STAR TREK The Motion Picture 1979 miniature effects (part 1)
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- Опубліковано 5 лют 2025
- STAR TREK The Motion Picture (1979) miniature effects. Part 1 of 2. Pete Gerard, Patrick Mcclung, Mark Stetson, Ron Gress, Greg Jein, Lisa Morton, Bruce Macrae, Leslie Ekker, and Mike Joyce talk about the miniatures made by EEG and Apogee. Segment from my Sense of Scale documentary. Photos: Virgil Mirano, Mark Stetson, Greg Jein, Lisa Morton, Bruce Macrae, Leslie Ekker, Andy Probert, Michael Middleton, Glenn Campbell, Douglas Trumbull, Robert Abel, Doug Drexler, Jim Dow, Magicam, Brick Price, Apogee, Paramount
The Klingon battle cruiser is still 43 years later a truly fantastic design. The detailing, paintwork, everything is just exquisite.
Try 55+ years ago.🖖🏼
The best the Enterprise has ever looked. I'm still in awe of her in drydock. Its breathtaking.
Imagine that hanging in your living room.🥰
22 foot model.
@@TednGilbertAZ- Enterprise is only 8 feet long.
That. Was. Amazing. This is one of my favourite films purely because of the amazing model work and visual effects. I still can’t quite picture how the V’ger sphincter opens and closes! ;)
Part 2 coming up next week!
@@piercefilm Oh, I’ll be watching!
Physical models, matte paintings, prosthetics, animatronics, puppetry and all the other arts of visual effects trickery is a lifetime fascination of mine, from monthly magazines I took as a kid to the internet, I’ve always loved this stuff.
Cheers guys.
@@piercefilm
Status?
@@JGG1701 UA-cam problems. I posted part 2 on my Facebook page for now.
@@piercefilm
Damn! I don't do Facebook.
Star Trek: The Motion Picture was always my favorite Star Trek movie; it was the first movie I ever saw in a movie theater so it will always occupy a special place to me.
After years of scouring book stores, DVDs and the internet I really thought I'd seen everything there was to see regarding this movie. It's amazing to see so much new material so long after the film's release. Great stuff. Looking forward to part 2.
now can someone find the miniature effects for Star Trek 6. I'd love to see how they did the final battle of Chang VS Kirk.
I've watched this about 10 times now.. awe inspiring, CGI can never replace a well made crafted miniature, no endless waiting around for the computer render.. setup the lights, the fog and start filming. - The design of the Klingon cruiser and the rebuilt Enterprise are the most beautiful lines of any fictional vehicles and truly an inspiration, timeless.
The ship designs these guys cranked out are god like. Still untouchable to this day.
I met a bunch of these guys including Mark Stetson plus Robert Wise with whom I had a nice convo for the better part of an hour.🥰 Indelibly memorable experience.
These artists are so BRILLIANT ! Brought many decades of happiness to me. Star trek The motion Picture is still the grandest looking of all the films.
My all time favorite Star Trek movie. Saw it in the theatre in late '79. Saw it again at the Drive-In in the spring of '80. V'ger lit up the entire Drive-In at the end. My favorite part to this day.
The more I read and hear about behind the scenes ST:TMP, the more fascinating the project becomes! And while things like the original Cinefex coverage and the recent Art & Visual FX Of ST:TMP book are great and really informative, there's just something so special about hearing the stories directly from the men and women involved in the actual work! Thankyou Piercefilm Productions for all these vids!
enterprise incidents with scott ua-cam.com/video/g8KBpsfEtuw/v-deo.html
Man, the more I can find out about the construction and filming of V'Ger as a practical model, the more I like it. Ships built by humans is one thing, since they have recognizable forms and shapes ( windows, doors, handholds, operational info ), but building a vessel so gigantic and so utterly alien...that's my bread and butter.
Love this! I miss the way things used to be done. Expert artists. Still looks more real than modern computer imaging
It looks more real because it is real.
That V'Ger stuff is amazing, you don't even think of how big it had to be until you see it. Also the famous dental mirrors used to light the Enterprise in space dock that make it so bloody difficult for us CGI guys to replicate in software!
