Observations on Janice Lester's isolation room

[Christopher]

That set model is a wonderful thing. And yes, it makes sense that the EMM would've been wild (movable) so that it wouldn't get in the way of cameras, overhead lights, and such when they were shooting Engineering from that side. The "energizers" (for want of a better term) were probably wild too, since they weren't shown in any of the available set plans besides the TMOST one. Though they do look like they're in fixed positions on the model.

It took me a moment, but that yellow room at the bottom is Auxiliary Control, isn't it?

 

[Phaser Two]

Heh, I made that same mistake today. By the way, I think I just confirmed that they did indeed keep those turbines/energizers around even after the EMM was constructed: they both appear on MJ's set model!

Note that the EMM (rectangular with a light yellow floor) appears to have been loose on the model. Here the whole shebang is being held up for the camera — by D.C. Fontana, if memory serves. The EMM has slid down until stopped by the pulled-out bridge wedges, and somewhere along the way it also has spun around about 180° from the facing it would normally have (the black box on the left end is the ladder alcove). This all seems to suggest that the full-size EMM was movable.

I wonder if those bridge wedges were magnetized, or used some kind of repositionable glue like post-its? I also wonder if their order has been swapped; the red handrails don't seem to align properly unless you transpose them, and the one behind Spock's back is too short unless it's extended by the short rail segment on the leftmost pullout wedge.

Nice; I forgot all about this model—thanks. The EMM has to have been wild or removable, I think. For example, when the Klingons take over in "Day of the Dove," there are all those shots from the ground of the raised section on the opposite side. The Klingon stunt team attacks from that section; Kang, Mara, and the first officer or second officer played by Mark Tobin later come out there to gloat; and the entity shows up there at the end before being laughed out of town. Did they have enough room for the cameras to get those shots if the EMM was in place? It looks tight.

 

[Just a Bill]

I'm sure the EMM was wild, as well as the "energizers." In later episodes (e.g. Mirror, Mirror) the energizers faced each other as drawn in TMoST, but in earlier ones (The Enemy Within, The Naked Time, Court Martial, maybe Space Seed) they were shoulder-to-shoulder and facing into the Engineering space. I agree they seem fixed on the model, so maybe at some point face-to-face became their default position?

FWIW, I will always love The Enemy Within for giving us this view of Engineering. One of the few parts of the whole set to actually have a filmable ceiling.

 

[Mytran]

No, there are two of them and they bracket where the EMM would go. The image is reproduced here: https://forgottentrek.com/the-origi...se-within/images/Star-Trek-set-floor-plan.png

I wondered if they were supports for the EMM set, but apparently it was on stilts. I always sort of assumed they were the big machines on that side of engineering from "The Enemy Within," but the graphic shows the season 2 set configuration.

Thanks for the link!
This is also the version of the setplan in which a portion of the Transporter Room (the area which has the additional scanner console) intrudes into the corridor

 

[Christopher]

This is also the version of the setplan in which a portion of the Transporter Room (the area which has the additional scanner console) intrudes into the corridor

Yes. I assume they removed the corridor wall when filming the transporter alcove and struck the alcove when filming in that part of the corridor.