Featured in this issue are no less than six interviews with some of the people behind some of the biggest and newest shows in the fan flm world. The frst of these interviews is with Matt Milne, who is involved with a number of fan flm productions as composer of the music, this is followed by two interviews with the people who are working hard on a unique fan flm Trinity. We also have an interview with Robin Hiert who is Executive Producer of Dark Armada from the Netherlands. Following on from this we have a frst for any fan flm, an interview with Hidden Frontiers Barbara Clif- ford about the costumes of the various series, and also a bit about the different colour uniform trim. Then we have Beo Fraser talking about his exploits in the makeup room of the studio of Hidden Frontier. We have also got a couple of new areas of the magazine. The frst of these is a Random Thoughts area, where we have asked questions of various fan flm stars that we wouldnt normally ask. First in the spot- light is John Whiting who plays Dr Henglar and General Morrigu from Hidden Frontier and Odyssey. We also have introduced a Character Bio page, where we bring you details on all your favourite characters, frst up is Admiral Ian Knapp fro Hidden Frontier. Finally we have a 20 page detailed review of the Excelsior Ball Three, from the day time activities right through to the away mission on the Monday and Tuesday after the ball. Trekkie Central Staff Website Staff Richard Miles Thomas Reynolds Forum Staff Nick Cook Richard Miles Thomas Reynolds Magazine Creator Richard Miles Head Writer Alex Matthews Staff Writers Heather Ashley Gerri Donaldson Beo Fraser Eugenia Stopyra John Whiting Fan Fiction Alma Ames Creative Consultants Michael Hudson Rick Pike Special Thanks to Interviewees John-Paul Atley Barbara Clifford Beo Fraser Robin Hiert Paul Knott Matt Milne John Whiting General Information John-Paul Atley Rob Caves Nick Cook Beo Fraser Robin Hiert Front Cover Paul Knott Trekkie Central Magazine is produced by fans, no proft is being made from the production of this magazine. If you see this magazine on sale, it is a pirate copy and not in any way endorsed by Trekkie Central Trekkie Central Staff Website Staff Richard Miles Thomas Reynolds Forum Staff Nick Cook Richard Miles Thomas Reynolds Magazine Creator Richard Miles Head Writer Alex Matthews Staff Writers Heather Ashley Gerri Donaldson Beo Fraser Eugenia Stopyra John Whiting Fan Fiction Alma Ames Creative Consultants Michael Hudson Rick Pike Special Thanks to Interviewees John-Paul Atley Barbara Clifford Beo Fraser Robin Hiert Paul Knott Matt Milne John Whiting General Information John-Paul Atley Rob Caves Nick Cook Beo Fraser Robin Hiert Front Cover Paul Knott Trekkie Central Magazine is produced by fans, no proft is being made from the production of this magazine. If you see this magazine on sale, it is a pirate copy and not in any way endorsed by Trekkie Central WE L COME TO issue seven contents Page 4 - Interview Robin Hiert (Dark Armada) Page 6 - Interview Matt Milne (Hidden Frontier) Page 7 - The Inquisition (John Whiting) Page 9 - Trinity Page 10 - Interview John-Paul Atley (Trinity) Page 12 - Interview Paul Knott (Trinity) Page 13 - Interview Barbara Clifford (Hidden Frontier) Page 14 - Interview Beo Fraser (Hidden Frontier) Page 17 - Feature Excelsior Ball 3 Page 26 - Captains Log with Rick Pike Page 27 - Next Issue LATEST NEWS LATEST NEWS Hidden Frontier productions and Intrepid Productions have recently fnished flming the feature length Operation Beta Shield, in a marathon week of flming, the week before the Excelsior Ball Three. Operation Beta Shield has a slated release date of Early to Mid August but no actual date set yet, one thing is certain though fans are looking forward to this a lot. For more informa- tion you can visit either the Hidden Fron- tier website at www.hiddenfrontier.com or Star Trek Intrepids website at www. starshipintrepid.net Intrepid Productions have announced a release date for their next episode Where Theres a Sea. The release date for this short is 20th July and we have an interview with Captain Hunter himself aka Nick Cook all about Where Theres a Sea. For more information visit their site at www.starshipintrepid.net Hidden Frontier have also released a trailer for Operation Beta Shield, which is available to view on You Tube and the Hidden Frontier website where it also available to download. Hidden Frontier Productions have also started flming on the frst episode of Federation One entitled Unity. This is a follow up series from Operation Beta Shield and stars Wayne Webb in a staring and reoccurring role of Matt McCabe. This episode is due for release after Operation Beta Shield and for more information visit www.hiddenfron- tier.com Hidden Frontier Productions have also announced their frst original production. Frontier Guard is set entirely outside the Star Trek Universe and will begin flming at some point during 2009. For further information please visit their website. Star Trek Of Gods and Men has fnally been completed, with the third and fnal part of the episode. To view this visit their website at www.startrekofgodsand- men.com Guy Davis the man behind the manga comic book series USS Tamerlane has recently released the second Omake in the series. The Omake is entitled The Last Night of The Year and is available to read at www.usstamerlane.com Star Trek Defant have released two epi- sodes recently, the frst of these is called The Far and Wondrous Distance Part 3 this is the fnal part in this story and is now available for download. The second episode that they have released is One Hundred and Seven Days this and the previous episode are both available for download from http:// pendantaudio.com/defant Star Trek The Experience is set to close. Recently announced by Paramount Studios, Star Trek the Experience is due to close in September. Hailed by some as a sad day for Trek, the Experience has had a 10 year run, and will be sorely missed by many Trek fans around the world. Paramount has not ruled out the Ex- perience returning in some form in the future, although that remains to be seen exactly how it will. For more information please visit the Star Trek Experience website at www. startrekexp.com all the latest happennings from the fan media world Were talking with Robin Hiert, Executive Producer on the Dutch Production Dark Armada TCM : When did you frst discover Star Trek? RH : I remember my father used to watch Star Trek The Next Generation when I was a kid. I didnt really know what it was all about, but I remember I liked the intro tune! I think it wasnt until I was about 12 years old when I started to watch Star Trek. I guess its safe to say I never stopped watching and eventually I began to search for more about it on the internet.
TCM : How did you become involved with Dark Armada? RH : Dark Armada started as a Star Trek fanfc I was writing (for some reason) and I posted it on several forums. The idea of making this into a fan series never came to mind until I read about Hidden Frontier. Someone started this thread about fan series, Hidden Frontier in particular. This made me think: If they can do it we should be able to do the same. It started a discussion about making our own series and it seemed there wasnt any such endeavour in The Netherlands. Some supported our initia- tive and others thought it would never work out. When we started there were so many issues to work out: where do we get our costumes, camera, other equipment, how do we publish it once its fnished, where do we get the money? And many more questions that needed to be an- swered. The Flying Dutch (a Star Trek fanclub) decided to help us out from the very start of our project. Thanks to them we had the chance to reach a large group of people, ideas, experiences and equipment. Later on we got some more help from another fanclub The Federa- tion, one of the most helpful things they helped us with was a costume work- shop that started our very own original line of uniforms. Were now working on Dark Armada for 3 years and its fnally starting to get together. We have a wonderful group working on the next episode and we have a lot of equipment, make up, our own costumes, stunning 3D models and newly designed props. the Batavia. The pilot episode will be full of things that will be explained in the chronologically earlier episodes. This order of episodes was primarily created to explain the title Dark Armada in the pilot. I have several roles in this production (Fan Trek Productions), because we have a limited crew and limited re- sources. I help organise shoots/events, handle the application of new volun- teers, write some of the scripts, design en make costumes and ofcourse I play one of the main characters of the show. Next to that I try to help out where help is needed to try and keep the production running, for that last reason Ive even directed a few times. Our production can be divided into 3 major parts. Martin van Buuren is in charge of the technical part (equipment, crew and everything related), Jeroen Steenhagen of the website and fnancial matters, every- thing else is the creative part and is my responsibility. TCM : Can you tell us what Dark Ar- mada is about? RH : Dark Armada was the name of the story I mentioned earlier. The original idea was that a large group of enemy ships was approaching Earth and had to be stopped..how clich. Over the years this concept has been given more thought and it turned into something more complex. In our pilot episode the audience will get to know the crew of the Blue Star, the Batavia and a dark force approaching Federation space. In later episodes well start at the very beginning with the commissioning of We never changed the name of Dark Armada although we wanted to at some point. Weve become known with this title and changing it might not be the best thing to do at this point in the pro- duction. If we would have changed the name of the show it would have most likely been Star Trek Batavia or Star Trek Ethernita. There are 3 important factors in our se- ries. One of those is of course the main starship the U.S.S. Batavia. The second is another ship that is almost always around, the U.S.S. Blue Star. The last important factor is the planet Ethernita for its people and diplomatic involve- ment. I cant go into any more detail for spoiler reasons.
