TFF vs. TUC Enterprise Shots

[Ssosmcin]

Ferren did a far worse job than ILM on many counts, of course, but I don't think ILM had any idea how to light the model properly either. But at least ILM knew how to do motion control well.

1989 was an extremely busy time for ILM and going by the other films of that season, I can understand why Bennett and Shatner decided to look elsewhere. Ghostbusters 2 and Indy 3 were below par for them. Back to the Future Part II and The Abyss seemed to get their best people. Star Trek would have probably taken a hit either way. The problem is when searching for a substitute, the chose unwisely.

My next call would have been to John Dykstra or Dream Quest so see if they had time. When TNG is doing better model shots on TV than a feature picture, you know you're in deep tribble droppings.

I think this is the best non-TMP shot of the Enterprise in the whole movie franchise.

The work on TWOK was among the best shots of the Enterprise done by ILM. They matched the look of TMP well enough for the model to feel in concert with the footage from that movie. Even TUC didn't match ILM at their strongest. I know the money was tight, but the lighting and camera moves still made the Enterprise feel less like a ship than a model in a lot of shots.

However, there was some stunning imagination there. Watching the BoP torpedo come up from beneath the ship and the camera pans to the underside of the Enterprise is great.

 

[FormerLurker]

This is a good time for me to throw out my opinion again that the Enterprise-A is in fact smaller than the original's refit was, despite them using the same model for both. I would argue that its proportions would be so similar that a new model would not be worth the effort, although, as some have pointed out, the docking ports, torpedo ports, bridge dome, etc, should be enlarged to make up for it. This came from the claim in Star Trek 6 that the crew was 300, but I am beginning to understand that the lighting effects discussed here might have also played a role in my forming this opinion.

Crew complement has nothing to do with the size of the ship, beyond there being a maximum possible. Just because the ship only has 300 on it doesn't mean it's smaller, it just means it's more mission specific than a general complemented ship of 430/450.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Crew complement has nothing to do with the size of the ship, beyond there being a maximum possible. Just because the ship only has 300 on it doesn't mean it's smaller, it just means it's more mission specific than a general complemented ship of 430/450.

I assumed with greater automation ships in the 2290s might well have smaller crews than their 2260s equivalents. Reduce the crew, more living space, improved crew morale.

Kirk's cabin, on the other hand, seemed little bigger than a closet. I do think Nick Meyer wanted a claustrophobic, nuclear submarine feel to the ship.

 

[CoveTom]

I assumed with greater automation ships in the 2290s might well have smaller crews than their 2260s equivalents. Reduce the crew, more living space, improved crew morale.

Kirk's cabin, on the other hand, seemed little bigger than a closet. I do think Nick Meyer wanted a claustrophobic, nuclear submarine feel to the ship.

FWIW, Kirk's cabin in TWOK was the same cabin as he had in TMP, just redressed a bit. And his cabin in TUC was a redress of a standard TNG cabin. (The replicator is still there!) So I'm not sure how much Nick Meyer got to dictate the size of the cabins.