Donny’s Late TOS Movie Era Interiors

[Maurice]

All of The Motion Picture sets were repainted for Star Trek 4, but it's very distinct. There was evidently red carpeting as part of the addition. The corridors, engineering, and the bridge received upgrades at least- all of them based on The Motion Picture sets and equipment.

What's that based on?
The ST4 script only called for the bridge, so why would they go to the trouble and $$$ to rework sets they weren't going to use? In fact, in Roddenberry's intro to "The Cage" you can see that McCoy's office is still redressed to be the Bird of Prey room where McCoy speaks to Spock in ST3.

 

[Rusty0918]

^ ^
Maurice is right, they didn't redo the other sets, juts the bridge. Sure there may have been red carpeting in the corridors, but that might have been just for the GMA "Star Trek IV" stuff. The transporter room didn't change much, neither did the rest of the sets. I wouldn't go that far, and neither would they.

 

[TOMFAN]

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From a Starfleet point of view, I always thought those Excelsior bridge chairs with wheels were a very odd choice.
Would you really want your crew to go sliding across the bridge everytime the ship encounters some turbulence, or is fired on!

I want to visualize what a full sized engineering set would look like in the TFF aesthetic (light grey walls, wooden hand railing around the warpcore, minimalist detailing!) and also want to do the version of the engineering set we see in TUC (battleship grey walls, red hand railing, more visual interest!).

Oh, I would love to see these - especially a TFF version!

 

[Tomalak]

I want to visualize what a full sized engineering set would look like in the TFF aesthetic (light grey walls, wooden hand railing around the warpcore, minimalist detailing!) and also want to do the version of the engineering set we see in TUC (battleship grey walls, red hand railing, more visual interest!).

Out of interest, would you look to do the redress of the TNG set we saw on screen, or use your TMP/TWOK set as a starting point instead?

 

[blssdwlf]

I’ve never bought this. The difference in aesthetic between the two films is stark and each look is unified within itself. Not “well let’s rip up the carpet and add metal plating this year, paint the walls battleship grey next year, then add all this extra lighting and piping and red vinyl the next, and oh look! It just happens to look dark and militaristic now rather than the bright and warm starship we began with.” This is more “Starfleet has come up with a new interior scheme for its starship interiors going forward. All new ships constructed and chosen ships receiving a refit this year will get the new scheme”. In the case of the Enterprise-A, whether we believe it was part of a refit or another ship altogether is the question.

I think we need to remember that there is a place for artistry in starship interior design. It doesn’t always look one way or change to a different way due to function, but because someone designed it to look a way. In my head canon, these changes are part of a unified aesthetic direction mandated by Starfleet, with perhaps some options chosen by the commanding officer or some designated person in the ship’s crew to handle such matters. Kirk may have gotten to choose red vinyl for his bridge, while Sulu chose blue.

Anyone with Navy experience have any knowledge on such matters as decor/aesthetics on a ship and if they happen to change through a ship’s lifetime?

Just a thought, but doesn't this happen in reverse between Pike's Enterprise and Kirk's Enterprise? Pike's Enterprise interiors were relatively monotone and when we see Kirk's Enterprise interiors painted with bright colors and hallways bathed with extra random colored lighting from the ceiling. Regarding the different dedication plates maybe the original was damaged from an explosion on the bridge and had to be replaced?

On the other hand, getting a swapped out older ship is also pretty attractive too to explain all the aging and grungy look for a relatively young ship. It's just weird for a crew to not take care of the ship...

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

I

Anyone with Navy experience have any knowledge on such matters as decor/aesthetics on a ship and if they happen to change through a ship’s lifetime?

I grew up a Navy brat and what I'm about to say is second-hand from listening to my father. Also, I've been aboard my fair share of navy ships since I was a kid.

Overall, the aesthetic hasn't changed much since WWII. Battleship gray. Hatches. Ladders. Function over looks. According to my dad, an electronics warfare specialist, equipment is designed to be easily swapped out as technology changes. Also to be quickly replaced if it breaks down.

However, I don't know about the newer ships, like the USS Zumwalt or the newer Gerald Ford aircraft careers.

 

[STEPhon IT]

I grew up a Navy brat and what I'm about to say is second-hand from listening to my father. Also, I've been aboard my fair share of navy ships since I was a kid.

