The Briefing Room Table

[ZapBrannigan]

The Briefing Room table, presumably a Matt Jefferies design, has a very unusual, angular shape. I haven't seen tables like that in real life, and I note that TNG had a very conventional, straight-line conference room table that worked just fine for them.

So, why is the table like that?

a) It was just meant to look sharp, unfamiliar, and futuristic. No practicality intended.

b) It was intended to make it easier to get everyone in the shot when the camera is at the wide end looking inward. (But Kirk and Spock would be in the way of this, at the head of the table).

c) It was meant to be some kind of forced perspective thing to make the room look bigger, that the show never really utilized.

d) The shape is meant to give the Captain and Spock (at the built-in computer terminal) a nice wide table to put their stuff on, while junior officers have to make-do at the narrow end, to keep the table from taking up too much floor space.

What's the deal?

 

[johnnybear]

The briefing room was just that! A room for the officers with a need to know to be in on the information known at that time rather than everyone on the ship! The angular table was just that, a table modified so that the senior officers had access to the details on the computer terminal and the others could give their interpretations on the evidence provided!
The shape of the room did make me feel like it was an upside down rowing boat though I must admit!
JB

 

[Albertese]

Everything about the sets was designed for camera angles to work. That said, MJ also seems to have had an affection for trapezoids, as they occur frequently throughout the series, sometimes as tabletops.

--Alex

 

[plynch]

One of the few threads I started here was Spot the Trapezoid.

 

[Commishsleer]

Futuristic.
The unconventional shapes made the sets look cool and science fictiony.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

It looked interesting from most any angle, allowed the actors to be easily visible, and provided for lots of cool shots in practically any direction. What more do you want?

 

[STEPhon IT]

^Another reason why I Star Trek so much, its shear practicality for production design and still giving it a futuristic feel. There was nothing like it on television.