Emergency Force Fileds in "Nemesis"

[IrritatingGameOfChess]

Emergency Force Fields in "Nemesis"

Forgive me if this subject was discussed at some point, but I always wondered something about "Nemesis." The scene where the front half of the Enterprise bridge is blown away is something never done in "Trek" before, and I actually thought it was quite imaginative.

However, it bothered me that the crew remains on the bridge after the emergency force fields are activated. I mean...the ship is now open to space in that area! Worse still, Picard and Co. remain there as the Enterprise rams the Scimitar. Of course it's all fiction, but if I were the captain I would worry that some major systems might be damaged in the crash...including emergency force field generators!

Any thoughts on this?

 

[I am not Spock]

Re: Emergency Force Fields in "Nemesis"

I think the front of the bridge was destroyed, with only an emergency forcefield in place, in Voyager's 'The Year Of Hell, part 2' as well.

But it was the first time we saw that in the Trek films, and it certainly looked impressive. Nemesis' effects were not one of its problems.

 

[I am not Spock]

Re: Emergency Force Fields in "Nemesis"

However, I don't think we've ever seen a shuttle or other small vessel flying through the corridoors of a starship before Nemesis.

Those were some large corridoors...

 

[IrritatingGameOfChess]

Re: Emergency Force Fields in "Nemesis"

I think the front of the bridge was destroyed, with only an emergency forcefield in place, in Voyager's 'The Year Of Hell, part 2' as well.

But it was the first time we saw that in the Trek films, and it certainly looked impressive. Nemesis' effects were not one of its problems.

It's been a long time since I've seen "Year Of Hell." I didn't recall they did the same thing.

My question is: shouldn't the crew have evacuated to Engineering or some place other than the bridge from which they could operate the ship? It seems awfully dangerous to trust in those force fields, especially in a battle or ramming situation which could throw those systems off line.

 

[RoJoHen]

Re: Emergency Force Fields in "Nemesis"

I don't understand where the force fields come from. Are there just force field emitters on every inch of the ship just in case a chunk of it gets blown off?

 

[IrritatingGameOfChess]

^ I guess they come from the plot device emitters.

 

[Newspaper Taxi]

Maybe they form a grid of sorts along the hull, and when the ship notcies that a chunk of itself is missing it tells the nearby emitters to emit?

 

[cardinal biggles]

Re: Emergency Force Fields in "Nemesis"

I guess the forcefield emitters work similar to the artificial gravity system — they could run out of air and sit in the dark with no computers before they float off the floor or get blown out the window.

I think the front of the bridge was destroyed, with only an emergency forcefield in place, in Voyager's 'The Year Of Hell, part 2' as well.

It's been a long time since I've seen "Year Of Hell." I didn't recall they did the same thing.

From this screencap, it looks like the viewscreen was blown out, exposing the holoemitters behind the "glass," but the hull itself was not breached.

 

[Karnbeln]

Re: Emergency Force Fields in "Nemesis"

I guess the forcefield emitters work similar to the artificial gravity system — they could run out of air and sit in the dark with no computers before they float off the floor or get blown out the window.

I think the front of the bridge was destroyed, with only an emergency forcefield in place, in Voyager's 'The Year Of Hell, part 2' as well.

It's been a long time since I've seen "Year Of Hell." I didn't recall they did the same thing.

From this screencap, it looks like the viewscreen was blown out, exposing the holoemitters behind the "glass," but the hull itself was not breached.

It wasn't until near the end of part two. They mostly did it for the cool shot of Janeway alone on the bridge ramming into the Krenim vessel. You could see the enemy ship zoom in through the hole where the viewscreen should be.

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/en/images/c/c4/Krenim_temporal_weapon_ship_3.jpg

"Time's...up!"

 

[DWF]

It sure looks to me like the hull was breached in Year Of Hell.

http://voy.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/4x09/yearofhellPT2_335.jpg

And we saw those force fields in action in Generations as well.

http://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/generations/ch2/gen0216.jpg

 

[cardinal biggles]

Karnbeln just pointed that out in the post above you. I probably haven't watched YOH since it originally aired on UPN back in 1997, so I forgot that they breached the front wall of the bridge near the end of the episode.

