Is the bridge at a funny angle?

[ZapBrannigan]

and later on the wedge is gone

In my opinion, when we see the edge of Spock's station, that is an example of "camera through wall or floor," a filming technique that reveals the absence of a "fourth wall" on purpose, to facilitate telling the story. The audience accepts it as part of the visual narrative.

You've seen it in other shows: the camera is looking at actors in the living room, and then it slides sideways, right across a wall and into the kitchen. It shows that there is no fourth wall. Or sometimes the camera slides straight up, through the ceiling, and into a room upstairs. No "real" point of view can pass through walls, but the audience rolls with it.

Sometimes the move is faked with film editing, as it was in the pilot episode of Lost in Space when the elevator goes down to the lower deck. That's a different thing. But sometimes the set is built to be filmed contiguously, with no fourth wall. The greatest example ever was The Ladies Man (1961). Look at this magnificent "mansion" set, built like a giant dollhouse:

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ladies_Man#Production

So anyway, when we see the edge of Spock's station, the camera is supposed to be looking through the wall with cinematic x-ray vision. And we allow it, to enjoy that point of view.

 

[blssdwlf]

In my opinion, when we see the edge of Spock's station, that is an example of "camera through wall or floor," a filming technique that reveals the absence of a "fourth wall" on purpose, to facilitate telling the story. The audience accepts it as part of the visual narrative.

You've seen it in other shows: the camera is looking at actors in the living room, and then it slides sideways, right across a wall and into the kitchen. It shows that there is no fourth wall. Or sometimes the camera slides straight up, through the ceiling, and into a room upstairs. No "real" point of view can pass through walls, but the audience rolls with it.

Sometimes the move is faked with film editing, as it was in the pilot episode of Lost in Space when the elevator goes down to the lower deck. That's a different thing. But sometimes the set is built to be filmed contiguously, with no fourth wall. The greatest example ever was The Ladies Man (1961). Look at this magnificent "mansion" set, built like a giant dollhouse:

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ladies_Man#Production

So anyway, when we see the edge of Spock's station, the camera is supposed to be looking through the wall with cinematic x-ray vision. And we allow it, to enjoy that point of view.

I view most of it the same way like that of a see-through-wall or control panel so we can get these shots that would be normally impossible:
https://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/2x13hd/obsessionhd0478.jpg
https://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x00hd/thecagehd1848.jpg

It's these funny weird shots (example below) that I'm running "what if" with

 

[Mytran]

In my opinion, when we see the edge of Spock's station, that is an example of "camera through wall or floor," a filming technique that reveals the absence of a "fourth wall" on purpose, to facilitate telling the story. The audience accepts it as part of the visual narrative.

You've seen it in other shows: the camera is looking at actors in the living room, and then it slides sideways, right across a wall and into the kitchen. It shows that there is no fourth wall. Or sometimes the camera slides straight up, through the ceiling, and into a room upstairs. No "real" point of view can pass through walls, but the audience rolls with it.

Sometimes the move is faked with film editing, as it was in the pilot episode of Lost in Space when the elevator goes down to the lower deck. That's a different thing. But sometimes the set is built to be filmed contiguously, with no fourth wall. The greatest example ever was The Ladies Man (1961). Look at this magnificent "mansion" set, built like a giant dollhouse:

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ladies_Man#Production

So anyway, when we see the edge of Spock's station, the camera is supposed to be looking through the wall with cinematic x-ray vision. And we allow it, to enjoy that point of view.

In general I would agree. Great examples too!
What marks Spock's console out as different is firstly that the handrail gets rebuilt to be shorter - this is a step beyond merely filming "through" a wall.
Secondly, Nimoy wraps his hand around the edge of the console and on more than one occasion!

This is akin to Frank Drebin in Police Squad walking around the dividing wall to the lab, something that character also does on a regular basis

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While one is a comedy, in both instances it is so blatant that I must conclude it's happening in universe.

 

[fireproof78]

The Spock who walked through walls.

 

[cooleddie74]

I don't know if this image has already been shared but here's the bridge for "The Cage" being constructed with a pretty good look at the railings.

 

[Henoch]

First time I saw this photo. Thanks.

 

[cooleddie74]

Me, too. Apparently a Twitter user posted it.

 

[blssdwlf]

Nice find! The railings and the upper deck don't look like it can slide out (based on earlier's poster commenting that it was built on a sloped floor.) It would seem that they only made allowance for the stations on the starboard side and the main viewer to be removed for the cameras.

 

[Mres_was_framed!]

Curiously enough that part of the Bridge does not appear in Obsession at all!

No worries. Another indicator that it is the 4-post rail is that ends roughly where you would expect it when compared to the rail on the opposite side of the captain's chair. If it was a 3-post rail, it would result in Kirk being further back and he would line up with the the captain's chair and the opposite rail's end.



