Comparison #1: Episode 2 vs. Episode 3 vs. Episode 29

[Number_6]

I'd put the titles of the episodes in the thread title, but it's too many characters.

So, comparison number one is "Where No Man Has Gone Before" vs. "The Corbomite Maneuver" and "The Corbomite Maneuver" vs. "Operation: Annihilate!"

The point of this series of comparisons is to determine what made the initial episodes of TOS unique. We'll move forwards from Episode 3 and backwards from Episode 29, until we reach the comparison that reveals the dividing line between the early "feel" of TOS and the more "comfortable feel" of the later episodes.

For this first comparison, we'll also look at the differences between the second pilot and the first episode of the first series.

I started by talking about the difference in film stock between "WNMHGB" and "The Corbomite Maneuver," and Lou wisely suggested consulting Solow and Justman's Inside Star Trek, which I will try to find time to do, perhaps in the wee hours tonight.

My contention was that

"WNMHGB" is not only brighter than "The Corbomite Maneuver," but I think that it was shot on different film, which gives it a completely different feel.

I'm wondering if anyone knows enough about the original production to speak to this.

My initial thought was that the pilot was shot on better quality film, as (1) they were still trying to sell it to a network (that was interested in pushing color televisions) and (2) they had a pilot budget to spend, rather than a season budget that needed to be allocated across 20+ episodes.

But then I started thinking that perhaps a deliberate decision had been made to shoot "The Corbomite Maneuver" on stock that would enhance shadows, etc.

How could we find this out?

If Lou could repost his response here, we can move the discussion to this thread.

 

[Mallory]

Pinned until we're ready to discuss the next comparison.

 

[EnsignHarper]

Just even looking quickly at WNMHGB on G4 this am, it sure seemed to me that the lighting was awfully harsh - almost like the standard flat lighting you see in 99% of Universal movies and TV shows in the late 60's/early 70's - Shatner is practically squinting in that opening transporter room scene, his fill in light is so harsh. IIRC, Solow said that they hired Haller as D.O.P. less than a week prior to shooting. WNMHGB was shot at a weird time, as far as Hollywood/TV is concerned - most shows and/or pilots were already in production, and it was very difficult scraping a D.O.P. off the union list.

 

[Number_6]

So do you think it's just the lighting? I thought the colors looked different, too--more saturated or something.

But "The Corbomite Maneuver" is positively noirish compared to "WNMHGB," and that is a lighting issue.

Is no one else going to play?

 

[Mallory]

I'm still playing catch-up. I'll be along shortly.

 

[Mallory]

Real life still has me firmly in its grasp. I may have to wait for the next round before I have time to put something together, which is a shame since I've watched all three of these episodes.

 

[Kagan]

I'm really interested in this topic. I don't have to wait until the next round, like Mallory. I just need to begin sorting some ideas I've pondered.

I'm not good at critiquing technical issues of filming as you've started here. However, I'm interested in the "feel" of the plot and characters. That's what hooked me. To the horror of the younger members of this board, I began watching Star Trek on a 13-inch, black & white, Zenith. Sooo...the visuals and special fx weren't what realed me in for life....I'm a fan of the people and what they did each week.

I'm interested in your countdown of Season 1. If you're going where I think you're going....oh well....I can restrain my excitement until then.

When I post back here...hopefully no later than Saturday...I plan to have already re-watched #2 and #3. Don't know why other than your thread gives me an excuse to do it.

 

[Neopeius]

Ep. 29 is a hard ep to use as a standard. It's got all that lovely footage of the STL/TRW space park which stands in stark contrast to Ep. 3--feels a bit like Shoreleave for that reason.

 

[Number_6]

I'm thinking now maybe we should do a comparison a month?

I agree, Neopeius, that "Operation: Annihilate!" makes for a difficult comparison, because of the shooting on location. It gives the episode a far more open feeling than the claustrophobic "Corbomite Maneuver."

Which episode was the first to use location shooting? I'm thinking "Shore Leave," but I could be wrong about that. I wonder how much using location shooting contributed to the different feel of the second half of the first season.

To paraphrase the song, it's amazing "what a little sunlight can do."

 

[Neopeius]

Number_6 said:
I'm thinking now maybe we should do a comparison a month?

I agree, Neopeius, that "Operation: Annihilate!" makes for a difficult comparison, because of the shooting on location. It gives the episode a far more open feeling than the claustrophobic "Corbomite Maneuver."

