Star Trek: The Art of Glenn Hetrick’s Alchemy Studios
Written by Joe Nazzaro
Published by Titan Books
“In the very beginning, one of the biggest challenges the Alchemy team had to deal with was that everything was to be built in their facility in Los Angeles but shot in Toronto. Shooting was more cost-efficient to do in Toronto due to tax rebates and available studio space, but despite the number of talented people there, that pool could be stretched thin at any given time by other productions going on simultaneously. ‘Therefore, it wasn’t just a question of how many people we needed there, insomuch as how often they were needed,’ explains Hetrick.”
What you expect from a big, glossy Star Trek art book is tons of glorious behind-the-scenes and on-set photographs of the amazing craft and artistry that goes into making your favorite science fiction franchise. And this impressive coffee table book has all that in spades. But what you don’t expect is a fascinating look into the logistics of actually producing the artwork at a scale and at a pace that is required for creating episodic television. And it’s gems like the quote above that, scattered throughout this volume, make this latest Trek art book from Titan as much fun to read as to look at.
Spread on Saru’s makeup (Titan Books)
Author Joe Nazzaro (who also wrote Star Trek Beyond: The Makeup Artistry of Joel Harlow) takes us behind the scenes of the special makeup effects behind all five seasons of Star Trek: Discovery in this book, whose title is longer than the script of some Star Trek episodes, Star Trek: The Art of Glenn Hetrick’s Alchemy Studios: Revealing the Magic of Prosthetic Makeup. After a glowing foreword by Discovery executive producer and pirector Olatunde Osunsanmi, this tome walks, season by season, through more than sixty complex, detailed, and beautiful special effects makeup designs. Interspersed throughout the book are a handful of “Shop Talk” features, that explain the process of making silicon molds, prosthetic makeups, masks, and more. As the book unfolds, the reader gains a deep appreciation for the amazing talents of Glenn Hetrick and the members of his studio, but also for the gargantuan difficulties in producing makeup effects at feature film quality on a television schedule.
“Shop Talk” on silicone (Titan Books)
Throughout the run of Star Trek: Discovery, Hetrick and his crew have been nominated four times for Primetime Emmy Awards, winning twice, and nominated for the Hollywood Makeup and Hair Stylist Guild Awards twice, winning once. And the depth, quality, and creativity of their work shines through in this lavishly-illustrated book. Whether you loved or hated Discovery’s treatment of Klingons, in this book you can trace their development in season 1 in great detail, with deep dives into the various Klingon Houses, the influences behind their distinctive looks, and the rationale behind the decisions that were made. And then you can follow the changes that took place between season 1 and season 2.
Spread on Klingon “Torchbearer” (Titan Books)
I was intrigued by the chronicle of the design of the Orions in season 3. I had just thought they were people who had been painted green, but in interviews here, Hetrick explains why that wasn’t possible in a HDTV world. There are multi-page spreads covering the Klingon Torchbearer suit, the development of Saru and the Kelpiens, and the Talosians, among so many more. I especially liked the close-up looks the book offers at the designs for Discovery’s Yeoman Colt, the Lurians, Schlerm, the Betelgeusian, and the Efrosian. Hetrick discusses the thinking behind his redesigns of classic Trek alien species, and about the development of new aliens just for Discovery. There’s 12 pages about the creation of Species 10-C, called the “Gas Giants” in this book, which was not a makeup effect, but which Hetrick’s studio designed.
Spread on Orions (Titan Books)
Through it all, Hetrick’s passion for Star Trek, his intense creativity, and his hard-driving work ethic shine through clearly. If you love Star Trek art books, like I do, this one should have a treasured spot on your shelf. At least, whenever you can tear yourself away from poring over the huge, gorgeous photographs! And as you read the text, you’ll gain a deep appreciation for the massive amount of logistics and labor that goes in to producing just one slice of a high-definition science fiction show in the 2020’s.
Cover for ‘Star Trek: The Art of Glenn Hetrick’s Alchemy Studios’
Available now
Star Trek: The Art of Glenn Hetrick’s Alchemy Studios was published by Titan Books on Tuesday, September 3rd. The hardcover is fully illustrated in color with 192 pages and is available now at at Amazon for $49.99. Or save some money and support your local bookstore and order it from Bookshop.org for $46.49.
