Editing Star Trek: Nemesis (section)

==Production==
===Development===
<!-- intro and initial development -->
Logan, Spiner, and Berman spent nearly two years developing the concept. Logan wanted the Romulans to feature, finding their oily backhandedness more interesting than the straightforward violence of the Klingons as antagonists.{{sfnp|Staff|2003c|p=24}} He insisted the story could feature the Remans, thinking that the second of the two planets featured in the Romulan crest must refer to them.{{sfnp|Staff|2003a|pp=28–29}} The producers considered adding the characters of Spock or Sela to the story, but considered them a distraction from the plot or too confusing to introduce for casual viewers. Through subsequent drafts, much of the Romulan political intrigue was jettisoned to focus on the Picard/Shinzon and Data/B-4 relationships.{{sfnp|Staff|2003c|pp=24–25}} The cast members' input informed story and script changes; Stewart objected to an early idea that Shinzon was not a clone but Picard's lost son, feeling it had been already explored and lent itself to "uninteresting" emotional dynamics.{{sfnp|Staff|2003c|p=14}}

Stuart Baird was brought in to direct ''Nemesis'' by executive producer Rick Berman.<ref name="startrek.com_2011-02-10">{{cite interview |title=Rick Berman Looks Back at 18 Years of Trek - Part 3 |url=https://www.startrek.com/article/rick-berman-looks-back-at-18-years-of-trek-part-3 |access-date=February 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220228185511/https://www.startrek.com/article/rick-berman-looks-back-at-18-years-of-trek-part-3 |archive-date=February 28, 2022 |url-status=live |website=StarTrek.com |date=February 10, 2011 |quote=they were quite persuasive about me using Stuart Baird. Stuart was an English director. He’d made two good movies. He was a world-class film editor. |author1=<!-- StarTrek.com Staff --> |subject=Rick Berman}}</ref> It was Baird's third film following ''[[US Marshals (film)|US Marshals]]'' and ''[[Executive Decision]]'', although he had directed a variety of second units previously. Baird did not have a background in ''Star Trek''; he was aware of the films and television series, but did not consider himself an expert on the subject.<ref name="starlog_2003-02">{{cite magazine |last=Spelling |first=Ian |date=February 2003 |title=Galactic Action |url=https://archive.org/stream/starlog_magazine-307/307#page/n45/mode/2up |access-date=May 15, 2015 |magazine=Starlog |pages=46–50 |volume=1 |issue=307}}</ref> Berman explained that Baird would bring "fresh blood" to the film and that Berman had enjoyed "the sense of fun and action that existed in ''Executive Decision''."<ref name="starlog_2001-11">{{cite journal |last1=Spelling |first1=Ian |date=November 2001 |title=The Long Trek |url=https://archive.org/stream/starlog_magazine-292/292#page/n68/mode/1up |journal=Starlog |volume=1 |issue=292 |pages=67–69 |access-date=May 15, 2015}}</ref> Baird said in a promotional interview that this resulted in a non-typical Baird film, saying that it was "perhaps a little different from the dynamics of the previous films."<ref name="starlog_2003-02"/> He wanted to add energy to the action scenes and added some set pieces, such as the car chase. He called that scene a "signature piece" for the film, which turns dark after the crew is put in danger by the inhabitants of the planet. He also found that the cast would discuss any issues they had with the direction he gave to their characters. Despite Frakes' being in the cast and having directed the previous two ''Star Trek'' films, Baird decided not to seek his opinion on the direction of the film. He said that there was no resentment on set, noting that Frakes was completing work on directing ''[[Clockstoppers]]'' at the time and so likely could not have taken on directing ''Nemesis'' even if Baird had not been given the job. Baird had hoped that ''Nemesis'' would be enough of a success that he could consider whether to take the lead on a future, eleventh ''Star Trek'' film.<ref name="starlog_2003-02"/>

