Is there any formula with which Sulu presses the buttons to do various things, or is it just random?
Helm Controls
- Thread starter Disposable_Ensign
- Start date
Where did he say that?
Formulas obviously exists in-universe, but they’d be based on multi-function or programmable physical buttons. “Press the red key, move the toggle switch, then hold the white button for two seconds; now select your preferred Fire! button.”
(Of course, an actual production manual was created for internal use on TMP.)
(Of course, an actual production manual was created for internal use on TMP.)
George Takei stated in an interview that after a while, he came up with a plausible formula that worked for him, ie; when Kirk orders warp speed, he presses the same combination of buttons each time. Unlike some fan-actors, Takei never looks like he's playing the piano.
What is the formula?
Yeah, I read that too. Doohan also had a similar story about the transporter. I believe if you watch, when he "beams people away" he pushes the sliding levers away from him, and when he "beams people up" he pulls them towards him. If you watch others use the transporter, you see that some do the opposite.
I love it that the actors had enough buy-in to the show to care enough to think about those types of things.
You'd probably have to ask Takei...in 1968.
(I'm picturing the infamous SNL skit when a fan asks Shatner what Kirk's safe combination was.)
Can you figure it out by reviewing the film?
What's the intermix formula from the Naked Time?
I think Takei's worst performance as a button pusher was in "Arena," when he gets off the phone with Kirk and slams his fingers on the helm board five times quickly. He didn't convince me that Sulu was really doing something, and worse, you can hear the hollow timber of the wood as he hits it.
To be fair, the helm-navigation console didn't give an actor much to work with, the way it was built.
To be fair, the helm-navigation console didn't give an actor much to work with, the way it was built.
True. But they did sort of fix that in TWOK with the fantastic shots of various parts of the helm/nav console, including Khan's frenzied hunt for the override. The override!
McMasters bridge blueprints break down all the functions of all the bridge stations.
The helm has basically one grid of buttons with multiple overlays.
Press * and it's propulsion.
Press* and it's ship ops.
Press* and it's weapons controls
Press* and it's navigation maneuvering
and so on.
Same button, multiple functions depending on panel function select.
The helm has basically one grid of buttons with multiple overlays.
Press * and it's propulsion.
Press* and it's ship ops.
Press* and it's weapons controls
Press* and it's navigation maneuvering
and so on.
Same button, multiple functions depending on panel function select.
Is that the time they forgot to even add beeps? All we heard was him smacking the panel.
Michael McMaster made a set of TOS bridge blueprints that mapped out the function of every button on the bridge. To say it isn't a very user friendly interface is an understatement
No kidding. Helm is 6x6 buttons (36), but the bottom 6 are overlay buttons, which change the purpose of the above 30 buttons. So it's 30 buttons, but with each button having 6 different functions depending on which overlay button is active. That's 180 UNMARKED buttons to remember......Michael McMaster made a set of TOS bridge blueprints that mapped out the function of every button on the bridge. To say it isn't a very user friendly interface is an understatement
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