Yeah, I just commented on those mirrors and how they shine light up against the model. 9:59 They look like dental mirrors, but are adjustable ones, I've got one in my Techni-Tool kit that I use in the field to fix transmitters. It's shaped just the same with a round mirror and telescoping extension. Called an (telescoping) inspection mirror. They still make them with the same red handle!
This is fantastic. The film had such a convoluted production history - particularly involving the visual effects - so getting to hear their stories is tremendous.
What one learns thanks to all your movies is that the same people worked over and over on many different productions. Incredible!
Bloody hell, after all those released videos you already did, you can still pull out a big one like this!
I said it before, but now I'm no longer joking: I'm convinced that this channel will be dripfeeding me these goodies until the day I die; it will never end. Great stuff as usual; thanks!
I still have a few more coming up, but all good things must come to an end eventually...
@@piercefilm Ah, you said that a year ago. Not falling for that one again...;-)
@@piercefilm Is the "Sense of Scale" DVD/BluRay now completely out of print? It seems to be. I don't use Amazon, so wouldn't buy it from there. There's one DVD for sale on eBay but it's £116.84 shipped from the US... So no on that one. :-) I regret missing it as it just the kind of film I'd buy. I love documentaries about older films.
@@malloid The DVD sold out years ago. I'm amazed to see such high prices on Ebay! That's pure robbery. I was selling them for $5 by the end since no one seemed interested anymore. Anyway, I am uploading everything here on my channel. All free! And there are many new interviews not seen on the DVD.
I still fantasize about being a model maker back then in that industry. I used to watch the effects credits of the scifi films to see the names of my heroes!
This is gold. I’ve always wanted to see more of the V’ger miniature (as well as Syd Mead’s concept art) and there’s tons here I’ve never seen before. Can’t wait for part 2!
Fantastic! I can never get enough about TMP! Like many of the folks commenting, I always feel like I’d seen everything, and then something new pops up! Love all of these videos!!
Thanks for watching! Part 2 coming up next week.
I remember at 9 years old being blown away by the detail of the Klingon ship, the front piece in particular. 45 year later, I watch an interview of the guy who did it. Awesome.
In this time period the Gods of the film were the VFX motion control operators. Often an elite club of people who's giant machines would end up being dinosaurs once motion tracking could be done without the needs for motion control and the restrictions that system carries with it.
That was incredible. I hope Michael Okuda sees this.
Thank you so much for uploading this! I wish I could like this video twice. Star Trek: The Motion Picture is probably my favorite sci-fi film, and getting to see these behind-the-scenes pictures and interviews is just wonderful.
Thanks for watching. I will be posting part 2 next week!
Great to hear from this small community that worked hard to bring fans their artwork during the heyday of SciFi.
Really great video thank you for capturing the history of the production of Star Trek the motion picture directly from all the incredibly talented people who worked on it.
Can’t wait for part two!
Loved seeing all of the amazing behind-the-scenes photographs 90% of which I have never seen before can’t wait to see what will be in part two again thank you for this amazing video!
I had to post part 2 on my Sense of Scale Facebook page due to problems with UA-cam.
@@piercefilm Sorry to hear about the UA-cam problems, are you close to getting the issue resolved? I'll pop on over the Facebook to watch Part 2, thanks for producing such excellent videos and a Happy New Year to you. :-)
@@SlartiMarvinbartfast I hope it can be cleared up in a few days. If not, well... this page will stay up as an archive, and it's over. I'm starting to hate the internet and all the security problems. It used to be fun ten years ago. Thanks for watching and supporting. Happy New Year!
@@piercefilm It would be a real shame if you stopped producing your excellent videos. If UA-cam is causing you a lot of grief why not just upload the videos elsewhere on a permanent basis? (Facebook, Dailymotion, Vimeo, etc). I hope that you never delete them from this channel (or the channel itself) as it's a fantastic resource.
@@SlartiMarvinbartfast I had to post the second Star Trek part on Facebook due to problems here on UA-cam. I may continue doing that.
Thanks for the nice treat for christmas.
10:54
The Shape of Things to Come 1979
Starstreak
Amazing. Interesting to see how one thing leads to another. Thank you for making this model crafting history available.
Thanks for watching!