TCM : Which Character are you playing in DA? RH : I play one of the main characters: Captain Alexander Richardson. Page 4 TCM : Can you tell us a bit about that character? RH : Well yes I could, but I also dont want to spoil it too much. Alexander is a young Captain who likes a challenge from time to time. Hes always in for a joke, but hes very serious when on duty.most of the time. Richardson seems to have many secrets; he tends to keep personal things to himself. If youd like to know more about this or other characters in Dark Armada, visit our website for the latest updates. www. darkarmada.nl TCM : Due to the distances involved how are you and The Expedition flming your lines and character? RH : As I mentioned earlier Thomas proposed we would shoot the scenes in The Netherlands using the green screen technique and send the video fles over to the States. Once there it can be ed- ited and placed in the actual episode. Ofcourse that would mean we need all equipment, props, make up and cos- tumes in the Netherlands. Because we can use most of the equipment/make up from Dark Armada for it, that wasnt the problem. I have some experience in de- signing and making Star Trek costumes, so I offered to make our own costumes for Keyvon and a Klingon guy (played by Nielco van den Bosch). At the time Im writing this were getting ready to shoot, making the storyboards and Nielcos costume. I believe the big difference between a professional production and a Star Trek production is the motivation of the people involved in it. They are so passionate when theyre making Trek, something they all like! This is THE opportunity to help produce a Star Trek series without having to be a profes- sional. TCM : How did you become involved with The Expedition? RH : I believe I contacted Thomas, one of the producers of the new show, after he posted a message on the Hid- den Frontier board searching for voice actors. I always try to support other productions as much as I can, so I sent him a message that I was interested in a small audio role. He might have hoped I would contact him about it and he knew exactly who he wanted me to play. Instead of an audio part he proposed that I could record several green screen scenes here in the Netherlands and send those over to the US, but of course we had a lot of details to work out to make that happen. TCM : What character are you playing in The Expedition? RH : The character I play in The Expe- dition is called Keyvon and he is half Kazon and half Cardassian. He is one of the bad guys of this show. I believe thats all I can reveal about him at this time. If you want to know more I sug- gest you watch The Expedition at www. theexpedition.org
TCM : Dark Armada is quite big in your home country, what is that like and have you ever been recognised in the street? RH : Oh, haha I wish! It is true that sev- eral articles about Dark Armada have been published in several local newspa- pers and even a piece on Dutch televi- sion in a news program called Editie NL. BUT its not really that big in our country and Star Trek is not as popular as in other countries, like for example the US or the UK. Perhaps it will get some more attention after the release of our upcoming episode titled Nightfall. On the other hand our production is well known in the Dutch Star Trek commu- nity. We travel around visiting sci-f and fantasy conventions to promote Dark Armada and other fan flms. By showing teasers, trailers, pieces of flms and epi- sodes, props, costumes and many other things we try to interest the visitors in watching fan flms and sometimes to get involved in those productions. Several times Ive even been asked to perform a line from our test episode, the Oh my God! line. The readers whove seen the test episode will know exactly why! So I guess were quite big within that com- munity As long as we can reach the fans, Im happy. After all a fan series is produced by the fans, for the fans. Robin Hiert, thank you very much for taking the time to talk to us today. TCM : What is it like working on a Star Trek Fan Production? RH : Now thats a very interesting ques- tion, because Ive been involved in vari- ous aspects of the production. I hope I can motivate people to get involved in these kinds of productions! Being the creator and producer of Dark Armada feels a bit like a fulltime job. I organise meetings and shootings and people can come to me when they have something to say, suggest or ask. But when were working together, on a shooting for example, thats when you see that its all worth it. The atmosphere is so amazingly wonderful and its like weve known each other for ages. Page 5 Were speaking with Matt Milne, composer extraordinaire. TCM : What star trek fan flms are you involved with? MM : Several; Star Trek Hathaway, Star Trek the Expedition, Star Trek Protector and Star Trek Phoenix. of course i would love to be involved with canon productions, including st11. And new voyages of course is of great interest. i try not to infringe on other composers territory, unless specifcally requested, loyalty between artists is very important.
TCM : How have you become involved with so many fan flms? MM : Several reasons, but the most im- portant of those i think is that art knows art. As im sure you all know from life experience, if you are interested in something, it is fairly easy to fnd that enthusiasm and interest in others who have it. In this case, several of these fan productions are made by industry professionals, both tv and flm, I am an artist and i think (and hope) that they recognise that and engage with it. The second reason is that i actively seek energetic people to collaborate with and great productions to be a part of. And the third reason, is that it takes me 3 days to score a standard 45 minute show to a top level, so ive got a lot of opportunity to work hard. Whereas most people have only enough energy to score 6 features a year, i am per- fectly willing to sacrifce everything to be involved in upwards of 50 features (of course nobody will give me that many to work on, alas) so i have plenty of composing slots available to dedicate to worthwhile, interesting, incredibly enthu- siastic and driven groups of dedicated flmmakers. TCM : How did you frst get into writing music? MM : When i was 5, i can remember a piano in our sitting room. i took to impro- vising and it went from there. my mom put me into music lessons, but i abso- lutely hated that and soon understood that my abilities lay in compositon. As for actual writing, i was about 12, and on my computer was a program for chang- ing the instruments and volumes in midi fles. So i started to play around with that, then about 3 or 4 months later i no- ticed a grid for inputing notes. The frst few weeks, nothing much happened, but suddenly as if by magic an idea played through my mind, and from then on in, i could put the notes into the program and have it play it back to me. In other words i could write music on a compu- ter, or sequence, as its called. TCM : Do you have a favourite piece of music for a star trek fan flm? MM : No not really, however my favour- ite star trek score has to be the genius of james horner in the wrath of khan. the wonderful array of instruments, and the highly creative and emotional scoring following every twist and turn of the flm, cant be beat even today. My second favourite being McCarthy s wonderfully imaginatively synthesised score to Generations, closely followed by Goldsmiths score to First Contact and Insurrection. My least favourite score being star trek 4, 5 and 6.
TCM : Have you got a favourite fan flm piece of music? MM : Again no, but my favourite flm score has to be jurrasic park 1, harry potter 1, lord of the rings 1 and 3, star trek 2, and the work of Alan Menken from 1989 to 1996, again all the work of great genius, sadly no longer able to give us the beneft of their brilliance, ow- ing to the industrys continued ignorance and creative ineptitude.
