Discovery behind the scenes: USS Shenzhou

Now Discovery has begun, the creative teams that bring this latest chapter of the Star Trek universe to life are just starting to share some of their work on the series. Continue below to chhek out some of the work that went into the USS Shenzhou, including concept art, behind the scenes photos and video, and details from the bridge, ready room, user interfaces, spacesuits, and more:

Let's start with the main location on the Shenzhou, the bridge, as beautifully illustrated here in concept art by Ryan Dening (which was shared on Twitter by Art Director Matt Middleton):

The construction of the bridge set was also highlighted in a section on After Trek, and CBS have now released that clip on YouTube too:



Meanwhile producers Olatunde Osunsanmi and Aaron Baiers have shared a few photos from the set:

And of course the captain's chair gets some love, inhabited by off-duty Michelle Yeoh, and producer Ted Sullivan here:

Sullivan and Baiers also posted some details from Captain Georgiou's ready room; take note of the titles of her books!

Sullivan, Middleton, and Art Departmental have all shared images of the user interfaces, designed by Timothy Peel:

I really liked the Shenzhou, and especially Captain Georgiou, so I hope we do see more. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, executive producer Alex Kurtzman provided a glimmer of hope, on several occasions implying we are going to find out more about Burnham and Georgiou's backstory, confirming with a simple "Yes" that there will be further Burnham flashbacks in the season. Specifically when asked about Georgiou being dead:

Here’s what I will say: Yes, 100 percent, she’s really dead. That being said, have patience with us.

He also hinted there's more to Burnham joining the Shenzhou crew than we already know:

Because of the loss she suffered as a child she grew up as an outsider in a world that didn’t want her. And as we’ll come to understand over the course of the season, there were factions on Vulcan who resisted the presence of a human there. So when Burnham first comes onto the Shenzhou — she’s there for reasons that will be revealed later — she’s not happy to be there. She’s emotionally confused and doesn’t know where her place is on that ship. And she’s immediately met by a captain who’s loose, kind and open-hearted. In many ways, Georgiou is the person that brings her back to her humanity. Now take all that and add that Burnham feels responsible for Georgiou’s death. It’s a lot to sort through.

And that we're going to get more on the Vulcan backstory too:

A lot of Sarek and happily so. I think one of the questions the audience has is how come we never heard of this relationship [between Sarek and Burnham] and I think we owe them a very solid answer. So we will get to know all about Sarek and the relationship.

Showrunner Aaron Harberts also elaborated on this, while talking to The Hollywood Reporter:

We'll definitely be exploring the parental relationship between Burnham and Sarek further on in the series in flashbacks. Georgiou will always be present in Burnham's life, in her consciousness. We won't be doing as many flashbacks with Georgiou but we do definitely explain and explore what happened to young Burnham at the Vulcan learning center in that horrific bombing, when Sarek brings her back to life. We explore how that event really cemented the relationship between this little human child and this Vulcan ambassador.

Speaking of Sarek, here's on official behind the scenes photo from one of his scenes:

And a very green-screen behind the scenes shot from the Vulcan Learning Center, shared by Baiers again.

Now back to the Shenzhou. Or rather, outside it... A lot of work went into that impressive spacesuit. Here's a couple of concepts from Adelaide Filippe for the bodysuit:

While the thruster pack and helmet was worked on by Bradley Morgan Johnson:

Filming this scenes was also featured on After Trek:



And here's a behind the scenes photo, once more from Baiers:

Getting into the details, Middleton also shared some images showing the development work done by Andy Tsang on the Starfleet Command logos:

Finally, here's a couple of character focused videos, looking at Burnham and Saru:

SPOILER ALERT. Go behind the scenes with #StarTrekDiscovery's cast as they discuss Burnham's actions in Episode 1. pic.twitter.com/Ib9oIpd4RW

— Star Trek: Discovery (@StarTrekNetflix) September 26, 2017

Check back later for more articles with a look behind the scenes at the Klingon aspects of the show, and the USS Discovery.

Star Trek: Discovery will continue weekly, and is distributed almost everywhere in the world on Netflix, except for the US where is will be available on CBS All Access, and Canada where it will be on Bell Media channels and services. To keep track of all the latest details from the new show, visit my Star Trek: Discovery guide page.