Brings back many memories. Mark Stetson "is the best!!"; I knew Russ Simpson, and met Ron Gress. Excellent work!! The Enterprise was flawless!!
I love this more than words can express. These people made the stuff of my dreams as a kid.
Part 2 next week! More fun stories.
What an absolutely superb video, huge thanks to you and the very talented model makers who were interviewed. I can't wait for part 2. :-)
Thank you! Yeah, a lot more cool stuff in part 2.
FANTASTIC ! I have no words for these last videos about Star Trek The Motion Picture. INCREDIBLE.
Thanks for watching! Always nice to hear these videos are enjoyed.
What was great about the model work was that with nearly every ship, a human figure was added to the frame to give a sense of scale ( shuttle pod, space dock, Epsilon 9, V’ger)
_TMP_ came out three years before I was born, and for a long time in my youth I was terrified of the movie (literally nightmares and looking over my shoulder for over a decade). But now, I have a tremendous amount of awe and respect not only for the movie itself but the _insane_ amount of work that went into getting it done!
While the _Enterprise_ is the unquestioned jewel of _Star Trek_ and it's always a thrill to see the movie version of her, what impresses me the most about this specific video (I'm looking forward to part two!) is the significant amount of pictures of V'ger you have featured here- I've _never_ seen most of them!
Star Trek TMP is my favorite ST movie. Watching the Enterprise in dry dock on the big screen was an unforgettable experience. It looked so real. Thanks for the video it's great
Love how they used small adjustable mirrors that look like dentist mirrors to shine spot lights up onto the model while it's in dry dock. I always liked that look and the quality of the light they used. Just made it look that much more realistic. Helping to accentuate the details. Lighting design is what sold these models, without it, the models would have looked flat onscreen. The model makers and painters did their jobs for months while the lighting designers sold every detail that was added to the models.
Love the unseen photos of the large V'ger model. Wonder if any chunks survive (besides the engine).
I'm not a big Trekkie, but I absolutely love the first Star Trek film. Give me deadly serious sci-fi over the sillier sequels any day of the week! Nice BTS video.
stunning
Spectacular stuff! Despite the generously long post i still found myself wanting more ;)
Part 2 coming up next week!
I have always loved the minuatures on the motion picture. First class work for sure.
This is the doco I've wanted made for decades! So informative. Wonderful photos and stories. Such a great team of people making something truly special! Wow!
Thanks! It was fun to interview all the model makers. I also had waited for someone to make something like this for a long time, so I just went out and did it myself.
Was just Going through Syd Meads Amazing book with his gorgeous designs for Vger! loved this 2 parter! thanks.
Thank you! The best Christmas present ever! Some BTS pictures I've never seen, and I've seen everything. :) Can't wait for part 2....
I had the honor of working for Mark Stetson and his crew on The Hudsucker Proxy. Wonderful people.
Cool to see some big name movies in your videos. I'm glad you put in the effort to make these videos, they are appreciated.
I try to mix it up. Big and smaller films. Star Wars, Blade Runner, Ghostbusters, Titanic, Fifth Element etc. and Buckaroo Banzai, Moon, Dark Star. All have great miniature work.
It is so interesting to listen to you guys. Wow. I loved the first Star Trek, saw two times when it was showed in cinema. The models make a big part of success of sci-fi movies. Really awesome. Thenk you for your story telling, some kind of oral history.
This is great channel! Please keep them coming. I really like seeing and hearing how the people did the design, effects and builds on some of my favorite movies growing up.
Thanks for watching!
Woah how have I not been here yet
Superb content!
Can't wait for Part II!!
I posted part 2 on my Facebook page since UA-cam won't let me post any videos here at the moment...
This is one of the most visually stunning sci-fi movies of all time, and all the incredible work on display here underscores why. Star Trek TMP is immensely underrated in my opinion. It takes its time, sure, but everything it takes its time on is immaculate. Thanks so much for sharing this. Looking forward to part 2!
Ace vid, Love TMP.
I thought I'd seen all the bts for this movie, I'm amazed at these great images and details of the production. Thanks for sharing. Subbed.
Thanks for watching. Part 2 of this segment is coming next week!
Note! Part 2 of this STTMP segment is on my Sense of scale Facebook page due to problems with UA-cam.
