TOS Bridge Display Panels
- Thread starter retronaut
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While doing research for my TOS bridge displays project, I came across this forum and decided to say hello.
I too am disheartened by the seemingly lack of reference material pertaining to the bridge display graphics. I am familiar with the Captains Chair CD and the Okuda recreations but wanted to reproduce something close to what I've been looking at for all these many years. These are after all, just someones interpretation of these displays, not attempts at authentic reproductions.
I did read one time about a possible book being co-written by Jim Rugg's son (I can't remember his name)that would have shed light on many areas of the bridge set. Apparently Mr. Rugg kept detailed notes and drawings of all the circuits and mechanisms on the bridge set. He kept wiring diagrams and copies of all the bridge graphics as well as several copies of the radial pattern used for Spocks scanner. This was in the mid 90's, but I don't think it was ever completed. It's a shame this info was never made available to the fans.
Now for the shameless plug...
.
I have put together several Flash animations of the bridge displays in my attempt to recreate the actual look of these displays in action. They can all be seen at http://tap364.webs.com
I look forward to being a forum member and hope I can contribute in some way
-Troy
I too am disheartened by the seemingly lack of reference material pertaining to the bridge display graphics. I am familiar with the Captains Chair CD and the Okuda recreations but wanted to reproduce something close to what I've been looking at for all these many years. These are after all, just someones interpretation of these displays, not attempts at authentic reproductions.
I did read one time about a possible book being co-written by Jim Rugg's son (I can't remember his name)that would have shed light on many areas of the bridge set. Apparently Mr. Rugg kept detailed notes and drawings of all the circuits and mechanisms on the bridge set. He kept wiring diagrams and copies of all the bridge graphics as well as several copies of the radial pattern used for Spocks scanner. This was in the mid 90's, but I don't think it was ever completed. It's a shame this info was never made available to the fans.
Now for the shameless plug...
. I have put together several Flash animations of the bridge displays in my attempt to recreate the actual look of these displays in action. They can all be seen at http://tap364.webs.com
I look forward to being a forum member and hope I can contribute in some way
-Troy
You mean the "Coolant Temp" panel in The Corbomite Manuever...
Not exactly...The light bars on the panels are way out of scale, and they put numbers in them which were never part of the original displays.
You must be talking about the close-up during"ATCSL" with Spock at the Comm station. Msaybe it was the type of glass used, but I noticed that too. I also noticed that the bridge was way overlit in this episode. I Like the darker lighting of the early 1st season better. Probably a safety concern with all the kids on set.
Those are pretty slapdash recreations. In addition to the missing arcs, there are too many columns for the top three rows (should be 11 or 12).Is it safe to assume that there is no known reference for the actual bridge display panels of the original set? I am aware of two that have sold at auction (including "HULL PRESSURE COMP'TS"), but other than that, it seems that all re-creations have been based on what can be discerned from screen captures.
Below is a comparison of one panel...from the "subsystems" console...as it appeared on screen vs. how it was represented in the 1997 "Captain's Chair" CD-ROM co-produced by Michael Okuda, and finally, vs. how it appeared in this year's Detroit Science Center display, which also featured the work of Mr. Okuda.
First, an enhanced crop from an HD capture from "The Squire of Gothos." Note the subtle, curved lines in the display, as well as the text placement and size.
I agree with that! I could see those curved lines way before HD. Curious they chose to leave them out, but put the numbers on the lights.
Does anyone recall which episode featured this shot of a Communications console panel? This cropped image is from the archived startrekhistory.com site, and was brought to my attention by Dave. If I recall correctly, "Voice Translator" was relevant to the scene, and I have reviewed the Trekcore.com caps from numerous candidate episodes, including "Where No Many Has Gone Before," "The Changeling," etc., but so far, no luck finding the frame in question. It's possible of course that it was a quick insert that the Trekcore caps don't include.
I have watched these episodes over and over and don't ever recall seeing that closeup of that display. As someone who is as obsessed
with these displays as I am, I would have remembered that jewel! But I have seen this pic before, and used this text in making my animation.Since all these graphics are prepared negatives of photographed artwork designed by Matt Jefferies, RIP, I wonder if there's any chance of a huge stack of these gathering dust somewhere in somebody's attic.
That would be a great find!
-Troy
Hi-
Could be that you are using a text browser or don't have the correct Flash plug-in. The site is mostly Flash 8 files and I figured there's really no point in a text only version. What setup do you have?
-Troy
While doing research for my TOS bridge displays project, I came across this forum and decided to say hello.
I too am disheartened by the seemingly lack of reference material pertaining to the bridge display graphics. I am familiar with the Captains Chair CD and the Okuda recreations but wanted to reproduce something close to what I've been looking at for all these many years. These are after all, just someones interpretation of these displays, not attempts at authentic reproductions.
I did read one time about a possible book being co-written by Jim Rugg's son (I can't remember his name)that would have shed light on many areas of the bridge set. Apparently Mr. Rugg kept detailed notes and drawings of all the circuits and mechanisms on the bridge set. He kept wiring diagrams and copies of all the bridge graphics as well as several copies of the radial pattern used for Spocks scanner. This was in the mid 90's, but I don't think it was ever completed. It's a shame this info was never made available to the fans.
Now for the shameless plug...
I have put together several Flash animations of the bridge displays in my attempt to recreate the actual look of these displays in action. They can all be seen at http://tap364.webs.com
I look forward to being a forum member and hope I can contribute in some way
-Troy
Excellent research and excellent work!
Though, the text above the uppermost "oval" on the Comm 7 panel should read "Data Display". More to come...
Firefox - which to DL the latest Flash is a pain in the nunnies.
uses IE - WOW - anyway you do a downloadable version of the LIS clock?
