Editing Star Trek: First Contact (section)

===Filming===
[[Principal photography]] was more leisurely than on ''The Next Generation'' as only four instead of eight pages of script were filmed each day.<ref name=making/> Frakes hired a cinematographer new to the ''Star Trek'' franchise, [[Matthew F. Leonetti]], whose work on films such as ''[[Poltergeist (1982 film)|Poltergeist]]'' and ''[[Strange Days (film)|Strange Days]]'' he admired. Being unfamiliar with the ''Star Trek'' canon, Leonetti prepared for the assignment by studying the previous four films in the franchise, each of which had used a different cinematographer ([[Donald Peterman]] on ''[[Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home|The Voyage Home]]'', [[Andrew Laszlo]] on ''[[Star Trek V: The Final Frontier|The Final Frontier]]'', [[Hiro Narita]] on ''[[Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country|The Undiscovered Country]]'', and [[John Alonzo]] on ''Generations''). He also spent several days observing filming on the sets of ''Voyager'' and ''Deep Space Nine''.{{sfn|Thompson|1996|p=60}}

Leonetti devised multiple lighting methods for the ''Enterprise'' interiors for ship standard operations, "Red alert" status, and emergency power. He reasoned that since the ship was being taken over by a foreign entity, it required more dramatic lighting and framing. While much of the footage was shot at 50–70&nbsp;mm focal lengths using anamorphic lenses, 14&nbsp;mm spherical lenses were used for Borg's-eye-view shots. Leonetti preferred shooting with long lenses to provide a more claustrophobic feel, but made sure the length did not flatten the image. Handheld cameras were used for battle sequences so that viewers were brought into the action and the camera could follow the movements of the actors.{{sfn|Thompson|1996|p=61}} The Borg scenes were received positively by [[test screening|test-screening]] audiences, so once the rest of the film had been completed, additional scenes of the ''Enterprise'' crew being assimilated were added with leftover budget to add action.{{sfn|Braga|Moore|2005}}{{sfn|Frakes|2005}}

[[File:Tucson05 TitanICBM.jpg|thumb|right|A fiberglass capsule was fitted over this decommissioned missile to convert it into Cochrane's ''Phoenix''.|alt=View looking down a textured metal cylindrical enclosure. Inside sits a long, thin missile that is cylindrical in shape with a conical nose.]]

Since so many new sets were needed, filming began with location photography. Four days were spent in the [[Titan Missile Museum]], south of [[Tucson, Arizona]]. The disarmed nuclear missile was fitted with a fiberglass capsule shell to stand in for the ''Phoenix''{{'}}s [[Booster (rocketry)|booster]] and command module.{{sfn|Nemecek|2003|p=329}} The missile silo provided a large set that would have been prohibitively expensive to build from scratch, but the cramped environment created difficulties.{{sfn|Thompson|1996|p=62}} Each camera move was planned in advance to work around areas where the lighting would be added, and electricians and grips donned rock-climbing harnesses to move down the shaft and attach the lights. To give greater dimension to the rocket and lend the missile a futuristic appearance, Leonetti chose to offset the missile's metallic surface with complementary colors. Using different-colored gels made the rocket appear longer than it actually was; to complete the effect, shots from the ''Phoenix''{{'}}s nose downwards and from the engines up were filmed with a 30&nbsp;mm lens to lengthen the missile.{{sfn|Thompson|1996|pp=63–64}}

From Arizona the crew moved to the [[Angeles National Forest]] in California for two weeks of nighttime filming. Zimmerman created a village of fourteen huts to stand in for Montana; the cast enjoyed the scenes as a chance to escape their uniforms and wear "normal" clothes.{{sfn|Frakes|2005}} The last location shoot was at an [[art deco]] restaurant in Los Angeles' [[Union Station (Los Angeles)|Union Station]], which stood in for the Dixon Hill holonovel; Frakes wanted a sharp contrast with the dark, mechanical Borg scenes.{{sfn|Frakes|2005}} While the cinematographer wanted to shoot the scene in black and white, Paramount executives deemed the test footage "too experimental" and the idea was dropped. The site made using high-wattage lights impractical, so Leonetti opted to use dimmer master lights near the ceiling and took advantage of a large window to shine diffused lights through. To give the scene a black-and-white feel, Leonetti made sure to use light without any coloration. "I like creating separation with lighting as opposed to using color," he explained. "You can't always rely on color because the actor might start to melt into the background." By separating the backlights, Leonetti made sure that the principal actors stood out of the backdrop.{{sfn|Thompson|1996|p=66}} The shoot used a ten-piece orchestra, 15&nbsp;stuntmen, and 120&nbsp;extras to fill the seats.{{sfn|Nemecek|2003|p=329}} Among the nightclub patrons were Braga, Moore, and the film's stunt coordinator, Ronnie Rondell.{{sfn|Braga|Moore|2005}}

