Star Trekhas always been a trendsetter for both television and cultural milestones, breaking new ground in all sorts of areas. Just recently, one of the IP’s more recent projects,Star Trek: Discovery, is making new strides yet again, changing how television is made. With the completion of Season 3,Star Trek: Discoveryhas become the first show to have its post production handled entirely by artists working from home.
This probably wasn’t intended, of course,with the Coronavirus pandemicushering in a serious shift to how TV can be made. Regardless, it’s a fairly monumental achievement for a VFX driven show likeStar Trek, and it also serves as an interesting proof of concept. For one thing, studios now have iron clad proof that work from home is not only possible, but also a completely viable way to produce even seriously intensive shows. While obviously the actors still need to be on set for some time, the ability to manage all post production in a work from home environment opens up interesting possibilities for the future of television.
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The story ofDiscoveryhasalso been pretty radically changed. While the previous seasons focused on a prequel era of the franchise, season 3 features a major time jump to the 32nd century, with franchise head Alex Kurtzman stating that the show will remain in this time period for the foreseeable future. Kurtzman said of the time jump: “There are so many extraordinary new opportunities and story options, that it feels like an endless well. We’re also now separated from preexisting canon, which means we get to write the future ofStar Trekon this show, and it’s entirely fresh snow.”
Kurtzman had high praise for the artists and crew that spent their time plugging away at the show’s heavily involved VFX. Over a Zoom interview he said: “Our editors, miraculously and heroically, took their editing bays into their living rooms, and we cut the entire season, in collaboration, just the way I’m talking to you right now. We also scored the entire season, mixed the entire season, color timed the entire season, all from this laptop.” Hopefully the example set byStar Trek: Discoveryis a sign thatTV and film production will adaptto this new set of global restrictions.
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