See Long Beach City Hall in 'Star Trek'

I saw the new "Star Trek" movie over the weekend, and while I was excited to see it because I'm a bit of a science fiction geek, I was also very interested to see the movie as the Press-Telegram's Long Beach City Hall reporter.

Why, you ask? Well, in 2007 parts of "Star Trek" were filmed at City Hall, and the council chamber appears in a pair of important scenes -- historic, really, in the "Star Trek" mythos -- in the new movie. I'll address those at the bottom of this blog after the photo, but be warned that there will be spoilers. What surprised me about the scenes was that the movie made few changes to the council chamber, though I guess it does have a somewhat futuristic look already, much like City Hall itself. The chamber is circular and spacious with a high ceiling and enormous windows. In the movie, the council members are replaced on the dais by various admirals, captains and Starfleet officials. Looking down on them from the audience, where Long Beach residents and journalists like myself usually sit, are Starfleet officers in red uniforms.

One significant change is that the enormous, olive-green curtains that always block the council chamber windows -- at least, I've never seen them open -- are pulled back in the movie. This may have been done totally through CGI special effects, because the scene outside the window clearly isn't Long Beach. Instead, it shows a beautiful, futuristic San Francisco. My friend who was at the movie with me noted one clear difference between the reality of Long Beach City Hall and the utopian cities of "Star Trek" upon looking out that window -- "Where are the homeless people," he asked jokingly. You also may notice a few extra rows of audience members at the back of the chamber, which was completely done with special effects.

Here's a photo of a "Star Trek" scene that was shot at City Hall, featuring Spock (played by Zachary Quinto). Notice the alien in the audience behind him. OK, spoilers after the photo for those who really want to know what scenes to watch for in the movie.

SPOILER ALERT

If you want to be certain to see Long Beach City Hall in "Star Trek," look for it in two key scenes. First, when Jim Kirk, future captain of the Enterprise but at this moment a cadet, faces discipline for cheating on a supposedly unbeatable test (known as the Kobayashi Maru). In the photo above you can see Spock explaining the importance of the test.

Then almost at the end, a very historic moment happens (in the "Star Trek" universe, anyway) -- Kirk becomes captain of the Enterprise in the council chamber. Wow, to think that after decades of TV shows and movies, the creation of a die-hard fan base, and a rich and detailed history of the future that many Trekkies know by heart, it turns out that it all really started in Long Beach.