The camera cuts imply that the screens from the environment instruments were shown on the wedge to the left of Spock's station based on where Kirk and Garrovick are standing. It makes sense that the real wedge for that spot probably wasn't moved back in just to film the reverse angle but I'm okay with the instrumentation changing as needed for a wedge or that the wedge was reconfigured and then slid out of the way to modify the scanning circuits

So that brings the next logical question: While it seems unlikely they would ever bother, could/did the production put the wedges in the wrong order (not counting apparently omitting missing one for whatever reason during "The Doomsday Machine")

I don't know if this image has already been shared but here's the bridge for "The Cage" being constructed with a pretty good look at the railings.

This image is incredible to me, because it shows that, at least in that version of the bridge, there was a division between the border (here painted black) and actual surrounds of the screens (which are blue in the series but also black in the pilots).

This opens up more possibilities. To me, the walls of the set look almost as if they could be complete this way, with single, large, angled screens above each station. With the sort of random placement of the screens in "The Cage," it makes me wonder if the entire screen surround on each station was meant, in-universe, to be able to light up with any configuration of images of any shape, rather than simply having a discrete screen within it. That likely would have been cost-prohibitive, and that angles shape of the area would make it hard to quickly edit a matte into that shape back then, but it makes sense in concept.

With modern tech, even a simple green curtain behind the set and some software could have made this concept workable. Actually, the way the TNG bridge used lit transparent plastic sheets could work in that context, although the feel would be a bit different.

 

[blssdwlf]

So that brings the next logical question: While it seems unlikely they would ever bother, could/did the production put the wedges in the wrong order (not counting apparently omitting missing one for whatever reason during "The Doomsday Machine")

I like to believe the instrumentation and consoles are reconfigurable so if they were assembled in the wrong order it would not bug me too much...

This image is incredible to me, because it shows that, at least in that version of the bridge, there was a division between the border (here painted black) and actual surrounds of the screens (which are blue in the series but also black in the pilots).

This opens up more possibilities. To me, the walls of the set look almost as if they could be complete this way, with single, large, angled screens above each station. With the sort of random placement of the screens in "The Cage," it makes me wonder if the entire screen surround on each station was meant, in-universe, to be able to light up with any configuration of images of any shape, rather than simply having a discrete screen within it. That likely would have been cost-prohibitive, and that angles shape of the area would make it hard to quickly edit a matte into that shape back then, but it makes sense in concept.

That's how I view them - those large, angled screens can be configured to show anything in any shape and don't have discrete screens within them.

 

[BK613]

This opens up more possibilities. To me, the walls of the set look almost as if they could be complete this way, with single, large, angled screens above each station. With the sort of random placement of the screens in "The Cage," it makes me wonder if the entire screen surround on each station was meant, in-universe, to be able to light up with any configuration of images of any shape, rather than simply having a discrete screen within it. That likely would have been cost-prohibitive, and that angles shape of the area would make it hard to quickly edit a matte into that shape back then, but it makes sense in concept.

I don't know if there was intent for that in-universe idea but the whole upper panel being transparent—with the screens being created by opaque cutouts—might explain the light bleed pointed out in this post:
https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/is-the-bridge-at-a-funny-angle.306619/page-63#post-14348480

 

[Henoch]

I remember reading that a union projectionist(cameraman?) ($$$) was required to operate each slide projector that was used behind the view screens. In the end, this was too expensive to continue these operations, so, less or single view screens and more still photographs were use to control these costs.

 

[mb22]

I remember reading that a union projectionist(cameraman?) ($$$) was required to operate each slide projector that was used behind the view screens. In the end, this was too expensive to continue these operations, so, less or single view screens and more still photographs were use to control these costs.

That seems to be what they are doing in these "Cage" BTS photos posted earlier:

 

[F. King Daniel]

This opens up more possibilities. To me, the walls of the set look almost as if they could be complete this way, with single, large, angled screens above each station. With the sort of random placement of the screens in "The Cage," it makes me wonder if the entire screen surround on each station was meant, in-universe, to be able to light up with any configuration of images of any shape, rather than simply having a discrete screen within it. That likely would have been cost-prohibitive, and that angles shape of the area would make it hard to quickly edit a matte into that shape back then, but it makes sense in concept.

I believe that was the original hope, I recall reading that at the time of Star Trek V, they finally had the technology to realise it. Black touchpanels which only came "alive" when needed. Which is real-life tech we all have in our pockets today.

 

[publiusr]

That panel before Kirk in the top image just does not match the rest of the bridge--at all. ugh...

 

[plynch]

Directors got shots as easily as they good. And man, that show has some beautiful color in it (Garrovick in his quarters above). I who have been watching this thing since the 60s and consciously since 1972 and who bought ST poster books et al and studied them -- NEVER noticed any of these things. So victory to the professional TV directors of their day.

 

[Mres_was_framed!]

That panel before Kirk in the top image just does not match the rest of the bridge--at all. ugh...

It's better than when that wall was totally blank early on...