so the producers and writers said that discovery will lead into TOS (60's aesthetics and all)...

[GeekUSACarl]

I could see what we now see as the Discovery look turning into something more colorful, lighter, and still maintaining a solid futuristic look as perceived from 2017 technology.
This:

Becomes this:

Edit: Ala something more TOS like.

As much as I didn't like trek 2009, they totally nailed the look, I mean a much better re-imagining of tech.

 

[Fandango831]

As much as I didn't like trek 2009, they totally nailed the look, I mean a much better re-imagining of tech.

That is actually from Beyond which significantly improved the 09 look by many standards, but I fully agree the reboot films have already shown the old can become new once more.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

Of course they don't have to but it also means that we can't pretend that both shows are set in the same shared universe.

Of course we can. All it takes is a little imagination.

Also it isn't even about old school fans having a neurosis because I think most people do like the show...

And you're correct. Most people DO like the show. Which means the lack of the 1960s aesthetic is thoroughly irrelevant.

 

[The Mighty Monkey of Mim]

well just the way that it currently looks is a canon violation in and of itself

Do the re-castings of Saavik or Sarek or Zefram Cochrane with completely different-looking actors constitute canon violations too?

 

[Jedman67]

Do the re-castings of Saavik or Sarek or Zefram Cochrane with completely different-looking actors constitute canon violations too?

Sure, why not?

 

[zar]

I don't think anyone will like this post, and I hope I'm wrong about my conclusions.

I expect no resolution of how the Klingons look, the change of ships, why the Spore Drive isn't in use, why Spock never mentions Burnham.

Producers, show writers and showrunners telling us that everything will make sense and to just hold in has been a trope of TV production from the X-Files, modern BattleStar Galactica, Lost, FlashForward and many more.

In other words, none of what has been suggested will be resolved, will likely be resolved. No answers will be given this season. In reality, I suspect that whilst their knowledge of the franchise is far better than anyone gives them credit for, I think they have made this up as they go along with no end in sight.

One very clear indication of this is how the incredibly talented makeup, prosthetic guys repeatedly insist on throwing Fuller under a bus each time the Klingons are brought up. I think the two guys featured on After Trek are incredibly talented, but in almost every interview, the Klingon design gets laid at Fuller's door,

Fuller has become the fall guy for the Klingon design, and the only reason I can see you would do that is that you've been told to say that. Otherwise, it's incredibly bad form for what are very nice designs, if a little hard to get used to initially.

I suspect the Klingon issue is like the TOS aesthetic issue. It could all be resolved by calling this a reboot. They chose not to do this, but I don't think they've planned this out either. I'd be happier just saying that they revisualised things but now that overarching story points such as cloaking are not fitting, I'm no longer sure.

Mark my words - they will tell you that everything will be revealed and resolved next season.

I don't see them making up much as they go along. In this case the showrunners and producers have been talking about this since long before release, and have indicated that it was done purposely. Of course, certain fans will always have silly complaints like "why are there holograms" and "why is there so much blue" which may never be addressed to their satisfaction (or they will tell themselves it must be a reboot, even though it isn't) but these are likely not what the producers were referring to. This would be major elements like Burnham's relationship and the cloaking device. I suspect most of the mysteries will be resolved before season 2, because they've also made it clear they are closing out the arc by the end of the season. And it would be pointlessly self-defeating to promise anything about future seasons that haven't been written.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

but wasnt nuBSG a total reboot?

Yes, it was. DSC is not.

 

[Ithekro]

Star Trek's 1960's look is only camp if the show doesn't take it seriously. Because of the visuals on the Starfleet ships already that are familiar as looks from the 1960s, it is not that much of a stretch to get to something that looks very similar to the TOS bridge of the USS Enterprise with not much more than a repaint of the Discovery's interior. If one is paying attention to the little details, one might note that they do have buttons and switches on Discovery that resemble those on the USS Enterprise. They have buttons on their computer displays that are close to the colored jellybean buttons on USS Enterprise. The Food Slots are nearly the same already. The room shapes for crew quarters is almost identical to a TOS room. The transporters are nearly the same thing, wit graphically displays that mirror the TOS controls, just more of them than Scott's consoles. The phasers, communicators, and tricorders are nearly the same in style and could believably be one step away in either directions. The chairs in the mess hall are basically late 60s era chairs in design. For the interior, there only needs to be a few changes in how the buttons are displayed and the interior becoming more colorful, which I could see happening in a post-war environment.

