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axanar_maybe [2016/03/26 00:45] – Carlos Pedrazaaxanar_maybe [Unknown date] (current) – external edit (Unknown date) 127.0.0.1
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-====== The Axanar that Might've Been ======+====== The Axanar That Might've Been ======
  
 /* RMB and Axanar's cinematographer describe what //Axanar// might have been if not for the copyright lawsuit brought against them by CBS Studios and Paramount Pictures. /* RMB and Axanar's cinematographer describe what //Axanar// might have been if not for the copyright lawsuit brought against them by CBS Studios and Paramount Pictures.
  
-From Facebook thread. */+From Facebook thread: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CBSvsAxanar/permalink/1178230432188325/?comment_id=1178240622187306&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R%22%7D 
 + 
 +RMB: How much do you think it costs to build a full scale, fully illuminated and interactive Bridge set? Better yet, what do you think it should cost? 
 + 
 +We didn't [reinvent the wheel]. But we still had to build [our bridge] from scratch. And buy plasma screens and computers to run them. 
 + 
 +David Sturm: I'm familiar that it was said (by Alec) that Gossett felt Cawley's sets were unusable. But I've heard other viewpoints on that. And I understand to have availability of name actors, filming in Tico NY or Kingsland GA would be a bit challenging. Plasma screens and computers though... to produce a TOS prequel seem like overdoing it. TNG backlit graphics could have worked reasonably well. But it seems there haven't been any plasma screens and computers bought... at least none are listed in the Historical Documents (I mean... Excel report of December 15, 2015). 
 + 
 +Robert Meyer Burnett: When I took over as director in July of 2015, my plan was always to release the fInished AXANAR on Sept. 8th, 2016. We were right on schedule to make that date. As I said before, I was tackling the space VFX first, so I'd have the first half finished before the commencement of life action photography. As far as I was concerned, there were no delays when I began work. The lawsuit obviously changed those plans. 
 + 
 +Ryan Campen: Rob, why did you HAVE to build a bridge from scratch? There are several bridges might have worked. I understand that Christian felt it was necessary. Why couldn't you work with the NV sets? 
 + 
 +On another point, why did you have to build everything on the soundstage? Why couldn't elements (consoles, walls, the captain's chair, etc.) be built offsite and brought in for final assembly on the set? To me, and admittedly I just know from what I've had to do in my years of theatre, that it's sometimes necessary to build things offsite before you get the space. I understand that might be different in film. I'd just like a reason if you can provide one. 
 + 
 +Not trying to be snarky on either point. I'm really just trying to understand. 
 + 
 +Robert Meyer Burnett: When we first started, the plan was indeed to come out before BEYOND. But those plans changed, and when I took over, I had a specific schedule I was working under, which was always to complete the entire film for the 50th. 
 + 
 +**Axanar cinematographer Milton Santiago**: Ryan Campen, shooting Axanar on the sets of NV would be impractical on many levels. First, aesthetically those sets have been constructed to meet the needs of the TOS style which the NV team aim to recreate. Axanar is to have its own visual style and look. This style and look is dictated by the needs of the script.  
 + 
 +This a specific story that needs a specific approach to be told effectively. Second, because the NV sets have been designed to emulate a certain style, the tool set available at that location is limited for those purposes. There isn't anywhere even remotely close to Ticonderoga from where different tools can be brought in easily. By tools, I'm referring to those specifically for camera, electric, and grip. 
 + 
 +Third, NV sets are treated as museum pieces which is to say the idea that a production could go there and change things around, both aesthetically and technically, to meet the needs of a different film is flawed. I've shot on those sets. Its owners are very particular about how those sets are treated and rightfully so. 
 + 
 +Fourth, NV sets serve their purpose, but likely could not withstand the wear and tear that Axanar would require. There are scripted practical effects that could not be accomplished there. The sets that were being built for Axanar are as robust as any I've seen on any of the professional productions I've been on. There is sufficient space with which to accomplish certain shots. Our approach in Ticondergoa would be limited to the confines of those sets. 
 + 
 +Fifth, it would be impractical to think that the crew necessary to accomplish the needs of Axanar could be transported and housed for a long period of time in Ticonderoga without significant costs. The town is beautiful and quaint, but barely has the infrastructure to support a small production. Crew would have to be flown into Albany, NY or Burlington, VT. both are at least 75 minutes away. This doesn't even begin to touch on getting the cast there. 
