Observations on Janice Lester's isolation room
- Thread starter Just a Bill
- Start date
We reach, brother. As set pieces were being thrown into the roll-off dumpster, I would be doing some of the most deliriously joyful dumpster diving of the century. Not taking anything that we know survived, or any of the lumber/etc. that went to the local college theater — so as not to change history — but I would be watching for pieces that are clearly just about to be hauled off to the dump, never to be seen again. Those little pockets of the landfill will just have to take their chances with the butterfly effect.
Such signs, made with routing, were really standard at the time and the studio may have had a machine for making them.What surprised me about this episode is that they created a brand new door label for the Isolation Ward! Rearranging some set pieces and walls is one thing, but this extra expense? I've not seen the door label in any other episode.
There's a thread that discusses it.
Thanks for that link - a while back I tried to catalogue all the door signs in TOS and narrowing down the typeface was a notable part of that!
As for the sign in question; I realise that the expense wouldn't have been huge but it's still an extra level of attention to detail to go to, just as the series was in the process of being cancelled - and I appreciate it!
Thanks for that link - a while back I tried to catalogue all the door signs in TOS and narrowing down the typeface was a notable part of that!
As for the sign in question; I realise that the expense wouldn't have been huge but it's still an extra level of attention to detail to go to, just as the series was in the process of being cancelled - and I appreciate it!
When Kirk and Spock are "allowed" to enter by the then-unquantified menace in "Wink of an Eye," the camera really lingers on the ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING sign for a moment. I love it, particularly since no one calls it that verbally.
Yeah, these little tidbits are priceless. And surprising, considering that they must have known that the vast majority of their audience would not be able to even read them. The attention to detail is amazing.
To bring this full circle, I went to the TrekCore screencaps to see if I could read the sign, and noticed this shadow shape through the doorway at the left edge of the frame:
Unless I'm mistaken, this shadow indicates that once again, midway through season 3, the wild biobed seems to have been parked in the brig/swing set area. I'm starting to think that probably became its normal storage area, to keep it out of the way of sickbay exam/wardroom scenes that didn't need the third bed.
Yeah, these little tidbits are priceless. And surprising, considering that they must have known that the vast majority of their audience would not be able to even read them. The attention to detail is amazing.
To bring this full circle, I went to the TrekCore screencaps to see if I could read the sign, and noticed this shadow shape through the doorway at the left edge of the frame:
Unless I'm mistaken, this shadow indicates that once again, midway through season 3, the wild biobed seems to have been parked in the brig/swing set area. I'm starting to think that probably became its normal storage area, to keep it out of the way of sickbay exam/wardroom scenes that didn't need the third bed.
Great eye! Very nice catch. I think your theory is very logical.
The lingering on the ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING sign is also interesting because, unless I miss my guess (and I never need an excuse to rewatch my third-favorite episode, so mark that down for the next few days), no one is ever clearly shown walking into the room from an outside perspective, and the room's interior is never seen from outside. Instead (to take one example), when Kirk and Spock enter, you get the pan to the really cool sign.
Now, it was hardly unusual on TOS not to see such things given that the doors were rarely left open—although you clearly see the corridor outside the transporter room in the same episode from a camera placed inside the TR, because Scotty is positioned as a convenient doorstop. But the cuts before entering E.E. make me wonder if its redress from the briefing room/rec room set wasn't complete when they did the corridor work, or something.
As I mentioned earlier in the thread, it's also fun to figure out where they put the cameras for the various scenes in EE, because quite a bit happens in there and it's shot from many different angles.
I rewatched that scene too, just to revell in the closeup - and noticed something else! 
Just prior to that scene, Spock meets Kirk coming out of a (implied) turbolift and hands him a phaser before they proceed to Environmental Engineering.
What's curious is that it's the same corridor setup (red doors to the left, blue airlock doors at the end) as was featured in LTBYLB a couple of weeks later, with only a couple of minor adjustments.
I say "implied" turbolift because while the doors are the correct colour, the carpet is not, plus the inner doors are missing. In fact, this is just the side door to the Briefing Room with a change in door colour. but who is going to notice those differences?
This side door was used rarely throughout the show because it requred reconfiguring the wall panels on the Briefing Room Wall but at the time of WOAE, that reconfiguration was still in place from Day Of The Dove so tweaking it for WOAE would have been relatively cheap & painless.
