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Amph [NERRRD] Observations, rhetorical questions, comments & 55 Years of Star Trek (General Thread)

Discussion in 'Community' started by Darth Guy, Jun 10, 2009.

  1. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2000
    Yeah it is- but I left my initial impression intact despite that. Unlike the other ongoing threads from that plot, that one felt more like setup than natural subplot continuation/ running thread.

    Which is funny since TPTB later felt those scenes detracted from some episodes while I felt they were one of the things making the series seem more competent than it was ;)

    Regardless, while it is part of/ starting that subplot, it's not essential to following it. I think the obersvation is still valid, though, since it still feels like there should have been one more scene or moment following up on that in that episode, to set it along it's way.
     
  2. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

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    Jan 27, 2000
    Looks like Paramount is close to announcing the first TNG HD Blu-Ray sampler set that will probably be hitting around xmas. It's supposedly going to include Farpoint, Inner Light and Sins of the Father.

    Should be interesting to see the finished product, since they'll have had to reconstruct each episode from scratch due to the film-to-video conversion done originally.
     
  3. Darth Guy

    Darth Guy Chosen One star 10

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    Aug 16, 2002
    I always read that the effects shots were done with a regular ol' TV camera so there's no way to properly HD them.
     
  4. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

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    Jan 27, 2000
    No, most (if not all) were shot on film, same as the on-set footage, but everything was converted to video where it was all edited and composited on.

    Which basically means any FX shot needs to be recomposited to get HD quality- including any scenes with bluescreen windows or the main viewscreen, etc, and any non-FX shot has to be rescanned and matched to the original edit to reconstruct the scene.

    If you watch Generations again, there's actually one or two stock flybys of the Enterprise from the show used in it as a cost saver.
     
  5. Darth Guy

    Darth Guy Chosen One star 10

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    Aug 16, 2002
    And that's actually going to be cost-effective? Jeez.
     
  6. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

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    Jan 27, 2000
    Well, that's why they're not doing whole season sets and just sampler sets.
     
  7. Darth Guy

    Darth Guy Chosen One star 10

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    Aug 16, 2002
    They're not planning to do the whole series if the sampler is well-received? :(
     
  8. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

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    Jan 27, 2000
    Well, nothing official has been indicated yet, no. I imagine they'll at least do several samplers before any seasonal sets would be feasible- it'll just cost too much to make it worth reassembling and remastering a lot of those episodes.

    I mean, sure, Seasons 1 & 2 in particular would really benefit from an FX upgrade, but considering the vast majority of those episodes are the ones fans are the least interested in as well as the hardest to market/sell to casual audiences, I just don't see it happening with exception to a few key episodes like the Q episodes, Klingon episodes, Elementary Dear Data, Skin of Evil, etc- and even then, they'll probably be spread out to get paired with more notable or related episodes ala the Fan Collectives.

    On the brightside, once enough of those stock shots have been upgraded, it would bring the cost down on the episodes that reuse those shots at least a little bit, I suppose, but I don't know if that would offset things enough, frankly.
     
  9. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2000
    Good news! It'll just be the one sampler, followed by the full Season 1 (I'm quite pleasantly surprised).

    [image=http://www.startrek.com/uploads/assets/articles/b3b877f80c1930ddcec08a1e9ce5f3d7ba9af5a9.jpg]

    Trailer!

    Star Trek TNG Blu Rays Launch in 2012

    You've heard the rumors, and now StarTrek.com can officially confirm it: Star Trek: The Next Generation will be released in high-definition Blu-ray, starting in January with a sampler of several popular episodes, followed by a season-one set to be released later on in 2012, and subsequent seasons beaming down after that. Each of the 178 episodes spanning The Next Generation's seven seasons will be transferred to true high-definition 1080p for release in the Blu-ray format and, eventually, for runs on television and digital platforms in the U.S. and across the world. Star Trek: The Next Generation will, as fans know, be celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2012.

