U.S.S. Enterprise, an on-screen reference

Hello everyone! Over the last few months I've been going episode by episode and cataloging every shot of the Enterprise from the original series. Ever wonder how much stock footage of the ship was used? (Quite a bit.) And what shots were used when? Well now you too can know.

I've given each shot a name, noted it's first and last appearance, and how many times it was used. Then I've cataloged each episode and what shots it contained.

If Mr. Okuda is still poking around these here parts, I did have a question for him. On the text commentary for The Trouble with Tribbles it says that this is the last episode to contain new shots of the Enterprise. Going by both production order and order aired there are later episodes with new shots. (I have to admit I was shocked when I came across a new shot as late as season three!) Did you have access to some sort of shot list that showed that Tribbles was the last episode with Enterprise filming (even though they may not have appeared until later episodes)?

A pre-emptive clarification: I'm cataloging the shots of the Enterprise (and her sister ships when they appear). So when I say that there is only one or two new shots of the Enterprise in season three, I realize that there were many new shots in seasons three, but all of them but one (maybe two) use footage of the ship shot previously but composited with new FX. (The Where No Man Has Gone Before shots got a lot of mileage.)

Like I said, I've been working on this for a couple of months. In that time I've discovered shots that I thought were the same that were differnt. I've found shots that I thought were separate that turned out to be the same. I've discovered that my counting was mathematically challenged. So if anyone spots any mistakes or has any questions, please speak up! (A redundant request seeing as this is TrekBBS. )

So without any further delay, here are the shot titles, along with a description and a representative screen grab. Warp drive, Mr. Scott!

[LEFT]Catalog of FX
[/LEFT]
(All images are click-able thumbnails.)

List of Shots (In order of appearance, first and last appearances in appearance in parenthesis, number of times used in brackets):
62 shots total (Does not include shots such as the office windows in The Trouble with Tribbles or Flint's small Enterprise.)

Whoosh (The Cage - That Which Survives) [18] - The Very First Shot. 3 foot model. Used as the opening credits "Whoosh" shot. Sometimes this shot is given a "slide" so the ship stays center screen longer.


Cage Dish (The Cage - That Which Survives) [3] - 3 foot model. The Enterprise flies right into the camera. (Bad Number One!)


Cage Bridge (The Cage - Is There in Truth No Beauty?) [14] - The shot that comes from under the ship, up over the saucer: The "into the bridge shot". First appearance of the 11 foot model.

 

More from The Cage...

Cage Whoosh Away (The Cage) [3] - 3 foot model. The ship whooshes away from the camera


Cage Blur Away (The Cage) [1] - 3 foot model. The ship flies away from camera.


Cage Travel (The Cage) [1] - 3 foot model. The ship flies right to left in a far shot.


Cage Slow Away (The Cage) [1] - A slow version of Cage Whoosh Away. Not the same shot.


WNM Approach (Where No Man Has Gone Before - The Omega Glory) [14] - 2nd Pilot Enterprise flies towards camera.



WNM Side (WNMHGB - The Cloud Minders) [60] - 2nd Pilot Enterprise flies past camera in profile.

 

Continuing with Where No Man Has Gone Before...

WNM Barrier Away (WNMHGB - By Any Other Name) [2] - 2nd Pilot Enterprise flies away from camera into the barrier. This is a different take from WNM Away.


Barrier Out (WNMHGB - Is There in Truth No Beauty?) [3] - The three foot model fleeing the barrier. This element was never seen without the barrier and only shown un-flopped once - the other time the registry numbers can be seen to be reversed.


WNM Away (WNMHGB - Turnabout Intruder) [86] - 2nd Pilot Enterprise flies away from camera. The is different from the Barrier Away shot. Even thought this was in the second pilot it is the third most used shot in the show!

 

Finishing up WNMHGB. As you can see, these shots got a lot of mileage.

WNM Planet Towards (WNMHGB - The Enemy Within) [4] - 2nd Pilot version of the classic "Ship orbits the planet" shot. Used in second and third season opening credits.


WNM Depart (WNMHGB - The Man Trap) [4] - 2nd Pilot Enterprise departing Delta Vega. The ship "descends" on the camera.

