Star Trek’s ‘Alien Choreographer’? December 12, 2007
by Anthony Pascale , Filed under: Star Trek (2009 film) , trackback
UGO.com has a brief interview from some recent event with someone named Paradox Pollack. In the interview he says he was recently ‘working on the new Star Trek‘ and also stated he worked “behind the scenes working with the creatures.” He also states he worked with Zachary Quinto (Spock) and seems to imply that he portrayed an alien (UGO speculate a Romulan), likely in the background. CLICK HERE to see the video interview.
Who is this guy?
Paradox Pollack has only two IMDB credits as a background actor. The most recent is for playing one of the ‘infected’ in the new Wil Smith film I Am Legend. It appears he is also some kind of performance artist. His blog states that his job on Trek was as a “movement coach” and that he was “choreographing aliens.” On December 6th he wrote:
So i worked on my first film down here.
It was exciting to see the inner workings of a Star Trek set, the blinking lights and the shaking camera as the ship is hit. i have completed that work and am on new auditions al the time…
TrekMovie.com cannot confirm or deny he has worked on the new film, but it there doesn’t appear to be any reason for him to be making it up. He clearly is sticking with the veil of secrecy by not revealing anything. It is interesting that they have a “movement coach” for the alien background characters. One thing that would be good to see in the new Star Trek is to have the aliens seem more alien. One area that Star Wars has Trek beat is in the diversity and strangeness of the aliens.
Speaking of strange…here is the only video that could be found of his work…he seems to be playing a dog.
thanks to Patrick for the tip
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last!! i would hope for more interesting unique aliens, and less bumpy foreheaded huminoids.
Huh. Interesting.
Yeah, Star Trek has never done a great job with its aliens. Remember that AWFUL alien that looked like a giant doll in ST IV?
He’s playing that guys’ alcohol demon(my guess).
A dog huh? I was half expecting his head to spin completely around watching that video.
He said…”It was exciting to see the inner workings of a Star Trek set, the blinking lights and the shaking camera as the ship is hit.”
I thought I read on a previous thread that right now they are shooting on location(s) and later would be back at Paramount on the ship sets.
I don’t believe this guy…I think he’s padding his resume.
re: 5 Mr. X
Are you saying he’s a fake? ;)
Xai,
We have reported that they have done filming both on location and on the lot.
I’m sure Anthony is readying an article, but more uniform pics have surfaced.
http://www.jfxonline.com/jfxonline/2007/12/12/star-trek-officer-uniform/
yea it would be cool to have some better and more unique aliens, even if its only in shots of starfleet or whatever ,
oh and just to coment on the ” One area that Star Wars has Trek beat is in the diversity and strangeness of the aliens”
yes and no , i mean they have had more strange and unique aliens in star wars , but the ones in star trek are great cause they have history and cultures i mean the vulcan, klingons , card , fenegi , borg , romulians ,dominanion, and to a lesser exent the andarians and telerites are in my opinion some of the best aliens in any sci fi show , and i know some people say trek aliens are 1 dimisonal , but thats not true i mean we know not all klingons are warriors , not all vulcans hide their emtions not all romulians hate humans or are roman ripoffs lol, and they all actually problems that we can relate to . plus klingons are f**king cool !
I wonder if he was working on the rodent creatures of Dimorus that Gary Mitchell talked about? ;-)
If this Paradox Pollack didn’t actually work on the movie, it’s entirely possible that he made it up and that this may indeed be his performance piece; Anthony’s story does say the guy seems to be a performance artist. I’m not calling Pollack a “liar”, per se, but that may be what he’s doing. That would never have occured to me if it hadn’t been for the humanities class I’ve been taking this semester.
http://www.jfxonline.com/jfxonline/2007/12/12/star-trek-officer-uniform/
cool
i am sure it will be made into a topic in sec
i like it all bar the hat .
7. Anthony Pascale – December 12, 2007
My mistake then. Thanks for correcting me
12.
The hat makes sense. In The Cage/The Menagerie Captain Pike has a captain’s hat in his quarters.
6. Stanky McFibberich – December 12, 2007
re: 5 Mr. X
“Are you saying he’s a fake? ”
I was, until I was corrected on filming schedules.
Now I am unsure.
“alien choreographer”? you sure he ain’t already an alien?
