Star Trek Fan Fiction

For Star Trek fan fiction are mainly film and literary works in the fictional Star Trek - universe act and were not released commercially in general.

Printed matter

General development

The fan base of the various series and films of the Star Trek franchise , which developed from the community of already organized fans of science fiction in the USA, has had an extensive fan fiction culture since the late 1960s . The development was apparently triggered by the fact that Raumschiff Enterprise was one of the first science fiction productions that a significant part of the female audience could also get excited about. Unlike the average science fiction fan, these women were more interested in characters and their interaction than in the technical aspects of the series. Due to this fact, in 1967, at the time of the first broadcast of Raumschiff Enterprise, the first fanzine , Spockanalia , appeared, which already contained short stories written by fans. Until well into the 1990s, printed products dominated the field of fan fiction, which was published by the numerous fan clubs in many countries. At first the phenomenon was limited to the USA and other Anglo-Saxon countries. Fanzines contain, among other things, drawings and sometimes very high-quality stories. Poems are also part of fan fiction. Another special aspect of fan fiction or fan art are (besides the collages that normally adorn the stories) also crack drawings of the fictional technology from "Star Trek". Fans also produced postcards, wall calendars and the like on their own.

Often special editions were published that only contained such fan fiction (“storyzines”). A new subculture developed within the fan base in which good authors and draftsmen enjoy a high reputation. Even among today's professional writers there are former fanzine writers such as Jean Lorrah , who wrote some (adult) fan novels in the 1970s and later contributed a total of four books to the Star Trek series by the company "Pocket Books". Marion Zimmer Bradley wrote the short story "The Immovable Object" and the poem "A Vulcan Valentine", both of which date back to the late 1970s. The writer Sondra Marshak was active at this time as the editor of such amateur works. Other well-known authors in the fan scene are the actor Andrew Robinson , whose work has now been published commercially, and Lorrah's partner Jacqueline Lichtenberg . The chronicler Joan Marie Verba recorded about 300 important printed publications in the USA between 1967 and 1987 (the period up to the start of production of the first television sequence).

Subgenres

Many of the varieties of general fan fiction written today can be traced back to developments in the authorship of the Star Trek fan base. Star Trek fan fiction began to flourish in 1974 with the advent of pornographic elements that soon ended in the sub-genre of slash stories. These optionally address a sexual relationship, especially between Kirk and Spock (→ main article: K / S ) , between Spock and Christine Chapel or between any two or more other characters.

Another common scenario is the introduction of a succinct female protagonist who develops a love affair with a Star Trek character and performs heroic deeds. The love affair ends at the end of the story. The first story of this kind was published in 1974 in the fanzine "Menagerie 2" and is now considered a prototype of its kind. According to the name of the main female character of the story, the genre is called " Mary Sue ".

Authorship

Women were not only instrumental in the development of Star Trek fan fiction in the beginning. Up to the present day, 80 to 90 percent of the authorship of Star Trek fan fiction is women. Their share is particularly high in the slash area. Mary Sue stories are also often written by women.

Younger people from their teens are mainly active as hobby authors.

Development in the German-speaking area

From the late 1970s, when the first film in the series was shown, and increasingly in the second half of the 1980s, this type of fan culture also began to spread in Germany. The very few fan clubs that had been founded in Berlin , Hamburg and Augsburg from around 1983 published fan fiction for the still very manageable organized following. The magazines previously published in English-speaking countries were also copied and distributed by private individuals. As in the USA, the number of organized fans rose at an unprecedented pace from the beginning of the 1990s, when Raumschiff Enterprise: The Next Century was first broadcast in Germany. Until then, there had been hardly more than a dozen large fan publications per year in the German-speaking area. Regular publications were "Warp" and "Transwarp" by the "UFSTF" from Hamburg, "NCC" and "Federation Report" by the "Star Fleet Command" in Berlin and the "Trekworld" by the STCE in Augsburg.

In the following years, the amount of published fan fiction grew to the same extent as the number of clubs and their membership register. In this way, the large associations were able to greatly increase the literary and artistic quality of the stories and drawings they printed through selection. Around 1995, the number of fan clubs and their publications in Germany alone was hardly manageable. The fan fiction was particularly cultivated in the Berlin club “Star Trek Forum”, and the Hamburg club also kept this tradition.

