Why Did the Bridge in VI look different to the Bridge in VI?

[Maurice]

Actually, the middle of the station beyond Gene and Majel that would be the centerline dividing the bridge into front and back halves (the TMP bridge set was a dozen sections). So, if the center of the viewer is 12 o'clock, we know know they painted it white from at least 2:30 to 9:00

 

[steveman]

As long as we're talking about bridges, the bridge in TUC may have been my favorite. I think it looked the most cinematic of all the Trek movie bridges, even over the Enterprise-E's.

 

[Therin of Andor]

That obviously contradicts Shane Johnson's account of the condition of the set when he was taking photos for Mr. Scott's Guide. (his answer to question #10)

There's no "obviously". There's still plenty of room for both interpretations to be true.

The set was also tinkered with after ST IV, but before being turned into the battle bridge for "Encounter at Farpoint", to film new live-action on the white set for the Florida version of the Universal "Star Trek Adventure" tourist attraction, ie. the one narrated by DeForest Kelley.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Of course, the in-universe reason is said to be that the bridge is a plug-in module that can be easily swapped out as needed, and each bridge change would represent some form of upgrade.

I wonder how they would explain the difference in *Klingon* bridges, between III and IV. It's the same ship, of course, and there was no chance to replace its bridge (assuming it's even possible with Klingon ships).

 

[Therin of Andor]

I wonder how they would explain the difference in *Klingon* bridges, between III and IV. It's the same ship, of course, and there was no chance to replace its bridge (assuming it's even possible with Klingon ships).

They had three months on Vulcan to reconfigure and relocate a few things, and there are Starfleet-issue wall and ceiling panels (repainted, but otherwise identical to the chamber in which Spock died) over the monitor station that Spock uses to find the whale pics.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I wonder how they would explain the difference in *Klingon* bridges, between III and IV. It's the same ship, of course, and there was no chance to replace its bridge (assuming it's even possible with Klingon ships).

They had three months on Vulcan to reconfigure and relocate a few things, and there are Starfleet-issue wall and ceiling panels (repainted, but otherwise identical to the chamber in which Spock died) over the monitor station that Spock uses to find the whale pics.

Ordinarily I would agree - i.e. that the Vulcans rebuilt the bridge (I can definitely believe that, for example, they reprogrammed the ship's computer to respond in English) - but the bridge in ST IV is pretty much identical in basic layout to all subsequent Klingon bridges. So either the Vulcans knew what Klingon bridge design looked like, or that ship had two bridges.

I'm actually leaning towards the latter explanation. I mean, why would the Vulcans rebuild the bridge to Klingon specs if they didn't expect actual Klingons to ever use the ship again? Or were they anticipating having to turn the ship over *to* the Empire at some point?

 

[Peach Wookiee]

They probably figured they'd have to turn it over to the Empire.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

They probably figured they'd have to turn it over to the Empire.

Maybe they actually did. The ship was still in one piece after it 'landed' on Earth, wasn't it? It hit the water, and I don't recall it breaking up.

As for the bridge...now that I think about it more, I'm more likely to believe that the ship simply had two bridges. I don't see how the bridge in III could have been refit to the one in IV. They're just too different (for example, the location of the exit hatch/hallway). The III bridge was probably a 'battle bridge' of some kind, like the Ent-D's.

That being said, I think Klingon bridges actually look really cool. I wish they would have kept using the one we saw in TMP. Now *there's* a bridge!

 

[Maurice]

...there are Starfleet-issue wall and ceiling panels (repainted, but otherwise identical to the chamber in which Spock died) over the monitor station that Spock uses to find the whale pics.

Which themselves came from the rear part or Klingon Bridge set from TMP, which is what the "radiation room" is mostly made of.

 

[Joe_Atari]

Fun thread; I'm always interested in the history of the Trek soundstages and enjoy seeing or reading descriptions about sets / miniatures that were constructed but not used (or only briefly or partially visible) on screen. The interview with Shane Johnson was new to me -- great stuff!

Nobody's yet mentioned in this thread these great TVH-era videos from Entertainment Tonight with some great views of that bridge set:

Part 1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YesRy2jH2fw

Part 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znJOg3DLnqc

Doohan for instance is sitting at the same science station that Majel and Gene are in the photo. If you look at Takei's segments at the helm it looks like they may have finished the TVH bridge past "9:00" as DS9Sega describes it. Is that the "intership transporter" behind him to his left?

