Brent spiner 3rd season protype uniform

[Russell Oviatt]

In tng season 3 background material there's a video of spiner modeling a red command uniform with a new design. This one was a two piece with a zipper in front. Tiktok has a spiner interview with a background no sound footage of him going through the motions of it but besides this and some still photos that's all I could find.

Is there any more information on this unused design? It'd be neat if there was a blue and gold design as well.

 

[Dukhat]

Pics of said uniform? I've never heard of this before.

Edit: I found it.

https://i.imgur.com/v4ZoaMk.jpeg

 

[Russell Oviatt]

Pics of said uniform? I've never heard of this before.

Edit: I found it.

https://i.imgur.com/v4ZoaMk.jpeg

Yep that's the one.

 

[Dukhat]

Yep that's the one.

Thanks for this post, as I was unaware of this third-season uniform prototype. Unfortunately I know nothing about it.

 

[NCC-73515]

The Ensigns of Command? Was he gonna get a red shirt for that?
I've always wondered why PM called the red Data the Redemption version, maybe there were initial plans for him wearing red in that one too...?

 

[Uncle Sock]

I'm glad they put the zipper in the back—though it always makes me wonder who helps them zip it up in the morning!

 

[tharpdevenport]

I don't like it, thank goodness they stuck with the re-design that was in use at the time.

 

[Qonundrum]

The top looks like it was made out of an extra-strength garbage bag (probably a proof-of-concept, a finalized, approved design getting the better materials).

Also, why red and not gold as the outfit seems more or less tailored to him, if not a little baggy in the chestal region?

 

[Tosk]

FYI, the footage comes from the Blu-ray special feature "Resistance is Futile: Assimilating Star Trek The Next Generation part three: The Collective". Nice short title.


The uniform may not be the only color test going on, Brent seems to have grey hands instead of gold.

 

[C.E. Evans]

The uniform may not be the only color test going on, Brent seems to have grey hands instead of gold.

I wonder if those are just gloves. As this was just a costume test, they may have just used a pair of work gloves lying around rather than apply the final makeup to Spiner's hands.

 

[Tosk]

A costume test evidently done during production on the first ep (produced, not aired) of season 3, The Ensigns of Command. It's definitely his hands, some of the make-up can even be seen to have rubbed off onto his uniform after he does the Picard maneuver.



Maybe it's simply "layer one" of his Data make-up?

 

[Takeru]

Also, why red and not gold as the outfit seems more or less tailored to him, if not a little baggy in the chestal region?

More or less tailored to him means not tailored to him. The most likely answer is they needed a moving body for the camera test and Brent Spiner just happened to be around. It was never meant to be his costume, they only wanted to see how it looked on camera and in motion so the color not being Data's was completely irrelevant.

I wonder if those are just gloves. As this was just a costume test, they may have just used a pair of work gloves lying around rather than apply the final makeup to Spiner's hands.

That's what I was thinking, if it was a make up test the make up would be on his face i.e. the place where it matters the most for the character. There's also no reason to do make up tests for Data in season 3, they weren't going to change it at that point.

 

[ananta]

That looks bad. The top doesn’t mesh with the trousers and sticks out (the black of the trousers and the shoulders are different tones).

Interestingly, I noticed around the mid seasons of TNG that guest stars, particularly ensigns and lieutenants, had a visible zipper on the front of their uniform and they tended to be more form fitting than the ones worn by the main male cast. Maybe that was a remnant of the front zipper design.

 

[Russell Oviatt]

FYI, the footage comes from the Blu-ray special feature "Resistance is Futile: Assimilating Star Trek The Next Generation part three: The Collective". Nice short title.

View attachment 48905View attachment 48906View attachment 48907View attachment 48908
The uniform may not be the only color test going on, Brent seems to have grey hands instead of gold.

Looking at these photos I'm surprised they didn't go with it. I'm not a costume designer but you'd think it had everything the last would want, two piece, zipper, etc

 

[Tosk]

Looking at these photos I'm surprised they didn't go with it. I'm not a costume designer but you'd think it had everything the last would want, two piece, zipper, etc

They did. Basically the only thing they changed on the final version was to move the zipper to the back. (The early season 3 versions also had extra stitching in the front but that thankfully got dropped not too much later.)

 

[Firebird]

Interestingly, I noticed around the mid seasons of TNG that guest stars, particularly ensigns and lieutenants, had a visible zipper on the front of their uniform and they tended to be more form fitting than the ones worn by the main male cast. Maybe that was a remnant of the front zipper design.

The background extras were wearing modified season 1/2 uniforms which had the front zipper. Robert Blackman added the mandarin collar and fixed the yoke area to make them more or less match the “hero” costumes.