 + 
 +Sixth, the volunteers who work on NV are wonderful, hard-working, kind individuals. They do great work for what they are after. They themselves would tell you that they do it with great love very very slowly. The needs of Axanar could not be accomplished with volunteer hands. The film needs a certain level of production expertise to be made successfully. The shots need to be accomplished at a specific pace and page counts must absolutely be made. 
 + 
 +Though Axanar had the luxury of time in constructing its sets, it would not have the luxury of time in terms of principal photography. It's certainly one thing to ask production friends to come out and play for a short film lasting 3-4 days. I've certainly done that before. Heck it's what we did on Prelude. But to ask those same friends to come out and do that on a feature is a stretch. 
 + 
 +A previous poster asked why the lighting on the sets needed to be interactive. A seemingly fair question. The answer is that the style of film as dictated by the story requires elements that would heightened the tension. Creatively, we've made the decision that a level of interactivity is necessary for that purpose. This is how we have chosen to tell the story. It may not be how someone else would tell the story, but these are the choices we have made. 
 + 
 +Another poster asks about why sets where not built offsite first. Another fair question. Personally I was not privy to that decision and I can see how that may have been a viable route. I can say this that the sets that were conceived for Axanar are fairly big and that any space rented for set construction would have to be considerably large. 
 + 
 +Once the lease was signed, it made a lot of sense to build the sets on site. There are many many advantages to the sets being in an accessible place to all members of the production team. Rob and I have been able to carefully strategize and map out every single shot of the film because of that accessibility. We are able to see how all of the sets relate to each other and find methodologies that would allow us to shoot more of the film with less. 
 + 
 +The more that I refer to is quantified in time saved which equals money saved that can be used elsewhere in the production. In this very long post I've hoped to give you some honest answers to what I have received as sincere production questions. I hope you will receive my answers in kind. 
 + 
 +Robert Meyer Burnett: As Brenda herself explained on her remodeling project, 25% of her considerable budget went to salaries. We paid a fraction of what our construction team was worth, and our sets are some of the best I've ever seen, and I worked at Warner Brothers in Feature Production for a few years. In fact, everything on the AXANAR production is absolutely first rate, at a fraction of normal costs. 
 + 
 + 
 +Milton Santiago: Mario Suarez I don't believe Rob mentioned anything about interactive consoles or interactive buttons. What he and I are referring to are interactive graphics on the monitors themselves. There are different ways to skin a cat and I certainly do not object to discussing the different ways you could do just that. That said it's unfair to start with the assumption, at least with regards to the production end of things which is the only end of things I'm qualified to speak to, that donor's have not been in our minds for all of these decisions. The interactivity will make a huge difference in how the story will be told. In my estimation, the telling of a great story is what the donors, myself included, have given to. I do understand though how not being privy to the creative intent here would allow one to have misgivings. 
 + 
 +Patty Wright: The costumes is nonsense. Alec owned Garth's original already. James donated all the Cage uniforms I made, including the two Alec wears. Western Costume loaned on donation most of the rest, as well as the on-set costume person. 
 + 
 +Milton Santiago: Shawn P. O'Halloran Arrogant? There are maybe a handful of people who know what the creative intent of this project is from a storytelling perspective. I happened to be one of them. To state as much isn't arrogant, it's just factual. What the creative people are intending/attempting to do in the storytelling sense is critical in any discussion about the why. It dictates every single decision. And if you don't understand the why or the reasoning behind a decision, it is very easy to second guess it. That's all I'm saying. I don't believe pointing that out makes me arrogant. Please do not project feelings you may have about others involved in this project onto me. 
 + 
 +Milton Santiago: Mario Suarez Believe me I understand your frustration. I'm frustrated. Rob is frustrated. We've dedicated a significant amount of time and heart into preparing to make this film. We do not get that time back. I respect your right to have an opinion about whether or not the care the production team has given to the details is worth it. I believe that it would be, but I'm a visual person so I readily admit I'm biased that way. 
 + 
 +**Shawn P. O'Halloran**: I was referring to the comment, not you. You've been very careful to choose your words and consider your audience but you jumped the shark with that particular comment. 