Overall, the aesthetic hasn't changed much since WWII. Battleship gray. Hatches. Ladders. Function over looks. According to my dad, an electronics warfare specialist, equipment is designed to be easily swapped out as technology changes. Also to be quickly replaced if it breaks down.

However, I don't know about the newer ships, like the USS Zumwalt or the newer Gerald Ford aircraft careers.

My father currently serves in the Navy and he's mentioned these things with me as well.

 

[BK613]

Here's an image of the interior of the Zumwalt (from this article):
https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800/2016/4-usnavygivesl.jpg

Let's see. Non-skid surface on the deck, equipment along the bulkheads of the passageway, wiring and piping raceways on the overhead, non-descript fluorescent lighting, watertight doors and a 'bullseye' with compartment info on it. Could easily be from any of the ships I served on in the 1980s (although the bullseye was black letters on a yellow background when I served).

 

[Donny]

Out of interest, would you look to do the redress of the TNG set we saw on screen, or use your TMP/TWOK set as a starting point instead?

I would start with the TNG set as a basis. Honestly, it intrigues me more because it’s a much more interesting set, and one I haven’t modeled in Unreal yet. I’d do some investigation and iteration to explore making the set a bit different from the TNG version though, like using a period appropriate warp core or extending the intermix shaft back like was see on the TMP set. No promises though.

 

[Donny]

Just a thought, but doesn't this happen in reverse between Pike's Enterprise and Kirk's Enterprise? Pike's Enterprise interiors were relatively monotone and when we see Kirk's Enterprise interiors painted with bright colors and hallways bathed with extra random colored lighting from the ceiling. Regarding the different dedication plates maybe the original was damaged from an explosion on the bridge and had to be replaced?

On the other hand, getting a swapped out older ship is also pretty attractive too to explain all the aging and grungy look for a relatively young ship. It's just weird for a crew to not take care of the ship...

I mean, the Enterprise-A in TUC didn’t look neglected or as if it was falling apart, as if the crew didn’t take car of her. It just had the normal wear and tear I imagine a vessel would have after a few years of service. It looked more naturally lived-in than most other depictions of Starfleet vessels had at the time.

Also, I’m not arguing that the the TFF-Ent-A was replaced by an older vessel. Quite the opposite. A newer one, with the harder edged aesthetic. It just acquired wear and tear over the years and hadn’t had a repaint since launch when we saw her.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

I grew up a Navy brat and what I'm about to say is second-hand from listening to my father. Also, I've been aboard my fair share of navy ships since I was a kid.

Overall, the aesthetic hasn't changed much since WWII. Battleship gray. Hatches. Ladders. Function over looks. According to my dad, an electronics warfare specialist, equipment is designed to be easily swapped out as technology changes. Also to be quickly replaced if it breaks down.

However, I don't know about the newer ships, like the USS Zumwalt or the newer Gerald Ford aircraft careers.

My father currently serves in the Navy and he's mentioned these things with me as well.

I could've swore that the US Military has an entire guide book on design regulations and how to layout the interior of their Naval Ships decks. There's regulations and Guidelines for wiring, plumbing, Hallway sizes, etc.

Nearly everything is highly regulated and has design rules/regulations.

Size of Doors, Thickness of it, what each door can handle, etc.

Same with alot of basic aspects of the vessels interiors.

 

[Tallguy]

2) There were so many issues with the A we saw in TFF, that after returning home from the Barrier, it was scrapped for parts, and another Connie that was in production was christened as the Enterprise-A for the crew to immediately transfer to. This newer Connie had the newer, more hard-edged aesthetic we see in TUC.

I kind of like this theory the best. They tried a bridge module swap (which explains the change from TVH to TFF, which I guess is supposed to be a few weeks later, though it's never really made clear), and when it turned out that the whole ship was a lemon, they did what you're suggesting.

It's an Enterprise we've never heard of! NCC-1701-A.5! Captain John Hurt in command!

 

[Donny]

I could've swore that the US Military has an entire guide book on design regulations and how to layout the interior of their Naval Ships decks. There's regulations and Guidelines for wiring, plumbing, Hallway sizes, etc.

Nearly everything is highly regulated and has design rules/regulations.

Size of Doors, Thickness of it, what each door can handle, etc.

Same with alot of basic aspects of the vessels interiors.

