Hey gang! You may have noticed a distinct lack of postings lately… no, I haven’t been kidnapped by Borellian Noman or “silenced” by JJ Abrams, but I have been hard at work on a very cool new project that is slated to premiere in a few short weeks at San Diego Comic Con. At the moment, mum’s the word, but I promise to fill all of you in on the details shortly before the rest of the world finds out. Suffice it to say that I’m giddy with excitement and can promise you that what we’re about to unleash boldly goes where no one has gone before. The image above is a tiny hint of what we’ve got in store, so stay tuned!
08
Jul
09
Darth Mojo 
I’d say it’s “Unseen Frontier” or a derivation of that idea.
Ok, i have no idea what this could be, id be beyond excited if it where a new trek series or something but lol i doubt that.
Maybe even TNG re-mastered ?
Whatever it is look forward to the announcement, i wish i could go to comic-con but im stuck over here in the UK :( !
Ok, Borg, Earth, a Sovereign nacelle? First Contact Remastered?!? ;)
Hmm. Enterprise-E vs. the Borg (over Earth again?). This should be interesting. :)
My guess, assuming you were expecting us to guess, would be working on redoing the ST:TNG effects for Blu-Ray release. Do we get a prize if we’re right? ;)
Looks like the E taking a hit from a cube. Battle of 001 redux?
Good Lords of Kobol, you’ve been assimilated?!
Woah. I’m excited. We going to get hooked up with a wallpaper version of this at that time as well?
Borg ship, warp nacelle. You had me at hello.
On a side note, I think that’s the first time I can remember seeing the actual connection point for the Ent-E’s nacelles. Thanks! :)
Something First Contact, looking forward to it!
-Stefan-
It’s a Borg cube using a cutting beam on a Starfleet warp nacelle. That means it’s Star Trek related! :D
The Borg!?
I can’t decide what the foreground image is, it looks more B5-ish than Trek. Anyway, anything that brings the Borg back to the world can’t be bad. Can’t wait to hear more Mojo!
I think it’s safe to say you’ve captured our attention, Mojo. :)
I want to believe it will be the events of First Contact reimagined in the Abrams Trek universe, but that’s probably asking for alot.
hmmm, looks like an Excelsior class nacelle?
Definitely a Borg cube. Definitely the nacelle and strut of a Starfleet ship, possibly the Enterprise-E. Possibly the Earth in the background. Could there be, in an as yet unseen part of this image, the “tough little ship” USS Defiant in the foreground? Don’t know what this is all about, but I love a good mystery. Looking forward to piecing the clues together.
Top Secret Star Trek television project ?
Nahh, retouching for Blue-Ray or a video game.
It’s save to assume that FCs VFX are suitable for a HD release. More than a bit cleaning and sharpening shouldn’t be necessary. And I can’t remember a scene like that in the actual movie. So it’s a fan film?
Well, you all seem to have figured out that at least *part* of this project involves “First Contact.” Right now I’m putting the finishing touches on the other two thirds of what’s involved. It’s been a hectic few weeks!
Ooooooo, exciting! You’re such a tease, though, showing us the Sovereign-class nacelle and pylon and a hint of Borg cube. It’s like the starship equivalent of Quaker porn, with full-frontal ankle nudity.
Hmm. “Director’s Cut” of FC?
Is it LLT?
You’re licensing a line of sugar substitute cubes fashioned in the shape of Borg ships, with the hook line: “Borg Nutra-Cubes, assimilate easily in any beverage. You’ll love them on first contact!”
First re-mastering TMP with new effects a few years back and now this maybe?
You are the luckiest man alive. Very talented too. But lucky! :)
More Trek Blu-ray and DVD releases in 2009
These sets are just the Spring releases that Paramount and CBS are officially announcing, however TrekMovie and Digital Bits sources have confirmed additional titles for 2009. In the Fall, Paramount will obviously be releasing the 2009 JJ Abrams Star Trek movie on Blu-ray and DVD. Paramount is also planning a Fall release of a four-movie Next Generation movie box set with Generations, First Contact, Insurrection, and Nemesis, complete with new bonus features. CBS is also readying seasons 2 and 3 of The Original Series for Blu-ray for the Fall as well.
I hope it’s not a “remastering” of First Contact or the other TNG movies, since it would hardly improve any of them and end up being more of a sales gimmick. It also doesn’t fit with Mojo’s line about doing something unusual. In retrospect, TMP was improved only slightly by its new visuals, while the new TOS-R shows are mainly interesting for their picture quality – the visual effects provide only mild innovations and corrections in certain scenes (but then again, that was the idea behind the project).
My guess is cover art for the First Contact Bluray or TNG film box set blu.
Boris:
I agree with you, re-mastering a movie like Nemisis or Insurrection is a sales gimmick. Nothing could really save those movies in the long run. However in he case of FC, I feel it was a good movie, somewhat held back by a mid-level budget (47 million — I think???). I remember going to the theatre all excited to see the Borg on the big screen, and I felt that the first battle was pretty much over before it began. The fanboy in me would just love to see that battle stretched out to “feature film” length, not necessarily re-mastered. A lot of those effects were quite good for the time. (John Knoll’s work I believe).
Regardless, any Borg is good Borg. So whatever Mojo is working on I’m sure it will be worthwhile.
Speaking of remastering…
Have you heard anything about, or are you involved with, a TMP vfx remaster for Blu-Ray?
I love the work you guys did for the Director’s Edition so much, that I can hardly stand to watch the theatrical cut anymore!
Looking forward to the forthcoming First Contact goodness.
Moore and Braga always did say that they had planned a more epic battle scene against the Borg. Could this be it?
I think FC is one of the films that doesn’t need to be remastered. She looks pretty good already.
@tommyc:
Indeed they were great effects in First Contact, but It depends on what resolution they were rendered at, and even if they were rendered at a film resolution in the mid 90s (which I doubt), showing them at 1080p would no doubt highlight the low poly starships swarming around the cube, necessitating a remastering of effects shots.
Hmm. I’m not sure I’d like to see FC’s effects redone. Although I’ve always thought the battle could’ve done with being a lot longer, it is what it is and the movie’s my favourite. I wouldn’t like to see it changed.
Having said that, congrats and all the best if that’s what the project is. That’d be a dream to work on. I’d hope the Zandura and some of Alex Jaeger’s other unused designs would get added.
I wonder if this is something completely different, though. Very intriguing!
All I’ll say is it’s not a remaster of FIRST CONTACT. That movie’s effects are fine, there would be no point to changing them.
Honestly, other than Trek 5, the effects in all the movies are good. I might want to see WRATH OF KHAN recompositied – get rid of the matte lines and bring back some contrast – but there isn’t much else I can think needs to be done to Trek movies.
I’ll post more hints this week…
DAVE C,
MOST of the ship stuff in FC is miniature-based, not CG. The bg ships and DEFIANT are digital, but the -e, the cube, the sphere and the FARRAGUT-looking ship are all practical, so your resolution issue is a non-starter, since you’re basically capturing at 4K or higher with 35mm, and even with a lousy 2K to comp everything — which seems to be the dumbed-down standard for quite awhile now — that’s still way ahead of DVD imagery.
Kevin H. Martin,
2K is way ahead of DVD imagery, but it’s barely larger than Blu-ray (1920×1080 vs. 2048×1152).
Lenticular box art for the NG movie box and the full-tilt Blu-Ray movie box with all 11 movies.