Well, the bridge module on the Enterprise-A in TUC may very well be a different one than the TFF version. After all, it's been mentioned that the bridge is a "plug in" module for easy replacement, at least according to the TNG Technical Manual. My guess is the moved the plaque and mounted it elsewhere for the new bridge module.
Donny’s Late TOS Movie Era Interiors
- Thread starter Donny
- Start date
Ah yes, those chairs. I can see what was meant now by "straight up the back". Starfleet in the era of ST5 did not want their crew sitting down for too long, obviously!
Ah yes, those chairs. I can see what was meant now by "straight up the back". Starfleet in the era of ST5 did not want their crew sitting down for too long, obviously!
Those are meant to be ergonomic...but I've never sat in one so can't vouch for it.
Moved on to the last non-LCARS detail of the TFF bridge...the data chips and their holders.
Fllling the gaps between the console "keyboards" on the port and starboard sides of the bridge, there are aluminum boxes with what looks to be six slots for storing data chips on their sides, and a slot in the front where a data chip can be inserted upright and therefore read by the consoles. We get the best look when the crewman goes "bonk bonk" on the head:
And when Scotty's downing an unmarked bag of space potato chips:
In between Kirk and Uhura in this next slot, you can see that the inserted upright chip has a bit of a glow to it, much like how isolinear chips were usually underlit in TNG:
The chips themselves were 10cm by 5cm pieces of beveled lucite with screenprinted graphics on them. Thanks to the prop collectors on sites like yourprops.com I was able to not only glean the graphic, but the dimensions as well. You can see that the chips have pretty substantial bevels on the edges, leading me to believe that they have a thickness of about 0.4 cm:
We later see one of these chips sticking out the top of Chekov's electronic clipboard:
And in GEN, we see Kirk doing the ole hokey pokey with the chips when adjusting the deflector relay. The chips here, however, have squared edges and a more detailed/busy graphc:
So these are the bridge between the colored "record tapes" of the TOS era and the similar isolinear chips of TNG. I was tickled when I first personally noticed their existence a few years back when researching for my TUC bridge build, and am glad to be able to bring them to life here.
So now, I resume work on the LCARS! I'm actually very excited to generate some of those more animated screens in After Effects!
Fllling the gaps between the console "keyboards" on the port and starboard sides of the bridge, there are aluminum boxes with what looks to be six slots for storing data chips on their sides, and a slot in the front where a data chip can be inserted upright and therefore read by the consoles. We get the best look when the crewman goes "bonk bonk" on the head:
And when Scotty's downing an unmarked bag of space potato chips:
In between Kirk and Uhura in this next slot, you can see that the inserted upright chip has a bit of a glow to it, much like how isolinear chips were usually underlit in TNG:
The chips themselves were 10cm by 5cm pieces of beveled lucite with screenprinted graphics on them. Thanks to the prop collectors on sites like yourprops.com I was able to not only glean the graphic, but the dimensions as well. You can see that the chips have pretty substantial bevels on the edges, leading me to believe that they have a thickness of about 0.4 cm:
We later see one of these chips sticking out the top of Chekov's electronic clipboard:
And in GEN, we see Kirk doing the ole hokey pokey with the chips when adjusting the deflector relay. The chips here, however, have squared edges and a more detailed/busy graphc:
So these are the bridge between the colored "record tapes" of the TOS era and the similar isolinear chips of TNG. I was tickled when I first personally noticed their existence a few years back when researching for my TUC bridge build, and am glad to be able to bring them to life here.
So now, I resume work on the LCARS! I'm actually very excited to generate some of those more animated screens in After Effects!
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I only noticed those chips in Generations. Didn't know they were present in TFF and TUC. I agree about them being a bridge between those "tapes" from TOS and the isolinear chips in Next Generation. When I first saw them in Generations, that's what I thought they were, but it makes sense if it was a transitional thing. I can get pretty observant about sets, but I NEVER noticed those chip/tape holders before.
On the contrary, those were ergonomically designed chairs meant to support the natural curvature of the spine. "Straight/flat up the back" was in reference to the chairs used in the first four movies.Ah yes, those chairs. I can see what was meant now by "straight up the back". Starfleet in the era of ST5 did not want their crew sitting down for too long, obviously!
When you are done with historical designs, perhaps your last design could be one of your own…with a mix of buttons and LCARS.
I think Sternbach wanted to do a bridge by actual function. First…watch all the episodes…transporters are operated from the bridge sometimes…and lay out actual controls. Ford didn’t like the ‘Falcon layout being a pilot. My dream would be to get obsolete defense DEPT equipment, aviation…what not…make Uhura’s station a real ham shack..and have a full NORAD type set up with some screens rear projectors, Spock’s scanner a tube television with light pen, Plasma, OLED…Nixie tubes….a little bit of everything
I think Sternbach wanted to do a bridge by actual function. First…watch all the episodes…transporters are operated from the bridge sometimes…and lay out actual controls. Ford didn’t like the ‘Falcon layout being a pilot. My dream would be to get obsolete defense DEPT equipment, aviation…what not…make Uhura’s station a real ham shack..and have a full NORAD type set up with some screens rear projectors, Spock’s scanner a tube television with light pen, Plasma, OLED…Nixie tubes….a little bit of everything
The Enterprise-A and Excelsior bridges in TUC had a mixture of okudagrams AND physical buttons.
Enterprise-A: helm/nav 1 2 ; astrogator ; helm (closeup) ; transporter (much of it blocked by Scotty and the other operator) ; communications ; torpedo room (same console from the transporter room - notice the "Phase Transition [Coils?]" and "Autosequence" callouts)
Excelsior: science ; helm
The physical buttons on the science and communications stations were limited to the "workdesk" extensions built into the consoles so Nimoy and Nichols wouldn't be facing the wall all the time.
Excelsior: science ; helm
The physical buttons on the science and communications stations were limited to the "workdesk" extensions built into the consoles so Nimoy and Nichols wouldn't be facing the wall all the time.
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I love how sloppy that torpedo room console is with the obvious Phillips head screws.
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To be fair, they weren't much better at covering them up in the previous film.
Sloppy or just how things are assembled in Starfleet tradition? Flat head screw and rivets
Looking at those chips in TFF and the way they were used... Ugh. A crewmember could get seriously cut from that thing sticking out between consoles like an up-turned blade. The designer couldn't let those things be inserted further in?
Still excellent attention to detail and modeling @Donny
Wouldn't matter. The directors and actors would still use the wrong controls or stations depending on what was convenient or visually dramatic.
And it took me a second to realize you meant Harrison Ford there.
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Film IS high def.
A movie like that would have been projected at a high-definition level at the theater, though. But when you're in the theater, you're caught up in the moment, you aren't looking for the Philips-head screws holding the consoles together. That happens later when you've watched it for the millionth time on VHS/DVD/Blu-ray/streaming and you know the story and dialogue by heart.
Maybe I wasn't as observant, but I really didn't notice most of these things until TrekCore started putting up HD screencaps of the movies and TNG-R episodes.
