Observation Deck

[Jose Tyler]

I was re-watching "Conscience of the King" last night and was thinking about the Observation Deck scene. That was a small, but pretty well done set. I know that we never saw Observation Deck from the inside again, but was that set ever reused for something else or just assorted set pieces thrown together?

 

[Warped9]

I don't know. What I do know is that I really wanted to see the view looking through the window down onto the hangar deck. THAT would have been cool.

 

[Forbin]

Was that the window they looked out of in Mark of Gideon?

 

[GSchnitzer]

I was re-watching "Conscience of the King" last night and was thinking about the Observation Deck scene. That was a small, but pretty well done set. I know that we never saw Observation Deck from the inside again, but was that set ever reused for something else or just assorted set pieces thrown together?

The doorway to the Observation Deck is a re-use of the doorway from the Romulan Bridge from a few episodes earlier in "Balance of Terror."

 

[Shawnster]

Was that the window they looked out of in Mark of Gideon?

Mark of Gideon was supposed to be a view of the outside.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

The doorway to the Observation Deck is a re-use of the doorway from the Romulan Bridge from a few episodes earlier in "Balance of Terror."

That's a great catch. I never noticed it before.

I've always appreciated the architectural match-up between the Observation Deck interior and the Hangar Deck miniature. They took some care with it in a way that you didn't always see. For instance, Kirk's quarters were on Deck 12 in "Mudd's Women" (a horrible distance from the bridge to put the captain), and the "forward lurch" in "The Immunity Syndrome" threw Kirk to starboard. But the Hangar Deck was completely thought-out.

 

[Forbin]

Was that the window they looked out of in Mark of Gideon?

Mark of Gideon was supposed to be a view of the outside.

So was Conscience of the king.
http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x13hd/theconscienceofthekinghd198.jpg

While I'm on trek Core - okay, mark of Gideon looks like a different set:
http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/3x16hd/themarkofgideonhd0776.jpg

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Was that the window they looked out of in Mark of Gideon?

Mark of Gideon was supposed to be a view of the outside.

So was Conscience of the king.
http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x13hd/theconscienceofthekinghd198.jpg

There were two sides of the hallway in "Conscience." You're showing the outer hull side, while the hangar deck windows are on the other. Kirk mentions the shuttlecraft as he shows her the interior view:

http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x13hd/theconscienceofthekinghd193.jpg

Edit: oh, I get what you were saying now. Never mind.

 

[plynch]

Those Gideonites are sure cheesy looking.

 

[Forbin]

Somebody made a fortune selling that outfit to 10 billion people!

 

[plynch]

http://p1.la-img.com/930/21665/7457330_2_l.jpg

 

[PCz911]

I don't know. What I do know is that I really wanted to see the view looking through the window down onto the hangar deck. THAT would have been cool.

Agree!!!

 

[Grant]

Loved the set and I find it a shame that they didn't use it more/again.
Also wish they had designed a few more sets that were specific looking.

Got tiring to see the conference room redressed as everything.

I wish they could have at least cut a hole for a window in the conference room wall and when reusing it as the break room or arboretum or chapel--removed the piece to make it look different.
Then when using it as the conference room just cover it with a view-screen or art.

At any rate the ship became less and less a home for the crew and more of a place Kirk, Spock and McCoy beamed down from starting in the middle of season 2.

 

[GSchnitzer]

Loved the set and I find it a shame that they didn't use it more/again.
Also wish they had designed a few more sets that were specific looking.

Got tiring to see the conference room redressed as everything.

I wish they could have at least cut a hole for a window in the conference room wall and when reusing it as the break room or arboretum or chapel--removed the piece to make it look different.
Then when using it as the conference room just cover it with a view-screen or art.

At any rate the ship became less and less a home for the crew and more of a place Kirk, Spock and McCoy beamed down from starting in the middle of season 2.

What is this "Conference Room" you speak of? Do you mean "Briefing Room?" (Next you'll be telling us that Kirk would call meetings before leading an Away Team.)

