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“…All the stuff that you do… the hundreds and hundreds of hours, and the hundreds and hundreds of things, and then there’s a few oddball items that you end up being remembered the most for…”
In my career working in Hollywood, I’ve known many actors. I’ve worked with them as closely as anyone can during my makeup days. The truth is that most of them are crazy. I think you have to be a little crazy. In “The Producers”, Leo Bloom says actors are human beings, when Max Bialystock looks at him incredulously and shouts, “Have you ever eaten with one?!” I’ve seen them at their worst… throwing the lunch tray against the wall of the Winnebago, ripping off their prosthetics and wrecking the makeup room. I remember on “Dick Tracy” when John Caglione asked Bill Forsythe (Flattop) to cut his shoulder length hair. After all, Bill would have endure having it stuffed under a bald cap 56 times. He looked up at us with puppy dog eyes and asked if it would make things easier for us. Yes, we said, absolutely! “Well then *uck you!” he snarled. Don’t judge Bill harshly. It was hilarious… in retrospect. Let’s just say that actors can oft times be challenging. That’s why, when you are fortunate to know and be friends with an actor like Mike Forest, you keep him… and yes, I’ve had lunch with him. We’ve flown B-17s together (http://drexfiles.wordpress.com/2010/03/28/a-god-apollo-is-my-co-pilot/). He even gave in to my childish begging and watched my favorite Outer Limits episode with me, “It Crawled Out Of The Woodwork” (That was the Twilight Zone for me, and Luna was there too. How do you beat that?) Meet Mike Forest, a one in a million guy. A terrific actor, artist, and wonderful friend.
(Below) Here is my quintessential Michael Forest\Outer Limits moment. It’s a wonderful pantomime of terror masterfully conceived and shot by genius cinematographer Conrad Hall. Some of his later films include Road to Perdition, American Beauty, Marathon Man, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, In Cold Blood. Incidentally, Mike Forest just KILLS here.
I always liked that Gary Hutzel guy.
From the first moment I met him on stage while shooting TNG, I knew he was special. Not only is he a genius visual effects supervisor, but he is FUNNY, and there is nothing better than that. One day during a grueling Galactica work marathon, Gary brought in a dusty box of old video tapes from early TNG. It was like having a time machine, and peering back through the mists of science fiction history. I was blown away. I’d heard the stories of the Thanksgiving battle for the 4 footer at Greg Jein’s place, and now I was there. Now you will be, too. Thank you, Gary Hutzel. How do I know all the one in a million guys?
Everyday we would get Enterprise dailies in the art department.
Everyday there was something funny. One day I realized I was letting some classic stuff evaporate. I decided to put an end to that sort of wastefulness and began saving them. Cutting them together a la Bob Justman was yet another dream come true for me. I wish we could have injected Enterprise with just ten percent of the fun I see here. Have a couple of my favorites, including an alien football game where Trip gets more than his fair share. Good stuff.
I had the strangest thing happen to me when I was cutting together this shuttle pod footage.
I got all emotional. No kidding. I never expected that. We were shooting the Enterprise pilot on the “Planet Hell” stage. It was that enormous Rigel spaceport set. There was pyro, and environmental effects, and the excitement of a new project. Mike Okuda and I were on stage to give the shuttle pod the once over on its maiden voyage and I just happened to bring the video cam along. I’m a very bad citizen, bringing a video cam on stage and all. Bad Doug! So I came across the footage of that day, and thought it might make a nice peek behind the curtains, if I could cut it together in a way that told a story… except that I couldn’t. Try as I might, it was just a string of not so amazing GNDN moments that came to no culmination. As I struggled to make something of it, I kept having to put aside emo rushes while watching in order to concentrate. Hey, waitaminit! It doesn’t need to go anywhere, it’s there! If I’m getting choked up, stick a fork in it! It’s done! I love this piece because of the sensation of being on stage… the sounds, the activity, the voices of a busy crew, the sound of the bell. The images are reference shots of the pod for our records, but the neighboring environment of distinctly Hollywood sounds and activity make it a moment trapped in amber.
