“[In] theory we could have done that,” he told the LA Times. “But what all of us [the creative team] were concerned about is the release date be the master we were serving. Nothing is more disheartening than something going in front of the camera before it’s ready. The crew can feel it and the cast can feel it. It’s just a heart-attack machine.”

For the full interview, head over here.

“I bet the technology will get better and better and it will be a harder choice to decide,” Orci told Collider. “For right now it is still cumbersome and it is still unbelievably expensive. Some movies wouldn’t be able to get made if it was just going to be made in 3D and some movies shouldn’t be made in 3D.”

His writing partner Alex Kurtzman left open a small possibility, saying that they would have a conversation about it if a great reason pops up, but for now the writers aren’t thinking much about it. “We are not,” Orci continued. “I’m sure it will be budgeted both ways probably and we will be able to make an assessment there, but we actually haven’t discussed that with our band mates. I actually don’t know what they think about it.”

In the full interview, Orci and Kurtzman spoke some more about fan expectations for the new film, as well as about many of their other movies, including Cowboys & Aliens.

A challenge for any release of TNG in high definition has always been that, unlike the Original Series, the show was edited directly on low-resolution video. Presenting the series in high-defintion would probably require redoing the editing from scratch, and then adding new special effects. Fans may be able to judge whether or not CBS will be able to pull this off as soon as this year, as the Digital Bits noted that the studio is currently working on a sampler disc containing four episodes that might be made available as early as this year

“I think probably in January,” Orci told Cinepremiere (via TrekMovie), “but every time we say ‘we will be shooting any second now,’ we are not, but it is going to be soon.”

The film was originally scheduled to start shooting earlier, but many of the principal players involved got side-tracked by other obligations. Producer Damon Lindelof explained to OTRC: “Right now my days and nights are consumed by Star Trek 2. [Finally] the four creative minds that sort of made the first movie what it was are all back in a room together and I think that was the only way we wanted to do it and we have been doing it. [...] I think that the bar is very high. We’re not going to be satisfied with ‘Oh this is fine’ If an idea isn’t mind-blowing, or super cool, or doesn’t present the ‘Star Trek’ universe in a way that maybe people haven’t seen before … but you also sort of have to pay homage to the fans that have stuck with this amazing franchise for 40 years. It’s been very, very tricky but I think we’ve finally broken through and figured out what the movie is going to be.”

None of the people involved were very eager to reveal any story points, but Orci did tell Hitfix about a few visual changes they’re planning for the film: “Yesterday, I was at a meeting with me and Alex with J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof looking at designs for how the Enterprise might change. So, we were with Scott Chamblis, an amazing production designer who we worked with on Alias and who did Cowboys & Aliens and is now back for Star Trek. And yesterday, we were looking at designs for the alien planets we might be looking at. He had actual card board cut outs of the opening sequence with the Enterprise. I can’t tell you where it is. Flying over, I can’t tell you where, but we are working on it. We are not just laying around.”

For full video interviews with the writers and producers, head over to Cinepremiere, OTRC or Hitfix.

“I would reboot Star Trek, with a young William Shatner,” Coto told the Hollywood Reporter, when asked which show he’d most love to reboot. “We clone William Shatner: If I start now, in 15 years, we’d have a young Kirk. Someone’s has to talk to Shatner to give up some DNA before he dies because it’s not that far away in terms of geekdom. Fifteen years is not a long time, 15 years will be here before we know it and we could have a young Captain Kirk. Do you think my wife would agree to carry it to term? That’s interesting. Honey?”

Coto spoke to the Hollywood Reporter at Comic-Con, where he took part in a panel on his current show Dexter. He’s been attending the show since the ’80s, but said that his fondest Comic-Con memory still has to do with Trek: “I ran Season 4 of Star Trek: Enterprise and the best thing I hear from fans is, ‘Your season of Enterprise was the best season of all the Star Treks,’ which always makes my heart warm. I started off as a Star Trek fan, and to be able to work on the series was a great honor.”

