Enterprise-C Bridge Layout

[Timo]

But not always meaningful

Well, life isn't. And in this particular case, it's amusing to note that the uniform colors of TOS originally had no discernible meaning. If there was any rhyme or reason to them, it was invented afterwards - and certainly shouldn't be set in stone, as "afterwards" is still ongoing.

The only thing indicating O'Brien might be an officer is when Riker calls him "Lieutenant" in that one episode; easily explained by saying Riker wasn't paying attention and misspoke.

Or was speaking to Worf; our favorite Klingon at the time was both discussing the very subject Riker commented on, and being particularly thickheaded and possibly in need of some otherwise extraneous-sounding remarks.

something we sorta see again in "Relics" with Geordi manning the CO seat with con/ops panels and Scotty backing him up on the engineering console in that case

Good point, and another odd configuration for a bridge. Especially one supposedly sitting beneath a neat round dome, one we see in the exterior view to closely resemble those of the hero cruisers.

Although we get no actual confirmation that this location would be the ship's bridge. The away team probably homed in on the only signs of life or energy aboard - and these emanated from Scotty's jury-rigged transporter, which may have been situated in a transporter room (a small one dedicated to crew rather than passenger/cargo use), or in a room of some other function but featuring a small transporter (like the K-7 manager's office).

On the other hand, we saw that at least one of Kirk's old transporter rooms had a viewscreen. And while the Jenolan location appears to have a Helm/Nav pulpit, the TOS ship had a pulpit just like the TOS Helm/Nav at the transporter room...

It would make some sense for Scotty to have chosen an engineering-related space as his survival bunker, and to have the ability to fly the old ship from there.

IIRC, the dual setup of Riker's command chair and Worf's console is at the dead center of the bridge. Both of those things themselves are off center, of course, but the midpoint between them is the center.

Yup. But there is an unused pulpit to port (audience right) of this raised central area that features these two chairs, and the question goes, is there another such unused pulpit to starboard (audience left) for symmetry?

The ladder-pillar thing creates asymmetry, but not necessarily more than the asymmetric door layouts of many bridges. On the other hand, the TOS movie bridges were also asymmetric, with the prominent weapons console to port but nothing comparable to starboard.

Timo Saloniemi

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Timo wrote:

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the TOS movie bridges were also asymmetric, with the prominent weapons console to port but nothing comparable to starboard

True dat. But at least the actual 'meat and potatoes' of the bridge - the center - has always been symmetrical, in every Starfleet bridge we've ever seen. Every real one, anyway. Which lends credence to the theory that the Hathaway bridge was just a temporary one built from junk and discarded gear.

[Mark_Nguyen]

It's not just that console - heck, with the exception of the central three seats and the turbolifts (and whatever console is aft of the CO chair in a given movie), NONE of those stations are symmetrical in size or shape for the first four TOS movies.

And regarding the Jenolan, she had a con/ops console AND a CO chair, which Geordi used at the end with its popout consoles kinda hard to justify both in a transporter room...

http://tng.trekcore.com/gallery/albu.../relics037.jpg

Incidentally, that CO chair was an E-D style chair with the older popout consoles, i.e. the one that Picard uses in the first season, albeit with slightly different consoles (perhaps they had been removed in the interm and needed replacement?). So the chair design is eighty years old? Is Picard a real softie for antique furniture on his bridge?

Mark

[Timo]

But at least the actual 'meat and potatoes' of the bridge - the center - has always been symmetrical, in every Starfleet bridge we've ever seen.

Amusingly, several TOS episodes have the centerpiece wantonly rotated for better viewing angles... We might do well to infer that the circular center area indeed can be turned around, as this would better excuse the otherwise dysfunctional layout where many of the stations are hidden behind the CO's back.

And regarding the Jenolan, she had a con/ops console AND a CO chair, which Geordi used at the end with its popout consoles kinda hard to justify both in a transporter room...

Every department has a chief; why not give a throne to the person who presides over these numerous more or less identical-looking consoles (one of which happens to be in front of a big viewscreen, but quite possibly all of them are, including the one Riker and pals access to reincarnate Scotty)?

Timo Saloniemi

[Mark_Nguyen]

Weeeeeeeelllllllll....

[Blip]

Timo wrote:

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To put the fundamental problem simply, it is your approach that is "head canon", because it is in clear conflict with onscreen facts

Let me re-iterate: Your opinion, based on slavishly adhering to onscreen visuals - even those we know for a fact to be errors - versus production materials from TWOK that have since been referenced by the subsequent productions. I'd sa it's pretty obvious to most people which is best taken as anything near to gospel.
You're not going to win this, despite the fact that I know you've been banging on this particular drum since at least 2007...

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I just had another thought about the Hathaway: The set designers probably made such an odd, non-symmetrical setup because Riker and Worf would be the only ones whom we would regularly see on the Ent-D's viewscreen during communications.

[Timo]

Your opinion, based on slavishly adhering to onscreen visuals - even those we know for a fact to be errors - versus production materials from TWOK that have since been referenced by the subsequent productions.

This might be of relevance if non-errors were somehow superior to errors... But there's no real difference. If anything, erroneous Trek writing, costuming and modeling tends to be more interesting than its "thought out" counterparts.

Timo Saloniemi