THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 14, 1994 TAG: 9410120196
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JUDY PARKER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
The fantasy is over.
Jean-Luc Picard never did beam aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise, now flying in an endless orbit of television re-runs. And he never uttered in his crisp, anglophile baritone the word ``Engage,'' as he pointed toward the vastness of outer space from his ship's captain's chair.
He couldn't. Picard would never fit onboard the fictional space ship. Not because it was fictional, but because it was only four feet long.
And who's to know better than the molder of the ship's warp engines, professional model maker David D. Merriman Jr.
Merriman and his wife Eleanor, owners of D & E Miniatures in Virginia Beach, were the presenters at the opening program on the Second Tuesday Forum series of 1994-95.
The forum is a five-part series of eclectic lectures under the dual sponsorship of the Portsmouth Library Board and the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and Public Policy. After a successful debut in 1993, the Second Tuesday Forum is celebrating its second season.
The Merrimans' slide presentation Tuesday was a demonstration of how fantasy comes alive in the magic that is motion pictures and technically intricate television science fiction.
``Just as actors often get typecast, we've been tagged in the industry as `warp engines are us,' '' Merriman told an audience of about 86 in Olde Towne's Commodore Theater.
D & E Miniatures also was involved in creating authentic-looking miniature models of submarine propellers and rudders for props used in author Tom Clancy's 1990 underwater thriller ``The Hunt For Red October.''
Although that film drew plenty of ``thumbs down'' from movie reviewers, a commentary from the St. Louis Post Dispatch in March 1990 applauded the film's special effects.
``The underwater action scenes are superb. . . although the film is first-rate mindless entertainment. . . from the technical standpoint, it is intelligent mindless entertainment.''
``We were originally commissioned to design prototypes of Soviet and American submarines,'' Merriman explained to the audience. ``But, just as we've gained a reputation in the industry for the quality of our warp engines, we have an equal reputation in the manufacture of boat propellers.''
Merriman spoke deftly of the complicated steps and techniques in mold making, and even gave away one secret about underwater filming in motion pictures like ``The Hunt For Red October'' and ``The Abyss.''
There isn't any water.
``All the filming was done dry. There was no water between the models and camera,'' Merriman said. ``The water effects were plugged in later with computerized special effects.''
Because computer generated imaging has greatly enhanced the field of special effects, he added, the future for miniature models is bleak.
``I can see the writing on the wall regarding the use of models in movies,'' Merriman said. ``In the next couple of years, everything will be done with computers, and there'll be no use for models.''
As an example of what the future holds in motion picture special effects and with a plug for the soon-to-be-released final episode of the George Lucas ``Star Wars'' trilogy, Merriman told the audience that the film's computerized imaging ``will be unlike anything anyone has seen before.''
Although the Merriman team has been involved with some of Hollywood's more successful pictures, they've also helped in the production of one of the silver screen's least memorable.
``Somehow we were recommended to producer Wade Williams who was filming `Midnight Movie Massacres.' I'm sure everybody remembers that film,'' Merriman mugged with the Commodore Theater audience.
``Williams was an eccentric millionaire, sort of in the tradition of Ed Wood. Anyway, he wanted a spaceship designed and he hired us.
``It was a bizarre experience working in Williams' Kansas City studio. . . a former Masonic Temple. He had us working in a basement kitchen that hadn't been cleaned in a long time. It was like working in a dungeon.
``But I understand the film is doing well in Europe.'' MEMO: The next Second Tuesday Forum program is scheduled for Nov. 8.
Professor Gerald Johnson of The College of William & Mary will discuss
``The History of the Chesapeake Bay.'' The one-hour forum will be held
at First Presbyterian Church, 515 Court Street beginning at noon.
Admission is free and open to the public. Participants are encouraged to
bring a brown bag lunch. Hot and cold beverages will be provided at no
cost. For information call 393-The fantasy is over. by CNB