(written from a Production point of view)
Makeup & Effects Laboratories (MEL) is a production company which has worked on a number of Star Trek episodes and movies. Its tagline is "Creatively Serving Imagination."
During the production of the third through seventh seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the company was responsible for fabrication of all key props. During this time, they also fabricated various costume pieces for a variety of episodes and miscellaneous items for Michael Westmore and the rest of the makeup department. The company continued to work on Star Trek productions for the first two seasons of Star Trek: Voyager, fabricating all of the key props. During this time, they also created the animatronic baby repto-humanoid, designed and fabricated Seven of Nine, some female Borg, and Hirogen character costumes, and designed the new Borg crossbreed. The company also did some fabrication and prop work on Star Trek: Enterprise and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. [1]
Movie work included time on Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, designing and fabricating miscellaneous props and design and prosthetic makeup for the "Feline Creature" in addition to creating animal makeup and horns for the desert horses and a mechanical rig to remove a bullet from a leg. A few years later, the company worked on Star Trek: First Contact, sculpting and molding background Borg.
Known employees[]
Star Trek work[]
- TNG:
- Season 3 - 7 prop and costume fabrication
- "Skin Of Evil" – Armus costume (uncredited)
- "Conspiracy" – parasitic being fabrication (uncredited)
- DS9:
- Season 1 prop fabrication
- VOY:
- "Hunters" – Beta-Hirogen suit (uncredited)
- Prop fabrication
- Hirogen and Borg costume fabrication
- ENT:
- "Fabrication and on set puppetry of Andorian antennae animatronics"
- Prop and costume creation
External links[]
- melefx.com – official website
- MELFX.com(X) – former official website