We’re halfway through the day’s shooting and director Rob Burnett reports: “It’s going well!” And it actually is – he’s smiling like a kid in a candy store as he says this. The scene’s dialogue is being filmed in small bits and pieces, all of it against the green screen. As expected, the sun came out with a vengeance, but that works just fine for the planet in question. We’ve shot about forty-five percent of the scene, so far, which runs for a page and a half, including visual effects. Tobias Richter has even started to deliver sneak peeks at near-finished VFX shots for the scene and they’re really looking great.
As I write this, everyone is just heading back out into the early afternoon sun to resume work after lunch, which was eaten on the main soundstage here at the studio, next to the surprisingly complete Bridge set of the U.S.S. Ares. Virtually the entire frame of the set is done now – the complete 360 degree sweep of the Bridge from turbolift to viewscreen – and the various stations are starting to be finished for painting. The sight is impressive as hell. Standing in the center of the set, where the Captain’s chair will sit one day soon, you really feel surrounded and enclosed by it – just as you would if you were standing on a real Bridge aboard a real starship.
Meanwhile, outside, the actors are nailing their lines and it’s a special thrill seeing our Star Trek veteran reprising his iconic role. The crew is working together well, and the mood here is good. Outside of having to pause occasionally for the odd passing truck or overflying airplane, the shoot is going very smoothly. We’re set to continue until about 8 PM tonight, but no matter how late the day goes, Rob is already planning to start editing the footage immediately, so it’s a good bet we’ll all be looking at the rough scene by morning.
And so, the adventure continues…!
(photo by Charles de Lauzirika)
A hard days work is always easy when its a labor of love.
Soooo exciting!
…man! you guys are the coolest! (u r making it look/sound like fun!) =)
BTW: is it Shran (Jeffrey Combs)? …that would be so AWESOME! =D
keep up the great work! <3
Likely Gary Graham as Soval.
Fantastic! Can’t wait to see the completed scene in the Kickstarter. Do we have a semi-complete idea of the different perk levels?
Appreciate you pinch hitting for Alec and giving us updates on this momentous day, Bill! I’m sure Trek fans around the world are happy to share in the experience (I know I am). This is an exciting moment in Axanar’s production. Alec, Rob, and the rest of the crew are doing a fantastic job! Greetings from a long time Bits reader in Vancouver, Canada.
I could not resist the temptation to do an internet search on the approximation that one page of script is equal to one minute of the finished film. What I found said there are many exceptions but as a rough approximation that timing is a reasonably good guess. I’d be interested what you think about this, Alec?