TCM : Are there any future projects that you can tell us about? MM : Being a creative and enthusiastic person i do my best to get as much work as possible especially with regards to feature work, unfortunately owing to my reluctance to take orders from the lower orders of the business, and unwilling- ness to keep my mouth shut if i feel the flm is damaging to the industry and completely fradulent, work only comes through from great directors, producers and actors who hear of me and my abili- ties through those i have the pleasure of knowing and collaborating with. I love being part of a creative team, i love supporting and collaborating with great artists. I hate being pushed about the factory-obsessed, money-posessed, greedy fame and fortune seeking no- bodys that seem to occupy the bulk of the industry. To me it seems that the business consists of a few great artists, sat on islands of talent, surrounded by a sea of screaming, fame obsessed morons who are trying and will stop at nothing to drag you into their sea of dispair and frenzy whenever you try to cross from one island to the next, or be heard over their shouts. There are too few good, honest, talented writers and few dedicated producers to make anything half decent, this is why the flm industry is in the mess that its in, and why every flm feels the same, thats because they are. And the industrys too narrow minded and paper obsessed to seek and fnd any serious and gifted TCM : What was the frst piece you wrote? MM : Dating back to sometime in the early nineties, i have a small sheet of paper, with a few note names scribbled down. im guessing it was something i wrote for a primary school music class. the frst offcial piece in my music catalogue is my 5th piano concerto that i composed for a highschool music exam. there have been 7 others since then, along with several symphonies, 6 violin concertos, several feature scores and around 100 short flm scores. TCM : How do you produce the music? MM : The same way that John Williams, Howard Shore or James Horner does. i load up the flm into my sequencer program, i input the notes into a grid in the sequencer (i could put it in from a keyboard, but i dont work like that), then pick the instruments and the computer then plays that back as i write it. I can record it and then send it to anyone anywhere in the world using the internet. A very simple, cheap, high quality, and highly effcient way of writing music. I have the good fortune of not needing to plan, organise or otherwise structure my music, it simply fows from my subcon- cious interpretation of the flm, into my conscious memory, and from there, through my arms and into the computer. Page 6 Where we really make people think about what theyre saying ........yknow, sort of. people, to reverse the situation. It wouldnt surprise you to know that i think a lot of the tv industry works entierly closed shop and that it owns more than a few of the flm companies, and it has been that way since the 70s. Not since the days of lucas and episode 4, has the industry been driven by serious, gifted artists seeking to create a masterpiece, and now everyone with those skills are subject to the whims of every self-serv- ing moron the universities, flm schools and conservitoires have to throw at us. Because i think they recieve preferen- cial tratment from hiring practices while those with genuine gifts and drive, are left stacking shelves. But then thats just this artists impression, i may of course be completely wrong and an utter jerk for saying all of that. Always trust your instincts, but be prepared to admit if theyre wrong, thats the wise thing to do. Anywho, the reason i said all that is that i feel its necessary for you to know that not is all that it seems or is written about, and for you to know why i would turn down a project, or why people wont hire me. That rant, and the aformentioned dif- fculties aside, there are several projects on the go, details of which i cant really go into but you can google some of these; Andrews Raiders, The ghost of hangmans bridge, Phoenix falling, Revelations, Zen, the star trek fan pro- ductions mentioned above, a metal gear fan project, retribution, lost hope, the forger, these dreams, todays world, The sketchbook, The farm, heroes( a 1 hour short flm), Mount Soledad love story, The mighty Kuch, Serial Monogamy, Ethan Allen, The Swan, Degas, West- ern Sky, My garden, Revenge is sweet, Game Over, crash, Zombie smash, the frst episode of Star Trek: the helena chronicles, Dylans tree, over fanders felds mod, the last half of darkness, and of course all of my own compositional work including a few new concertos and some trailer tracks. Not to mention any rescores. My hobby is to pick up a flm and write an entierly new score, to add depth, power and emotion, to flms i feel were unfairly de- graded by the low quality scoring offered by the poorly trained graduates compris- ing the bizs new blood. that and its also a good way to keep talents going during leaner work times.
Matt Milne, thank you very much for your time. Page 7 1. What is your name? John A. Whiting, at least for today.
2. What was the last book you read? Small Favor by Jim Butcher.
3. Is the glass half full or half empty? Depends on which direction youre headed in: if youre flling the glass, its half-full. If youre drinking from the glass, its half-empty.
4. What is your favourite colour? Tie: red and blue
5. Scif or Chick Flicks? Most SF, but theres a few good chick ficks as well.
6. Picard or Kirk and why? Kirk. He usually didnt go around brag- ging about his moral superiority, unlike Picard. Kirk thought that we were still striving to better ourselves. Picard thought that wed arrived.
7. What question have you always wanted to be asked? If I let you collect the interest, would you keep this $10 million for me until I return?
8. When was the last time you were star struck? Gaylaxicon. Twice. I was on two sepa- rate panels with people I admire greatly.
The Inquisition Where we really make people think about what theyre saying ........yknow, sort of. 9. Who was it that made you star struck? Joe Haldeman and Lois McMaster Bujold.
10. What is the natural col- our of water? Water is not tinted, therefore, it has no color.
11. Family Guy or The Simpsons? [shudder] Neither, thank you. I try never to watch shows about people I would never allow into my home if they were real.
12. Quark or Odo? Odo.
13. The original Enterprise or The Enterprise D? The original Enterprise, NCC1701.
14. Football or Baseball? Neither. How about broadsword?
15. Who would you most like to meet and why? The list is long. Most, I admire for their intellect and achievements. A few, I would just want a straight answer to the question Why did you do that?. John Whiting. Thank you . Page 9 Star Trek : The Orginal Series, season 3. Episode 3, The Paradise Syndrome. This is the starting point for an upcoming Trilogy of movies dealing with the themes of fate and destiny and which asks the question, what would you do if you found out that your whole life had been prophesised centuries before you were even born? Would you accept that your destiny was already decided or would you try and be the master of your own fate? Established Trek lore plays a large part in the concept and story, with elements drawing from The Orginal Series, The Next Generation and various Trek novels. The driving force behind the movies is an ancient alliance of three Trek races, the Preservers, the Progenitors and the Bajoran Prophets known as The Trinity. A major part of the story is the introduction of a signifant protaganist for the crew of the USS Meridian to deal with. There is a little difference in the approach to this new enemy. Instead of creating a new alien race, the creators have created something more akin to an organisation, sworn to protect the secrets of the Trinity called The Karrindan Guard who have access to the advanced technologies developed by the races of The Trinity making them a far more dangerous adversary than we have seen before. Page 10 TCM : When did you frst discover Star Trek? JPA : I never really discovered Star Trek, it was something I grew up with and have followed since I can remember. I have vivid memories of watching TNG on Saturday nights, and thats really what got me into the franchise. It wasnt until I got into my teens that I re-connected with Star Trek - and Voyager was the frst series I really remember following. Deep Space Nine wasnt something I liked, but somewhere after Voyagers ffth season I found myself catching up with it through reruns, and it became my favourite series. Ive always had outside opinions on Star Trek, though. Enterprise is my favourite series, followed by DS9 Voyager then TNG. TOS is a great classic, but until recently it didnt have as much exposure on British television so I couldnt really make a connection except for the movies. I also think Nemesis was fantastic, and didnt deserve the abuse it got. TCM : How did you become involved with Trinity? JPA : I became involved in Trinity after searching the internet for new fan flms, feeling starved with no new releases. I stumbled upon Trinity and was intrigued by its initial premise, so offered my services on the forum. From there, I began talking with Paul Knott, the Executive Producer, and I was signed up to direct the second webisode of Prelude. That evolved into directing the frst feature. Just recently weve been looking at Trinitys schedule and its future past flming Prelude (our webisodes) and the frst feature (Revelation), and I was signed up to direct all three features and the three series of webisodes. TCM : Can you tell us a bit about the series? JPA : What struck me about Trinity is that it wasnt being developed as a series like other fan flms. It was an actual feature flm trilogy, so it has a fnite existence. Im hesitant to make the comparison, but the way Trinity is set out is akin to The Lord of the Rings trilogy, in that the three flms are one story - a beginning, middle and an end. There are also three series of webisodes spread between the release of the flms. These allow us to set up story elements and get the backstories out of the way, allowing us to jump straight into the story in the flms. The three flms are going to be 90 minutes in length, with the webisodes being between 5 and 10 minutes in length each. something barron and a little alien. Its also a blank slate allowing you to add little touches which can make it seem that little more alien. For American readers, the quarry is akin to the forests you see in Stargate every other week. I love that were using a quarry. It comes with a great heritage, and the site weve found is superb. It has a great casm and fantastic scenery, so well really be getting the full use out of it. As for whats its being used for, I really cant say too much other than its the location of the fnal climax and holds a great lot of mystery within the frst flm. Revelation really is like a mystery flm, it presents lots of questions and the crew tries to discover just what is going on. Its great fun. I would really love to flm scenes for the other two features in the quarry, but in story terms, at the end of the flm, it no longer exists. Take from that what you want.