=== Casting ===
Baird and Berman had been searching for someone who resembled Patrick Stewart but looked about 25 years younger; at one point they considered [[Jude Law]]. Baird specifically wanted an unknown actor, and Hardy auditioned by tape after Stewart asked Hardy's agent if he thought any of his clients were suitable for the role. Hardy was filming ''Simon: An English Legionnaire'' in Morocco at the time,<ref name="haydock-2012" />{{rp|37}} and decided against using the requested text for the audition. Instead, he got possession of a full script for ''Nemesis'', used a different part of the script, and filmed it partly nude.<ref name="haydock-2012" />{{rp|38}} He was flown to Los Angeles to do a screen test with Stewart; Hardy later described his performance there as "appalling". However, he had recorded himself performing the same piece in a hotel room the night before, and gave that tape to Baird, resulting in his being cast as Shinzon a few days later.<ref name="haydock-2012" />{{rp|39}}

Sirtis was "ecstatic" about the role Troi plays in the movie. She was pleased with the wedding scene, saying that the dress she wore for ''Nemesis'' was nicer than the one she wore at her actual wedding. She was happy to work once again with [[Wil Wheaton]] and [[Whoopi Goldberg]], but felt that the film would be the last one with the entire cast of ''The Next Generation''. She remained certain that it would not be the last ''Star Trek'' film to be made, as she thought that Paramount would want to make a film involving a variety of characters from the different ''Star Trek'' series.<ref name="starlog_2003-01">{{cite magazine |last=Spelling |first=Ian |date=January 2003 |title=Bride of the Stars |url=https://archive.org/stream/starlog_magazine-306/306#page/n25/mode/1up |magazine=Starlog |volume=1 |issue=306 |pages=23–26 |access-date=May 15, 2015}}</ref>

Perlman and Hardy became friends on the set. Perlman said in an interview eight years after the release of the film: "I loved him when I first met him. I loved working with him. I found him to be really smart, really a great kid."<ref name="haydock-2012" />{{rp|43}}

=== Design===
''Nemesis'' called for a number of new ship and vehicle designs. Illustrator [[John Eaves]] developed concept art for the new craft, collaborating with the artists at effects house [[Digital Domain]] to adjust the designs as necessary when something worked in a two-dimensional drawing but did not look right once realized with three-dimensional [[computer-generated imagery]] (CGI). Shinzon's ''Scimitar'' was designed to appear to have a shared lineage with the new Romulan Warbird designs, but with the Romulan ships being sleeker, and the Reman ship more aggressive-looking with sharper edges. The new Warbirds retained elements from the Warbird [[Andrew Probert]] had designed for ''The Next Generation'', namely a birdlike bow. Eaves also consulted reference books for ideas on how to create featherlike patterns on the ships, realizing he may have been consulting the same inspiration that [[Nilo Rodis-Jamero|Nilo Rodis]] had used when developing the [[Klingon Bird Of Prey|Bird of Prey]] for ''[[Star Trek III: The Search for Spock|Star Trek III]]''. "So I went back and changed what I had done so as to not copy him," Eaves recalled. "In a way, it was a tribute to Nilo's ship without being a remodel of it."{{sfnp|Norton|2003|p=100–101}} ''Scimitar''<nowiki/>'s early concepts also echoed Rodis' Bird of Prey, with a large body framed by swept wings. Eaves decided to have the ship feature a "battle mode", with the wings splitting open as the film progresses to deploy the thalaron weapon. The initial digital model of ''Scimitar'' was more than two million polygons, and took two hours to render a single frame of it. Affects art director Ron Gress and CG modeling lead Jay Barton whittled the design down to roughly 1.5 million polygons to make it easier to render.{{sfnp|Norton|2003|p=100–101}} Eaves also took advantage of the computer-generated nature of the ships to make subtle adjustments to the design of the ''Enterprise'', which had been created for ''[[Star Trek: First Contact|First Contact]]''. Because of the orientation of battle scenes in that film, the ship was armed mostly towards the bottom and fore of the ship. In Nemesis, the script called for ''Scimitar'' to launch attacks at ''Enterprise''<nowiki/>'s top and aft, so the artists added additional weapon emplacements in those areas to return fire. Other adjustments included tweaking the placement of the engine nacelles and adding more of a curve along the hull. The ''Enterprise'' model was made up of 1.3 million polygons, with the textures drawn from photographs of the real studio model fabricated for ''First Contact''. It, and all the other digital models, were rendered in [[LightWave 3D|Lightwave 3D]] for exterior views and [[Autodesk Maya|Maya]] for interiors.{{sfnp|Norton|2003|p=104}} A few designs were partially realized through practical means, including the Reman Scorpions, and the all-terrain vehicles used in the Kolarus III sequence.{{sfnp|Norton|2003|p=103}}{{sfnp|Okuda|2005}}

Production design was headed by [[Herman F. Zimmerman|Herman Zimmerman]].