 

Now into production!


Sitting (The Corbomite Maneuver - Journey to Babel) [17] - Side view from Corbomite Maneuver. The first appearance of the Production Enterprise!


Phaser1 (The Corbomite Maneuver - Journey to Babel) [20] - Underside shot of the ship.


Approach (The Corbomite Maneuver - Let That Be Your Last Battlefield) [32] - Ship flies towards camera.


Fesarius (The Corbomite Maneuver) [2] - Long shot of the 11 foot model. Used with Fesarius element in Corbomite Maneuver. Never seen again. Mistakenly identified on Memory Alpha (at the time of this writing) as a different model. It can be seen that this is the 11 foot because that was the only model with running lights.


Over Nacelle (The Corbomite Maneuver - The Ultimate Computer) [26] - Ship with camera over starboard nacelle. Often used with an optical "breakaway" where the ship veers to port.


Phaser Flying (The Corbomite Maneuver - Whom Gods Destroy) [16]] - Same angle as Phaser1 but a little farther away and the ship moves through the frame.


And here are the two most used shots. The classic "orbit" shots!

Planet Away (Mudd's Women - Turnabout Intruder) [98] - Ship orbiting a planet away from the camera.


Planet Towards (Mudd's Women - All Our Yesterdays) [99] - Ship orbiting a planet towards the camera.

 

On we go...

Tilted Approach (Mudd's Women - Mark of Gideon) [33] - Ship flies towards camera but with an upward tilt.


Fly Away (Balance of Terror - Let That Be Your Last Battlefield) [24] - Profile shot of the ship flying away into space.


WNM Slides Away (Dagger of the Mind) [1] - 2nd Pilot ship flies away from the camera kind of sideways. Not actually seen in WNMHGB.


Sit and Spin (The Galileo Seven - Tomorrow is Yesterday) [5] - Ship sits and rotates starboard to port.


Phaser Planet (The Alternative Factor) [1] - Tail shot of the ship. Only used once!


Small Ship Atmosphere (Tomorrow is Yesterday) [1] - 3 foot model. Far away ship flying in atmosphere.


Climbing Profile Atmosphere (Tomorrow is Yesterday) [2] - Profile of ship climbing


Atmosphere Aft (Tomorrow is Yesterday) [2] - View of the ship from Capt. Christopher's cockpit.


Wobble (Tomorrow is Yesterday - That Which Survives) [5] - Sit and Spin, only wobbly.


Botany Bay Drop (Tomorrow is Yesterday) [2] - The Enterprise leaves the BB behind. (The tail of this shot is actually first seen in Tomorrow is Yesterday!)

 

More more more...

Tilted Approach2 (The Return of the Archons - The Ultimate Computer) [8] - Similar angle to Tilted Approach, only this one flies into the main sensor. (Ouch. Who let Number One back on the bridge?)


Botany Bay Pickup (Space Seed) [1] - The Enterprise pulls alongside the SS Botany Bay. (Both models where filmed simultaneously, not composited.)


Botany Bay Rotate (Space Seed) [1] - The Enterprise and the SS Botany Bay with the camera turning around them.


Botany Bay Bob (Space Seed) [3] - The BB bobs along beside the Enterprise.


Slow Whoosh (Operation -- Annihilate! - The Tholian Web) [2] - A slower and less distorted version of the LR Whoosh with the 11 foot production model.

 

And here is the episode by episode list for the pilots and season one.

Unaired Pilot

00 The Cage [11]

• Whoosh slide 1st
• Cage Whoosh Away 1st
• Whoosh slide
• Cage Whoosh Away
• Whoosh
• Cage Dish 1st
• Cage Bridge 1st
• Cage Blur Away 1st
• Cage Travel 1st
• Woosh flopped
• Cage Slow Away

Season One

Opening Titles

• WNM Approach slide
• WNM Away planet
• Planet Towards
• Whoosh slide
• Whoosh slide flopped
• Whoosh

