posted
This is the first part of an interview with Ed Whitefire, creator of the original USS Enterprise-D Bluprints.
I first contacted Ed on the 8 June 2005. My reasons were simple. I wanted to find out how to get hold of the full-size plans. As I was typing the email, it seemed that it would be a good opportunity to find out more about Ed Whitefire and how his plans came into being. Thats when I asked him if he would grant me an interview. And, graciously, he agreed. So, here is the first part. I hope that you enjoy it and gives you food for thought.
If you want to ask Ed a question, please post them after this post. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Ed Whitefire Interview - Part One:
Albertus:"Your name appears to be little known in the Trek community, could you tell us a little of your background?"
Ed Whitefire: "I have to claim ignorance as far as how extensive my name is in any community. I have done any number of things in the Science Fiction genre side of the house, most of which are only of marginal note (although I have won an occassional award for costuming at conventions, and I did run a Science Fiction convention in Los Angeles one year). Outside of that, I can tell you that I currently work in aerospace and have a background in architectural structural design, as well as a CONSIDERABLE interest in Science Fiction."
A:"The blueprints you produced are reminiscient [to me] of the original Franz Joseph plans, was this intentional or simply a coincidence of style?"
EW: "Well, in truth, it was coincidence, but I have to tell you a little story that goes along with that: When I was fairly young and had first started dabling in design I had this great Idea - I had just been introduced to this great show called "Star Trek" with this really cool ship in it that was easily the size of an aircraft carrier. Wouldn't it be great to design the deckplans for something of that magnitude? Imagine how crushed I was when about a month later the Franz Joseph plans hit the stands. I eventually bought a set to see what kind of things he had put into it and was moderately disappointed with what I saw.
It occured to me over time that, were I ever given a chance to do something like this in the future I would design it with at least SOME real science in mind, as well as a better understanding of spacial relationships within large structures and, more importantly, large ships.
Any graphic treatments that are similar really ARE coincidental, because I had purposefully tried to emulate the on-screen visuals of the show (including font usage, leader lines and border treatment). The guys at Paramount seemed to like that idea."
A:"You eventually made contact with Andrew Probert at Paramount, when was that? And how much assistance were you given in realising the drawings?"
EW: "I first met Andrew in 1987 very soon after the premier of ST:TNG-season 1. I got his name from some of the different publications available at the time which highlighted some of his pre-production work on the show. When I saw his name in the credits it occured to me that maybe I could speak with him about my possible project. When we talked together he was very receptive to the possibilities of the project, so we arranged to meet to discuss it further. When I outlined what I had in mind for the drawings I got a very enthusiastic response from all the designers in the shop (Andrew, Mike Okuda and Rick Sternbach).
Although they were fairly busy with the production at the time, they were very helpful by indicating specifics that they wanted incorporated into the design of the ship, many of which had not even been written into scripts yet, or, for that matter, ever made it to the screen. The four of us had numerous discussions regarding both large and small details of the D that we collectively imagined would be not only neat, but logical to have on a spacecraft of this magnitude. We even discussed how it would be constructed (at the shipyard level).
After Andrew left Paramount I continued a dialogue with him outside, as well as with Mike and Rick at the studio, to be certain I was getting all the details right that were being asked for. Mike and Rick continued to fill me in on ideas they were adding to upcoming scripts which they wanted somehow reflected in what I was designing. They also mentioned that some of my ideas were being used in upcoming episodes as technical asides that were needed for things to make sense."
A:"You are quoted on www.cloudster.com as saying the E-D plans took 2 years to complete. When you found out that your intended publisher, FASA, had let their licence with Paramount lapse, what were your feelings at this setback, and how did you feel, after all your hard work, when you learned that Rick Sternbach was to publish the E-D blueprints through Pocket Books?"
EW: "Let me start with a small correction: it took 2� years of straight design work to get the drawings to where they were ready to be inked.
Unfortunately, I was never given the specifics of why FASA lost their license. I was told about 2 months prior to my completing the project that their contract was back under negotiation due to a misunderstanding and that I should not worry about that. FASA was fairly certain of regaining the license, so I was told to continue to completion, which I did. In later discussions with Paramount I found this was not to be the case any time soon.
Admitedly, for the second time in my life regarding Star Trek, I was crushed. I tried numerous alternative avenues to get my drawings to see the light of day, but with no positive results. Pocket Books was approached at least 3 times about possibly printing my drawings, and each time they gave an excuse as to why they were not interested. (I know the third time they were even offered the drawings when they were completed, inked, and ready for a 2 color press run!)
When I heard that Rick was doing his own version I was deeply saddened by the fact that he was doing this on his own and had chosen not to include my input on any of his work.
The fact that Pocket Books was involved didn't surprise me as they had the exclusive license on all Star Trek related material at the time."
A:"Finally, for this part, in both your plans and the published blueprints, the interior of the warp nacelles is not detailed. Was this deliberate, and if so why? Or was it an oversight?"
EW: "Actually, this was not an oversight, but a postponement, at least on my part (I can't speak for Rick's reasons). I had every intention of doing a fourteenth page to the blueprints (and this was actually outlined at one point to all parties concerned) that would cover the warp engines, but it was decided early on that it would entirely depend on time constraints and deadlines. When the licensing problem began to rear its head it became obvious that I should try and wrap things up as quickly as possible to, hopefully, still be able to go to press. Unfortunately, this was not the case and, as such, the fourteenth drawing still remains only in a rough pencil sketch."
------------------------------------- To be continued -------------------------------------
I would very much like to thank Ed Whitefire for talking to me and for agreeing to take part in this interview for the Helix.
As soon as Ed responds, I will post the remainder of the interview.
