- 2 months ago
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00We are going to be diving in to one of the biggest legacy name ships, depending on who you ask,
00:06written by the wonderful, the stunning, the outstanding, the frankly, like, crazy attention to detail person,
00:14Paul Sutherland. Not to be confused with T. Paul Sutherland.
00:18Before we go on, remember everyone, thank you so much for your support.
00:21Please don't forget to like and share and subscribe.
00:24We hit 250,000 subscribers because of how amazing you all are.
00:29So thank you so much.
00:30So let's just go for something really nice and achievable this year.
00:3410 million?
00:35With so much of the first season of Star Trek Picard's kind of...
00:39...of ships, it was really, really wonderful to see the USS Stargazer appear in the second season for two episodes.
00:51But regardless of how little screen time that she got in the second season,
00:55there was so much care and development that went in to putting together this hero ship,
01:01because that's exactly what the Stargazer is in the second season of Picard.
01:06Wait until you see some of the things that went into putting this together.
01:10So, without much further ado, let us take a deep dive into the command of Captain Cristobal Rios,
01:18and 10 secrets about the USS Stargazer you need to know.
01:23Number 10.
01:2310.
01:25Stargazer brought together a few old names from Star Trek along with a few of the newer ones.
01:32The team was headed by production designer Dave Blass and saw the return of John Eaves and Doug Drexler,
01:37and also Sean Hargreaves, who designed the Enterprise A in Star Trek Beyond,
01:42Jeffrey Mandel, who was part of the design team of Star Trek Insurrection,
01:46and of course, Michael Okuda.
01:49The team was tasked with designing a ship that would be both new for the 25th century era of Star Trek Picard,
01:56but also evocative of the original design by Andy Probert and John Dwyer.
02:02According to production designer Dave Blass, we needed to update the classic USS Stargazer design that was seen briefly in the TV series Star Trek The Next Generation,
02:10and update the design of a Starfleet starship into a new century.
02:14How would we update the technology to work for modern audiences while also staying true to the original next generation feel?
02:20Despite this new Stargazer's fidelity to Captain Picard's original command first seen in the battle,
02:26this creature was very much its own thing.
02:29Now, it was both evocative of that original Constellation class,
02:33but also a new design of a TOS-era Radiant class USS Stargazer that was designed by fan model maker Bill Krause.
02:43Number nine, a command with baggage.
02:45In the show, Picard says that this Stargazer is a refit of his original Stargazer,
02:52and you might look at the design and be like,
02:54ah no, these are a little bit too different.
02:57But, according to showrunner Terry Metallus, that is actually true.
03:03Like the TMP Enterprise, it's a massively updated refit, he said.
03:06I like to think of it as the story of the broom.
03:09If one day you replace the handle and another day the brush, is it still the same broom?
03:13We thought of it as a vessel endlessly repaired and upgraded, brought in line with current future tech,
03:18so that somewhere underneath all the lights and polish are the bones of Picard's original ship.
03:23Does it make sense? I don't know.
03:25But I sure like the spirit of it.
03:27Whether it makes sense or not, the producer still felt that the Stargazer was a minor vessel in the pantheon of Starfleet names.
03:36Dave Blass had this to say about the ship's registry.
03:39I dropped the hammer on this one. The Stargazer is an important ship,
03:43but it does not hold the same status in the Federation that the Enterprise had.
03:47I didn't feel it was warranted.
03:48Because then every ship gets it and it becomes a thing, the Stargazer didn't have that legacy.
03:55Therefore, there was no A at the end of the registry.
03:59Number 8. What does a starship need with a carpet?
04:02The interiors of the Stargazer were designed by Dave Blass and Sean Hargreaves,
04:06who, as previously mentioned, designed the Enterprise-A for Star Trek Beyond.
04:10Constructed at Santa Clarita Studios in Santa Clarita, California,
04:14there was a main bridge built along with a corridor set and an observation lounge set.
04:18According to Dave Blass, the bridge was constructed 10 feet wider than the Enterprise-E bridge,
04:24so that they could take advantage of the new widescreen format that Star Trek Picard was going to be shown in.
04:29Designed to evoke Herman Zimmerman's Star Trek The Next Generation sets,
04:32which carried over into the movies as well,
04:35there is one thing that is missing from the Stargazer.
04:40Ample carpeting.
04:42According to Sean Hargreaves,
04:43there's been discussion on some of the online threads about whether there should have been carpet.
04:47I disagree wholeheartedly.
04:49This isn't a cruise ship, nor a living room.
04:51When it gets down to carpet, no carpet, how shiny the floors are, etc.,
04:55it's missing the point.
