VFX supervisor Jason Zimmerman talks about the challenges of designing Star Trek: Picard

The Borg cube (aka “Artifact”) in Star Trek: Picard

Star Trek visual effects supervisor Jason Zimmerman made a recent appearance in Deadline.com's Production Value web series. In the appearance, he discussed his role in visual effects for Star Trek: Picard, as well as shed some light on the unique demands of a Star Trek production.

Before Star Trek: Picard, Zimmerman worked on both Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Short Treks. The move to Picard was an attractive one, as the visual effects and style are quite different than on Discovery. “I was also really excited to be able to stretch our legs as a visual effects team, and try different things out,” Zimmerman said of the change.

A big part of Zimmerman’s job is “worldbuilding”, which is both the physical and digital construction of the world audiences see onscreen. “We had a lot to do, and probably a little bit more than we do in Discovery,” Zimmerman said of Star Trek: Picard. That doesn’t mean he and his crew worked from a blank slate, however. “Fortunately for us,” he said, “the art department starts us off on a great foot with their concept art and reference drawings. Then we just set about finding the right sort of location for a plate that we could shoot it on.”

One of the most iconic structures in Star Trek: Picard, and arguably in all of Star Trek, is the Borg cube. Showing the massive scale of the cube was a challenge, especially because of the outer space setting. “It’s always a challenge to show scope and scale,” Zimmerman noted, “because unless you show an iteration of things next to the cube, you really don’t have a reference point as to how big it is.”

Another visual effects challenge was working within the canon of the Star Trek franchise. Because some fans are keen to point out any discrepancies from prior Star Trek, Zimmerman and his team are doing everything they can to ensure the accuracy of their work. “It’s always a little bit daunting to be responsible for something that’s so revered, [that’s] been depicted so many times,” Zimmerman said in the video. But, he added, “You have probably the best amount of research and reference humanly possible for any show, so you definitely start there, and want to make sure that you don’t do anything that doesn’t make any sense.”

While the pressure of being the visual effects supervisor is substantial, Zimmerman feels fortunate to be where he is. “It’s very stressful and there are difficult times, like there are with any job,” he said. “But I’m working on Star Trek, on one of the biggest franchises in TV history, doing visual effects, which is what I wanted to do for a job. So, I would be a fool to do anything but be very grateful for where I’m at.”

Watch the video for yourself on Deadline.com or on Deadline’s YouTube channel. You can also check out all of the worldbuilding Zimmerman’s team have done for Star Trek: Picard, streaming now on CBS All Access.