I've always thought that the LTBYLB was unique, engineered to best suit the filming needs of a chase through the corridors. However, since both episodes were directed by Jud Taylor it seems he simply capitalised on a useful configuration which was left over from his previous episode! Or was he just a great forward planner?
Either way, a fascinating glimpse into the production!
Just prior to that scene, Spock meets Kirk coming out of a (implied) turbolift and hands him a phaser before they proceed to Environmental Engineering.
What's curious is that it's the same corridor setup (red doors to the left, blue airlock doors at the end) as was featured in LTBYLB a couple of weeks later, with only a couple of minor adjustments.
I say "implied" turbolift because while the doors are the correct colour, the carpet is not, plus the inner doors are missing. In fact, this is just the side door to the Briefing Room with a change in door colour. but who is going to notice those differences?
This side door was used rarely throughout the show because it requred reconfiguring the wall panels on the Briefing Room Wall but at the time of WOAE, that reconfiguration was still in place from Day Of The Dove so tweaking it for WOAE would have been relatively cheap & painless.
I've always thought that the LTBYLB was unique, engineered to best suit the filming needs of a chase through the corridors. However, since both episodes were directed by Jud Taylor it seems he simply capitalised on a useful configuration which was left over from his previous episode! Or was he just a great forward planner?
Either way, a fascinating glimpse into the production!
Took me a few moments to spot the differences -- the blue sign on the left is removed and a black sign is added above the left-hand doorway. Also, I think the black and red signs on the back wall would be faintly visible through the translucent arch if they'd been there in "Wink," but I can't see them there. The other visual differences seem to be purely a matter of camera angle and lighting.
I think the blue double doors behind the arch have been moved back farther and turned at an angle.
Oh yeah, I see what you mean.
I rewatched that scene too, just to revell in the closeup - and noticed something else!
Just prior to that scene, Spock meets Kirk coming out of a (implied) turbolift and hands him a phaser before they proceed to Environmental Engineering.
What's curious is that it's the same corridor setup (red doors to the left, blue airlock doors at the end) as was featured in LTBYLB a couple of weeks later, with only a couple of minor adjustments.
I say "implied" turbolift because while the doors are the correct colour, the carpet is not, plus the inner doors are missing. In fact, this is just the side door to the Briefing Room with a change in door colour. but who is going to notice those differences?
This side door was used rarely throughout the show because it requred reconfiguring the wall panels on the Briefing Room Wall but at the time of WOAE, that reconfiguration was still in place from Day Of The Dove so tweaking it for WOAE would have been relatively cheap & painless.
I've always thought that the LTBYLB was unique, engineered to best suit the filming needs of a chase through the corridors. However, since both episodes were directed by Jud Taylor it seems he simply capitalised on a useful configuration which was left over from his previous episode! Or was he just a great forward planner?
Either way, a fascinating glimpse into the production!
It is. Bravo!! Awesome find. I always figured that Kirk was supposed to be coming out of a lift there because he probably couldn't have been just exiting the sickbay complex. Plus, they needed to get Spock in the shot for the smooth equipment handoff.
((Off-topic note—two of my favorite little cool moments in TOS—both wordless—happen during the corridor work in "Wink of an Eye," and both are between Kirk and Spock. The first is what you just mentioned and showed. Although shipboard security is often pretty subpar, in "Wink of an Eye," Kirk's reactions to the Scalosians' takeover are logical, quick and decisive from a tactical standpoint, including ordering the issuance of phasers and communicators to all personnel as Rael and his clever invasion team short out the intercom system. But Kirk is not so equipped himself. No problem; Spock (who has a terrific episode) anticipates that, brings Kirk his gear, and they do the silent handoff. I love that, both in universe and out.))
But getting back to production design, now that I rewatched the episode (I knew it wouldn't take me long), I was way wrong upthread—there are tons of scenes from inside Environmental Engineering that show the corridor. I should have remembered that, because the Scalosians evidently "froze" its door open for their convenience. But there's still that intriguing pan to the fresh new door plaque as Kirk and Spock enter EE. Maybe someone really wanted to show off that neat sign.
Or more likely, they needed to cut away. After all, they rarely seem to show the contents of a room from its entryway, because they'd have to have the walls of the room set configured to hide the out-of-universe elements, and that wouldn't ordinarily be worth the trouble. I can think of extremely few shots of the bridge shown from the turbolift's perspective, for example; they'd have to put in the (more or less starboard) wall that was usually removed for the cameras.
And also farther to the right. It looks like this was done to make room for the panel with the black and red signs highlighted by @Christopher.
