Is the bridge at a funny angle?

[CorporalCaptain]

All we really know is, Marc Daniels wanted to get that shot without too long a walk for Kirk, so Finnerman, the electricians, and stage hands had to get things in place.

I'm sorry, how do we know this?

I saw someone conclude upthread that the timing of the walk was the determining factor (sorry, can't confirm who it was at the moment, you or someone else). But I can think of other potential reasons. Like, maybe it saved shooting time not to put that whole part of the bridge back in place, and the judgment of the director was that it would be adequate for the shot and therefore worth it to move onto other shots more quickly?

Or, do we have it documented what the reason was?

 

[J. Random Redshirt]

Nope. That's Spock's station. Only his and Uhura's have two viewers overhead.

By "Nav station" I meant "the location of the Nav station" (not "the equipment of the Nav station"). I believe this is what ZapBranigan (post 492) and Mytran (post 488) were suggesting.

It seems the in-universe interpretation would then be, Spock was at the Nav station (by counting number of stations from the big screen).

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Or, do we have it documented what the reason was?

Documentation, no. But they took a very specific action in "cheating" the bridge of one station, which gave Kirk a shorter walk around, and there are only so many possible reasons:

• The longer the walk, the more time and labor it's going to take to light the shot for 1960's-style color TV. A tracking shot could be a complicated achievement and a feather in the director's cap, but tight shooting schedules were a big deal on Star Trek, so something had to give.

• The longer the walk, the more of the bridge perimeter has to be assembled and plugged in, and thus the hotter it gets on the bridge. On-set temperatures might have been a consideration; "The Doomsday Machine" was filmed in late June, which could make it even more so. They didn't want to cook the actors in there.

• I highly doubt it, but for all we know, the Navigation set segment might have been in the shop. If somebody plugged it in with the wrong voltage, they could blow out a lot of little light bulbs. Or maybe there was a collision that gave it cosmetic damage that had yet to be repaired. It's just a theoretical possibility if we're trying to think of everything.

 

[J. Random Redshirt]

Or, do we have it documented what the reason was?

There's some discussion of what Marc Daniels was up to in this Doomsday retrospective featuring Eddie Paskey and Norman Spinrad, starting at 9:50:

YouTube: Star Trek, "The Doomsday Machine" Revealed (concept demo special edition)

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The two bridge walks are at 11:00 (starting at helm) and 11:35.

Some good background info there, although they don't talk about the positioning of the stations.

If Spock's station was moved to the position of the Nav station, then I'm wondering if the Nav station was ever constructed. As far as I know, we may have never seen it in TOS (or at least we never saw it and the one of equal size to the left of it in the same shot, so perhaps they constructed one set piece for both positions). If one was never constructed, that could be a reason why they had to move Spock's station over there.

Regarding the following:

That overscan hides many sins, but not the fact that the handrail is one section too short

Is the handrail too short? I'm not sure. The above-linked video shows it from above (at about 12:05).

 

[drt]

If Spock's station was moved to the position of the Nav station, then I'm wondering if the Nav station was ever constructed. As far as I know, we may have never seen it in TOS (or at least we never saw it and the one of equal size to the left of it in the same shot, so perhaps they constructed one set piece for both positions). If one was never constructed, that could be a reason why they had to move Spock's station over there.

It's definitely in a couple of shots in "Is There In Truth No Beauty".

https://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/3x05hd/isthereintruthnobeautyhd0611.jpg
https://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/3x05hd/isthereintruthnobeautyhd0968.jpg

 

[Mytran]

Is the handrail too short? I'm not sure. The above-linked video shows it from above (at about 12:05).

I can't see your video, but the handrail usually terminates half a wedge further on than Spock's station, as shown here:

For the shots where the wedge next to Spock's station is absent it looks like they went to the trouble of swapping out the handrail too, so that it had a properly finished "end"

 

[Maurice]

The entire bridge was built. It's there in the stage plans. It's there on the planning model of the set and you can see all the stations in different episodes.