Glenn Hetrick from Star Trek: The Art of Glenn Hetrick’s Alchemy Studios (Titan Books)
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I really enjoyed the Joel Harlow book for Star Trek Beyond, but I’m sorry to say that I thought the alien makeup on Discovery was even worse than the writing.
I don’t generally voice this kind of complaint, but it’s the very first thing that comes to mind when I think of the show.
I thought the makeup in and of itself was good, but not for the aliens they were supposed to be. I.e. the Klingon makeup was actually really well done, but they certainly didn’t look like Klingons! If it had been a brand new species or something it would’ve been great. In addition, there was definitely a more is better approach to the makeup. All of the traditional aliens had their makeup way overblown (Tellarites, Andorians, Ferengi, etc.) Again, I thought the makeup looked good, just not for the aliens they were portraying.
Totally Agree, 100% accurate. The final product made many fans upset. Even the chosen skin colors/tones edged into controversy. Was not only the Klingons, I did not enjoy very much the Orion, Andorian, and Ferengi updates.
As a long time Trekkie I love the makeup of the aliens in Discovery. I think has some of the best in all of Star Trek and that is a high platform to reach as there has been some fantastic alien makeup in past shows like in DS9.
For me as a Trekkie who grew up watching TNG/DS9 I find Discovery to be some of the best Trek made and not just in the makeup department it was some of the best writing/stories in the franchise.
Low threshold much?
‘Low threshold much?’ If you think the writing in DS9 is low threshold then I can’t imagine what you consider to be a high threshold my friend.
Discovery, the best writing and stories in the franchise? Well that’s certainly a take.
I said it has some of the best writing/stories in the franchise imo DS9 is still the better written show.
Discovery follows in a similar style of storytelling that which makes DS9 my number 1 favourite and imo the best Trek show made and Discovery to me is the 2nd best Trek show.
I’ve never been a huge fan of his designs. His updates are often over-designed (Discovery Ferengi are a good example, not to mention the S1 Klingons) and his philosophy on those updates – to “modernize” the look and reconceive from the ground up instead of using the classic makeup as a north star – was a colossal miscalculation of what fans (and casuals!) really wanted from Star Trek.
To be fair, his EXECUTION is phenomenal. Discovery helped pioneer a ton of great techniques for makeup application, and Hetrick really understood the need to update the application processes for the 21st century and how to embrace new technologies. The 3d printed latex for Saru, for instance, is brilliantly done and allows the actor to truly not get lost behind the makeup. As a technician and innovator he is truly peerless. It’s strange, considering how well Saru’s makeup allowed Doug Jones to convey beautiful subtle work, that his Klingon work was so cumbersome that the actors couldn’t even enunciate consonants and made all the Klingon sound muffled and gutteral.
I became familiar with Hetrick through his position as a judge on the show Face Off. No doubt he’s one of the best in the business. With Discovery, it was weird to see him frequently go against so many of the design philosophies he drilled into the heads of contestents. It was especially striking given how incredible some characters like Saru were. Gotta wonder what were his ideas vs him executing producer demands to the best of his ability.
It’s astounding that Hetrick’s makeup could be so bad after all those comments to wannabe artists on Face Off.
Why they didn’t keep the original design is baffling.
BUT. The artists couldn’t emote and they certainly couldn’t speak.
Absolutely unbelievably awful in every way.
So this is the guy to blame!
Not a fan of some of the updates (sometimes less is more) but they did amazing work.
As for the Klingon’s in season 1, the design was a reflection of whatever direction Bryan Fuller told them to take it in (this applies to the show’s overall production design as well).
Great team creating new aliens. I think Kelpiens and the Emerald Chain soldiers were my favorite aliens in Discovery…Kelpiens I think is due to Doug Jones, maybe.
How come the makeup from TNG to ENT looks so much better? From the Xindi to the Orions.
The stuff for DSC looks fake, actors struggling to emote and way over designed. Look again at DS9 and see how amazing Quark looks. And how an amazing actor like Rene Aubergenois can emote under prosthetics.
My favorite aliens from Discovery were the Kelpians and Saurians