Coto made it quite clear he’s still a big Trek fan, revealing that although he’s never dressed up as a Trek character — last year he did dress up his son! “He was 1 and he went as Captain James T. Kirk,” Coto said. “He had a little Kirk onesie and he actually looked like what you would imagine a young Kirk: he has blond hair, and he looked very Kirk-like, and he got a lot of photos.”

For the full interview, in which Coto talks about the future of Dexter, head over to the Hollywood Reporter.

Sunday, August 8th opened with a reunion of actors Connor Trinneer (Trip Tucker), Dominick Keating (Malcolm Reed), John Billingsley (Dr. Phlox), Anthony Montgomery (Travis Mayweather), Stephen Culp (Hayes) and Matt Winston (Daniels) from Star Trek: Enterprise. Keating immediately cracked a joke when Enterprise‘s premature cancellation was referenced, quipping that, “John Billingsley wanted too much money.” Trinneer followed up, adding, “Of course, if your character gets killed, you don’t care [about the cancellation]!”

The panel was asked about leading man Scott Bakula (Captain Archer), prompting Winston to joke, “He’s so dreamy! It was always me and Scott Bakula in the future, sweaty, lost and alone.” On a more serious note, the frequent Enterprise guest star said of Bakula, “He made me feel so at home. Scott was wonderful.” When asked about his father, legendary character artist Stan Winston, Winston noted that his family had founded the Stan Winston School for those wishing to study character arts and effects.

Montgomery spoke to his character’s upbeat personality. “I tried to keep a youthful exuberance about everything,” the actor said. When the audience expressed enthusiasm for the idea of going up in space on a shuttle flight, Montgomery asked, “Would you actually want to go into space? Think about how many things went wrong on our ship!”

Trinneer fielded a question about the relationship between his character and the Vulcan T’Pol (Jolene Blalock), prompting him to say, “It seemed to me for a long time it was one-sided. I finally said, you guys took Trip’s spine and stomped on it. I said she has to kiss him and he has to walk away. And they did it.”

Culp had a difficult time at first determining how his character fit into the scope of the show. “It was sketchy at first,” he said. “The second episode I did, “The Shipment,” it was like, why am I here? [Hayes was] a man of few words, a man of action. When Malcolm and Hayes fight, it’s like, ‘Why don’t you let me do my job?’”

Keating spoke about his latest guest role, saying, “I’m shooting Sons of Anarchy at the moment. I’m wearing a lot of leather!” while Billingsley commented on his appearances on the HBO drama True Blood last season, saying, “I spent most of second season without clothes on! I shagged anything in sight, including a pine tree. I hope they bring me back!”

Recently knighted Sir Patrick Stewart took the stage in the afternoon, auctioning off a jacket he received during the filming of the third X-Men movie, X Men: The Last Stand, with the proceeds going to Huddersfield Town Football Club’s Academy, of which Stewart is the president. The jacket went for a whopping $10,000 after an enthusiastic fan called out a bid while Stewart was describing how he customized the blue jacket with white tape to make it the color of the Huddersfield Town “Terriers.”

Stewart, who stated he’s been “doing a lot of theater,” said his version of “Macbeth” will be airing in early October on PBS. Stewart said of the play, “It’s scary and unpleasant at times, but you’ve got to be brave. He went on to joke, adding “After all, you’ve seen Michael Dorn‘s work.” Stewart also shared that he plans to reprise his role in “A Christmas Carol” one more time, noting that, “My life ambition has been to do one performance of ‘A Christmas Carol’ in the East Room of The White House.”

Brent Spiner interrupted the proceedings, stepping up to the mike and referring to his former co-star as “Lord Stewart” before asking him about “funny dots” on his head in reference to a dermatological procedure Stewart recently underwent.

When Spiner took the stage, a fan asked him about the possibility of seeing Data in an upcoming Star Trek film. “It’s really not up to me,” Spiner replied. “I don’t think I’ll be playing Data again. I thought about it, and then I took a look at myself. Data with white hair?”

