To celebrate Star Trek: The Next Generation’s 30th Anniversary we created a fan made for the series most popular film Star Trek: First Contact.
In my effort to help spread the word about how great Trek was, is, and will always be, I have created a sleek new teaser trailer showcasing one of the franchise’s most popular films: First Contact.
Full disclosure: I was inspired by the visuals and tone of the original ‘Rouge One’ teaser trailer from last year.
To me, that teaser perfectly captured the sense of impending doom and dramatic tones featured throughout the film. This was something that I wanted to re-create for Trek fans and thought it was a perfect fit for the ‘darkest’ film of the franchise.
If you take a look at First Contact’s original trailer from 1996, it doesn’t exactly build up too much suspense or dramatic intrigue. Indeed it’s almost advertised as a fun family adventure.
But that is now how I, or most Trek fans, would describe the film. With the crew getting assimilated, dozens of Starships being destroyed, multiple identity crises, revenge, and hatred all set up with the backdrop of 600 million human beings dead; you begin to understand why this often considered the ‘darkest‘ film in Trek.
So, with the desire to see a trailer more appropriate in tone to the actual film, I began my 2-week long design and editing process.
First, I wanted to capture a similar piano cold opening like the ‘Rouge One’ trailer. Doing this helped remind people of Trek’s iconic music but also established a deeper emotional connection by having the song play out slowly on a piano.
Second, Picard needed to be featured must more heavily in the teaser. The entire film is carried by the character’s story in dealing with hatred, revenge, and guilt.
So the opening sequences set up the idea that Picard wasn’t trusted by Starfleet command, he was having visions of borg probes in his face, and that he was very, very angry.
And finally, I wanted to do a highlight montage that showed off some the (still) amazing visual effects in the film and provide ‘first-look’ glimpses at Zefram Cochrane with the Vulcans.
The entire highlight montage is overlayed with a 3 different fast-paced drum soundtracks, and the ST: TOS red alert klaxon to give it an extra sense of ‘danger’.
Next: 10 Reasons Picard Was The Best Captain
I hope you all enjoy the trailer as much as I enjoyed making it! Let me know what you think on Facebook or in the comments below!