Spock's Beard

Spock's Beard are a progressive rock band formed in 1992 in Los Angeles by brothers Neal and Alan Morse. Neal played keyboards and was the lead vocalist, as well as being the primary songwriter before leaving the band in 2002 to pursue a solo career. Alan plays electric guitar. The original line-up consisted of the Morse brothers, along with fellow musicians Nick D'Virgilio and John Ballard (bass). The following year Ballard was replaced by Dave Meros and the band subsequently released their debut album, The Light, in 1995. The quartet were later joined by veteran keyboardist Ryo Okumoto. Neal Morse departed in 2002, with D'Virgilio taking over lead vocals until his departure in 2011. The band currently consists of longstanding members Alan Morse, Dave Meros, and Ryo Okumoto, along with newer members drummer Jimmy Keegan and vocalist Ted Leonard; both of whom had performed in a live capacity with the band previously (Keegan from D'Virgilio's switch to frontman and Leonard in the immediate aftermath of D'Virgilio's departure).

Spock

Spock, commonly Mr. Spock (sometimes popularly referred to as: Spock, son of Sarek), is a fictional character in the Star Trek media franchise. Spock was first portrayed by Leonard Nimoy in the original Star Trek series, and also appears in the animated Star Trek series, a two-part episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, eight of the Star Trek feature films, and numerous Star Trek novels, comics, and video games. In addition, numerous actors portrayed the various stages of Spock's rapid growth, due to the effects of the Genesis Planet, in the 1984 Star Trek film Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. In the 2009 film Star Trek, Nimoy reprised his role with Zachary Quinto, who depicted a younger version of the character, existing within an alternate timeline. Both reprised their roles in the 2013 sequel Star Trek Into Darkness and Quinto will reprise his role again in 2016 Star Trek Beyond.

Spock serves aboard the starship Enterprise, as science officer and first officer, and later as commanding officer of two iterations of the vessel. Spock's mixed human-Vulcan heritage serves as an important plot element in many of the character's appearances. Along with Captain James T. Kirk and Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, he is one of the three central characters in the original Star Trek series and its films. After retiring from Starfleet, Spock serves as a Federation ambassador, contributing toward the easing of the strained relationship between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. In his later years, he serves as Federation ambassador to the Romulan Star Empire and becomes involved in the ill-fated attempt to save Romulus from a supernova, leading him to live out the rest of his life in the parallel timeline introduced in Star Trek (2009).

Neal Morse

Neal Morse (born August 2, 1960) is an American singer, multi-instrumentalist, bandleader and progressive rock composer based in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1995, he formed the progressive rock band Spock's Beard with his brother Alan and released an album which was moderately successful. In 1999, he joined former Dream Theater co-founder Mike Portnoy, Flower Kings' Roine Stolt and Marillion's Pete Trewavas to form the supergroup Transatlantic. In 2003, he released a solo album Testimony. In 2004, Morse wrote and recorded a new concept album featuring Portnoy and Randy George. In early 2007, Morse released a Christian progressive rock album based on the life of the Protestant Reformer Martin Luther, entitled Sola Scriptura. In September 2012, he released a solo studio album, Momentum, as well as Flying Colors with a newly formed band.

Background

Morse grew up in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles as one of four children. His father was a choral director. Morse started to play the piano at the age of five and started to learn to play the guitar at the age of nine. During his twenties he wrote two musicals (Hit Man and Homeland), did some session jobs, tried to get a deal as a singer/songwriter in Los Angeles, and recorded a few country and western demos with his brother Richard.

Day for night

Day for night is a set of cinematic techniques used to simulate a night scene while filming in daylight. It is often employed when it is too difficult or expensive to actually shoot during nighttime. Because both film stocks and digital image sensors lack the sensitivity of the human eye in low light conditions, night scenes recorded in natural light, with or without moonlight, may be underexposed to the point where little or nothing is visible. This problem can be avoided by using daylight to substitute for darkness. When shooting day for night, the scene is typically underexposed in-camera or darkened during post-production, with a blue tint added. Additional effects are often used to heighten the impression of night.

As film stocks and video cameras have improved in light sensitivity, shooting day for night has become less common in recent years.

Techniques

During the Silent Era of film, release prints were often tinted blue during night scenes to enhance the illusion. Although moonlight is not actually blue, it appears bluish to the human eye due to the Purkinje effect. To give a bluer appearance to scenes filmed in color, some techniques use 3200K tungsten-balanced rather than 5000K daylight-balanced film stock. The tungsten balance renders artificial lighting (street lights, headlights, lit windows, etc.) as white and unlit areas as "moonlight blue." With professional video cameras, color temperature adjustments are made to achieve the same effect. With digital post production now nearly universal, the color temperature adjustment is usually made in camera, to preserve the "white" artificial lights; but scene darkening is left to post production for finer control of the effect.

Alan Morse

Alan Morse is a guitarist and sole remaining founding member of the progressive rock band Spock's Beard. He is the brother of co-founder Neal Morse, who left the band in 2002. Morse is married to Kathryn Morse and has two children, Julia and John. He has recorded with many artists including Chad & Jeremy, Spencer Davis, Neal Morse, and (Spock's Beard keyboardist) Ryo Okumoto. Along with the guitar, he sings and plays the theremin, the cello, musical saw, keyboards, drums, bass & bouzouki. Morse has a degree in electrical engineering and owns an electronics manufacturing company, DynaMetric, Inc. Unusual for a rock guitar player, Morse does not use a pick. Alan completed his first solo album, Four O'Clock & Hysteria, which released on April 24, 2007 on InsideOut Music.

Discography

See also Spock's Beard.