Vektor said:
This is where I can see the CG guys being a lot less careful. All they really need to do for the purposes of this teaser is show some plausible looking “guts” beneath the missing hull plates. I wouldn’t lay any bets on them actually corresponding to identifiable internal structures like decks and crawlspaces, though, simply because those kinds of details have probably only been worked out to a rudimentary degree, if at all. Frankly, I think anybody who believes they can look at these images and puzzle out a meaningful deck arrangement including heights and clearances, or identify specific compartments like bars or lounges or crew quarters or whatever, is doing little more than providing amusement to some guys back at ILM who just put together some pipes and trusses and paneling and stuck it in there so it looked good.
My best judgment as a draftsman, 3D modeler and design/construction professional is that the saucer is about 60’ thick as shown in the teaser, but that the ship’s overall size has probably been exaggerated for dramatic effect. The 947’ overall length may not be canon, but I’d bet dollars to doughnuts that the people who built this model are well aware of it and that the “real” version is a lot closer to that dimension than to 3,500 feet long or any of the other extreme measurements various people—including me—have come up with.
You're right that there is no real reason for them to put these things
that we think we're seeing in this model, because unless the construction
(or the destruction) of the ship is a part of the movie these things will
never be seen through the 'skin' of the ship when its on screen in action.
At the same time, I do think that what many of the posters are saying they
can discern is exactly what is there in the model used for the trailer.
Why would they put this stuff there that is totally unnecessary to what
will be necessary for the movie?
First, its a level of realism that is noticed, even if only subliminally,
and even stuff might not be in the movie will register with the people
that see it. This will be important for overcoming that 'Oh, not that
Star Track crap again...' that 'non-fans' are going to react with when
they see the trailer in theaters.
That's why its a very dirty looking ship, too. Non-fans will look at it
and get sucked in, maybe even think its something else, another Aliens or
something, before they even realize its Trek. Look at what they show and
when. The meat of the trailer is 2/3's done before anything is seen or
heard that would indicate that its Trek.
With that being true, why would they even care at all about putting things
inside the ship that are 'real' and recognizable? To do exactly what is
happening on this BBS. These things are there, and they are what we think
we're seeing, to generate interest in the fan community. They are Easter
eggs for Trek Nerds.
I've been a fan from the very first episode broadcast. It has been a whole
lot of cold turkey these last couple of years with nothing new to talk
about. Now I'm interested again. I've been looking at the trailer over
and over looking for new things that I may have missed. I haven't been
this jazzed about anything Trek in over a decade. That's why its there
and that's why its not just 'plausible looking guts'. Its to get us talking.
I think that the red/brown shape that we see through the opening on the
rim is the bar/lounge, the original series version of Ten Forward (?Six
Forward?). Do I believe that when the movie rolls on the screen next
year there will be a bar that we'll be able to see on-screen through the
hull right at that location and looking like that. No. Maybe not - but
maybe, yes, too.
I don't think they are intentionally misleading us. If something can
be picked out of the trailer, such as the ship being two decks thick at
the rim, that's the way that it will be next year (unless they have a
plot point that makes them have to change it).
The spin monsters in J.J.'s marketing machine want us to see this stuff and
talk about it right now. I think there's a lot more detail in these images
than the first glance would lead 'common' viewers to notice (and we Trek
Nerds have proved ourselves over and over to be anything but common
viewers). There are things to find. They are 'real'.
Another example; are we seeing into the bridge through the openings
up on the command module? Its lower than we would expect to find the
bridge, but if there isn't an Easter egg up there, why did they pick
that part of the ship to expose? When you look at the hi-res video it
gives a sense of depth and openness. (The same visual 'feelings' are not
there with caps. You have to view the hi-res video, paused, and 'rocking'
it back and forth with the slider.)
The general profile that we can see of the internal structures is an
almost exact match of many of the plots, blue prints, and cut-aways that
have come up over the years for the original E's bridge. I think its
the bridge...
So that's my 'spin'. Is it 'real'? I think it could end up being real
and it is as real as they can make it. Every shape, every color, every
pixel is carefully calculated. There is no sloppiness and no accidents.
Its all there with the purpose of getting as many people as possible
talking and excited about what the movie will be - and 'everyone' includes
the Trek Nerds. And I also anticipate that over the next year they'll
roll out new clips in small installments that will give us a few more
nuggets just to keep us on the edge of our seats. Insidious, if you ask
me...
MAC