My guess is the reason they didn't assemble the entire set for this shot was:

1. it wasn't necessary and
2. they had to leave at least one station out in order to make it possible to get the crew and cameras and gear in and out, because you don't want to put all that gear in and out though the one door on the set

As to the railings, they were in segments and could be unbolted and shifted around.

 

[J. Random Redshirt]

The entire bridge was built. It's there in the stage plans. It's there on the planning model of the set and you can see all the stations in different episodes.

I see that now, via drt's link to Is There In Truth No Beauty. As of now, it's the only TOS episode I know of that shows both Nav and Defense (the two full-sized stations to the left of Spock's).

For the shots where the wedge next to Spock's station is absent it looks like they went to the trouble of swapping out the handrail too, so that it had a properly finished "end"

That's a cool diagram... (editing my post here... I was thinking the background support pylon lines up with Spock's hand, but now I'm thinking the foreground one does... so, yeah, seems like the railing is short).

 

[ZapBrannigan]

The entire bridge was built. It's there in the stage plans. It's there on the planning model of the set and you can see all the stations in different episodes.

Yes, and here's another thing. I can't remember if it was the book Inside Star Trek (Justman, Solow), or Shatner's book, or possibly somewhere on Ralph Senensky's blog, but I read one of these insiders saying that every director who came on the show wanted to film a scene inside the complete, sealed-up bridge. And they could never make it work.

My thoughts as to the (unstated) reason:

• There would only be enough floor space in there for a hand-held camera, and while they did use one for the barroom brawl in "The Trouble with Tribbles" (in conjunction with the usual big camera), this was years before Steadicam™, and hand-held cameras were too wobbly for anything but brief shots. A full look around would require a long shot with a lot of camera movement— and if you can't do that smoothly enough for the (then) standards of professional television, then the bridge might as well be in pieces, because the audience will never know the difference.

• The heat issue I mentioned earlier might also be a factor. We're told the complete bridge would cook almost like an oven.

But we know the whole bridge was built, and directors found the idea tantalizing.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I see that now, via drt's link to Is There In Truth No Beauty. As of now, it's the only TOS episode I know of that shows both Nav and Defense (the two full-sized stations to the left of Spock's).

You can also see the starboard bridge pieces in "The Tholian Web"
https://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/3x09hd/thetholianwebhd0109.jpg

 

[cooleddie74]

I'd never before noticed the bottom of the bridge station wedge. Wow. That made it into the final aired version? All these decades watching TOS and I missed that floor.

 

[BK613]

I also think they cheated on Sulu's position on the Doomsday walk-around. The front edge of the helm console should point toward the gap in the rails as in this screenie from Arena (and the set plans):
https://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x18hd/arenahd266.jpg
But it is oriented toward the railing in front of that gap in that walk-around
https://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/2x06hd/thedoomsdaymachinehd0045.jpg

As for why they cheatd, perhaps they needed room for the TV equipment and crew...

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I also think they cheated on Sulu's position on the Doomsday walk-around. The front edge of the helm console should point toward the gap in the rails as in this screenie from Arena (and the set plans):
https://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x18hd/arenahd266.jpg
But it is oriented toward the railing in front of that gap in that walk-around
https://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/2x06hd/thedoomsdaymachinehd0045.jpg

As for why they cheatd, perhaps they needed room for the TV equipment and crew...

Dude, that's a great catch.

 

[Mytran]

I'd never before noticed the bottom of the bridge station wedge. Wow. That made it into the final aired version? All these decades watching TOS and I missed that floor.

OK I've looked and looked - what's the problem with the floor?

 

[cooleddie74]

The spillage of paint around the edge.

 

[plynch]

I know there's been discussion about darkness, contrast, and color palette elsewhere, but man, the darker look and those colors: chartreuse and carmine/cherry red unis: LOVE 'em. So '60s.

 

[Mytran]

The spillage of paint around the edge.

I just though that was shadows. TBH the lighting is so dark I'm not sure what I'm looking at!

 

[cooleddie74]

It's sloppy paint that dripped down the side and dried but I wish it were shadows.

 

[Maurice]

"unis"

 

[Weyoun 251]

We should really be asking what Gene's original vision was.

From the sounds of things his vision was skewed.

Should have gone to Specsavers