:P
Clunky hat.
re #8
I wonder why the face is blotted out in all those officer pictures. Could almost be Hoshi Sato’s great- grandmother….
comp acting funny, I may have already posted this…
The uniform that IrishTrekkie found.
I’d like it better if it didn’t look like some officer aboard the Death Star cringing away from Lord Vader.
Tomorrow we’ll see spy pics of Threepio, Artoo and Yoda playing cards while they wait to shoot their scene.
“Hmmm, with the funny ears, I am the one supposed to be…”
That doesn’t look like a miniskirt with a plunging neckline(boohoo).
@13
yea but i dont think its a captains hat , she would have to be a cadet yea ? she looks young . it just looks too miltary with the hat , but its cool , so i wonder why its grey , i guessing she is a cadet anyway .
my idea for why pines was red was , cause well for one hes a commanding officer ( i am guess the red uniforms will be the main ones for the movie like in star trek 2-6) , or maybe he was in red squad or something .
18. USS SANTA – December 12, 2007
I wonder why the face is blotted out in all those officer pictures.
Read the article…it says why
@17
its blurred so they dont get fired , and she would have to be satos daugther or gran daughter .
@18
oh and i did not find the uniform it was (star trackie) who posted it , just saying , and yes now that someone says it , its very darth star lol
death star*
RE: the latest uniform pix.
I guess I can buy that as a cadet uniform, but it shouldn’t have the Enterprise badge. I guess I’m just shouting at the wind, but the “arrowhead” badge was only for Enterprise personnel until around the time of TMP. And why not black pants? What difference would it have made to use black pants and at least give us the illusion/allusion we’re seeing the TOS universe we know.
That is a horrible uniform. The hat is simply a terrible idea!
I’m not liking that uniform. Grey, hat… It looks drab. And militaristic. And Star Warsy. Hopefully, these are not uniforms we’ll be seeing much of in the finished product. Star Trek uniforms tend to be a bit more colorful, excepting Star Trek: The Motion Picture and First Contact style. Didn’t like the TMP uniforms, but I did like the FC ones. But that hat… Why?
Re: the uniform
JFX described it as an officer’s dress uni. Looks more like a cadet uniform to me, so perhaps it’s an officer within the Academy ranks. Has a very West Point feel to it.
Peace. Live long and prosper.
The Vulcanista }:-|
It looks like Arnold Rimmer’s uniform in the third season of Red Dwarf.
Can anyone say reboot? Methinks our TOS is gone, save for NV & Exeter.
I like the new uniforms. Yes, they look very military, but it lends more authenticity to the idea that starfleet is essentially the 23rd century equivalent of the Navy. I love the high healed boots, capris, and spandex/velour of the men of TOS, but while extremely hilarious, the entire idea that any woman would be able to work wearing one of those miniskirt dresses is unrealistic. Don’t get me wrong, I love the costumes and am planning to order a custom tailored one for halloween next year, but this uniform seems much more proffessional.
29. Dr. Image – December 12, 2007
Far too premature to say that based on a couple spy pics and rumor. Besides, we saw only a sliver of what 23rd century life was like and practically nothing outside of Starfleet in TOS. There’s so much more we could see now.
I agree with the Vulcanista… probably a cadet uniform and it does look very West Point-like right down to the grays and cap. She’s a graduate of Starfleet and future Kirk conquest.
#31
Or maybe Kirk’s a future conquest of hers! };-)
Peace. Live long and prosper.
The Vulcanista }:-|
It definately looks all wrong as a uniform (yeah, I know we’re off topic from the article posted). It looks like a Star Wars Imperial uniform. It almost looks OD green. I’m totally unimpressed with what I’ve seen for possible uniforms so far. Pine’s (notice how I didn’t say Kirk) is red. This woman’s is OD green or gray with a hat. And they all seem to be one color with no black pants.
The Enterprise embelem shouldn’t be on there if it’s not a uniform used on the Enterprise.
It could be some kind of field uniform like we saw in The Cage… who knows.
I watched the UGO video of the alien choreographer dude. He’s like the coolest alien choreographer I’ve ever seen. And his girlfriend was the best-looking girlfriend of an alien choreographer I’ve ever seen.
In regards to the gal in a hat. There could be a logical explanation for all of this. As in, hats were in style in Kirk’s early day. But some dufus leaned over a warp coil and the darned hat got caught in the thingy-a-bob and the ship went BOOM! So from then on, the policy was NO MORE HATS ON A STARSHIP!