    ?Fans have been clamoring for a high-definition release of Star Trek: The Next Generation," Ken Ross, Executive Vice President and General Manager of CBS Entertainment, said in a statement. ?Transferring the series to high-definition presented difficult technical challenges, but our team has come up with a process to create true 1080p HD masters with true HD visual effects. We can?t wait to show fans how pristine the series looks and sounds with our upcoming Blu-ray releases.?

    CBS is, in fact, returning to the original film negatives, a mother lode of material encompassing 25,000-plus reels of footage, and editing the episodes together precisely as they were when they originally aired between 1987 and 1994. Visual effects will not be upconverted from videotape, but instead will be recompositioned. The freshly cut film will ultimately be transferred to high definition with 7.1 DTS Master Audio. And all of the work is being done in conjunction with respected, longtime Star Trek figures Denise and Michael Okuda, who are on board as consultants.

    As for that sampler, it will be called Star Trek: The Next Generation -- The Next Level. CBS Home Entertainment has set a January 31, 2012, release date for the single disc, which will include the feature-length version of the series pilot, "Encounter at Farpoint," as well the fan-favorite episodes "Sins of the Father" and "The Inner Light," the former from season three and the latter from season five. The Next Level will sell for the suggested retail price of $21.99.
     
  10. Darth Guy

    Darth Guy Chosen One star 10

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    Aug 16, 2002
    They're not cropping it to 16:9, are they? For the love of God, please don't.
     
  11. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

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    Jan 27, 2000
    Going by that shot of Picard, it doesn't look like it, no (unless the original negatives have extra space to crop from).
     
  12. Darth Guy

    Darth Guy Chosen One star 10

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    Aug 16, 2002
    Well, yeah, but then there's the shot of the Enterprise later. And they didn't mess up the original series by cropping it, so I'm hopeful.
     
  13. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2000
    I think that shot of the D was just done for the trailer (easier to recomposite one FX shot into a scope frame- or replace the starfield with a slightly wider one).


    EDIT- Correction, it looks like the FX shots were shot in widescreen! Compare the shot in that trailer to this one.

    As one example, :57 seconds into the trailer, you're at the same shot 1:28 in on the original intro, and there's clearly more visual info on both sides.

    EDIT 2- This site has detailed the aspect ratio TNJG's live action footage was filmed in, by comparing it to footage that was recycled for the last episode of Enterprise (where footage of Ten Forward was rescanned from "Menage a Troi"'s original negatives).

    In these pics you can see that there actually was extra information shot on the sides of the frame (done so to counter any overscan on a TV set), though there was some vertical cropping done to match Enterprise's aspect ratio:

    [image=http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/inconsistencies/ent_vs_tng/comparison-formats.jpg] [image=http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/inconsistencies/ent_vs_tng/comparison-width.jpg]
    [image=http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/inconsistencies/ent_vs_tng/tray2-thesearethevoyages.jpg] [image=http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/inconsistencies/ent_vs_tng/tray2-menageatroi.jpg]
    [image=http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/inconsistencies/ent_vs_tng/tray1-thesearethevoyages.jpg] [image=http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/inconsistencies/ent_vs_tng/tray1-menageatroi.jpg]
    [image=http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/inconsistencies/ent_vs_tng/replicator-thesearethevoyages.jpg] [image=http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/inconsistencies/ent_vs_tng/replicator-menageatroi.jpg]
     
  14. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

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    Jan 27, 2000
    So, Trek Movie and Digital Bits are confirming the blu rays will have the original :133 aspect ratio, but that 1:78 versions may be created for some venues (presumably TV/streaming).