===Filming===
[[File:Glenn Cote Brent Spiner.jpg|thumb|right|Glenn Cote and Brent Spiner on the set of ''Nemesis'']]
[[Principal photography]] began in December 2001 in Southern California.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/011211/latu103_1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011220144651/http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/011211/latu103_1.html|title=Paramount Pictures Announces 'Star Trek: Nemesis' Begins Principal Photography|website=[[PR Newswire]]|publisher=[[Cision]]|via=[[Yahoo! Finance|Yahoo.com]]|archive-date=December 20, 2001|date=December 11, 2001|access-date=June 20, 2019}}</ref>
{{Anchor|Editing}}

In promotional interviews for the film, Patrick Stewart stated that room for a sequel was intentionally left.<ref>Patrick Stewart interview on ''Nemesis Revisited'' DVD Featurette</ref>

The first cut of the movie was 160 minutes long. The film was heavily trimmed down to a running time of under two hours, losing many character scenes, including Crusher leaving for a new medical position, La Forge dating Leah Brahms, and Wesley Crusher appearing at the wedding.{{sfnp|Staff|2003c|p=27–28}}

===Make-up and effects===
While many of the creative team were new to the series, the film's makeup was handled by [[Michael Westmore]], who had worked on the franchise since 1986.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}} The make-up team sought to make Hardy look more similar to Stewart by creating latex prosthetics from moulds of the latter's face. These included numerous versions of noses and chins, and in order to reduce the visible size of Hardy's lips a fake scar was added.<ref name="haydock-2012"/>{{rp|41}}

Digital Domain handled most of the film's effects, contributing more than 30 minutes to the film across 400 shots.{{sfnp|Norton|2003|pp=89–90}} With the added pressure of trying to outdo expectations, the effects house had only five months to produce the bulk of the film's effects, as much of the sequences did not arrive until May 2002.{{sfnp|Norton|2003|p=90}} Positive early reception to Digital Domain's efforts led to an increase in the scope of work, as Baird was able to lobby the studio to fund more expansive effects sequences. With their capabilities stretched, Digital Domain passed extra work to other studios, sending along already-finished examples to act as a reference for the roughly 15% of work they outsourced.{{sfnp|Norton|2003|p=90}}

The opening sequence on Romulus used a three-dimensional (3D) environment built based on two-dimensional matte paintings originally done by effects house Illusion Arts for the television series.{{sfnp|Okuda|2005}}{{sfnp|Norton|2003|p=90}} Illusion Arts also produced other shots of the Romulan capital seen later in the film, brought to life with animated people and moving ships in the sky.{{sfnp|Norton|2003|p=90}} Baird wanted the death of the Romulan senate to be gory but not disturbing.{{sfnp|Okuda|2005}} The senators' initial decay was accomplished with makeup effects, with only the main characters in the foreground augmented with digital effects, as decay textures were mapped to the actors' faces. Digital scans of the actors were used to fabricate model heads and bodies used for the final part of the transformation; the models were shells filled with material to simulate ash upon shattering as the senators disintegrate.{{sfnp|Norton|2003|pp=92–93}}

Although the majority of the exterior shots of ships were computer-generated, a practical 17-foot ''Enterprise'' saucer was built and collided into a model of the ''Scimitar'' for the film's climax.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Moltenbrey |first=Karen |date=January 2003 |title=Collision Course |url=https://www.cgw.com/Publications/CGW/2003/Volume-26-Issue-1-Jan-2003-/Collision-Course.aspx |access-date=2022-11-15 |website=Computer Graphics World |archive-date=November 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221115074156/https://www.cgw.com/Publications/CGW/2003/Volume-26-Issue-1-Jan-2003-/Collision-Course.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref>