American Cinematographer - November 2001 - 71

Opposite:
Though
revolutionary for
its time, the

Enterprise NX-01
still shares

styling

some

cues

with

its close cousin,
the nuclear

submarine. Many
of these design
elements are
evident on the

bridge (this
page). Director
of photography
Marvin V.

Rush,

ASC and

production
designer Herman
Zimmerman
worked together
to

integrate

numerous

practical quartz
and fluorescent

workspace lights

smirks and

its

crew's

explores the galaxy with renewed awe

the floor. This

and wonder. The show will

enables him to
shoot in any
direction on the
set with only

shrugs as the production
laughter resonates throughout
the set. Standing outside the ship's
Bridge in Paramount's Stage 18, I
can't help but join in while I watch
the comic miscue unfold.
A cry

of "Cut!" resounds from
the darkness as a grinning LeVar
Burton emerges, pulling headphones
off his

ears.

seen on

the other side of the

in his role

Geordi

Burton, who could be

as

cameras

The Next Generations

LaForge, is directing the

"Terra Nova" episode of this new Star

PTYMaiciraocoatumhrnmessfedn.l,y
RMcCoalnum,

byPPhaotusl

Trek series, which has been simply
titled Enterprise. "Who's on the
door?" calls

the amused,

rather

into the set,
which allowed
Rush to keep

contemporary

crew,
answer

the

question long debated and
hypothesized by Star Trek fans: what
was space travel like before Capt.
In

leading this journey of
the brash Archer
commands an intrepid crew that
includes
the
advising Vulcan
Subcommander

T'Pol

Federation has yet to

form, there are
phasers that can be set to stun, and
the transporter is voodoo technology
no

at

best. Set in the 22nd century, a
contact with

short time after first

Vulcans and 100 years

before the
original 1960s series, Enterprise, with

helmsman Travis

Mayweather
(Anthony
Montgomery),

Blalock), Chief Engineer Charles
"Trip" Tucker III (Connor Trinneer),
British armory officer Lt. Malcolm
Reed (Dominic Keating), helmsman

Park), and the alien doctor, Phlox
(John Billingsley). These adventurers

Deep Space
Nine and Star Trek: Voyager became
entangled in complicated and contin¬
uous alien race-wars,
Enterprise takes
a
bold step back in time: the

supervises

(Jolene

crewmember.

have

the

first

encounters

with

who steers the

Enterprise -
literally - with
a

including director of
photography Marvin V. Rush, ASC,
who enlisted during the third season

veterans,

of The Next Generation series and has

There's

been

Suliban,

a

new

menace,

the

genetically enhanced
superspecies who are the pawns of an
unknown time-traveling group.
a

All of these actors

the Star Trek

scene,

are new

but there

to

are

familiar faces behind the
scenes. In fact, a majority of the
Enterprise production crew are Trek
many

submarine-

style wheel.

Klingons and other alien favorites.
even

tweaking.

(Scott Bakula)

discovery,

Ensign Travis Mayweather (Anthony
Montgomery),
communications
officer Ensign Hoshi Sato (Linda

Whereas Star Trek:

minor

This page,
bottom: Capt.
Jonathan Archer

Kirk?

scriptwielding first assistant director Jerry
Fleck, a longtime Star Trek
out

equipment off

photographing Starfleet's TV

adventures

ever

since. On this

new

show, however, it's evident that
excitement

pervades Stage 18. "The
original Star Trek influenced genera¬
tions of people," Rush says. To prove
it, he points to the cell phone clinging
to my hip. "Look at the flip phone
from Motorola. Doesn't it look like

American

Cinematographer 67
American Cinematographer - November 2001

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