01 Where No Man Has Gone Before [10]

• WNM Approach 1st
• WNM Side TITLE 1st
• WNM Barrier Away 1st
• Cage Bridge barrier zoomed
• Barrier Out 1st
• Cage Bridge slow
• WNM Away flopped planet
• WNM Planet Towards 1st
• WNM Depart planet 1st
• WNM Away END CREDITS

02 The Corbomite Maneuver [17]

• Cage Bridge
• Sitting cube TITLES 1st
• Sitting cube
• Sitting cube
• Sitting cube
• Phaser1 reverse red phasers 1st
• Sitting
• Approach 1st
• Fesarius w Fesarius 1st
• Fesarius w Fesarius
• Over Nacelle tow ship 1st
• Phaser Flying tow ship 1st
• Over Nacelle tow ship
• Phaser Flying tow ship
• Over Nacelle tow ship
• Over Nacelle tow ship
• Over Nacelle breakaway tow ship

03 Mudd's Women [10]

• WNM Approach
• Cage Bridge TITLE
• WNM Side
• WNM Away
• WNM Away
• Planet Away 1st
• Planet Towards 1st
• Planet Towards
• Tilted Approach 1st
• WNM Away END CREDITS

04 The Enemy Within [11]

• WNM Away flopped planet
• WNM Planet Towards
• Planet Towards TITLES
• WNM Depart Planet
• Planet Towards
• WNM Side planet
• Planet Away
• WNM Side
• Planet Away
• WNM Depart Planet END CREDIT
• WNM Away END CREDIT

05 The Man Trap [11]

• Planet Away
• Planet Towards TITLE
• Cage Bridge
• Planet Towards
• WNM Depart Planet
• Planet Towards
• Planet Towards
• Planet Towards
• Planet Away
• Tilted Approach planet
• WNM Away END CREDITS

06 The Naked Time [4]

• WNM Away
• Planet Towards TITLE
• Planet Away
• WNM Away END CREDITS

07 Charlie X [10]

• Cage Bridge
• WNM Away TITLE
• WNM Side
• WNM Approach
• WNM Side
• Whoosh
• WNM Side
• Cage Bridge
• WNM Approach
• WNM Away END CREDITS

08 Balance of Terror [15]

• Approach
• Tilted Approach TITLE
• Approach
• Fly Away 1st
• Tilted Approach
• Phaser1 proximity phasers
• Approach
• Phaser1
• Sitting
• Phaser1 still
• Sitting
• Phaser1 proximity phasers
• Sitting tilted
• Sitting
• Phaser1 proximity phasers

09 What Are Little Girls Made Of? [6]

• WNM Approach
• Planet Toward TITLE
• Planet Away
• Tilted Approach planet
• Tilted Approach planet
• WNM Away END CREDITS

10 Dagger of the Mind [9]

• Planet Away
• WNM Away TITLE
• Over Nacelle breakaway
• WNM Slides Away planet 1st
• WNM Side planet
• Planet Towards
• Over Nacelle
• Planet Away
• Tilted Approach planet END CREDITS

11 Miri [9]

• Over Nacelle
• Planet Away TITLE
• Planet Towards
• Planet Away
• Planet Towards
• Planet Towards
• Tilted Approach planet
• WNM Approach END CREDITS
• WNM Away END CREDITS

12 The Conscience of the King [10]

• Planet Towards TITLE
• Planet Away
• Planet Towards
• WNM Approach
• WNM Approach
• WNM Away
• Approach
• WNM Approach
• Tilted Approach END CREDITS
• WNM Away END CREDITS

13 The Galileo Seven [8]

• Sit and Spin 1st
• Sit and Spin TITLES
• Planet Away
• Planet Towards
• Planet Away
• Planet Away
• Planet Towards
• WNM Away

14 Court Martial [6]

• Planet Away
• Planet Towards
• Planet Away
• Phaser Flying
• Planet Away
• Over Nacelle END CREDITS

15 The Menagerie Part 1 [11]

• Planet Away
• Planet Towards TITLE
• Phaser Flying
• Tilted Approach planet
• WNM Away
• Approach
• Approach
• WNM Away
• Approach
• Cage Bridge viewer
• Cage Bridge viewer