Ships Of The Line: Active Duty! – More of what was a hit last time.
You can’t have too many images of starships. Thanks deg, Richter, Rem, Probert, and Boardman. Guys who still play with spaceships. deg is crazy, and works for bananas. Rivard is passionate… rein that in a little, buddy! Richter makes the new Enterprise look like a Goddess. Probert is a fraking genius. Rem lives in a bunker under the Hollywood sign, and Boardman is out of control. Let’s hope that whatever sickness they have never gets better.
By the way, word has it that there are Romulan spies everywhere. I suggest you put on a tie.
Wow, Great work, love the Ship of the Line Active Duty shots, great interludes between the pieces. I have to ask, is there any way you can get the permission to post a Ortho view of the Vanguard Station. I have become a huge fan of the books, and would like to get some good desktop shoots for my computer Wallpaper.
I only have one thing to say. I want to be Doug Drexler when I grow up!
Good one Doug.
Steve Neill
That’s funny, Steve, because I want to be you! Guys, be sure and check Steve’ blog -
http://steveneill.wordpress.com/
Killer video as usual, Doug!
That’s awesome, bud!!!! I love your new hosting format, it’s more personal and interesting, you sharing what’s behind each entry. And I like the filming format of you and the monitor of what we are about to see on it, and you turning to it the monitor come time for us all to watch. Like we’re all together watching. Very slick, and personable. And OMG, the content! I wanna see the rest of that Mike footage, and the E-D stuff, fantastic! Like watching a bunch of surgeons at work! And the pod stuff, INCREDIBLE! Next best thing to being there, all the sight and sounds and ENERGY captured in a bottle! Love your Vanguard clip, and the rest as well! Bravo, bud and thanks! Can’t wait to watch it again!
SOTL:AD; I like it better than watching clip after clip myself. I feel it gives the whole peice a nice balance spread out over the length, and you can kinda savor them each on their own. But mostly I like the way it paces it all overall. Creates a nice cadence and edit lacing. Very professional IMO. OMG too, the blooper reel! I was laughing me arse off! Same thing with the guys flipping E-D, yikes!
It’s The Files come to life, and I couldn’t get enough of those back when I first found ‘em. Now just more Trekker heaven to be had watching DTV. And I like watching you, you’re a great host, eh. I think any Trekker worth his or her salt-vampire is lovin’ DTV!
Thanks, bud! A real treat! And thanks again for having me on! And thanks guys for all the great SOTL: AD! clips. Brilliant and fun! Extra note; love the Ken Burns style 2D come to life stuff, Matt!
peace & bananas | deg
P.S. Longer next time! I want more more more DTV!
Deg, Loved your contribution. Really brought to life the “Playing Chicken” with starships and the contempt Kirk had for the cowerdly Klingon for pulling off first. Well Played.
More ship porn? By all means.
And deg, I do, very much, enjoy your work.
Ha! Thanks deg! Right back at ya! Love the warning shots in that little game of chicken!
Thanks a bunch o’ bananas, guys, glad ya enjoyed it!
peace & bananas | deg
Ah good stuff. I just wish the DTV segments were longer. But I know how much time it takes to put stuff like that together. But keep it coming.
By the way Doug, I’d though you like to know that the the Star Trek Online MMORPG game is adding the NX Class into the game soonish. The STO ship modelers did a great job given their polygon and textures budgets. But see for yourself.
http://forums.startrekonline.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4201&d=1285115637
Wow! Beautiful job! I especially like the updating of the lifeboat hatch covers. Nice evolution!
Yeah. It’s a NX Refit for the 25th Century that the game is set in. The game actually is a blend of all of the series and non-JJ ST movies. It’s got the Excelsior Class, the TOS Constitution Class, the ST:TMP Constitution Refit, the Galaxy Class, the Nebula Class, Akira Class, Sovereign Class, etc. They even have the era uniforms to go along with the ships.
