It's surprisingly loud in comparison to the other sets we've seen of the Shenzhou. It definitely looks like something I wouldn't want to stand in front of, which is arguably a good thing. So far though, I just really don't like it. Also, I actually hope they ignore the fact that the pilots called their weapons "lasers." Phasers are Star Trek. They own that. Maybe they occasionally use lasers also, but Discovery should use phasers.
the mechanism in the background almost looks like a really big fan or turbine because it looks like there is something spinning really fast inside it
I think they'll use the term Phaser only. I forget which of the early Trek books I read, but in the development stages of TOS, they thought of what to settle on for the weapons, and Phaser was always preferred.
I've always been willing to forgive Star Trek that change because it was a reasonable production change after the series got the go-ahead. Lasers couldn't do the things the show required, and the new word, "phaser" sounded both similar and futuristic.
They probably play the Trek sound effects album through those! They just stand there and the Transporter sound effect plays!
I agree and can see why they changed it. But those changes were for the series proper and came along with a design change too. So It never negated the original use of Lasers. Real world phasers can't either, so I don't think using the word needs to be limited on what real world objects with similar names can do. Star Wars uses the name "lasers" and they could care less about what real world lasers can actually do. I wonder who thought the "Giant LPs of DOOM" were a good design choice.
I had a thought, maybe what we see here is simply what's usually either behind the wall, or in the floor or ceiling.
Perhaps not in your mind, but almost certainly in the minds of the production team. They functioned exactly the same way and demanding that laser sidearms must predate phasers just because the pilots said so is a foolish consistency. There were similar changes made regarding the century they show takes place in, and it wasn't nailed down until Wrath of Khan. There are no real-world phasers. And I refer you to The Making of Star Trek where the decision made by Roddenberry and Herb Solow to change the name is documented.
Perhaps in your mind. But it doesn't have to be so. Since as you said they function basically the same, then nothing is lost be calling them lasers and continuity is gained. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaser_(effect) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personnel_halting_and_stimulation_response_rifle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phasor_measurement_unit
See, I'm not board with the Shenzhou bridge, but I like this. It's not to retro-future, but still feels like something not quite as advanced as TOS.
Next time anyone says that this transporter doesn't look like Star Trek at all, just show them this. Not only that, but it also proves that this show is set on the prime universe.
The first is an audio effect applied to a wave form, not a weapon; The second is the closest you get, but it's just a dazzler device and not even spelled the same; And the last is not only spelled differently, but it has no use as a weapon, either. My point stands: phasers don't exist. Thus it's easy to say a phaser weapon can do certain things that a laser weapon cannot. The term LASER was originally used by the Star Trek production team because it was brand new and cool. After a couple years of reflection, and at the recommendation of scientific advisers from, I believe, General Atomics, they changed the name. Nothing could be done about the footage already 'in the can' from the first two pilots. A similar mentality surfaced from Roddenberry about the changed Klingons in The Motion Picture. He suggested we pretend that's how they looked all along.
That's exactly my point. We know what real life phasers are and they can't do anything similar to what Star Trek phasers can. So we should just get rid of the term, right, and come up with something new and futuristic. How about Phase Pistols? No. Not really. It's easy to do that becasue we can ignore the real world meaning of the word phaser and apply it to a fictional technology. Guess what, we can do that exact same thing with the word laser.