Ask Director of 'Trekkies' Roger Nygard 190
When I was last in California, I had the good fortune to bump into Roger Nygard who agreed to be a Slashdot interview victim. He is the Director of Trekkies, 6 Days in Roswell and the recently released Trekkies 2. He's made quite a name for himself documenting some fairly extreme geek activity, and this is your chance to put him through the wringer. Standard interview rules apply: Post questions. Moderate them. We'll select the best and post Roger's answers in a few weeks.
At 73:45.03 in Trekkies (Score:5, Funny)
It was Saavik: You decide. (Score:2)
Is there a LAN Party documentary in the works? (Score:5, Interesting)
AD&D (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:AD&D (Score:2, Funny)
I heard that he was going to but he failed the saving throw and took 3d6 fire damage instead.
Re:AD&D (Score:5, Interesting)
But seriously, this was the first thing I thought of when I read "fairly extreme geek activity"
So, why not a "gaming" documentary? From the LAN game perspective, the RPG-ers, the FRAGG-ers, etc. Then looking at the people who take it to the real world level (the "lightning bolt" folks).
Are the people at the Renaissance Festivals the same folks playing EQ?
Re:AD&D (Score:1)
Re:AD&D (Score:1)
LARPers, furries, plushies, linux kernel hackers..
Comedy goldmine!
Re:AD&D (Score:2)
LARPers, furries, plushies, linux kernel hackers..
Comedy goldmine!
He makes documentaries, not horror films.
Re:AD&D (Score:4, Informative)
You know that one already exists [ubergoobermovie.com], right?
Re:AD&D (Score:1)
Cosplay (Score:1)
Re:AD&D (Score:1, Funny)
film them running for hot grits to pour down natalie portmans pants, all done in a sith costume with a microsoft logo on the front, and if its a second thuesday in a month the google logo on the back, screamin its GNU/Linux because you wouldnt call its the 1701-D either, its the NCC 1701-D!
Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?
Re:AD&D (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:AD&D (Score:3, Interesting)
Fanatic fan (Score:4, Interesting)
Thanks
Re:Fanatic fan (Score:2)
How about, "What was the most fanatic fan of Star Trek you have encountered?"
Re:Fanatic fan (Score:3, Funny)
I think the more appropriate question to him is:
While interviewing someone, did you ever become afraid...
:)
++Om242
polarity (Score:5, Funny)
Re:polarity (Score:5, Funny)
And if that fails (Score:2)
If it weren't for all those ... (Score:2)
Of course, if you run into a temporal anolamy every freakin' week, it hardly seems anomalous any more, now does it? (Or did I watch Voyager for too long?)
Favorite Episode? (Score:1, Funny)
A few Q's (Score:1)
Re:A few Q's (Score:1, Funny)
Shooting and Editing (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Shooting and Editing (Score:1)
Get a Life? (Score:5, Interesting)
What can you say about this kind of negative response to fan adoration and does it prove something about the whole Trek phenomena, the actors and fans, or does it detract from the experience?
Re:Get a Life? (Score:2)
When did this occur? I thought he was pretty good sport after the writers wrote him off the show. Doesn't he still do the cons?
Re:Get a Life? (Score:2)
Anyone who has read the Slashdot interview [slashdot.org] with Wil Wheaton may have noticed he has a sense of humour, and may in fact have a slashdot account. I think perhaps the grandparent post was jesting because it may actually have been Wil himself.
Is "stratjakt" Wil Wheatons' Slashdot handle? Speculation abounds...
Re:Get a Life? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Get a Life? (Score:2)
depending on his mood (i.e. "dry days" and "heavy days").
I believe they have products [kotex.com] for those situations.
Why weren't Shatner or Stewart interviewed? (Score:5, Interesting)
Sheesh, it was an SNL sketch, not Shatners personal opinion or hatred.
Maybe Shatner has no outright hatred but I think it's also pretty sad that he doesn't seem to appreciate the fans. Neither Shatner nor Patrick Stewart agreed to be interviewed for Trekkies. I'm assuming the reason was money -- not enough of it. I, however, believe that since Star Trek made these guys so popular that they could afford to command high salaries, they should have agreed to be interviewed for Trekkies for a smaller-than-usual amount.
My first question of the director is if he could verify my assumption: that Shatner and Stewart weren't interviewed for Trekkies because of money (as opposed to a conscious decision by the director to focus on the other actors). Second, if you did, indeed, want them in the film and they refused, did you work hard to get them? Did you try to negotiate their payment? Did they even consider your offer? Or did you simply get a letter from their agent saying, essentially, "Mr. Statner is too important to be interviewed in your two-bit documentary."
I'm really dying to know. Shatner, I can believe being a dick. I was a little surprised not to see Stewart in Trekkies, however.