Movies

When communication and the publication of self-written texts became easier and easier due to the increasing importance of the Internet and, on the other hand, the technical possibilities for the cost-effective realization of more complex video projects by amateurs were created, the fanzine culture gradually declined around the turn of the millennium. At this point in time, German-speaking fans had produced several thousand pages of fan fiction, plus audio zines distributed on compact cassettes ; the number of “Star Trek” fan publications in the world can only be roughly estimated at a six-digit page number. However, fan-written stories are still published on the internet, but usually without an editor's exam .

Since around the end of the 1990s, the rapidly advancing digital video technology and the Internet as a distribution base have created completely new possibilities. In the English-speaking world in particular, there is a whole series of fan productions in circulation, which even respected critics (for example the New York Times ) attest to an astonishing quality that no longer needs to hide behind professional productions.

Non-parodic works

The most important projects include:

Star Trek: Hidden Frontier : The longest and longest running fan production to date in seven seasons with 50 episodes. Each of the seasons shot between 2000 and 2007 comprises between six and nine episodes, each around 25 minutes in length. The series ties in with the movie Star Trek: The Uprising . The series is shot almost exclusively using digital green screen technology (i.e. without sets), which makes it look a bit undemanding, especially in the first few seasons - which the makers of the series themselves point out and apologize for. In fan circles, on the other hand, it is praised that it offers interesting characters who appear differentiated, interact in a complex manner and also develop as the series progresses. Objectively, one can say that the technical quality of the episodes has increased significantly in the last few seasons. The fans also emphasize the quality of the scripts, which, like the acting, are surprisingly high. Some of the main characters switched to the sequel Star Trek: Odyssey (Start: 2007)after the end of the series. In 2008, three more offshoots were launched with the titles Star Trek: The Helena Chronicles , Star Trek: Operation Beta Shield and Star Trek: Federation One . In the meantime (2015) the team has completely shifted to the production of radio plays.

Star Trek: Odyssey : Follow-up series to Star Trek: Hidden Frontier started in September 2007, in which, similar to Star Trek: Spaceship Voyager , a single Star Fleet spaceship is stranded far away from home, but here in the Andromeda Nebula .

Star Trek: The Helena Chronicles : Spin-off for Star Trek: Hidden Frontier , whichstarted in January 2008 andcontinues the plot of the first series. Plays The Helena Chronicles - as the name suggests - largely on the USS Helena introduced in the last episode of the sixth season.

Starship Exeter : Online series by Jimm and Joshua Johnson about the USS Exeter (NCC-1706) under the command of Captain John Quincy Garrovick, who was laterthe first captain of the young James T. Kirk on the USS Farragut (see the TOS Episode "Deadly Clouds (Obsession)"). The series takes place around 15-20 years before the time of the original series Raumschiff Enterprise (TOS). The series works with extensive real locations and props and a large number of actors. Trick technology and acting convey a TOS effect in a 1960s design. The "series" consists of two episodes, "The Savage Empire" and "The Tressaurian Intersection."

Starship Farragut : This American fan fiction is also set on a sister ship of the original Enterprise: the USS Farragut (NCC-1647) - this is the ship on which the young James T. Kirk had his first post as a lieutenant under Captain Garrovick . The series is set at a later point in time, parallel to TOS , when Captain Carter is in command. In February 2007 the first episode appeared, which, according to fan opinions, could convince with its very good TOS sets, trick technology and above-average acting. The second episode was released in early December 2007. In the meantime, two short episodes ( Crew Logs ) and two cartoonepisodes(in the style of Star Trek: The Animated Series ) have appeared. The series won the Wrath of Con Science Fiction Convention and Film Festival awards for best fan filmin 2008 and 2009, respectively. The third episode appeared in 2012 and the fourth in 2014.

Star Trek: New Voyages (now Star Trek: Phase II ): One of the most ambitious and, with production costs of around $ 70,000 per episode, probably the most expensive projects to date. James Cawley and Jack Marshall continue the five-year mission of the USS Enterprise with great technical effort. Some of the original scripts from Star Trek: Phase Two and Spaceship Enterprise: The Next Century can fall back on. So far (2015) nine episodes (between 40 and 60 minutes long) have appeared, including those written by DC Fontana or David Gerrold , old Star Trek authors. The episodes include guest appearances by Walter Koenig as Pavel Chekov , George Takei ( Hikaru Sulu ) and Denise Crosby ( Tasha Yar ). There are also many people on the producer and director side who have worked on various “official” Star Trek series or films.

