"E Incident" Kirk's eyes...

[Grant]

Why/what reason did they use that odd thing where Kirk suddenly opens his eyes when Chapel is standing near the bio-bed and then even odder, why did they reverse the film and have his eyes awkwardly close?

Wouldn't have the bio-bed heart audio monitor suddenly start making noise have accomplished the same thing?

That reverse of the film and his eyes closing is just awful.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

I always wondered about that. I just figured the editor did that because for some reason they didn't have a shot of Kirk closing his eyes.

 

[GSchnitzer]

I always wondered about that. I just figured the editor did that because for some reason they didn't have a shot of Kirk closing his eyes.

Yes, I think that was the problem. The script says that Kirk's "eyes snap open." And then McCoy starts working on "reviving" Kirk with the physiostimulator. Since Kirk had his eyes closed while McCoy was reviving Kirk, there needed to be some continuity shot between Kirk's eyes snapping open, and Kirk being revived a moment later, lying on the Sickbay examination bed with his eyes closed. Reversing the film was probably the only available "Kirk closes his eyes" continuity shot editor Fabien Tordjmann had available.

 

[T'Girl]

I wonder at Chapel's reaction, the dead will sometimes move, including opening their eyes.

 

[LMFAOschwarz]

The one that always gets me (similar to this incident) is Chekov's meow-mix-cats-ask-for-it-by-name swaying he does in The Tholian Web, in the Defiant engineering section.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I always wondered about that. I just figured the editor did that because for some reason they didn't have a shot of Kirk closing his eyes.

Yes, I think that was the problem. The script says that Kirk's "eyes snap open." And then McCoy starts working on "reviving" Kirk with the physiostimulator. Since Kirk had his eyes closed while McCoy was reviving Kirk, there needed to be some continuity shot between Kirk's eyes snapping open, and Kirk being revived a moment later, lying on the Sickbay examination bed with his eyes closed. Reversing the film was probably the only available "Kirk closes his eyes" continuity shot editor Fabien Tordjmann had available.

That sounds right. And I think it was a mistake. It was a case of the editor mucking up a scene. Without the film reversal, people would have understood that he closed his eyes off camera.

I'm sure it looks unnatural because you use a different set of muscle contractions to open your eyes versus closing them.

 

[Ssosmcin]

I've actually imitated that "open and reverse" thing. Does that make me weird?

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I've actually imitated that "open and reverse" thing. Does that make me weird?

"Whatever James T. Kirk must undertake, kids playing Star Trek must fully share."

 

[ToddPence]

They really had to be economical with their footage in those days.