The turbolift had no red alert light, fascinating...
TOS Turbolift
- Thread starter Koloth TOS
- Start date
Good point! Given that those rectangular alert panels were EVERYWHERE onboard ship, you'd think there'd have been room for at least one of those little clear perspex blocks from the communications panel
The turbolift does have the same red button though - is it used to initiate a red alert?
Good observation. I think the red button serves as red alert button.Good point! Given that those rectangular alert panels were EVERYWHERE onboard ship, you'd think there'd have been room for at least one of those little clear perspex blocks from the communications panel
The turbolift does have the same red button though - is it used to initiate a red alert?
By the way, I am just watching Computer M5 and there is a scene in chapter 2 where Spock is grabbing a turbolift handle.
I distinctly remember seeing it used that way, though I don't remember the episode(s).
Right. Holding the handles was pretty inconsistent. Kirk usually did it but sometimes (Day of the Dove when he goes to the bridge after the initial swordfight with the Klingons) he didn't. Spock very rarely did.
They wouldn't. But then, Kirk probably wouldn't put an enemy alien up on Deck Two either. Remember, she should have been stronger than any member of the Enterprise crew except Spock.
I surmise that the two security guards left the bridge via the turbolift to prepare the security arrangements for the Romulan Commander in the special high-security/V.I.P. quarters on deck two. It makes sense that there is a security office/post on deck two that supports the bridge; hit red alert and two ready guards immediately pop out of the turbolift, so, deck two would be a good location for the guards to lounge. Additionally, access is easy to control since the small size deck has probably only one point of entry/egress, i.e. the single turbolift. Spock's slow trip was two fold: have conversation time; and provide time for the guards to make arrangements. 
Spock grabbing the handle in the Ultimate Computer.
I don't disagree that odd things happen in every episode. I'd just prefer that there were as few of them as possible
That function makes sense to me too - hopefully I can catch such an incident at some point! Unfortunately, I know that most of the time Kirk just calls for Red Alert verbally (Court Martial notwithstanding)
I like the idea that Deck 2 has "very secure" quarters for VIP
I did toy with the notion that the guards could have gone into the turbolift while Kirk and Spock were talking, but there is a lack of door sounds to support such a claim, so I didn't pursue it. Possible though.
I think the design of the turbolift was intended to communicate to the viewers of that time the idea of an advanced - but recognizable - elevator. The idea of what an elevator looked like was however, in flux. It was not uncommon in the 1960s to come upon an elevator like this one, with a manual operating handle and a view through the door as the floors passed by. It is worth noting that by TMP, the handle and deck/speed indicator are iirc gone. By 1979, there were far fewer manually operated elevators with open grate doors being used by the movie’s audience as well.
Maybe voice for normal routing and transit speeds. Different speeds and routing via manual controls?
I'm sure I've seen more recent productions use the rising/falling indicator light thing in futuristic elevators. It isn't done to remind people of real elevators, it's done because it's a way to create the illusion that a stationary box on a soundstage is moving up or down.
“It isn't done to remind people of real elevators, it's done because it's a way to create the illusion that a stationary box on asoundstage is moving up or down.”
In other words, to remind people of what real elevators do. Can you cite an example of a recent production that uses the “rising/falling indicator light thing”? I’d be interested in such a thing. I made a film in 1980 that took place entirely in an elevator and recall the discussions with the teacher and others that my “rising/falling indicator light thing” was superfluous because by that time, people no longer expected such a cue to let them know the thing was moving. They saw the numbers of the floors change. That was their cue.
In other words, to remind people of what real elevators do. Can you cite an example of a recent production that uses the “rising/falling indicator light thing”? I’d be interested in such a thing. I made a film in 1980 that took place entirely in an elevator and recall the discussions with the teacher and others that my “rising/falling indicator light thing” was superfluous because by that time, people no longer expected such a cue to let them know the thing was moving. They saw the numbers of the floors change. That was their cue.
Such a feature in Star Trek would have required them to nail down the number of decks and location of every room on board ship though - and then what would have left to discuss here?
Also, although the "up/down/left/right" motion indicator was gone by TMP, it's worth noting that it had been replaced by the "moving penlight" schematic on the walls. Something similar appeared on the wall of the tubolift in INS. So indicators remained, just in different forms.
Of course, those are movies which had a larger budget; the directional indicator panel was back in place for TNG and subsequent television series.
I think the turbolift moving deck/bulkhead indicator light had an important additional effect besides indicating movement of the car: it suggested the size of the ship by implying horizontal and vertical movement inside it at the speed of the moving bars. It also did so economically, without having to show the decks and compartments that the car was passing through. I think it was beneficial to provide a sense of where the story was taking place that would have been unneeded in the case of a structure already generally familiar to the audience such as a skyscraper.
Well, later Trek shows themselves, for one, as Mytran just said. "Recent" in this context means after manual elevators had become obsolete.
I wish I could remember some others, but my memory isn't what it used to be and it was never that great anyway. I have vague impressions of seeing something like it in a story set in a super-high futuristic skyscraper (wild guess, Judge Dredd?) and more than once for descent into underground compounds (like possibly that Supergirl storyline with Mitch Pileggi and Cara Buono as ancient gods), but I can't be certain. Various starship lift systems as well, no doubt.
I just know that it stands out to me when I do see it, because it's always struck me as such an artificial conceit, putting lights in the walls of an elevator shaft and putting a window in the side. It seems there are simpler ways to indicate what floor you're on, and of course, the passengers in a real elevator don't need a visual indicator to tell them they're moving (unless it's a very slow, smooth elevator).
I think I once saw one where the production rigged a sliding-belt effect or something to make it look like a rock wall was rising/falling behind an open panel in the elevator wall.
I really like the MDS style ship's schematic used in later turbolifts. Not only does it convey motion but also shows you where the turbolift car is at the time.
Well, if there was an MSD in this scene, it would destroy whatever verisimilitude that turbolift had thus far achieved. So maybe the motion indicator is like stardates- just meant to obscure what is going on so the writing can take the foreground.
Exactly. Sometimes in storytelling, you want to avoid being too specific about things, since it could hamper your freedom in how you tell the story.
Good old youtube people, cutting bits out of my videos and claiming them as their own. The original:
Good job. The turbo ride is hilarious!
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