The other day I just re-watched another great one in Space Seed, when one of the augments escorts Spock to Sickbay. Marla has just sprung Kirk from the decompression chamber, and he's hiding behind a narrow partition. Spock sees him first and doesn't flinch a millimeter; he waits for Kirk to attack the augment, then is then right there with the finishing neck pinch.
The plot didn't actually require Spock to notice Kirk first, but in staging it that way the director highlighted the two officers' well-oiled silent teamwork and showed Spock being cool as a cucumber -- in a context where any mere human would probably have had some kind of noticeable reaction to seeing that hey! the Captain is not dead after all!
We sound like we notice similar things—I have always loved that moment. You described it perfectly. It's even better because Spock's ensuing line is (IIRC; can't check right this minute) "Surprised to see you, Captain, though pleased."
I rewatched that scene too, just to revell in the closeup - and noticed something else!
Just prior to that scene, Spock meets Kirk coming out of a (implied) turbolift and hands him a phaser before they proceed to Environmental Engineering.
What's curious is that it's the same corridor setup (red doors to the left, blue airlock doors at the end) as was featured in LTBYLB a couple of weeks later, with only a couple of minor adjustments.
I say "implied" turbolift because while the doors are the correct colour, the carpet is not, plus the inner doors are missing. In fact, this is just the side door to the Briefing Room with a change in door colour. but who is going to notice those differences?
This side door was used rarely throughout the show because it requred reconfiguring the wall panels on the Briefing Room Wall but at the time of WOAE, that reconfiguration was still in place from Day Of The Dove so tweaking it for WOAE would have been relatively cheap & painless.
I've always thought that the LTBYLB was unique, engineered to best suit the filming needs of a chase through the corridors. However, since both episodes were directed by Jud Taylor it seems he simply capitalised on a useful configuration which was left over from his previous episode! Or was he just a great forward planner?
Either way, a fascinating glimpse into the production!
Is that the same corridor used for "The Immunity Syndrome" and "Journey to Babel"? With the only difference is how the airlock wall is positioned (WOE is closer to the A frame, LTBYB is angled, TIS and JTB are in approx the same positions as seen in JTB).
@Mytran, are you sure that frame is from LTBYLB? I couldn't find it on TrekCore.
@Christopher mentioned that the arch is translucent— note how the Hangar Deck pressure gauge shines right through it.
I just watched WNMHGB on Bluray, and I think the Briefing Room canopy is held up by the same thing as those arches. It's some kind of fabric stretched in a frame:
I don't recall a close-up of the corridor arch, but this rig in the Briefing Room might be the same thing.
There's also a "turbolift" sign above the red doors in LTBYLB
The change in angle and position of the blue door is indeed the most noticeable difference. I figured that they did this to allow Bele and Lokai a bit more clearance to come running onto the set. Under normal circumstances (when that wall piece is flat) you would run straight into the back wall of the transporter platform chamber!
It's not from Trekcore, it's my own screencap. this one's a pretty close match though:
I would suspect that they are made from the same material - those triangular arches have been around since The Cage after all!
It's certainly the same corridor used to film McCoy and Spock walking towards the airlock doors in TIS, but I don't think the shuttle hangar set was ever actually behind those doors. For one thing there's not enough room behind the airlock doors and even if the other set was in the adjacent studio, the angle of entry through the large studio doors would be wrong. Here's the JTB setplan to show what I mean:
Finally, when Sarek's party disembark and stand by the triangular arch, the right to the right is not at a right angle but flat (demonstrated by the rectangular wall plant-on)
Most likely, the airlock doors and a few other set elements were removed the standard set and carried next door, where they were positioned to form the entrance to the (suitably cavernous) hangar deck set.
Yes, I mentioned the black sign, though I didn't see what it said.There's also a "turbolift" sign above the red doors in LTBYLB
I figure that was just the empty swing soundstage, since the wall behind the shuttle was bare. (Did TOS-R add in a CGI hangar bay background? I forget.)
Apologies, I thought you were referring to the black sign by the airlock doors
Correct, something which vaguely resembled the Flight Deck observation gallery was added on the wall behind th shuttle in JTB. They added it again in TIS but at a lower height
@Mytran - you're right, JTB doesn't show that part of the corridor (from TIS). That scene with the shuttle visible thru the airlock was probably moved to another stage like you were thinking. In TIS it looks like they did a similar trick when Spock and McCoy clear the A frame the camera cuts and the airlock door/wall was relocated back to the stage with the shuttle.
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