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Star Trek: Generations at 30

Not my favorite TNG Era movie but a strong second. It's got enough plot holes to fly all of Starfleet through but it entertains me, and the cinematography may well be the best of ANY Trek film. The way they lit the TV sets for a big screen remains nothing short of impressive.
I just don't get it. At all. I'll never get the love that people have for the lighting of the Enterprise-D sets in Generations. It looks like they've suddenly decided to switch the Enterprise to being lit by fireplaces in each room. It's not "cinematic," it's just dark, IMHO. The only part of the Enterprise-D from that film I found impressive was the beautiful stellar cartography set. Other than that, I much preferred how the ship looked in TNG.
 
The lighting in the ready room and 10 fwd looked great, but the rest did look nicer in TNG. The extra consoles on the bridge were a welcome addition as well.
 
Absolutely! I'm not saying anyone is wrong to like the cinematography. I'm just saying I don't get it myself.

^^this, and sentiment shared (as general concept).

Why I adore the darker sets - after years of bleached overlit sets for 178 TV episodes of varying levels of excitement, now we get sets steeped in shadow detail - even more than in seasons one and two. The shadow detail adds depth, as had the grilles added over the turbolift doors to add some additional visual texturing -- or at least to hide the fact that the sets got heavy use over 7 years (10-Forward was 6 years and also repurposed for STVI), with carpet and bits of wall getting knackered. Okay, maybe there's a tad too little lighting, but there's still enough ambient lighting that the net result just looks atmospheric. That said, close examination of the Ready Room set does show some bumps thanks to the outside star illuminating just the right area.

Granted, Data's quarters started as Kirk's quarters from TMP but redressed, so some sections were far more than 7 years old.

But it had to have been more than just "hide the nicks on the set", since the shiny new Amargosa observatory was also lit with the same philosophies.

But, yeah, the old joke of OSHA would have a fit over the subdued lighting makes sense, especially in Data's quarters where it's also by far the least lit. Engineering and Bridge did look better, though that also meant that some camera angles had to be avoided and especially for all but long-shots as quilted fabric was used for some plasma tubes in Engineering, which definitely would not have been seen as such in 1987 and only a trained eye can see on blu-ray, but those same sets and picture quality on a 40~70-foot screen?! There'd be no chance to hide anything at all, not even for any pairs of pants hanging up there.

Beyond the visual appeal or lack thereof, it technically would be inappropriate in some areas such as Engineering, or whenever Geordi wants Data to pop his top so he can shove a positronic chip in it.

Lastly, the reduced lighting helped the fact that all the DS9 costumes were nicked and not tailor-fit for any of the crew, who were changing outfits in the middle of an emergency. Into ill-fitting outfits that some of them could trip on and over, should they have to run in a hurry.
 
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