Which episode was the first to use location shooting? I'm thinking "Shore Leave," but I could be wrong about that. I wonder how much using location shooting contributed to the different feel of the second half of the first season.

To paraphrase the song, it's amazing "what a little sunlight can do."

Well, the other open air productions were Arena, Paradise Syndrome, Errand of Mercy, Miri, Alternative Factor, and City.

Shoreleave is ep # 16 (if you don't count the second pilot). Miri is ep #10 but still feels like an early ep (the hair cuts, Rand, that sort of sweaty look).

I think Menagerie is the turning point, the big episode which sort of packages The Cage and sets it firmly as something different. I might team it up with Courtmartial since they take place on the same starbase and effectively bisect the first season.

Before Menagerie, you have one on-location episode. Afterwards, you've got six!

 

[Number_6]

Neopeius said:

Number_6 said:
I'm thinking now maybe we should do a comparison a month?

I agree, Neopeius, that "Operation: Annihilate!" makes for a difficult comparison, because of the shooting on location. It gives the episode a far more open feeling than the claustrophobic "Corbomite Maneuver."

Which episode was the first to use location shooting? I'm thinking "Shore Leave," but I could be wrong about that. I wonder how much using location shooting contributed to the different feel of the second half of the first season.

To paraphrase the song, it's amazing "what a little sunlight can do."

Well, the other open air productions were Arena, Paradise Syndrome, Errand of Mercy, Miri, Alternative Factor, and City.

Shoreleave is ep # 16 (if you don't count the second pilot). Miri is ep #10 but still feels like an early ep (the hair cuts, Rand, that sort of sweaty look).

I think Menagerie is the turning point, the big episode which sort of packages The Cage and sets it firmly as something different. I might team it up with Courtmartial since they take place on the same starbase and effectively bisect the first season.

Before Menagerie, you have one on-location episode. Afterwards, you've got six!

I forgot about "Miri."

"Sweaty" is a good adjective to describe the early episodes. Shatner in particular always had a bit of a sweat sheen in those early episodes.

But why? And where did all of the sweat go?

 

[Neopeius]

Number_6 said:

Neopeius said:

Number_6 said:
I'm thinking now maybe we should do a comparison a month?

I agree, Neopeius, that "Operation: Annihilate!" makes for a difficult comparison, because of the shooting on location. It gives the episode a far more open feeling than the claustrophobic "Corbomite Maneuver."

Which episode was the first to use location shooting? I'm thinking "Shore Leave," but I could be wrong about that. I wonder how much using location shooting contributed to the different feel of the second half of the first season.

To paraphrase the song, it's amazing "what a little sunlight can do."

Well, the other open air productions were Arena, Paradise Syndrome, Errand of Mercy, Miri, Alternative Factor, and City.

Shoreleave is ep # 16 (if you don't count the second pilot). Miri is ep #10 but still feels like an early ep (the hair cuts, Rand, that sort of sweaty look).

I think Menagerie is the turning point, the big episode which sort of packages The Cage and sets it firmly as something different. I might team it up with Courtmartial since they take place on the same starbase and effectively bisect the first season.

Before Menagerie, you have one on-location episode. Afterwards, you've got six!

I forgot about "Miri."

"Sweaty" is a good adjective to describe the early episodes. Shatner in particular always had a bit of a sweat sheen in those early episodes.

But why? And where did all of the sweat go?

Lighting? Film stock? I'm the first to confess that I know absolutely nothing about film technology. All I know is that the first season, particularly the first half of the first season looks somehow different. I think they did a lot more with spotlights and shadow, or if not more per se, they used them differently.

 

[Number_6]

Neopeius said:

Lighting? Film stock? I'm the first to confess that I know absolutely nothing about film technology. All I know is that the first season, particularly the first half of the first season looks somehow different. I think they did a lot more with spotlights and shadow, or if not more per se, they used them differently.

Well, there's definitely a change in lighting. There are far more shadows in the early episodes than in the later ones. The early episodes use more low key lighting--like film noir. The later episodes use more high key lighting--meaning that they are lit more evenly, and there are fewer shadows and less contrast. This definitely accounts for a shift in mood.

But it still doesn't explain the sweat.

Which makes me think about the fact that "Balance of Terror" is essentially a retelling of The Enemy Below, a movie with a lot of sweat, as I recall. Was the sweat deliberate, an attempt to make life on the Enterprise more submarine-like?