Star Trek: Intrepid : This Scottish fan project about the USS Intrepid (NCC-74600) is set in the 24th century, shortly after the movie Star Trek: Nemesis . In addition to digital technology, real sets are also used here. Since May 2007 until today (2013) seven episodes of different lengths have appeared; Editing and trick techniques are above average, but the Scottish accent of most actors is sometimes difficult to understand for inexperienced people. Official versions with English, Spanish and German subtitles arenow alsoavailable. Parallel to the work on the own episodes, joint projects (“ crossover ”) with the hidden frontier team under the title Star Trek: Operation Beta Shield , “One of Our Own” and “Orphans of War” were filmed.

Star Trek: Of Gods And Men : This is arguably the most "professional" fan fiction project. Tim Russ (who also directs) and many other stars from practically every series play in a three-part mini-series that was produced from 2006 to 2008 and is available for free viewing on the Internet.

Star Trek: Renegades : Crowdfunded by the creators of Star Trek: Of Gods And Men, this 90-minute film was released on You Toube on August 24, 2015. Numerous actors from the various original series play. It is planned to continue as a web series.

Star Trek Continues : One of Vic Mignogna's most ambitious American projects, like Star Trek: Phase II ,continuedthe five-year mission of the USS Enterprise with high technical effort. With Pilgrim of Eternity , the first episode of the series was published in 2013, which is a continuation of the episode The Temple of Apollo (TOS 2 × 02). Michael Forest took over the role of Apollo again. On November 13, 2017, the series came to an end after a total of eleven episodes, and three short episodes (vignettes) were also released.

Star Trek: Borg War is a 90-minute long, computer-generated animated film based on the so-called machinima process: Scenes from Star Trek computer games are copied, cut, edited and underlaid with new dialogs so that a new plot is created. Borg War premiered at the 2007 Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas and was the first non-parodic fan film to be approved by CBS at an official convention. The film also won two "Mackie" awards from the American Academy of Machinima Arts and Sciences .

Prelude to Axanar : Fan film from 2014

Series that play on sister ships of the USS Enterprise during TOS time are particularly popular , in addition to the two mentioned ( Farragut and Exeter ) for example Starship Lexington (NCC-1709) and Starship Excalibur (NCC-1705).

Parodic works

Spaceship Highlander : 5-part fan production by Robert Amper about the USS Highlander and its incompetent captain, which appeared on video and was alsoshownon Sat.1 . From the third part onwards, Star Trek uniforms or species (Borg, Klingons, etc.) were no longer allowed to be used for legal reasons.

Star Tresh - The De-Generation is acollection of 13 episodes of approx. 7 minutes each by the director Wolfgang Siebers from 1996–1998, published on DVDby Best Entertainment . The episodes result in a coherent story and were implemented in a humorous, “trashy” way with very simple means.

Enter The Enterprise : The makers of this film, "Ete" for short, had set themselves the goal of targeting the Star Trek series Enterprise . The characters had illustrious names such as Captain Jonny Archy or Fick Fucker. Due to legal problems, however, there was no more than a pilot episode.

Pointless in space : This is not a parody in the actual sense, but fan synchros , i.e. a re-synchronization of mainly TNG episodes, in which the performers often put vulgar words into their mouths.

Various Star Trek parodies written by fans for fans are circulating on the Internet. One of the most legendary and oldest about TNG is the Round Robin from the MausNet .

Raumschiff Wolpertinger is a parody of Dingolstadt Comedy in the form of an audio series on Star Trek: Raumschiff Voyager and Raumschiff Enterprise: The next century in Bavarian.

Star Wreck is a Finnish parody series of Star Trek. In the full-length, non-commercial feature film Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning , the Star Wreck universe competes against the Babel 13 universe ( Babylon 5 ).

Roddenberry on Patrol (2003 by Tim Russ ) tells the short story of the patrolman and prevented science fiction writer Gene Roddenberry , who encounters a variety of dubious characters on his daily patrol (played by the stars of all Star Trek series, including Robert Beltran , Ethan Phillips , Robert Picardo , Tim Russ, George Takei and Nichelle Nichols ), which encourage him to write a new series. Particularly amusing: Walter Koenig as the grumpy landlord and the dissolution of the red shirt myth .

