Building a Starship, Part I

Posted on by Kevin A. Ranson

Some of you out there have heard about a few crazy individuals who are not only bold enough to be seen wearing classic “Star Trek” uniforms at conventions but are actually savvy enough to act out and produce their own stories for the web. Here’s the kicker: they’re pretty good, too.

One of these groups is Farragut Films, makers of Starship Farragut.

Starship Farragut is an independent film series based on the original series of Star Trek. Starship Farragut is based on the crew of the U.S.S. Farragut, a Constitution Class Starship (NCC-1647) commanded by Captain John T. Carter, and takes place during the time of legendary Captain James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise (NCC-1701).

Currently, all involved are getting stage sets ready for more episodes, currently being rebuilt and permanently housed in St. Marys, Georgia. Myself and a friend, Brett, went up this past Saturday and helped out where we could. Check out these images and watch this space later as the final designs take shape.

3 thoughts on “Building a Starship, Part I”

  1. That is just cool! I knew people were doing filmed fan stories, but I had no idea their sets looked that authentic! Great photos, too.

  2. For stage sets, I remember using cheese cloth over slats and painting them. These semi-permanent sets still use 1×2 and 1×4 (as opposed to 2×4) boards and thin sheets of particle board. Heavier pieces, walkways, and load-bearing structures use bigger beams to strengthen them. But it’s always amazing to see the paint slapped on and imagine what we’ve built instead of seeing it for the set it is.

    While actors are often asked to act opposite green screens or post-production effects, I’ve met none who wouldn’t rather have a physical set to help get into their characters.

  3. Yes, I imagine they all prefer that. Titanic and LOTR actors all said many times how much they loved the fabulous sets, and the costumes! Hugo Weaving (Lord Elrond, LOTR) talked about the layered details and little pearls and embroidery sewn into layers of his council robes that no one else would ever even see! Yet he knew it was there from getting into it all, and he said it went far in helping him get into character.

    In Titanic, everything with words on it (like the crew hats) had to made twice because they only built half of the ship. One set of hats said, “White Star Line” and the other set said, “eniL ratS etihW”. Now that’s dedication!

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