That added touch of detail...

Discussion in 'Star Trek - The Original & Animated Series' started by Warped9, Aug 29, 2013.

  1. Warped9

    Warped9 Admiral Admiral

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    In another thread a reference came up regarding "The Doomsday Machine" that I thought could start another related discussion.

    After Kirk sends the Constellation into the maw of the planet killer we get an expected explosion. But the robot doesn't blow apart in the conventional sense. Rather we see a flame of fire and debris (presumably) coming out the robot's funnel.

    I like that scene because (deliberately or not) it speaks to a reference Spock made earlier in the episode about the robot's nuetronium hull. The stuff is so dense and strong that even in the throws of destruction it still doesn't blow apart, but sends all of the explosion right out the front.

    I think this was a really nice bit of detail, in this case visually.


    Another nice bit of detail happened (I believe) by accident. In "The Naked Time" Scotty is cutting through a bulkhead to get access to Engineering where Lt. Riley has locked himself in. I believe initially there was supposed to be a beam added to the phaser as it was cutting, but they were behind schedule with the f/x and as a consequence the episode was aired without the beam. Hence, Scotty's phaser is seen cutting into the bulkhead with an invisible beam. Unfortunately in later reissues of the episode on video they have since put a visible beam back into the scene. :(

    What I really like about this was that it gave me the idea the phaser wasn't being used at full power (it would have probably gone right through the bulkhead and maybe done real damage), but was at a level just sufficient enough to delicately cut into the bulkhead without damaging any circuitry behind. Again it's a small visual thing, but to me it speaks volumes.


    A third detail was certainly deliberate. To enhance the idea of a large ship with lots of people aboard we often filtered voices in the background as if hearing personnel reporting in from all over the ship. Fantastic and really added to the sense of a believable setting. In this case the detail was in terms of sound.


    Can anyone else cite something you've noticed and appreciated that might also have gone largely unnoticed within TOS? It might be a visual effect, it might be audio or it might be a spoken reference. It could have been deliberate or perhaps apparently accidental.

    Here's a chance to show appreciation for all those bits of added detail that added to the texture and overall fabric of TOS.
     
  2. The Laughing Vulcan

    The Laughing Vulcan Admiral Admiral

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    Prescience in medicine that always strikes me...

    Spock's Brain isn't the most striking examples of scientific accuracy, and when I was younger I always used to laugh at Spock guiding McCoy through his own brain surgery. Then in recent years, we now get brain surgeons who operate while their patients are conscious, so that they can get feedback on what they are doing.

    There was another bit of serendipity, I think it was in Journey to Babel, although my memory is a bit fuzzy. It's a bit of a visual blooper, with McCoy operating on a patient, and you can see smoke rising in camera, presumably from an ill concealed actor's cigarette. Of course now we have medical lasers used in surgical procedures, and smoke is indeed present in some instances.
     
  3. Warped9

    Warped9 Admiral Admiral

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    I remember that wisp of smoke in "Journey To Babel." I always thought it was because they were cauterizing something.
     
  4. jpv2000

    jpv2000 Captain Captain

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    I always loved the background noises of the TOS bridge.

    When I heard them in the end of Star Trek IV, in that split second I brightened up and thought, "I'm home" then Kirk said, "My friends, we've come home" and made it perfect. :techman:
     
  5. arch101

    arch101 Commodore Commodore

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    Yes, I also always thought the smoke was deliberate because of a medical laser or something. Such things were on the drawing board when the show was made.

    As for TOS bridge noise, I was truly shocked when I first watched my brand new copy of the TMP-DE and heard that sound effect. It seemed SO appropriate and added greatly to the bridge scenes, Most of all, it didn't seen dated.
     
  6. BoredShipCapt'n

    BoredShipCapt'n Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    DE = Director's Cut? :confused:
     
  7. Warped9

    Warped9 Admiral Admiral

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    Yes.
     
  8. NTRPRZ

    NTRPRZ Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    I always liked how in the first two seasons of "Lost in Space," any scenes while the Jupiter II was in flight contained background noises as well as a very subtle up and down motion of the camera that gave you the impression the ship really was moving. Being much, much larger, you wouldn't need that on the Enterprise, of course, but it was a very nice touch.
     
  9. Push The Button

    Push The Button Commodore Commodore

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    In The Doomsday Machine, when Constellation lurches forward for the first time, a pile of data tapes spills off of the console in auxillary control, in the same direction that Kirk is thrown. That was a nice touch.