Under the title Apparatspott , three parodies of the television series and the movies in Low German are summarized, which were filmed in Germany from 1996 under the direction of Martin Hermann :

The radio play series Quiqueck & Hämat and the animated film Quiqueck & Hämat - Proll Out are a comedy series about two aliens on their ship, the “QSS Bulldock”, and contain numerous Star Trek allusions and parodies.

StarStarSpace (2017 by the German Youtuber Coldmirror ) is a series of animated, approx. 5 minute long episodes about the adventures of the spaceship USS Ente . There are 23 episodes (as of November 28, 2017) and an additional episode appears irregularly, approximately every 4–8 weeks. The series can be found on Youtube.

Legal position

Paramount Pictures and CBS , the official rights holders, tolerated these productions until 2016 as long as they followed a few rules:

The films mustn't make a profit.
The films may not be shown at fan conventions or other events if entrance fees are charged.
The films must be offered as free downloads.
Paramount must be named as the official rights holder.

On June 26, 2016, CBS and Paramount issued much stricter guidelines regarding fan fiction:

Less than 15 minutes for a single story or no more than two parts with less than 30 minutes total, with no further episodes, parts, sequels or remakes.
No title can contain the name "Star Trek". In contrast, a subtitle “A STAR TREK FAN PRODUCTION” must be included. The term “official” may not be used.
The content must be original, no reproductions, re-enactments or clips from a Star Trek production are permitted. Third party content requires the written approval of the third party.
When using commercially available Star Trek uniforms, accessories, toys and props, these must come from official merchandising.
It has to be a real "fan" production: producers, actors and everyone else involved must be amateurs, must not be paid for their work and are not allowed to work in Star Trek series, films, DVD productions or licensees previously employed by CBS or Paramount Pictures.
Non-commercial productions only:
1. A maximum of $ 50,000 in borrowed funds may be raised per production, regardless of whether it is 1 or 2 segments, and when this goal is achieved the fundraising must stop.
2. Performance or distribution is only permitted on a free basis and / or distribution via streaming services without profit.
3. Distribution may not take place on physical media such as DVD or Blu-ray.
4. Advertising income may also not be generated with a fan production.
5. No unlicensed Star Trek-related or fan production-related merchandising may take place, not even free of charge.
6. No profit may be made from the sale or licensing of the set, props or costumes.
Fan productions must be family-friendly and suitable for public screening. Insults, nudity, profanity, pornography, the representation of drugs, alcohol, tobacco or any harmful or illegal activity, any material that is offensive, fraudulent, defamatory, slanderous, derogatory, sexually explicit, threatening or hateful, as well as any other inappropriate Content.
Credits and marketing materials including the Fan Production website must include the following statement:
“Star Trek and all related marks, logos and characters are solely owned by CBS Studios Inc. This fan production is not endorsed by, sponsored by, nor affiliated with CBS, Paramount Pictures, or any other Star Trek franchise, and is a non- commercial fan-made film intended for recreational use. No commercial exhibition or distribution is permitted. No alleged independent rights will be asserted against CBS or Paramount Pictures. "
Producers of fan productions must not attempt to register their works or their components with copyright or as trademarks.
Fan productions may not allege or imply any association or endorsement by CBS or Paramount Pictures.

Due to the new guidelines, the planned sequel to "Star Trek - Horizon" called "Federation Rising" was canceled and the sequel to "Star Trek - Renegades" called "Requiem" was rewritten to remove any references to Star Trek .

music

Filk is a special kind of fan fiction . These are self-written songs that a film singer originally performed in songwriter style, playing guitar alone on stage and which can be assigned to American folk music. Later music broke away from this variety too. Electronic components became particularly important in the 1990s. There were also ensembles whose music was professionally produced and distributed on MC and CD, for example that of the rock musician Bernd Felsberger. "Filksongs" are even more serious nature, sometimes humorous and deal with events and people of television episodes or for example with the tragic existence of the red shirts .

