Star Trek: Beyond

Identical Grandmother!

YUP. That would work.

If Q shows up, he'd better put the crew on trial as representatives of humanity. They actually deserve it, and there's a good chance they might not pass whatever test he gives them to prove their moral character.

I would have loved to have Q in a movie, but what you're proposing is being covered by the comics.

I said it before in the other thread, but a feature-length version of something like "Errand of Mercy" would be really cool, including the revelation about the Organians. Stuff like that is vintage Star Trek, where the conflict comes from political/social tension rather than a Big Bad's Evil Plot. Even an episode like "Day of the Dove" eschews a climactic brawl with both sides teaming up against the embodiment of violence and get rid of it by essentially shaking hands and laughing.

Did not know such a comic existed. Neato!

Oh. I was gonna have a reaction like, "Why is every good idea for the series already covered by some stupid comic book somewhere?"

But this thread title has made me want to watch The Search For Spock again!

Comic books are easier to produce than movies. Expect there to be lots of them, and for them to cover everything they can.

Robert Orci is no longer directing Star Trek 3. He's still producing, though.

Thank Q! I have no idea why Paramount was willing to put a rookie director in charge of a big budget film in a franchise that has had horrible luck with rookie directors.

You mean like Leonard Nimoy, Jonathan Frakes and J. J. Abrams (Mission: Impossible III, by Paramount, was his first feature)? The only rookie director who bombed was Shatner. Even Nicolas Meyer only had one movie before Trek.

Disregard. I misread.

edited 5th Dec '14 8:03:52 PM by Prowler

Orci seems to have absolutely no directing credits- no tv work, no music videos, no ads. He's produced tv shows but has he been the main showrunner? I can't even find evidence of a student film.

Abrams had one major motion picture and tv work and had been a showrunner. Frakes had directed tv in the franchise itself. Even Nimoy and Shatner both had experience behind the camera before- yeah, in Shatner's case, mostly directing himself, sure- and Meyer did indeed have a movie and had film school training.

Orci doesn't seem like a rookie director, Orci seems like he's just not a director and this would have been the first time he'd been getting his feet wet.

I'm actually curious about the "horrible luck with rookie directors," unless Shatner (who also had tv episodes under his belt before V) was what they meant. But that's hardly a history of problems.

Not arguing that Orci would be an amazing director, but The Director is actually not the most complicated job on a movie. It could make or break the movie, certainly, but if you've spent enough time on set in the capacity of a producer, understand the process of putting a movie together and what the responsibilities of the director are, a technical rookie could come in and do a great job.

The most complicated jobs are actually more in the ballpark of Assistant Director and Script Supervisor, as it is their responsibility that every single detail is taken care of and accounted for. The Director is the quality control, directing the details of everyone else. It is very possible to take the director off the set and just have a shot list and a film crew could get that done.

edited 6th Dec '14 2:14:09 AM by KJMackley

Are you a film producer? Because if I had to write a stereotype of "How Film Producer's Think The World Works" that would be in there.

While the director doesn't have the control that a lot of people may think they do, the fact is that there's still a technical component to their job that I think is reflected in the desire to hire directors with some experience rather than with no experience. It's quite common to hire a director who has only one or two good but small films on their resume because then you know that they have the experience, the technical understanding and can handle the responsibility but are still at a point in their career in which they''ll follow orders.

Frakes, for example, didn't just get the opportunity to direct an episode by asking. Frakes put in a lot of work in learning the technical details behind editing and camera work before being allowed to direct an episode and a tv episode director is pretty low on the director totem pole. To me the hierarchy of directors resembles many different fields in which to actually manage or "direct" a number of technical experts, one is a promoted technical expert.

However, I will actually concede the point that a producer may gain experience from their time on set because I considered that in bringing up Abrams' showrunner experience and questioning Orci's lack on it. My issue is that Orci may well have not had the right kind of producer role before. There are producers who actually handle elements of the production and then there are "producers" who work for the production company. My understanding is that an executive producer, which most of Orci's credits seem to be, is one who handles the creative aspects and garners financing but may never spend a day on set.

I was referring to Shatner and Nemesis's director, who was an editor before that film. And I admit that I didn't put a whole lot of thought into that post. Sorry.

Stuart Baird was new to the franchise, but he had directors credits beforehand with well received films like U.S. Marshals and Executive Decision.

^^ But no, actually I'm in school right now and I'm leaning towards being a director. I'm not saying the role is pointless, I've just learned that 90% of being a director is having a good cast, crew and script so you can focus on directing and not trying to fix the flaws of the production. But the technical aspects of making a movie can be done without a director, just have the DP and AD (Director of Photography and Assistant Director) with a shot list. You can make a decent movie that way, by committee, but a director is the deciding factor of what makes the movie great or horrible.

edited 6th Dec '14 12:05:05 PM by KJMackley

Oh, thank fuck. 9/11 truther is no longer directing.

Yeah. And frankly, if he don't write any major movie anymore, the better.

The big issue with having Orci direct was mostly that he wrote the original script. We've seen his weird conspiracy theories filtered through other directing styles, but I really don't want to see what he's like when he has a lot more control over what's actually on screen. And we have no idea if he knows the slightest thing about directing.

Edgar Wright is an interesting choice. But he is on my list of directors I love to see make a space opera type movie, so I'd be really happy if he directs it.

edited 7th Dec '14 7:31:19 AM by Zendervai

I read elesewhere (rpg.net?) that Orci's script had been scrapped.

OK, we're close to agreeing , you've just got to admit that the responsibility of managing such a disparate collection of people requires an assurance born of experience.

Certainly, having that skill is valuable, but not mandatory. New directors making studio films are often surrounded by a veteran production team, which is why in many cases a director is just a figurehead for the studio rather than being the Auteur. Crew management is actually the responsibility of the A.D., camera shots are the D.P, coverage of the script is the Script Supervisor, etc. A Director certainly has control over all those elements but their primary responsibility lies with the actors.

Simon Pegg is now co-writing this one.

This should be amazing.

This is the first news that makes me remotely interested in ST 3 (that, and the fact that JJ Abrams left, which I did not know), assuming of course it is confirmed.