discovery production design and sets

[pst]

stumbled on the website belonging to mark worthington, the production designer for discovery's first 12 episodes (he was replaced by tamara deverell for the final 4 episodes and season 2).

there's a few interesting photos of the sets here (mainly the shenzhou) and some concept art for the discovery bridge showing the set mostly as it appears in the series -- except with two sunken stations in front of the helm, a console directly behind the captain, and an elevator going up to some kind of viewing platform positioned above the bridge itself:

anyway, thought this would be a good place to launch a discussion of the production design, sets, and overall aesthetics of the show.

 

[Rahul]

Nice! Good find!
One of my main complaints with the Discovery bridge (as depicted on screen) is how empty it is. Especially compared to the Shenzhou-bridge, which has lots of working stations and a functional design.

The Discovery bridge looks as if it simply wassn't finished. Just a big, empty hall, that doesn't even have a ground level but is directly built on the flat studio floor.

These pictures seem to affirm this suspicion:
The bridge was originally intended to be much more filled. And have an interesting floor design with multiple levels, like all previous Trek bridges with a raised Captains' chair.


Some other observations:

• I like the color scheme very much, and also that the bridge was supposed to be brightly lit! So much better than the almost pitch black the final show version has. Looks a lot more like an actual working environment!
• The uniforms are color-coded! As they should have been.
• Also, at first I was confused as to why the elevator seems to go above the bridge - but as can be seen through the hole at the ceiling, there was another room (an observatory?) placed above the bridge!
• The uniforms in both pictures are different - also, the schematics on the wall in the second picture don't show the Discovery - but an early Shenzhou design!

 

[BillJ]

Still looks more Enterprise-E than original 1701 to me.

 

[pst]

The Discovery bridge looks as if it simply wassn't finished. Just a big, empty hall, that doesn't even have a ground level but is directly built on the flat studio floor.

i know it's easy to see concept art and say "that's what it should've looked like" when building something like this in reality might be tricky and expensive, but the discovery bridge is yet another one of the what-ifs that plague this show.

The uniforms are color-coded! As they should have been.

speaking of uniforms, we've all seen this piece, but i've always been taken with the two-tone discovery uniforms seen here:

 

[Rahul]

Still looks more Enterprise-E than original 1701 to me.

Yeah. In a way, this looks not just so so much more detailed than the TOS bridge, but than ANY Trek bridge. The Ent-E might be the only one coming somewhat close. Really another thing where the show would have been better off post-Nemesis instead of the prequel/inbetween-quel shennanigans that lead to inconsistencies.

But you know what? This is an area where I can live with it. I have always maintained: If you have to choose between a depiction that's realistic, and one thats canon - chose the realistic one. I meant that more for space stuff like wormholes and black holes, but it's also true for technology. I don't want te TOS data-tapes, even if they would be "canon" in a new show.

As long as the broad strokes are recognizable. They aren't with the klingons - that's why I'm so unhappy with the klingon re-design - but these bridge designs? I like them, and can accept them in this time period.

 

[EnderAKH]

Just a guess, but I would bet the sunken stations were done away with to make camera placement easier. It seems like the shots of the two bridge officers manning the stations would be limited, unless they has some kind of cover they could put over the pits to allow a steadicam operator to move around.

 

[Rahul]

Just a guess, but I would bet the sunken stations were done away with to make camera placement easier. It seems like the shots of the two bridge officers manning the stations would be limited, unless they has some kind of cover they could put over the pits to allow a steadicam operator to move around.

You can bet your ass they have small cranes in their studio sets. That wasn't the problem.
The problem is, if you want to have such deep sunk stations, you'd need to raise the entire bridge set, like they did here with the Shenzhou bridge:
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JRrJ6sFo...D0xljo_-Z8XGUbtFXW0wACLcBGAs/s1600/P635_1.jpg

The Discovery bridge looks as if it was built on ground level, with the studio floor being the bridge floor:
http://www.mymbuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/12/EW-STD-6.jpg

Much, much cheaper, so more likely just a money thing. But that also makes the floor look very barren and not very interesting.

 

[Tuskin38]

the computer screens of the second image show pictures of the Shepard Class, so they might have been created around the same time that deign was being pushed for the Shenzhou.

 

[Burning Hearts of Qo'nos]

You can bet your ass they have small cranes in their studio sets. That wasn't the problem.
The problem is, if you want to have such deep sunk stations, you'd need to raise the entire bridge set, like they did here with the Shenzhou bridge:
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JRrJ6sFo...D0xljo_-Z8XGUbtFXW0wACLcBGAs/s1600/P635_1.jpg

The Discovery bridge looks as if it was built on ground level, with the studio floor being the bridge floor:
http://www.mymbuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/12/EW-STD-6.jpg

Much, much cheaper, so more likely just a money thing. But that also makes the floor look very barren and not very interesting.

Lol, great. I'm never going to unsee how plain that floor is now!

 

[Jadeb]

I wonder: Now that Lorca is gone, will they turn up the lights on the Discovery bridge?

 

[Tuskin38]

I wonder: Now that Lorca is gone, will they turn up the lights on the Discovery bridge?

Well here are some caps of the bridge from the S2 trailer

https://imgur.com/a/z4bNlGB

Though they seem to be from the early episodes since Pike is still in his Enterprise uniform.

 

[Rahul]

Lol, great. I'm never going to unsee how plain that floor is now!

I think even a paintjob would really help, like the one in the concept art! Or a carpet, or something.

I wonder: Now that Lorca is gone, will they turn up the lights on the Discovery bridge?

Woah! I never thought about there being an in-universe reason for that!

 

[XCV330]

Oh lord, not back to 80's/90's trek and miles of low-pile carpet. Let's have a big gigantic wood veneer circle as a rail too, just cause.

 

[pst]

I think even a paintjob would really help, like the one in the concept art! Or a carpet, or something.

i think the paint job is pretty close to the concept art:

it's really just the lighting.

 

[GaiusBaltarBand]

I can't remember where I found these, but they're great.

 

[Ronald Held]

The DSC bridge is as empty as the JJ Enterprise bridges?

 

[mos6507]

The DSC bridge is as empty as the JJ Enterprise bridges?

It's like they learned the design language from Star Trek Online's oversized bridges.

 

[Tuskin38]

It's like they learned the design language from Star Trek Online's oversized bridges.

They're only oversized because of the camera. Anyways al most all of their canon bridges are down scaled drastically. Not 1:1 but still.

 

[pst]

i love the shenzou brig. it's like something out of TRON legacy (which is a good thing in my book).

 

[Agony_Boothb]

stumbled on the website belonging to mark worthington, the production designer for discovery's first 12 episodes (he was replaced by tamara deverell for the final 4 episodes and season 2).

there's a few interesting photos of the sets here (mainly the shenzhou) and some concept art for the discovery bridge showing the set mostly as it appears in the series -- except with two sunken stations in front of the helm, a console directly behind the captain, and an elevator going up to some kind of viewing platform positioned above the bridge itself:

anyway, thought this would be a good place to launch a discussion of the production design, sets, and overall aesthetics of the show.

I wonder what those two sunken stations are for. Left and right turn signals maybe?