# AMAZING footage from THE MOTION PICTURE



## RMBurnett (Jan 12, 2005)

Folks,

I have NO IDEA where this came from...but IT IS AMAZING!

I have NEVER, EVER seen this before.

If you love the refit...prepare to get change of shorts before you watch this:

Part One





Part Two


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## Nova Designs (Oct 10, 2000)

So cool. I still don't care what anyone else says. I loved this movie.


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## Steve CultTVman Iverson (Jan 1, 1970)

That was great!


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## Dr. Gonzo (Oct 3, 2000)

Is it just me or do these appear to be gone?

Edit: It appears to just be me


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## PixelMagic (Aug 25, 2004)

Really awesome. Thanks for sharing.


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

Cool stuff! I love the exploding D7s.


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## Fury3 (Jan 18, 2003)

Thank you for posting this, it was a real treat.


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## ssgt-cheese (May 31, 2000)

I can't see anything.


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## Asmenoth (Feb 27, 2009)

Wow...nice! I wonder, where did that come from? Maybe the old Laser Disk version of the movie?


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

Definitely from a tape - you can see the warbly stretched tape distortion in a couple of places.

Also, I forgot to mention that yes, I do love the refit. (Though luckily I have adequate bodily control so I didn't need to change my shorts.)


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## JGG1701 (Nov 9, 2004)

Very nice!:thumbsup:
Be great if it were available on DVD.
-Jim


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## uss_columbia (Jul 15, 2003)

Fantastic!


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## WarpCore Breach (Apr 27, 2005)

That was something to see! I've never seen that before.


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## KUROK (Feb 2, 2004)

Great! Thanks!

I didn't realize the Persis Khambatta died over ten years ago of a heart attack and was also broke financially.


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## uscav_scout (Feb 14, 2007)

COOL!!!

Kinda reminds one of the old Government Propoganda films we saw in school.

Still...really, really, really cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## bigjimslade (Oct 9, 2005)

I've got to wonder where all this reference material went to. You here there are no color photos of the model but then something like this appears.


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## bigjimslade (Oct 9, 2005)

I add that is is clear they were documenting the construction of the model. Where are all the references then? Notice the bridge here is nothing like what ended up on the movie.

Interesting how the interior of the arboretum looks nothing like usually portrayed.


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## Trekkie75 (Mar 29, 2009)

Nova Designs said:


> So cool. I still don't care what anyone else says. I loved this movie.


TMP beats Final Frontier, Insurrection and Nemesis, I'll give it that. And its visuals were on a par with anything in the original Star Wars it was going after. But in terms of script and story IMO it could of been alot better. 

Anyhow this movie gave us the Refit, which is my favorite Enterprise as far as overall look goes.


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## tripdeer (Mar 7, 2004)

That was amazing, speaking as someone who hadn't yet been born when TMP came out. It was, however, my introduction to Star Trek, via my mom, and thus will always hold a special place in my heart.


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## Jim NCC1701A (Nov 6, 2000)

bigjimslade said:


> I've got to wonder where all this reference material went to. You here there are no color photos of the model but then something like this appears.


There are some as she was originally built - earlier bridge etc, red pin striping around the hull - but they're very few and far between. The Starship Builder site used to have one.

Was a really interesting look into the making of. Fantastic find, I wonder where it came from and who dug it out? Definitely taken from a video tape.


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## Opus Penguin (Apr 19, 2004)

That was very cool. I know TMP is one of the slowest Star Trek movies but still a favorite of mine.


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## lizzybus (Jun 18, 2005)

Very interesting....i'm a long time fan of TMP...when i saw it in cinemas in '79 when i was 11, i immediately went home and recreated a "bridge set" with revolving 70's leather-ette chairs and teddy bears and stuff....i was the captain obviously. 
However i recently bought the blu-rays and watched the first with my wife and kids...kids are 10, 12 and 14....2 of them dozed off through some of it..and all of them howled with laughter at the bizzare farting noises that V'Ger makes......and i got all defensive and , truth be told, slightly embarrased....