TCM : Can you tell us a bit about the characters in your series? JPA : The characters are the pinnacle of any flm or series, and we have some great characters in Trinity. I really have fallen in love with the characters, and I already have my favourites. Theres something for each character to do as well, they all have their own little moments to shine. And theres a truly heartbreaking scene where a character I totally love does something really bad. But Im not going to tell you who or what it is. Itd be like letting you know Bruce Williss character in Sixth Sense is dead - before youve seen the flm! TCM : You have a quarry that is going to be used in the series, can you tell us how that came about and what it is going to be used for? JPA : For British readers, the quarry will be a familiar element to science fction theyve likely seen. The most famous use for quarries of course coming from Doctor Who. It creates a ready environment, Page 11 TCM : What ship is going to be used in the series? JPA : The ship is, for me, one of the best things about Trinity. Its called the Meridian and is a Steamrunner class, which were seen very briefy in First Contact during the initial battle with the Borg. The design of the ship is so TCM : Is there anything else that you can tell us about the series? JPA : For a flm set post-Nemesis (by about 10 years) it really does a great job at drawing together nearly every Trek series to date. The biggest infuences come from TOS of course. Weve really embraced their philosophy of unique, and its really small. Its a bit like the Defant, small but mighty. Thats another thing that attracted me to Trinity, that this wasnt the Federations fagship having this great adventure, it was just a regular service vessel. Nothing special about it or its crew, yet theyre the ones that make this amazing discovery. The model is superb as well, and it looks even better post-battle. TCM : And can you tell us a bit about the ship. (ie what class, max speed etc)? JPA : The canon on the Steamrunners is hazy at best. They were designed for First Contact, but the models were lost after production wrapped on the flm. So, to date, thats their only canon appearance. But that gives us a lot of freedom as to what we want to do with the Steamrunner. The trick for us was to make this ship powerful, but not too powerful. It cant be too powerful because there would be no drama when this vessel is put in harms way. We needed the audience to feel this ship could be destroyed in combat, and I feel that really comes across. Weve struck a perfect balance. Its a little smaller than the Intrepid class, with about half the frepower of the Defant. questioning who we are, what makes us human, why are we out here? The jumping-off point for the series is the TOS episode The Paradise Syndrome. We investigate what the Obelisk is, and by this time a lot more have been discovered. We also take elements of William Shatners Preserver series of books. If youre observant enough, youll spot the references to the past shows and flms, and if youre really observant youll spot references to other fan series. That was another of our mandates, to not violate the fan canon that has been established. So far, weve done a pretty good job. I personally am taking a lot of care to honour the legacy of Star Trek and its fans, to deliver them a flm they will really enjoy. Its something I want to enjoy as well, because Im a fan too. John-Paul Atley, thank you very much for your time. close to where I live, and the scenery is gorgeous, and while we were there taking a look at it for use in Trinity, we found that a stone circle has been built in one of the main parts and we all agreed that it was really cool and ftted with a sequence in the frst movie perfectly. to use it, and make use of that. I wanted a canon starship that we knew existed, but hadnt seen much of, so the Steamrunner seemed like an obvious choice. Upon looking for a suitable 3D model, I only found really low detailed ones which were quite old and wouldnt hold up very well on screen, so at this point the production timeline had been amended so I began the task of building a new mesh, which was detailed and would look really good on a big screen. Due to a complete lack of reference images and a lot of conficting information, the mesh that I built isnt a true Steamrunner as some of the details have been altered slightly, but as it stands its the most detailed 3D mesh of the ship around. The mesh hasnt been released as yet, but Im sure it will be in the future. TCM : And can you tell us a bit about the ship. (ie what class, max speed etc) PK : As I said before, its a Steamrunner class ship, as for specs, there isnt any at the moment, simply for two reasons, 1/ conficting information in and around the net make it diffcult, and 2/ it isnt really that important to the story, a lot of people (myself included I will admit) seem to be more interested in the technology of Star Trek as opposed to the story and characters. A spec sheet will be written up prior to release of the frst Movie as a reference guide, but at the moment, its not really needed. TCM : Is there anything else that you can tell us about the series. PK : Only the basics, Trinity is a series of 3 full length feature movies (90-120 minutes each) interspersed with small webisodes that bridge the gap between the movies. Once the movies are complete there is potential for several spinoffs (were having new ideas for these every day).
TCM : When did you frst discover Star Trek? PK : Way back in 1985-6 BBC2 here in the UK was showing re-runs of the orginal series, so I suppose it was then I started watching them, and then TNG was released and the BBC started to show it in the same time slot, so it was just natural to carry on watching, and from that point I was hooked. TCM : How did you become involved with Trinity? PK : Short version.....I created it. Long version......Ive always been a sucker for Epic stories with a long running arc (Blakes 7, Babylon 5 etc.) and I was wanting to restart a Play by Email RPG that I used to run so I started to jot down ideas and develop a backstory which would lend itself well to the game, in doing so I came up with a prophecy idea that would be the guide to the overall story. After developing the story it became clear that it was a little too complicated and big for a role play game, so I started to develop it as an online Virtual Series where a new episode script is released about once a week, and follows the same pattern of an actual TV show. As the story developed it became a ten part mini- series, and then eventually became the Trilogy of movies that we have today. The overall theme of the movies is that of Fate and Destiny, basically whether our own decisions are actually our own or are we fulflling the wants and needs of a greater power, this is where the prophecy (which survived through all of the projects incarnations) comes in, and once knowing that your life has been prophecised, can you change what is to come and be a true master of your own destiny. TCM : You have a quarry that is going to be used in the series, can you tell us how that came about and what it is going to be used for? PK : When looking for locations, it was the one place that instantly sprung to mind, it is an old quarry that has been transformed into a country park Page 12 TCM : Can you tell us a bit about the characters in your series? PK : We have several characters involved with the frst movie, but as a frst movie we wanted to keep the cast list as small as possible, simply so that we could get it right without having to worry about a large cast. We have our Captain (James Brunel, Human), a Romulan First Offcer (Sub- Commander Tevek, who is aboard as part of an offcer exchange program, and really doesnt want to be there), A Trill Chief Engineer (Lt. Commander Nadya Denna, who has a very close relationship with the Captain), Dr. Willard Lynch (An old friend of Brunels, along as a Special Advisor), Lt. Commander Morgan Teller (A grizzled old soldier on his last tour before retirement) and a number of supporting roles. Without giving too much away I cant really say anything more on the subject of characters, but as things progress little things will be mentioned about each one. TCM : What ship is going to be used in the series? PK : The ship we are using is the USS Meridian, a Steamrunner class vessel. The initial idea was, because I was still learning 3D modelling, and the original time frame of Production, to fnd a mesh online, secure permission Paul Knott, thank you very much for your time. Page 13 Were speaking with Barbara Clif- ford, Head of Costume for Hidden Frontier Productions. TCM : How did you become involved with the costuming department of Hid- den Frontier? BC : Rob cast me as Myra Elbrey. I didnt realize that the show was actu- ally a series so I just wore the costumes provided (even though my was very large & John Whiting & I had to share it). Since Ive been involved in a lot of Community Theater productions, I was use to pitching in. So when we started our second season, I decided that the women needed costumes that ft instead of the large provided. So I just made a jacket trying to match what we were us- ing. I took pattern pieces from different patterns I already had & made a jacket. Rob really liked the idea and next think I knew I was Head of Costumes ;-)
TCM : What things do you have to keep in mind when creating a costume for one of the characters be it alien or hu- man? BC : That when the series frst started all costumes had to be one size fts all. So we got robes in brown, black, and grey and a few jumpsuits (ex-large) and that was the standard dress for all al- iens. I then started making removeable trim (cuffs, collars, belts) so that things could be added, reversed, or even put on upside down. When the script called for the Tom Corbett scene, we or- dered a variety of sizes in the dark blue jumpsuits so that small & large sizes would have something that ft. Eventu- ally, Adam & JT took over costumeing the aliens and did a fabulous job. Now Rob has a new costume designer that designed the costumes for the Archein.
TCM : Do you create all the costumes yourself or do you have any help? BC : I cant say that I actually created any of the costumes but I did make most of the jackets myself. In season 6 & 7, fans made & donated the Admiral and dress uniforms. But I made or con- verted a majority of the jackets. Some TCM : Have you ever brought material that has matched the colour of the star- feet uniform (the red, blue and gold), and then once it is in front of the camera it has turned out a different colur when seen on screen? BC : Yes, the red is very diffcult to match. One red actually came across as orange. The blue & gold not as much trouble on camera but fnding it was pretty hard. of Robs original jackets had light grey tops, when I realized that they should be dark grey I changed out the tops to match everything else. TCM : The trim on the top of the star- feet uniforms was changed, who de- cided that and do you think that it looks better then the previous style? BC : Well, I actually changed that and it was a surprise to Rob. As I men- tioned, I was originally working from the costumes Rob already had then I was working from a picture. When I really examined the pictures, I realized that between the grey and black there was a grey trim. Since I was working full time and was the only person making jackets, I decided to save some time & buy some available trim instead of mak- ing the trim myself. Personally, I like the fact that HF trim is lighter. It sets us apart from all the other shows, Ive heard that the explanation for the lighter trim is because our characters have been to The Patch, I like that. The Costumes of Hidden Frontier Productions The Costumes of Hidden Frontier Productions TCM : Have you encounted any prob- lems with either the designing of a costume or getting the correct colours for any of the costumes? BC : Finding the correct colors is really hard. And since the costumes have to be durable and machine washable they are made of polyester, not the coolest fabric to be wrapped in. I fnd it very dif- fcult to make the jackets. TCM : What was your favourite cos- tume to do, and why? BC : Once I had more time to concen- trate on the costumes, I actually enjoyed fnding stuff for Myra. Plus it was easy to ft her since I didnt have to schedule anyone else. I think Dancing in the Dark I have a different costume for every scene.