I think they generally did do stuff to the Briefing Room set when redressing it into other sets to make it look less like the Briefing Room. (I think they generally moved the door and put in food synthesizes; adding a window that would require an expensive star field background would probably not be the most cost-effective way to go.)

 

[Grant]

Loved the set and I find it a shame that they didn't use it more/again.
Also wish they had designed a few more sets that were specific looking.

Got tiring to see the conference room redressed as everything.

I wish they could have at least cut a hole for a window in the conference room wall and when reusing it as the break room or arboretum or chapel--removed the piece to make it look different.
Then when using it as the conference room just cover it with a view-screen or art.

At any rate the ship became less and less a home for the crew and more of a place Kirk, Spock and McCoy beamed down from starting in the middle of season 2.

What is this "Conference Room" you speak of? Do you mean "Briefing Room?" (Next you'll be telling us that Kirk would call meetings before leading an Away Team.)

I think they generally did do stuff to the Briefing Room set when redressing it into other sets to make it look less like the Briefing Room. (I think they generally moved the door and put in food synthesizes; adding a window that would require an expensive star field background would probably not be the most cost-effective way to go.)

I would have thought in that era a simple star field back drop would have been fine. Not a moving star-field.

At any rate, the camera wouldn't be staring out the window--it would be focusing on the actors. The griping about the stars not moving fast enough or in the right direction or whatever wouldn't have come till years later!

 

[GSchnitzer]

Loved the set and I find it a shame that they didn't use it more/again.
Also wish they had designed a few more sets that were specific looking.

Got tiring to see the conference room redressed as everything.

I wish they could have at least cut a hole for a window in the conference room wall and when reusing it as the break room or arboretum or chapel--removed the piece to make it look different.
Then when using it as the conference room just cover it with a view-screen or art.

At any rate the ship became less and less a home for the crew and more of a place Kirk, Spock and McCoy beamed down from starting in the middle of season 2.

What is this "Conference Room" you speak of? Do you mean "Briefing Room?" (Next you'll be telling us that Kirk would call meetings before leading an Away Team.)

I think they generally did do stuff to the Briefing Room set when redressing it into other sets to make it look less like the Briefing Room. (I think they generally moved the door and put in food synthesizes; adding a window that would require an expensive star field background would probably not be the most cost-effective way to go.)

I would have thought in that era a simple star field back drop would have been fine. Not a moving star-field.

At any rate, the camera wouldn't be staring out the window--it would be focusing on the actors. The griping about the stars not moving fast enough or in the right direction or whatever wouldn't have come till years later!

Eh. I say just avoid the window/star problem altogether and just change the Briefing Room set using other kinds of set decorations and furnishings. Use a potted plant instead of a window. Boom! Done.

 

[Grant]

What is this "Conference Room" you speak of? Do you mean "Briefing Room?" (Next you'll be telling us that Kirk would call meetings before leading an Away Team.)

I think they generally did do stuff to the Briefing Room set when redressing it into other sets to make it look less like the Briefing Room. (I think they generally moved the door and put in food synthesizes; adding a window that would require an expensive star field background would probably not be the most cost-effective way to go.)

I would have thought in that era a simple star field back drop would have been fine. Not a moving star-field.

At any rate, the camera wouldn't be staring out the window--it would be focusing on the actors. The griping about the stars not moving fast enough or in the right direction or whatever wouldn't have come till years later!

Eh. I say just avoid the window/star problem altogether and just change the Briefing Room set using other kinds of set decorations and furnishings. Use a potted plant instead of a window. Boom! Done.

Yeah-no.

This thread is about how unique and welcome the observation room was ---because it is NOT a simple redress.

It looks great and you don't get the impression it is something else.

I understand that they had a tight budget and I am suggesting that they could have inexpensively done a little more to give the briefing room a little MORE than a potted plant to make other versions of it unique.

