How much vulcan/romulan ears cost..?

[Zaku]

Yesterday on Facebook I read for the umpteenth time the trivia bit about the Romulan ambassador Caithlin Dar in Star Trek V.

Specifically:

Cynthia Gouw as Romulan ambassador Caithlin Dar. The novelization of "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" explains away her lack of Romulan features as being one-quarter human, but on-screen, her hair was arranged to cover up her should-be-pointed ears for budgetary reasons.

Really, how much expensive are these ears if you can't afford them on a movie budget..?

I know that the budget for TUC was quite restricted, but of all the things in which they could save money they chose the ears???

Anyone has more info on this particular trivia bit..? I'm quite curious...

 

[Ithekro]

Money is not just the ears, it is the hours spent to put them on and take them off. Makeup artist and actor both.

 

[T'Girl]

I don't think we ever saw her ears, they were covered the entire movie by the head-piece she wore.

And what "lack of Romulan features" are they referring too?

 

[Zaku]

Money is not just the ears, it is the hours spent to put them on and take them off. Makeup artist and actor both.

I was joking and I obviously also considered these costs

Still, they had a whole Klingon crew on the movie... Really a pair of ears made the difference...?

 

[Zaku]

I don't think we ever saw her ears, they were covered the entire movie by the head-piece she wore.

And what "lack of Romulan features" are they referring too?

This is how a Romulan was depicted in Star Trek VI.

Perhaps the eyebrows..?

 

[T'Girl]

Perhaps the eyebrows..?

The ambassador earbrows are similar to T'Pring's and T'Pau's. Thin, unbushy and short.

Feminine.

 

[Zaku]

Perhaps the eyebrows..?

The ambassador earbrows are similar to T'Pring's and T'Pau's. Thin, unbushy and short.

Feminine.

In TNG the Romulans had a kind of ridge on the forehead....


Ok... I have no idea...

 

[FormerLurker]

I get the feeling that when they made up the budget for makeup, they got it all planned out and then someone said, "What about the Romulan ambassador's ears?", to which they responded, "D'OH!"

 

[2takesfrakes]

Some actors are allergic to latex and/or glue applied against their skin and that might've been the case here. I don't know that, but considering how stunning she is, I wouldn't have wanted to recast knowing that. Just have her hair long, or do what they did here. Jennifer Lien of VOY had the same thing happent to her, eventually and had to stop wearing her rubber ears, altogether.

 

[Zaku]

Some actors are allergic to latex and/or glue applied against their skin and that might've been the case here. I don't know that, but considering how stunning she is, I wouldn't have wanted to recast knowing that. Just have her hair long, or do what they did here. Jennifer Lien of VOY had the same thing happent to her, eventually and had to stop wearing her rubber ears, altogether.

I like this explanation.

The problem is that every source that I can find mentions the budget story....

And they had a whole klingon crew!

 

[Ithekro]

It is easier to hide on character's ears.

 

[Green Shirt]

And what "lack of Romulan features" are they referring to?

Possibly the slant of a certain part of her anatomy?

 

[FormerLurker]

Some actors are allergic to latex and/or glue applied against their skin and that might've been the case here. I don't know that, but considering how stunning she is, I wouldn't have wanted to recast knowing that. Just have her hair long, or do what they did here. Jennifer Lien of VOY had the same thing happent to her, eventually and had to stop wearing her rubber ears, altogether.

I like this explanation.

The problem is that every source that I can find mentions the budget story....

And they had a whole klingon crew!

I look at Korrd and Klaa in this picture and wonder if they aren't supposed to be related. Father and son, perhaps?

 

[2takesfrakes]

Shatner should've tried getting rid of Catwoman and maybe one of the goofy-looking Nimbus III aliens that the camera never wanted to focus on. There. The ears are covered. The worst of it, really, is that Cynthia Gouw would've ROCKED the Elfish look! More's the pity ...

 

[Melakon]

I don't know if they'd yet come up with the idea of forehead ridges based on heredity. Not sure if the concept was ever stated in dialogue anywhere.

 

[Ithekro]

Star Trek V was June 1989. The earliest we might have a reference to forehead ridge heredity is I think Reunion whe Alexander is introduced, which is late 1990.

 

[Zaku]

Shatner should've tried getting rid of Catwoman and maybe one of the goofy-looking Nimbus III aliens that the camera never wanted to focus on. There. The ears are covered. The worst of it, really, is that Cynthia Gouw would've ROCKED the Elfish look! More's the pity ...

Don't forget the Rock Men!

 

[Avro Arrow]

Star Trek V was June 1989. The earliest we might have a reference to forehead ridge heredity is I think Reunion whe Alexander is introduced, which is late 1990.

And even then... TUC came out in late 1991, but Worf's ridges look nothing like his grandfather's ridges. I would guess that, in universe, heredity doesn't guarantee identical ridges, any more than it guarantees any other feature.

 

[Maurice]

TFF wasted its budget. That's why they got into trouble. I mean, they had way more money for effects than TVH, and look what they got.

 

[FormerLurker]

Star Trek V was June 1989. The earliest we might have a reference to forehead ridge heredity is I think Reunion whe Alexander is introduced, which is late 1990.

And even then... TUC came out in late 1991, but Worf's ridges look nothing like his grandfather's ridges. I would guess that, in universe, heredity doesn't guarantee identical ridges, any more than it guarantees any other feature.

They do, though. I admit, Colonel Worf's center ridge is flattened, but it follows the same tiered triangle motif that Worf's does. Clearly by this time they intended that family passed on this trait, even though there are differences by generation, or even gender.

Duras' sisters had been around, or were soon to come around, by this time and the only real difference between them and Duras himself was the number of 'fingers' coming off the center ridge. Duras had three, L'ursa five and B'etor four. The biggest difference was Toral in his first appearance, but that was 'fixed' by the time he showed up on DS9. I liked his original forehead better. Made it look like his mother's genes were influencing the pattern.