John Eaves

For the Mississippi political candidate, see John Arthur Eaves Jr.
John Eaves
Born (1962-04-09) April 9, 1962 (age 62)
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Illustrator and model maker
Known forStar Trek designs
Notable workUSS Enterprise-E
Websitejohneaves.wordpress.com

John Eaves (born April 9, 1962) is a designer and illustrator best known for his work on the Star Trek franchise, starting with Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. He served as a production illustrator on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Enterprise and was involved in all four Next Generation movies, specifically being responsible for the design of the Sovereign-class Enterprise-E. He also worked on a variety of films, such as Top Gun, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Valkyrie and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.

Biography

The first film Eaves worked on was Top Gun, as a model maker. These included the F-14 Tomcat and Northrop F-5 models which were used for the special effects shots of the aircraft. Prior to his work on the film, he had been working as a produce clerk at Bayless Markets.[1] Eaves also worked as a model maker on a variety of other films, including Spaceballs and Terminator 2: Judgment Day.[2] He also worked on the television series SeaQuest DSV.[3] His first work on the Star Trek franchise was on Star Trek V: The Final Frontier whilst working at Greg Jein's model shop in Marina del Rey, California.[4] His first design was the wing cannon for the Klingon Bird of Prey.[5]

Eaves was introduced to Herman Zimmerman through Eaves' friend Phil Edgerly. Zimmerman was looking for someone to put together a display of Enterprise, and Eaves drew up a plan for the display. Zimmerman was impressed by the artwork, and asked Eaves to join his design team for Star Trek Generations.[6]

After the work on Generations ended, Eaves returned to his work constructing fibreglass models. When an job became available on the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine art department during season four,[2] Zimmerman invited Eaves to join the team.[6] At the time, Eaves was working on a Boeing 747 model for the film Executive Decision.[3] Eaves spent the next twelve years working on one incarnation of Star Trek or another.[6] During this time, his work included the designs of the Phoenix, the Enterprise-E and the Vulcan ship from Star Trek: First Contact.[2] The initial model of the Enterprise-E was constructed by Eaves.[7]

His design work featured in the Deep Space Nine episode "Far Beyond the Stars", during the part of the episode set in the 1950s.[3] After working on Star Trek: Insurrection, where his designs included the Son'a vessels, Zimmerman brought Eaves onto the team behind Star Trek: Enterprise as Production Illustrator.[2] Whilst working on that series, he started work on the Enterprise (NX-01), as well as the Suliban vessels.[8] His work on the final TNG film Star Trek: Nemesis included the design of the Reman starship, the Scimitar.[9]

Eaves has most recently been known to have worked on Star Trek: Discovery and the 2009 Star Trek film, and he was also involved with Perpetual Entertainment as a production consultant and illustrator on their now defunct MMOG, Star Trek Online, though many of his contributions remain intact within the version that was developed by Cryptic Studios.[5][10] He also provided the designs of the spaceships for the science fiction themed social network MyOuterSpace.[11] He was also in charge of art direction for Star Trek: Renegades, a fan produced pilot funded through Kickstarter and made by the creators of Star Trek: Of Gods and Men.[12] He worked on several films as an illustrator following Star Trek, including Tropic Thunder, Valkyrie and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.[13]

As of 2015, he is also a member of the board of advisers for the Hollywood Science Fiction Museum.

References

  1. ^ Eaves, John (May 11, 2011). "Top Gun, the 25th Anniversary". Eavesdropping. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d "Eaves, John". Star Trek.com. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c Eaves, John (January 7, 2011). "Guest Blogger: John Eaves Recalls DS9". Star Trek.com. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  4. ^ Eaves, John (September 29, 2011). "Guest Blog: John Eaves - September, 2011". Star Trek.com. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  5. ^ a b Eaves, John (September 17, 2010). "Guest Blogger: John Eaves". Star Trek.com. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  6. ^ a b c Eaves, John (February 21, 2013). "John Eaves Pays Tribute To Mentor Herman Zimmerman". Star Trek.com. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  7. ^ Magid, Ron (December 1, 1996). "Where No Trek Has Gone Before". American Cinematographer. Retrieved February 23, 2013.[permanent dead link‍](subscription required)
  8. ^ Eaves, John (March 25, 2009). "The Early NX-01". Eavesdropping. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  9. ^ Restuccio, Daniel (January 1, 2003). "Engaging Nemesis effects work: Digital Domain used a combination of off-the-shelf and proprietary software for this latest Star Trek incarnation". Post. Archived from the original on October 31, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2013. (subscription required)
  10. ^ "The Concepts of Star Trek Online". SuricataFX. June 7, 2009. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  11. ^ Hide, Nick (March 16, 2010). "Myouterspace: William Shatner's social network is as bonkers as you'd hoped". CNET. Archived from the original on November 20, 2010. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  12. ^ "Star Trek: Renegades". Kickstarter. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  13. ^ "Drop in at Eaves' New Blog". Trek Today. March 30, 2009. Retrieved February 23, 2013.