 + 
 +The fact is when you've taken in $1.2 million from donations (so far) and have 23 minutes of footage to show for it, you don't have much of a leg to stand on when you start throwing phrases like "creative intent" around... especially when the basis for your creative intent is someone else's creative works that you don't have permission to use.  
 + 
 +And again, not for nothing, but I don't blame you and I don't blame RMB, I'm just suggesting that you might want to be a little more diplomatic than saying "You couldn't possibly understand because you couldn't possibly appreciate OUR vision. We're filmmakers." 
 + 
 +Robert Meyer Burnett: Patty Wright All of the AXANAR feature costumes are original designs and created from scratch. 
 + 
 +Milton Santiago: Shawn P. O'Halloran Respectfully, you've misinterpreted what I've written. Being familiar with the creative intent would help with understanding why certain decisions were made. That should be a fairly neutral statement. Your interpretation that that means "You couldn't possibly understand because you couldn't possibly appreciate OUR vision" is a mischaracterization. If that's the way you are receiving it, that's not my purpose. There's no benefit on my part to being "elitist" about this and the written word can certainly be clunky given the context. I can't think of a more elegant way of describing what we are trying to do artistically than "creative intent." You are entitled to your opinion and I respect your right to have one and express it as vociferously as you'd like. That said I would appreciate not having words put in my mouth...is that fair? 
 + 
 +Robert Meyer Burnett: Shawn P. O'Halloran I will remain polite, but we really are trying to make a 150 million dollar movie for 1% of that budget. What we're attempting to do is HUGELY ambitious from a production perspective. Jody Wheeler couldn't even begin to comprehend just how ambitious given his limited production background. 
 + 
 +Robert Meyer Burnett: Brenda Handam We did. The disconnect here is, you're looking for a day to day accounting of what we've done...when a lot of that material has never been seen. Heck, I have two finished pieces of SCORE from the film, one with a CHOIR singing. (It will blow you away, btw...) 
 + 
 +Robert Meyer Burnett: Brenda Handam I'm a filmmaker. My career speaks for itself. I love everything I do. I've worked all over the world, very effectively spending studio money. I've never been called to the carpet by anyone. Until now. By a very small group of people who have absolutely no experience in my industry. Jody Wheeler, who was in collage while I was working on a 200 million dollar Warner Brothers film, acts like he knows more than I do. 
 + 
 +I'm here because I'm a fan and a professional, who understands all of your concerns. AXANAR is a fan film paid for by fans. This group has actively worked against my ability to do my work. It's the most pernicious, disgusting, navel-gazing, ignorant group of people I've ever experienced in my time on this planet. If anyone here had a shred of understanding of the time, effort, talent, work and ability everyone involved with the AXANAR project put fourth, they'd be ashamed of the almost three months of vitriol posted here. 
 + 
 +Not one person here asked to come to the studio and demand to see what we've accomplished. Why is that? You want answers to your questions? I invite you to my office, and I will show you tremendous work done by many talented people. Yet no one here has asked. Not one of this group has actually come by our studio. Why not? 
 + 
 +**Shawn P. O'Halloran**: Robert Meyer Burnett, you're not being called to the carpet, Alec is as is Axanar Productions, Inc. (BOTH Axanar Productions). Much like the fact that Alec is not a lawyer in any jurisdiction in the US, he's also not a filmmaker, and the last time I checked, you weren't a named defendant (yet).  
 + 
 +No one is questioning your dedication or your intentions or that of the many well-meaning production staff who have been involved in this. But I do know for a fact that a lot well-meaning people left this project due to ethical conflicts with Alec himself and I know this because they've contacted me.  
 + 
 +Your credibility is being questioned because of your association with this project and Alec Peters and to be fair, for someone who signed on to direct back in June of 2015, you're kinda going out of your way to martyr yourself for that - as Wil Wheaton refers to him - douchecanoe and it's getting kind of tired.  
 + 
 +You actually tried to say that you didn't have a studio... it was just a warehouse... that has a soundstage. 
 + 
 +Now, if you want get a bug up your ass and resort to name-calling at 3 am after you've had a few belts... hey, knock yourself out... but that doesn't change the facts that have been addressed.  