(Part of this interview has been edited for the sake of clarity. Additional text by me is enclosed in square brackets. The full text of the interview is freely available to the Administrators of the Flare board.)
Copyright: Albertus & Ed Whitefire
Not smiling.........Looking for spinach.
Registered: Jun 2005
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posted
By the way, Greg Tyler of Trekplace interviewed Andy Probert at this year's Wonderfest. The interview was just posted. He mentions Ed's blueprint project, down in Question 22: http://www.trekplace.com/ap2005int01.html
-------------------- When you're in the Sol system, come visit the Starfleet Museum
Registered: Oct 1999
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Thanks for the link. Ed mentioned in a recent mail that he had spoken with Andy Probert about a week ago and that Andy had mentioned the interview but Ed was uncertain when it would be published. I have sent the link you gave to Ed as I am certain he will be happy to see Andy Proberts words on his blueprints.
posted
As a result of Masao's post regarding the Andy Probert interview (which was the one that Ed had spoken about), I contacted Greg Tyler at Trekplace and asked if he would be willing to put the interview I am doing with Ed on his site.
He read the first part of the interview posted here and said that he would be happy to have Ed Whitefire's interview for Trekplace. Imagine my delight.
When complete, the entire interview will be posted here just after Trekplace puts it online. I would like to do that, as it was here that I first found out about Ed's blueprints. And also, I would like to thank Masao for providing the link to Andy Probert's interview in the first place. Invaluable information, at just the right time.
As a model-maker, plans and concept designs are food and drink. When you find something new and special, you just want to run with it. Imagine how you might feel if all your hard work and creativity had been used without you even getting a mention or even getting a reasonable return on your investment. It just stinks. I know, if it had happened to me, I would be well pissed off.
Ok, rant over.......lol
Oh, I will have to put my real name to the interview as well. If anybody has difficulty pronouncing it, well that's life.
posted
The more I read about Ed Whitefire the more sickened I am. I contributed a lot of suggestions to the Sternbach plans when Guenther was doing the saucer layouts, and my biggest complaint was that we couldn't seem to get input from Andy. He was supposedly out of the picture, and there were so many points were deviations were being ordered that I knew went against ideas I had remembered coming from Probert. This whole Whitefire thing adds a hefty fuel to an already burning pile of bad feelings about those plans.
My favorite -- particularly now that I read Probert and Whitefire's complaints about Ten Forward, is my series of objections to how the space around the saucer edge was being treated. My suggestion -- a "promenade" of interconnected but private galleries looking out, harking back to the same kind of contemplative spaces mentioned by Roddenberry as being on the new Enterprise-class in TMP. The battle about Ten Forward being unable to fit where it had been depicted might have been unwinnable, but that was no reason to abuse the rest of the edge space. But nope, shot down.
posted
Well, since the Sternbach/Guenther plans were never seen onscreen and are merely conjectural, there's no reason why we aren't free to imagine the "real" Enterprise-D interior as being something more grand and imaginative. Insofar as it remains consistent with what was portrayed on the show, that is.
However, that being said, I am not the biggest fan of there being a mall in there. It seems a little *too* on the "space hotel" side. (I know that this was one of the designer's intents, but after all this is a ship of the line we're talking about here.) Still, it does seem implausible that Ten Forward was the only recreation center on the whole (big) ship.
Of course, we did see the arboretum as having recreational uses ("Imaginary Friend"; "Dark Page") and then there's always the nigh-infinite number of choices provided by the eight (?) holodecks.
-MMoM
-------------------- The flaws we find most objectionable in others are often those we recognize in ourselves.
Registered: Jun 2001
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posted
Galaxy-class ships are enormous. They have a total internal volume equal to 5 Empire State buildings, each of which has a daytime capacity of 15,000 workers. Filling up that much space on plans is a real headache, so having a mall isn't a bad idea. I had the same problem designing the Vanguard space station, so it got resized and reconfigured internally.
Aridas: Are you suggesting that Probert refused to contribute to Sternbach's plans because he (Probert) had already worked with Ed on his plans? At that time, what did you think was the reason for the inability to get input from Probert?
PS: No need to thank me, Albertus. I had just found out about the interview via Greg Tyler's post at another forum (under the name FalTorPan).
-------------------- When you're in the Sol system, come visit the Starfleet Museum
Registered: Oct 1999
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posted
"Mall" does not imply a collection of commercial shops frequented by preteens and the elderly. The fact that he used the term "mall/grotto" would suggest to me that he intended the definition of "mall" as, as Amercian Heritage puts it, "a shady public walk or promenade".
Basically, it looks like his mall was more or less what was shown on TV as the arboretum.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Y'all are confusing "mall" with "shopping mall". The Mall in Washington D.C. isn't about buying Nikes...just about buying Congressmen!
-------------------- "Well, I mean, it's generally understood that, of all of the people in the world, Mike Nelson is the best." -- ULTRA MAGNUS, steadfast in curmudgeon
Registered: Feb 2001
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Well as I mentioned above - it could be something like the Promenade on DS9 or the Zocalo on B5. Or - yeah - just a shady tree-lined 'street' with windows out to space on one side and several 'terraces' of 'apartments'/quarters on the other.
-------------------- "Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica." - Jim Halpert. (The Office)
posted
Sad to say, this is the last opportunity to put your questions to Ed Whitefire.
In the next few days, the interview will be completed, and after I have put all the questions and answers in a (hopefully) logical and comprehensible order, it will be sent to Trekplace.com for publication.
I know Ed would be happy to answer any questions you have.
Please don't be shy.
Albertus.
PS. The interview will be credited under my real name - Steve Szulecki.
Registered: Jun 2005
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