How the Opening to ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Was Made

Star Trek: Discovery breaks the typical Star Trek mold in a lot of ways, and that includes its opening title sequence.

Most previous Star Trek television series opens with their title credits rolling over shots of outer space. The one previous exception was Star Trek: Enterprise‘s journey through the history of exploration, ending with the journey to space.

Star Trek: Discovery took a more stylistic approach to its opening, which can be seen above, and has more in common with Enterprise‘s opening credits than the openings of the other Star Trek series.

Art of the Title, an online publication that focuses on the design and production of title sequences from across entertainment, dug into the creation of Star Trek: Discovery‘s opening sequence. In the article, Art of the Title quotes longtime Star Trek designer Michael Okuda. Okuda has more Star Trek credits than anyone else in history save Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. He is arguably more responsible for the visual language of Star Trek than any other single creator. While Okuda was not involved in designing the Star Trek: Discovery opening, he sees the sequence as being very much in the Star Trek spirit.

“The Discovery main title makes wonderful use of graphic iconography of Star Trek, immersing the viewer in Gene Roddenberry’s universe in much the same way that Montgomery/Cobb’s brilliant main title for Star Trek: Enterprise retold the history of exploration and flight, leading up to the first starship Enterprise,” Okuda said. “These titles captured the spirit of Star Trek in unexpected, but satisfying styles.”

The production studio Prologue were the ones who actually developed the opening credits for Star Trek: Discovery. Creative director and designer Ana Criado told the Art of the Title that the first step was reexamining the Star Trek franchise’s history from a design perspective.

“Ever since I was a kid, I have always been fascinated by the aesthetics of Star Trek, specifically that of the technology they use in the show,” said Criado. “When we got this project, I finally had the chance to look closely and investigate the way that all of this tech had been designed on The Original Series and beyond.”

The Art of the Title article goes much more in-depth and behind-the-scenes on the creative process that went into an often overlooked part of creating a new television series. The article is definitely worth the read for anyone with an interest in design, television production, or Star Trek history.

Star Trek: Discovery Season Two begins production in Toronto in April.