Trek XI Design Sketch Debunked April 1, 2007
by TrekMovie.com Staff , Filed under: Star Trek (2009 film), TrekMovie.com , trackback
Earlier today TrekMovie.com posted a supposed ‘leaked design sketch’ of a reimagined Enterprise for Star Trek XI. Word of this sketch spread around the Internet like wild fire. It is being discussed on StarTrek.com, TrekWeb, TrekBBS, SomethingAwful, WordForge, Bethesda, and even in the TreksInSciFi podcast. After thorough research TrekMovie.com has learned that this sketch is indeed an Apirl Fool’s Day joke. The scheme was hatched by TrekMovie.com owner Anthony Pascale who was unavailable for comment but was seen walking the streets of Los Angeles giggling maniacally. We have also learned his accomplice was artist Jason Lee (who also goes by the name ‘Vektor’) who actually created the so-called leaked sketch. When questioned Mr. Lee would only say "we just thought it would be kind of funny." Funny indeed.
Apparently TrekMovie.com aren’t the only ones who think this kind of thing is funny. StarTrek.com also appears to be perpetuating a number of suspicious stories on poor Star Trek fans. They claim a new show is in development called the Deluxe Star Trek Remastered which will insert material from their library of other shows (such as I Love Lucy) into Trek. They are also reporting that JJ Abrams will be using YouTube to have fans help edit Star Trek XI, and that Rick Berman and Brannon Braga are making a fan film. Perhaps most cruel of all, SciFi Haven are reprting that Star Trek Enterprise is being renewed on the CW.
UPDATE: High Res version of Jason’s Foolerprise
click to get closer look at Jason’s Foolerprise
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Comments»
It won’t be much of a joke if we end up with something much worse in the actual film.
It was really a nice job by Vektor, but he always does excellently.
Well done to all at TrekMovie.com for pulling the wool over so many people’s eyes. I think what’s worse is many people believed it.
Now comes the beat down!
Doh!!!
Hey, for all we know Abrams and team may come up with a design for the ship that makes us LONG for this debunked design!!
(in Elmer Fudd’s voice) Shhhh,….be very, very quiet…..I’m hunting Pascale! Heh, heh, heh, heh…..
re: 1. The Gospel Truth - April 1, 2007
” It won’t be much of a joke if we end up with something much worse in the actual film.”
It will not be surprising at all if whatever shows up in the movie will be worse.
I think Abrams and crew will probably end up using a ridiculously detailed version of the original Enterprise, down to fingerprints on the outer hull from dockyard workers, smears, and shit stains from the guy that got space sick the day she departed drydock.
There could also be a thin layer of sulfer that has accumulated on the ships skin giving it a slight red hue, akin to the Discovery in 2010.
#8 “it will not be surprising at all if whatever shows up in the movie will be worse”
Hey, gotta love that positive attitude of yours, as in you’re POSITIVE the new Trek film will stink! As Q would say, “Oh you’re good,… you’re really good!”
#9 “and shit stains from the guy that got space sick”
Wow, what a coincidence! I hear that’s the colour they’ve picked for the new command uniforms! Of course medical personnel will wear diarrhea yellow.
:( that was very cruel. I had already burned all my Star Trek merchandise b/c of this prank. Now I don’t know what to do. Naaahhh I’m just kiddin’
I also checkout 3d meshes web site and I realized that I had seen the design before by an artist name Vektor……Funny I made the same comment to Vektor about the design I made here. Still a nice drawing, the real thing will be out soon…..be prepared!!!
Hey gang, hope there were no hard feelings over our little April Fool’s Day put-on. When Anthony called me up and pitched the idea, I just couldn’t resist. What made it really challenging was that we first talked about on Thursday and that only left two days to come up with a design and draw it in a form that would look plausible enough to keep people guessing. It’s been fun and immensely gratifying to see just how many people actually took it seriously.
And for the record, this sketch has NOTHING to do with my own preferences for how the Enterprise should appear in Trek XI. If anything, it’s not quite as far over-the-top and Anthony and I originally intended, but that probably helped to sell the illusion a bit. To all the people who gasped and choked and branded it an abomination and a personal affront to Trek fans everywhere, I thank you for the affirmation that we succeeded in exactly what we were trying to do! To those of you who took it apart piece by piece and analyzed its merits–or lack thereof–in precise detail, I’m glad it turned out to be so thought-provoking. To those of you who are now disappointed that this (probably!) won’t be what you see on the screen in 2008, well, you didn’t really think they’d do “battleship style” phaser turrets, did you? LOL!