I had been saving it for a rainy day to savior. And it was worth the wait. I had the biggest grin on my face when I created a character and took the TOS Connie as his ship. It still feels my heart with joy to see that classic shape.
http://picasaweb.google.com/stephen.l.johnson/STOScreenshots#5527399879758723410
Some posts on teh STO forums led my to the Drexfiles. I’m sorry I didn’t find yours and the other ST alumni blogs sooner. I’ve really enjoyed you posts and guest commentators.
I’m not sure Stephen is right that its a 25th century refit. Some of the ships exist “outside” the in game time-line as a sort of vanity item for players. Like the original series Constitution is available, alongside the movie refits. We’re hoping the NX-01 appears in a time travel mission, much like the 1701 did. (In STO there is a Guardian of Forever mission where the player goes back to the 2200s and encounters The Enterprise on her 1st 5 year tour under Kirk)
Which is why some of us ship nerds over there are lobbying for Cryptic to look into using your NX-01 “Refit” some time down the road, if the legalities allow. Its a fantastic looking ship, and I for one would love to be able to take it out for a spin around the galaxy.
What would you think about something like that? (Not a Cryptic rep, just a curious player)
AMAZING Ent-D footage! Big thanks to Gary Hutzel for those videos and to you for editing them together. Did you see John Eaves in any of those four-footer construction videos? He was one of the modelmakers.
If he was involved, it must have been a different day.
It never ceases to amaze me the incredible material Doug has to share.
Thanks for another amazing post!
Au
Wonderful stuff! Thanks so much for doing this, Doug!
Love you, my Captain!
That was worth the wait. Great stuff you got there Doug! Love the shots of Mike and the other guys working on the D – a true labor of love. And the outtakes were just brilliant. Love the new Active Duty shots as well!
Keep up the good work!
Tobias
Call me old-fashioned, but while it’s impressive to see how much hard work went into the four-footer its limitations (simplified deflector shape, exaggerated hull plating, less flowing warp pylons, …)just didn’t put it in the same league as the six-footer.
Thanks Tobias! And thanks for taking part! You rock!
Always entertaining, Doug! You could charge for this
Thanks so much for this. Well worth waiting for. I loved the footage of the 4 foot Enterprise D being lovingly assembled with everyone pitching in. Such a beautiful model. And the footage of the 6 footer made me laugh. Like you say – imagine the repercussions if someone had dropped it :S
Sorry to hear about Caprica. Clearly a lot of love has gone into that show too and it’s a shame to see it end prematurely. I guess you will be involved in the upcoming Blood and Chrome spin off?
It’s unfortunate we never got to the part where giant robots are frakking things up! It would have been glorious! Here is to lots of Mayhem in B&C!
Sam Adama’s solution to his little problem was quite well executed. Old-style centurions from nBSG and Caprica are much more convincing killer robots than those from oBSG.
We were so happy to get to do some action. Also note that the Skybar interiors, except for behind the bar itself, were all CG and shot against a greenscreen. Incidentally, I designed and built the exterior of the Skybar, I love googie architecture.
Wow! The Enterprise is only six feet long? Patrick Stewart must be half an inch tall. (No wonder actors are paid scale.)
Not too mention how tough it is on the crew when they turn the ship over like that!
That’s when they shoot all the battle scenes, right? They don’t need someone on set saying “Lurch left! Lean right!”, they just have those six guys tilt the whole thing!
^_^
A fifth of an inch, actually.
If you go by 2108 ft. as the ship’s length, the 6 footer is almost exactly, 1/350th scale – a sizing that’s VERY standard in scale modeling of ships.
Well, no, because model researcher Gary Kerr checked the blueprints for us and it was actually intended to be precisely 6′ 5 1/8″ long according to the labels. The Star Trek auction notes put it at 6′ 6″, which might be an error in measurement or the size of the model as built. So actually the scale would have been closer to 1:328, assuming it was ever given any thought because studio models are often built to a certain size regardless of scale.
