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The music for the death of Spock is interesting, it alternates between major and minor. I think it is not just to offset the sadness of the scene but to somehow make it more intense (like the take off in Interstellar, there are conflicting emotions in the scene).

Death of Spock: https://youtu.be/eVIt0DYKssI

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Some composers explored that a lot, Schubert and Shostakovich in particular. I'll see if I can spot some examples so I can post some references.

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At the beginning when Kirk runs it's in major but with a lot of dissonances. The ending of quartet 12 by Shostakovich is the same idea: https://youtu.be/AI7l96D9SNs?t=1444

After when Spock talks about friendship it's in major and after when he dies it switches in minor. You can ear that kind of sudden switch in Schubert quartet 15: https://youtu.be/xW8PI2Xa8eA?t=1240

Very interesting writing there, I think it avoids clichés and is multifaceted.

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Casey mentioned few times that they had a lot of constraints. Could it be that additional constraints allow to create better movie instead of the opposite (under other equal conditions)? Like it's less degrees of freedom and smaller search space. Similar to software.

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First time I watched it, it's a lot of fun, it's a great pirate movie. The set design is pretty well done and the Enterprise take off is well shot. It's difficult for any movie to follow up 2001 and I think it was a good choice! Your discussion on screenwriting is insightful. The thing for me in general with action movies is that the pacing is quick so even if the lines are great some of it don't sink in. It does the same thing with some Shakespeare theatre, it's like the best stuff ever written but it goes so fast it's hard to appreciate the genius of it.

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As far as I am aware, this is the first time in Starfleet history that anyone has ever recognised the 3rd dimension. That trick would have taken almost anyone in the Star Trek universe by surprise. For all we know they only ever explore a single plane in the universe, with their ships aligned according to a common up direction, which they only ever deviate from if the ship takes heavy damage, or they have to do a really tight turn.

I think Alasdair Beckett-King has the best analysis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9W7pvOLxmQ

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What if it turns out that there are literally millions of unexplored planets in the Star Trek universe because they didn't realize that they should look up and down for more stuff? And this seems fairly plausible, especially because I always hear them saying "quadrant", which makes no sense because space would presumably be divided into octants if anything...

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This could be the basis for a real thriller. What if they encounter a race that knows how to move in the 3rd dimension? It would be like their ships can just phase in and out of existence. Starfleet would have to use some really good diplomacy to persuade them to stop that nonsense and move in the plane like everyone else.

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"Star Trek: Flatland", the exciting new series on CBS All Access(R)

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deletedMay 20, 2022·edited May 20, 2022
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Incorrect guess, although that sounds eerily reminiscent of the Arnold Schwarzenegger conversation when he goes to Carnival in Rio (the clip is still on YouTube)...

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