Oh, and to the folks at Paramount and the Trek XI production team, if you’re looking for any guidance at all on what the existing crop of Trek fans will or will not accept design-wise for the Enterprise and the film in general, I suggest you bookmark this page. ;)
My work here is done.
re: 10. Michael Appleton
It’s a gift. I can’t help it. :)
The people I don’t understand are the ones who seem so starved for new Star Trek that they are willing to blindly accept whatever comes down just because it has the Star Trek name on it.
I have nothing against new Star Trek adventures. I do have something against having new actors pretending to be Kirk, Spock, etc.
I know the decision has already been made, but I would think that people interested in all these changes would be more happy with a new starship and a new crew in a later time period.
Even if they do stick sufficiently close in terms of design, it still remains that with a fake Kirk and a fake Spock you have fake Star Trek.
#13 - “I also checkout 3d meshes web site and I realized that I had seen the design before by an artist name Vektor…”
Not THIS design you didn’t. This baby was made from scratch starting Friday afternoon. though I won’t deny that there are probably subtle elements of my other designs thrown in here and there.
It’s good work Jason…looks almost like a John Eaves drawing..
Knew it was a hoax since NOTHING, not the smallest morsel of info, is even seeping out of the Trek XI camp .
Of course, nothing could ever be stranger than the Ralph McQuarrie sketch for ST:TMP.
Great work, Jason. It’s not our Enterprise, but I’m sure it could find a home in Starfleet somewhere - especially during wartime.
Well, at least the sketch looked very good.
A good April Fool’s Day joke.
#17 - “It’s good work Jason…looks almost like a John Eaves drawing.”
That is not only high praise in and of itself but also understandable since I used some of Mr. Eaves’ sketches, among others, as style references while I was creating this one. Steal from the best. ;)
People actually bought that sketch? NEVER believe Trek news on April 1.
I am vindicated.
An excellent April Fool’s prank, Jason! Like I admitted on the other thread it had me completely snowed until I remembered the date.
And the design itself isn’t bad, as long as it isn’t the Big E. =)
-Ed
Nice job Jason and Anthony.
I LOVE that someof you still think this may happen despite the confessions.
Happy April, Fools.
LOL
“3. Adam - April 1, 2007
Well done to all at TrekMovie.com for pulling the wool over so many people’s eyes. I think what’s worse is many people believed it.”
No one believed it, check from comment #1 on. But their still gonna nitpicky anyway just fer grins.
#22 “I am vindicated”.
Oh yeah? Well, …I am vaccinated, so there! I guess I told you!
You mean Anthony was just screwing with us? As Pacino would say, “kiss me, I like being kissed when I’m being f#*%ed!”
Hey, was it good for YOU?
Wow. OK , ya fooled me. But I hope we get some scoops in the future. Nice art though. When I saw the mini-logo banner I thought it was real.
http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/5557/entmod2vj3.jpg
Loved this one, though. Hope they go along these lines. Still respectful, but with more ‘balls’ to the design.
^ Hey CmdrR, posted it in the other thread but I added the intercoolers to the nacelles from TrekMasters request. And a comparison of the versions of the 1701…
http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/2285/enterpriserendersdc0.jpg
…Bah. If he *really* wants to make amends, he’ll make that mesh available for download :pP
It was a good gag. I was enjoying reading the frantic “Is this real” comments. And the “Of course its real” comments. Hahaha. Zathras tried to warn them, Zathras did, but no one listen to Zathras.
I stand corrected but you did take a number of elements from that design, it’s what gave it away for me.
Other than the fact that it was April Fool’s Day, the most obvious tip off to me that it was a gag was the ““battleship style phaser turrets”. It might as well have had a big key sticking up out of the back labeled “wind-up style propulsion unit”.
And I agree with whoever said it reminded them of a John Eaves sketch, because that was exactly my first reaction.
It is very excellent work, no doubt about that. When I first saw the news item, I thought there might be a possibility that this was legit (although I kept in mind what day it was), but my bullshit alarm sounded the minute I saw the drawing itself.
That said, though, this would make a great design for a show or film set during the TOS era in a parallel universe or alternate timeline. There’s certainly no reason to believe that the NCC-1701 wasn’t a battleship in some part of the multiverse (not counting the mirror universe, of course). I especially like the idea of the ringed saucer; it reminds me of the habitat ring of DS9 (that may have been the intention). It’s essentially an amalgamation of the NX-01, the Enterprise-E, and DS9, with a little bit of Kirk’s Enterprise thrown in. I’m not too fond of the uber-long “nipples” on the nacelles, but all-in-all, a frickin’ sweet design.