Gary Kerr also found out that the four-footer was close to 4′ 1 1/4″ long by measuring photocopies of its blueprints.
This made my day! Incredible work, Doug! Please, keep these coming!
I was having a good time watching this, but beginning at the 15:10 mark, I officially succumbed to utter fangasm. You know what I’m talkin’ about.
Drexler, you teasing bastard. I totally love you in a manly sorta way.
Dayton, that was specifically meant for you. We’ll do some some more of that next time.
Doug,
Very cool. Thanks for taking your video camera on the set and getting some cool shots of the shuttle pod. I suppose you cant get in trouble now!
Look forward to the next installment.
This is seriously so much frakking fun! D-TV 02 was a great 2nd episode filled with lots of tasty goodies! Everyone did such a great job with the SOTL pieces! That Vanguard station animation was some serious sexy time! Mr. Forest has some great stories there (how could he not? He is after all a god! Ha!). Mike, I think I would have had a grin as big as yours was in that video working on the Enterprise model too! Way cool to see the progression of the model. I’m impressed at the airbrush detail and everything that goes into making that galactic paint job happen! Right there with you Doug and deg with laughing my backside off at the guys flipping the 6 ft model. Thank goodness none of them jumped when that thing popped down on to the stand there! Hahaha!
The blooper reel had me rollin’! So funny to watch them just know they’ve messed up and have nothing to do at that point but just laugh at themselves.
Man, the shuttlepod segment made my heart ache. I miss Enterprise and seeing that footage helped remind me how much I do. Love seeing everything in action. It’s amazing how they take all of that and transform it into the polished scene that gets beamed out to everyone each week.
Thanks so much for sharing this stuff with us Doug! It really is fantastic!
Thanks Matt! And thank you for helping me get it together when I really have no time to do it! I have almost an hour on Mike Forest, and at some point I’ll post the entire interview.
The stuff at the end was my favorite. Awesome.
A well-edited blooper reel for sure. Seeing Jolene Blalock lose it is a lot of fun.
Hear that Matt?
Too kind! Must have been the Vitamin Water I had that day.
Hey Doug,
Thanks for another drex-TV. Would you be so kind and tell me what piece of music you used to underscore the final Ships of the Line clip by Tobias Richter?
Thanks.
Filmmaking, whether for television or theaters, is the only medium where seeing how it’s all done doesn’t deminish the magic of the final product. I loved this edition of “Drex-TV” and can’t wait to see the next installment. Great stuff!
I think you need to have another talk to your wife about the 6-foot Enterprise in the living room. It could work. I mean, I see it and I think “coffee table.”
Seriously, that’s some cool stuff. I loved the interview with Apollo (that’s how I know him
) and the guys turning the Enterprise was hilarious. The time lapse building the replacement Enterprise was just cool and I always love a blooper reel. And, of course, you can never have too many great SOTL animation shots. Great stuff. 
The six-footer is still kinda compact. Imagine if Doug decided to use the freaking huge saucer from the crash scene as a coffee table:
http://img541.imageshack.us/img541/6512/genbonusvisualfx0767911.jpg
It’s also small when you consider that one of the original Enterprise models was 11 feet, nearly twice the size.
Doug thank you so much! Was a joy to watch!
Well worth waiting for! Excellent stuff. Thanks for sharing with all of us, Doug.
I’m completely jazzed to see the Vanguard clip!
I’m slightly embarrassed to ask, but does Vanguard appear in this years SOTL calendar?
Hi Masao! That was probably the first time you’ve seen your baby in motion! Vanguard is not in this years calendar. But I’m thinking maybe next year so that folks can see your station in a larger format.
Did you guys time that comment perfectly so it was number 47?
A fantastic episode of Drex TV.
Mike Forest really comes across as a humble man and today’s “stars” could definitely learn a thing or two from his example. Especially the way he reacted to your gushing Doug. LOL!