The exterior? I still think that the Constitution-class will look the same or basically the same as it always looked, simply because that would be the best piece of nostaligia they could possibly use without needing it every week, because the show is based on Discovery, a Crossfield-class ship. The Constitutions are special even in the show....let them be special with their 60s look.

 

[Jayson1]

Star Trek's 1960's look is only camp if the show doesn't take it seriously. Because of the visuals on the Starfleet ships already that are familiar as looks from the 1960s, it is not that much of a stretch to get to something that looks very similar to the TOS bridge of the USS Enterprise with not much more than a repaint of the Discovery's interior. If one is paying attention to the little details, one might note that they do have buttons and switches on Discovery that resemble those on the USS Enterprise. They have buttons on their computer displays that are close to the colored jellybean buttons on USS Enterprise. The Food Slots are nearly the same already. The room shapes for crew quarters is almost identical to a TOS room. The transporters are nearly the same thing, wit graphically displays that mirror the TOS controls, just more of them than Scott's consoles. The phasers, communicators, and tricorders are nearly the same in style and could believably be one step away in either directions. The chairs in the mess hall are basically late 60s era chairs in design. For the interior, there only needs to be a few changes in how the buttons are displayed and the interior becoming more colorful, which I could see happening in a post-war environment.

The exterior? I still think that the Constitution-class will look the same or basically the same as it always looked, simply because that would be the best piece of nostaligia they could possibly use without needing it every week, because the show is based on Discovery, a Crossfield-class ship. The Constitutions are special even in the show....let them be special with their 60s look.

I kind of agree I just don't want the look to be static the entire run. I would like to see a few more "TOS" touches added as time moves forward on the show. In the same way the character's will have arc's I would like a visual arc to the show. I personally think the show, if it stays good, should stay on for 5 years and maybe they can add a few more wrinkes with each passing season. They already mentioned the computer graphics being more colorful which would be a good way to go into season 2. Perhaps in season 3 we should see more old style Klingons being filtered into the show. In season 4 you change the uniform color scheme's. In season 5 you start seeing a few old school looking vessels being tossed into the mix but not totally 60's looking but a kind of cross between modern and old school which means the show ends kind of looking like the Kelvin Universe and then we can asume off -screen that in the next 5 years after that, things will go from that to "TOS."

Jason

 

[Cinema Geekly]

That was one episode. One, single episode whose point was nostalgia and alt-reality fun. Audiences can suspend belief for that because the whole thing doesn't matter. It's pretty much a big campy joke that everyone is going along with for giggles. Archer dressing up in Kirk's shirt is meant to be absurd yet nostalgic. "Empress Hoshi" is a gag.

That is NOT the same thing as setting a whole dramatic series in some weird, cheap retro-future stuck in the 60's. It's cornball AF. Camp works for some things. It does not, however, work for the kinds of stories Trek has traditionally told and what the current writers are trying to tell.

I don't recall saying it had to be cheap.

My point is that you can take the old designs an update them while maintaining faithfulness. It's not hard and in fact its done all the time.

I maintain my opinion that visual continuity in a TV show is just as important as the story telling (which is a complaint many others are having with the show). So far continuity has boiled down a handful of name drops, a few props, and a few visual cues.

 

[STR]

I don't recall saying it had to be cheap.

My point is that you can take the old designs an update them while maintaining faithfulness. It's not hard and in fact its done all the time.

Define "all the time". Because genre shows are rare on their own. Ones set outside of contemporary times and locations further still. Only a fraction of those have been around long enough to be in position for a visual reboot. And not all of those refreshed themselves successfully. There are literally not enough Trek-like properties for this to be done "all the time", nevermind done well.

Also no, you can update some designs faithfully without being cheap and anachronistic. You cannot be faithful to this specific TOS aesthetic without being anachronistic and cheap because the original was so cheap and old. The moment you start tossing touchscreen interfaces, modern production sensibilities, or anything resembling a computer or UX made this century, it starts looking real different real fast. Which is when pretty much all productions start over.

 

[WarpFactorZ]

I don't recall saying it had to be cheap.