16 The Menagerie Part 2 [2]

• Approach (in recap)
• WNM Away TITLE

17 Shore Leave [7]

• Planet Away flopped
• Planet Towards flopped TITLES
• Planet Away flopped
• WNM Side planet flopped
• Planet Towards flopped
• Approach END CREDITS
• WNM Away END CREDITS

18 The Squire of Gothos [8]

• WNM Approach
• Planet Towards TITLES
• Planet Away
• WNM Side planet
• Tilted Approach planet
• Planet Towards
• Approach
• Over Nacelle END CREDITS

19 Arena [10]

• Planet Towards
• Phaser1 phasers red
• Phaser1 photons red
• Fly Away
• WNM Away
• Over Nacelle
• Tilted Approach
• Sitting
• Sitting
• Fly Away

20 The Alternative Factor [6]

• WNM Side planet
• Planet Towards
• Planet Away
• WNM Side planet
• Phaser Planet 1st
• WNM Away

21 Tomorrow is Yesterday [22]

• Small Ship Atmosphere 1st
• Climbing Profile Atmosphere 1st
• Climbing Profile Atmosphere
• Atmosphere Aft 1st
• Planet Away
• Planet Towards
• Planet Away
• Planet Towards
• WNM Side planet
• Planet Away
• Tilted Approach planet
• Approach
• WNM Away
• Sit and Spin shaky
• Sit and Spin shaky
• Sit and Spin
• Botany Bay Drop 1st
• Atmosphere Aft
• WNM Away
• Wobble 1st
• Wobble
• Over Nacelle END CREDITS

22 The Return of the Archons [8]

• Over Naclle TITLE
• Planet Away
• Planet Towards
• WNM Side planet
• Planet Towards
• Planet Towards
• Tilted Approach2 END CREDITS 1st
• WNM Away END CREDITS

23 A Taste of Armageddon [10]

• WNM Away
• Planet Towards
• Planet Away
• WNM Side planet
• Planet Away
• Planet Towards
• Planet Away
• WNM Side planet
• WNM Side planet
• WNM Away END CREDITS

24 Space Seed [9]

• Phaser Flying
• Botany Bay Pickup 1st
• Botany Bay Rotate TITLE 1st
• Botany Bay Bob 1st
• Botany Bay Bob
• Botany Bay Bob
• Botany Bay Drop
• Approach
• WNM Away END CREDITS

25 This Side of Paradise [10]

• WNM Away
• Planet Toward TITLE
• Planet Away
• WNM Side planet
• Planet Toward
• Planet Away
• Planet Toward
• Planet Toward
• WNM Approach END CREDITS
• WNM Away END CREDITS

26 The Devil in the dark [5]

• Planet Away TITLE
• WNM Side planet
• Planet Toward
• Tilted Approach2 END CREDITS
• WNM Away END CREDITS

27 Errand of Mercy [10]

• Over Nacelle
• Phaser1 weapon strikes
• Phaser1 weapon strikes
• Phaser1 phaser proximity
• Phaser1 weapon strikes
• Phaser1 phaser proximity
• Phaser1 phaser proximity
• Planet Toward TITLE
• Phaser1 weapon strikes
• Approach

28 The City on the Edge of Forever [4]

• WNM Side planet
• Planet Toward TITLE
• Planet Away
• Planet Away

29 Operation -- Annihilate! [14]

• Slow Whoosh 1st
• Over Nacelle breakaway
• Tilted Approach2 TITLE
• WNM Away
• Approach
• Planet Away
• Planet Toward
• Planet Toward
• Planet Away
• Planet Toward
• WNM Side planet
• Planet Away
• Planet Toward END CREDITS
• WNM Away END CREDITS

That wraps up season one! See you tomorrow with season two!

 

This is one heck of a cool analysis. I've considered doing one like this myself. Scary, eh?

Do you plan to host your analysis on a web site? If you like, I'd be willing to host it on Trekplace later this year. (I'm studying for my MBA until the end of April. so I barely have time to breathe right now!)

 

Hey Bill:

I second that; what a cool project! I'm looking forward to your season 2 analysis.

