Why no Andorians in the TNG/DS9/VOY era?

Discussion in 'General Trek Discussion' started by issreliant, Mar 27, 2010.

  1. Therin of Andor

    Therin of Andor Admiral Moderator

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    Female, actually. There was also Klingon male ("a friend for Worf") and humans of both genders.

    Yep. He thought they looked "hokey". But, to be fair, he was also working off a mandate made by Gene Roddenberry that races we had seen before should not be seen too often. The original premise for TNG was that the Enterprise was going to be departing known space after solving the Farpoint mystery, and therefore would not be passing through Romulan, Klingon, Andorian or Tellarite space. So, Enterprise had a token Klingon, a few Vulcans and that was going to be it for TOS races.

    [​IMG]
    Holidaying Andorian on Risa by Therin of Andor, on Flickr

    It's a reuse of the costume and makeup made for the Lal episode.

    With antennae that were made out of wooden cotton spools, pilfered from the seamstress's workroom.

    The Andorians in TMP had slender tendrill-like antennae, made from a new type of "slip latex", then very expensive.

    [​IMG]
    TMP Female by Therin of Andor, on Flickr

    Similarly, the balding Andorian admiral featured in ST IV made use of state of the art latex work - on a motion picture budget - that enabled them to show off the antennae bases with no wig needed to hide the seams.

    [​IMG]
    UFP Councillor, ST IV by Therin of Andor, on Flickr

    [​IMG]
    Balding UFP Councillor, ST IV by Therin of Andor, on Flickr

    Late 1980s TV couldn't afford that, so they had to wait till miniaturization of radio control parts enabled relatively silent movement - and then really show bang for their makeup buck!
     
    Last edited: Jan 29, 2012
  2. captcalhoun

    captcalhoun Admiral Admiral

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    holy shit, ZOMBIE THREAD!
     
  3. T'Girl

    T'Girl Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Love zombie threads, we should have more of them.

    :)
     
  4. captcalhoun

    captcalhoun Admiral Admiral

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    they get locked. usually with a head-shot.
     
  5. F. King Daniel

    F. King Daniel Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    We've had zombie Vulcans. We need zombie Andorians.
     
  6. DS9forever

    DS9forever Commodore Commodore

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    He had already done that with Weyoun.
     
  7. Bixby

    Bixby Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Andorians look goofy, so what does that make the Vulcans with their bowl-shaped haircuts and pointed ears?

    What about the Trill that are basically humans with painted-on leopard spots on their bodies? The Bajorans with
    ONLY ridges on the nose?

    Those guys are ok, but the Andorians are too GOOFY?
     
  8. The Dominion

    The Dominion Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    It's the classic stereotype of aliens with antennae. There should be no problem with it because it's really a step up from just ridged foreheads, but some people like Berman just see it as too much of a cliche.
     
  9. Anwar

    Anwar Admiral Admiral

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    It was only Spock who had the bowl-cut in TOS and the TOS movies, all the other Vulcans had more varied looks. I don't know why they had ALL of them with that look in the later shows.

    And Vulcans were too much a Trek "mascot" species to drop compared to Andorians.
     
  10. Admiral Buzzkill

    Admiral Buzzkill Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    "Slip latex" casting is a very old technique, simpler than foam latex casting, and there was nothing new about it in 1979. It's simply not used for makeups that require close scrutiny or any flexibility of expression because unlike foam latex it produces a thin shell that buckles when it moves rather than flexing in a somewhat more believable way.

    Example of slip latex casting.
     
  11. ZeroArmour

    ZeroArmour Lieutenant Junior Grade Red Shirt

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    On the subject of the four Andorian genders.

    Firstly, I like the idea, it makes them more "alien". Everyone else is pretty much locked into the same basic biology we have, and that dull.

    Secondly, I dispute the notion that there'd be a massive gender imbalance. Genetically speaking, if the odds of a child being born a particular gender weren't equal (or near enough to it) the imballance would see a species go extince long before the discovery of fire, much less warp drive. I'm also not convinced the Zhan doesn't contribute biologically while she carries the "puggle" in her pouch.
     
  12. USS Excelsior

    USS Excelsior Commodore Commodore

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    Not as goofy as that alien dog with a couple of bones added.
     
  13. Therin of Andor

    Therin of Andor Admiral Moderator

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    [​IMG]
    You rang? by Therin of Andor, on Flickr

    Also, three brief shots of zombie Andorians in this:
    http://therinofandor.blogspot.com/2010/09/book-trailer-for-night-of-living.html

    There was "something new". Fred Phillips told me when I interviewed him on the phone in January 1984. It had something to do with the new formula not needing to be baked overnight, and could be made into shapes, such as long forehead tendrills, that would have been impossible the old way. Vulcan ears in the 60s had to be baked in a kiln.

    Over in TrekLit, we decided that the zhavey would probably contribute her unique hormones that would shape the resulting fetus as it grew in her pouch. Shaped personality, intelligence, strength, etc, perhaps.
     
    Last edited: Jan 30, 2012
  14. Kirby

    Kirby Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I read somewhere that the mechanics to move the Andorian's antanne in ENT was pretty loud, so all dialogue during those scenes had to be re-recorded later on.
    I can see how that would cause some production issues if they were regular characters.
     
  15. ZeroArmour

    ZeroArmour Lieutenant Junior Grade Red Shirt

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    Sounds about right, I've wanyed to see a bondgroup on Trek for ages.
     
  16. Therin of Andor

    Therin of Andor Admiral Moderator

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    Yep. Although various bridge devices often require dialogue relooping anyway, but yes, the whirring of the puppetered antennae was an added problem to all scenes with ENT Andorians in closeups.