Episode Construction Oddities in TOS

[ZapBrannigan]

The Warlord's thread "The Cloudminders Dubbing Question" raises a general question: what editing mistakes/oddities do you recall?

The one that always jumps out and bites me is near the end of "The Way to Eden," when Shatner is suddenly flipped left-to-right.

A lesser example is in "The Corbomite Maneuver" when Sulu says "I knew he would." Balok's voice wasn't dubbed in to prompt Sulu's line. I always thought Sulu was referring to Kirk reconciling with McCoy, but that makes it an odd, unmotivated thing for Sulu to say.

Other examples?

 

[Methuselah Flint]

I never saw that as an error at all - I thought Sulu meant he knew Balok would carry out his destruction of the ship and that he wasn't bluffing....?

 

[Warped9]

Kirk's image reversed early on in "The Cloudminders" comes to mind. It happened one or two other times in the series I think.

 

[feek61]

The film editor would flip the film when the director screwed-up the shot and the actor should have been facing the other way. They typically correct this problem by flipping the film but since the insignia and hairstyle make it obvious; what solution is better?

 

[CorporalCaptain]

The film editor would flip the film when the director screwed-up the shot and the actor should have been facing the other way. They typically correct this problem by flipping the film but since the insignia and hairstyle make it obvious; what solution is better?

It happened at the end of The Empire Strikes Back with Admiral Piett and a lieutenant on the Super Star Destroyer. This was fixed with CGI in 2004.

Short of that sort of magic, zooming in to crop the parts of the shot that would stand out the most in mirror image might work in some cases. Like, in the reversed shot in The Way To Eden, would it work OK, if we just saw Kirk's face?

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Short of that sort of magic, zooming in to crop the parts of the shot that would stand out the most in mirror image might work in some cases. Like, in the reversed shot in The Way To Eden, would it work OK, if we just saw Kirk's face?

His magnificent hair would be a dead giveaway. Also, the human face is not truly symmetrical, so it would look a little odd even though you couldn't put your finger on why.

Plus, you can notice the reduced resolution when they zoom in like that. I can't recall where, but I've seen that film artifact in TOS once or twice.

 

[GSchnitzer]

Some flipped shots are in "Day of the Dove:"

And the "reverse pressure cabin three four one" switch looks suspiciously like the "blow up the Constellation" switch:

 

[DonIago]

I can't remember the episode, but I believe there's a great screencap from an episode where the helm console had been rotated for a different shot, and apparently they didn't bother to switch it back thinking viewers wouldn't notice, so it's facing toward the port side of the bridge instead of the viewscreen.

 

[scotpens]

. . . Plus, you can notice the reduced resolution when they zoom in like that. I can't recall where, but I've seen that film artifact in TOS once or twice.

It's quite obvious in the optical zoom-in-zoom-out scene transitions in "Spectre of the Gun."

I can't remember the episode, but I believe there's a great screencap from an episode where the helm console had been rotated for a different shot, and apparently they didn't bother to switch it back thinking viewers wouldn't notice, so it's facing toward the port side of the bridge instead of the viewscreen.

Was that the shot of Chekov getting zapped into a plaster cuboctahedron in "By Any Other Name"?

 

[alensatemybuick1]

There are numerous examples where footage was used even if it didn't quite "work" (at least not for those paying attention), just because that's what they had on hand; I think one example is when Nomad is supposed to be leaving sickbay in "The changeling", but it is clearly leaving a turbolift. I think someone even once put together a library of such examples.

 

[Lord Other]

The Warlord's thread "The Cloudminders Dubbing Question" raises a general question: what editing mistakes/oddities do you recall?

The one that always jumps out and bites me is near the end of "The Way to Eden," when Shatner is suddenly flipped left-to-right.

A lesser example is in "The Corbomite Maneuver" when Sulu says "I knew he would." Balok's voice wasn't dubbed in to prompt Sulu's line. I always thought Sulu was referring to Kirk reconciling with McCoy, but that makes it an odd, unmotivated thing for Sulu to say.

Other examples?

One of my personal favourites is the planter greebly wall prop being knocked over and sitting in the corridor from "The Day of the Dove.

 

[UnknownSample]

Also, the human face is not truly symmetrical, so it would look a little odd even though you couldn't put your finger on why.

Yeah, that drives me semi-nuts sometimes. My big example is in Is There In Truth, last shot in the corridor scene, where it's revealed Dr Jones is blind. It seems Kirk has been flipped. Then I compare to the rest of the scene, and I'm not sure.

 

[Noname Given]

There's a shot in The Changeling - where the NOMAD probe is exiting Sickbay; but as the doors slide open they cut to a quick shot that is NOMAD coming out of a Turbolift - then back to Kirk, who runs into sickbay as NOMAD passes.

 

[alensatemybuick1]

 

[Mytran]

I can't believe no-one's mentioned The Enemy Within yet! :-)

 

[CorporalCaptain]

One thing that bugs me is the use of stock footage that doesn't always match up with what's happening.

My number one offender on this list is when Scotty's hands are shown energizing the transporter beam, complete with his lieutenant commander rank braids, and that footage is used when any redshirt energizes the transporter, and they're never a lieutenant commander.

 

[urbandefault]

I can't believe no-one's mentioned The Enemy Within yet! :-)

I did, in my head. You just beat me to the punch.

One thing that bugs me is the use of stock footage that doesn't always match up with what's happening.

My number one offender on this list is when Scotty's hands are shown energizing the transporter beam, complete with his lieutenant commander rank braids, and that footage is used when any redshirt energizes the transporter, and they're never a lieutenant commander.

Was that even Doohan's hands in that closeup?

 

[feek61]

Speaking as someone who as meticulously studied the sets: there are a great many instances in the second and third season when they cut to a scene of the bridge (typically the viewscreen) and it's the first season configuration on the helm. I know; I'm a freak!

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Was that even Doohan's hands in that closeup?

Yep. Here's the scene, which was picked up during "The Enemy Within":

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Speaking as someone who as meticulously studied the sets: there are a great many instances in the second and third season when they cut to a scene of the bridge (typically the viewscreen) and it's the first season configuration on the helm. I know; I'm a freak!

"It's a shame for a good Scotsman to admit it" but... what changed, again?