I'm interested in your conclusions; my theory on the Enterprise shots is that a large number of the best quality shots of the 11-foot model were done midway through the second season and almost no new shots were done for the third season (budgetary reasons?). The exceptions are as follows:

1. An approach shot used exclusively (and VERY frequently) in season 3, notable for an odd "stuttering" effect as the ship passes the camera. This was often immediately followed by the old "WNM away" shot.

2. The shot of the E surrounded by the Romulan ships in The Enterprise Incident, which I believe was the very last filmed shot of the 11-foot model for the series.

There were a number of stock shots that made their first appearance in season 3, but I believe they were all left over from the library created in season 2. And of course we had a lot of newly filmed model shots for the Klingon/Romulan ship, the Aurora, the ion ship, the Tholian ship, the asteroid, etc., but nothing new of the E. So the 11-footer was probably mothballed in mid-1968 after post-production on Enterprise Incident.

Another fun analysis would be which shots were done by which effects house (Anderson, Van Der Veer, etc.) because the ship seemed to appear different from shot to shot (especially the brightness of the nacelle lighting).

Thanks for your time in creating this!

 

Well done, Tallguy! This will be invaluable for a long time to come.

 

Wow, great work, Tallguy. Can't wait to see the rest.

Yes, that would be very interesting.

 

Thanks everyone.

I'm sure it was a combination of budget and a legitimate decision that "enough is enough". Considering their ability to tell the story with the library they had at that point I'd bet they thought the money (what there was) would be better spent on other FX.

Ahh, you're skipping ahead. That shot actually made it's first appearance as the Federation fleet in The Ultimate Computer. But yes, it was used extensively in season three, largely replacing the other "approach" shots.

I have this listed as a separate shot, but I'm trying to find out if it's really part of a season two shot. For one thing it's a still (as are the Klingons in those two shots). I suppose they might have dragged the old girl out of storage and grabbed a snap shot.

There is only one other new shot of the ship in season three (other than the Enterprise Incident). And you'll find out tomorrow. I think you're close about the timeline though. I think it was after season two, m'self.

That would be interesting. I don't know anything about that. But they definitely got better at shooting the nacelles as time went on. I think they even got better at compositing old shots.

Check your PM.

I'll post more tonight. Again, thanks everyone. I hope this is useful. (By a strange, Trek definition of "useful".)

 

The Star Trek Compendium by Allan Asherman lists which FX house did which episode (and maybe Memory Alpha does too, though I'm not certain), so you could probably figure it out from the debut episode of each shot.

EDIT: And oh yeah, I forgot to say, this is a terrific resource -- thanks for putting it together. I do hope it ends up on a permanent site.

 

Wow, very detailed.!!

 

This is utterly fantastic, I hope it gets featured at some site for all its hard work!

It shows my Trek geekness that I recognized those shots with a smile!

 

But to complicate matters further, I'm pretty sure elements were shared between houses in times of crunchNcrisis, so you might see an E element shot by Anderson reemployed by VanDerVeer for an episode credited to the latter ... and maybe that got messed with by printing it with cyan or simply by a different process (there was aerial image printing as well as more traditional optical printing, and I suppose in a pinch you could do some downNdirty contact printing though you'd wind up with a flopped image.)

This is an insanely wonderful undertaking, and I'm just as impressed with the enthusiastic response to it as I am the effort involved in creating such a resource. Kudos!

Also ... if the original film elements ever turned up, this could be a useful resource for a future alternate HD Trek, where the original elements would be recomped in a cleaner fashion ... we could get TOS Trek that didn't resort to the different color and density values that (for me) mar the tos-R stuff to the point of unwatchability.

 

I'm impressed. Interesting project. I was wondering if a compliation has been done showing the original shots vs the new fx-remastered shots. I know trekmovie.com did articles on the different episodes but they are not in one convenient indexed place like this analysis is. Anyone considered a definitive old vs new shot comparison?

 

As I mentioned the other day, great work. This is an excellent resource. After looking over the remastered shots the past year, it's cool to come back and realize how good these original images are. And there's actually more of them than I'd previously thought. Thanks for all this.

Mark

 

Fascinating!