Photo: Jan Thijs/Paramount+.
After 60 years, Star Trek has had a muppet takeover.
I find it reassuring that in dark times, creative people still give us fantasy. And I love how supposed fantasy-haters get drawn in. I know a few grumps (usually guys, but not always) who think fiction in general is a waste of time when you could be learning new facts. Huh! The deeper realities may be beyond skeptics.
Which leads us to the value of science fiction and playing.
Duncan Barrett writes at the Guardian, “When it comes to the latest episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, the life forms in question are less flesh-and-blood and more fabric-and-felt – as the series becomes the latest sci-fi show to embrace the magic of puppetry.
” ‘Level-Five Transporter Accident’ follows in a longstanding Trek tradition that sees crew members undergo unfortunate transformations while beaming up to the ship. This time, the crew suffers an even greater indignity: thanks to a spot of boldly sewing from the legendary Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, the Enterprise team are reconstituted into – quite literally – a bunch of muppets.
“ ‘I thought it would be a big swing for us, but we spent a lot of time discussing how to do it as a Star Trek episode,’ says Strange New Worlds showrunner Henry Alonso Myers. ‘[I] knew if it didn’t feel like Star Trek then it wouldn’t work.’ …
“Despite Star Trek’s six-decade commitment ‘to seek out new life,’ the franchise has remained a puppet-free zone.
“ ‘Star Trek made a big commitment to makeup early on,’ says Dr Chris Nunn, assistant professor of film at the University of Birmingham. ‘So aliens would typically be played by human actors under heavy prosthetic masks, and that trend has continued.’
“So why the unexpected course-correction from a franchise about to enter its seventh decade? The answer, it turns out, is less about the magic of puppetry and more about the tropes of modern TV production.
“ ‘Doing a puppet episode is a TV concept,’ says Myers. ‘One of the things we try to do on Strange New Worlds is go for big swings that haven’t been done before in Star Trek.’ …
“For advice, Myers turned to former Angel showrunner Jeffrey Bell, who worked on the fan-favourite episode Smile Time, which sees its titular vampire, played by David Boreanaz, transformed into a puppet while investigating a sinister Sesame Street-style mystery.
“In Strange New Worlds, Myers flipped the format on its head, keeping Ethan Peck’s Spock as flesh and (green Vulcan) blood, while forcing the rest of the Enterprise crew to become chaotic, muppety versions of themselves.
“ ‘Spock was the obvious character to run into this problem,’ says Myers. ‘Because he’s so logical.’ The episode’s director, Jordan Canning, agrees. ‘Spock was 100% the right choice,’ she laughs. ‘He’s the ultimate straight man.’
“Like the hit Star Wars TV series The Mandalorian, Strange New Worlds uses a giant LED screen known as the Volume rather than building physical stage sets. Sci-fi actors must be particularly adept at playing make-believe, but according to Canning, the puppets made things easier for Peck. …
“ ‘It’s like Ryan Gosling in Project Hail Mary,’ says Nunn. ‘That movie wouldn’t have worked if they’d added the alien in post [production]. The fact that Gosling was reacting live in the moment is what made their relationship feel genuine.’
“For Dawn Dininger, one of five puppeteers who operates Grogu in The Mandalorian, it’s a double-edged sword. ‘The actors always forget that he’s a puppet.’ she says. ‘They just think he’s a baby and start rocking him and playing with him. They never talk to us, even though we’re the ones controlling him. They forget we’re there.’ …
“Dininger was unprepared for the cult status the character would almost instantly accrue. Now, when top Hollywood actors appear opposite the puppet – as Sigourney Weaver recently did – it’s the A-listers who are starstruck.
“ ‘It’s like tagging along with a famous person!’ laughs Dininger. ‘Nobody knows who you are, but they all know him, and they get excited as soon as they see him on set.’ “
More at the Guardian, here.
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