Posted in : Star Trek , TV| Tagged : Carlos Baena , Lawrence Selleck , Sam Witwer , star trek , william shatner
Star Trek : 765874 Unification director Carlos Baena spoke with Bleeding Cool about the storytelling , TOS / Discovery guest asterisk , and more .
Article Summary
If there ’s one of the biggest fan - well-disposed franchises in scientific discipline fiction , it’sStar Trek . Not only do they have nearly six X of material to treasure , but there have been a overplus of fan production circulated that even casted worker fromGenerations’Alan Ruck , Deep Space Nine’sCirroc LoftonandChase Masterson , The Original Series’Walter KoenigandNichelle Nichols , andVoyager’sGarrett WangandTim Russ . Another project come out good manners of OTOY and The Roddenberry Archive calledStar Trek : Unification(aka765874 ) that allowed fans to see the proper leave fromWilliam Shatner’sKirk andLeonard Nimoy’sSpock we never take from canon . When Nimoy return in 2015 , fans saw his Kelvin Universe counterpart , played byZachary Quinto , mourn for all of us in 2016’sStar Trek Beyond , which felt a bit awkward considering thespian Shatner , Koenig , and Nichols were still around at the clock time .
Thanks to the efforts of directorsCarlos Baenaand OTOY CEO and writerJules Urbach , actorsSam WitwerandLawrence Selleckbecoming digital bandstand - ins for Kirk and Spock , masterful optical effects , composersMichael GiacchinoandJohan Söderqvist , and special guests fromTOS , films , andDiscovery , we got a chef-d’oeuvre we never imagined . Baena spoke to Bleeding Cool about constructing the various Kirk - epoch hallway scenes , the inspired cast choices fromTOSandDiscovery , if he considered a script , and if Paramount would have any creative stake in the story to inflate .
Star Trek: Unification Director Carlos Baena on Generations of Kirk, Saavick, Gary Marshall & Yor Returns
Bleeding Cool : How much of Kirk was Shatner and Witwer , and how did you film the scene with the multiple Kirks with his TOS geological era , cinematic , and Generations ?
Every Kirk stand - in and performance was done by Sam himself , cover all edition of the case — The Original Series Kirk , Wrath of Khan Kirk , and Generations Kirk . For the tunnel successiveness where all three Kirks appear together , the characters were take singly on a green screen and then conflate in compositing and mail service - yield .
You brought back Robin Curtis , Gary Lockwood , and Gordon Tarpley to reprise their function as Saavik , Mitchell , and Yor . You also bring in Mahé Thaissa to spiel the TOS reference J.M. Colt . What go into the selection process of give birth those characters around , and were there other originalactors or role you considered bringing back ?
A heap of that was thanks to Jules . He deserve credit for thinking deeply about these characters — when and how they should be inclose . Sometimes , these decisions come about naturally during discussions while review the edit . For instance , we always design to shoot the Kirk / Yor commutation at a Pasadena jet , but I felt the space was too vast for just the two of them . So I share an theme with Jules about take that space with many persona significant to Kirk ’s life-time , as if they were waiting for him . I drew from a personal experience of flying back to Spain year back , going straight to the hospital to see my dad , and finding a hall full of loved ones already there . It matte like a touching way to add depth . Jules then put together a listing of key character who should be present , include Saavik and her boy . In the case of Gary Mitchell , Jules had show me a comic book early in the process where Mitchell was hover in front of planets , which barrack his comprehension in the film . at long last , Jules ' suggestions shaped the manner these characters were incorporated , and I wanted to find way during both the shoot and the edit to insure they felt like a natural part of the picture rather than drive additions .
Did you weigh bear a consecrated handwriting for the short , or was it always intended to come up out as it has visually with the background , actors , and mark from Michael Giacchino ?
We never ferment from a script . But even if we had , my finish was always to underscore visual storytelling — using body language , facial manifestation , and national dialogue to make something that felt like a visual poem . Music play a crucial role in shaping that experience . The idea was to make the short photographic film universally accessible , and by removing dialogue , I hop to encourage spectator to bring their own emotions and rendering to the scenes and these particular reference . For a couple of scenes , I create script pages focus on subtext — line of dialogue meant to be spoken through the player ' saying rather than their language . I later complicate these while work with Sam and Lawrence , incorporating their deep reason of the characters to heighten the exchanges .
How does this short differentiate what has been done at Paramount as the gatekeepers of the franchise ? Would it be something that Paramount could expand upon in the futurity ? Was make it with the Roddenberry Archive and OTOY a path to keep creative independence ? Would it be officially canyon or something that offer up more occlusion for the fans ?
While working on the shorts and prior to Unification , I watched Star Trek : The Original Series and classic photographic film like ' The Motion Picture ' and ' The Wrath of Khan ' to get a unspoilt grasp of it all . And that epoch was inspiring to me . Even the more nuanced and less theatrical performance of ' TWOK ' were interesting . I did n’t have the same level of familiarity with the newer Star Treks , so I turn to those who have intercourse it well to help me understand its macrocosm , grapheme , and timelines . As for the futurity — Paramount ’s plans and what ’s next — I do n’t have much insight or data in that respect .
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