Sorry, I'm talking more aesthetics rather than funciton. I'm wondering if there's a style guide for interior spaces. I understand that the more functional spaces for a modern naval vessel would follow function, but what about dining areas, captain's quarters, etc? Are there guidelines for the aesthetics of these spaces?

It's an Enterprise we've never heard of! NCC-1701-A.5! Captain John Hurt in command!

Fair enough!

 

[Rusty0918]

I wouldn't mind a TNG-based set with a more TMP-oriented warp core. The warp core was the main problem with the TUC engineering (besides of course that LCARS panel seen at an angle at that one scene when the Enterprise departs spacedock). That being said, it probably was too $$$-consuming to change the warp core on that set. It'd be funny if Scotty saw the Enterprise-D warp core and commenting that it's the same one as the Enterprise-A one (he did see it in "Relics").

If I were Mr. Zimmerman, I probably would want the back panels on the transporter room replaced for the movie with the honeycomb style we saw in TMP, TWOK, and TSFS - it would be the only OTHER thing I would change in addition to what had been changed (operator booth). One thing to note is that in Insurrection, when they used Voyager's transporter room set for the Enterprise-E, they changed the back panels (among a few other things) to something different. I liked seanr's conjectural transporter room set that he did recently on the SFM boards here (https://forums.scifi-meshes.com/discussion/10000840/3dtmp-twok-tsfs-stage-9-and-derivatives/p1).

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Maybe after the STV adventure the Ent-A was gutted. Maybe going through the barrier took its toll on internal systems. As long as hull integrity was fine, they could keep the hull and the "keel" (whatever that is). They could even swap out warp nacelles, reinstall interior systems, and perhaps still keep the same saucer, secondary hull, and registry number. That could explain the change of look inside while the registry number itself remained the same.

 

[UssGlenn]

Maybe after the STV adventure the Ent-A was gutted. Maybe going through the barrier took its toll on internal systems. As long as hull integrity was fine, they could keep the hull and the "keel" (whatever that is). They could even swap out warp nacelles, reinstall interior systems, and perhaps still keep the same saucer, secondary hull, and registry number. That could explain the change of look inside while the registry number itself remained the same.

The time for an extensive refit would give even more reason for all the crew to be off doing their own things and need to be gathered together again for the ST6 mission, but it doesn't fit with the ship being decommissioned at the end of the movie.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

but it doesn't fit with the ship being decommissioned at the end of the movie.

Well, maybe, but since Starfleet (apparently) didn't switch out the whole ship, keeping parts, presumably at least including the saucer hull, and since the saucer got hit straight through by one of Chang's torpedoes, that may have pushed enough original parts of the Ent-A past their operational limits for Starfleet to say that it's now time to scrap it altogether.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Sorry, I'm talking more aesthetics rather than funciton. I'm wondering if there's a style guide for interior spaces. I understand that the more functional spaces for a modern naval vessel would follow function, but what about dining areas, captain's quarters, etc? Are there guidelines for the aesthetics of these spaces?


Fair enough!

I can't speak to guidelines, but officer's country dining is often decorated in faux wood. At least, in the Wardroom's I've dined in with my father. Crew areas are utilitarian.

The PBS documentary series CARRIER shows off the different aesthetics in officer's country versus the crew areas. I highly recommend it for insight!

 

[QuinnTV]

The PBS documentary series CARRIER shows off the different aesthetics in officer's country versus the crew areas. I highly recommend it for insight!

I remember that series. It was pretty interesting.

 

[blssdwlf]

I mean, the Enterprise-A in TUC didn’t look neglected or as if it was falling apart, as if the crew didn’t take car of her. It just had the normal wear and tear I imagine a vessel would have after a few years of service. It looked more naturally lived-in than most other depictions of Starfleet vessels had at the time.

Also, I’m not arguing that the the TFF-Ent-A was replaced by an older vessel. Quite the opposite. A newer one, with the harder edged aesthetic. It just acquired wear and tear over the years and hadn’t had a repaint since launch when we saw her.

Oh I see with the lived-in look. Perhaps then the TFF-Ent-A was too experimental (or advanced) and had so many bugs that Kirk or Scotty reverted many of the ship's systems and interiors to what the other starships were standardized on (the harder edged aesthetic.) What we see on the TUC-Ent-A is closer to the fleet standard and the TFF version was the aberration? Thinking about just swapping another new ship seems to be kinda of extravagant