Photos of the AXANAR bridge set!

Hey, guys.  Not a lot of time to blog.  I flew out on a red-eye from Los Angeles with minimal sleep last night, arrived in Atlanta at 6:30 am, and got to ALEC PETERS’ house about 8am.  Thank goodness he didn’t ignore the doorbell (he’d been pulling consecutive all-nighters with the team to get the USS Ares bridge completed).  After taking a 3-hour nap in one of Alec’s guest bedrooms, I got ready for my first-ever trip to OWC studios.

Alec put me to work almost immediately, tasking me and my co-host KEITH M. SEDOR with conducting a number of video interviews with various guests.  I spoke with ALBERT MARTINEZ (the creator of Chasing the Infinite Sky), DON GAFFNEY (Star Trek prop-maker and Klingon expert), DANA WAGNER (who is supervising the completion of the bridge set), and his wife ALLISON (who works with the local school district getting high schoolers access to the the set at the studio for ultra-cool student projects).  Keith got to interview GARY GRAHAM (Soval) and J.G. HERTZLER (Sam Travis/Martok).  I’ve interviewed J.G. before, so Keith got the big celebrities.

Unfortunately, all that work prepping, doing pre-interviews, and conducting the interviews themselves didn’t give me as much time for photos and videos as I wanted, but Alec hired a 4-person professional film crew to record the entire event.  This included about 40 people wandering through the bridge and, at one point, being treated to a live read-through of two scenes from the full 90-minute Axanar script (which will, eventually, be released in both written and audio format).  The readers included Gary, J.G., Alec, and STEVEN JEPSON (Admiral Slater himself).  It was really awesome hearing Gary and J.G. doing a dramatic script reading—they’re both incredibly gifted actors.  There were even special Axanar cookies brought in by one of the attendees!

It was a super-fun day for everyone who made the, er, trek to Lawrenceville…and there’s even more on tap for Saturday and Sunday (including a panel of upcoming fan films with some footage debuting exclusively at Axacon!).

But the star of Friday’s show was the USS Ares bridge.  Still not 100% finished, it’s now about 95% of the way there…with some fun little Easter eggs to find hidden in plain site on a few of the control panels.  I’ve included some pictures of those along with the best of the photos I got on Friday…

 

66 thoughts on “Photos of the AXANAR bridge set!”

  2. I just LOVE the “special” controls like “ludicrous sspeed”
    Magnificent bridge and event !

  3. Why lie Jonny? No one posted pictures of the set saying they were there as you claim on your FFF Facebook post. I posted some from Lee Benjamin’s Facebook but gave credit to the source. It’s sad that you feel a need to make stuff up to conflate your position.

      1. Shawn is in Atlanta and is touring some of Alec’s favourite haunts like the Waffle House. He isn’t pretending to be anywhere he isn’t.

        2. God Sandy, what a freaking liar. You know it was all a giant lie. And you are a liar too.

          We knew it was a lie the moment he claimed to have set foot in The Federal Coffee shop.

          And then he chose a Waffle House an hour in the wrong direction. HA HA HA

          Not very smart.

    3. You just assumed he was referring to you. If you folks would assume less youd be a lot better off.

    4. It was clearly a joke in reference to Shawn…Sandy.

      But the axamonitor bunch got all uppity and acted like a couple old ladies gossiping around the bunco table.

      It was clear he wasn’t referring to you posting pictures. But anything to gossip about right?

      1. Yeah, although Shawn O’Halloran kinda threw Sandy under the bus with this screen cap of a conversation with Colin Krapp…

        So it looks like, at least as far as Shawn is concerned, that yeah, Sandy did what he claims to not have done. Me? I’m just a lawnmower. You can tell me by the way I walk. 🙂

  4. I have no words apart from awesome, just awesome. Alec you came up with the goods that’s a fantastic bridge set

  9. I am thrilled to see the set pictures (inside and out). I’m very glad many Axanarians could be there with Alec, J.G., Gary, et.al. However, I am even more sorry that I could not be in Atlanta to see this yesterday, or to attend Axacon. Best regards to all and sincere thanks to you, Jonathan, and to Alec, for documenting all of this for those who couldn’t be there.

      1. If someone triggers the “Cross Streams” button, there should be an alarm klaxon followed by an announcement “WARNING! TOTAL PROTONIC REVERSAL IS TAKING PLACE IN n MINUTES! DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY INTO THE TRAP! DO NOT STEP ON A CHURCH IN VENKMAN’S TOWN! AND REMEMBER: THERE IS NO DANA, ONLY ZUUL!”

        What, no “Flux Capacitor” or “Oscillation Overthruster” by Yoyodyne Propulsion?

        On that beat, the dedication plaque should list ALL the Black Lectroids(John Worfin, John Bigboote, John Smallberries, etc.) and Captain Garth is driven insane, not by shapechanging powers but by learning who Hanoi Shan is.

        2. ISTR an Oscillation Overthruster button, but I’ll have to review my photos to see which console it’s on. I’d like to see a coffee maker in the wall next to the turbolift with Cappuccino, Espresso, and Tea, Earl Grey, Hot. You might not be able to read the buttons, but a coffee cup in the dispenser would make it obvious.

    1. The helm station and the two forward stations (tactical and fleet ops) still need under-lighting added and translucent panels added. Also, the graphics on the TVs and small screens still need to be animated. Oh, and the floor is missing just a small bit of the special sound-proof rubber covering. And I think there’s gonna be buttons on the arms of the command chair eventually, too. And let’s not forget the chairs! 🙂

  13. Great to finally meet you Jonathan. I wish we had more time to talk, but you were a busy “little bee” with all the interviews and podcasts you had to do.