PS: Not that I would have wanted to see this as the NCC-1701 in Star Trek XI, of course. No no no no no… ;)
Thank God. Those phaser turrets were abhorrent.
I like it better than I ever liked the Galaxy class….
Seriously. The TMP Enterprise had phaser turrets because Franz Joseph put them in the blueprints for the TV version. The TV model never had them. If the movie version can have them, why not a re-think of the TV version.
Still I’d rather see something that much closer to the TV version.
Thanks Skippy.
As I say, that’s the direction I’d love to see… Respectful of the original but with detail we never have seen before. The coolest part of TMP is when they ride up the cargo elevator to the saucer section.
35. ChuckAmuck - April 1, 2007
“That said, though, this would make a great design for a show or film set during the TOS era in a parallel universe or alternate timeline. There’s certainly no reason to believe that the NCC-1701 wasn’t a battleship in some part of the multiverse (not counting the mirror universe, of course).”
If this was a fellow fleet ship of the NCC-1701 we know and love, and a parallel adventure series was spun off based on that ship’s adventures (or rather, action;adventures) in the TOS-TMP gap…I would be glued to my set.
Then one could introduce new characters and toy with old ones (A young Admiral (Captain) Cartright, the never seen Admiral Nugura, Johanna McCoy) Plus, due to modern technology, we could see limited CGI of Kirk and Co.(extremely limmited)
The DS9 Tribble episode shows that the TOS has a lot to offer; same for the Voyager “Excelsior” episode.
Lose the turrets and the spikey things on the end of the nacelles, and I could totally see this as a small explorer type vessel in the later Picard era. I see hints of the Enterprise E in there, and yet it still sticks to the basic style seen time and time again throughout Trek. It was an excellent attempt for an April Fool’s Day hoax. Now to post this to another messageboard I visit to see if I can get some more mileage out of it, for my own amusement. ;-)
Jason,
Excellent design! Except for the cut-outs in the saucer, I really like it a lot.
Anthony,
A classic April Fool’s Day gag. The old saying still holds true, “there’s on eborn every minute.” Very nicely executed.
CmdrR. (#29),
I love Dennis Russel Bailey’s designs. In my opinion he makes the best Trek related 3D meshes out there. His version of the TMP Enterprise is perfect in every detail. I’d accept his “USS Phoenix” design for the Enteprise in Trek XI with no trouble whatsoever. Thanks to you and Skippy (#30) for sharing the photos.
Stanky (#15) At this point I’m wondering why you even bother visiting and posting to this site. You’ve made it abundantly clear that you don’t like the idea of updating TOS for Trek XI. You don’t want to see new actors “pretending” to be Kirk, Spock, et al (nevermind that Shatner and crew were “pretending” when they played the parts), you don’t want to see the Enterprise updated or more detailed, you think the film is a big mistake and that JJ Abrams and his team will send the franchise to the deepest pit of oblivion.
You know it’s going to happen and nothing you say will prevent it, yet you still feel the need to voice your opposition over and over and over again. I mean no offense; you seem to be an intelligent person and a solid Star Trek fan. I can’t understand why you feel the need to disapprove so vehemently. I’ve received and understood your message numerous times. You’re dead set against Trek XI and you aren’t even planning to see it when it hits theaters. Fine. Why must you constantly remind us of that?
i am glad you all enjoyed the little joke we played. and I just want to thank Jason again for creating the whole thing. I even got an email from Daren Dochterman (who knew about the prank) that some of his industry buddies called him about it! if you can fool the pros…that is the ultimate commpliment for Jason.
Thanks for the joke..was quite a gag..
But for the upcoming movie, let’s get serious: Let Daren Dochterman do it. He knows it forwards and backwards and won’t let us down!
aside from the turrets, this actually looks really cool.
Mr. Pascale… your agonizer please.
A joke is…………a story with a humourous ending???
lame.
re:42. Buckaroohawk
You raise some interesting points, my little Buckaroo. Why indeed…
I guess among all of the posts I disagree with, there is the occasional bit of something which keeps bringing me back. There is some good stuff here, so I keep coming back.
I don’t understand at all the enthusiasm for this movie. If people want it to be so different from the series, why not just do a different ship, different crew, and different era? Yes, I know that decision has already been made, but I don’t see anything good about that decision.
