How was the First opening made?

[WaterJewelEmi]

I have looked everywhee for this information and it is very shocking that no site has this information.

Does anyone know how it was made or know a site that can tell me?

 

[Christopher]

You mean the original opening titles? I've read that it was largely cut together using rejected shots of Enterprise flybys, because that was what they had available in the limited timeframe they had. As for how, it was done using the same techniques used for the show's effects in general -- miniatures, bluescreen mattes, and animated starscapes and titles.

 

[Maurice]

I have looked everywhee for this information and it is very shocking that no site has this information.

Does anyone know how it was made or know a site that can tell me?

I'm shocked at how vague your question is. What is it, exactly, you want to know?

 

[Captain Robert April]

Let's clarify the issue.

Are you asking about the opening sequence from "The Cage"? The unaired version of "Where No Man Has Gone Before"? First season? Second? How the doors worked? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

He's clearly asking how James T. Kirk lost his virginity, a topic still unaddressed by even Abrams's Star Trek prequel.

 

[Captain Robert April]

Are you implying that the K/S zines were right all along?

 

[Green Shirt]

He's clearly asking how James T. Kirk lost his virginity, a topic still unaddressed by even Abrams's Star Trek prequel.

The odds are good some farm animal was involved.

 

[Jeri]

I have looked everywhee for this information and it is very shocking that no site has this information.Does anyone know how it was made or know a site that can tell me?

I'm shocked at how vague your question is. What is it, exactly, you want to know?

Me, too; but now I'm glad it was asked, because the information in Christopher's post was interesting news to me.

 

[Maurice]

Me, too; but now I'm glad it was asked, because the information in Christopher's post was interesting news to me.

I can't speak to the idea that the titles were made of rejected shots. According to "Inside Star Trek", p. 261

BOB: We had seen maybe six good shots and some others that were partially usable. We had expected many more angles, some of which were badly needed for our series main title...When I returned to the projection room, Gene was waiting for me. His expression was grim. "Come with me, Bob," he said and led me by the hand to the cutting rooms. And there, in one afternoon, piecing together scraps of film left over from both pilots, we created the now famous Star Trek main title. Gene actually "wrote" the sequence on a Moviola...​

Which doesn't specifically say they didn't use any of the "partially useable" shots, but strongly implies all they used was material shot for the pilots.

 

[Christopher]

^That's probably my source for it, and I was clearly not remembering it perfectly. Not "rejected" shots, but whatever was available and could be made to fit. It was kind of a makeshift sequence, and it has a rough quality to it. They made a smoother, cleaner version for the second season.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

The original source for that claim is probably Whitfield's The Making Of Star Trek (1968). On pages 369-370 he quotes Gene Roddenberry:

We had a nearly disasterous last-minute problem with the opticals needed for the title...we put one together in one afternoon, out of rejects, just to get the show on the air!

 

[Christopher]

^Yeah, that would be it. I'd be skeptical of it as Roddenberry bluster if Justman didn't corroborate it.

 

[plynch]

When we watch with my now-11 year olds (twins) I play conga drums on their heads and fooooosh my hand past their face when the good ship Enterprise swooshes by. The congas play a different beat in first season than in 2 & 3. Those seasons also lack a really good low trombone blat near the end of the tune. My son knows the code (titles color and whether the Creator is identified) for knowing what season the ep is from.

 

[Cakes488]

I have looked everywhee for this information and it is very shocking that no site has this information.

Does anyone know how it was made or know a site that can tell me?

I'm shocked at how vague your question is. What is it, exactly, you want to know?

I'm shocked that you're shocked at how shocked WaterJewel is.

 

[FormerLurker]

plynch, the first season opening also doesn't have the soprano doing the voiceover. Technically, all three seasons are supposed to have different arrangements to the opening music, as the rules stipulate this must be done to justify paying the composer for the work. This goes for all TV shows. Just listen to the different arrangements of 'Baba O'Riley' at the beginning of the various seasons of CSI: New York.

 

[Christopher]

That's not a given, though. Lots of shows keep the same theme arrangement throughout their run. For instance, Stargate SG-1's theme was unchanged for ten years, except for the couple of seasons where the titles were cut short. Mission: Impossible had two different title arrangements, but at least one of them was used throughout the show's 7-year run, alternating with the second arrangement. The A-Team had the same theme arrangement for the first four seasons before getting a new one for the fifth. And so on.

And I don't think it's about paying the composer; the composer gets royalties regardless. It's about the musicians' union -- by limiting a show's ability to reuse music from earlier seasons, it requires the show to keep hiring musicians, helping them stay gainfully employed. Though that's probably not as great a consideration these days when so many shows have synth scores that are generally performed by their composers.

 

[plynch]

For years I wanted West Wing to re-record theirs b/c the trumpet is sharp at the end. Bugged me every week. I THINK (totally from memory of first run; we are cable-less) they re-recorded it slightly slower for the last season.

Elsewhere I know people have discussed the pros and cons of DS9's second arrangement with the added pulsing rhythm.

 

[EnsignHarper]

The first couple eps of Season One also had a very prominent violin instead of a relatively full orchestra....

 

[Christopher]

I think that was a cello.

 

[FormerLurker]

How about the trombone at the beginning of the fanfare after the five tones in TNG? That guy was always flat, no matter how many times they redid it. Which, as I understand it, was every season. Or so said an article I read in Star Trek Magazine several years ago.