Here are my answers to the 5 questions that I read on PostFifthPictures.com. If there are more, just let me know. In some cases I should call the VIZ FX team…but I will give this a shot, first. If you have any questions about my answers, please let me know.
Thanks,
Daryl
UPDATE 5MARCH2010: We are doing another Q&A with Lance Stubblefield, editorial crew member on LOST. Please visit this post to ask a question there. Thanks!)
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1. Was Star Trek shot on Film? What did you edit on?
Yes, it was always shot on film. Only the last Trek series went HD. But all of the editing was done electronically. We edited the episodes on the MONTAGE. We were slow to switch to AVID, like most other Hollywood shows, because of costs…the producers did not care what we cut on…as long as we met the schedule. The editors took an early Final Cut Pro class when that first came out, but FCP could not print out a storyboard for our Viz Fx team. They were spoiled by the Montage’s storyboards that furnished all the detailed numbers & measurements they needed to composite the FX shots.
2. How were the FX composited?
I believe that all the FX were done on film in the beginning. Dan Curry was our FX producer. He’s a genius and very talented man. We used EDEN in Hollywood and CIS: Composite Imaging Systems.
3. Editing Schedules, Rules for Stock Shots, Gag Reels?
It took three to four weeks to make an show. Every episode took 7-9 days to shoot. So, we had 7-9 days of dailies coming in. Some scripts were written too long. The editor had 2 days to assemble the episode and the director had 3-4 days to deliver his cut to the producer. The producer got 3-4 days & them picture was locked. Then you start on your next episode. Inserts and 2nd unit footage came in after online most times, so we would stop cutting dailies to get those into the show.
Stock shots were fun to cut in. We had to know not to cut in a red or brown planet when we’re in orbit and the story called for us to be in a green forest or on a blue beach. Ship shots was up to us to choose. Warp speed? fast flyby? slow dramatic shot long enough for a Captain’s Log? The rule was to always show the ship traveling left to right, unless we were heading home to earth or back the other direction if the script calls for it.
I cut the Gag Reel the 1st two seasons. We had a gag reel for every Wrap Party. The second season’s reel was “copied” by an outsider and started showing up at Star Trek conventions. Ever since that…the gag reels were coded and guarded.
4. Do editors share 2-part episodes and were scripts ever in need of editorial help?
Editors did not share shows. We would ask fellow editors for their opinions on tricky scenes…but that was it. Who ever was assigned Part 2 of a 2-parter would try and watch a rough cut if possible to get a feel for the episode. But remember that when dailies start coming in…the last editor is still in assembly mode. Each of the two parts always had a different director at the helm. The assistant editor was in charge of cutting the teaser at the head of act. He or she would work with the editing team of part 1 to see about getting key material for the teaser. They were normally longer than regular episode teasers.
Yes, some scripts benefited from the extra time we took to rework a scene or story that was not translating well on film. I have saved both stories and acting performances, as well, in post. But on Star Trek, the writers were amazing and the scripts hardly ever needed to be reworked. If the episode was long and we had to lose a few scenes…then we may look at moving an act break. The studios like the shows to be evenly paced and not have a commercial fall on the half hour mark.
5. Is it possible to re master the series in HD?
All the film was vaulted. Including the dailies, with :10 second handles on them. I think Paramount is working on getting all the shows no HD.
We want to thank Daryl for taking the time to answer the questions and also thank those who contributed by asking these questions. We hope to do a few more of these in the future so keep an eye out.
Thanks again everyone,
Bryce Randle
Post Fifth Pictures
[…] have conducted the interview and have posted the answers here at http://postfifthpictures.com/2010/02/the-editor-answers-daryl-baskin-star-trek-tng-editor/ […]
Outstanding! Thank you very much.
[…] BASKIN, STAR TREK TNG EDITOR INTERVIEW Feb 27 EDITING Post Fifth Pictures blog interviews Daryl Baskin, one of the editors for Star Trek the Next Generation. Five questions, with short and sweet […]
Interesting, but a few things don’t add up. TNG ended in 1994. FCP wasn’t even a blip on the radar at that point. Montage was used by a lot of shows at the time TNG was in production, but Avid didn’t really come to dominate the post landscape until a few years after the show ended. Could Daryl have been talking about Avid in question 1?
Also in regards to the effects, I’ve heard for years that though the show was shot on film, the effects were finished and composited on video tape. In order to make TNG in HD all of the effects would need to be redone. This wasn’t the case for the original Trek, as all of its effects were done on film (because of the era in which the show was produced). This is a big reason why the original is available on Blu-ray and TNG is not.
We should clarify that Daryl did not only edit TNG, but also a few other Star Trek series including Voyager and Enterprise. So his experiences he has referred to apply to his Star Trek experience as a whole, while we primarily mentioned his experience on TNG in the article headlines. If you have other questions for him, let me know and I will send them along.
[…] The Editor Answers: Daryl Baskin […]
Leave it to a Trekker (I count myself in that crowd) to point out timeline inconsistencies.
Thanks Bryce, that makes more sense now.
Eric, actually I’m not a Trekker, Trekkie, whatever. Just an editor that watches a lot of movies and TV shows and has a very large collection of DVDs/Blu-Ray discs. I like Star Trek, but I’m more of a fan of the movies than the shows. I did watch re-runs of TOS as a kid and a few seasons of TNG, but none of the other Trek series.
It never ceases to amaze me how this show has stood the test of time!
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