Or was there an advance in either air conditioning or sound recording technology around the middle of season one that allowed for cooler sets?

 

[Botany Bay]

Speaking of the lighting, someone pointed out to me in the earlier episodes, most of Shatner's closeups feature a dark background, but a bar of horizontal light shone across his eyes.

In hundreds of viewings I never noticed it before, but when you look for it, it's there all the time!

 

[Matango]

I vaguely recall reading something about the set having problems with air-conditioning in the first season.
People were dropping from the heat, the lights coupled with the thick velour costumes made for a very hot set.

 

[Number_6]

Matango said:
I vaguely recall reading something about the set having problems with air-conditioning in the first season.
People were dropping from the heat, the lights coupled with the thick velour costumes made for a very hot set.

Well, if that's the case, then it wasn't deliberate. So much for looking at it as an artistic decision.

That's the problem with analyzing TV and films--you never know when something was accidental. Then you jump on it, develop a theory, and *poof*, you're blown out of the water.

Oh, well.

 

[Lord Garth]

Neopeius said:
I think Menagerie is the turning point, the big episode which sort of packages The Cage and sets it firmly as something different. I might team it up with Courtmartial since they take place on the same starbase and effectively bisect the first season.

I can go along with The Menagerie as the turning point, figuratively and literally, but I don't think it's necessarily a clean cut.

Court Martial feels like it's an intermediate. The lighting is brighter and duller than Early-S1 but a shade darker than Later-S1.

The humor seems in keeping with the earlier episodes but, at th same time, "She's a good lawyer" is pure Gene Coon.

For my money, I'd definitely consider Dagger of the Mind Early, The Managerie Later, and Court Martial a transition. The one thing I'm not sure about is The Galileo Seven.

Having a Commissioner onboard, demanding supplies be delivered to a colony, somehow makes space feel smaller. At the same time, the Columbus stranded creates the opposite feeling. A sharp, hostile debate between everyone and Spock is Early, but Kirk joking around about Spock making a "human" decision and Spock in denial is Later.

See what I mean?

 

[Neopeius]

Lord Garth said:

Neopeius said:
I think Menagerie is the turning point, the big episode which sort of packages The Cage and sets it firmly as something different. I might team it up with Courtmartial since they take place on the same starbase and effectively bisect the first season.

I can go along with The Menagerie as the turning point, figuratively and literally, but I don't think it's necessarily a clean cut.

Court Martial feels like it's an intermediate. The lighting is brighter and duller than Early-S1 but a shade darker than Later-S1.

The humor seems in keeping with the earlier episodes but, at th same time, "She's a good lawyer" is pure Gene Coon.

For my money, I'd definitely consider Dagger of the Mind Early, The Managerie Later, and Court Martial a transition. The one thing I'm not sure about is The Galileo Seven.

Having a Commissioner onboard, demanding supplies be delivered to a colony, somehow makes space feel smaller. At the same time, the Columbus stranded creates the opposite feeling. A sharp, hostile debate between everyone and Spock is Early, but Kirk joking around about Spock making a "human" decision and Spock in denial is Later.

See what I mean?

Oh I definitely see Galileo 7 as very early. They still haven't figured out Spock yet, and everyone is acting sort of caricaturishly.

And it's got the sweat.

I think you're right. Courtmartial is essentially the end of the first half season. Menagerie is the beginning of the second half season.

 

[Quist]

I agree with "Dagger of the Mind" being an 'early' ep. It has a rather dark mood about it - I've always considered it a rather good SF storyline and ending on a downbeat note ("...imagine having your mind emptied by that thing without even a tormentor for company?").

I would place "Galileo Seven" in the same category with the A-plotline spent on the further development of Spock as a character. I also agree with "Court Martial" seeming to be the 'hand-over' point...

 

[Number_6]

However, in watching "Tomorrow Is Yesterday" last night, I noticed that at least one of Shatner's close-ups was lit with the bar of light across his eyes and the rest of his face shadowed.

I also think that the music plays a part. The music written for the early first season episodes is moodier than some of the later stuff. "Tomorrow Is Yesterday" was using some of the music from "The Man Trap," "Mudd's Women," and "The Naked Time." So there were at least parts of the episode that felt early to me.

Is there a master list anywhere of the various musical cues in TOS, including who wrote them and in what episode they first appeared?