    However, some nice comparison shots here:

    [image=http://tng.trekcore.com/bluray/images/tng-comparison-2.jpg] [image=http://tng.trekcore.com/bluray/images/tng-comparison.jpg]

    And some lovely HD shots of the ship as a whole:

    [image=http://tng.trekcore.com/bluray/images/tnghd-ent2.jpg] [image=http://tng.trekcore.com/bluray/images/tnghd-ent3.jpg] [image=http://tng.trekcore.com/bluray/images/tnghd-ent4.jpg] [image=http://tng.trekcore.com/bluray/images/tnghd-ent1.jpg]

    By comparison in SD:

    [image=http://tng.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/openingcredits/season1/season1_066.jpg] [image=http://tng.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/openingcredits/season1/season1_068.jpg]

    Of course there's also a comparison with the Picard shot:

    [image=http://tng.trekcore.com/bluray/images/tng-comparison-3.jpg]

    But, outside of the added detail...am I the only one who thinks the SD image looks better, color-wise? HD looks like the brightness settings are too high. But, that could just be from the trailer's effects.
     
  15. somethingfamiliar

    somethingfamiliar Jedi Knight star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 20, 2003
    Looks good to me.
     
  16. Darth Guy

    Darth Guy Chosen One star 10

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    Aug 16, 2002
    It looks great. You must not be used to the better colors HD provides.
     
  17. Jedi-Anakin-Solo

    Jedi-Anakin-Solo Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 26, 2001
    I'm so excited. Seeing that extra detail in the Ent-D is great.

    I hope these do really well, so we might get DS9 too. I know VOY would be a stretch, but I think ENT might be likely since there wouldn't be any conversion to do there.
     
  18. DarthLowBudget

    DarthLowBudget Jedi Grand Master star 5

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    Jan 17, 2004
    Great skin tones.
     
  19. Coruscant

    Coruscant Chosen One star 7

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    Feb 15, 2004
  20. Everton

    Everton Chosen One star 10

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    Jul 18, 2003
    Picard looks better in the HD image. By a mile.
     
  21. wannasee

    wannasee Jedi Master star 4

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    Jan 24, 2007
    Deep Space Nine now available for streaming on Netflix.

    *squee*

     
  22. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

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    Jan 27, 2000
    [image=http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20050929043403/memoryalpha/en/images/0/0a/Rom_and_his_union.jpg]
    DS9 416: Bar Association
    -Premise: Quark's employees, led by Rom, form a union against Quark's unfair labor practices and promptly go on strike.

    -T2Q Comments: Another good Odo/Worf scene with Odo recounting some examples of theft aboard the Enterprise. This union forming scene is unfortunately very corny. Sisko's means of forcing Quark to discuss things with his brother is awesome, however.

    The Ferengi Brunt returns. Labor dispute to be resolved "by any means necessary". The Nausican's way of playing darts is kinda awesome, haha.

    Well, that ended up being a pretty decent Ferengi episode, though not without it's bumps (the aforementioned corny union formation scene, mainly). Seems like an important step for Rom, too, plus we have Worf moving to the Defiant and developing the Dax relationship a little as well. So, I guess Potentially Essential- you don't HAVE to see this, but it doesn't hurt.

    Trivia: Directed by Levar Burton. Originally pitched to be a B-story for either Rejoined or Crossfire, this story was instead expanded into it's own episode after realizing how rich a subject it was.

    The TNG events Odo references are from A Matter of Time and Rascals. Rom's comment of self-administered co-mox is the first allusion to masturbation in all of Star Trek. Worf's stolen tooth sharpener was sold to him by Nog in Little Green Men.

    Although fans believed the scene of Sisko chastizing Worf, O'Brien and Bashir was an homage to The Trouble With Tribbles, the writer was thinking of a John Ford film titled Fort Apache. Armin Shimerman sits on the Board of Directors of the Screen Actors Guild.



    [image=http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110206223202/memoryalpha/en/images/d/d8/Akorem_Laan.jpg] [image=http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080808191911/memoryalpha/en/images/5/54/Benjamin_Sisko_and_Akorem_Laan_confer_with_Prophets.jpg]
    DS9 417: Accession
    -Premise: A three-hundred-year-old Bajoran ship comes through the wormhole, and its passenger claims that he is the Emissary of the Prophets.