Side note to cannon nitpicks: If you look closely in TOS Episode # 64 there is a small warning label next to the warp drive that says: “Danger. Wearing a hat near the warp coil may result in serious injury or even death.”
Can’t see it? Then get a BIGGER WIDESCREEN TV, for crying out loud!
yes… but i certainly hope there wont be some berreted idiots on the ship, that would look bad. Or captain kirk now using a Hat! woo then of course let use these HATS instead http://www.original-militaria.com/catalogo/images/uploads/gorra_suboficcial_segunda_web.jpg
Hmmm. Not a dog, maybe a wolf with a bad case of undigested domestic farm animal…
PicforPres
Well, at least the chick with the hat reassured me that COMMUNISM is still alive and well in the 23rd Century! :)
me again just looking at what people are saying , but hmm it think the uniform is alright ,in a way that if its just a cadets dress uniform it would be o.k. , i mean i dont want to see them wearing this on a starship much less the big E , and yea , i think they are using the arrowhead for starfleet now , i mean would it have been hard to make a starfleet academy one or some other ships ones and kept the arrowhead for the enterprise , oh well. hmm , so if officers are wearing this , does that mean that macos will be wearing white armour , and now called stormtroopers ?.
and in fact all this talk people not liking it and it not being star trek , just a reboot , its actaully reminds me of the battlestar galactica uniforms ( the new ones not the 70s show ) , i like that show , but the last thing trek needs is a reboot.
and if kirk could wear a rug , and picard and sisko go with the no hair , why do we need hats in space, in archer knew the hats where stupid and stoped wearing them after a few esp of enterprise
Anyone consider that these costumes may be a ruse?
“these costumes may be a ruse?”
Give us photos from Trek, we love to peruse
When it comes to uniforms, some smell a ruse
Something tells me this garb is true
In the future no one dresses like LARUE
Any argument would just be an excuse!
this guy looks nothing like shatner. i refuse to see the film until he does.
and the nacelle caps are all wrong.
they’re raping my childhood.
#41
Hahaha…
well, it’s not exactly a haiku… But what is with poetry replies lately Harry?
Why, when we see something many don’t like, do we ask “is this a ruse?”
How many times have actually seen a studio put out misinformation on purpose? The only time I can think of was Sony and Spiderman 3.
Yeah, Shatner’s lying. He’s actually in the movie.
The pictures are fakes to lead us away from the real uniforms which are stored at Area 51.
Sheesh!
I’m sure they’re real. True we don’t know the context in which they’ll be used. We can only speculate. And so far, even the speculation doesn’t sound very good.
It is nice to see information like this come out about the project. It gives me something to grab on to in terms of the look of the film. Given the bigger budget of this film, it makes a lot of sense that the alien special effects should develop. As a primarily television franchise, Star Trek’s production values have always been on a shoe-string compared to other sci-fi pictures.
Hmmm. That video reminds me of a hangover I had in June of 1989.
#43 – I actually love the new look. I can’t put my finger on why exactly but I know I do. However, it’s always good to always have some healthy skepticism.
woops. put “always” twice….sorry
That’s a disturbed and disturbing dog. If that’s what it is.
1. Dave Thornton – December 12, 2007
last!! i would hope for more interesting unique aliens, and less bumpy foreheaded humanoids.
And second that.
Starship Troopers?
Imperial uniform?
but in those films they were delibritly designed to have a fascist look to them (both the Troopers and the Empire were meant to reflect Fascism)
If there’s no bumpy-headed aliens, it’s not Trek, dammit.
Does anyone see the communicator referred to in those pictures? Does he mean the arrowhead insignia? That’s so TNG.
It would be really nice if JJ et al threw us a bone with an official picture before Christmas!
Here I thought this is supposed to be a science fiction movie, NOT a historical recount of WWII :P
Um… hats are no good in space, but they can be useful on Earth or a planet, which is apparently where the scenes are that are now being shot. And I for one would like to see the delta shield used on anyone Starfleet, since most everyone identifies it with it, except hardcore Trekkies.
I’m very much more concerned with the red pole with the white stripe on it. It has been seen in more than one spy shot, and the implications are staggering.
First, we NEVER saw such a red and white pole in ANY episode of TOS, therefore we can NEVER see it in any prequel that is made. If we didn’t see it before, it can’t ever have existed in the past, for we have seen everything that ever existed on the TV show.