Thanks,
GMD
Re:Why weren't Shatner or Stewart interviewed? (Score:3, Insightful)
Being on Trek made him desirable at Trek conventions, but probably pretty much killed his career otherwise. Which do you think and actor would prefer, acting in movies and TV shows and bei
Re:Why weren't Shatner or Stewart interviewed? (Score:2)
Re:Get a Life? (Score:2)
As for Wil Wheaton, I confess to not liking his Wes Crusher character very much up until the last few episodes he appeared in. With the Traveller showing up, and the discovery that Wes had an incredible untapped potential wrt moving in spacetime, I thought that the character became a lot more interesting. I was hoping that he'd come back in a few episodes down the road, a la Q, but it never happened. I moved on and almost forgot about
Proposal for a new documentary (Score:5, Insightful)
We should concentrate on how obsessively sad these people are, and find people who have memorised entire games, and spend vast amounts of money collecting memorabilia and signed tat.
point taken, but... (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:point taken, but... (Score:1)
Re:Proposal for a new documentary (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Proposal for a new documentary (Score:2)
Re:Proposal for a new documentary (Score:1)
I don't think it's a good thing to be too single minded about any subject, whether its a TV show, a sport, a singer, or even non-hobby things, such as a job or a cause. What the measure of "too single minded" is is somewhat subjective.
Personally, I don't think there's anything wrong with being very enthusiastic about something. As long as it doesn't overtake your life. Some people simply take all of the above to insane levels.
Re:Proposal for a new documentary (Score:2)
Re:Proposal for a new documentary (Score:2, Funny)
The quintessential question: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:The quintessential question: (Score:2, Funny)
Clearly it was Caveman.
Re:The quintessential question: (Score:2, Funny)
Re:The quintessential question: (Score:2)
Re:The quintessential question: (Score:1)
Obviously, he's an emacs user.
Re:The quintessential question: (Score:1)
Re:The quintessential question: (Score:2, Informative)
Here we go (Score:5, Interesting)
Are there new Trekkies? (Score:2)
Current Trek probably doesn't provide a qualitatively strong experience to imprint its fandom on the young. It's hard to imagine a kid in 2004 looking at Star Trek and thinking it a great bandwagon on which to jump.
Are my presumptions wrong here? Are teens really hot for Star Trek these days, or have they found something else? In my 40-ish ignorance, I imagine the trend might be something japanese, or out of video game culture
A question (Score:2, Funny)
I myself am in correspondence with many of these people. In my view, these are some of the most interesting people in all of the particular segment of the space
Extreme behavior (Score:5, Interesting)
Trekkie Questions (Score:4, Funny)
2. What type of car do most trekkies drive? SUV, hybrid, Dodge defiant?
3. Do any of them buy the fact that even the slightest blast cases fires/sparks on the bridge? Do they hold the lowest price enterprise contractor responsible?
Re:Trekkie Questions (Score:1)
2. What type of car do most trekkies drive? SUV, hybrid, Dodge defiant?
3. Do any of them buy the fact that even the slightest blast cases fires/sparks on the bridge? Do they hold the lowest price enterprise contractor responsible
1. Yes. As the sixties ended and the public was presented with characters such as Blackbelt Jones and Shaft, it was realized that a race of bad guys had to be more
Re:Trekkie Questions (Score:3, Informative)
The people involved with Star Trek openly admit that there is no reasonable logical explanation for the difference. The audience is just asked to accept that the makeup needed to be changed.
In an episode of DS9, Wharf was directly asked about it (in the trouble with tribbles remake). And he just avoided the question by saying it was a "long story". It's sort of a trekkie joke because trekkies and most humans know that there is no explanation.
Why do you accept that the computer techno
Re:Trekkie Questions (Score:2)
"Most humans" neither know nor care about this.
How many (Score:2, Funny)
More than just fandom with Trekkies? (Score:5, Interesting)
It seems to me, however, that something different is going on. Fandom is often emulation--the Spock ears, the "Dammit Jim" variations, that sort of thing. But Trekkies take it a step farther: they create new material that is meant to merge with the pre-existing Trek world. In this way, Trekkie-ness is more like playing D&D than being in a Sci-Fi film club.
What I wonder (and here's my question) is whether you've noticed some common ground that launches people to go past being a fan and becoming a Trekkie. Is it dissatisfaction with new series and recent movies being weaker than past ones? Possibly some other characteristic that fans tend to share that, when merged with fandom will lead into Trekkie-ness? Is there something inherent about the star trek world that encourages people to internalize their identification with the star trek world? Or is there nothing at all consistent about the way Trekkies enter that world?
Re:More than just fandom with Trekkies? (Score:2)
But Trekkies take it a step farther: they create new material that is meant to merge with the pre-existing Trek world. In this way, Trekkie-ness is more like playing D&D than being in a Sci-Fi film club.
This is hardly unique to Trek, all sorts of TV shows, comics, movies and books have fan fiction. These days quite a lot have fan films. A lot of it is very bad, but that is another issue.
