This week on Episode 517 of Priority One: The virtual becomes reality on the set of Discovery Season 4, meanwhile the Disco captains reflect on their past and future in the center seat on the bridge.  In gaming news, Pahvo is under attack on the ground and orbit in the third Event Eampaign installment in Star Trek Online, and Dr. Robert Hurt shares the importance of the Hubble Telescope’s return!

TREK IT OUT

Edited by Thomas Reynolds

Is This The Real Life? Is this Discovery?

By Elio Lleo

When that other “Star” franchise debuted their own serialized, live-action TV series on Disney+, critics not only raved about its story, but also about its cinematography. The Mandalorian, which started streaming in 2019, showcased a new style of filmmaking that was absolutely breathtaking. You see, instead of having to find locations where to shoot, the production used a 360-degree LED wall to project–in real time–all the landscapes and effects needed for the scene. The end result: a creative and astonishing backdrop that really helped build that world.

Now, everyone wants in! Not only does this technology save the time and resources it takes to shoot on location but, combined with the Unreal Engine, actors can actually see and react to visual effect environments in real time. Now we can visit Strange New Worlds with much more ease, as Noah Kadner explains in his article for American Cinematographer. According to Kadner, Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 and the first season of Strange New Worlds have been filming with a 270-degree horseshoe-shaped LED wall by a company called Pixomondo–which can be fed real-time animations using Unreal Engine.

Gul Madred's cruelest torture to date: do the virtual lights count? Image: Michael Gibson/Paramount Plus, via American Cinematographer.

Star Trek’s Lead Visual Effects Supervisor Jason Zimmerman told Kadner “getting something in-camera on the day is so much better than greenscreen in many ways. One major difference [in terms of workflow] is that the production-design and art departments are a lot more involved much earlier in the process, because they have to get assets ready to be photographed instead of waiting until after the shoot.” But the away teams from Strange New Worlds will be beaming down to realistic landscapes–the New Mexico Film Office announced this week that the television series is using New Mexico landscapes for the show’s visual effects. 

Jamming With Captain Burnham

By Rosco McQueen

Michael Burnam meets Bugs Bunny–is this a crossover episode? No, Sonequa Martin-Green plays Lebron James' wife in the Space Jam sequel, and right now Martin-Green is on the promo circuit talking about the animated adventure.  But the good folks at Collider and Gizmodo couldn't help but ask some questions about Discovery Season 4 and what the future holds for Captain Burnham.  

Kamiyah, When LeBron Dunked. Image: Warner Brothers, via Collider.

According to Martin-Green, filming for Season 4 is almost complete with only a little bit left to shoot.  She emphasized the importance of cementing her new position as Captain, particularly the importance of having a black woman in the role. But she was tight lipped on what’s to come, telling Gizmodo it’s going to be about finding out who she is as Captain Michael Burnham, “[b]ecause there’s always been this question of who am I in this moment? Who am I in this role? And now I’m going to have to answer those questions for myself as Captain because everything is different now. And we’ve got a huge threat coming our way.”

The Rubber Meets The Wormhole

By Rosco McQueen

Meanwhile, Doug Jones reflected on Captain Saru and his journey through Season 3 of Discovery.  Jones sat in the Captain’s chair for almost its entirety, something Jones believes was a dream of the character but not necessarily the actor–it meant a lot more time in the makeup chair.   “I was on more days on Season 3 than ever before. But the honor and the gravity of it was not lost on me that put me in a very small handful of actors who have played Captains in Star Trek. And even a bigger honor that I was the first non-human alien creature to take a Captaincy of a title ship. That was a really a big deal for me, especially as a geeky boy who has played a lot of rubber animals and creatures over these years.”

Just keep working on that tagline. Image: ViacomCBS, via Decider.

Jones goes on to talk about adding new cast members to the series, particularly his joy at working with Bill Irwin who played Su’Kal, as each actor has been a fan of the other for a long time.  Season 4 of discovery was filmed under COVID restrictions, and thanks to a few stops and starts has taken a few extra months to film than previous seasons. However Jones doesn’t see the measures as restrictive. “I think that’s what Star Trek helps us realize, that the situation can be different if you perceive it differently. So you can look at it as restrictions, or you can look at it as enablement. I’m going to look at this as it’s enabling us to get the job done, and to stay employed, and to keep the production running.” 

Would You Just Give LeVar The Host Position Already

By Cat Hough

We will finally get to see LeVar Burton take his turn in the guest host role on Jeopardy! next week. And, many of his friends, including Brent Spiner and Gates McFadden have continued lobbying efforts to get him that full-time gig. McFadden told showbizjunkies.com, “I think he would be superb. I think he is born to do it. He’s perfect.” Spiner added, “I can’t think of anyone more qualified than he is. LeVar has proven himself as a host, an educator, a personality, and this and that. He’s a very smart guy with a really great personality, which I think is key for the job. He’s got all of the qualities.” 

You definitely should Trek out the full article because it recaps both of their careers. They tell us their favorite TNG director and give us an update on their latest ventures. As we previously reported on this very podcast, McFadden is currently hosting the podcast Gates McFadden InvestiGates: Who Do You Think You Are?, while Spiner, who we will see in the second season of Picard–has written a novel called Fan-Fiction: A Mem-Noir: Inspired by True Events. Don’t forget to watch Jeopardy! next week!

Kenneth Mitchell: To Boldly Go

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