Second, the red and white pole is obviously in the movie, since we have spy spots of it coming out of the building several times, and since we can instantly deduce every useage and context without knowing the script, it stands to reason that this represents a significant departure from what we know about Trek. This means a re-boot, where possibly the pole is an alien, maybe a Klingon or Romulan that has been ret-conned from what has been established in the unaired pilot.
I propose that we all boycott the movie unless the producers immediately either remove the pole or explain it to us to our satisfaction. After all, we MADE Star Trek, and we can kill it.
ACT NOW! NO RED AND WHITE POLES!
Troopers
http://www.trooperpx.com/Uniform/imgunifm/PhotoUni/MItc.gif
wars:
http://www.mooville.com/images/ozzel_piett.jpg
I wonder if we will see Gary Mitchell, he was Kirk’s best friend during the academy days and was with him on his early missions. If we don’t, I’ll wonder why.
I don’t hate these new uniforms and I remember that The Cage uniforms included a hat. However, there is a definite resemblance to the Starship Troopers uniforms.
Would you like to know more?
#14, I didn’t believe you about the hat in Pike’s quarters until I looked it up…
http://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/0×00/thecage037.jpg
My mistake. That was a good catch, and still honors TOS!
#33 – the Arrowhead emblem will most probably used for all Starfleet, not just Enterprise.
And if the Hat is there because it was in The Cage, is the obvious 60s era TV going to be there too? How about the crew members in the corridor in beach wear? >;>}
Those are simple to explain. Someone liked antiques. And the beach-wear crewmembers were catching some rays in the solarium. :)
Perhaps she is a security officer. I remember in the TOS movies that security would wear helmets.
#63: True, and a good bet. Anyway, I always really liked the design of those security outfits in TMP. They finally learned something from sending all those Redshirts to their deaths in TOS.
Yeah, my understanding is that Starfleet didn’t adopt the Enterprise’s alpha-arrowhead insignia until AFTER the 5 year mission…
It’s odd to me that this is a dress uniform also.
Could it maybe be a cadet assigned to the Enterprise? And this is some sort of field uniform?
What’s interesting is that I’ve heard they planned on honoring the 60’s style uniforms… I don’t see how this is really that familiar from the 60’s versions we know.
http://www.mooville.com/images/ozzel_piett.jpg
http://www.trooperpx.com/Uniform/imgunifm/PhotoUni/MItc.gif
lol there funny , so anymore lookalikes ?
theses are the best i can think of
http://media.battlestarwiki.org/images/6/6a/Bsg-valerii-1.jpg
http://media.battlestarwiki.org/images/thumb/c/c9/KendraShaw.jpg/200px-KendraShaw.jpg
Back to topic … this guy SHOULD play a Romulan or Vulcan! He looks like he could be the son of Jack Donner:
http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0232800/
#9 You should really reconsider your view of the alien cultures in Star Wars. The mythos of Star Wars has the cultures of hundrds of beings crafted with at least 20 of them very fleshed out ot a great degree. It is true that this is more from written material becasue the original source material are moves, not TV shows whihc have alot more time to develope these on screen. However Star Wars mythology has grown well beyond the films.
The other thing to remember is that we will see some “future” sceens with Nimoy Spock. If that is a com badge, it could be a uniform from then, or from an alternate reality as we are dealing with some time travel. Or… they could have chosen to ignore a generaly unknown (outside of die hard trek fans) issue that the arrow head was a ship symbol before it was the star fleet symbol. I mean, why confuse potential new members to the trek family over a really small bit of trivia? The bit about star fleet adaopting the symbol of the Enterprise was done for Star Trek the Motion Picture for production ease anyway, not out of some great story arc. As for the uniforms, I love it. its about time that Star Fleet gives their men and women some clothing that might actualy be a uniform. The old candy colered shirts were great in the day when futuristic meant no pockets or seams, but i would like to think was are beyond the need for “semi futuristic” clothing. Whats functional will stick.
hm, the xindi aquatics and insectoids, as well as species 8472 were excellent alien designs… better than star wars ever had
Actually the Enterprise insignia for all Starfleet was first seen in STII:TWOK, not TMP.
Also re beachware in “The Cage”, how does it differ from
http://tng.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/s1/1×01/farpoint1_097.jpg ?
