Star Trek: The Artistry of Dan Curry Book Review
3 min read
Star Trek: The Artistry of Dan Curry
by Dan Curry and Ben Robinson
Book Description:
“Hardback volume showcasing the diverse work of one of Star Trek‘s most talented alumni, Dan Curry, whose contributions to the TV shows and movies include visual effects, practical effects, title design and weaponry.
“With more than fifty years of history to its name, Star Trek is one of the world’s most treasured popular culture institutions, and seven-time Emmy award winner Dan Curry is one of its most enduring talents. His amazing contributions have ranged from directing, title design and concept art to practical on-set effects and weapon design. From The Next Generation to Enterprise, Dan’s incredibly diverse Star Trek work has resulted in some of the series’ most memorable moments.
“Star Trek: The Artistry of Dan Curry reveals the many and varied techniques used to produce some of the most spectacular visual effects used in the various series, while Dan also goes in-depth to divulge the secrets of some of his own personal favorite creations. This is a book for all Star Trek fans to treasure!”
Book Set-Up:
Forewords from Dan Curry and Ben Robinson
Dan Curry: A Timeline, Where No One Has Gone Before, Video Compositing, Motion Control, Models, Starship Gallery, Extraordinary Elements, Explosions, Directing Second Unit, Inside Story: Painting ‘The Visible Klingon’, Creating Body Doubles, Directing Birthright, Part II, Martial Arts and Weapons, Matte Painting, Visual-Effects Producer, Inside Story: Data’s Painting, Deep Space Nine Title Sequence, Voyager Title Sequence, The Move To CG, Inside Story: Building An Extension, Enterprise: Building A New CG Universe, Creatures, Movie Title Sequences, Revisiting TNG, VFX Family Tree, Trek Tangents, A Personal Artwork Gallery
Afterword
Review:
Star Trek: The Artistry of Dan Curry is an in-depth look at the many contributions to Star Trek made by Visual Special Effects Supervisor and Producer Dan Curry, beginning with Star Trek: The Next Generation.
The book showcases the variety of Curry’s work on Star Trek, which can be seen in the twenty-seven chapters. There are plenty of illustrations of Curry’s work over the years.
While fans of Curry will delight in the detailed account of his work, fans who are unaware of Curry’s contribution to the franchise can also enjoy this book. How many fans know that Curry designed the bat’leth? Or that his training in martial arts influenced Klingon combat?
Throughout the book are “Inside Stories,” which go into further detail about some of the things that Curry created – even something so simple as a Vulcan tear.
One of my favorite chapters was the one on Matte Painting but with over two dozen chapters, there is something for everyone in The Artistry of Dan Curry; from models to marital art, and directing to digital NX-01s.
Book Information:
Author: Dan Curry and Ben Robinson
Publisher: Titan Books
Publication Date: December 1, 2020
ISBN-13: 978-1785659348
ISBN-10: 1785659340
Pages: 204
Star Trek: The Artistry of Dan Curry is available as a hardcover for $36.61 on Amazon. To order, head to the link located here.
About The Author
