Valerie Weiss wanted to point out that there were still some actual sets involved on “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” and that shooting on location is hardly forbidden. But for the most part, sets are built in the volume (tables, chairs, desks, etc.), while the walls are virtual. Weiss, it seems, rather enjoys the new technology, and has fun shooting with it. She said:
“We actually also shot on location as well. So the Illyrian Colony, where Pike goes to visit Neera to solicit her help, is a location in Toronto. And then everything’s a set except for the mess hall, that’s on the volume. And it’s so much fun to shoot that shoot on the volume. It’s just you can do anything there, obviously. And it’s also, you can work so much faster there because you’re lighting basically from the walls, and so you don’t have a lot of practical lights getting in the way of shots. So it’s a very exciting process to work in the volume.”
Ryan was quick to point out the similarities between a volume and a holodeck. Holodecks, as Trekkies all know, are rooms outfitted with holographic projectors that can simulate entire environments. Holodecks can also make furniture, props, and virtual people, so it’s quite a way in the future from a volume, but the “simulated environment” part seems to have been nailed. Weiss added:
“[T]he courtroom, I think people know by now that I think it was the “Discovery” set. So Jonathan Lee, our brilliant production designer, converted that to be our courtroom. And I think … there’s a really great interview with him talking about how he did that and the choices he made for the gold relief background, and it’s a lovely, lovely set.”
Brilliant.