The struggles of the special effects staff who created the movie “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” and what they left behind, Part 2

miniature problems

Since there was no time to recreate the miniatures of the spaceships, the models made by Magicam under the direction of RA&A were used almost as they were. However, Trumbull was not convinced about the main Enterprise, because it was a sleek design that followed the TV version.

To make a miniature spaceship look huge, the method used was to create intricate details with uneven surfaces, as in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Close Encounters of the Close Encounters of the Third Kind Kind. However, this would destroy the atmosphere of the Enterprise, which is characterized by its smooth surfaces. So Trumbull repainted the miniature, which had been one color, and painted it with subtle differences such as silver and pearl white, as if it were a collection of small panels.

“2001: A Space Odyssey” preview

Another change was the addition of lighting. Usually, spaceships in space opera movies are lit up from somewhere, even if there is no star nearby to serve as a light source. However, Trumbull thought that "a spaceship that leaves the solar system should be completely dark," and so he added lights that illuminate the hull of the Enterprise itself.

Still, Trumbull was frustrated by the lack of size of the miniatures: the Discovery miniature he was working with for 2001: A Space Odyssey: A Space Odyssey was 16.2 metres long, compared with just 2.1 metres for the Enterprise, which posed a challenge for the 65mm camera, with its shallow depth of field.

*2 The number of millimeters mentioned here refers to the width of the film. 65mm film requires a lens with a larger image circle than 35mm film, so the depth of field is shallower for the same F-number. Out-of-focus blur is the enemy of making miniatures look larger, so it is necessary to shoot with pan focus (deep focus). Therefore, to shoot small miniatures with pan focus, you are forced to use ingenuity such as narrowing the lens as much as possible, increasing the amount of light from the lighting accordingly, and lengthening the exposure time for each frame.

Differences in production style between FGC and Apogee