Kind of puts you in your place, doesn't it?

Sorry to veer off topic....

I would kill for high rez colour pics of the TMP model....and i know i'm not alone...

Rich


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## jheilman (Aug 30, 2001)

Awesome! So where did this come from? Interesting to note that this appears to be a video transfer straight from the film. You can see the end of the film with the various tags and markings. So, was this filmed and never broadcast? Was this made by the FX house for internal promotion? Curious.


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## nautilusnut (Jul 9, 2008)

*amazing footage from THE MOTION PICTURE*

Interesting that no one has mentioned the shots of the Enterprise being worked on are of the earlier version that was not used. Especially easy to spot is the bridge similar to the old tv series.


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## MJB (Aug 3, 2001)

I remember poor Persis passing away but didn't know she was broke. I hope it wasn't because of a bad manager.

:thumbsup: Count me in as one of the ones who loves the refit and can have a mini-organism when I see her.

mjb


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

nautilusnut said:


> Interesting that no one has mentioned the shots of the Enterprise being worked on are of the earlier version that was not used. Especially easy to spot is the bridge similar to the old tv series.


I THOUGHT that was what I was seeing, but haven't had a chance to go back and look again. If so, then that is even more rare.


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## Nova Designs (Oct 10, 2000)

nautilusnut said:


> Interesting that no one has mentioned the shots of the Enterprise being worked on are of the earlier version that was not used. Especially easy to spot is the bridge similar to the old tv series.



Same thing with the Klingon ships, they are all original D-7s.


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## Gunstar1 (Mar 1, 2007)

Nova Designs said:


> Same thing with the Klingon ships, they are all original D-7s.


If you recall 2 things: initially the script draft called for a more fiery, traditional destruction of the Klingons.... another early draft called for the Enterprise to fight the Klingon ships at the end (they rematerialize from V'ger) and is so battle damaged that it does a saucer seperation. Looks like they were testing Klingon explosions...



lizzybus said:


> Very interesting....i'm a long time fan of TMP...when i saw it in cinemas in '79 when i was 11, i immediately went home and recreated a "bridge set" with revolving 70's leather-ette chairs and teddy bears and stuff....i was the captain obviously.
> However i recently bought the blu-rays and watched the first with my wife and kids...kids are 10, 12 and 14....2 of them dozed off through some of it..and all of them howled with laughter at the bizzare farting noises that V'Ger makes......and i got all defensive and , truth be told, slightly embarrased....
> Kind of puts you in your place, doesn't it?
> 
> Rich


Don't blame yourself, blame the absurd trend in modern cinema/ entertainment/marketing: It's all about short attention span and instant sensory gratification/overstimulation - try this - next time you are watching commercials, count to yourself how many seconds before one visual CUTS to another visual - today, visuals cut every 2-3 seconds (unless the commercial is directed to those now retired).
They might as well be brainwashing us with a strobe light.

Few producers/editors/directors today go back to when cinematography was an art form that you could soak in and appreciate (like ST:TMP). Star Wars (original) was lightning fast for it's time, but even that was artfully (visually) done - nowadays the director shakes the camera so you don't notice the cheap, underdeveloped effects/scenery. Even the new Star Trek movie fell victim to this modern technique.


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## X15-A2 (Jan 21, 2004)

Those clips do bring back a flood of memories!

I spent quite a bit of time exploring those sets and watching as many of the scenes were filmed. In the first clip the camera zooms into a sign hung on the outside of the main stage 10 entry door, I have that sign in storage somewhere. When they start talking about the matte process you see a fellow sitting at a drafting table with some production renderings scattered across it, that was Mike Minor whom I knew pretty well back then. He was a really nice guy. They weren't kidding about one needing to be careful where you walked on the V'ger set! The floor of the bowl was about 8 or 10 feet above the stage floor, if you fell through, you were going to be seriously hurt! That set was built on the huge "wet" stage at Paramount. Next door was parked the full scale San Fransisco shuttle. Later, that mock up was stored in the small adjoining stage together with the full scale Voyager probe. The SF shuttle was not built to match the miniature. The miniature featured side walls that curved out then back in as they went aft, giving it a flattened football shape. The mock up was just a box with straight flat sides. It was so poorly made that when you looked at the nose, one side was lower than the other! The miniature on the other hand, was a beautiful example of model building. Too bad it was not really seen in the film. All TMP model building was done to very, very high level of quality, rarely if ever seen again in motion picture FX work.