TCM : How long does it take to make a starfeet uniform?(on average) BC : It takes about 40 hours from pin- ning patterns to material, cutting out the material, quilting, sewing, and ftting.
TCM : Are there any other costumes that you would like to tell us about, (what were ones that were easily put together, etc)? BC : The only costumes that I actually sewed together were the jackets and some jerseys. The other costumes were bought and altered. Barbara Clifford, thank you very much for taking the time to talk with us. This time we are speaking with Beo Fraser, Head of Make up for Hidden Frontier Productions. TCM : When did you frst discover Star Trek? BF : I was exposed to Star Trek at an incredibly early age. My mother has a large collection of The Original Series on tape, so I used to sit around on weekends as a boy just watching them over, and over again. I remember when I frst saw Generations (Star Trek VII) I had no idea who this bald man was! I thought to myself why on Earth are they on a sail boat? But things became clear, and after that I was exposed to The Next Generation and the subse- quent spin offs. The rest, as they say, is history. came a forum moderator. Being a forum moderator was at the time probably one of the hardest jobs in the production, and you end up making a lot of people upset! But it was very fulflling, and Ill admit to enjoying laying the law down in Current Events on occasion. Then one day I took a visit to California after my frst year of University. What was origi- nally to be a two week trip turnedinto three weeks, a month, then 3 months! After that, I moved out here permanently and, amongst other things, became a full time member of the Hidden Frontier crew! learning properly from John Whiting who was at the time the head of makeup, and became a full time member of the team! John Whiting retired from full time makeup duties at the start of Odyssey, as he needed a well deserved break. For some reason they asked me to take over as the head of Makeup, and so I did! Since then weve had some major changes, from a complete remodel of the makeup room into a working make- up studio, to the expansion of the team. Page 14 The Make-up of Hidden Frontier Productions The Make-up of Hidden Frontier Productions TCM : How did you become involved with Hidden Frontier? BF : My involvement with Hidden Fron- tier came totally by accident one night when a friend of mine sent me a link to a fan-made Star Trek show, and I was of course intrigued. I remember download- ing every single episode and watch- ing them in the space of a few nights; I didnt sleep very much while I was catching up! From there I got involved with Hidden Frontier as a member of the forums, posting and interacting with the fan community. After a while I struck up a conversation with Rob Caves (Hidden Frontiers Executive Producer) and be- TCM : How did you end up involved with the makeup? BF : That was sort of a progression. Rob and I were heading to Halloween in Hollywood in 2006 and I remember saying to him Well, we have a whole makeup department here. Lets fgure out how some of it works! So we went that year as bloodied Bajorans. Subse- quent to that, on one shoot none of the normal makeup team managed to make it and I was the only person around. But Id never actually touched any sort of makeup except for that one time for Hal- loween, and it wasnt the best job. Either way I gave it a go; wasnt exactly won- derful, but muddled through. I started TCM : Could you tell us a bit about what is involved with the make up ib HF, Ody and Helena BF : Every actors frst stop is the makeup room, so Im often the frst person that they see during the day! Even the humans get some makeup, so we start by taking every one through into the makeup room and getting them prepared with a bit of moisturizer or skin cleanser. We talk with the director of the episode to determine what they want, and then we begin the process! Whether its just painted faces or full on prosthetics; we go through the process of putting them on, and then camera test, which means we take the actor into the studio and put them in front of the camera. Usually the director has some comments, which means we take them back into the makeup studio and keep working. After a couple of camera tests to ensure the makeup is perfect, were done! That is until we have to take it all off again at the end of the day.
TCM : Have you got any favourite aliens that you have done, and If so what ones were they? BF : Oh absolutely! There are a couple that I have a soft spot for. The Romulan was the frst makeup job that I had any actual crea- tive input on, when we decided to use three pieces for the forehead ridges compared to the original fat forehead piece we used to use. I also have to say that doing a Cardassian is always fun. Its the frst makeup that I remem- ber from watching Hidden Frontier that changed from using a really awful facemask which didnt even move when the actor talk to being an actual Cardas- sian! That was some cool makeup that HF started doing, and I was thrilled to learn how its really done. It is still one of the best makeups in the Hidden Fron- tier universe in my opinion. And fnally, I think my absolutely favourite has to be the one off Bolian we did for Odys- seys pilot episode Iliad. That was a collaborative effort between myself and John Whiting, with some kindly provided guidelines from a friend of the produc- tion, and took an entire three hours to complete to any degree of satisfaction - it had bald caps, full head colouring, prosthetics running across the entire face - it was the best makeup weve done, and if we have the time in the future Id love to do it again. the actors skin which can lead to vary- ing results of appliance. The stuff that we use to blend the edges also has the same problems of drying out too quickly, not working in the right place sometimes - so it can be very hit and miss. Im quite proud to say that lately weve been more hit than miss. If you look at Ro Nevins nose, and TLorras forehead, in Odys- seys fourth episode Vile Gods you will notice that you barely notice the pieces. And Im hoping that the quality of pros- thetic appliance continues to increase in this fashion.
In the manner that its much harder to replicate prosthetic application from one episode to another I prefer the simple paint and go approach, like we do with the Archein. However, do prefer the end result of using prosthetics - it takes away the humanness of the actor and leaves in its place the Cardassian, or the Bolian, or the Klingon - characters that look so alien it really makes our Trek universe more expanded. So I hope we use more prosthetics going for- ward - I just hope I get better at learning to apply them! Page 15 TCM : If so what alien was it? BF : I think the closest we came to us being stumped is Dais, who is a Bolian/ Nausicaan hybrid. I really wanted to include a lot more Nausicaan features into her facial structure, but frankly I had absolutely no time to fgure out how wed do it, and even where to begin! So we went with a more Bolian approach, which I think works when you take into account the darker skin tone. But the writers havent come up with anything thats absolutely and totally stumped us. Yet! TCM : You also work a lot with facial pieces, what is that like and do you prefer working with them to just painting a human face a different colour? BF : Working with facial pieces is incredibly diffcult, as you can see from episode to episode, theyre never per- fect. In one episode you can barely see the edges and in another episode its pretty obvious weve just stuck this thing on someones face and tried to make it work. Part of that is because different circumstances, such as room tempera- ture, humidity, etc., effect the pieces and Between all of this though one of the things I really enjoy doing is wound makeup - what colour is the Archein blood? What happens if you cut a Vrijheidian across the face? How can we make this person look as beaten up as possible? This involves a mixture of prosthetic and face-painting. Tybiss in Vile Gods is the best example of this, where his remaining good eye is pretty much in tatters after his fnal encounter with TLorra, and was some of the most fun Ive had in the makeup studio.
TCM : Have there ever been any aliens written into a script that you just couldnt create in make up? BF : Honestly, I really dont think so. Sometimes weve changed an Ando- rian into a Bajoran, or a Romulan into a Vulcan, because of time constraints, but I dont think weve had something yet we really couldnt do.
TCM : What sort of make ups do you use and how do you apply them? BF : We use a plethora. Water based pigments generally make up the colours that we apply to the face and body, and is water soluble so a nice washcloth or shower takes care of it easily. Bond-oh! is our blending tool of choice, which we use as a fller (in the same way you use fller on cracks in the wall) to remove a lot of the blended edges, and recently weve gone back to using liquid latex to creating an even fnish over the Bond- oh!. The prosthetics are either adhe- sed with something called prosthetic adhesive (what an original name!) or medical adhesive, which isnt as scary as it sounds! Removal involves copious amounts of sponges and Bond-off!, the technical name for the substance that removes Bond-oh! Bond-oh!, Bond-off!.
