Quarters in the lower half of the saucer?

[blind51de]

I've been rewatching my favorite episodes of TNG, and I can't help but notice the majority of (if not all) sets for the Enterprise with windows seem to be located in the upper part of the saucer (or stardrive, I guess) with windows looking out like \.

Were there ever any sets built with windows looking downwards?

 

[Ithekro]

No. At least not until much later when it was the Enterprise-E or Voyager, and those were only used once or twice so they were either green screen or small portholes put in the floor.

 

[Timo]

The only time we get anything diverging from the \ saucertop setup in TNG is probably "The Next Phase", where the phased Romulan is kicked out of a quarters into space through a vertical rather than a slanted outer wall...

That, and of course Ten Forward - and the odd vertical window behind Crusher's sickbay chair in certain episodes (usually, the wall is covered by curtains). But that can't be a real window anyway, no matter what.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Set designers and ship model designers didn't get along.

 

[Finn]

^^i always thought that window in Beverly's office looked into an unseen room used by her. The door into Sickbay suggested that it is inside the saucer away from the hull

 

[Ithekro]

What if the decks below the midpoint of the saucer were upside down so that all the crew quarters there would also have windows in the upper part of the room, rather than in the floor? Gravity fields can be placed wherever on a starship and by the 24th century, rarely fail.

 

[HIjol]

What if the decks below the midpoint of the saucer were upside down so that all the crew quarters there would also have windows in the upper part of the room, rather than in the floor? Gravity fields can be placed wherever on a starship and by the 24th century, rarely fail.

Would make for some interesting Personnel walking and other "movement" shots, a la 2001!

 

[Ithekro]

The turbolift rotates 180 degrees while moving between decks and because the car has its own gravity fieldm no one notices.

 

[Timo]

This would also explain away many "they say these specific quarters are to the port, but the starstreaks say otherwise!" discrepancies...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Richard Baker]

What if the decks below the midpoint of the saucer were upside down so that all the crew quarters there would also have windows in the upper part of the room, rather than in the floor? Gravity fields can be placed wherever on a starship and by the 24th century, rarely fail.

I really like this idea. I wondered how rooms would be very practical with the window on the floor. They had enough difficulty with the upper rooms being wedge shaped- the window section came so low only a bed or low sofa would fit that side.

 

[Trekker4747]

The sets were designed so that the windows could be rotated to suggest a room on the bottom of the saucer section. But it was apparently too much trouble and/or not worth the effort so it was never employed.

IIRC in a Season 1 episode where Troi is set to be married there's a reception in dining lounge with vertical windows, suggesting a room either in the "island" on the top of the saucer, in one of the "cut outs" in the lower half or, possibly, in the neck.

The only time we get anything diverging from the \ saucertop setup in TNG is probably "The Next Phase", where the phased Romulan is kicked out of a quarters into space through a vertical rather than a slanted outer wall...

I just watched the scene, he is very clearly pushed through a typical slanted quarters wall. It's an odd-looking and quick shot but it's slanted. There's even a reverse shot looking down at Geordi and Ro from the outside of the ship through the slanted window.

 

[Squiggy]

Yup.

The Next Phase

Haven had a non-oval window though.

 

[Leviathan]

Lower saucer is 'Economy' class on the Enterprise and unworthy of screentime.

 

[Doug Otte]

The sets were designed so that the windows could be rotated to suggest a room on the bottom of the saucer section. But it was apparently too much trouble and/or not worth the effort so it was never employed.

Can you cite this anywhere? The walls were slanted, too, so I don't see how the windows could be "rotated."

 

[Doug Otte]

It would be cosmic to have quarters on the lower half, facing forward. Imagine lying in bed with the lights out and looking "down" as the ship rushes toward celestial objects.

 

[Trekker4747]

The sets were designed so that the windows could be rotated to suggest a room on the bottom of the saucer section. But it was apparently too much trouble and/or not worth the effort so it was never employed.

Can you cite this anywhere? The walls were slanted, too, so I don't see how the windows could be "rotated."

From Memory Alpha, a Star Trek Wikia, which cites the TNG Companion as a source:

The producers of TNG wanted the quarters for senior officers and guests to have many windows. "Originally, in the personal quarters they were to be floor-to-ceiling windows," remembered illustrator Andrew Probert, "but a bed or a sofa blocked it anyway so it was cut off." (Star Trek Monthly issue 19, p. 41) Production Designer Herman Zimmerman designed these quarters to incorporate a window wall that could be tilted to resemble an outer location in either the lower or upper half of the Galaxy-class saucer section. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion 3rd ed., p. 22)

Emphasis mine.

LINK

The reason for them not doing it, granted, is mostly speculation on my part but I'm also fairly sure I've read it somewhere, in a Trek Magazine or something. As you said the area looks "complex" so it's possible rotating the windows for an underside room wasn't worth the trouble for pretty much no gain. And (similar to the reasons why the Ten-Forward/saucer rim wasn't protrayed as intended (one deck high with a floor and ceiling window with a break in the middle) the windows on "the floor" would be obscured by numerous objects on the set which would pretty much negate any "use" the window would have for cinematic purposes. In "reality" it would be dramatic, sure, but on TV setting up a shot is going to win-out and if a window provides a more dramatic view being "on the ceiling" rather than "on the floor" (and the floor window showing little or nothing) the more visually interesting set-up is going to win.

 

[Timo]

How high would you have to mount a set where the window is tilted "down", so that the camera could actually look at the window from a reasonable distance (that is, not always hugging the far wall) and still see the starfield canvas rather than the studio floor? It must be a pain to build set floors above the studio floor, and the confining "Cabin" set would provide angles where it would be unnatural for the camera not to look down, as opposed to how things can work out at "10 Forward".

Sure, you can cover the floor in greenscreen and get nice effects at no extra price. But the cheaper pinholed black velvet won't work unless freely suspended, right?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Doug Otte]

The sets were designed so that the windows could be rotated to suggest a room on the bottom of the saucer section. But it was apparently too much trouble and/or not worth the effort so it was never employed.

Can you cite this anywhere? The walls were slanted, too, so I don't see how the windows could be "rotated."

From Memory Alpha, a Star Trek Wikia, which cites the TNG Companion as a source:

The producers of TNG wanted the quarters for senior officers and guests to have many windows. "Originally, in the personal quarters they were to be floor-to-ceiling windows," remembered illustrator Andrew Probert, "but a bed or a sofa blocked it anyway so it was cut off." (Star Trek Monthly issue 19, p. 41) Production Designer Herman Zimmerman designed these quarters to incorporate a window wall that could be tilted to resemble an outer location in either the lower or upper half of the Galaxy-class saucer section. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion 3rd ed., p. 22)

Emphasis mine.

LINK

Thanks. The wording there is a little unclear, but I think by "window wall" he meant that the entire wall could be tilted the other way, not just the window. What do you think?

 

[Mytran]

It is possible, but regardless which it would still be a might undertaking for a simple redress. There's also the fact the windows on the underside of the saucer were at least twice as long as those on the upper section, so it would by no means be a perfect match.

...
Haven had a non-oval window though.

I wonder if that window (and the a accompanying stateroom) were meant to be located in the dorsal neck section? It's certainly one of the few places were such vertical windows might exist.

 

[Leviathan]

It would be cosmic to have quarters on the lower half, facing forward. Imagine lying in bed with the lights out and looking "down" as the ship rushes toward celestial objects.

...but I prefer sleeping on my back.