Spears in "The Galileo Seven" - scientific curiosity

[Garrovick]

I was watching "The Galileo Seven" over the weekend, and something struck me that I had never thought about before. Specifically, the scene where Spock indulges his "scientific curiosity" about the fate of Mr. Gaetano after being carried off by the furry friends on Taurus II. After Spock hands over his phaser to McCoy, he goes off to find Gaetano, and quickly discovers his body. At that point, Spock collects the body, slings it over his shoulders, and starts back to the Galileo, with his back to the camera. There is a cut to another shot where Spock enters the scene, again walking away from the camera - After a few seconds a spear comes from behind and hits one of the rocks, splitting off a few chunks of it. Of course, the rocks were actually foam construction (I believe), and so the spear was able to easily chip off the corner. But it got me wondering - what was the spear prop itself actually made of? I'm sure it wasn't made of stone and wood, but at the same time, it seems like it would have to be made of something at least a little bit heavy, otherwise it wouldn't look right - if it was made of some kind of foam, it seems like it wouldn't fly through the air right when thrown and also it wouldn't be able to chip the rock the way it did.

I wonder about it because I noticed in that scene that the first spear thrown seems like it comes awfully close to hitting Leonard Nimoy right in the back, it only seems to miss by a few inches. I thought for a minute that maybe it was a stunt double but when Spock turns to look it's clearly Nimoy in the shot. Seems kind of dangerous to throw something that close to an actor like that. I don't know, maybe the spear was just made out of foam, but the way it hits the rock and then bounces to the ground, it just doesn't look like it to me. Does anyone know anything about that? Even something made out of light plastic of that size might be painful if it hits someone like that.

 

[LMFAOschwarz]

I see what you mean, Garrovick! Actually two of those spears come very close to Nimoy. They do appear to be heavier than mere foam, based upon how they bounce. But it's so hard to tell for sure. I'm not sure I'd have wanted to be a prop guy behind camera launching those things at him.

I often got the same feeling when watching an old Buster Keaton movie. Oftentimes, it looks as if a prop failed, or didn't perform exactly right, it could have put Keaton in a hospital for sure!

 

[Maurice]

^^^Or flattened him like a pancake, like the falling house face in Steamboat Bill Jr.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpk7O6HNT7E[/yt]​

 

[LMFAOschwarz]

Thanks, Maurice: that falling house face was exactly what I was thinking of!

 

[Maurice]

Everyone talks about how dangerous that was, and I know nothing about the construction of the facade, but if I were rigging that stunt I'd make the entire area around the window out of pre-scored balsa so it would have very little mass and would shatter if it clipped the guy.

There's a scene in the Harold Lloyd film Girl Shy where he's grabbing at a firehose to stop himself from falling off a fire wagon but the hose unreels and he basically "climbs" is as it does. In one take when he first pulled the hose the big brass nozzle whacked him on the head and put him out cold. When he woke up, he hopped right back on and did another take.

 

[Melakon]

A lot of weapons used in action scenes are made of rubber. Rubber swords for medieval films, rubber guns thrown at Superman, rubber knives to stab people. So those big spears probably had rubber as part of their construction.

 

[feek61]

One of the spear tips was sold at the Bob Justman auction back in 2002. The description says it was made of foam painted to appear as stone.

 

[Metryq]

The "boulder" chip looks like it was caused by the shaft of the spear, and not the tip. Still, that particular shot was in line with Nimoy's head. Even a lightweight prop could have caused a black eye, or other injury.

Some productions use wires to guide arrows or knives that are to pass close to an actor, such as Elaan throwing a knife at Kirk. (The wire is just barely visible in the Standard Definition version; probably very clear on Blu-ray HD.) Perhaps the sheer number of thrown spears in "The Galileo Seven" made wirework impractical, assuming that widely thrown props would be safe enough. Wire-guided spears would have looked far more threatening. WHOOSH! CHUNK!

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Some productions use wires to guide arrows or knives that are to pass close to an actor, such as Elaan throwing a knife at Kirk. (The wire is just barely visible in the Standard Definition version; probably very clear on Blu-ray HD.)

I just checked the HD frame and I'm surprised I never noticed the wire before. It's not clear from TrekCore whether CBS Digital performed "support removal" on the updated version or not.

 

[2takesfrakes]

Was any of the cast ever put in any kind of danger, when so often, their doubles were used, without reservation? The camera men didn't even bother to shoot at angles, or past obstructions, or whatever, to even attempt to mask this. Out in the open, plain as day, for all to see ... stunt doubles immediately dropped into the scene who bore no resemblance to their main cast counterparts. The only time I'm aware of where any kind of jeopardy really happened to the STAR TREK actors was in ARENA. The Shat and the gang were running around on the planet, being bombed by The Gorn. Shatner's had a ringing in his ears, ever since, from all of those flash explosions going on around him. Outside of this, like I said, I'm very surprised anyone would be concerned, looking back, as to whether or not Nimoy was ever in danger from having a styrafoam stick chucked at him ...

 

[Mytran]

It wasn't Arena, it was one of the the Season 2 episodes that gave Shatner tinnitus (possibly The Apple, with the exploding rocks on a soundstage).

The "explosions" in Arena were simple puffs of fuller's earth, with the actual explosion sound being added later.

 

[2takesfrakes]

... THE APPLE?! Even better. The cheeziest episode of them all, and yet, in some ways, one of the most relevant. If used as a metaphor for the Internet, Vaal's desperate hunger for more of our personal information, and our mindless compliance with feeding it, could be quite apt, indeed! But was all of that worth having one's sense of hearing compromised? I cannot tell. I suspect not ...

 

[FormerLurker]

Shatner, Nimoy, and Kelley ALL got tinnitus from a flashpot explosion being set off without cracking the soundstage doors first. They've all said so at conventions and such.

For the record, I have tinnitus. It's no fun.

 

[erastus25]

Shatner, Nimoy, and Kelley ALL got tinnitus from a flashpot explosion being set off without cracking the soundstage doors first. They've all said so at conventions and such.

For the record, I have tinnitus. It's no fun.

This is the first I've heard that Kelley also had tinnitus. Is there a source verifying? Or simply secondhand stories from conventions?

 

[Harvey]

The incident (from "The Apple") is described on page 172 of From Sawdust to Stardust: The Biography of DeForest Kelley, Star Trek's Dr. McCoy.

 

[erastus25]

The incident (from "The Apple") is described on page 172 of From Sawdust to Stardust: The Biography of DeForest Kelley, Star Trek's Dr. McCoy.

Thanks!

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I am so.. I don't know what. I thought this would be about Britney.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I never heard about Kelley having tinnitus, either. You never know what's in those books you don't buy.

 

[FormerLurker]

According to a video of Shatner and Nimoy onstage together, the three of them were in the makeup trailer when Kelley brought it up, saying, "You know, my ears ring." And the other two were shocked and said "Mine do, too." The two onstage went on to describe how they determined they all must have developed it.