04:56Number 7.
04:57Observation Lounge Observations.
05:00It sounds very strange to say the word observations without a certain word in front of it.
05:12Accomplished fan model maker Bill Krause was tasked with creating practical models of the Sagan-class USS Stargazer,
05:20as well as the Constellation-class USS Stargazer seen in The Next Generation.
05:24He was also tasked with creating a TOS-era version of the Stargazer,
05:30and all three of these models were used as set dressing in the observation lounge of this modern Stargazer.
05:37Other elements that were used as well were the original plaque from the episode of the battle,
05:43and of course a model of Captain Rios' original ship, La Sirena.
05:47According to production designer Dave Blass, the lounge set was a technological achievement in itself and featured a real view outside the windows.
05:54Custom conference table featured a gigantic integrated OLED screen as well as integrated lighting.
06:01The chairs were custom designed to harken back to the Enterprise-E version of the chairs.
06:04The highlight of the set is the panoramic view out the back of the ship with giant windows showcasing the aft of the Stargazer.
06:11Number six, because callbacks.
06:13According to set designer Sean Hargreaves, the Stargazer was a group effort,
06:18but the overall look was accomplished by John Eves and Doug Drexler.
06:22As they say, it takes a village.
06:24I just want everyone to get credit where credit is due.
06:26It's only fair.
06:27If you like the exterior of the Stargazer, that's John Eves through and through with Doug finessing.
06:31Known for creating exhaustively detailed starships, like the NXO-1 for Enterprise,
06:37Drexler included things like phaser strips, transporter emitters, tractor beam emitters,
06:42and including a shuttle bay as well between the two dorsal nacelle struts at the back of the Stargazer.
06:49The Stargazer also possessed two warpfield governors located on the dorsal side of the saucer section, starboard and port.
06:57Not sure what a warpfield governor is?
06:58Well, there's a long and detailed explanation for it, but basically it's an Easter egg.
07:02The TOS movie-era ships always contain these.
07:06If you think of it, both the Reliant and the TMP Enterprise had them at the rear of the saucer section.
07:14So basically, it's just a nice nod to previous designs.
07:17Number five, Stylegazer.
07:20All right, this one's not technically about the ship itself, but go with us here for a second.
07:24Season two of Picard introduces a new Starfleet uniform, something that really seems to be happening every three episodes in Star Trek since 2017.
07:34Created by costume designer Christine Clark, Starfleet's 2400 uniforms are an improved version of the same uniforms from Star Trek Picard's season one.
07:43According to Clark, our Starfleet uniforms in season one were admittedly created in a bit of a haste, and though they're perfectly lovely designs, me and our producers felt we could deliver something more grand for season two.
07:55With Starfleet playing a much more featured role in season two, I wanted to pick up where we left off, but create a sleeker, more sophisticated design for 2400.
08:03This new spin on Starfleet's DS9, Voyager, and TNG era uniforms features a dimensional raised ink delta across the shoulders, an asymmetrical style jacket with a division color running down the trousers as well.
08:18It was meant to be evocative of the monster maroons that were introduced in the Wrath of Khan, just one of the many callbacks to the original series in Star Trek Picard.
08:27Number four, Starfleet.
08:29Okay, again, this one's not technically about the Stargazer itself, but this kind of flows, right?
08:34There's been an awful lot said about the arrival of the Federation fleet in the first and last episodes of Star Trek Picard season two.
08:42There's even a list just waiting to be written about this fleet itself.
08:49Uh, pull.
08:51But let's touch on the fleet briefly here, because it's still one of the best parts of Picard's second season.
08:55According to an interview with Dave Blass with Inverse's Ryan Britt, the different ships that appear in Star Trek Picard season two was effectively a direct response to the angry outcry of fans from the last episode of first season of Star Trek Picard.
09:12I know that there's a lot of practical reasons why things happen, but I was like, okay, I wonder if there's a way to solve this problem, to turn this obstacle into an opportunity.
09:21I found these ships from Star Trek Online and I was like, damn, these are really good looking.
09:25I was like, why are we not doing something here?
09:27With limited resources available to the effects department, Star Trek Picard turned to Star Trek Online, sourcing several of their ships to appear alongside the Stargazer in the pilot and the final episode.
09:41The show also received aid from Eagle Moss' Star Trek Starships collections by providing digital models of ships like the Akira-class.
09:48All of this in response to the so-called copy and paste fleet that appeared in the season one finale, A in Arcadia Ego Part 2.
09:57So, next time you wonder if an angry rant about Star Trek Starships is worth something on Twitter.
10:04Love you, Dave!
