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The older these refits get, the newer they look.
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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
00:13to detail person, Paul Sutherland. Not to be confused with T. Paul Sutherland. Before we go on,
00:19remember everyone, thank you so much for your support. Please don't forget to like and share
00:23and subscribe. We hit 250,000 subscribers because of how amazing you all are. So thank you
00:29so much. So let's just go for something really nice and achievable this year. 10 million? With so
00:36much of the first season of Star Trek Picard kind of spent on a smaller scale in terms of ships,
00:42it was really, really wonderful to see the USS Stargazer appear in the second season for two
00:50episodes. But regardless of how little screen time that she got in the second season, there was so
00:56much care and development that went in to putting together this hero ship because that's exactly
01:02what the Stargazer is in the second season of Picard. Wait until you see some of the things that
01:08went into putting this together. So without much further ado, let us take a deep dive into the
01:15command of Captain Cristobal Rios and 10 secrets about the USS Stargazer you need to know.
01:22Number 10, the pressure of legacy. The design of the USS Stargazer brought together a few old names
01:29from Star Trek along with a few of the newer ones. The team was headed by production designer Dave
01:34Blass and saw the return of John Eaves and Doug Drexler and also Sean Hargreaves who designed the
01:39Enterprise A in Star Trek Beyond, Jeffrey Mandel who was part of the design team of Star Trek Insurrection
01:46and of course Michael Okuda. The team was tasked with designing a ship that would be both new for
01:53the 25th century era of Star Trek Picard but also evocative of the original design by Andy Probert
02:01and John Dwyer. According to production designer Dave Blass, we needed to update the classic USS Stargazer
02:06design that was seen briefly in the TV series Star Trek The Next Generation and update the design
02:11of a Starfleet starship into a new century. How would we update the technology to work for modern
02:16audiences while also staying true to the original next generation feel? Despite this new Stargazer's
02:22fidelity to Captain Picard's original command first seen in the battle, this creature was very much its
02:28own thing. Now it was both evocative of that original Constellation class but also a new design of a
02:35TOS era Radiant class USS Stargazer that was designed by fan model maker Bill Krause. Number nine,
02:44a command with baggage. In the show Picard says that this Stargazer is a refit of his original Stargazer
02:51and you might look at the design and be like ah no these are a little bit too different but
02:57according
02:58to showrunner Terry Metallus that is actually true. Like the TMP Enterprise it's a massively
03:05updated refit he said. I like to think of it as the story of the broom. If one day you
03:09replace the
03:10handle and another day the brush is it still the same broom? We thought of it as a vessel endlessly
03:14repaired and upgraded brought in line with current future tech so that somewhere underneath all the
03:20lights and polish are the bones of Picard's original ship. Does it make sense? I don't know,
03:25but I sure like the spirit of it. Whether it makes sense or not the producer still felt that the
03:30Stargazer was a minor vessel in the pantheon of Starfleet names. Dave Blass had this to say about
03:38the ship's registry. I dropped the hammer on this one. The Stargazer is an important ship but it does
03:43not hold the same status in the Federation that the Enterprise had. I 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.
03:54Therefore, there was no A at the end of the registry. Number eight. What does a starship need
04:01with a carpet? The 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. Constructed at Santa
04:11Clarita Studios in Santa Clarita, California, there was a main bridge built along with a corridor set
04:16and an observation lounge set. According to Dave Blass, the bridge was constructed 10 feet wider than the
04:22Enterprise E bridge so that they could take advantage of the new widescreen format that Star Trek Picard
04:28was going to be shown in. Designed to evoke Herman Zimmerman's Star Trek The Next Generation sets,
04:32which carried over into the movies as well, there is one thing that is missing from the Stargazer.
04:40Ample carpeting. According to Sean Hargreaves, there's been discussion on some of the online threads
04:45about whether there should have been carpet. I disagree wholeheartedly. This isn't a cruise ship,
04:50nor living room. When it gets down to carpet, no carpet, how shiny the floors are etc, it's missing
04:56the point. Number seven. Observation Lounge Observations. It sounds very strange to say
05:02the word observations without a certain word in front of it.