For the rec room they could have hung that rounded view-screen they used in Menagerie to imply that sometimes things were watched for entertainment.

Of course they dropped in a few props like the chess set and such but that really wasn't much effort. It seems like folks who work "indoors" almost all the time would have wanted to "look outside" once in a while.

The ship model clearly showed several windows on the ship--why not actually show those areas?

It's not like cutting a window hole in a plywood wall and adding a window and a star-field backdrop was a budget concern.

I really do think it just became that the show became the adventures of the big 3 going down to a planet and getting captured and escaping and solving the problem of the week pretty much by themselves.

therefore making the ship seem more expansive and unique wasn't a concern.

 

[GSchnitzer]

I would have thought in that era a simple star field back drop would have been fine. Not a moving star-field.

At any rate, the camera wouldn't be staring out the window--it would be focusing on the actors. The griping about the stars not moving fast enough or in the right direction or whatever wouldn't have come till years later!

Eh. I say just avoid the window/star problem altogether and just change the Briefing Room set using other kinds of set decorations and furnishings. Use a potted plant instead of a window. Boom! Done.

Yeah-no.

This thread is about how unique and welcome the observation room was ---because it is NOT a simple redress.

It looks great and you don't get the impression it is something else.

I understand that they had a tight budget and I am suggesting that they could have inexpensively done a little more to give the briefing room a little MORE than a potted plant to make other versions of it unique.

For the rec room they could have hung that rounded view-screen they used in Menagerie to imply that sometimes things were watched for entertainment.

Of course they dropped in a few props like the chess set and such but that really wasn't much effort. It seems like folks who work "indoors" almost all the time would have wanted to "look outside" once in a while.

The ship model clearly showed several windows on the ship--why not actually show those areas?

It's not like cutting a window hole in a plywood wall and adding a window and a star-field backdrop was a budget concern.

I really do think it just became that the show became the adventures of the big 3 going down to a planet and getting captured and escaping and solving the problem of the week pretty much by themselves.

therefore making the ship seem more expansive and unique wasn't a concern.

Couldn't really use that rounded viewing screen; it would just end up looking too much like the Briefing Room:

On the other hand, they did show some communal T.V. watching on a smaller screen--which I guess is about the size of a big screen today:

 

[kirkfan]

I was re-watching "Conscience of the King" last night and was thinking about the Observation Deck scene. That was a small, but pretty well done set. I know that we never saw Observation Deck from the inside again, but was that set ever reused for something else or just assorted set pieces thrown together?

They likely used pieces of that set to make other sets.

 

[Grant]

Eh. I say just avoid the window/star problem altogether and just change the Briefing Room set using other kinds of set decorations and furnishings. Use a potted plant instead of a window. Boom! Done.

Yeah-no.

This thread is about how unique and welcome the observation room was ---because it is NOT a simple redress.

It looks great and you don't get the impression it is something else.

I understand that they had a tight budget and I am suggesting that they could have inexpensively done a little more to give the briefing room a little MORE than a potted plant to make other versions of it unique.

For the rec room they could have hung that rounded view-screen they used in Menagerie to imply that sometimes things were watched for entertainment.

Of course they dropped in a few props like the chess set and such but that really wasn't much effort. It seems like folks who work "indoors" almost all the time would have wanted to "look outside" once in a while.

The ship model clearly showed several windows on the ship--why not actually show those areas?

It's not like cutting a window hole in a plywood wall and adding a window and a star-field backdrop was a budget concern.

I really do think it just became that the show became the adventures of the big 3 going down to a planet and getting captured and escaping and solving the problem of the week pretty much by themselves.

therefore making the ship seem more expansive and unique wasn't a concern.

On the other hand, they did show some communal T.V. watching on a smaller screen--which I guess is about the size of a big screen today:

Good images, another example of an early first season 1 attempt to make the show more crew-friendly and interesting. It would have been nice to see that smaller screen in the rec room all the time.