10:05Number three, Elkars Mania.
10:07Fitting Star Trek Picard's second season now in the 25th century, new user interfaces were created by Andrew Jarvis and Twisted Media for display on the bridge of the USS Stargazer.
10:20These referenced back to the 24th century Elkars of Star Trek The Next Generation, but also pushed the aesthetic forward.
10:26For season two, Jarvis and Twisted Media were joined by Michael Okuda, the man who originally created the Elkars, lovingly dubbed Okudagrams, for Star Trek The Next Generation, and Doug Drexler, who presented the production with original assets from the shows.
10:43Like the original Okudagrams of the Next Generation DS9 and Voyager, Star Trek Picard's Elkars interfaces were integrated into the USS Stargazer's bridge using static backlit panels and animated live feed monitors, OLEDs, integrated into the ship's consoles and interfaces on set.
11:02This time though, the set designers were able to give the ship's computers an even more futuristic look by creating curved screens throughout the bridge.
11:08These curved Elkars displays were achieved live on set using real projection and non-reflective flex glass screens.
11:16According to Systems Integrator and Computer Playback Supervisor, Todd A. Marks, having this wide display area, no one else has ever done something with the kind of complex curves on a practical set before.
11:27Number two, normalize Star Trek Insurrection references.
11:30Sometimes myself and Paul might disagree on some of the points on these lists, but here is one where I am in complete agreement.
11:37Star Trek Insurrection is good, actually.
11:40Of the four Next Generation movies, it is the one that is closest to an episode of The Next Generation.
11:47While that is often used as a criticism, I think of it as a compliment.
11:52It captures the pace and thoughtfulness of The Next Generation, features a beautiful score by Jerry Goldsmith,
11:58lush visuals by cinematographer Matthew Leonetti, and loads of John Eves-style spaceships, including a slew of Starfleet auxiliary vessels.
12:09While references to Star Trek Insurrection have been light in the years since its release,
12:14the Sona are name-dropped in Star Trek Deep Space Nine, and the Baku are given a shout in Star Trek Discovery's fourth season,
12:21Star Trek Picard's second season contains a big nod to Star Trek Insurrection, the Stargazer's complement of Shuttlecraft.
12:30Glimpse study briefly in the Stargazer.
12:32The shuttlecraft that ferries Admiral Picard to the Stargazer is based on the Type 11 design of Shuttlecraft that was created by John Eves for Star Trek Insurrection.
12:42This design was dubbed the Type 14 and was nearly identical to the Type 11,
12:47although it featured an additional antenna assembly on the dorsal side of the ship and Stargazer-style nacelles.
12:53Also of note, the Type 14 shuttle in this episode is actually graced with its own name, the USS Jameson,
13:01named after astronaut May Jameson, who appeared as transporter operator Palmer in The Next Generation episode, Second Chances.
13:09Number one, see you in the funny pages.
13:10As of the recording of this, we are yet to know if the USS Stargazer is going to appear in the third season of Star Trek Picard.
13:18We can say, however, that it has continued to fly in the printed pages of IDW's ongoing comic series, Star Trek Stargazer.
13:30In that series, there is a new officer in command taking over for acting Captain Seven of Nine.
13:36This is the Andorian officer Makara, who invites Admiral Picard aboard the Stargazer to relive some of his glory days.
13:43As for the filmed adventures of the USS Stargazer, we will have to see, but it is continuing a legacy that several of the other ships in Star Trek's history have passed down,
13:54which is, its sets have been redressed and redesigned to serve as the USS Titan A in the third season.
14:02With so much history from the inception of Star Trek going into the design of the Sagan-class Stargazer itself,
14:08it's only fitting that the Stargazer would lend its own advances to a new generation of starship.
14:17You know, I think there might be a list in that.
14:19Thank you all so much for watching along, and thank you again for your support on this ongoing series.
14:23We love this series! It's so interesting.
14:25What ship do you want to see next? Let us know in the comments below.
14:28Please don't forget to like, share, and subscribe, and remember, you can catch us over on Twitter, at TrekCulture.
14:33You can catch us on Instagram as well, at TrekCultureYT.
14:36Catch myself, at Sean Farrick, and all the various, and you can catch Editor Chris, at EditChrisEdit.
14:41You're all wonderful, you're all awesome, a very happy 2023 to you.
14:45Make sure you live long and prosper.
14:46To our friends in Ukraine, you are incredible, you are so brave, and it is amazing the strength you are showing us.
14:53To those who are protesting in Iran, in China, and all across the world, know that we are with you.
14:59Everyone, as much as you can, make 2023 a good one.
15:03Make it so.
Comments