 

[jgdst]

Maybe they form a grid of sorts along the hull, and when the ship notcies that a chunk of itself is missing it tells the nearby emitters to emit?

That's what I've always assumed. Somewhere between that and the "net" idea they come up with in Voyager's "Equinox", so the outer hull of the ship is always solid in one form or another. Or at least it's along the lines of the form fitting shields of the Enterprise within the outer bulkheads.

What does irk me a bit is the sheer amount of time it takes for the forcefield to kick in There didn't seem to be much "emergency" about it at all

 

[Plecostomus]

Given the shear amount of physical trauma the ship was experiencing there would be a slight lag.

My friend worked in a hospital, and they lost power... she said the ten seconds between power off and generator start were the longest seconds she's ever experienced.

Step-father has said more or less the same thing about emergency situations on the sub he used to serve aboard.

 

[jamestyler]

Maybe they form a grid of sorts along the hull, and when the ship notcies that a chunk of itself is missing it tells the nearby emitters to emit?

That's what I've always assumed when we've heard the whole emergency force fields like. Considering the risks a starship has to face, it's logical that whatever the method - they'd find a way to plug up a hole anywhere.

My question is: shouldn't the crew have evacuated to Engineering or some place other than the bridge from which they could operate the ship? It seems awfully dangerous to trust in those force fields, especially in a battle or ramming situation which could throw those systems off line.

I'd guess the time lag it would take to transfer control and move your staff from A to B (whether thats engineering or aux control) would have put them off such an idea in a crisis, or just simply part of the game - Picard didn't want to give away the surprise move.

Or faith in the technology. Though dramatically the bridge is the place to be.

 

[Kemaiku]

Re: Emergency Force Fields in "Nemesis"

I don't understand where the force fields come from. Are there just force field emitters on every inch of the ship just in case a chunk of it gets blown off?

I always thought that given how dumb the idea of a bridge sitting on top of the ship like a frikkin' bullseye was, that Starfleet made sure all of Deck 2 was dedicated to machinery to make sure Deck 1 (the bridge) survived.

I wouldn't be surprised if theres nothing down there but emergency transporters, force field emitters, bathrooms and a lot of power connections for all the bridge systems.

That Deck 3 is the first proper "Deck" of any ship.

 

[FalTorPan]

Re: Emergency Force Fields in "Nemesis"

However, it bothered me that the crew remains on the bridge after the emergency force fields are activated. I mean...the ship is now open to space in that area! Worse still, Picard and Co. remain there as the Enterprise rams the Scimitar. Of course it's all fiction, but if I were the captain I would worry that some major systems might be damaged in the crash...including emergency force field generators!

Any thoughts on this?

I thought this was one of many stupid parts of the film.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

My dream of what happened probably would've been more accurate... Of course, the movie would've had a sad ending...

 

[IrritatingGameOfChess]

I thought this was one of many stupid parts of the film.

I'm surprised no one involved with making the film pointed that out before the script went into production.

My dream of what happened probably would've been more accurate... Of course, the movie would've had a sad ending...

Ha! Say no more!!

 

[cardinal biggles]

I thought this was one of many stupid parts of the film.

I'm surprised no one involved with making the film pointed that out before the script went into production.

You'd think that if they could spot a flaw such as "Wait, so they ram the ship, causing massive power disruptions, while the only thing separating them from the harsh, cold vacuum of space is a forcefield?," then they'd have been able to spot the somewhat larger flaw, specifically that the film was a total load of bollocks.

 

[IrritatingGameOfChess]

I thought this was one of many stupid parts of the film.

I'm surprised no one involved with making the film pointed that out before the script went into production.

You'd think that if they could spot a flaw such as "Wait, so they ram the ship, causing massive power disruptions, while the only thing separating them from the harsh, cold vacuum of space is a forcefield?," then they'd have been able to spot the somewhat larger flaw, specifically that the film was a total load of bollocks.

You have a point there!