Michael Okuda
From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference
(written from a Production point of view)
- You may be looking for Michael Okuda (Doctor) or M. Okuda.
Michael Hideo Okuda has been the scenic art supervisor for every live-action Star Trek series except The Original Series. As the art supervisor he is responsible for such things as the look of alien languages, computer screens, graphic detailing and perhaps even the look of the exotic artifacts Picard has collected. His most recognizable achievement is the creation of okudagrams, the futuristic glass-covered control panels first seen in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. He was a graphic designer at the time.
While never having taken a class in calculus in his life, Okuda is responsible for designing the logarithmic warp scale used in Star Trek: The Next Generation. All his computer graphics and designs are done on a Macintosh.
As a big fan of M*A*S*H and Gilligan's Island, he often placed references to these TV shows in his designs.
He is married to fellow Star Trek scenic artist Denise Okuda.
Together with Rick Sternbach, he serves as a technical consultant to the script staff, maintaining technical and chronological continuity and inventing scientific terms and technobabble. He is a coauthor of the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual, the Star Trek Chronology, and the Star Trek Encyclopedia. He is now also part of the development staff for the upcoming Star Trek Online, in addition to his work supervising the remastering of the Original Series.
He and his wife have created the text commentaries on the Star Trek DVDs. "Inside DS9 with Michael Okuda" is a special feature on the DS9 Season 5 DVD. He also designed the new Star Trek: Deep Space Nine title logo for the Deep Space Nine relaunch series.
Michael and Denise Okuda are currently working as scenic designer and video supervisor, respectively, on a zombie series co-created by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens entitled Alive. This series, which stars John Billingsley and Gary Graham, will debut in the summer or fall of 2008. [1]
Okuda and his wife are currently the visual effects producers as part of the CBS Digital team for the remastered Original series. He appeared as a Starfleet science officer on a new matte painting in the remastered version of "The Menagerie, Part I".
Okuda also worked as graphics artist on the fan-made internet series Star Trek: New Voyages, episode "World Enough and Time" (2007) and received special thanks in the end credits. This episode features fellow Star Trek alumni George Takei, Grace Lee Whitney, Majel Barrett Roddenberry, John Carrigan, James Cawley, Jeffery Quinn, writer and director Marc Scott Zicree, writer Michael Reaves, Doug Drexler, Iain McCaig, James Van Over, Dan Curry, Daren Dochterman, Pierre Drolet, Sam Mendoza, Ronald B. Moore, Lee Stringer, Gregory Jein, Philip Kim, Leslie Hoffman, and Tom Morga.
[edit] Star Trek interviews
- DS9 Season 1 DVD special feature "Deep Space Nine: A Bold Beginning"/ "Designing Deep Space Nine" (interview from 9 October 2002)
[edit] External links
- Graphics by Michael Okuda - official site
- Startrek.com biography
- Michael Okuda at Wikipedia
- Michael Okuda at the Internet Movie Database