Those were the days.

Phil


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## GKvfx (May 30, 2008)

nautilusnut said:


> Interesting that no one has mentioned the shots of the Enterprise being worked on are of the earlier version that was not used. Especially easy to spot is the bridge similar to the old tv series.



Actually the Enterprise model *IS* the one used/seen in ST:TMP. Don't confuse it with the Phase II Enterprise which was built but never filmed.

The footage appears to cover a time period that spans (roughly) spring - fall of 1978, during Robert Abel's tenure and before Doug Trumbull and Apogee stepped in and took over the FX.

Initially, the Enterprise's bridge and planetary sensor on the bottom of the saucer were going to look like this - 



















- very much like the original series. These slides are actually clips from exposure wedges that they shot as tests as construction progressed. By the time Abel left the project, the Enterprise was largely done - paintjob and all. In fact, a good number of the publicity photos we've seen over the years were shot around the time this film was shot. If you look closely at them, you'll spot the "old" details. Apparently, some of those lighting tests made their way to Paramount advertising.

When Doug Trumbull came along and advocated the "self illumination" concept, these details changed. Now, I'm not sure if they were changed solely because of that "self illumination" concept, or if there was something else driving it. But the bridge cap and the planetary sensor changed. Other things changed too, like the number of stripes running along the secondary hull. More lighting tests were done, and again, some of those made their way to the PR dept. (If you look at the really nicely lit shot of the Enterprise in spacedock (the one where it looks golden), you'll see that it has the new model features but NO decals. When I finally saw a cibachrome enlargement of that shot, it was really stunning to realize that such a familiar image had new details.)

As for the D-7's - apparently, those were castings off of the TOS Klingon ship. Once those experiments failed (and failed they did), Abel and co. realized they would have to go bigger - hence the 48" miniature (though by the time they got _that_ built they had abandoned the idea of blowing up a model and decided that any "explosion" would involve an optical).

Actually, there are some neat ideas in the Klingon ship sequence that Abel had to abandon. Looking at the original boards, there was supposed to be a lot more "evasive maneuvers" and a feeling of speed and mass. The Klingon ships were going to roll more and one ship was going to have it's warp engine blown off and just drift dead in space.

Along the way, the concept of the whiplash bolts changed to a digitizing effect and, overall, the entire sequence was simplified (due to schedule pressures) by Apogee.......

Maybe we can persuade Darren Dochterman to do some animatics/pre-viz based on the *original* boards.


Gene


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## Bay7 (Nov 8, 1999)

Theres more footage out there - I remember that special effects show call 'movie magic' doing a making of, that showed them still building one end of the V'ger minature while filming had started on the other - must have been huge pressure to get it done - couldn't have been much fun!


Mike


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## Steve Mavronis (Oct 14, 2001)

GKvfx said:


>


I don't know if this has already been pointed out but I see detail from the 2001 Moon Bus bottom girder structure on the lower saucer airlock ceiling! Not sure if this was added before or after Trumbull was involved.


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## Jim NCC1701A (Nov 6, 2000)

MJB said:


> Count me in as one of the ones who loves the refit and can have a mini-organism when I see her.


Mini-organism?
Isn't that what burst out of Kane's chest in _Alien_?:jest:


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## GKvfx (May 30, 2008)

Steve Mavronis said:


> I don't know if this has already been pointed out but I see detail from the 2001 Moon Bus bottom girder structure on the lower saucer airlock ceiling! Not sure if this was added before or after Trumbull was involved.