To me, Shatner is Kirk, Nimoy is Spock, etc. and that will never change, hence the “pretending” comments. I realize they were also playing a part, but it is so ingrained that I could never believe anyone else in those roles.
As for changing the Enterprise, I could handle it being updated material-wise, but not design-wise. Even if they do come fairly close in that regard (and I’m not convinced they will), there is still the problem with the actors.
Why do I feel it necessary to repeat my opposition?… I don’t know, maybe it is because I need to voice my frustration. Lord knows there are plenty of people here who do that on a variety of other topics.
I have stated before that I know nothing I say will make any difference and that I am not trying to create a groundswell of protest against seeing the movie or anything like that. It has been implied that I will not see the movie, but as much as I don’t want to see it, I’m sure I will end up doing that out of masochistic curiosity. And who knows, I may be proven right. If not, nobody cares anyway.
Have a good week.
I bought it. Very funny!
In my opinion if you want a reimagined Enterprise you can’t beat Gabe Koerner:
http://www.gabekoerner.com/ent/ent_010706_0003.jpg
http://www.gabekoerner.com/ent/ent_010706_0007.jpg
Stanklin-
I often agree with several points you make, not all, but several. Here’s why I think there is so much enthusiasm: It’s the characters we all grew up with and MISS, a lot. As much as I enjoyed several (but not all) of the “new Treks” and characters, none have a special place in my heart like the original crew and Enterprise.
The big question is, can it work with new actors playing the same characters? I honestly think it could or could not. I say this because it’s how my feelings are. One day I am thrilled of the prospect of Kirk, Spock, etc. returning. Another day I am frightened that these new actors will ruin the characters and this film will be like a huge wart on an otherwise perfect face (in my eyes).
The Enterprise??? It used to be that the ship was what I got the most angry with them messing with. I guess I’m now conditioned to not let it bother me. I suppose that is because the big E has been:
1. Refit for TMP
2. Beat to hell in TWOK
3. Blown away in TSFS
4. Re-refit/replaced in TVH (it’s not the REAL Enterprise anymore, though-bloody A)
5. “De-balled” in TFF and made fun of as a piece of junk
6. Pretty much retired in TUC (thank god they re-balled it)
7. Been tweaked ever so slightly in TOS-R
8. Been tweaked even more in fan films.
I think I can honestly handle everything except if the writing of Kirk, Spock, etc. is OFF character wise. Either the writing, or the acting……
It’s going to be an interesting time. I think THAT, in itself, will be exciting and brings interest back to Star Trek. I don’t think there is any other way to breathe life back into the franchise. This is kinda like the old “paddles to the chest thing”…it’ll either breathe new life back into the show (we have a heartbeat) OR we’ll need McCoy to say “It’s dead, Jim!”
Either way…it’s not really dead, as long as we remember it (and we will through our dvd’s, videotapes, and other such things).
#42:Buckaroohawk -
Thanks for the kind words. :)
Dennis-
I agree with him, very cool designs. Now if we could just get the rest of that Exeter episode….LOL!!!! I love your work.
#20 - Very well done, Jason. My compliments to both you and Anthony for pulling this off.
I only have one question–on the version posted on April 1st there’s a little notation-”Much better! I really like the direction this one is headed. - S”. Who was “S” supposed to be, or was it just a random initial thrown in for people to puzzle over?
It was indeed a great April Fool’s Joke, and a highly successful one given the number of people who either bought the sketch or was unsure whether or not it was the real deal. Kudos to both Anthony and Jason and anyone else involved in the prank.
Funny joke!
Except messin’ with the E is no laughing matter
:-X
#20 - “Who was “S” supposed to be, or was it just a random initial thrown in for people to puzzle over?”
In reality it probably would have been Trek XI’s Production Designer, Scott Chambliss, but anybody with an S in their name was fair game. I tried to put a lot of little details like that into the sketch and the way it was presented that people wouldn’t normally bother with for an April Fools joke, which apparently worked pretty well. ;)
#51:
I agree, that is great artwork, thanks for posting the links.
[…] Der Designentwurf hat sich mittlerweile doch als Aprilscherz herausgestellt: Trek XI Design Sketch Debunked | TrekMovie.com […]
Great design for a starship, but not for the Big E!
It looks like a amalgam of the Ent/Ent-A/Ent-E.
-cs™
I second #60. Most intelligent post in quite some time
#58 - Thanks for answering my question, Jason. The amount of detail you put into this was indeed impressive. All the more so since you did it in only two days!