    -T2Q Comments: That's an old-school looking Federation shuttle/transport there. Keiko returns with kid...s.

    Potential new emmisary.

    "So. you're off the hook. How does it feel?"
    "Feels...good. No more ceremonies to attend. No more blessings to give. No more prophecies to fulfill. I'm just a Starfleet officer again. All I have to worry about are the Klingons, the Dominion and the Maquis. I feel like I'm on vacation!"

    Kira's dilemma is interesting, even though it's mostly of her own doing in that she allows her religion to abuse her faith.

    so, that was sort of a big reset button there...and makes you wonder about the temporal effects on everything else but, whatever, we'll go with it. Important as far as the Emissary subplot goes (and the second part of the Emissary Trilogy), though the guy playing the other Emmisary was a bit dry.

    So Good Episode, But Not Necessarily Essential.

    Trivia: The producers had to fight to get this episode made, as the studio had told them not to do any more episodes about religion (Bajoran religion in particular) as they were somewhat unpopular with viewers as far as ratings go.

    David Warner was originally going to play Alorem, but was talked out of it by his wife since he was on vacation and she didn't want him to work.

    First time we hear "You are of Bajor". Bashir and O'Brien tease Worf about the birth of Molly from TNG: Disaster. The closing credits feature some changes in crew due to a number of DS9 crew members helping out on First Contact. Quark's comment about babies in this episode is one of the few times a Ferengi says "ears" instead of "lobes". Kira's lack of artistic abilities was mentioned previously in The Circle.



    [image=http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060122050451/memoryalpha/en/images/d/da/Vidiian_skeletal_system.jpg] [image=http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060122052754/memoryalpha/en/images/a/a7/Denara_Pel_hologram.j
     
  23. Darth Guy

    Darth Guy Chosen One star 10

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    Aug 16, 2002
    Saw The Captains (available on Netflix now FYI). It was okay, but overall I was disappointed. Shatner simply could not contain his ego, inserting his own stories into the conversations with the other actors rather than giving himself completely self-contained segments. There's also pointless, dragging sequences of him walking around a Vegas convention center for a Trek convention and saying "Hi" to fans. I guess the stuff with him appearing on stage with Stewart is fine and connects with the film's supposed focus, but God, I just wanted the interviews and biographical stuff.

    Stewart, Mulgrew, Pine, and Bakula were very patient with the Shat, I guess because they're used to him. Mulgrew especially seemed almost completely unfazed by a question that made my jaw drop. It was something akin to, "How can women go on deep-space voyages with all their hormones and stuff? Shouldn't that be impossible?" Maybe he was just trying to ask "How is it different for a woman?" but he asked it in a hugely sexist way. Someone-- a co-producer, the editor, Mulgrew herself-- should've pointed this out to him. Avery Brooks seemed intent on out-eccentric-ing his interviewer.

    I should also mention that the soundtrack is weird and sometimes really distracting. At one point it plays over Picard playing the recorder-thing at the end of "The Inner Light." wtf?
     
  24. Jack1138

    Jack1138 Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jan 8, 2005
    "The Shat"... [face_laugh] I LOVE that! Truly 'fascinating.'

    On a semi-related note, I went to a strip club on Halloween weekend and there was a 'dancer' dressed up as a Bajoran complete with the nose ridge and funky ear-ring. She had amazing breasts. Her stage name was even 'Ro-Laren.'

    We have become friends, I am trying to convince her to embrace Star Wars a bit more. Her real name is Karen and she has been clean for 3 months! :) She is no longer on probation and we are going out later this week!

    Hopefully the number she gave me will no longer give this annoying message saying "This number is no longer in service" Wish me luck!

    :p
     
  25. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

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    Jan 27, 2000