Andrew Probert and Rick Sternbach Communicator/Tricorder Props

[JoeRalat]

What do you guys think of the new props.

Photos can be found here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisheuer/sets/72157612254052299/

 

[Timo]

Which one is that cigarette-box thing - communicator or tricorder?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Good]

Hmm, I'm feeling the communicator. It obviously flips open. The medical tricorder looks like an elongated version of Bones' spinny scanner. The ear thingy is, well, the ear thingy. I'm glad they realized that you can't change that too much and still have it be recognizable.

 

[Albertese]

Yeah, you can sort of make out the labels in the pics. The cylinder doodad is a tricorder, and box is the communicator and ear thingy is labeled as "Uhura's Communication's Unit".

 

[JoeRalat]

In flicker, when you hover over the image, you should see text "All Sizes" click that and you should be able to click on the very large images.

 

[Captain Robert April]

McCoy: What is it?

Kirk: It's Doctor Piper's lightsaber. This is the weapon of a Starfleet Chief Surgeon...

 

[BolianAuthor]

Wow... those props really blow you-know-what...

And why does the communicator have the Starfleet arrowhead "etched" into it? That's so silly... that's like every USN officer with a cellphone having the emblem of the Department of the Navy etched into his cellphone.

 

[Captain Robert April]

All the better to sell those Kid's Meals at Burger King.

 

[Wingsley]

Oh, this is sooooo shameless... tasteless...

 

[Good]

Wow... those props really blow you-know-what...

And why does the communicator have the Starfleet arrowhead "etched" into it? That's so silly... that's like every USN officer with a cellphone having the emblem of the Department of the Navy etched into his cellphone.

Umm, methinks you doth protest too much. There is precedent for having the name or symbol of an organization on communications devices and other equipment.

http://www.armyradio.com/Pictures/Radios/Canadian_Radios/r103_set.jpg

Of course Kirk may just really like being in Starfleet and decided to acessorize
http://www.newyorkcellphone.com/home/images/novelty/casenavy.jpg

Either way, I think the props are pretty cool at best and not cringeworthy at worst.

 

[Psion]

After all, it isn't like the arrowhead is duplicated over and over in the weave of their uniforms, right?

Oh ... wait.

 

[Good]

After all, it isn't like the arrowhead is duplicated over and over in the weave of their uniforms, right?

Oh ... wait.

Yeah, and no other military force has ever done that before . . .

Except the U.S. Marine Corps, whose MARPAT "digi camo" uniforms have the bird, ball and chain printed all over the pattern.

In fact, that's probably where they got the idea for the new uniforms.

 

[Ronald Held]

I cannot open the link.

 

[Psion]

After all, it isn't like the arrowhead is duplicated over and over in the weave of their uniforms, right?

Oh ... wait.

Yeah, and no other military force has ever done that before . . .

Except the U.S. Marine Corps, whose MARPAT "digi camo" uniforms have the bird, ball and chain printed all over the pattern.

In fact, that's probably where they got the idea for the new uniforms.

Like no one's used that excuse before.

What are the interval and spacing characteristics of the insignia on the MARPAT, Good?

 

[Good]

Granted, insignia spacing is a lot wider on the MARPAT than the new starfleet uniforms, but on the scale of things that worry me about Trek, fabric and insignias on communicators are pretty low priority.

 

[Unicron]

McCoy: What is it?

Kirk: It's Doctor Piper's lightsaber. This is the weapon of a Starfleet Chief Surgeon...

It sure looks that way.

 

[Psion]

Granted, insignia spacing is a lot wider on the MARPAT than the new starfleet uniforms, but on the scale of things that worry me about Trek, fabric and insignias on communicators are pretty low priority.

And if this was the width and breadth of the trouble, I'd be inclined to agree with you, but there are so many little problems that keep showing up, I'm really worried that ultimately the movie might be an embarrassment in May.

 

[Captain Robert April]

I think the inspiration behind the hundreds of tiny little insignias was Brandon Routh's Superman costume, with it's teeny tiny little S shields all over the thing.

As far as the Marines' camo pattern goes, the official reason probably has something to do with being able to differentiate their stuff from the other services', but I suspect it has more to do with someone in the Commandant's office being too cute for their own good.

 

[Timo]

Well, camo patterns made by advanced nations tend to be the result of very careful Fourier analysis of the expected background spectrum, that is, scientifically optimized to maximal blending. "War secrets" or at least trade secrets like that would be worth protecting, and it would dissuade at least some copycats if a mean and recognizable eagle watched back at them from the pattern.

What source identifies the cylinder as "medical tricorder" rather than simply a generic medical tool, probably a futuristic scalpel-scanner just like McCoy's salt shakers in function as well as form?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Bernard Guignard]

What source identifies the cylinder as "medical tricorder" rather than simply a generic medical tool, probably a futuristic scalpel-scanner just like McCoy's salt shakers in function as well as form?

Timo Saloniemi

Is it not possible that the person doing the labeling just didn't know what they were talking about and mistook the Fienberger for a Tricorder.