For anyone who has or will watch the Immunity trailer(and who wouldn’t?), there are faces in the amoeba. As soon as it is shown, pause, look at it askew. I really S y’all not. Peace!
Stanky,
Thank you for answering my question so conscientiously. I really do appreciate it. I have to admit that I started thinking of you as one of those knee-jerk movie naysayers that seem to overrun so many other film forum sites; the kind of person who’s always ready to attack a film without one whit of real thought behind what they’re saying.
I was wrong about that and I apologize.
To tell the truth, I sometimes have my trepidations about Trek XI, too. I worry that they’ll change things too much, take things too far, attempt to erase the history of characters that mean a lot to me. I want to see Trek continue, and I don’t have a problem with the concept of returning to the TOS era and characters with a fresh cast, but the filmmakers have to walk a very fine line and Hollywood has shown in the past that it doesn’t often do that easily.
On the other hand, I have confidence is the ability of JJ Abrams to do this difficult task right, and I know Paramount and CBS is watching developments very closely. That doesn’t mean I’m not worried, but it heps alleviate my concerns a bit.
If Trek XI works, it will bring back an incredible franchise and give us a new way to see beloved characters. If it doesn’t work, then all we have to do is ignore it, or to use that dreaded phrase, treat it as “non-canon.”
Thanks again for your response. I hope there are no hard feelings.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/57/Enterprise_in_BSG_fleet.jpg/800px-Enterprise_in_BSG_fleet.jpg
Y’all seen this?
The answer to star trek continuing,prospering or surviving, is NOT going 79 years beyond Picard and Riker. nor is it going backwards 150 years before Kirk and Spock. let alone early days at the academy. simply modernize the series or/and movies, for todays audiences. for both trekers as well as non trekers.
It doesnt take very much , to bring the established die hard dedicated trekers to the theatre.
But with the constant reruns of tos, tng, ds9, voyager and enterprise available daily on television, what would make an unfamiler or non fan , want to shell out 10 bucs to go to a theatre to see what they can stay home and watch on t.v. for free?
From techno babble or time traveling back to earth . from bumpy headed huminoids to the familer romulans,kilngons and borg, it’s awfully difficult to to make any star trek movie that isnt simply an overblown version of a t.v. show.
Honestly; how many times can the fans be “baited” with the usual story of killing off a regular beloved cast member or/and blow up the established ship to get a more detailed one in the next movie? or; travel back to our time, to change the current events in their present?
Sadly it should also be pointed out that star trek the motion picture, star trek 5 and star trek insurrection, were more true to the “space exploration” (less military ) theme of the original series and yet was the least popular and profitable.
what made star trek special was not tecno babble, snazzy make up or spectacular fx. it was the stories , the writing , the morality plays that were a reflection of us during the time the series aired.
Unfortunatly over time, it became less about good stories that inspired and motivated as well as character development . The makeup and fx covered the lack of interesting people and lackluster story telling. the only interesting characters with any real personality were the guest
star(s) . Rarely did anyone get killed or laid . and as a fan i didnt really care about any major character being in danger or not.
i knew,that no matter how bad it got or looked, come 47 minutes (or 2 hours ) the ship would leave orbit and everything would be ok. no suspence. no drama. no excitment.
so in closing; just making something and slapping the title “star trek” on it , doesnt mean the fans will accept it. (good example , enterprise.)
nor will it bring in new, unfamiler fans . as of late , the general feeling about the current state of trek is “been there, done that.” or as spack said in star trek the motion picture,
“is this all there is? is there nothing more?”
i have no interest in a prequel. i dont care to go another century ahead either.
show me something new, exciting and interesting. don’t just use more adult language and more 4 letter words either. i dont need annoying aliens that have no purpose other than “eye candy” . Show not only us the fans; but the potencial new fans as well as the anti trekers ,that there is indeed something new under the sun.
in the end, we fans are indeed wising up. not everything that paramount slaps the label “star trek ” on, will simply be accepted and loved .
^67 — brilliant. Perfectly written.
^66 — Serralac: Cool! Thanks for the heads-up! (CE3K… White Castle Hamburgers (late 70s on WPIX Ch 11 NYC)… Where else has the Big E shown up unexpectedly?)
65. Buckaroohawk
no problem :)
So any up-dates on the designs of any ships going to be seen in this movie?
All I can say is…they better not screw it up. I grew up loving star trek and I don’t want to stop loving it… I’d prefer if they continued the story past voyager and such…
that Foolerprise would be EXCELLENT as the new Enterprise. I’m ok with them not using it, and I’m sure their E will be amazing as well.