Flying Starships

Flying Starships is the autobiography of former Star Trek Visual Effects (VFX) Supervisor/Coordinator, Ronald B. Moore. While the book covers the entire Hollywood VFX career of the author, he conceded by his own admission, that Star Trek was his most important, and most recognized body of work, and which therefore constitutes the bulk of the text. (pp. iii-iv)
==Summary==
;From the back cover
:Have you ever wondered what it takes to create the incredible visual effects seen on your favorite movies and television shows? Transferring the words and ideas of the written page to the screen, bringing new worlds and civilizations to life and allowing starships to fly from one corner of the Galaxy to the other?
:In Flying Starships, five-times Emmy Award-winning visual effects supervisor Ronald B. Moore looks back over his remarkable 30-year career in Hollywood, revealing stories from his work on blockbuster movies such as Ghostbuster and Michael Jackson's Moonwalker to the 18 years he spent on , , and .
:Flying Starships presents an unparalleled insight into one of the most successful and beloved film and television franchises ever created, and the personal story of one of Hollywood's most celebrated visual effects artists.
===Contents===
* Introduction, p. i
* Chapter 1, A Night on the Set, p. 1
* Chapter 2, Preproduction, p. 7
* Chapter 3, Production, p. 17
* Chapter 4, Flying Starships, p. 29
* Chapter 5, Postproduction, p. 43
* Chapter 6: , An Episode Diary, p. 55
* Chapter 7: "Generations", p. 75
* Chapter 8, Conventions, p. 93
* Chapter 9, Having A Bad Day. 101
* Chapter 10, Winning An Emmy, p. 107
* Chapter 11, Working in Hollywood, p. 117
* Chapter 12, Feature Film VFX, p. 127
* Chapter 13, Hollywood Unions, p. 139
* Chapter 14, Enterprise Blues Band, p. 149
* Chapter 15, It's Teamwork, p. 159
* Acknowledgments, p. 163
* About the Author, p. 165
==Background information==
* All Star Trek productions Moore has worked on, the television series The Next Generation, Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, as well as the movie , pass the revue, making up the bulk of the text with his non-Star Trek work organized around it.
* Illuminated throughout with black and white photos, the book gave a insightful and detailed look into the work and duties of a Star Trek VFX coordinator/supervisor.
* Aside from his official work for the franchise, Ronald Moore has dedicated a chapter detailing with his experiences with the fringe events of the franchise, such as his attendances at Star Trek conventions and his meetings with fans.
* Another noticeable chapter is the one in which Moore describes what it is like to be an Emmy Award-nominated Star Trek alumnus during the award ceremony with all the emotions and pitfalls. A rather grievous example was his second co-nomination with Dan Curry in the VFX category for the season three The Next Generation episode during the 1990 ceremony. Apart from this episode, was also nominated (with Robert Legato and Gary Hutzel as nominees), together with three non-Star Trek productions. In a bizarre turn of events, all three non-Star Trek productions received the award due to a three-way tie, leaving the two Star Trek productions sole losers. In a calculated scoffing, the organization had The Next Generation cast members Michael Dorn and Marina Sirtis purposely present the awards. Unaware of the set-up, both were horrified when they had to announce the winners, to which a thoroughly chagrined Moore added, "To add insult to injury they sent me a video copy of the award show so I can live it over and over." (pp. 109-110) Nevertheless, all the snubbed Star Trek staffers went on to receive multiple Emmy Award wins.
* Published in both a paperback print and a digital version, the book was released by a small independent publishing house, which released the print version as a print-on-demand edition, though internet sellers like Amazon.com initially kept stock available for customers. The cover illustration is by space and fantasy artist Michael David Ward, who has provided such imagery not only for the Star Trek print franchise (predominantly commemorative plates, posters, mouse pads and the like), but also for that of the Star Wars franchise as well. Former GE Fabbri editors Ben Robinson and Tim Leng (for whom Ron Moore wrote a two-part article for publication in (/), reprinted in the book as chapter 6, helped Moore out with some of the practical publication aspects of his book. Written in a style easily accessible for the layman too, the book was by its readership.
* Seven years later, Robinson provided similar services for Moores's long-time friend and VFX colleague Dan Curry, resulting in his 2020 reference book Star Trek: The Artistry of Dan Curry, which largely dealt with the same subject matter, and which superceded Moore's book as the hitherto most elaborate one on the subject matter. 
Flying Starships