To boldly go where few have gone before

The moment Richard Sprague put on the uniform three years ago, he knew he made the right decision.
Matthew Cole — For The Capital Richard Sprague of Glen Burnie checks out a tricorder used by the crew of the Starship Farragut during filming of a short called “Just Passing Through” last month in Largo.
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Navy? Army? Marines? Air Force? Coast Guard?

Nope.

Sprague found a branch of the service that few have ventured into, or know about, even in this military-oriented community. The Glen Burnie resident signed on for a tour of duty aboard the U.S.S. Farragut, a sister ship to the U.S.S. Enterprise. Sprague, a substitute teacher, served most recently as a junior science officer, though he's had other assignments.

If you haven't guessed yet, we're talking Starfleet and Star Trek.

"It just felt right," Sprague said last month as he tugged at his tightly-fitting blue velour uniform top. "All of a sudden, it clicked."

Sprague is among a small group of county residents who've taken their Star Trek fandom into warp drive - going far beyond just watching episodes, compiling trivia, and traveling to conventions. The locals, several of whom met either at Annapolis High School or through the Colonial Players theater troupe, constitute a total of about 50 people who are closely involved with the Farragut in some capacity.

They volunteer time and money to chronicle their adventures on camera, and to date have completed two feature-length movies, shorter works they call "crew logs," and even an animated film. A second animated film is scheduled to be released by the end of this year, said Farragut's Mark Hildebrand, and will feature some famous voices from the Star Trek universe.

As Hildebrand, who has both starred in and directed Colonial's "A Christmas Carol," put it: "We've gone from geeks embarrassed to geeks proud."

All the films are available for free to fans - which is how they say they avoid licensing and copyright conflicts. In fact, the Farragut is registered as a non-profit corporation. Paramount Pictures declined comment on the Farragut and other groups like them (there are more).

The Farragut seeks out new life and new civilizations in the realm of the original 1960s TV series, the show most of those involved grew up with, which means the story line is set in the time of Kirk, Spock and McCoy.

The Farragut has its own cast of characters, however, led by Capt. Jack Carter.

Silver Spring resident John Broughton plays Carter and Farragut is his brainchild, beginning life about five years ago.

"I've been a Star Trek fan forever and I saw on the Internet what people were able to do with fan films," he explained.

So, Broughton took his collection of Star Trek memorabilia, bought audio and visual equipment, and started recruiting a crew. "Having all that in a display case, the next step seemed to be to make movies," he said with a smile.

Broughton makes the authentic-looking uniforms, and another devotee, Mike Bednar of Indian Head, is on prop duty, creating devices like communicators, tricorders, phasers and log books.

The Farragut also has several large set pieces such as a transporter room, captain's quarters, turbo lift and the interior of a shuttlecraft. The bridge is under construction. The large items are stored in a warehouse in Georgia until needed for shoots. Computer-generated special effects fill in the rest.

All this is truly a labor of love, since the price tag comes to tens of thousands of dollars, and no one makes any money on the venture. They enjoy Star Trek for many different reasons, from pure sci-fi to social commentary.

"Being a kid, you dream about this, and as adults you can do this," said Eric Lund, an Arnold resident who's served on Farragut both in front of and behind the camera. "We're of the belief that all the gadgets and props support telling a good story."

One of the Farragut's feature films, "For Want of a Nail," was screened last month at the Utopia Film Festival in Greenbelt. Lund acted in the movie, and Hildebrand wrote and directed it.

"Star Trek has been a cult favorite for over 40 years through TV, big budget films and fan conventions throughout the planet," Chris Haley, director of Utopia, wrote in an e-mail.

"Finding a new fun movie like 'For Want of a Nail' with quality special effects fashioned on that crazy sci-fi world from local filmmakers was a great surprise," added Haley, who works at the Maryland State Archives in Annapolis. "We love the opportunity to get it out there and hope it finds more support for the creators and the series."

Starbase Prince George's County

It takes a lot of work to transform a nondescript 21st Century government conference room into a late 23rd Century Starbase. Just ask Hildebrand, who was in charge of the "time"-consuming effort.

It began early in the morning two weeks ago, and with the help of many Farraugut volunteers, the space at the Prince George's County Economic Development Corporation in Largo gradually began looking more and more like part of the Star Trek universe. Starbase 12, to be exact, a central locale for "Just Passing Through," one of Farragut's crew logs.

The short had already been done once before, but Hildebrand said Farragut members were dissatisfied with the finished product, so they decided to reshoot it. The plot features a flashback to the initial meeting between the starship's first officer and chief engineer.

Most of the 30 people who gathered for the two-day filming were from the Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. area, but a few traveled from as far away as Pittsburgh and Ohio just to be to be a part of the Star Trek experience.

Hildebrand, who has his own film production company, said the shoot went extremely well. Beforehand, though, Lund had some butterflies.

"You always get a little bit nervous because there's always something (that could) go wrong," said Lund, who served as assistant director and worked one of the cameras. "But it's always exciting (too), especially once the actors are all in costume."

Jamie Hanna, a former Annapolis resident and local theater veteran who now acts full-time with a Shakespeare company, had to have the make-up crew work extra hard on his hair. Hanna grew it out for a production of "Julius Caesar," but it was far too shaggy for his role as Ensign Jace.

"It's a lot of fun," he said after his hair was slicked down in proper Trek style. "It's like being 5 years-old again and playing pretend."

Hanna has been involved for three years, as has Julian Jacques, an Annapolis resident who is using Farragut mainly as a way to hone his filmmaking skills. He learned about the group through Lund, who he met on the set of Colonial's "Kid Purple." "For me, this is my film school," Jacques said.

It's far more to Allen Batson, a Virginia firefighter and paramedic, who was making his first ever appearance on the Farragut. He called it "getting his geek on."

"It's something on the bucket list," he replied when asked why he came to the filming.

John Lenwall, a music teacher from Va., and two-year Farragut member did Batson one better. When he stepped onto the set for the first time, "it was almost like a religious experience, really," he said.

"They're a great group of people. I count them all as my friends now."

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/news/lif/2009/11/01-12/To-boldly-go-where-few-have-gone-before.html