 |
[HOPE AND FEAR] : BEHIND-THE-SCENESProduction meetings and |
|
Additional commentary by production staff is in this colour.
On 19th February the entire staff of producers, department heads, and other "need to know" personnel gather for [Hope and Fear]'s pre-production meeting. This meeting is one of two as a production meeting will occur in another week. This one is the first time the entire group sits down to discuss all aspects of production. Everyone in the room has brought two to the meeting a script and a list of her/his department's needs. At this early point, the discussion is mostly around budget e.g. when looking at a shot that includes a viewscreen the Unit Production Manager Brad Yacobian asks "Is this a one-wall set?" to which Production Designer Richard James replies "I saw it as two walls. "Okay," responds Brad Yacobian, "two walls that cost like one."
The First Assistant Director Adele Simmons reads the exposition paragraphs, omitting the dialogue. All the department heads have questions or concerns.
This episode's Director, Winrich "Rick" Kolbe: "I've never shot in astrometrics. Can we walk though it this afternoon?"
The astrometrics set is one of several which certain members of the company will need to attend walk-throughs to assess the complexity of their assignments. Astrometrics is an existing set, so arranging that is not a problem - just go and look.
The yet-to-be-constructed-sets are the problem. For example, Rick Kolbe feels that the Dauntless engineering room's warp core should look and sound dangerous. "I think the Voyager crew members should be able to stand on it and look down." Brannon Braga likes that idea. Production Designer Richard James shows them the engineering sketches and blueprints he has been working on. His plans are not as extravagant as Rick Kolbe suggests, but that's fine with Visual Effects Supervisor Ronald B. Moore who estimates that if Rick Kolbe wants to shoot from above the set and down into the core, they will need to mount a bluescreen on the floor below it. Such a plan would greatly expand the number of required optical shots for the episode. It would also dictate that the floor of the set be built on a platform 20 feet above the bluescreen, which would also need to be raised above floor level in order to backlight it. And that would put the ceiling of the engineering set deep within the non-movable rafters and permanent lighting fix tures at the top of the soundstage, which is an unrealistic prospect when you consider that camera and crew would have to go up there. Suddenly the physical height of Stage 9 becomes part of the discussion. There will be another walk-through.
On 20th February casting the guest star to play the alien, Arturis, is dealt with. None of the actors being considered resembles the character type originally described as "Yoda".
Jeri Taylor: "Arturis became much younger during the development process. There was never a decision to make him younger; he simply evolved that way. And then casting was the component that finalized the process. We wanted someone who could convey a large presence, and that need sometimes strips away people at either end of the age scale, and brings it more toward the center."
Casting Director Ron Surma calls the agents of experienced or "known" actors. At the same time, Jeri Taylor and Brannon Braga meet "newer" people who have come to the office to "read" for the role i.e. audition for it.
Brannon Braga: "We've read maybe fifty people. Some of them are very good, but we want someone special for the role. We'd like to cast someone with a 'name,' as they say, but we just can't get Tom Cruise."
Jeri Taylor: "Actors who would be very successful in a contemporary series may have a look or an articulation or a manner that is very 20th century, very 'now,' and that just doesn't translate into the 24th century. We need someone with classical training, but people who have well-established careers often will not read for episodic television, so we don't get to hear the words coming out of their mouths. We've been burned on Star Trek many times this way. We look at tapes of actors, they seem okay, and then they crash and burn when they're put to the test on the bridge of a starship."
 Ray Wise as Liko in [TNG: Who Watches the Watchers], picture from Encyclopaedia | Actor Ray Wise, who will ultimately be cast as Arturis, is a different story altogether. Although he does not audition for the role, the producers know he can be relied on for the task at hand.
Brannon Braga: "Ray doesn't need to read for us because he's been on the show before." Ray Wise played a "proto-Vulcan" named Liko in [TNG: Who Watches the Watchers]. |
 Actor Ray Wise |
 Ray Wise as Arturis |
|
| Pictures by/copyright: Ron Tom | ||
On 25th February Jeri Taylor is the last to arrive at the production meeting at 2.00 p.m. In front of her seat at the head of the table are two decorated bouquet baskets full of cookies and muffins, gifts from the staff for their exiting executive producer. She ad libs a short speech, thanking the crew for the cookies and the work they have done over the years.
Afterwards Adele Simmons begins reading the exposition portions of the script. This time there is more to discuss than just the budget. There are questions about sets under construction, visual effects that are being designed, character moves that are being choreographed. Every decision made about an early scene or set will affect the later scenes that take place on that same set, so everyone must think ahead. For instance, in Scene 23, when the Voyager's away team first explores the bullet ship, a "trembling" is felt as the engines go online. This trembling is scripted to become extreme when the ship enters the slipstream. "No trembling in slipstream," Director Rick Kolbe says unexpectedly, and without explanation. When the discussion reaches Scenes 38 and 39, where the ship actually goes into the slipstream, Kolbe repeats his directive. Brannon Braga: "That was a good call on Rick's part. Of course the ship shouldn't be shaking when they're in the slipstream, otherwise all the important dialogue in those sequences would be distorted by the shaking, and we wouldn't want that."
Time is spent discussing the slipstream effect, an effect which particularly involves Visual Effects Producer Dan and Visual Effects Supervisor Ronald B. Moore. The script reads:
38 EXT. SPACE - QUANTUM SLIPSTREAM (OPTICAL)
A TORRENT of ENERGY whipping past us at
blinding velocities! The Dauntless is
RACING through the raging river of energy
at breakneck speeds!The design for the inside of the new ship is, however, an immediate concern. There are several designs for Dauntless, since the ship must first appear to be from Starfleet and then "transform" into an alien technology. Production Designer Richard James expands upon the blueprints he showed a week ago. He has brought a foam-core model of the Dauntless bridge to the meeting. The open-grid construct of the bridge's wall will allow light to penetrate from all sides. A change in the lighting will change the mood and, hopefully, the entire "feel" of the set. This will eliminate the need for major optical work and reduce the physical special effects work. The colour of the lighting will be very important, but which would be most effective? "Orange," Rick Kolbe says spontaneously, as the change to orange will impart "an eerie feel".
Rick Kolbe and Richard James agree to meet in the Art Department next morning so that the Director can look more closely at the model and begin to plan how he will place the camera and actors within the set.
The discussion eventually covers the entire script. Examples of points discussed/decided:
- In Scene 96, Janeway cannot be wearing a combadge (because she took it apart in an earlier scene).
- In Scene 97, Special Effects Co-ordinator Dick Brownfield will ignite "practical", i.e. real, fireworks-sparks when Seven of Nine's console explodes.
- In Scene 98, the actors will stumble, but not fall down, so no stunt pads will be necessary.
- In Scene 101, where the alien grabs a hand weapon, Rick Kolbe wonders aloud about placement of his actors: "Where has this weapon been hidden?" "Anywhere," answers Jeri Taylor, "Because there's velcro everywhere." "So it's deus ex machina," Rick Kolbe says, making a note about his freedom of choice on a lined pad.
The meeting closes but there is one final matter. Jeri Taylor tells everyone, referring to her farewell bakery goodies: "We've got about 250,000 calories sitting here." She ensures that everyone descends on the baskets.
Credits:
Navigate using the lefthand floating menu.