05:12Accomplished fan model maker Bill Krauss was tasked with creating practical models of the Sagan class USS
05:19stargazer as well as the constellation class USS stargazer seen in the next generation. He was also
05:25tasked with creating a TOS era version of the stargazer and all three of these models were used
05:32as set dressing in the observation lounge of this modern stargazer. Other elements that were used as
05:38well were the original plaque from the episode of the battle and of course a model of Captain Rios's
05:45original ship La Serena. According to production designer Dave Blass, the lounge set was a
05:50technological achievement in itself and featured a real view outside the windows. Custom conference
05:55table featured a gigantic integrated OLED screen as well as integrated lighting. The chairs were
06:01custom designed to harken back to the Enterprise E version of the chairs. The highlight of the set
06:05is the panoramic view out the back of the ship with giant windows showcasing the aft of the stargazer.
06:11Number six because callbacks. According to set designer Sean Hargreaves the stargazer was a group effort
06:17but the overall look was accomplished by John Eves and Doug Drexler. As they say it takes a village
06:23I just want everyone to get credit where credit is due it's only fair. If you like the exterior of
06:28the stargazer that's John Eves through and through with Doug finessing. Known for creating exhaustively
06:33detailed starships like the NXO-1 for Enterprise, Drexler included things like phaser strips, transporter
06:40emitters, tractor beam emitters and including a shuttle bay as well between the two dorsal nacelle
06:47struts at the back of the stargazer. The stargazer also possessed two warp field governors located
06:53on the dorsal side of the saucer section starboard and port. Not sure what a warp field governor is?
06:58Well there's a long and detailed explanation for it but basically it's an easter egg. The TOS
07:03movie era ships always contain these. If you think of it both the Reliant and the TMP
07:09Enterprise had them at the rear of the saucer section. So basically it's just a nice nod to
07:16previous designs. Number five stylegazer. All right this one's not technically about the ship itself
07:23but go with us here for a second. Season two of Picard introduces a new Starfleet uniform,
07:29something that really seems to be happening every three episodes in Star Trek since 2017. Created by
07:35costume designer Christine Clark, Starfleet's 2400 uniforms are an improved version of the same
07:40uniforms from Star Trek Picard's season one. According to Clark, our Starfleet uniforms in season one were
07:46admittedly created in a bit of a haste and though they're perfectly lovely designs, me and our producers
07:52felt we could deliver something more grand for season two. With Starfleet playing a much more
07:56featured role in season two I wanted to pick up where we left off but create a sleeker more
08:00sophisticated design for 2400. This new spin on Starfleet's DS9 Voyager and TNG era uniforms
08:07features a dimensional raised ink delta across the shoulders, an asymmetrical style jacket with a division
08:15colour running down the trousers as well. It was meant to be evocative of the monster maroons that were
08:21introduced in the Wrath of Khan, just one of the many callbacks to the original series in Star Trek
08:26Picard. Number four, Starfleet. Okay again this was not technically about the Stargazers itself but it
08:33kind of flows right? There's been an awful lot said about the arrival of the Federation fleet in the
08:39first and last episodes of Star Trek Picard season two. There's even a list just waiting to be written
08:45about this fleet itself. Uh, Paul. But let's touch on the fleet briefly here because it's still one of
08:53the best parts of Picard's second season. According to an interview with Dave Blass with Invers' Ryan
08:59Ritt, the different ships that appear in Star Trek Picard season two was effectively a direct response to
09:06the angry outcry of fans from the last episode of first season of Star Trek Picard. I know that there's
09:13a
09:13lot of practical reasons why things happen but I was like okay I wonder if there's a way to solve
09:18this
09:18problem to turn this obstacle into an opportunity. I found these ships from Star Trek Online and I was
09:23like damn these are really good looking. I was like why are we not doing something here? With limited
09:28resources available to the effects department Star Trek Picard turned to Star Trek Online sourcing
09:34several of their ships to appear alongside the Stargazer in the pilot and the final episode. The show also
09:41received aid from Eagle Moss's Star Trek Starships collections by providing digital models of ships
09:46like the Akira class. All of this in response to the so-called copy and paste fleet that appeared
09:53in the season one finale A in Arcadia Ego part two. So next time you wonder if an angry rant