TCM : Are there any particular aliens that you would like having a go at creat- ing in the future? BF : Borg. Oh, my god, I want to do a Borg. I have absolutely no idea how wed manage it though, and itd probably give me a heart attack just trying to get it done. If not a Borg, perhaps a Gorn. Yeah, Im not overreaching! Beo Fraser, thank you very much for taking the time to talk with us. Excelsior Ball Three: Ex- tremely Bonkers Through- out! Part One: Casa Caves If you tell a perfect stranger, that youre about to board a plane for an eight to ten hour fight, just to spend the week- end with people you met feetingly the same time last year, you are probably going to get the odd look or two. Believe me, when I told my work colleagues that I was planning on attending this years Excelsior Ball, thats exactly what hap- pened. But when it comes to Star Trek fans, we are a breed above the rest, willing to cross hell or high water in order to meet our heroes, and for many of our Internet brethren, the people who write, direct, produce and star in Star Trek: Hidden Frontier, and her sisters shows, Odys- sey and Helena Chronicles, are that to a tee - a hero. Luckily, I wasnt that alone in my en- deavour, as on the same plane was Richard Miles, the esteemed editor and creator of Trekkie Central, accompanied by his brother, taking their frst ever fight, whereas for me, this was my 3rd trip to the States in the last decade. I also knew that I would be seeing some other long-haul travelers, Nick and Lucy Cook, from bonnie Scotland, as well as Bodo Hartwig, coming from Germany. Nick and Lucy of course represent Star Trek: Intrepid, the only released fan-flm from the UK, while Bodo is the com- poser of various pieces for both Odys- sey and the audio series, Star Trek: Diplomatic Relations. He also plays the Vulcan offcer, Lt. Solek, for Intrepid, who will be premiering in the follow-up to Heavy Lies the Crown, titled Transi- tions and Lamentations. The Internet has had quite a few uses over the years since its inception, most importantly allowing people from differ- ing continents to become good friends. It was thanks to this that allowed me to become pretty good friends with John Whiting, known to most people as either Dr. Henglaar of Hidden Frontier, or General Morrigu of Odyssey. John was gracious enough to put me up for the frst few nights of my stay, which allowed me to participate in the fnal 3 days of shooting for the joint Intrepid/ Hidden Frontier feature-length project, Operation: Beta Shield. It was this that allowed me to fnally see if Jim Davies, the man behind the character of Siroc was as nasty as his character, and he was anything but, as both he and John opened up their home to me, swapped jokes and tales, compared tattoos and generally enjoyed each others company. Here, I got to fulfll a desire I have had since I got into Trek: to actually be made up into an alien. Although I technically do play an alien in my role on Intrepid, as Lt. Keran Azhan, Azhan is an El-Aurian, which means he looks just like a human. Because of my role in Beta Shield, I got to be made up into a full-fedged Romulan - I even got to wear Michelle Laurents ears pieces, when she is made up as TLorra! How is that for a honour? I got to act alongside Karl Puder in his role as General Korg, and play out a scene with him, which was both funny and hard work. It was funny because I couldnt see that well, not being able to wear my glasses, and having to guess at eye lines, and it was hard work because working with certain props was a lot more complicated then it should have been! When not flming, I participated in help- ing out whenever I could, be it being made up as an extra for a scene from Federation Ones premiere, Unity, running the tape or manning the slate, running through lines with various cast members, and doing whatever I could to be involved in a Hidden Frontier produc- tion. Last year, I got to meet so many new people and this year, I was able to reacquaint myself with them, as well as see them in their natural environ- ment, doing what they love and do best. Watching Becky Wood transform herself from her human guise into the villain- ous Vindenpawl was a sight to behold, because it was less about make up and costume then it was about facial expres- sions and posture. Seeing the fun-loving and wise-cracking Risha Denney trans- form into Elizabeth Shelby simply by donning her uniform was almost eerie, even more so given how easily she would switch between the two persona when something comedic happened. Likewise, watching Jennifer Cole and David ONeill work together seamlessly as a team in order to direct the episode and coordinate both the actors and the necessary set pieces was like witness- ing a carefully choreographed dance, with only the occasional glitch (they are human after all, and mistakes happen). But what got me the most about visiting Casa Caves, is the welcoming arms that embraced not just me and the Intrepid crew, but everyone who visited. We were all welcomed and treated like part of the family, a very large, eccentric and happy, extended family, because in a sense, that what the shows forums have made us. We all sat together out- side, eating delicious takeout, swapping stories, and sharing hopes and dreams regarding the upcoming Ball and the planned Away Missions. No day was the same, each bringing new people for a visit, new scenes to run through and new friends and experiences to remem- ber forever. Even the teasing I received over a particularly ill-suited wig I wore during flming my Romulan scenes will remain a cherished memory from my visit to a place where Trek lives on in its purest form. Just dont call me Hailey to my face... okay? Yes, that means YOU too, Andrew Fos- ter... :p Page 17 Part Two: Welcome to the Radisson Hotel With the flming over, it was time for the real festivities to begin, as the Radisson Hotel became to grounds of a rather large assembling of Hidden Frontier cast and crew, and fans from across Ameri- ca, as well as us lucky few from Europe. Beginning on the Friday afternoon, the EB3 started slowly with a Getting to Know You session for everyone who had arrived early. The Laguna Room served as the main base of operations, while a selection of people, including myself, Wendy Smith, Rick Pike and Ryan Crisman, sat at the arrivals desk and handed people their specially printed ID badges to those who had registered their intent to travel to the convention. Each badge was labelled with the persons name, screen name and their affliation, be they cast and crew, another fan production, a member of the EB committee or a simple fan in attendance. The Emcee for the weekend, Andrew Foster, head of the EB Committee worked tireless to keep people amused and help the friendly atmosphere per- manently engaged, as fan videos and early Areakt Studios works were shown on the giant screen in the room. Others enjoyed what was on offer at the bar, which became a hub of activity as more people arrived over the course of the weekend. First and foremost though, this was a gathering of friends, in some cases friends who only knew each other via the Internet, but that did not matter to any of us, because we all had a shared interest in common. Our gathering also attracted a lot of attention from innocent bystanders, who would pop their head in to see what all the laughing was about, when bloopers were aired, or cheers during particular moments of screened episdoes. When Dale Darr, HFs resi- dent Klingon extra arrived, and donned full costume and make-up, even more people came to see just why a Klingon Warrior was wandering the corridors of the hotel, mekleth and all. Over the course of the weekend, various discussion panels were held, as cast and crew answered questions from the audience and the forums, and discussed their own ideas and feelings towards characters and arcs, story concep- tion and creation, make-up techniques and general background of the various shows. These same people also sat willingly through autograph sessions and photo calls, happy to give their fans something back for the effort in making the trip in the frst place. I myself had he dubious privilege of sit- ting on both a panel and an autograph session, talking about my work for both Star Trek: Intrepid, as well as the ideas and format of my own audio series that had premiered several months ago, Star Trek: Diplomatic Relations, which was both a strange experience, and an honour. The idea that people wanted my autograph was a little hard to swallow, but seeing the disbelief in both Nick and Lucys faces made me realise that is probably what people like Risha, John, Wayne Webb, Brandon McConnell and Sharon Savene think when they are do- ing a signing. But it wasnt just about the cast and crew, as the fans were allowed their own chances to shine, during the acting contest, judged by Risha and Brandon, as hopefuls acted out scenes from Star Trek: Odyssey episodes. There was also a trivia contest, which Rob, Jonathan Conner and Jenn judged as Andrew asked questions to the willing volunteers (myself included), questions that were pretty hard in some times, and suprisingly simple at others (if you had watched the entire run of HF recently, that is). For the last contest, arranged by Jenn Cole, audience members were asked to play a game devised by Jenn herself, called What Were You Think- ing? were when a question was asked, participants were told to write not the right answer, but the answer they be- lieved everyone else would write down. My favourite memory of the Ball has to be when my latest tribute videos were played in the presence of the actors who feature in them, namely when my TLorra video showed, as Michelle Laurent watched. Afterwards, she gave me the biggest hug and thanked me personally for it, saying she was very touched. It brought home to me that Ball is all about making connections, and it shows that the people who