Daily Archives: July 22, 2017

A lot of noise has been made by creative decision-makers involved withStar Trek Discovery concerning the show's very impressive production quality. Apparently it's the design of props and costumes that caused significant delays to the show's release this fall.

We don't just have to take their word for it anymoretheDiscovery Twitter account has been sharing small glimpses at the heavily redesigned technology of the show, which draws inspiration from the original Gene Roddenberry Star Trek series, but has been updated to make it look a little more impressive.

Here we have a Star Fleet officer's badge, which will probably not serve as a communicator as it does in later periods in the timelinecontinuity is important here, as in the J.J. Abrams Star Trek movies.

Instead, the classic flip-top communicator, which inspired real life cell phones, will return. This time, though, it sports a neat little computer display that makes it look at least a little more modern, if not hugely futuristic. There's something of a CASIO watch design to its circular screen and illuminated display, which can't be an accident.

Finally, there's the new phaser, which, if anything, resembles a very old movie camera from the early days of film. One thing's for certain, it's very pretty.

If there's a theme to these props, it's the idea of futuristic technology hearkening back to the old daysthis continues the theme of the very retro-looking transporters that we've already seen on board the Discovery. That is, except for this laser rifle, which looks like something out of a SWAT kit:

The solution, then, is to deliberately bake vintage designs into these items. Discovery is almost claiming that in the far-flung future, humanity prefers something that looks older and traditional because it makes space travel feel less sterile. It's a smart design choice, as it definitely reflects modern society, with our obsession with retro fashion, vinyl record players, and Instagram filters that make photos look worse. Our current culture reacts to Star Trek-style advancements in technology by yearning for our simpler past, and it seems that Discovery's props are a reflection of this.

Star Trek Discoverypremieres on CBS onSeptember 24th, 2017.

Continued here:
New 'Star Trek: Discovery' Clips Show Off Beautiful, Retro-Futurist Tech (Including a New Phaser) - Outer Places

The award-winning New York Neo-Futurists will share a little of their well earned wisdom this summer when they offer the workshop, Level One: Function and Fundamentals. The workshop that has served as a stepping stone to fifteen would-be Neo-Futurists is a twelve hour workshop that stretches over three Saturdays beginning July 22nd and wrapping up August 5th, all taking place at Playwrights Rehearsal Studios.

Workshop participants will be taught the function and fundamentals of what it means to create art in the Neo-Futurist aesthetic: performing as your most natural self, dismantling the fourth wall, creating task-based theatre, and accessing creative inspiration to eliminate writer's block. By the end of this workshop, participants will have written, performed and workshopped both individually and collectively written short plays that can be taken into the world in whichever way they see fit.

The instructors for this Level One: Function and Fundamentals workshop will be Neo-Futurists Dan McCoy and Connor Sampson. McCoy, a member of the NY Neo-Futurists since 2009 is a performer and playwright who holds an MFA in Playwriting from Hunter College and whose work has been produced or developed recently at Theaterlab, Primary Stages, Project Y Theatre and IATI Theatre. Sampson is a two-time national champion of performance poetry, the 2016 inaugural recipient of the Jeffrey Melnick New Playwright Award (Primary Stages) and has been a Neo since 2014. Connor also holds a BFA with honors in Dramatic Writing from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

If you've found yourself in the Kraine Theater at 10:30 on a Friday or Saturday night, witnessed the Neo-Futurists delivering their barrage of short plays, and said to yourself "I can do that" or "I could never do that," then this workshop is for you. Creative individuals at all levels of experience are encouraged to enroll for a mere $300.

The New York Neo-Futurists are a collective of wildly productive writer-director-performers that create theater that is fusion of sport, poetry and living-newspaper; non-illusory, interactive performance that conveys experiences and ideas as directly and honestly as possible; immediate, irreproducible events at affordable prices. Since opening in Brooklyn in 2004 the New York Neo-Futurists have premiered roughly 4,500 plays and have become a downtown New York institution. In addition to performing The Infinite Wrench fifty weeks a year and producing Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind from 2004 until 2016, the New York Neo-Futurists have been a stalwart presence in the Off-Off Broadway community, having won numerous Innovative Theatre Awards and Drama Desk Nominations.

IF YOU GO: New York Neo-Futurists What: Level One Workshop: Function and Fundamentals Where: Playwrights Rehearsal Studios, 440 Lafayette Street #4, New York, NY 10003 When: July 22nd, July 29th & August 5th from 1pm-5pm. How: nynf.org or 866-811-4111 Cost: $300 ($50 deposit to reserve your spot).

Photo Credit: Kari Otero, 2015 (Center)

Continued here:
New York Neo-Futurists to Offer 'Fundamentals' Workshop This Summer - Broadway World