Hey, I never noticed that before....

compare to SB and Mirror, Mirror (just a good sideways shot)

 

That's pretty clearly lighting and a different prosthesis, perhaps even a new mold for the prosthesis. What you're seeing as holes are just shadows.

 

Maybe that's how they removed his brain, through such an aperture?
JB

 

Lol! I can’t unsee that !

 

Looking at other profiles it looks like shadows. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's the shadows seen here just more obvious because of the lighting and perhaps a slightly defective pull from the molds which makes them more pronounced.

 

Basically, when the light comes from the lower front of the face, as here when Spock is lying down, every shadow is on the opposite side to when it comes from above. So the valley between two ridges looks like a ridge itself now. I don't think the mold is particularly different in the two cases.

And boy, is that high quality makeup, for something that was never intended to be viewed this close up!

Timo Saloniemi

 

I am in the process of a fan edit restructuring Patterns of Force, and yesterday I noticed that when Kirk and Spock first attempt to enter the Chancellery and the Major stops them, Kirk subtly punches his fist in frustration. A nice little touch that I didn't notice before, until I studied the scene.

 

For all of the grief Shatner gets for his theatrics, he does put a lot of nuance into his performances. There's a great deal of subtle work from him throughout the series. He's an easy target and given a lot of crap (calling him "The Shat" irrationally bugs me every time I hear or read it), but he always was a hell of a performer with a lot of tricks in his bag.

 

I don't think he overdoes it. A lot of actors in those days were theatrically trained, rather than went directly into television. Plus, the style of the period was not perhaps as mellow as we see now. A lot of what we see from the 60s and before, are plays on television. Not so much Star Trek, but clearly acting on television was far more theatrical back then. Shatner, in my opinion, is a fantastic actor, I really admire him. But if one wants to point to any criticism, it is simply that the style is a product of its time. I, for one, love his sheer horror at abandonment in the turbo lift, in And The Children Shall Lead.

 

And the funny thing is that (from what I've read) Shatner, at the time, was considered a more naturalistic actor. Actors had personalites back then and performance wasn't meant to imitate reality 100%. Today, it's much different.

 

I'm not even that big a Shatner fan but when he's in form with a good script whenever he's in a scene he lights it up with his performance and charisma.
Watching him today in the Doomsday machine confront Decker - its just wonderful. You're both right - there's a lot of subtle things like twiddling the knobs, getting angrier and angrier at being stuck away from the ship, trying to talk Decker out of taking the shuttle...
When he's in something like TJ Hooker when he plays an angry middle aged cop he seems so one-dimensional in comparison. More Straight acting but also less magical.

As I said I watched Doomsday Machine today and while I've noticed this in the past I just can't believe there would be Starfleet regulations to let Decker just take over the Enterprise.
Basically the Enterprise was about to pick up its Captain - Kirk on another ship and Decker said not to - I'm in charge of the Enterprise now.
That means that any if a ship was transporting anyone above the rank of Captain aboard the ship then the Captain of the ship better not beam down to a planet. The Commodore/Admiral/Fleet Captain aboard could just abandon him/her there and take off with their ship with the blessing of Starfleet regulations.

 

Star Trek did have an ongoing thing with Commodores being able to take over in times of emergency. A commodore is today's Rear Admiral. If Kirk were actually on board, Decker may not have been able to do it. Both Decker and Stocker took over when Kirk was off the ship or incapacitated. Decker's point, officially, was the decision to stop the planet killer from reaching the Rigel system. Spock's point was to get Kirk and then warn Starfleet. Decker's inability to see past his own need for revenge made it impossible to see Spock's logic. So he used his authority as the senior officer in absence of the actual captain to take over.

Whether this could happen in the actual Navy? I don't know, but Trek had vets on their staff, so I assume there's some validity or loopholes that made it possible.

 

Subtle Shat: In "Tomorrow is Yesterday": The security guards are questioning him and one of them has his phaser, Kirk warns them it's dangerous. The main guard tosses the phaser to his partner. Kirk doesn't move, but he squeezes his eyes shut for a second, waiting for an accidental zap. I only just noticed that the other night. Nice touch.

 

And it's more dramatic so the guy with the cheap seats in the back of the theater can see your emotions/body language and appreciate what's happening. But they didn't stop doing that way, even though logically, anybody watching a TV set can get as close to the screen (action) as they'd like.

 

Maybe we should start a "Subtle Shatner" thread so we can properly appreciate all these moments.

 

Sounds good since I've always appreciated the subtle, nuanced work he did.

 

A non-Shatner moment but

In That Which Survives....when Scotty tells Spock "It's stuck!!"....that subtle bit where Nimoys face falls is brilliant.

 

Watching "Errand of Mercy" on H&I right now, and was once again reminded that the place where Kirk & Spock phasered some Klingons on Organia is the same spot where Pike and Vina fought the Kaylar.

http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x26hd/errandofmercyhd545.jpg

http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x26hd/errandofmercyhd546.jpg

http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x12hd/themenageriepart2hd176.jpg

http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x12hd/themenageriepart2hd187.jpg

 

^ Wow, I never noticed that before! Cool.

 

In the Shatner vein, my favorite didn't-notice-it-for-years acting moment was in The Naked Time, when Sulu was on the bridge with the sword. Specifically, the "Put -- put that thing away!" shot of Shatner. Watch it back in slow motion as Kirk puts his hand on the sword tip. His entire facial demeanor, in about a half second of real time, completely changes as he apparently realizes the potential threat level of the situation (not sure how else to describe it). It's mostly in the eyes...but it is amazing how he could manipulate his expression so subtly and so quickly!