The six foot Ent-D was fantastic to see, but after having watched those poor guys nearly soil themselves just by turning it over, I can see why a 4 foot model was built. That footage by the way was a very educational insight to the dedication of Greg Jein and his team as well as showing just how difficult it was to make these props and models for episodic TV.
I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes footage of the “Broken Bow” shoot and I never noticed the landing skids on the shuttlepod before, so I learned something new there as well.
And as for the SOTL: Active Duty pieces, I think my gushing from episode 1 doesn’t need repeating here except for Matt Boardman’s piece. Sneaky arsed Romulans!
I’m eagerly awaiting episode 3!
What Dayton said. My kids ran into the room to find out why I was screaming. Awesome work, Doug!
Marco! Great to hear from you!
Hi Barrie!
Mike Forest really is incredibly humble. Check his IMDB –
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0286129/
Wow! His resume is vast! Proof of talent, that is.
Thanks for the new vid, Doug. Love the behind-the-scenes stuff on building the 4-footer; looked like a lot of hard-work but fun at the same time.
I’m not such a big fan of the interviews (maybe because it’s TOS people i’m more of a TNG fanboy.), the behind the scenes stuff is allways nice, but i totally LOVE those Ship of the Line shots!
Seriously i would bath in them the hole day if i could!
Could you by any chance when you feel you have enough material make a compilation Clip with all of these Scenes together in one big HD Video?
Hell, i would buy that stuff on BluRay!
PS: have you guys seen the CGI Teaser Trailer for ST Infinite Space?
*drool*
Doug, I really enjoyed reading about Mike Forest. That’s so great you’ve got to know him. I met him at a Sacramento Creation convention back in 2000 or so, I remember him being at his table and the first thing I said to him was, “So, do you still lift weights?” And actually I just guessed that he had and he said, “yeah, I do, how’d you know?” We had a great conversation about training and I told him about my pole vaulting career and my interest in physical training and that for a guy to wear that costume in “Who Mourns for Adonais” you’ve gotta be in shape to look good, he ended up telling me about his training and acting experiences. I remember he teased a couple of actors who had booths next to him, too. He seemed to me to be a man not so ego bound by being an actor. A great guy.
Hey Drex,
Is there any way I can download this? I can’t stream where I live to save my life!!!
Hi Rich, Not at the moment. Send me an E-mail dougdrexler@rocketmail.com If I run off a low rez version I’ll send it to you, but it will take a few days. Where do you live? Antarctica?
Thanks Doug. PM’s in your inbox.
This was great Doug, thanks. I would like to add my name to the list of those who would be interested in seeing more of Mike Forest.
Great Stuff, Doug! History, humor, and awesome all in one video.
The dedication in making these huge models is just astonishing. And just love the SoTL snippets, it cries out, MORE!
Oh my word, I adored the segments on the Enterprise-D!!! I’ve seen very little material on the four footer over the years (and I have been keeping an eye open!) so this was nothing short of gold dust! How fantastic would it be to look back and say “I was a part of that!”
The six footers life story has been reasonably well documented but does anybody know what became of its baby sister?
And hows about the two footer? Does anybody know ANYTHING about that one?
Great to see you back Doug! Huuuge thanks for sharing this!
(you’ll always push the right buttons with bloopers haha!!!)
Doug, great video. What is the music at the very end when the JJprise goes by? The animation by Tobias? That’s beautiful music, but I don’t know what it is.
Hi Daniel, I think I put stuff from the “ProScores” by videocopilot under it. Can´t remember which track specifically.
Glorious!
Love it!
Been looking forward to a new episode of DrexTV – it was well worth the wait!
Thanks for putting this slice of awesome together!
Great to have you back, Doug and you know how to make an entrance after some absentee time, great 2nd episode !!!! As a lover of the studio models I particularly enjoyed the Hutzel footage, do convey my thanks to him for sharing this…I was was wondering though who the girl wasin Jein’s shop, I’ve seen her in some behind-the-scene foto’s, but I’ve never been able to identify her..anyone?
Mike Okuda might know, seeing as he was there.
Fantastic footage.
