 |
[HOPE AND FEAR] : BEHIND-THE-SCENESDesigning the exterior of Arturis' ship |
|
Scans by Janet.
Additional commentary by production staff is in this colour.
On 4th March 1998, Supervising Producer Peter Lauritson returns to Rick Sternbach, the show's Senior Illustrator/technical consultant, a series of drawings he had submitted offering "some ideas" for the exterior look of the Dauntless. As Voyager's senior illustrator/technical consultant, he had been asked to submit "some ideas" for the exterior look of the Dauntless. One of the drawings is circled, indicating approval.
Rick Sternbach, beginning to draw: "This is a tentative approval for this design. As I look at this, I wonder what it is about this particular drawing that the producers liked enough to circle it. I know that they want the bridge module shaved off the top, so I'll smooth that over. But the first thing that I have to do is rough out a cross-sectional view for (Scenic Artist) Wendy Drapanas so she can create some backlit graphic designs. I'll rough in some interesting hardware shapes and get this to Wendy in twenty minutes or less."
On Stage 16, the painters are putting the finishing touches on the Dauntless bridge set, while the advance electricial crew completes the installation of hidden built-in lighting.
As the bridge set is actually two bridges in one, as it has to turn alien when the vengeful Arturis' plot is unmasked, Construction Co-ordinator Al Smutko had his crew build the bridge first in the alien mode, with newly shaped consoles and chairs, while at the same time preparing a series of "plant-ons," or wooden Starfleet-style props that will fit snugly over those consoles and chairs. The schedule calls for the Starfleet look to shoot first, tomorrow morning. When the set shoots as an alien bridge five days later, the plant-ons will be removed. With the orange lighting shining through the muslin wall and a series of odd-looking video graphics and backlights, the same set should appear remarkably different.
For now, painter Dennis Ivanjack uses all Starfleet colours. He began his tenure on the lot as a Desilu employee and clearly remembers doing similar work on [TOS] sets.
Dennis Ivanjack: "There are a lot of seams because of the curves. We have to 'lose' those seams by filling them in. The carpenters use a lot of 'wiggle wood,' wood that bends easily and is very porous and rough. We have to fill it all up and make it smooth. We prime, we sand, we pack, we prime again. We do so much sanding around here that the show is referred to as 'Sand Trek.' We apply our own bumpy surface over it, in a process called 'splatter,' by taking the head off of the spray gun. That gives the wood a real metallic look that is enhanced when we put the final colors over it. We have a day shift and a night shift." The production uses four people on each shift for a full eight days, including Saturday and Sunday.
5th March. Rick Sternbach: "I've been given orders to proceed with the top view, bottom view, side view, and fore and aft views of the Dauntless. I notice that I stepped the bridge in a couple of places. And there's little thrusters and impulse vents, and some little chevron shapes on the nacelles. I'll reproduce all of the very vague details in a much cleaner form so it can be used by the computer graphics people."
He sends his drawings to Ronald B. Moore and Dan Curry who discuss them before the former sends a copy to Computer Graphic Imaging Director Mojo at Foundation Imaging, an effects company in neighbouring Santa Clarita Valley.
Ron Moore: "The sketches really only show us one angle of the ship, so I told Mojo to generate a 3-D computer model with some sort of skin on it. I don't care what kind of skin, but I want to see what the ship looks like rotating around."
Mojo: "My first step is to create a rough outline of the ship. Building a computer-generated model is the same as building a physical model kit. If you start with a big block of wood, you start shaving off pieces until you've got a shape you're happy with. I used a cube and basically modified the shape, shaving pieces off or stretching it out until I had the shape Ron was happy with. Of course, using the computer is better than assembling a physical kit, because I can use the 'undo' button." On screen, the form begins to resemble Sternbach's drawings. "It looks like a manta ray. Now it looks like a garden trowel." Foundation Imaging will work on [Hope and Fear] for the next seven weeks.
The "USS Dauntless" computer-generated model by Foundation Imaging. Foundation Imaging offered a choice of colours: one was rendered in grey but this copper-tone one was selected.
The model has to be computer-generated because it needed to be distorted by the quantum slipstream effect, which is next to impossible using a real model. When engaging the slipstream drive the ship's engines make a distinctive rumble sound and the visual effect involves the "nose" of the ship glowing and distorting before the ship disappears into a subspace conduit. The primary saucer section is designed in the shape of an arrowhead, reminiscent of a recent Starfleet prototype vessel, namely USS Prometheus NX-59650 visited by the Doctor in the Alpha Quadrant in [#82 Message in a Bottle] (article). USS Dauntless also features Starfleet's familiar twin warp nacelle configuration although located beneath the engineering hull. The hull, however, is shaped differently so that the ship can withstand the stresses caused by the ship's quantum slipstream drive.
Design drawings by Rick Sternbach: top and bottom views of "USS Dauntless".
Design drawings by Rick Sternbach: forward, aft and side views of "USS Dauntless".
Credits:
Navigate using the lefthand floating menu.