I first viewed Troy's page via IE at work, but I'm using Firefox here at home, and it displayed everything fine.
Doug
Thanks alchemist, I appreciate that!
If that's the correct text then I'll certainly make the changes. Any insight is welcome as I want these displays to be as accurate as possible
.Glad you were able to view the site. I do have a screensaver I made that I can post for anybody interested.
-Troy
Alchemist, I checked out your site and it's very good.
I did come across it while doing research, and enjoyed seeing all the BTS pics. Great collection!
-Troy
On behalf of Curt, Dave, and myself, thanks for the kudos on the site! It's a lot of work, but it's also a lot of fun.
That is indeed the correct text for that light bar on that panel. I have a clip from a deleted scene from The Enemy Within that shows a medium close-up of the communication station and reveals several of the comm panels in detail. And as soon as the back-log gets caught up and it gets restored, it'll be posted.
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Alchemist, I checked out your site and it's very good.
I did come across it while doing research, and enjoyed seeing all the BTS pics. Great collection!
-Troy
On behalf of Curt, Dave, and myself, thanks for the kudos on the site! It's a lot of work, but it's also a lot of fun.
That is indeed the correct text for that light bar on that panel. I have a clip from a deleted scene from The Enemy Within that shows a medium close-up of the communication station and reveals several of the comm panels in detail. And as soon as the back-log gets caught up and it gets restored, it'll be posted.
alchemist,
Could I ask you about the deleted scene from Enemy Within? I've had an interest in deleted scenes from TOS but only heard of the one from Elaan of Troyius, which I've seen a still picture from, but which I heard did not survive in film form. Is there a list of deleted clips available somewhere, and does anyone know if they are on youtube or similar? I've bought in the past a few VHS tapes from various conventions with bloopers, etc, but never seen any releases of deleted scenes. Can you comment, please?
Thanks,
I am curious. Has anyone here been in contact with the kids at Phase II. James is rumored to be privy to very accurate information and very rare sources. Also their Scotty has worked up a set of flash animations for their LCD stations displays.
Hi Tower,
If you go to startrekhistory.com and click on Deleted Scenes, you can see restored images of cut scenes from an assortment of episodes. There will be more added in the future.
If you broadly define a "Deleted Scene" as any significant material that didn't make it into an aired episode -- e.g., cut scenes, extensions of uncut scenes (cutlets?), alternate angles, coverage shots, alternate takes, etc -- then virtually every episode has one or more "Deleted Scenes." (Be advised, however, that some purists define "Deleted Scenes" only in regards to removed scenes.) As far as I know, though, there is no "list" of Deleted Scenes per se. And with regards to YouTube, I have seen some videos from some cutlets (properly referred to as trims).
Unfortunately, to the best of our knowledge and research, uncut film (i.e., negatives, internegatives, and dailies) for material not shown in the broadcast episodes does not exist. With few exceptions (as discussed below), this film was either dumpstered, given to Lincoln Enterprises to slice into film clips, or given to fan clubs to slice into film clips. In fact, with regards to the former it's very sad because I've talked to many people who, in the early 70's, went dumpster diving at Paramount and found rolls of Trek film. Of course, it's great that they were able to rescue the film, but think of all that film that wasn't. Sadly though, or happily depending upon your viewpoint I suppose, the rescued film was cut into film clips and sold.
One happy note to all of this is that some of the rolls of film bound for either Lincoln Enterprises or the fan clubs was "lost" and not julienned. Case in point: the roll of film for the deleted scene from Friday's Child shown on our site had once been in the possession of a fan club official and was accidently spared the chiffonade treatment. Thus, there is always hope that more of these rolls will turn up.
Sorry for standing at the podium for so long.
If you go to startrekhistory.com and click on Deleted Scenes, you can see restored images of cut scenes from an assortment of episodes. There will be more added in the future.
If you broadly define a "Deleted Scene" as any significant material that didn't make it into an aired episode -- e.g., cut scenes, extensions of uncut scenes (cutlets?
), alternate angles, coverage shots, alternate takes, etc -- then virtually every episode has one or more "Deleted Scenes." (Be advised, however, that some purists define "Deleted Scenes" only in regards to removed scenes.) As far as I know, though, there is no "list" of Deleted Scenes per se. And with regards to YouTube, I have seen some videos from some cutlets (properly referred to as trims).Unfortunately, to the best of our knowledge and research, uncut film (i.e., negatives, internegatives, and dailies) for material not shown in the broadcast episodes does not exist. With few exceptions (as discussed below), this film was either dumpstered, given to Lincoln Enterprises to slice into film clips, or given to fan clubs to slice into film clips. In fact, with regards to the former it's very sad because I've talked to many people who, in the early 70's, went dumpster diving at Paramount and found rolls of Trek film. Of course, it's great that they were able to rescue the film, but think of all that film that wasn't. Sadly though, or happily depending upon your viewpoint I suppose, the rescued film was cut into film clips and sold.
One happy note to all of this is that some of the rolls of film bound for either Lincoln Enterprises or the fan clubs was "lost" and not julienned. Case in point: the roll of film for the deleted scene from Friday's Child shown on our site had once been in the possession of a fan club official and was accidently spared the chiffonade treatment. Thus, there is always hope that more of these rolls will turn up.
Sorry for standing at the podium for so long.
Kids? I'm 50 years old!
Just to clarify Alchemist's point, but to chime in as a "purist" it's because, in filmic terms, a scene is a complete unit of action. It's not a deleted scene if it's a few lines of dialog. Those are TRIMS. Take for instance the simulator room at the beginning of TWOK. The entirety of that is the scene. Pieces of it are not.
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