My point is that you can take the old designs an update them while maintaining faithfulness. It's not hard and in fact its done all the time.

This was done already. For example, the original USS Enterprise bridge, updated for the 21st century:

Fans didn't like that either.

 

[Jayson1]

Define "all the time".

No, you can update some designs faithfully without being cheap and anachronistic. You cannot be faithful to this specific TOS aesthetic without being anachronistic and cheap because the original was so cheap and old. The moment you start tossing touchscreen interfaces, modern production sensibilities, or anything resembling a computer or UX made this century, it starts looking real different real fast. Which is when pretty much all productions start over.

Actually the design of "TOS" isn't all that anachronistic so much as that the quality of the props and sets are inferior to what is used together. They lack much of the detail or slickness you get in modern shows. Also the way shows were filmed back then, before you had things like widescreen and HD camera's and what not is also different. Also the color sceme's of the uniforms are okay but you clearly want uniforms with more detail and the color of the sets you might prefer a more metallic look to them.

I agree about touchscreen's but I think nobody ever considered replacing them even when they have wanted a more 60's look. Simply replacing all the blinkies on "TOS" with touchscreens in fact seems like the very first thing someone would think to do if they were trying to do something retro-futuristic and create a more "TOS" feel to a bridge and sets. I also think on some level that the only set that you would need to really feel like your paying homage to "TOS" is the bridge because that is really the only set anyone really cares about IMO when it comes to trying to capture the sets of that time period. Maybe the transporter room but I don't even think the most ardent "TOS" fans care that much if the corridors look different or the quarters, in part because this ship is not the Enterprise or even a Constitution-class ship so naturally it is going to have a different look than what we saw in the old shows.

Jason

 

[Jayson1]

This was done already. For example, the original USS Enterprise bridge, updated for the 21st century:

Fans didn't like that either.

 

[Jayson1]

I'm a fan and I liked it. In fact the only thing I didn't like about the Kelvin Universe, Enterprise was the factory looking, engineering room but only then it wasn't because of the size but because we didn't see a warp core.

Jason

This was supose to go with the above post and i'm not sure what went wrong but I am talking about the pic of the Enterprise bridge.

 

[zar]

This was done already. For example, the original USS Enterprise bridge, updated for the 21st century:

Fans didn't like that either.

That's not really what that is. It's clearly a different style and layout, and a different ship both in and out of universe.

Like @Ithekro was saying, the Discovery itself is already a good starting point for a proper modern depiction of the TOS Constitution. Take Discovery's bridge, join the two front consoles, add the circular railing and more big monitors to the walls, and maybe change the ceiling structure. You could go either way with the paint job.

 

[Jayson1]

I think one thing everyone can agree with, even if you ignore the sets and tech is that the uniforms should be altered at some point and someone needs to turn on the lights of the ship. I got to think a little color and brightness alone would do wonders for making something feel like it's set in the "TOS" time period. I mean the Orville looks very different from the "TOS" Enterprise sets but the uniforms and lighting is enough to make it feel like it could fit in that time. Granted we are talking about a different show with different goals so any change you do you might want to gradually introduce and not full arrive at that point until maybe the coda of the series final. In fact what better way to first see Captain Burnham than to see her walking onto a bridge, of another ship most likely and the ship looks very close to something from "TOS" and she sits in the captain's chair and says something like "Take us to Rigel IV Mr. Smith, warp factor 4" and then you cut out to the ship going to warp and the credits roll and you hear the familar Trek bit "Space the Final Frontier Where No one has gone before, etc" only Burnham is saying that bit and that is how the show ends.

Jason

 

[Fandango831]

Here's an incomplete render I stumbled upon ages ago but it was titled Pike Bridge and with some either Disco color scheming or TOS color scheming it would really shine as a modern take on the old bridge.

 

[alex08060]

I could see what we now see as the Discovery look turning into something more colorful, lighter, and still maintaining a solid futuristic look as perceived from 2017 technology.
This:

Becomes this:

Edit: Ala something more TOS like.

Most likely this will happen, but in the Prime time line.

 

[CaptainMurdock]

Here's an incomplete render I stumbled upon ages ago but it was titled Pike Bridge and with some either Disco color scheming or TOS color scheming it would really shine as a modern take on the old bridge.

Exactly! That is a fine and faithful update of the TOS Aesthetic.