ships. He did misestimate the sizes of a couple of ships, but the other sizes were set by Hutzel and other supervisors -- they're not all his.
posted
Okay, the ship from Planet Hollywood was the 4-foot model since I didn't see any clear seperation lines that are found in the 6-foot model. At least 3 four-foot models were built before the master molds were destroyed, one of which is owned by a guy who freelanced as a VFX modelmaker in Star Trek: Voyager (He designed and built a mini-model of that robot in the Captain Proton holonovels). And I'm down to two more hard drives that may contain the pics. I may have an answer by Sunday or Monday.
-------------------- "It speaks to some basic human needs: that there is a tomorrow, it's not all going to be over with a big splash and a bomb, that the human race is improving, that we have things to be proud of as humans." -Gene Roddenberry about Star Trek
Registered: May 1999
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posted
Bad news MMoM... it seems that the latest earthquakes to rock the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles county destroyed one of my hard drives. It seems that a few boxes and a dot matrix printer fell on it and now I can't access anything on it since it's now a 2 GB paperweight. Sorry Kris, but if the pics were in that, then they are now gone along with the other pic collections it had.
-------------------- "It speaks to some basic human needs: that there is a tomorrow, it's not all going to be over with a big splash and a bomb, that the human race is improving, that we have things to be proud of as humans." -Gene Roddenberry about Star Trek
Registered: May 1999
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posted
I think this is a conspiracy set up by the people who want us to forget about the Trinculo. They'll go to any lengths to prevent our tracking down oif the evidence that may prove that this ship actually exists. It's like Kennedy's fucking brain diappearing...
Needless to say I am most disappointed. But what can I say? You gave it your best shot. So, are you sure it was on that HD or haven't you finished checking the other one yet?
Bad luck, old boy.
-MMoM
-------------------- The flaws we find most objectionable in others are often those we recognize in ourselves.
Registered: Jun 2001
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