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TREKCORE
> VOY >
EPISODES >
THE CLOUD >
Behind the Scenes
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Michael Piller, teleplay
writer: "A troubled script from day
one. When scripts are in trouble, I'm frequently the one
who gets them because nobody wants them and nobody knows
what to do with them. So I sat down at the typewriter
knowing we had the cloud part of the story. It was an
interesting special-effects show in that regard, but it
was such an expensive optical that we couldn't spend a
great deal of time on it, so we had to come up with other
material. Fundamentally, what we had a chance to do was
take a look at the characters in further detail. I also
like the continuing relationship that we were able to
develop between Paris and Kim, and Chakotay and Janeway. I
think we were able to turn the corner on the depression
that comes with being lost. The least interesting part
about writing it for me was the technobabble that was
necessary to create the story of this creature." |
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David Livingston,
director: "I was disappointed when I
read the script because I thought it was just another
space-creature thing. We had visited that territory before
and in fact we did it a couple of times on
Voyager. But
this script was deceptive because the most interesting
part of that show was all the B stories with the pool room
and stuff. The B stories on board the ship made the A
story okay for me." |
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Sue Henley, Kate
Mulgrew's stand-in, is by the door of Chez Sandrine when
Janeway enters. Henley wears a gold uniform. |
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Jeri Taylor:
"I think one of the reasons we
didn't develop Chakotay as much as we should have was
because we learned early that it's really easy to slip
into the stereotypes and clichés of his Indian background.
People are always pitching vision-quest stories, and we
wanted to go toward the direction of undergoing it rather
than overdoing it. 'The Cloud' is the only reference that
is talked about, but we do not actually experience it in
the first season. It has been extremely controversial,
which I love. I'm delighted to stir up controversy. We are
posing that maybe American Indians in the 24th century
have a technology that allows them to tap into their
subconscious in a safe way so that they no longer have to
take drugs, fast or go to sweat lodges. Consequently, they
navigate their unconscious frequently and are very much
more comfortable with it than most of us. I see nothing
supernatural about that. This is a man going through his
own unconscious, tapping into whatever is inside him that
can help him navigate through his life." |
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For the vision-quest, Michael Piller, who rewrote the
episode, conferred with the show's Native American
consultant and used a piece of his, Piller's, own personal
history. "It was an experience that
I had personally in a pain-control clinic when I was
having dreadful problems with my back. The teacher
basically led us on a visual exercise, and I found myself
on a beach. I looked and saw a small lizard, so that
moment in the episode is a testimony to my own back
problems. My inner advisor is a lizard." |
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A
miniature beach was created on Stage 16 incorporating a
shot of the ocean taken by visual effects co-ordinator
Ronald B. Moore. Director David Livingston:
"It was kind of a weird experience.
Piller wanted us to shoot it in Janeway's office but I
wanted to go to the beach. I didn't want to use a lizard
but it was from his own life and he wanted a big, kind of
cruel-looking animal. We shot what felt like a thousand
feet of film trying to get the lizard to move. He just sat
there for ten minutes. We had a hair dryer on it, trying
to get it to move around, without hurting it. The thing
was so lethargic it would just sit there. We shot it in
second unit because there was no time to do first-unit
lizard work." |
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