After location shooting was completed, shooting on the new Engineering set began May 3. The set lasted less than a day in its pristine condition before it was "Borgified". Filming then proceeded to the bridge.{{sfn|Nemecek|2003|p=329}} During normal operation scenes, Leonetti chose to cast crosslighting on the principals; this required the ceiling of the set to be removed and lighting grids to be situated around the sides. These lights were then directed towards the actors' faces at 90-degree angles. The set was lined with window paneling backed by red lights, which would blink intermittently during red-alert status. These lights were supplemented by what Leonetti called "interactive light"; these were off-stage, red-gelled lights that cast flashing rims on the bridge set and heads of the crew. For the Borg intrusion, the lighting originated solely from instrument panels and red-alert displays. The [[fill light]] on these scenes was reduced so that the cast would pass through dark spots on the bridge and interiors out of the limited range of these sources. Small 30- and 50-watt lights were used to throw extremely localized shafts of light onto the sets.{{sfn|Thompson|1996|p=61}}

Next came the action sequences and the battle for the ''Enterprise'', a phase the filmmakers dubbed "Borg Hell".{{sfn|Nemecek|2003|p=329}} Frakes directed the Borg scenes similar to a horror film, creating as much suspense as possible. To balance these elements he added more comedic elements to the Earth scenes, intended to momentarily relieve the audience of tension before building it up again.{{sfn|Frakes|2005}} Leonetti reconfigured the lighting to reflect the takeover of the ship interiors. "When the ship gets Borgified, everything is changed into more of a squared-off, robotic look with sharp edges but rounded images," he explained. To give the corridor walls more shape, Leonetti lit them from underneath. Since the halls were so small and the ceilings would be visible in many of the shots, special attention was paid to hiding the light fixtures.{{sfn|Thompson|1996|p=61}}

{{rquote|left|We were on a circle, which has no geography to it. We had our three heroes [Picard, Worf and Hawk] in space suits, which look identical so you couldn't tell who was who until you got in real close. But the minute you get in close, you defeat the whole purpose of being on the outside of the ship, so you can see the cells and the stars and Earth looming in the background. It was a shooting and editing nightmare.|Jonathan Frakes on the difficulty of the spacewalk scene.<ref name=improved/>}}

For the live-action spacewalk scenes, visual-effects supervisor Ronald B. Moore spent two weeks of bluescreen photography at the deflector set.{{sfn|Magid|1996|p=72}} Frakes regarded filming the scene to be the most tedious in the film because of the amount of preparation it took for each day's shoot.{{sfn|Frakes|2005}} Since the rest of the ''Enterprise''-E, as well as the backdrop of Earth, were to be added later in post-production, it became confusing to coordinate shots. Moore used a laptop with digital reproductions of the set to orient the crew and help Frakes understand what the finished shot would look like.{{sfn|Magid|1996|p=72}} A one-armed actor portrayed the Borg whose arm Worf slices off to accurately portray the effect intended,{{sfn|Frakes|2005}} and the actors' shoes were fitted with lead weights to remind the actors they were to move slowly as if actually wearing gravity boots. McDonough recalled that he joined Stewart and Dorn in asking whether they could do the shots without the {{convert|10|to|15|lb|kg|adj=on}} weights, as "they hired us because we are actors", but the production insisted on using them.{{sfn|Kaplan|1996|p=29}}

The last scene filmed was the film's first, Picard's Borg nightmare.{{sfn|Nemecek|2003|p=330}} The shot begins inside the iris of Picard's eyeball and pulls back first to reveal the captain aboard a massive Borg ship, and then the exterior of the ship. The scene was inspired by a New York City production of ''[[Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street]]'' in which the stage surrounded the audience, giving a sense of realism.{{sfn|Frakes|2005}} The shot was filmed as three separate elements merged with digital effects. The crew used a 50&nbsp;mm lens to make it easier for the effects team to dissolve the closeup shots with the other elements. Starting from Stewart's eye, the camera pulled back {{convert|25|ft}}, requiring the key light to increase in intensity up to 1,000&nbsp;[[foot-candle]]s so that there was enough depth to keep the eye sharp. The surface of the stage proved too uneven to accomplish the smooth dolly pullback required by the effects team, who needed a steady shot to blend a computer-generated version of Picard's eye with the pullback. The {{convert|135|ft|adj=on}} dolly track was raised off the stage floor and layered with pieces of double-thick birch plywood, chosen for its smooth finish. The entire set for the scene was {{convert|100|ft}} wide and {{convert|25|ft}} high; gaps left by the dolly reveal were filled in later digitally.{{sfn|Thompson|1996|p=62}} Principal photography finished on July 2, 1996,<ref>{{cite news|title=Making First Contact With Frakes' 'First Contact'|date=August 9, 1996| first = Ian | last = Spelling | work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|page=68}}</ref> two days over schedule but still under budget.{{sfn|Nemecek|2003|p=330}}