literature

Joan Marie Verba: Boldly Writing. A Trekker Fan and Zine History 1967–1987. FTL Publications: Minnetonka, Minnesota, USA. Second edition 2003. ISBN 0-9653575-5-4
David Hughes: Into the future with Warp 8. Philip Kaufman's "Star Trek: Planet of the Titans" - and other journeys the Enterprise never undertook , in: Das Science Fiction Jahr 2010 , edited by Sascha Mamczak and Wolfgang Jeschke , Heyne, Munich 2010, pp. 473-515. ISBN 978-3-453-52681-5

Individual evidence

↑ John Tulloch and Jenkins Henry, "Science Fiction Audiences: Watching Doctor Who and Star Trek". According to: Boyd, Kelly Simca: "One index finger on the mouse scroll bar and the other on my clit": slash writers' views on pornography, censorship, feminism and risk. Thesis (MA). Simon Fraser University, 2001. p. 10

↑ Boyd, Kelly Simca: "One index finger on the mouse scroll bar and the other on my clit": slash writers' views on pornography, censorship, feminism and risk. Thesis (MA). Simon Fraser University, 2001. pp. 8f.

↑ Table of Contents

↑ "Star Trek Fandom Through The Ages" . Interview with Martin Stahl, the former operator of the “Final Frontier” fan club

↑ “The immovable Object” appeared in the fanzine “The Other Side of Paradise 2”, a reprint in “Computer Playback 3”.

↑ "A Stitch in Time. Garak writes an Autobiography "

↑ History of the K / S publications ( Memento of the original of July 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2
↑ Mary Ellen Curtin: "80 percent of authors are female"
↑ Katyal, Sinia K .: Performance, property and the slashing of gender in fan fiction. Journal of Gender, Social Policy and the Law. Vol. 14: 3 2006. p. 485
↑ Thomas Kohlschmidt: "Star Trek: 40 years in flight!" Summary of the development of the Star Trek fan base in Germany ( archived version )
↑ Torsten Stau: Star Trek Register 1980–1993. Fanzine via fan publications in Germany
↑ Collection of written Star Trek fan fiction (English)
^ The "New York Times" about the best ST fan fiction projects
^ Report from 3sat-Kulturzeit
↑ "Variety" via ST-Fan-Fiction ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (2008)@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.variety.com

↑ LA Times, July 7, 2007

^ Self-criticism of the ST: HF crew

↑ Critic statements on Star Trek: Hidden Frontier

↑ History of the USS Farragut

↑ [1]

^ 3sat-Kulturzeit via ST: New Voyages

↑ StarTrek.com via Star Trek: New Voyages

↑ ZDF video report on the Intrepid project in the ZDFmediathek , accessed on February 9, 2014. (offline)

↑ "Operation: Beta Shield" announced for 2008

↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2621446/

↑ http://startrekrenegades.com/home/

^ Borg Wars' for the next generation of movie makers . Nashua Telegraph. Retrieved July 16, 2007.

↑ See an Unauthorized Animated Star Trek Feature Film . IF Magazine. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 19, 2007. @1@ 2

↑ Further fan projects ( Memento of the original from October 23, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2
↑ cbc.ca: "Star Trek" cast member to appear in fan film ( Memento from October 24, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
↑ Star Trek Fan Films . June 26, 2016. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
↑ Marissa Martinelli: To Boldly Go Where No Fan Production Has Gone Before , in: Slate, July 13, 2016, accessed June 18, 2017
↑ Bernd Felsberger - Inside Out. The new CD of the Star Trek musician presented
↑ Interview with Bernd Felsberger on treknews.de

Web links

[1] John Tulloch and Jenkins Henry, "Science Fiction Audiences: Watching Doctor Who and Star Trek". According to: Boyd, Kelly Simca: "One index finger on the mouse scroll bar and the other on my clit": slash writers' views on pornography, censorship, feminism and risk. Thesis (MA). Simon Fraser University, 2001. p. 10

[2] Boyd, Kelly Simca: "One index finger on the mouse scroll bar and the other on my clit": slash writers' views on pornography, censorship, feminism and risk. Thesis (MA). Simon Fraser University, 2001. pp. 8f.

[3] Table of Contents

[4] "Star Trek Fandom Through The Ages" . Interview with Martin Stahl, the former operator of the “Final Frontier” fan club

[5] “The immovable Object” appeared in the fanzine “The Other Side of Paradise 2”, a reprint in “Computer Playback 3”.

[6] "A Stitch in Time. Garak writes an Autobiography "