Complete show notes (with links) at http://opticalpodcast.com/episode/001In our premiere episode, we talk about Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Alien, chat with Daren Dochterman, VFX Supervisor on Star Trek: The Motion Picture — Director’s Edition, I admit my 2001 shame, and we ask: just what is an “optical,” anyway? Sponsor* Cinefex magazine — The journal of cinematic illusions.Features* Star Trek: The Motion Picture* Star Trek: The Motion Picture (The Director’s Edition)* What is an “optical”?* AlienGuests* Daren R. Dochterman, VFX Supervisor on Star Trek: The Motion Picture — Director’s Edition. Sites: betafive.com, blog.darendoc.com, and Star Trek Phase II* Ron “AAlgar” Watt and Matt Rowbotham, of the Post Atomic Horror podcast* Tom Schmidt, Art Director and VFX Artist, heading Percolate DigitalMusicAll tracks by Digital Droo: * * * * Research Materials* Cinefex 1 — March 1980* Cinefex 2 — August 1980* The Making of Star Trek The Motion Picture by Susan Sackett* Chekov’s Enterprise by Walter Koenig* The Book of Alien by Paul Scanlon and Michael Gross* Wikipedia: Optical effect and Optical printer* Revisiting Cinefex (1): Star Trek and Alien, and Revisiting Cinefex (2): Empire, Greg Jein and Star Trek by Graham Edwards* Making the Alien, Inside Alien, Alien Studio Production Report, and Alien Model Build — The Narcissus by Gavin RotheryMore bits* The Handheld Mathematics of Geometer Ron Resch, who designed the iris-like V’ger Maw.* Ron Cobb’s Alien Icons* “Hey Really Giger” on SuperEgo and the installment where the “Hey Really” joke actually happens at the * Trinity & Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie* You Are My Lucky Star — Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds in Singin’ in the RainAs ever* The Optical theme by Digital Droo* The Optical “aperture” logo by Mike Gower