I haven't really investigated the greeblies on this model (since I'm not planning on building a studio scale replica), but I'm going to check that out. And these wedges are pre-Trumbull (they were dated August of 1978).

Gene


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## Jim NCC1701A (Nov 6, 2000)

I've never seen those two pics before - interesting that they already had the aztec applied but there's zero detail on the bridge and B/C part. Must've been fairly early in the painting of it.


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## Carson Dyle (May 7, 2003)

Having watched the film fairly recently I was surprised by how sloppy some of the FX shots are. The matte work in particular is downright lame.

One thing that _isn't_ lame is the exceedingly high standard established by the model makers. To this day I don't know if their work has been equaled, let alone topped. 

Another non-lame thing is the artistically conceived and executed model photography. No one has ever been able to trump Trumbull when it comes to "painting with light" (well, maybe Ridley Scott, but on Alien he didn't have motion control rigs to contend with).

Great stuff, Robert; thanks for posting.


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## Jim NCC1701A (Nov 6, 2000)

Carson Dyle said:


> Having watched the film fairly recently I was surprised by how sloppy some of the FX shots are. The matte work in particular is downright lame.


The opening pass over the Klingon ships - terrible bit of matting. Which was a surprise considering how well similar shots were handled in Star Wars just a few years earlier.


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## pagni (Mar 20, 1999)

It used to be quite common for movie studios to release what were called "Featurettes" which essentially were ads for upcoming motion pictures releases, they were designed as teasers and were sold to various markets, including television stations that needed programming to pad their schedules.


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## bigjimslade (Oct 9, 2005)

MJB said:


> I remember poor Persis passing away but didn't know she was broke. I hope it wasn't because of a bad manager.


Notice Persis had cigarette in hand during teh shaving.


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## srspicer (Oct 14, 2007)

Very cool, thanks for sharing!!!

Lots-a neat info here.:thumbsup:

Scott


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

Very cool!


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## SJF (Dec 3, 1999)

As Spock would say: Fascinating! 

It was funny watching GR plant a kiss on Persis' bald head. 

Thanks for posting these. 

Sean


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## Kanaan (Jan 27, 2007)

I had seen parts of this before but not the entire segment. Thank you for posting this precious piece of Trek history.

God Bless Persis. Sitting there with a cigarette before the big shave. I had the chance to meet her in person in 1993 at a convention in Valley Forge, PA called Spring Trek. It was her ONLY US Star Trek convention appearance.


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## sbaxter (Jan 8, 2002)

Kanaan said:


> God Bless Persis. Sitting there with a cigarette before the big shave.


Most women would probably want something a lot stronger than that if they knew they were about to be shaved bald!

Qapla'

SSB


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## hubert (May 3, 2008)

sbaxter said:


> Most women would probably want something a lot stronger than that if they knew they were about to be shaved bald!
> 
> Qapla'
> 
> SSB


She got that from Roddenberry as well IIRC. Wasn't there an insurance policy taken out for compensation if her hair didn't grow back?


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## NJFNick (May 22, 2004)

The shots of Nimoy in the orange space suit seem to be from the memory wall sequence.


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## jbond (Aug 29, 2002)

It's interesting too that this featurette basically gives away the whole V'ger plotline since they show the full-size mockup of Voyager Six.


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## Carson Dyle (May 7, 2003)

I could be wrong, but I suspect this may have been part of an exhibitor reel -- the sort of thing studios screen for theater owners as a way of generating buzz for a forthcoming release.

Whatever it is, it's a great find.


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## woof359 (Apr 27, 2003)

never seen that before, many thanks for posting it


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## Jafo (Apr 22, 2005)

i had more fun watching the star trek scene it trailer you can see after a video has played you can click on it


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## Poseidon (Aug 30, 2004)

Thanks for posting that! I also have never seen this footage before. Isn't it funny? Somebody must have seen it at the time.


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## darkwanderer (Mar 11, 2008)

It was great to see this stuff, even though it was slightly dated.
I think the footage came from Doug Drexler's site. Unfortunately I don't have the link.


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