Re:More than just fandom with Trekkies? (Score:1)
Yes, there are very small numbers of those types for anything that can be fan-fic'ed, but I'm referring to Trekkie-ness as more of a social phenomenon, and not as isolated incidents.
Re:More than just fandom with Trekkies? (Score:2)
I've payed my geek dues and seen some fans of other sci-fi/fantasy/anime stuff take it very seriously indeed. The most extreme I've seen is Vampire LARPers, some are people who internalise and identify with fiction waaaay to much.
Maybe it's the same proportion of people who get, um, carried away, as other stuff, just there are more Trekkies. Also, the public recognises them, so they get picked up on TV documentries and more mainstream stuff becuase you don't have to explain it.
You'd probably need some s
Are you laughing at them or with them? (Score:5, Interesting)
Probably a little of both (Score:2)
Have you ever read (Score:2)
Why does... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Why does... (Score:2, Interesting)
The problem, then, is that Star Trek competes directly with all Sci-fi, thematically and on all mediums.
Direction of Star Trek? (Score:2, Interesting)
Shatner's new album (Score:1)
1. What do you think about Shatner's new album, Has Been [amazon.com]?
2. Do you think Shatner is a spokesman for All-Bran [ericgiguere.com]
Eric
JavaScript is not Java [ericgiguere.com]
Audience (Score:5, Interesting)
Subject reaction? (Score:2, Interesting)
Question (Score:1, Offtopic)
your last name (Score:2)
Your name (Score:1)
Are you aware of the fact that you've been mispelling your name your whole life?
A norwegian.
Re:Your name (Score:2)
Are you aware of the fact that you've been mispelling your name your whole life?
A norwegian.
Go back to Norwegia!
Aging fanbase? (Score:5, Interesting)
It seems to me that the Star Trek fanbase is aging, and there aren't really a lot of new fans getting into it. I first became a serious Star Trek fan years after the show was cancelled, and continued to varying degrees throughout the years. Back in the 70's it seemed like there were some science fiction conventions (and conferences) and lots of Star Trek conventions.
But with the popularity of so many other genre shows out there now, including Buffy/Angel, Farscape, Babylon 5, Stargate and others it seems that a lot of people who in the past would have gravitated towards Trek and many other shows to get fanatical about.
The success of Star Trek in its many forms has helped to lay the groundwork for a lot of the fandom centered around other shows, but the Star Trek franchise itself might be suffering a bit because of this.
My specific question is, during the filming of Trekkies 1 and 2, did you notice large numbers of younger fans, and did there seem to be around the same number when you filmed the sequel - or did you notice any decline in the numbers of younger fans?
More geeks? (Score:4, Interesting)
Director? (Score:1)
Evercrack (Score:5, Interesting)
For the last time... (Score:2)
Re:For the last time... (Score:2)
I mean Trekkie inplies you a fan if star-trek trekker implies that you are someone who treks someplace...beside to find the remote.
A battle for Geekdom (Score:2, Funny)
Taking advantage of Star Trek geeks..... (Score:4, Interesting)
Too Nerdy for The Movies (Score:5, Interesting)
Trekkies vs. Trekkers (Score:2)
accusations (Score:4, Interesting)
Objectivity (Score:2)
Considering that "Trekkies" was released by Paramount, and had interviews with several of the stars of the various series, (even narrated by one) was there any concern that the movie would be seen as a little less than objective, and not touching on some of t
What about a documentary on Slashdot? (Score:4, Interesting)
Considering Slashdot can get up to half a million readers a day, and has a subculture [wikipedia.org] of it's own, would you consider doing something like "Trekkies", but for this site... say "Slashdotters"? I wouldn't be surprised how many on this site could possibly be trekkies themselves. And, yes, I am guilty of collecting ST box sets.
Capt. Pike/Dr. Sphincter (Score:2, Interesting)
Here's my question:
Were there any other people in Trekkies that were clearly "taking the piss", or does Kronfeld believe that the rest of the fans in it were more or less sincere in their devotion to
Sequel (Score:2)
Re:Schadenfreude? (Score:5, Interesting)
Are you a Star Trek fan? If so, do you think your films make trekkies seem like bigger freaks than the average person already assumes them to be? If not, what was your motivation?
How is that possible? (Score:2)
Re:Schadenfreude? (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Schadenfreude? (Score:1)
Re:through the ringer? (Score:1, Insightful)
And neither is infinite regress.
Re:Ringer? (Score:1)
They actually work much better than the spin-dry cycle, and there are plenty still in use for that reason. It's more work, of course, but if you feed through your clothes properly, it basically presses your pants as you squeeze the water out, then you just hang it up to dry, with nice perfect creases.
Re:Ringer? (Score:1)
I think most places use centrifugal and tumble dryers now.
Re:How to make a statement ... (Score:1)
You've never been to a Star Trek convention then.
Actually, neither have I, but I have been to a Buffy convention dressed as a Jedi. Nobody seemed to care.