 

[Maurice]

Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YesRy2jH2fw

You can see all the way to the Weapons station behind George, but not to the intraship transporter thingus.

 

[Joe_Atari]

You can see all the way to the Weapons station behind George, but not to the intraship transporter thingus.

Yeah, from the angle I thought the view might be further forward than it was, but now I see where the railing ends right in front of the weapons station...

 

[SonicRanger]

You can see behind Koenig that the recessed area of the floor is still painted red from TSFS, whereas behind Takei, it is painted gray for the E-A.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

^In those interviews, it looks as if they are still in the process of redressing the bridge set -- the Captain's chair (square headrest and silver accents down the middle) is down at the helm station and the communication's station where Nichelle sits has the older, Lee Cole graphics still. Perhaps, they were done while the movie was still filming.

The set was also tinkered with after ST IV, but before being turned into the battle bridge for "Encounter at Farpoint", to film new live-action on the white set for the Florida version of the Universal "Star Trek Adventure" tourist attraction, ie. the one narrated by DeForest Kelley.

I was in the one that was done at Universal Studios in Los Angeles, and it looks from this ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISihtIMvRSc ) that it was done on the sets for the LA show and not on the Paramount sets. Moreover, when Scotty greets the cadets, James Doohan is standing on the Universal transporter stage set.

The proportions for the Universial Adventure were a bit exaggerated, as seen in the video above, from the actually feature sets. The "actors," of which a 14 year-old me got to be one, stepped onto these facsimile sets. Then a curtain rose and each set rolled out so that the audience could see us film. Afterwards, the adventure was quickly cut together with clips from TWOK and special effects created specifically for the show, and shown to the audience. A video tape was made available as well. One of these days, I'll transfer it to DVD and maybe post it on youtube.

Moreover, when Scotty greets the cadets, James Doohan is standing on the Universal transporter stage set.

The original Star Trek Adventure from Universal Studios can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQg7OvpTvPw

 

[trevanian]

They probably figured they'd have to turn it over to the Empire.

Maybe they actually did. The ship was still in one piece after it 'landed' on Earth, wasn't it? It hit the water, and I don't recall it breaking up.

One of the lost bits from act one of TUC (lost because they needed to axe a million bucks off the budget to get a greenlight, so rounding up the regulars took the hit and was dropped from the script) had Scotty lecturing cadets in front of the BOP, which apparently sunk in the bay and had only just been retrieved. The idea was that they still hadn't figured out everything about the cloaking device yet, a good way to introduce the cloak notion into a film that relies pretty heavily on that device. Bill George told me they had a really good design for a matte shot, showing the ship and these people outside, and the city in the background, but that it was among the first bits dropped, along with the flying cable cars in downtown San Francisco.

 

[Maurice]

Bill George told me they had a really good design for a matte shot, showing the ship and these people outside, and the city in the background, but that it was among the first bits dropped, along with the flying cable cars in downtown San Francisco.

First of all, someone needs to tell the Star Trek people that you can't see the bloody Golden Gate bridge from most of the city.

Second, "flying cable cars" are an oxymoron if ever anything was.

 

[Therin of Andor]

The original Star Trek Adventure from Universal Studios can be seen here

I performed the Klingon Captain in the Los Angeles "Star Trek Adventure" in January 1992, but the bridge set was certainly not ST IV finale white. Are you saying the LA set was painted white to make new footage of McCoy, Sulu, Chekov and Uhura to be used for the Florida "Star Trek" experience?

 

[GodThingFormerly]

Bill George told me they had a really good design for a matte shot, showing the ship and these people outside, and the city in the background, but that it was among the first bits dropped, along with the flying cable cars in downtown San Francisco.

I think you mean flying taxis. The cable car visible in this ILM storyboard appears to be operating at ground level.

TGT

 

[trevanian]

Bill George told me they had a really good design for a matte shot, showing the ship and these people outside, and the city in the background, but that it was among the first bits dropped, along with the flying cable cars in downtown San Francisco.

I think you mean flying taxis. The cable car visible in this ILM storyboard appears to be operating at ground level.

TGT

Hey, I'm just reporting what I hear. This subject is the same guy who said continuity is for wusses when I asked about whether the shields would be visible when raised and hit.

But to correct the other bit, the bop was in an open hangar, so outside but with cover.

 

[GodThingFormerly]

Hey, I'm just reporting what I hear.

Understood. I (incorrectly) assumed that you may have misremembered the cable car detail from your discussions with the ILM crew.

TGT