    I can't remember the episode, but we see a from-the-side view of the main bridge console, and Sulu's targeting scope is slowly rising up out of it after Scotty calls red alert, just before the scene fades to the commercial break.

    ---------

    It was in Friday's Child.
    I love Netflix.
     
    Last edited: Aug 30, 2013
  10. feek61

    feek61 Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Not just the bridge but every area of the "ship" had its own sound, the corridors, engineering, transporter room, etc. It really added to the realism.


    I loved that about the tapes in the DM too but after watching it I think it was just one of those "happy accidents." I think what actually happened was when Shatner slammed himself against the table that his motion moved the table just enough to knock off the tapes. No matter, it was still a great illusion.
     
  11. Warped9

    Warped9 Admiral Admiral

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    Yeah, I love that. :techman:
     
  12. E-DUB

    E-DUB Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Also from "Journey to Babel", McCoy has talked about filtering the human elements from Spock's blood. You see the green liquid going through the tubes and a red collection container, presumably with those "human elements".

    http://www.kethinov.com/images/startrek/TOS2x10k.png
     
  13. Mario de Monti

    Mario de Monti Captain Captain

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    Although I never really thought about it before this thread, I like how they showed what the crew does in their spare time, especially during the first season. For example, Sulu being a hobby botanist, Uhura singing, the use of the gym and the rec room(s) and so on. That added a touch of realism IMO, since these people live on the Enterprise, they don´t just work there.

    Mario
     
  14. Warped9

    Warped9 Admiral Admiral

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    Yes, that was excellent and I wish we had seen more of that in the latter seasons. It also bolstered a sense of community as opposed to individuals just following their own pursuits.
     
  15. Timo

    Timo Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Speaking of those, Pike's predicament in "The Menagerie" no doubt looked and sounded like a downright inconsistency when the episode originally aired: back then, Readers' Digest hadn't yet paraded the whole spectrum of exotic brain damage cases in front of us, and it didn't seem plausible that future technology couldn't allow a "fully functional" brain to produce speech or at least Morse messaging beyond the silly Yes and No beeps.

    Today, we know better: the brain may still "function fully" yet lose the ability to apply language. Pike may have understood every word spoken to him, but his brain may well have been damaged in that specific way that would completely prevent him from forming a phrase or even a word, either inside his mind or through a vocalizing machine. Yeah Yeah YEAH! and nononono.... may well have been the only expressions he could, well, express clearly enough for his computerized wheelchair to recognize.

    Timo Saloniemi
     
  16. Green Shirt

    Green Shirt Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    McCoy talking to Kirk onscreen from sickbay in Dagger of the Mind. Filmed at such an angle so it looked like he was looking down at Kirk. It was an interesting change from the usual straight ahead viewscreen conversation.
     
  17. Hober Mallow

    Hober Mallow Commodore Commodore

    Sure about that? It's not there on my bluray version of the episode unless you play the episode with the enhanced FX.

    The added detail of HD has greatly added to my appreciation of what the team behind the show was able to do back in the 60s on a TV budget.

    The one specific thing that pops into my mind is the pulsating vein on the Talosian's head. When I was a kid I thought that was awesome and slightly disturbing.
     
  18. BillJ

    BillJ The King of Kings Premium Member

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    Yup. No beam when played with the original effects.
     
  19. Robert Comsol

    Robert Comsol Commodore Commodore

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    Exactly! At the very beginning we saw crew members out of their uniforms in "The Cage", "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (Briefing Lounge scene) and "The Corbomite Maneuver" (Kirk).

    Then, the idea got somehow sidetracked but made a return in Season 3 with a female crew member taking a sunbath - unfortunately and exclusively in the deleted Rec Room Scene from "Elaan of Troyius".

    And another thing, already mentioned, is the use of invisible beams outside the visual spectrum.

    I think the engineering trident device is a nice testament to that: Scotty used it apparently in "The Doomsday Machine" to repair the Constellation's impulse engines and in "The Ultimate Computer" it was used to establish the power link between the ship's power banks and the M-5.

    Bob
     
  20. Commishsleer

    Commishsleer Commodore Commodore

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    In "Is There in Truth No Beauty" there were lots of interesting camera angles and fish eye effects to denote insanity?

    In "Corbomite Maneuver" why didn't thay ever add Balok's voice for the one minute countdown. I keep watching the episode hoping the voice over will appear in some version.