Spiner hinted at projects he has in development, including a novel, a pilot he recently shot, a feature film in the works and a nightclub act he recently completed. And, “I’m going to be knighted by the Queen and I’ll be in the next Star Trek movie!” he teased. He went on more seriously, “Star Trek was a great gift that was given to me that I was allowed to be a part of, and I’m just happy about that. I think Star Trek is the biggest thing that ever happened in entertainment in America. It goes on and on. One never imagines you’ll be a part of something that’s essentially American history.”

When Stewart joined Spiner on stage, the two took plenty of cracks at each other. “Isn’t it true that the other guys on Star Trek used to call you Spiner the Whiner?” Stewart asked, while Spiner queried whether Stewart’s knighthood for “Services to Drama” was not in fact for being a “Drama Queen”?

Michael Dorn (Worf) closed out the convention, telling fans he’s started a small production company in order to make small movies. He would like to direct former TNG co-star Marina Sirtis (Counselor Troi) as Maria Callas, but has concerns. “I’m not really sure about directing Marina because we’re best friends,” Dorn said. “We talked to each other like brother and sister. So I’m not sure how that will translate to director-actor.”

Dorn recently revisited his work on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which gave him an even greater appreciation for his character. “This is a guy who was on a mission to get information that was going to save millions of lives,” he said of Worf in the episode “Change of Heart.” “Jadzia [Dax, Terry Farrell] is hurt and he has to leave her. And he’s like, ‘Forget this, I’m going back to get my old lady.’ And that’s what I like about the guy: he’s unpredictable. I like the guy, I really like the guy.”

Dorn praised the development of Worf from his days on TNG to his stint on DS9. “I liked the evolution of the character,” he said. “I don’t necessarily think he’s a tragic character. I think he had a rough life. If anything, I wish that they hadn’t killed Jadzia. I don’t question much, but I do question that.” Dorn wasn’t pleased that he didn’t avenge his on-screen wife. “When this guy killed Jadzia, the Klingon thing is to hunt the guy down and kill him!” he noted. “In the last episode, [Worf] should have gone over and just slashed him up.”

And what would he have wanted next for his character, after eleven seasons on TNG and DS9? “I wanted him to take over the Klingon Empire,” Dorn said.

An elementary school in Louisiana looks as if it would fit right into the futuristic world of Star Trek.

Viewing the school from above, South Polk Elementary School in Leesville, Louisiana looks like a Constitution class starship.

Even the blueprints of the school put one in mind of a starship.

Artist Devorah Sperber has created another Star Trek sculpture made out of spools, chenille stems and semi-translucent beads.

In the lobby of the Microsoft Studio D office in Redmond, Washington is a unique sculpture, which appears to show the crew of the original series materializing before their eyes.

The sculpture, created by Sperber, was inspired by the original series episode Mirror, Mirror, although the crewmembers are not in their Mirror, Mirror uniform versions, alas.

This is not Sperber’s first Star Trek sculpture. TrekToday reported on Sperber’s Trek artwork two years ago. In addition to the Mirror, Mirror-inspired sculpture, she has also done a “Holodeck: Simulation Program” and the Bridge from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8Lm8mcqmzk

Takei, complete in a Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan uniform, urged fellow gay couples to participate in the census. “[You may ask] why I’m still wearing this Starfleet uniform,” he said. “It’s to get you to actually listen to this important message, that affects how our community and marriages such as ours are viewed by this nation. Be counted!”

“This is the first time in history the census is counting marriages like ours,” said Altman.

“It doesn’t matter whether you have a legal marriage license or not,” said Takei. “It only matters if you consider yourself married. That’s what the census is asking for, for people to identify how they view themselves.”

Takei then explained how to fill out the census, showing which box to check off for those couples who consider themselves married, and which box to check off for those couples who although they are in a relationship, don’t consider themselves married.

“So fill out the census, and let’s show America how many of us are joined in beautiful loving marriages,” said Altman.

The scale model of the Enterprise is so tiny, that it can only be seen by an electron microscope.

Scientists Takayuki Hoshino and Shinji Matsui of the Himeji Institute of Technology, located in Japan, used a focused ion beam to cut out the model, using a process called chemical vapor deposition (CVD).

The CVD process used phenanthrene gas to etch the tiny 8.8 micrometer USS Enterprise.