Star Trek: The Art of the Film

Titan Books 2009

Scribo (Australia)

Reviewer: Michelle Taylor

J.J. Abrams recent cinematic re-envisioning of the Star Trek universe (or reboot as some have called it) has confidently made a break with the past and boldly entered into an exciting new phase of Star Trek’s forty odd year existence; and Star Trek: The Art of the Film chronicles its aesthetic development from early conceptual and commercial art, to final designs. There is a strong influence from the Star Wars universe in this film, and thus this book, with several Star Wars veterans such as Ryan Church and Alex Jaeger contributing their prodigious talents to the revitalization of this franchise. Even Mark Cotta Vaz, the author of this book has connections with Star Wars going back some years. On reflection this is of course no surprise as Industrial Light & Magic was put in charge of updating and redesigning the entire Star Trek aesthetic early on; with the aim of appealing to a younger generation of audiences who haven’t grown up with Trek, and who aren’t encumbered with preconceived notions of what it should look like. This fascinating book is virtually overflowing with some of the most visually stunning and beautifully imagined CGI, art and design ever to have been created for this most enduring of franchises, and in one word, is engrossing. The chapters logically follow the sequences of the film itself, beginning with the almost submarine like designs for the U.S.S. Kelvin and ending with a chapter briefly covering the truly inspired poster campaign. From cover to cover hundreds of photos in gorgeous saturated colours are featured to give you an idea of how a particular scene, costume, prosthetic or even set was originally conceived by the concept artist or production designer and then vividly bought to life in the final theatrical release of the film. The descriptive text is written in an intelligent, clear and concise manner that is regularly interspersed throughout the book; a short preface and a humorous forward by Mr Abrams himself are also included in the first few pages, succinctly followed by a revealing introduction titled: The Future Begins...

Wanting to bring newer sensibilities to the Star Trek franchise J.J. Abrams and his team have almost entirely eschewed the past in favour of an ultramodern, sleek and sexy look that it was hoped would appeal to both devoted trekkies, and potential new fans. Yet even in their aim to completely re-envision Star Trek for contemporary audiences they were always fully aware of the fact that certain key aspects of its design vocabulary should be treated with the utmost respect, while other aspects could be cast anew. If anything the production team were in the unenviable position of wanting to create something that’s vitally modern; yet at the same time also wanting to pay homage to all that’s gone before, and not alienate existing fans in the process. On one hand I admire this goal; for by bringing in people who’ve not worked on Star Trek productions before they were given free rein to think out of the box and come up with clever new ideas, yet on the other hand much of the distinctive Star Trek aesthetic that’s evolved over the past four decades or so seems to have been totally discarded in favour of the shiny and the new. But I have to admit that somehow they’ve pulled off this fine balancing act, and still given the film a credible Star Trek ambience. I also have to admit that I am slightly uncomfortable with the overall Star Wars treatment this film has been given; from the massive advertising blitz and media campaign to the tacky product placements, it’s never really been done for a Trek production before... and I feel that cheapened it somewhat. But luckily this wonderful book is another story altogether and I would definitely highly recommend it to anyone who's ever been interested in conceptual and commercial art for films, or indeed for television. And hopefully like the film itself, you’ll end up loving it about as much as I do! Live long and prosper!

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This review will appear in Volume 3 No.1 of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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