#70 Hmmm arguning anymore for Star Wars would be paramount to suicide so I will point you to
http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Guide-Alien-Species-Star/dp/034547760X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197580824&sr=8-1
If you are ever in a book store glance through it you might be pleasently surprised ;)
#71 Fair point, but it was still a production concern, not a story arc or plot point.
#50 Snake
If they are still using a time-travel plot device, perhaps something has gone terribly, terribly wrong with Starfleet in another timeline.
Nah. They’re probably just Cadet grays.
Peace. Live long and prosper.
The Vulcanista }:-|
From what I understand, the infected of “I Am Legend” are all computer-generated. So Mr. Pollack’s role as an infected may indeed be all the infected. If he’s a body-movement coach who recently worked on a big budget flick, I’m willing to give him the belive what he says.
71. marbpl
“Actually the Enterprise insignia for all Starfleet was first seen in STII:TWOK, not TMP.”
Not exactly true. Watch the begining of TMP again.
Prior to setting foot on the Enterprise at Starfleet Headquarters:
http://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/tmp/themotionpicture0132.jpg
notice the woman in the background.
Cmdr. Sonak, prior to being posted the Enterprise
http://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/tmp/themotionpicture0134.jpg
Kirk is also wearing the insignia, even though he is an Admiral who’s been made of Chief of Starfleet Operations.
It’s mentioned the novelization of TMP by Roddenberry and is excepted canon.
It is true that it was probably in transition, b/c we see a different symbol on the Epsilon 9 outpost.
kinda sorta off topic but…
any bets on time travel vs. flashback? just looking at JJ’s work i keep thinking we may be mercifully free of cheap-ass narrative time travel devices. i know this opposes rumors, but we don’t really know tribbleshite about the script, and i breathed a sigh of relief to hear the guardian was out.
i believe the writers are cunning little scribes (does anyone else call them “Bob and Silent Alex”?) and could easily avoid what so many fans have said they are so very tired of. couldn’t spock make a spockmove without hitting the time tunnel?
(insert amusing harry ballz limerick here)
Can Spock make a Spockmove
Yeah, you bet, he’s got the groove
If they pitch us time travel
The plotline will unravel
And the movie critics will NOT approve!
After watching that video, all I can say is that Ewan McGregor seems to be hanging out with the wrong crowd these days.
#78
thanks massa ballz, you rock.
You want to talk about aliens huh? Alright. Let’s begin with “Star Trek aliens have been crappy” That’s essentially what is being said by some. So let’s see here. Star Trek TOS was trying to make a good Sci-Fi show with a budget that was modest for even a land based present era show for that time. So it’s even freaking amazing that Star Trek was able to do some of the things it did. So yes, the aliens ended up being mostly human. Sure. That’s understandable. But for the original series that wasn’t neccesarly the primary concern. The stories, were the primary concern.
As for the other series. I am quite fond of the updated Klingon look, and the Ferangi look. Yes Star Trek is full of humanoids. But why is that so bad.?
re: #8 and all the comments about the uniform:
Wesley Crusher wore gray,
Finnegan wore silver-gray,
Cadets toss hats in the air at graduation…
Q: what was being filmed that day??
There are some gray-green uniformed people walking around Starfleet HQ in TMP. The collar in the spy-shot looks similar to some the the high collars in TMP also. Look at Kirk’s collar.
http://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/tmp/themotionpicture0130.jpg
http://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/tmp/themotionpicture0130.jpg
Oops.
Look at Kirk’s collar, and the woman coming out of the elevator.
http://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/tmp/themotionpicture0133.jpg
Kevin — yes, I realized that about Kirk’s admiral uniform after I logged out and went home (posting at work). I was thinking mainly of the Epsilon crew.
Am I the only one who thought at first glance that this guy was Richard Belzer? :P
Paradox Pollock the “alien coach” for this film is perfect for the job… I just saw him in “I Am Legend” over the weekend and, cgi overlay aside, he just isn’t that human.
Plus, in the UGO clip, notice how he and his babe were not wearing stuffy suits and shiny dresses… it was like Mad Max meets Burning Man.
#87 it was like Mad Max meets Burning Man.
***************************
LOL! “Trainwreck” was the word that came to mind for me.
Seriously. What species *is* he?
Peace. Live long and prosper.
The Vulcanista }:-|