Wow. I thought V'ger was a matte painting. No idea that it was a model.
The ship models are gorgeous.
Amazing. Say what you will about TMP. The effects were just incredible.
1:52 I always loved the look of the Klingon Battle Cruiser, This view of it makes it look like it rolled over to do a hard turn with afterburners.
Love it!
God Bless Douglas Trumbull, he will be missed.
My 4K Director's Cut arrives today. One of my all time favorite movies. Looking forward to watching it in ultra high definition!
I just saw Star Trek The Motion Picture and I wasn't bored at all. The falsehood that it's boring has persisted for years and it's just not true. The plot is character driven and requires a slightly slower pace. It dosen't mean it's boring. Give the film a try. You won't regret it.
@10:24 glad I'm not the only FX guy that lived on the set during production; I slept in the back of my truck and played security guard at night during a Tim Disney shoot and built a mini of L.A. during the day for one of his films, a no budget b&w art film called "The Giving". Still have the vhs of it somewhere around here.
Just found this channel, love it!
Thanks for watching!
Thank 's all of you.
Chuck Norris's influence on facial hair and hairdoo's of the late 70's is not to be underestimated!
Very awesome. 13:51 inspiration for the snow speeders from empire? Love the refit enterprise
The redesigning of The USS Enterprise and Klingon vessels was great. Kept in respect to the original series without going overboard.
terrific, thanks
Love this one I remember going to the moves and seen this back in 1979 and the model company Round2 issued a new model of the Enterprise refit in 1/350 scale it's 36 inch model it's is nice kit you can look up on UA-cam the build ups of these kits love this I have 4 of these Enterprise kits in 1/350 scale
@gilbert godfrey + yes I have two of the 1/350 scale Enterprise kits from the original series I am currently building one without lights and the second one with lights the first one is going to be the first pilot version as seen in the cage I was thinking of building the one in where no man has gone before but the first pilot didn't have lights in it so that's the one I am building I like both the original series enterprise and the refit I grew up in the 1970s with the original series but still love the refit almost as much
Great Video. Hearing this, I understand, how this movie went soo fare over butget.
9:11 that is a fantastic shot of the K’tinga. I still wonder why they didn’t look green in the final movie.
12:33 now I want to read her *Alien* sequel script.
You did. It's called "Aliens". 😉
@@matthewhall6288 not exactly. There is an early draft Cameron did (where Ripley and Hicks jab tranquilizers into their leg to get the Aliens to cocoon them in their lair), but I doubt that was _her_ script.
@@TheRealNormanBates I know I'm just joshin'.
@@matthewhall6288 screw you guy, I’m goin home…
Good video Pierce Unit.
How much more of hours do you have of all this incredible documentaries do you have anyway???? I’m so hooked to your channel I keep rewatching the videos!!!
Thanks for watching! Still a few left, but not many... it's almost over.
How much did these incredible people get paid? Without them all of these movies would have been nothing.
probably not enough...
isn't this the only movie that had Dykstra and Trumbull working on it?
No, they worked together on Trumbull's movie "Silent Running".
very cool. just subbed
Thanks for watching! My Sense of Scale Facebook page has the part 2 segment of STTMP.
What talent... Wow
Fantastic documentary. Great rare FX shots of V'ger. Always wished the Klingon ship had been used more in the film. Feel the pain on those "belt" buckles. To this day I still can't stand those uniforms.
the uniforms with the one-piece leggings all the way down to the foot, looked like a pajama party on the bridge.
IIRC, at least one of the Star Trek stars said years later that when asked if they'd come back for another movie, they said yes, as long as they *never* had to wear those uniforms again.
I recently found out that the Enterprise filming model is located at Blue Origin's HQ in Kent, WA..
Epsilon ix was a beautiful model.
I'm pretty sure one of these mustachioed marvels is who shows up in the porthole as the space pod is docking with the Enterprise during Kirk's tour / arrival in TMP.
@piercefilm >>>
(1) Great video...👍
(2) I may have posted this question under a previous video, but I have never quite understood why the *_"MAGICAM"_* video synchronization effects process -- patented by Doug Trumbull[?] -- never got much use outside of Carl Sagan's *COMOS* and the TV movie *THE INTERRUPTED JOURNEY* {if I am remembering the name correctly} starring James Earl Jones.