    Hopefully we shall see each other sometime in the future.

  15. Peoples producing STD should really take notes. THIS is how you build a pre-TOS bridge!

    2. One of the issues I discussed on Facebook eons ago when the bridge was being designed was that, for something that took place years before TOS, it looked too modern. Now, we have Discovery. Silly me. It looks truly amazing up close.

      1. As beautiful as the TOS bridge looked and still looks, it does still look dated by today’s standards. What Alec and his production design team have proven is that you can have something that looks very similar to TOS while still appearing modern. You don’t have to throw the baby out with the bathwater like Discovery did.

  16. Hate to say this again, but this is perfect example of how you can make the set look up-to-date and while preserve TOS-ish look. Also it look user-friendly and functional. [Obviously absolutely definitely not mocking Discovery in anyway, I swear 😀 ]

    Can’t wait to see it all in action.

  17. By the Great Bird himself! We LOVE you guys! The work you are doing is pure heart! Thank you and we all anxiously (Axanarly?) await more!

  19. The whole experience of the sets exceeded my expectations. Getting to meet the great people also was a high point. I can not speak for others, but I really enjoyed getting to meet Mark Largent and Steve Jepson, both of whom I had never known before. Of course speaking with Alec Peters was great. I was surprised that as busy as he was that he took time to make me feel welcome and appreciated. I was looking forward to Saturday and Sunday, and was not disappointed. Thank all of you for the hard work making all this possible.

    1. Steve Jepson has quickly become one of my favorite people in the world. Mark Largent was already one of my favorite people. 🙂

      LOTS of favorite people all in one place…what more could I ask for of a con?

    2. Why, thank you. It was a pleasure to be there, and an honor to be asked to attend!
      (PS: I geeked like crazy while on the bridge. On. The. BRIDGE!!!!)

  20. I still say Axanar ruined things for all future fan films. CBS should have told them they could not make a fan film, PERIOD, simple as that.

  21. It almost looks too pretty, as if some ‘authentic battle damage’ wall make it seem even more realistic.

    But what do I know?

  22. So sorry I could not personally come and meet all the fine Axacon people and supporters this past weekend.

    Sincere kudos to all involved in this fine event, Jonathan’s awesome fanfactor coverage, STUNNING new bridge set, and especially to Alec for perservering his vision through the never-ending legal/critical gauntlet of all things CBS, Paramount, and Axamonitor. Alec and his team ALL should (and hopefully will soon) take the long deserved bow for quality work well done. Very, very proud of you!

    And, who knows? With CBS Les Moonves out of the picture and STD (still chuckling at that acronym) in some critical question beyond season two, perhaps the CBS/Paramount executives, beancounters, and legal team might eventually come to their senses and beg/borrow/plead/buy into the Axanar vision for a new prime-timeline-faithful Axanar series? Probably not, but we can dream, can’t we? Maybe you might even someday get a supporting push from Patrick Stewarts pending new TV show to CBS with those immortal words, “Make it so, CBS…”

    May you all finally/thoroughly enjoy fair winds and seas ahead, Axanar. You deserve it. Well done!!!

    1. CBS is walking their own path right now when it comes to Star Trek. I think they’ve moved beyond Axanar and, at this point, are just hoping it gets made, released, and then people forget about it and move on (and preferably subscribe to All Access). Hey, they can always hope, right? 🙂

  23. Agreed Jonathan.

    Lett’em hope, although we might all sincerely appreciate the irony of that same CBS legal department reaching out to Alec requesting to bring the Axanar team/cast in to demonstrate how a new, prime-friendly ST series is actually done which excites viewers, immediately ready to create revenue for CBS, and provides a reasonable competitor to all things “Orville”..

    CBS: “What could we quickly fund and produce to fill the huge gap left by a failing STD, create genuine excitement within the Fanbase, and turn around our losses via minimal investment?”

    ST Fanbase: “Hold my beer, cause the Axanar alternative show is already here (Ready-Made Leadership, Talent, Producers, Writers, Script, BridgeSet, VFX, Fanbase)…”

    CBS Execs and Accounting: “Ca-Ching!”

    We could all probably agree that scenario would be both amusing, and agreeable way to prove Alec was right all along about Axanar.

    Anyway, my $0.02 of disjointed insight, and probably only worth both pennies paid for it!

    Cheers,

    Fred

  25. Still not thrilled we could only get 30 minutes of this, instead of 90, and we’re about to get a second season of Discovery, gagh – Still going to check this out, when it’s available though… P 🙂

  26. Oh, I’m so jealous. Thank you for posting these updates, pics, etc.
    I get to enjoy at least a small part from afar – and I’m grateful. 🙂

  27. It’s a decent bridge but where’s the film. Time’s a ticking and we been waiting years now. I’ve seen more professional fan films of the genre that get their stuff done better and cleaner than this. Anyways good luck… you’re going to need it lol

    1. The clock isn’t really ticking, Brad. There was no deadline stipulated in the settlement agreement between Alec and CBS/Paramount. Alec could release Axanar in ten or twenty more years if he wanted. Granted, he wants to release it next year, but really, will the world end if Axanar comes out in 2020 or 2021 instead? Sure, I want to see it, but I can wait if it means the project is the best it can be. Look at how long we’ve all waited for Pacific 201, First Frontier, and the final episode of Starship Farragut! Sometimes fan projects just a little extra time. Why the rush, Brad?

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