Mike Minor and the painting he created for a San Fernando theatre production of “The Martian Chronicles”.
In an upcoming article we’ll shine a light on the late Mike Minor, science fiction artist and frequent contributor to Star Trek. From TOS to The Wrath of Khan, Mike’s distinctive style played an important part in the look of Trek. Best buddy, Bob Burn’s recalls Mike’s “magic pencils” with awe and nostalgia. “Mike was the heart and soul of so many projects I hold near and dear to my heart,” remembers Bob. “He literally built the structure that houses my collection with his own two hands. There will never be another like Mike.”
Bob is gathering together a selection of images of Mike and his work for the drex files. Watch for it!
(Below) Minor’s iconic concept painting of the TMP Enterprise bridge, many of it’s ideas fully realized, serving the TOS movie era long after he had passed on.
(Below) Mike’s pivotal storyboards from “The Wrath of Khan” ( Thanks Bob, via Mike Okuda).
I’ve always been quite impressed with his work, looking forward to seeing more!
yeah, always liked his work.
He brought a new style into Star Trek, one that is in many ways typical of the 1970′s but is also distinctive and lived on in later productions.
Never saw that picture of the Phase 2 Bridge. Now I see what they were saying about it and TMP.
And I always loved that Wrath of Khan Scene when the Enterprise counters.
Look forward to it, eh. MM was a true visual and visionary genius, IMO. A true loss he passed on so young.
LLP,
deg
Wow I have seen that picture of the Bridge before and I always liked it but seeing it now. I swear that it was used as a major inspiration for the new Enterprise’s bridge. I love the new bridge with the clean white look much like Mike’s art work.
Mike Minor is one of Trek’s undersung heroes. I never cease to be amazed by his artwork.
Wonderful artist, thanks for sharing Doug.
Hi Doug,
I’m so glad you are doing this. I contacted Bob Burns just a week or so ago because I am hoping to create a website dedicated to Mike Minor. I have so many articles from the 1970′s, especially from Starlog, where his name just keeps popping up again and again. He was an artist, model maker, and so much more.
I know that Bob and Kathy Burns were very good friends with him and I am hoping to pull together some anecdotes of his life and career. This, in combination with reposting some of the article clippings I’ve kept concerning Mike Minor’s career would hopefully showcase his amazing career. In the meantime, I’m looking forward to your continued postings.
Pierre Fontaine
Yes! Can’t wait to see more of Mike’s work! He really was very brilliant and it’s sad that he’s not still with us to share that talent.
I had the pleasure of working with Mike Minor 30+ years ago on Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Smart, funny, knowledgeable about science fiction and art and film. He wrangled the animation shots of Chekov’s weapons station for which I did some graphic elements (like the approaching asteroid). Mike wrote up the animation count sheets, took all the artwork (with me in tow) over to Howard Anderson’s place on the lot, and I got my first introduction to a down-shooter. It was Mike leafing through some of my old issues of Aviation Week that gave him the idea for the radial fins in the bridge ceiling module, and he also suggested that the way to get the smooth motion for the overhead attitude display was to float it in water in the acrylic bubble. Wish I had been able to join him on Wrath of Khan; must have been fun.
Doug, thanks for posting a great remembrance of this artist, and thanks to Rick for his memories. I can’t help but think that Phase II bridge drawing wasn’t in someone’s mind when designing the 2009 bridge… or maybe Apple stores!
Good stuff, and again, thanks.
I was just thinking the same thing about that bridge painting! Just shows good design is timeless. A lot of familiar design elements seem to have been carried through to the TMP bridge of course.
What strikes me most about this painting is that, in addition to the great detailing of the bridge, the likenesses of Deforest Kelly and William Shatner are brilliant. He captures Kelly’s stance perfectly.
I’m looking forward to hearing more about Mike Minor’s work.
A talent that was gone too soon, and a fitting time to remember him, with tomorrow being World AIDS Day. It affects everybody, folks, one way or the other.
