Section 31 Creatives Explain Movie

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Posted on 23 hours ago by inuno.ai

The following contains spoilers for Star Trek: Section 31, now streaming on Paramount+.

Every generation of Star Trek has producers and directors who shepherd the new storytelling. Star Trek: Section 31 executive producer Alex Kurtzman and director Olatunde Osunsami have been keeping the universe alive and helping it to expand. In an interview with CBR, Kurtzman and Osunsami talk about how they approached Section 31, which is very different from past Star Trek projects.

While fans and critics have not embraced Section 31, Kurtzman and Osunsami spoke frankly about how they wanted to make the Paramount+ movie distinct. They also discussed how they thought the film fit into the larger Star Trek legacy that exists across not just science fiction, but all of pop culture. And they provided insight into some of the movie’s creative choices.

CBR: Olatunde, you established a certain visual style on the Star Trek: Discovery episodes you directed. Section 31 doesn’t feel like that at all. Can you explain your approach to the movie — did it change because it was a movie, or because of the subject matter?

Olatunde Osunsami: It was very important that Section 31 feel quite a bit different from Discovery — visually and [in] an auditory sense, too. And I’m a very emotionally driven director. I take a look at the scene and how I want the audience to feel, and the character and what they’re going through, and I tie my visual design to that everywhere, from the choices of lenses.

We have Panavision Augment lenses… to change the way the bouquet rendered in the background, all the way through what [costume designer] Gersha Phillips did with the wardrobe, [art director] Paul Kirby did with the production design, and what Jay-Z [visual effects supervisor Jason Miachel Zimmerman] did with the visual effects.

[It] has a blooming effect. When you focus on the characters and the emotion… the actual tenor of what 31 felt like was very different. The Philippa Georgiou character is very different from the Michael Burnham character played by Sonequa [Martin-Green] and therefore for me directorially, you have very different styles.

CBR: Alex, did that collaborative effect extend to Section 31’s story? Toward the end of the film, the characters found themselves emotionally in a very traditional Star Trek state of mind. Was that sort of progression the goal?

Micheelle Yeoh as Philippa Georgiou in puprle light with title treatment from Star Trek Section 31

Star Trek: Section 31 Ending, Explained

The first film in eight years, Star Trek: Section 31 tells a complete story, but the ending leaves open questions for fans to ponder for themselves.

Alex Kurtzman: Definitely. Ultimately, what we wanted to do was reinforce [franchise creator Gene] Roddenberry’s essential vision of optimism that, to me, defines Star Trek. There’s a perception among some fans that Section 31 by concept — rooted back all the way to Deep Space Nine — is just a darker idea with a darker story, and somehow violates the tone of Roddenberry’s vision.

We worked very hard to understand it within the context of Roddenberry’s vision, and within the context of something modern. So, at the end of the movie, we reinforce the idea that things work out. That these people are actually fighting for all the same things that a traditional Federation officer would be fighting for, which is a better future.

You’ve previously said stories like Section 31 feel essential to tell. What do you think it will take for Star Trek to keep going for another six decades… which, by the way, would take it past Vulcan First Contact in 2063?

Kurtzman: As long as people who love Star Trek keep telling Star Trek stories… It’s interesting because I think every generation is dealing so often with the same core issues that we as human beings deal with. But each generation is dealing with them very differently, based on the circumstances of the world at the time. And Star Trek has always been a mirror that holds itself up to the moment.

Each generation that comes in is going to reflect what’s happening differently, as long as Trek can keep growing that way. As I said, the core is you want to keep reinforcing this ultimate vision that things will work out. That our better angels have won. That the things that divide us now are in the rear view mirror in the future.

As long as you keep holding onto that, I think it gives you a lot of room to change the way you tell stories. And that is how you keep growing Star Trek for new generations of fans. That’s how it has stayed alive for as long as it has. Each generation that has inherited it has passed it on to the next one. And each generation tells their own story through a unique prism. So that’s my hope.

Star Trek: Section 31 is now streaming on Paramount+.