Always great to see the behind the scenes footage from Star Trek, especially from someone as passionate as the fans.
I eagerly look forward to the next installment.
Keep up the good work Mr Drexler.
Jamie
That was a hoot. Doug you were missed. The stuff with the E-D was terrific.
Any chance of doing an “all at once” recap of the SOTL stuff at the end next time?
OK, late to the party, but just had to say WOW!!!
What incredible fun to watch – I just knew it would be.
This is awesome – I really loved the interview and the behind the scenes footage.
Seeing them tip over the Enterprise is wonderful – I know some of those guys from later days at Digital Domain. Rob Legato and Eric Nash, in FG, went on to work on Apollo 13 and Titanic and Eric and I and Deenis Hoerter, on the other side of the model, worked together to crash the Ent E into the Scimitar for Nemesis.
Sincerely looking forward to the next installment!!!!!
Doug. I had a random ship thought that you might want to comment on eventually.
Let me start out with a quote from Memory Alpha:
“Gary Kerr calculated a second figure of 1570 feet and a metric conversion of 478.5 meters, explaining that the Enterprise-C is just short of 35.75 inches long in the blueprints of its miniature, and that the blueprints are in scale with the four-foot miniature of the Enterprise-D. [1] Kerr used 2108 feet for the length of the latter and 48 inches for the length of the four-foot miniature, although he also determined that it was probably closer to 49.25 inches long. [2] Nevertheless, Rick Sternbach fully supports the 1570-foot calculation, saying that he worked with the same assumptions when drafting the Enterprise-C blueprints. [3]
Aside from the unexplained figure of 526 meters, it is unclear whether the size implied by Rick Sternbach was deliberately changed during the original development process. His initial full-scale blueprints were blown up by 15%, which means that the final size of the miniature (41.19 inches) could have influenced the ship’s conceptual size next to the Enterprise-D. [4] Greg Jein does not recall scaling up the blueprints, and whoever did remains unknown. [5]“
That all assumes that the Enterprise-D in the alternate timeline is the same size as the regular Enterprise-D. Except we know it has four times the crew compliment and launched on a different date.
If the “Warship Enterprise” was 706.28 (instead of 642.5) meters long, then the design sketches are in compliance with the models, right? Because then, the Enterprise-C actually would be 526 meters long by comparison. The fault could be in assuming the alternate Enterprise-D is the same size as the regular Enterprise-D, even though we have evidence in the dialogue that they’re different configurations.
What interests me there is that there’s a lot of extra room for a ship designer to play around with the interiors if that’s fundamentally a different (and larger) ship configuration that simply looks similar from the outside.
Hi, does anyone know where I can see the video? This link isn’t working..
Hi Doug,
Well, you never know what the cat might drag in the inbox…..my friend Sarah Char sent me this video clip because she recognized me in it. Yep, I was the cheerful girl that painstakingly helped to paint and light the 4′ Enterprise and much more as a minion down at Greg Jein’s shop in the late eighties. See me also working on Star Trek V at Greg’s in Cinefex mag #42 – pg with Tremors on the cover.. have to say watching your piece, made me slightly nostalgic for the “good old LONG days” down at Glencoe with the wafting smell of laquered paint billowing out the double doors. I married a VFX supervisor from Dream Quest named Mike Shea and he and I and Gary H all graduated from Brooks Institute in SB around the same time. I started my career at Gene’s production office at Paramount in 1986 when STTNG was coming out of development working for the writing producers Justman, Wright, Lewin, Fontana, Gerrold, etc. Spent about 2 years there and went into the Art Dept and worked for Greg after that. Long history, but enjoyed working for Greg. Not only was it hard and extremely challenging in many ways, but it was FUN and CRAZY! Well, thanks for caring enough to share some of the inside track with those who appreciate it most.
Sincerely,
Dana White Shea
PS – Hi to Mikey O!
Dana! What a great surprise! I think I’ll post your letter in the blog today! Too wonderful to leave in thecomment section! – Doug