The Cage bridge.

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

  1. marksound

    marksound Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Well, they probably have mandatory safety force fields to keep people from tripping over the railings.

    Unless the script says otherwise. ;)
     
  2. Crazy Eddie

    Crazy Eddie Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Neither. They're actually catapults.
     
  3. Crazy Eddie

    Crazy Eddie Vice Admiral Admiral

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    And is almost exactly the aesthetic they went with in the movies; IMO, the TMP bridge and even the TUC redesign show a direct lineage from The Cage primarily.
     
  4. davejames

    davejames Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Yeah the Cage bridge does have a very Forbidden Planet, "classic 50s scifi" feel to it that I really like. Especially with all the black and silver, and with those goose-necked viewers everywhere.

    It was probably a little too subdued for the Trek that came later though, so I can see why they wanted to "liven it up" a bit more.
     
  5. FormerLurker

    FormerLurker Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Eliminating the goose-neck displays, in retrospect, was probably a mistake. While I am approaching this from a 21st century POV, the helm, navigation, and captain's chair really need some kind of graphic display available to them to make certain they're doing what they think they are when they manipulate their controls. This may not have been a consideration in early computing, but we know better now. At least Sulu did eventually get that tactical display to help with his steering and fire control.
     
  6. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    But that's what the beeps and boops were for -- auditory feedback. And the patterns of the status lights would've given feedback about the state of the device.
     
  7. davejames

    davejames Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Yeah I suspect the main reason they got rid of those viewers was because it would cut back on the number of optical effects needed for the little TV screens.
     
  8. Melakon

    Melakon Admiral In Memoriam

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    They might have had a tendency to get in the way when trying to frame an actor's face too. And if those goosenecks were actually adjustable, there could have been continuity errors between scene takes.
     
  9. FormerLurker

    FormerLurker Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Attach the display directly to the console and the continuity problem goes away. Simple back-lit graphics could be easily assumed to be tactical displays and what-not by unassuming audiences. But once again, I'm approaching this from a 21st century perspective. The auditory feedback was probably what they were going for, even though we know now that that only works for letting one know one has indeed hit the control, sometimes too often. (bawp instead of beep)
     
  10. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    ^There could conceivably be multiple different tones denoting different responses/states.
     
  11. ZapBrannigan

    ZapBrannigan Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I've often thought as much. It looks like if the ship rocked in battle, you could break both knees on your way to doing a face-plant in the well. Ouch.
     
  12. SchwEnt

    SchwEnt Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Right. Audio tones, plus changing button color indicators, maybe some force feedback tactile indicators on the controls. Many combinations could have been used to eliminate the need for graphic display screens.
     
  13. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

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    Best way to prevent this if you're on the upper level? Sit in your f***ing chair!
     
  14. Mario de Monti

    Mario de Monti Captain Captain

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    The chairs aren´t particularly safe either, since they

    • can rotate
    • are not fixed to the floor
    • don´t have restraints of any kind
    So by sitting in a chair when all the shaking and rocking starts, you just fly around from a different position than when standing up - but down you´ll go ;)
     
  15. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

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    ^I knew that would come up, but at least you're in the wrong position to go tripping over the railing.
     
  16. Mario de Monti

    Mario de Monti Captain Captain

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    I know what you meant. What I said was intended as a humorous remark :)
     
  17. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

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    Same here.
     
  18. Mario de Monti

    Mario de Monti Captain Captain

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    Which proves once again how difficult it is, to convey such subtleties of meaning using only the written word. Even with all the modern day "smiley icons" at our disposal :)
     
  19. MGagen

    MGagen Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I've alway figured that the bridge railing was never meant to be at safety height for the upper stations. It was designed to be at Kirk-lean-upon height from below.

    But take a look at the railings in Wrath of Khan: Standing on the lower level, Kirk is able to rest his chin on them while declaring that he "feels young." There you have a functional guard rail. It's about the only feature of the movie-era bridge that I like better than TOS.

    M.
     
  20. Robert Comsol

    Robert Comsol Commodore Commodore

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    I say it was designed so that in a bumpy situation Yeoman Rand would have the choice whether she wanted to fall into Kirk's arms or grap on to the railing instead.

    ...or both. :D

    Bob