help Rob Caves make his vision come to life are still human, still everyday people doing a job, not realising the effect they have on others. But events like the Ball al- low them to realise just how much they mean to their fans, as well as interact not only with their fans, but their fellow actors, some of whom, they may have never meet, due to the complexities of the green screen work and scheduling. When the Ball rounded up, Rob Caves and Andrew Foster fnished up by delivering emotional speeches for every- one concerned, both of them summing up the fact that a great weekend had been had by all, thanking everyone for coming no matter how far they travelled. Jonathan unveiled both the newly cre- ated model of the Galaxy-class Mark 4 version of the USS Excelsior, with sensor pod replacing the 3rd nacelle, as well as presenting both Rob and Nick Cook with a dedication plaque for the newest ship of the Hidden Frontier feet, the Diplomat-class starship, Federa- tion-One, which will be the ship of the newest HF spin-off of the same name. Emotions were very high as people said their goodbyes to friends new and old, some staying for the Away Missions, others heading home on the next plane. But even as we all left, talk of the EB4 was already under-way. May God watch out for whichever hotel hosts it... Page 18 Part 3: The Celebrity Dinner and Beyond... After the experiences of last years attempt at a group dinner, the EB organisers decided to make sure that any group dinner this year was planned to the last detail. This year, the venue was Cozymels Mexican Restaurant, so everyone, fans cast and crew alike, would be able to have a proper sit down meal together on the Saturday night. After spending most of the day together, as it was, the bonds had already started to form, so the evening promised to be a relaxing, enjoyable night. No one left disappointed... The food was excellent, the conversa- tion fun, and the activities gut-splitting. Cozymels has a product called a Margarita Taster, which has 5 small glasses flled with a different Margaritas- style drink, which became very popular with a few of the patrons that night. So intrigued by it were others that soon, a drinking game game into being! First up, Team Intrepid went up against Team Odyssey, and unfortuantely, the (mostly) Scottish pride took a beating, as Team Odyssey whooped their asses, as poor Lucy Cook struggled to suck her partially frozen drink through a straw, whereas all Odyssey crewmembers downed theirs in one or two swallows! Despite cries for a rematch, Odyssey then moved on to take Team Helena for a go, this one more closely played but still with Team Odyssey emerging victo- rious, while Team Helena members JT Tepnapa and Adam Browne ended up suffering from Brain Freeze. Afterwards, Helena captain Sharon Savene, who had abstained from the contest, offered her loosing crew some belated advice: Remember to open your throat when you swallow... Kinda late with that, my dear Captain... After the dinner wrapped up, everyone still laughing at the results of the contest and various frivolities of the night, most of us headed back to the hotel, which in its lobby, boasted a piano. The previous night, this had been the focus of a small group of EB attendees, but that night, almost the entire group swarmed the piano, where either Andrew, Beo Fraser or Bodo tinkled the ivories, and Becky or attendee Don Polansky regaled the rest of us in song, occasionally joined in by other attendees and cast, depending on the song. It was a magical and memo- rable experience, hearing these people, who could be called strangers, singing side by side, as the night stretched into the early morning. When not singing, Don invented a new drink, the X-rated Foreplay, which helped keep the festivities continu- ing most of the night, as various hotel guests, arriving or leaving shot odd glances at this large group of people assembled around the piano, belting out songs to their hearts content. Personal- ly, I wish I had taken part in that evening a little bit more then I did, but I was tired out from the emotions the day and night had brought up, so I left everyone to their singing. Next year, I am guessing a piano will be a staple requirement of which ever hotel we stay at... Excelsior Ball 3 Report by Richard Miles Day One What to say about the third annual Excelsior Ball. I was looking extremely forward to my frst Excelsior Ball (also my frst ever convention) and although I didnt know what to expect, would I have fun, would I get along with anyone, what would happen and many other thoughts were running through my mind. How- ever when I got there I was immediately met by Jennifer Cole, aka Admiral Cole and The Grand Majan, who welcomed me with open arms. (Thanks Jenn) At 1.30pm the proceedings were started with the Welcome videos, which are currently featured on the Excelsior Ball website at www.excelsiorball.com, fol- lowed by some tribute videos by Alex Matthews available to view on You Tube and Star Trek Excelsior, a look at a very early voyage of Captain Shelby we were told to remember the line Shields. Whilst these videos were being shown there was also a chance to mingle in the crowd and get to know other people that attended, and identify them with their names from the Hidden Frontier forums, there was also a chance to meet some of the cast and crew from the shows including Rob Caves; Beo Fraser; Barbara Clifford; John Whiting; Andrew Foster; David ONeill and Karl Puder as well as some people from other fan flms including Nick and Lucy Cook from Star Trek Intrepid, Bodo Hartwig from Star Trek Intrepid and Michael Hudson and Alex Matthews from the audio series Star Trek Diplomatic Relations. Then at around 4.30pm fans were treat- ed to a one off viewing of the prequel series to Hidden Frontier the Voyages of the USS Angeles movie The Price of Duty, and it was very good, consider- ing it was made around ten years ago, and was thoroughly enjoyed by the peo- ple watching. This was followed by Star Trek Odysseys pilot episode Iliad at the same time this was showing the frst of six autograph sessions took place, giving the fans and some of the crew a chance to obtain autographs from the stars of the various Hidden Frontier shows. On the frst autograph panel were Barbara Clifford, aka Myra Elbrey; John Whiting, aka Dr Henglaar and General Morrigu; Karl Puder, aka Korg; Jennifer Cole, aka Admiral Cole and the Grand Majan and Sharon Savene, aka Captain Faisal and Majan Seram, special thanks to Sharon for fying back from the UK and then going straight to the Radisson Hotel to join us that day. At 6:00pm there was a dinner break, where upon around 20 people went to the local Page 19 Subway, where we had a semi healthy dinner and got a chance to get to know other people a lot better. After the dinner we all headed back to the hotel for that evenings events to proceed. That evening we all enjoyed a trivia quiz, a Weakest Link based quiz, where two fans were invited up to the front to answer questions based on Hid- den Frontier productions, this was a very entertaining but very diffcult quiz and well done to Alex Matthews and Camren for getting so many right. This was followed by the second and third episodes of Star Trek Odyssey; The Wine Dark Sea and The Lotus Eat- ers respectively. Which were enjoyed again by the fans that were present. Following this was game that was set up by Jennifer Cole called What Were You Thinking? the rules basically were Jennifer would say a subject based on Hidden Frontier and the fans were to right down their answers, the difference was we were to write down answers that we thought other people would be writing down, quite a diffcult task I can tell you. This concluded the evenings events and people headed back either to their hotels, houses or rooms at the Radisson, although those that stayed at the Radisson were able to have a knees up in the reception area of the hotel, that apparently went on well in to the early hours of the morning. Day Two Arriving around 9am on the Saturday morning we all entered the room and were again welcomed by Andrew Foster and were able to rewatch a few of the messages from the day before as well as a special message from the people behind Star Trek Dark Armada. Fol- lowing on from that Star Trek Hidden Frontiers fnale Its Hour Come Round At Last was shown and at the same time there was another chance to get autographs of the cast and crew of Hid- den Frontier. Then around 11am the frst panel discussion of the weekend took place. The panel entitled From Concept To Chronicles: Story Development and was a talk with the writers and story de- velopers, who let use in on some of the background of the worlds of Star Trek Odyssey and Star Trek Helena Chroni- cles, which was an extremely fascinat- ing and educational talk. After lunch we went back to watch The Helena Chronicles pilot episode Sanc- tuary Lost followed on by a chance to meet the cast of Helena Chronicles in the second panel talk entitled Back To The Patch: Meet The Helena Chronicles Cast during which fans were able to ask the cast questions and the cast an- swered them to the best of their abilities. We then were able to watch Helenas second episode Obsessions followed by Odysseys fourth episode Vile Gods and again at the same time the oppor- tunity to get autographs this time from the cast of The Helena Chronicles. Then around 4.00pm the third panel started, this one entitled Andromedan Odyssey: Meet the Odyssey Cast, although this one was a smaller group the talk was no less animated and interesting. This was followed by a screening of the frst episode of the Voyages of The USS An- geles Return To Duty and the chance to get autographs from the cast of Odys- sey. Then at around 5.30pm both fans and crew were treated to a glimpse of what was to come from Hidden Frontier Productions, frst off we saw the trailer for Operation Beta Shield, this was fol- lowed