Can’t wait to read what you and Bob have cooked up, Doug. Its tremendous that someone is giving a little of the spotlight to the unsung heroes of Our Favorite Space Saga. And Pierre please let us know when your website is up and running.
Mike has always been one of my heroes…a real inspiration as an artist and also in the “you too can actually make a career in this very closed fraternity”. At that time it was VERY hard to get a job working in film (let alone a tv series). And what a brilliant artist he was! If not for him we wouldn’t have had THOLIAN WEB…
If you please, what’s the story on Mike and the T.Web, John…?
Thanks!
PLL.
deg
Mike designed and built the Tholian puppet…and he storyboarded and animated the web itself on an Oxberry animation stand…by hand…at Frank Van Der Veer’s FX house. He said there were 17 shots and it took 4 months and cost $90,000.00 for the FX alone on that one episode.
He also created the Melkotian puppet and created 18 acrylic paintings that are seen in various sets on the Enterprise in seasons 2 and 3…like in the Rec Room, the Mess Hall and Kirk’s quarters.
I never met the man but always wanted to.
Enterprise Incidents #14 (February 1984) has a nice extended interview with Mike Minor that I insist is recommended reading! By the way, did you know that in 1976 Jim Van Hise, Bob & Mike Zarillo and I put out the first issue of Enterprise Incidents? ‘Tis true…it was a “one shot” magazine that ended up being continued by Jim by himself very successfully for many years after.
Ah, thanks, John! Wow, he was young, in his early-mid 20′s on TOS. I did not know he was on the show itself, way-cool.
And $90K, wow! And four months, on a TV show production time-line? Insane!
And coolness on Enterprise Incidents. Never saw that one, sounds great!
Thanks again, bud! (hands John a banana for John…)
PLL,
deg
deg, that ‘naner wuz good…I cut it up over my oatmeal just a half hour ago…so thanks Mr. Chimps!
Wow! That’s an awesome bit of information John! I just looked up what an Oxbury animation stand is and holy cow! I am always awed and humbled by the skill that these guys showed prior to the high octane programs that we love and enjoy today. 4 months to animate that sequence shows true dedication!
Matt, here’s a picture of me rotoscoping on an Oxberry back around 1984:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30215968&l=6a29a515bd&id=1518351378
Those little rooms are hot…VERY hot lights either above or from below…walls and everything painted black…and you basically have to stand and turn cranks (to move your artwork around) and/or constantly replace cels or various types of art. There are frequently holes in the walls from being kicked or punched by frustrated operators. Hard work, hard on your legs and back and eyes. I lost a lot of weight sweating it off over the years on a number of these beasts. But hey, IT”S SHOWBIZ!!
I’ve been a huge fan of Minor’s work (his foreground miniature for Starfleet interior in TWOK is a fave of mine) and I agree that the ENTERPRISE INCIDENTS interview is really terrific, hunt it up on ebay if you have to.
I’d love to see ANYthing that anybody might have on his unused stuff for the probe sequence in TMP, from before Abel’s people came in and tossed it all out (to be fair and balanced, I have to say that the little bit I’ve heard about the Abel team’s notion for the sequence, which was going to be Con Pederson’s part in things, was pretty terrific too, a kind of kinetic light sculpture.) Minor’s ghost-glass and UV paint approach sounds very down-and-dirty, but also a case of simple magic, which for me often works wonders.
I really wonder about that 90 grand figure for THOLIAN, though … I’ve always thought it was a typo and it cost 19,000, which is more in keeping with a big expenditure on a show with a budget under 200 grand per ep. Then again, maybe they saved money on live-action to put into vfx, since they stupidly fired Ralph Senensky — certainly the most underrated of trek’s directors IMO — three or four days into shooting the episode in favor of that hack (wallerstein?)
Pretty sure Minor was involved in the bridge main viewscreen RP stuff in season 3 as well, which are among my fave TOS visuals.
I loved the rear projection stuff from “Spock’s Brain” and always thought it was a shame such a beautiful bit of filmmaking got wasted on such a sorry episode
Spock’s Brain, sorry episode? Come on Jay, you know it holds a very special place in your heart, eh.