 + 
 +We are full-circle back to the issue that Axanar/AP has leveraged the Star Trek brand without permission to milk fans out of, so far, $1.2 M with 23 minutes of footage to show for it while Alec gets to skim off the top (while calling people trailer trash who question that) and use this fan-funded corporation to front his other corporation that he already ran into the ground once, while screwing his creditors out of $400K.  
 + 
 +Jody Wheeler is correct when he says that these donors are effectively investors but with no recourse or protections and with a track record like Alec's, don't you think that's a legitimate concern? 
 + 
 +I've been more than generous with my assessment of you and your involvement because like I've said, I believe that you're sincere and that you've had nothing but the best of intentions but again, you're afforded less of that benefit of the doubt every time you try to defend Alec's asshattery, which BTW, is not your asshattery to defend. Shit, Mike Bawden understands this concept, why is it so difficult for you? 
 + 
 +The worst part about it is how vehemently you do it.  
 + 
 +Imma tell you a little story: back in 1997 when I was 22, I made the mistake of getting exceptionally plastered (as I assume you are now) on the SU hill (go Orange) and while standing in line at a sandwich shop called The Pita Pit, I made the very big mistake of opening my big mouth and starting shit with another guy in line for no reason. My friends warned me repeatedly to knock it off and I didn't listen.  
 + 
 +Before I knew it, I had pretty much tried to take on the entire SU campus. Thankfully, a guy about 6' 5"/400 pounds intervened between myself and certain doom and yelled over to my friends, "Hey, is this guy with you?" 
 + 
 +My friends responded by saying, "Oh, he's on his own on this one." It was at that moment that I knew it was time to leave.  
 + 
 +The moral of the story is that sometimes you just gotta say, "Oh, he's on his own" for your own good. 
 + 
 +This isn't really about you so you can climb down from off of that cross and stop making it about you.  
 + 
 +That is of course unless your status has changed and you're cutting the checks and are responsible for all of the asshattery like all of these magical corporations in bankruptcy friendly jurisdictions that are popping up. Are you?  
 + 
 +Now, aside from the name-calling, you don't know anyone in this group well enough to know whether or not they followed their dreams to make them a reality so that's really kind of a dick thing to say. You have no idea what people's dreams are and just because they haven't chose filmmaking it doesn't make their dreams any less important or valid than yours.  
 + 
 +Also, if you're giving out tours, will you be giving them in your chapter 7-friendly Nevada location as well? 
 + 
 +**Patty Wright** Robert Meyer Burnett, we were discussing the budget for Prelude. And, unfortunately, changing an insignia or trim on an original costume for the feature does not make it "an original design created from scratch." 
 + 
 +**Patty Wright** Shawn, they may have incorporated in NV because there are standing TOS sets there Alec may have intended to use back then. Not everything is necessarily nefarious.  
 + 
 +Robert, perhaps no one has stopped by because when someone suggested it near the beginning of all this Alec went off the deep end over the idea. 
 + 
 +**Robert Meyer Burnett** I assure you, I'm not having a few belts. There is no conspiracy here. Everyone involved simply desired to make a great film and hopefully make others. Pretty simple. 
 + 
 +Robert Meyer Burnett: Brenda Handam As someone who donated money to the project, why then spend each and every day attacking AXANAR instead of making the effort to actually come and see how your money is being spent? No one here has even asked to do that. It's monumentally frustrating to know how much work has been completed on AXANAR, with the project attacked on a daily basis, yet not one person has ever actually asked to come see what's been done. 
 + 
 +Shaun Mckenning: I do think yourself and most of the production staff at Axanar did set out to make the best film you could but I think things have gotten out of hand and instead of making the best fan film you all could you've become obsessed with trying to make a big block buster movie, I understand things cost money but when you've got limited funds and you're using other people's money shouldn't you be more careful with the budget instead of trying to have the biggest and best of everything, I'm not trying to say anything negative about your skills has a filmmaker I can see why you'd invest so much time and effort in the project who wouldn't want to work on a Star Trek film and I think it's natural you'd defend something you've put so much into but I can see why people want to know where there money has been spent 
 + 
 +Robert Meyer Burnett: If there hadn't been a lawsuit, the first 30-40 minutes would've been released on April second. 
 + 
 +Robert Meyer Burnett: Brenda Handam With the tone here a bit more civil, I've been trying to participate as much as I'm able. 
 + 
 + 
 +*/