I was thinking on similar lines... Has there been any photos of all the wedges by themselves?
Is the bridge at a funny angle?
- Thread starter Mike Doyle
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I was thinking on similar lines... Has there been any photos of all the wedges by themselves?
IDK but I also don't remember anyone from the show ever saying that they didn't build the entire bridge only to finish it later. You would have thought that would have made it into all the talk of rebuilding the bridge to make it easier to shoot on.
After all, they didn't finish one side of the model and people mentioned that.
Yeah it's a mystery that maybe someone else has even more bts photos could shed light on it.
If the question is, did they build the entire bridge set, so all 360 degrees worth of pieces existed and could be put in place to close the circle, I'm certain the answer is yes.
We have word from behind the scenes (was it Justman and Solow? Jerry Finnerman?) that pretty much every new director who came on the show wanted to shoot inside the complete bridge. And they tried it, meaning all pieces were available.
But it never worked out, apparently for three reasons (as best I understand it):
• When you complete the bridge and light it up, heat builds up very fast in there. It was untenable.
• There isn't enough floor space in the completed bridge for the 1960s camera to have any freedom, and switching to a handheld camera for a master take did not meet the standards of "good cinematography" for TV shows of the period. Steadicam hadn't been invented yet. The handheld results would look unstable and half-assed trying to survey the entire bridge.
• It was just too easy by comparison, and too effective, to create the illusion of a complete bridge via film editing whenever it was needed.
And I would add, incidentally, that when we do see the starboard perimeter stations, they appear to be distinctive and different from the more-often seen stations, not deceptive re-uses of them.
We have word from behind the scenes (was it Justman and Solow? Jerry Finnerman?) that pretty much every new director who came on the show wanted to shoot inside the complete bridge. And they tried it, meaning all pieces were available.
But it never worked out, apparently for three reasons (as best I understand it):
• When you complete the bridge and light it up, heat builds up very fast in there. It was untenable.
• There isn't enough floor space in the completed bridge for the 1960s camera to have any freedom, and switching to a handheld camera for a master take did not meet the standards of "good cinematography" for TV shows of the period. Steadicam hadn't been invented yet. The handheld results would look unstable and half-assed trying to survey the entire bridge.
• It was just too easy by comparison, and too effective, to create the illusion of a complete bridge via film editing whenever it was needed.
And I would add, incidentally, that when we do see the starboard perimeter stations, they appear to be distinctive and different from the more-often seen stations, not deceptive re-uses of them.
@blssdwlf @Mytran
https://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x00hd/thecagehd1864.jpg
https://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x03hd-alt/wherenomanhasgonebeforehdalt0290.jpg
That looks like the half-height console seen in the the middle column of BTS shots here:
(highest res I have.)
Whether that is something unique or just a station with the top removed is anyone's guess.
Interestingly, the shots, here labeled 179 and 180, actual episode left me with the impression that this was a rare example of being able to remove the upper big screens and film into the set in what is called refrigerator-shot" style (this ability is referenced in some books as existing but it's hard to tell if they ever did, and if they could do it during the pilots), but based on the extra coverage at the sides of the photos, two things stand out.
Firstly that this looks like a completed console without the upper big screens, in order to create the illusion of "refrigerator-shots" (just as a custom/altered refrigerator would be needed for those in other shows).
Secondly, it always seemed like this station was supposed to have been the assistant navigator's spot next to Spock, since that could be an alternate location of the library computer, per some diagrams and the way the bridge was set up "The Doomsday Machine." But it is clearly in the position of the Weapons station, because the Engineering station is right across from it, not the Environmental Engineering.
ADDED:
These two shots, mentioned by others show what looking aft on the bridge would be in the pilots if the bridge were on an angle with the turbo lift straight aft. Curiously these also seem to position library computer access where the weapons station or the nearby half-station
would be.
https://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x00hd/thecagehd1845.jpg
https://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x00hd/thecagehd1864.jpg
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FJ's plans and the tech manual aren't "canonical" so, nope.
Here's a simple solution that also explains how there can be a fresh car in place seconds after another one leaves:
Yes, works for me. My rationalisation was the bump is where the turbo lift machinery resides, not the lift itself. Great work.
I wonder if each bridge station had a note taped to the back, indicating where it was supposed to be placed. And if so, was it a bridge floor plan with an arrow pointing to the right position? Were the stations named on the back, saying "Communications" and so on?
I would love to see that, but if photos haven't turned up by now, they probably never will.
I would love to see that, but if photos haven't turned up by now, they probably never will.
The quotes from Jefferies indicate that very thing. The bridge you see starting in The Corbomite Maneuver may look like the bridge from the pilots, but it is almost totally new. The pilot bridge is wood, the series bridge replaced a lot fo that with fiberglass and they had the chance to make the last two sections.
Sorry but that's your interpretation, that the bridge was incomplete. I don't agree with it. Jefferies' quotes suggest that the pilot bridge consisted of eight sections (although a careful reading of his quotes might suggest more, since the number eight is mentioned in context of him designing the control layouts for the bridge. And not all sections had controls.). He never says that it was incomplete. And when they rebuilt the bridge the eight became ten. But nowhere does anyone from that show ever say that two additional sections were built.
I would done it simpler than that. I would have painted the contact sides the same color. For example, Spock's and Uhura's stations would've had matching color swatches painted on them that indicated they went together. The other side of Spock's station would use a different color.
IOW, I would have Garanimal'd them.
I disagree. The bridge is designed in sections so I think the reference to 8 sections and then 10 sections is a strong indication that the pilot bridge was incomplete. No it does no implicitly state that, but it also never mentions that they redid the section layout. Plus we never see those two sections in the pilots and we see them in the first produced episode after that. While that is indeed my interpretation, I believe that it is the correct one from the quotes and the nature of the bridge design.
@yotsuya agree to disagree
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I didn't realize when I posted that image from my old portable HD last week that the other one I had showed anything more about that "half-wall". But you can see in the 2nd and 3rd images (354 and 355) of the left column that the 'half-wall" was built with the same angle as the other stations. Maybe it is a normal station with its top removed...
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I didn't realize when I posted that image from my old portable HD last week that the other one I had showed anything more about that "half-wall". But you can see in the 2nd and 3rd images (354 and 355) of the left column that the 'half-wall" was built with the same angle as the other stations. Maybe it is a normal station with its top removed...
Seeing as that module had two turbolifts as well as all the regular TOS console stations it probably is, or at least the largest if you don't count the SNW Era module.
No it was the same size as the TOS bridge - it fitted the extra Turbolift station by removing the half-console to the left of the viewscreen:
FWIW, I always felt the 2nd TL/exit should have been placed on the other side of the view screen, since we rarely saw that side of the bridge, it would've been easier to pretend this exit had always been there, and would make a nice symmetry with the main TL station, since it would be exactly on the opposite side of the Bridge.
No it was the same size as the TOS bridge - it fitted the extra Turbolift station by removing the half-console to the left of the viewscreen:
I stand corrected. Thanks for showing me that.
TAS was one degree further "off" than TOS.
[*Runs*]
[*Runs*]
And if both lifts were on the ship's centerline, there would be an actual design reason for an offset bridge.
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