Admit it, it’s OK.
As I’m a Trekker (which to me means I love Trek), my ol’ saying for myself:
Even bad Trek is good Trek, eh.
PLL,
deg
Way to put words in my mouth, deg!
“Brain and brain! WHAT IS BRAIN?!?”
Hahahaha! John! That is so classic!
Kevin, that $90k figure has bothered me as well…though not as much as the 4 month timeframe…that’s a LONG time for what I know probably went on.
Granted back then (before digital) you tested EVERYTHING…meaning you shot a “wedge” of various exposures at the very least and even your movement and other factors and sent it off to the lab then looked at it with a loupe (hand magnifier) or actually screened it. Used to be the labs would process under 10 feet of 35mm film for free (as a “test”)…I actually did this recently with Technicolor on a film I’m finishing FX for…I called them and said “do you still allow 10′ free “test” processing runs, and there was a pause on the other end then some hushed tones of discussion and then “yeah, we’ll still do that”, so we got to test and screen it and make sure it was working right.
Back in the day “instant gratification” just didn’t happen much…every FX shot took time to figure out and test and revise etc. Even if they were including the Tholian puppet shots and experimenting with those as well…4 months is long. I wish I could’ve interviewed him and gotten these things all answered. “One or two column Oxberry? Motorized or hand crank? Bi-Packing or optical printer? Top or bottom-lit art?” etc, etc.
I wonder who has a copy of the final budget for that episode…that would tell us what the actual opticals budget turned out to be.
90 billllllllllion dolllllllllars!!!
…is the correct amount as I hear it… from Dr. Evil anywhp… for what it’s worth. He has been known to exaggerate for personal drama’s sake though. But there ya have it, just the same… yeah.
PLL,
deg
PS. Histrionics: It’s what’s for breakfast.
Part of the problem is that so much of Trek history might only be lore that gets imprinted as fact.
Berman mentioned klingon blood in TUC being colored for ratings reasons, and I can’t believe how many places used to print that as fact, on a show where he had virtually no input or access to the people making the decisions and executing the work (ALL of whom have stated it was a plot device, that the only POTENTIAL rating issue had to do with volume of blood, not color.) And that doesn’t even take into account typos and mis-hearings, which probably account for as much confused history.
I agree that the timeframe seems huge; even on CORBOMITE (when they were still figuring everything out), they got it out of post in something like 12 weeks (presumably why it aired so late.) It’d be interesting to see when THOLIAN actually shot, vs when it aired. That might also shed some light on the timeframe for FX, since they wouldn’t have been doing the fx before the show started shooting.
Oh, you two are a wealth of TOS BTS info, thanks. You two should write a TOS BTS book, eh. Ever too many of those, IMO.
Thanks John and Kevin!
(hands bananas to both-a ya)
LLP,
deg
PS. Mmmmm, oatmeal and ‘naners. ;9
Indeed, really interesting conversation here.
Hmm, just wrote a quick note and it didn’t appear when I hit submit. Anyway, just wanted to agree with you, deg, it’s really interesting eavesdropping on the experts’ conversation. Sounds like there’s a lot of Trek and effects knowledge yet to be written down.
Bob Burns did a wonderful tribute to Mike at this year’s WonderFest. Mike was always one of my artistic heroes, thanks to Starlog articles and Bob’s wonderful gift of keeping Mike’s memory alive through tributes and stories. I never got to meet Mike, but I feel as though I have!
Lee
Yeah, and I missed Bob’s presentation on him in Room B due to being in another one in Room A (may have even been John’s). I wish they would not overlap such major presentations.
LLP,
deg
Mike was amazing, Wish he was involved in the later Treks,
May he rest in peace!
Paul F.
Thanks for recognizing the many talents of my brother, Mike. Reading your posts made me recall when he made the Melkotian mask (http://www.startrek.com/database_article/melkotians): it began with modeling clay, evolved into a plaster cast, latex rubber poured into the cast and baked in our mother’s kitchen oven. Someone referecned a website being created about Mike, any update on that? It is nice to see all of his hard work credited here.