I think Magicam also did the mattes and FX for the Greatest American Hero TV show. But just like Introvision, it was never accepted for the bigger movies and so it died out. Now almost all optical printing has died out through digital compositing. AI and Unreal Engine will most likely kill off all human based compositing and filmmaking soon...
okay piercefilm guys the greatest vvorks congratulations is biurifore reaction video the miniature efects and dedication tanks you very much okay bye bye 👍👍👍♥️♥️♥️👌👌👌😘😷🎅😂😁😀🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Thanks for watching!
okay piercefilm guys tanks you very much okay bye bye 👍👍👍♥️♥️♥️👌👌👌😘😷🎅😂😁🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏👍👌
I notice the Starstreak model from the Shape of things to come. I am guessing that Brick Price built it for Project UFO and later sold it for TSOTTC.
I wonder how many seconds of footage some of those Vejur models translated into.
Star Trek the Movie was the best for me. The Enterprise is just glorious.
6:00 How could anyone in sci-fi films not know who Douglas Trumbull was in 1978??😮
If you weren't into sci fi movies back then you wouldn't know his name. There was no internet or imdb to see who worked on what films. For many people it was just a job after graduating...
Great documentary!!
Where did you find it?
Find it? This channel is my Sense of Scale documentary. I have uploaded hundreds of segments from the ongoing doc here.
@@piercefilm
Apologies; I shall look through your library 🖖🏼🖖🏼
OMG - Where did you find this footage. Thanks guys
This channel is my Sense of Scale documentary about movie model makers. Part 2 of this STTMP segment is on my Sense of Scale Facebook page.
@@piercefilm Excellent documentary. Just going to watch Part 2. ST:TMP model effects still hold up on the closeups.
All these Star Trek ship models should be in the Smithsonian next to the original one!!
At the 3:42 mark there's a desktop pic of the enterprise. Does anyone have a link to that? it looks amazing and I can't find it. I can't tell if it's a CGI recreation or a genuine pic of the miniature.
Ok. At 12:10 we are shown a picture of the Battlestar Galactica. Was the model repurposed into something in TMP or just a random shot in the documentary? If it was used in TMP does anyone know where it can be seen. This would be quite the easter egg hunt.
Just model shop fun by the model makers. Same with the Alien head photo shortly afterwards. Model makers like to play around in the shop. On Grand Budapest Hotel we hid pigs all over the models. Not sure who started that. One pig actually made it onto the final hotel miniature!
The original Enterprise (TOS) ended up in the Smithsonian, but what about the refit filming model used here (my favorite btw). Does anyone know its whereabouts?
I think Jeff Bezos (Amazon) bought it for his personal collection...
I've always, I mean always, felt that ST TMP had superior modelbuilding and much more sophisticated and realistic miniature photography and optics than Alien did. You had the finest SPFX men in the business Trumbull and Dykstra !!! OHHH please! It's so much better than Alien's very mediocre and clearly fake miniature photography. Then the Academy gives the SPFX Oscar to Alien!!! FOR WHAT???? Alien should have won an Oscar for Art Direction, because of the Alien design and the Alien spaceship. Alien has Space 1999 caliber miniature photography not very impressive!!! The Academy was and still is in many ways dumb. They gave the SPFX Oscar for both King Kong and Logan's Run. So I shouldn't be surprised. It's all B.S. politics!!!!
I would be interested in reading the synopsis of this lady's Alien sequel script.
I wish that the Starship Enterprise was "Real"
Really wish the names of the artists were on screen as they spoke.
I put the names up in the blurb under the thumbnail. If you watch more of the videos you get to know who they all are and what films they worked on. This is an 18 hour doc!
"Stellar model makers."
Lol... I see what you did there.
At about 12:20 in this video:
*_BUGGLESTAR GALACTICA_*
🤭🤭🤭
I ish she told us what was her Alien sequel about
What model is that at the 6:20 mark?
These were great craftsmen who made real plastic resin model ships with they're hands and put in long hours to make a movie and not like today's stupid cgi where people tap on a keyboard and electronic pen turning out some crappy movies