by a preview of a few minutes of Operation Beta Shield itself. Then just when we didnt think that there would be anymore Rob announced that Hidden Frontier Productions have been work- ing on their frst original project, entitled Frontier Guard we then were treated to the two trailers that are now available on the Hidden Frontier website at www.hid- denfrontier.com. That evening most of the people attending went out for a meal at a local restaurant a report of which is in Alex Matthews report. Day Three The third day of the Excelsior Ball started a little differently from the previ- ous days. When I arrived at the hotel it wasnt quite ready for the days pro- ceedings, so a small group of us went to the local subway for breakfast, when we got back to the hotel the ball had already begun with The Best of The Bloopers which were absolutely hilari- ous these were followed the fourth panel The New Bad Guys on The Block: Meet The Archein a talk with a rather bedraggled group of actors (morning after the night before), this however did not dampen the fun that was had in this talk as both fans and crew took it in turns to grill the Archein over their Alpha Quadrant conquest plans. After this the fans had the chance to get autographs from the Archein themselves, whilst this was taking place the brilliant Orphans of War was shown. Panel fve started at 11am and was called Creating The Look: Makeup. This panel frstly talked about how they did certain makeups and then two of the panel Beo Fraser and Heather Ashleigh showed us how the makeup is actually done, and after seeing it in real life I was even more impressed. Following lunch Star Trek Intrepids Heavy Lies The Crown was shown followed by a special preview of their upcoming short Where Theres A Sea due for release on the 20th July. Then we swiftly moved into the sixth panel discussion of the weekend Fun with Fanflms: HF-Verse Fanflms and Joint Projects a look at the Hidden Frontier, Intrepid, Diplomatic Relations and The Expedition. Fans were then treated to another Voyages Of The USS Angeles episode Last of The Iconians as well as the fnal autograph session of the week- end. The fnal panel was Tell Us What You Really Think: Fan Feedback a chance for us fans to tell the producers what we really thought. Then a couple of presentations the frst one going to Rob and Risha Denney, an actual model Page 20 of the recently reft USS Excelsior, and this was followed on with the presenta- tion of two plaques the frst two Rob with the ship name Federation One on it, this was followed by the presentation of an identical plaque to Nick Cook of Star Trek Intrepid. Then at the end of the afternoon Rob did a closing speech. Round Up Would I go again? Yes. Would I recom- mend it to you? Yes, everyone was extremely welcoming even Rob after my moment when I was star struck at actually seeing him in the fesh (sorry Rob). The weekend itself was extremely fun and entertaining and the talks were well thought out and informative. Thank you to everyone who works extremely hard on any or all of the Hidden Frontier versions of Star Trek and long may it continue. Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 A Fans Perspective on Star Trek Fanflms: Is it Really Star Trek? And Why Do They Do It? [Richard Miles and I met up recently at the Star Trek: Hidden Frontier Ex- celsior Ball after chatting previously via the large and active Hidden Fron- tier forums. He asked me to write a little about what the Hidden Frontier and the fanflm industry seemed to be about, from my perspective.] As someone who is a relative new- comer to the Star Trek fanflm world Ive only been recently active in this internet phenomenon for about 3 years -- Ive casually followed the develop- ment of this new media form beginning with fanzines and fan fction stories to crude home-made productions, to more professional looking productions. I was active years ago with the J. Michael Straczynskis Babylon 5 feedback group on CompuServe (where JMS would do similar to what Rob Caves does on his weekly Hidden Frontier chat toss out ideas, solicit raw feedback, and gener- ally discuss how the show was created, how it develops, and where it might be going). After Babylon 5 ended, I kind of dropped out of the science fction fan world. It has been only in the past 4 years that I rediscovered fanflms in their current form, and frankly, I was stunned. What I saw bowled me over. These shows were inventive, interesting, and demonstrated something that had been killed by the commercialization of giant Star Trek cons the genuine love of the Star Trek universe, its characters, and the ideals of the Federation promot- ed frst by Gene Roddenberry and those writers who followed him. And most of all, these fanflms looked excellent! I started watching anew frst with New Voyages (Phase 2) and enjoyed that show and its remarkable sets and atten- tion to detail mimicking the original Star Trek series. While there, on the New Voyages forums, I learned about other productions such as Farragut, Intrepid, and Hidden Frontier. But for me, it was mostly Hidden Frontier that held my attention. First, there were 50 epi- sodes, over 7 years to download. And I did what most people do: watch a few, get hooked, and then go on marathon downloading/watching binges. I was hooked. I was amazed at the charac- ters. I saw how they creatively used the green screen in the early episodes, and how they attempted to use makeup to recreate some of the aliens. In the frst season or two, its clear they were learn- ing but wow, they were having a good time, and even more amazing, they were telling really interesting stories! This was Trek, I knew it. As the seasons progressed, the stories on Hidden Frontier had added depth and character development. The CGI work approached and, in my mind, sometimes exceeded that seen on television. And the writing continually got better and better for me. The writ- ers, from year to year, seemed to really understand these characters, and to understand the true vision of Star Trek. I was getting a steady dose of Star Trek, and getting to explore new worlds and new civilizations (albeit by green screen technology). And boy was I happy. Even Hidden Frontiers relatively con- troversial addition of a gay crewman in a lead role ft in with what I have come to believe is an extrapolation of the vision of Star Trek, because THIS was the Trek that I remembered this was Gene Roddenberrys Trek. Compelling stories about outer space, new civiliza- tions, new adventures, but ultimately, stories about our own human condi- tion here, and now. I liked how the gay plotline was integrated into the normal activities of the crew and how the characters development was treated as just another storyline. Just as Star Trek of the 1960s touched upon what were extremely sensitive issues (race, gov- ernment control, ethics and morality) so was this Hidden Frontier exploring the same types of controversies and social issues here in the mid-2000s. I loved it. I also liked the fact that just as Rodden- berry put a mixed racial crew on prime time TV in the mid-1960s (unheard of!), Caves had put a gay crewman and his relationships into a TV show with- out making it the focal element. Even though some Trek fans didnt like it.. I thought it was true to the spirit of Star Trek. And still do. Since rediscovering fanflms, the various fanflm forums, and the various fanflm productions and some of the emerging new productions, I have had the op- portunity to get to know other fans, as well as many of the producers, cast, and crew of several different fanflms ( most notably, Hidden Frontier and Starship Intrepid. As I have become more and more involved as a fan with Hidden Frontier, I was amazed at their dedication, creativ- ity, and sheer determination to make these flms. They do it using money out of their own pockets, on their own time, and in addition to all their other respon- sibilities to family, work, school, and other commitments. I was intrigued at why they did it. What motivated them to do it? That lead me to becoming more active in the Hidden Frontier produc- tions, helping out as I could, helping to get donations for needed equipment and supplies to allow them to continue to make their shows. I helped out and attended their conference last year (Excelsior Ball 2) and was able to assist in the production of an episode. Since then, I have had the chance to work as crew on the set, and meet this talented group of people. Making these fanflms is hard work. It takes an incredible amount of time. And takes a huge amount of these peoples personal lives (and money!) to make it happen. Some do it to learn the craft of science fction story writing, acting, directing, CGI graphics, or flm produc- tion. Other support these fanflms to help keep the Star Trek shows alive in uncertain times. But most importantly, I have come to believe, these people, fans, cast and crew alike truly believe in the positive values and ideals of the Star Trek universe, the lofty goals of the Federation, and a hope for a better fu- ture for all us. Sounds like some pretty good reasons for me... and Im happy to be a very small part of this exciting new form of entertainment. Rick Pike is a science fction fan frst and foremost. In addition to that, he is a member of the Hidden Frontier Pro- ductions staff for Public Relations and as Fan Donations Coordinator. He is amazed and thankful for all of the vari- ous Star Trek fanflms, and their casts and crews. Rick lives in Maryland and his best friend seems to be an otter. He can be reached on the Hidden Frontier forums as rick20625 or by e-mail at rick20625@hiddenfrontier.com The Captains Log with Rick Pike NEXT ISSUE : HIDDEN FRONTIER and INTREPID PRODUCTIONS PRESENT operation beta shield issue eight available late august NEXT ISSUE : HIDDEN FRONTIER and INTREPID PRODUCTIONS PRESENT operation beta shield issue eight available late august