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Hey, I never noticed that before....

I didn't notice his hair a different color when it changes styles. NOR the science patch on Uhura's gold/green.
Well, it's only two episodes with her green/sciences combo--and she's pretty much in the background. It would be hard to even notice that she's wearing a sciences patch. Blink and you miss it.
 
It was probably stuff like that in the beginning that made the producers, dressers and costumers decide that only certain patches went with certain color uniforms. Just in case more attentive viewers watching higher end TVs noticed them.
 
It was probably stuff like that in the beginning that made the producers, dressers and costumers decide that only certain patches went with certain color uniforms. Just in case more attentive viewers watching higher end TVs noticed them.

Maybe. Though I know that those patches (and the rank insignia braids) had to removed and reattatched regularly. The material would shrink with each washing and quickly distort around the stitching if they did not.

So with all that sewing going on, it's no wonder mistakes would occasionally slip through.

--Alex

P.S. This is also why so many crewman don't have any rank braid on the sleeve at all.
 
Watched several episodes for the first time in years recently, and in one episode, Uhura is in a yellow uniform, rather than her customary red. Did they think no one would notice or didn't realize the significance of the uniform colors ?
Don't forget that a lot of people in 1966-7 would have been watching TOS on black & white televisions. Part of the reason that TOS was so color-saturated was to help persuade viewers that they needed to buy color TVs. And it just so happens that TOS sponsor RCA made a few of those... ;)

Also, Uhura was most assuredly a background character in those first few episodes. It probably took a few weeks for viewers to become conscious of her, never mind what color uniform she was wearing.

Heck, were you particularly conscious of the fact that Tasha Yar was wearing the "skant" uniform variant at the end of TNG's "Encounter at Farpoint" when it first aired, or did you only notice it in retrospect because she never wore it again?
 
TOS was indeed beautifully coloured, which makes me ask why TNG looked so washed out especially in it's first two seasons?
JB
 
You are incorrect, sir. ;)

As stated earlier in this thread, the crewman is using a clear, lucite tool. (Since it's clear and not very visible, people sometimes think he's not holding anything.) He's cranking it much like a tire iron. Write-up about the tool is here:

https://m.facebook.com/notes/star-t...-some-odd-micrometer-thing/10150337700670934/

HD image is below. In this shot, the tool is mostly behind his hands, but the tool is casting a nice shadow on the wall--which shows his hand gripping the translucent bar, and it shows the long metal pin being used as the pivot point:

thelightsofzetarhd1210.jpg


And a few frames later--with a blow-up:

6604512393_f40f272a00_b.jpg


His right hand is obscuring the red greeblies on the handle, the pivot point pin is clearly visible, and the pin at the far end is in its location jutting out the opposite side of the pivot point pin--being clutched in his left hand.

3827678200_f5cf7ebb8e_o.jpg

Very well done!
For years I thought he was simply a devoted student of Marcel Marceau ;)
Made a video to demonstrate your discovery.
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:)Spockboy
 
Very well done!
For years I thought he was simply a devoted student of Marcel Marceau ;)
Made a video to demonstrate your discovery.
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:)Spockboy
Coo! That's great!

What you might do is a little doctoring of the prop insert. Move the farthest pin so it faces the other direction--opposite from the pivot pin. It's the alternate position for that pin, and the crewman is clutching that pin.
 
Coo! That's great!

What you might do is a little doctoring of the prop insert. Move the farthest pin so it faces the other direction--opposite from the pivot pin. It's the alternate position for that pin, and the crewman is clutching that pin.

How's this?
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:)Spockboy
 
See, now I'm gonna get all anal-retentive on you.

You correctly made the pins in opposition to one another, but they aren't parallel now.

To clarify, the clear "handle" is a single, rectangular bar, about one inch wide and eight inches long and 1/4 of an inch thick. (The far end of the tool has a diagonal end; it's not cut at a right angle.) The two metal pins pass all the way through the thin handle and jut out from the 1/4 inch edges and should be perpendicular to the clear, plastic handle. They were fine when your image of the handle was also angled in relation to the "camera" in a perspective view. But you made the handle more orthographic in this view, but you didn't keep the pins perpendicular to the handle. They should be coming off the edges of the handle perpendicularly, but in parallel--but in opposition to one another.

3827678200_f5cf7ebb8e_o.jpg


For consistency's sake, I like to be credited as "Gregory L. Schnitzer," to avoid confusion with other G. Schnitzers in IMDb. All my credits in IMDb are Gregory L. Schnitzer.

Lastly, you misspelled my last name--leaving out the "n"--in the most personally aggravating misspelling of my name. ;)

Mostly, I'm liking it. We should do more of these!
 
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See, now I'm gonna get all anal-retentive on you.

The clarify, the clear "handle" is a single, rectangular bar, about one inch wide and eight inches long and 1/4 of an inch thick. (The far end of the tool has a diagonal end; it's not cut at a right angle. The two metal pins pass all the way through the thin handle and jut out from the 1/4 inch edges and should be perpendicular to the clear, plastic handle. They were fine when your image of the handle was also angled in relation to the "camera" in a perspective view. But you made the handle more orthographic in this view, but you didn't keep the pins perpendicular to the handle. They should be coming off the edges of the handle perpendicularly, but in parallel--but in opposition to one another.

