07 Spockwith
Sybok,inThe
FinalFrontier.MotionPicture. Also,inanoddway,
weweren’tcompletelythinkingit
through.‘Okay,you’researching
forGod;whatdoyouthinkyouare
goingtofind?Howareyougoingto
portraythat?Whatdoyouthinkyou
aregoingtoshowonscreenthatis
goingtobedynamicat anybudget
levelanddemonstratethatyoufound
God?’I thinkwewereflawedfromthe
beginninganddidn’tknowit.
“That is painfultoremember.
The fanswereloyal.Theystuckwith
thestoryandgaveusa pass,orforgave
usa bit,ontheproductionvaluesand
thevisualeffects,whichwerenot
verygood.”TroubleAhead
AfterParamountgreenlittheconcept,
rewriteshelpedironoutseveral
elements,suchas Sybok’smotivations
andcraftinga satisfyingending.
“The introductionof Spock’s
brotherwasanattempttodeepenthe
storyandoffer moreof a psychological
thrillerintermsof whereSybokis
takingus,”Winterrecalls.“Isit trueorisn’tit?What’strueandwhat’snot?You
knowthereis somethingwrong,but
youcan’tputyourfingeronit.That’s
thediscoveryprocessof storytelling.
“I thinkwefailedinthatfinal
executiontoreallydazzletheaudience
witha visionthathadcaptured
Spock’sbrother,and,therefore,made
himpassionatetorecruitothers.We
weren’tbeingsloppy.Weweredoing
therightthing.Wethoughtwewere
makingthebestmoviewecouldbased
onwherewehadbeenwithII,III,
andIV.”
Anothersignificantmisfire
revolvedaroundmovingawayfrom
IndustrialLight&MagicasStarTrek’s
majorvisualeffectscompany.ILM
hadbeeninstrumentalintheprevious
threefilms,buttheproductionwanted
tosavemoneyandpossiblyinject
morecreativitywitha newsupplier.As
a result,BranFerren’seffectscompany,
Associates&Ferren,climbedon
board.Ultimately,theycouldn’t
deliverthegoods.
“Welearnedthatas a hardlesson,”
Winteracknowledges.“Wepioneered“Wehada lotoffunfilmingthat
movie.Billhasa tremendoussense
ofhumor.Heis fulloflife.Youcan
seethatin histweetseveryday
now– he’sfuntobearound.He
wasenthusiasticandpassionate
shootingthemovie.Again,there’s
someotherskillsetsneededto
tella storyin a compellingway.
Billwasdoinghisbest.Theoutline
andstructureofthestoryweren’t
helpinghim.Wehadattempted
a verydifficultstory.Thatwasn’t
makingit anyeasierfora guywho
wastryingtomakehiswayand
showhisdirectorialskillandactin
themovie.Hehada lotonhisplate,
butheworkedhard.Hewasnot
lazy.Hewaspresentandinvolved.”
RALPHRALPH
WINTERWINTER ONON
WILLIAMWILLIAM
SHATNERSHATNER
Director, Star Trek V:
The Final Frontier
07INTERVIEW