The Next Generation Were Like

Appropriately, the two-part finale of Star Trek: The Next Generation called for special attention from the set, costume, makeup, and visual effects departments. Traveling back in time seven years meant redressing some of the Enterprise sets to resemble how they looked in the series premiere, such as retrieving the original reclining chairs and restoring the old wooden wall panels on the bridge. Traveling forward 25 years into the future also required further changes to try and make the ship seem more futuristic, such as finally installing real, working television screens to the aft bridge consoles, as seen in the DVD featurette "The Making of 'All Good Things...'"

Michael Westmore's makeup team faced the challenge of aging up the cast for the future section. In "The Making of 'All Good Things...,'" Westmore explains that adding 25 years to the actors' faces was actually more difficult than making them "ancient," as it required more subtlety. A new "future" Starfleet uniform was also designed, which continued to be used in Star Trek stories set in this time frame on Deep Space Nine and Voyager.

"All Good Things..." was a special effects-heavy episode that involved multiple new or refitted starship models, as well as one very complex combination matte painting and optical effects shot. According to "The Making of 'All Good Things...,'" the scene in which Q takes Picard to Earth 3.5 billion years in the past took a combined 300 hours of effort to create.