The Cage Printer

[Disposable_Ensign]

I have been looking for, and cannot find a good shot of the printer on the bridge in The Cage. Can anyone find/does anyone have either concept art of it, or a good shot that shows the text on the buttons? If so, please share it.

Thanks (emoji doesn't meanign anything: just looks cool )

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I have been looking for, and cannot find a good shot of the printer on the bridge in The Cage. Can anyone find/does anyone have either concept art of it, or a good shot that shows the text on the buttons? If so, please share it.

Thanks (emoji doesn't meanign anything: just looks cool )

These are the best I ever saw:
https://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x00hd/thecagehd0269.jpg
https://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x00hd/thecagehd0270.jpg
https://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x00hd/thecagehd0271.jpg

 

[Disposable_Ensign]

Is there any concept art for the Cage bridge controls?

 

[Maurice]

Not that I’ve seen, other than some sketches of entire stations to show the size and angles.

 

[Commishsleer]

The printer was so cool back in the day.

 

[Push The Button]

I’m curious about the mechanism, though I wouldn’t be surprised if someone was underneath the console pushing the sheet of paper out by hand.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I’m curious about the mechanism, though I wouldn’t be surprised if someone was underneath the console pushing the sheet of paper out by hand.

I would be flabbergasted if someone wasn't back there handing the paper out to the actor. Why build a mechanism when you can just cut a slot?

 

[Qonundrum]

These are the best I ever saw:
https://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x00hd/thecagehd0269.jpg
https://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x00hd/thecagehd0270.jpg
https://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x00hd/thecagehd0271.jpg

I dig the huge "calibrate" button. It makes sure that all text dots are printed with precision, especially if they have barcodes to scan in.

In seriousness, it's nice they took the time to add in control labels onto the function buttons. Real ones and not silly jokes of the sort you know I'd have done...

 

[Qonundrum]

I’m curious about the mechanism, though I wouldn’t be surprised if someone was underneath the console pushing the sheet of paper out by hand.

And making "whir-whir-whir-whir-whir-bzzz-bzzz-bzzz-whirrr" noises for added authenticity...

 

[Maurice]

I would be flabbergasted if someone wasn't back there handing the paper out to the actor. Why build a mechanism when you can just cut a slot?

Pretty much a certainty.

 

[Disposable_Ensign]

I found this answer to all my questions: http://trekplace.com/article03.html pretty cool article and site.

 

[Shawnster]

Must have been a fetish of Roddenberry's. The printer appears in TNG's pilot "Encounter at Fairport."

I do have to laugh at the idea these advanced aliens encountered by the Enterprises were only eavesdropping on aural data and could not, you know, read minds or read printed text

 

[Qonundrum]

Must have been a fetish of Roddenberry's. The printer appears in TNG's pilot "Encounter at Fairport."

I do have to laugh at the idea these advanced aliens encountered by the Enterprises were only eavesdropping on aural data and could not, you know, read minds or read printed text

In 1964, sure - computer printers were somewhat new; seeing something so compact would be futuristic and probably jaw-dropping for the audience, had they seen the pilot at the time... then again, wireless facsimile machines had existed in the 1920s (but a bit rate until the latter-end of the 1940s?) and wired telegraphs since the 1800s...

By 1987... not so much... the modern day fax machine was still a few years away, but it's all a lovely variation of the same theme.

Maybe Roddenberry liked books and that delightful smell caused by mold spores as time goes by... just don't sniff in too many...

If nothing else, assuming the printer wasn't a dumb callback to "The Cage", we can just say the paper was really made from "synthapulp" via replicator technology so they wouldn't have to keep returning to planet Cellulfibrose II every few weeks...

 

[Maurice]

I think people overestimate what would have been "jaw dropping" for an audience. People are not so easily wowed by something like a piece of paper coming out of a machine, especially on a show with ray guns and transporters. If such a thing were seen IRL in 1966, yeah, maybe that would be a "wow" but not on TV.

 

[mb22]

Fax machines, (called as such) were quite common in 1987. What do mean by 'modern day'?

 

[Christopher]

In 1964, sure - computer printers were somewhat new; seeing something so compact would be futuristic and probably jaw-dropping for the audience, had they seen the pilot at the time... then again, wireless facsimile machines had existed in the 1920s (but a bit rate until the latter-end of the 1940s?) and wired telegraphs since the 1800s...

Hardly jaw-dropping. To 1960s audiences, computers giving readouts in printed form would've been old hat, both in real-life terms and in fictional terms, although a regular sheet of paper would've been more unusual than a ticker tape or a punch card. (The Batcomputer in Batman '66 tended to give its readouts on cards.) What would've been seen as a novelty was computers giving readouts on video screens.

 

[Disposable_Ensign]

The original script had the distress call appearing on the main viewscreen, instead of a printout.

 

[Maurice]

The original script had the distress call appearing on the main viewscreen, instead of a printout.

A bit ambiguous (clattering device), but not the main viewscreen in the final shooting script.

Not sure which draft you are referring to (there were a lot).

 

[Christopher]

That "rolls the message up into view" suggests Roddenberry was thinking of something like a teletype, which would've been quite commonplace at the time.

 

[Disposable_Ensign]

Corrction: Audio not video:
http://www.knowitalljoe.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Star-Trek-the-Cage-Roddenberry-Copy.pdf page 7