3827678200_f5cf7ebb8e_o.jpg


For consistency's sake, I like to be credited as "Gregory L. Schnitzer," to avoid confusion with other G. Schnitzers in IMDb. All my credits in IMDb are Gregory L. Schnitzer.

Lastly, you misspelled my last name--leaving out the "n"--in the most personally aggravating misspelling of my name. ;)

Mostly, I'm liking it. We should do more of these!

Well, this started out as a fun lark but is turning into a lot of work it seems.
nrfR95DGhfBo4.gif


First of all I apologize for the mistake on the name
"in the most personally aggravating way" ;)
ZaXUqQlUNtg1q.gif


Second, After much close examination of the footage I concluded that you must be able to push the pins through to either side of the device. If you look closely at the freeze frame there is definitely a pin going into a hole on the yellow fixture on the wall, the other pin is pushed through to the other side which is in the gentleman's left hand, otherwise he would have immense difficulty holding it that way, and without the pin there, quite frankly, why would he?
The hole in the yellow fixture also makes it sensible (and possible) for the crewman to be turning it the way that he is.

tUjZATKt6cbPq.gif


"you made the handle more orthographic in this view"

The picture you provided is on a definite angle, not straight up and down, which makes 3D manipulation pretty difficult.

"We should do more of these!"
rcoAUfmPMG0Qo.gif

:)Spockboy
 
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Well, this started out as a fun lark but is turning into a lot of work it seems.
nrfR95DGhfBo4.gif


First of all I apologize for the mistake on the name
"in the most personally aggravating way" ;)
ZaXUqQlUNtg1q.gif


Second, After much close examination of the footage I concluded that you must be able to push the pins through to either side of the device. If you look closely at the freeze frame there is definitely a pin going into a hole on the yellow fixture on the wall, the other pin is pushed through to the other side which is in the gentleman's left hand. This hole in the yellow fixture also makes it sensible (and possible) for the crewman to be turning it the way that he is.

tUjZATKt6cbPq.gif


"you made the handle more orthographic in this view"

The picture you provided is on an angle not straight up and down which makes 3D manipulation pretty difficult.

"We should do more of these!"
rcoAUfmPMG0Qo.gif

:)Spockboy

Yes, I understand why you put the handle in an "up and down" orientation for easier 3D manipulation, but you didn't reorient the accompany pins when you reoriented the clear handle. So they remain in their (incongruous now) angled positions.

Yes, although the prop usually has the two pins jutting out on the same side, for this appearance in "...Zetar," the farther pin was moved to the opposite side of the handle from the "axle" pin. Like I said some posts back:

"His right hand is obscuring the red greeblies on the handle, the pivot point pin is clearly visible [poking into the yellow wall plant-on], and the pin at the far end is in its location jutting out the opposite side of the pivot point pin--being clutched in his left hand."
 
Yes, I understand why you put the handle in an "up and down" orientation for easier 3D manipulation, but you didn't reorient the accompany pins when you reoriented the clear handle. So they remain in their (incongruous now) angled positions.

Yes, although the prop usually has the two pins jutting out on the same side, for this appearance in "...Zetar," the farther pin was moved to the opposite side of the handle from the "axle" pin. Like I said some posts back:

"His right hand is obscuring the red greeblies on the handle, the pivot point pin is clearly visible [poking into the yellow wall plant-on], and the pin at the far end is in its location jutting out the opposite side of the pivot point pin--being clutched in his left hand."

Yes I understand.
I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page about the pins being on either side, not the same side. :)
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Spockboy
 
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Yes I understand.
I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page about the pins being on either side, not the same side. :)
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Spockboy

Perfect!

Yes, out of the half dozen or so times this prop showed up on TOS, this was the only time the two pins we arranged on opposite sides from each other. Here's a publicity shot, showing their more common configuration (in Scotty's left hand--the hand with all five fingers still attached):
.
206031_10150337733615934_2035449_n.jpg
 
Yes I understand.
I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page about the pins being on either side, not the same side. :)
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Spockboy
Great video, but you left out Gene Roddenberry's credit for the main title. Please correct and re-re-post so that he can collect his royalties.

Neil
 
The device in Scotty's right hand with its "focusing element" (for lack of a better term) looks a bit like a very "stocky" version of Pertwee/Baker/Davison/McGann's sonic screwdriver. Hmm, maybe it's a sonic socket wrench. :lol:
 
The device in Scotty's right hand with its "focusing element" (for lack of a better term) looks a bit like a very "stocky" version of Pertwee/Baker/Davison/McGann's sonic screwdriver. Hmm, maybe it's a sonic socket wrench. :lol:

Of course it's sonic, it makes a noise.
 
The thing that always bugs me about transmission order is in season three and Scotty's DA often changing from flat grey top to black greasy hair without a qualm! Either they should have left his hair black greasy all the way through or grey not mix 'em and upset us with da OCD!
JB

I'm not a hundred percent sure everybody gets the reference to a DA. Johnny knows his slang!
 
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