10:00about
10:00Star Trek Starships is worth something on Twitter. Love you Dave! Number three Elkars Mania. Fitting Star Trek
10:08Picard's second season now in the 25th century new user interfaces were created by Andrew Jarvis and
10:16Twisted Media for display on the bridge of the USS Stargazer. These referenced back to the 24th
10:22century Elkars of Star Trek The Next Generation but also pushed the aesthetic forward. For season two
10:27Jarvis and Twisted Media were joined by Michael Okuda the man who originally created the Elkars lovingly
10:34dubbed Okuda grams for Star Trek The Next Generation and Doug Drexler who presented the production with
10:40original assets from the shows. Like the original Okuda grams of the next generation DS9 and Voyager,
10:47Star Trek Picard's Elkars interfaces were integrated into the USS Stargazer's bridge using static backlit
10:54panels and animated live feed monitors OLEDs integrated into the ship's consoles and interfaces on set. This
11:02time though the set designers were able to give the ship's computers an even more futuristic look
11:06by creating curved screens throughout the bridge. These curved Elkars displays were achieved live on
11:11set using real projection and non-reflective flex glass screens. According to systems integrator and
11:17computer playback supervisor Todd A. Marks, having this wide display area no one else has ever done
11:23something with the kind of complex curves on a practical set before. Number two, normalize Star Trek
11:28Insurrection references. Sometimes myself and Paul might disagree on some of the points on these
11:33lists but here is one where I am in complete agreement. Star 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. It captures the pace and
11:53thoughtfulness of the next generation features a beautiful score by Jerry Goldsmith, lush visuals
12:00by cinematographer Matthew Leonetti and loads of John Eves style spaceships including a slew of
12:07Starfleet auxiliary vessels. While references to Star Trek Insurrection have been light in the years
12:13since its release, the Sona are name-dropped in Star Trek Deep Space Nine and the Baku are given a
12:18shout
12:18in Star Trek Discovery's fourth season. Star Trek Picard's second season contains a big nod to Star
12:26Trek Insurrection, the Stargazer's complement of shuttlecraft. Glimpse study briefly in the Stargazer,
12:32the shuttlecraft that ferries Admiral Picard to the Stargazer is based on the type 11 design of
12:38shuttlecraft that was created by John Eves for Star Trek Insurrection. This design was dubbed the
12:43type 14 and was nearly identical to the type 11 although it featured an additional antenna assembly
12:49on the dorsal side of the ship and Stargazer style nacelles. Also of note, the type 14 shuttle in this
12:56episode is actually graced with its own name, the USS Jameson, named after astronaut May Jameson who
13:03appeared as transporter operator Palmer in the next generation episode Second Chances. Number one,
13:09see you in the funny pages. As of the recording of this we are yet to know if the USS
13:14Stargazer is
13:15going to appear in the third season of Star Trek Picard. We can say however that it has continued to
13:21fly
13:21in the printed pages of IDW's ongoing comic series Star Trek Stargazer. In that series there is a new
13:32officer in command taking over for acting Captain Seven of Nine. This is the Andorian officer Makara who
13:38invites Admiral Picard aboard the Stargazer to relive some of his glory days. As for the filmed
13:43adventures of the USS Stargazer we will have to see, but it is continuing a legacy that several of
13:50the other ships in Star Trek's history have passed down, which is its sets have been redressed and
13:57redesigned to serve as the USS Titan A in the third season. With so much history from the inception of
14:05Star Trek going into the design of the Sagan-class Stargazer itself, it's only fitting that the
14:10Stargazer would lend its own advances to a new generation of starship. You know I think there
14:18might be a list in that. Thank you all so much for watching along and thank you again for your
14:22support
14:22on this ongoing series. We love this series, it's so interesting. What ship do you want to see next?
14:27Let us know in the comments below. Please don't forget to like share and subscribe and remember you can
14:31catch us over on Twitter at TrekCulture, you can catch us on Instagram as well at TrekCultureYT,
14:36catch myself at Sean Ferrick 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. Make sure you live long and
14:46prosper. To our friends in Ukraine, you are incredible, you are so brave and it is amazing
14:51the strength you are showing us. To those who are protesting in Iran, in China and all across the
14:57world know that we are with you. Everyone, as much as you can, make 2023 a good one. Make it
15:03so.
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