If you are into Lost or looking forward to the new Star Trek, this TED talk by J.J. Abrams will have a certain kind of value for you. But what I thought was most interesting and spot-on about it are his comments about technology and its relationship to creativity, writing, and film making. Especially film making. As he says, nowadays, if someone wants to go out and make a movie, they can pretty much just go out and do it with fairly accessible equipment because that’s how much more accessible and easy the technology has become. Interesting and entertaining stuff, and maybe something to squeeze into 328 or 516, especially if my desires for students to actually make “good” movies increases.
If the trailers are any indication, I can assure you that the new Star Trek will not be a “good” movie. It’s time for whoever owns Star Trek to open source production. The fans sense of ownership, and knowledge of the Star Trek universe, probably-no definitely, exceeds that of it’s paid writers. They know what they want from the franchise so why not let the consumers create it, then sell it back to them. The failure of the movies and “Next Generation” spin offs demonstrates the futility of top-down production. But what the hay, just keep guessing what fans want and eventually, you may get it right!