Why were there not more Blue and Green species?
- Thread starter Infern0
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I imagine it's a matter of economics. It takes more time to re-paint an actor's entire body (and that means more money per hour spent paying the actor and the makeup artists), whereas it's much quicker to do a face-only makeup job and just use the actor's natural skin tones.
Cardassians came in varying shades of grey and beige...I'd say they had believable ethnic variation, at least, if we take the differing skin colors to be a signal of different racial backgrounds.
the lack of green and blue aliens maybe connected to the use of colour-seperation overlay, aka 'greenscreen' or 'bluescreen', and the fact that it'd make their faces disappear....
I don't remember offhand any purple - but Vaal's disciples were red.
You didn't mention Benzites, who are blueish like Bolians, but not quite as bright.
Yep, I'd like to see more red folks. I had an idea for a fanfic, which has been invalidated by the greater information we now have on Andorians, where I envisioned yellow-skinned Andorians as an oppressed minority who only recently gained full rights after Andor joined the Federation, but there's still bad blood between the two main groups. -- RR
^You could still do it, just call 'em Aenar.
Blue seemed pretty well represented.
I wonder what kind of advantage blue skin conveys, anyway. It's hard to think of any--maybe the "blue" pigment helps reflect of upper-spectrum light, instead of absorbtive as our melanin is. Alternatively, maybe its not pigment at all, but oxygenated hemocyanin seen through translucent skin--but then it's hard to square a circulatory system so close to the surface and the frigidity of the Andorian climate.
Blue seemed pretty well represented.
I wonder what kind of advantage blue skin conveys, anyway. It's hard to think of any--maybe the "blue" pigment helps reflect of upper-spectrum light, instead of absorbtive as our melanin is. Alternatively, maybe its not pigment at all, but oxygenated hemocyanin seen through translucent skin--but then it's hard to square a circulatory system so close to the surface and the frigidity of the Andorian climate.
It's not as if our melanin would be decisive on our skin coloration, though: it's a combination of relevant ingredients in our skin, blood and cellular fluids, irrelevant ingredients there, and the overall structure of our skin. Which is why black, brown and pink all work equally well.
OTOH, it's a bit boring if racial variation is expressed by skin color. Here on Earth, we have more interesting aspects for that, such as nose shape or hair type. Andorians certainly appear to come in a great variety of different races, as signified by their different antennae!
I agree with the general lament that we should have gotten more strangely colored humans (with or without minor prosthetics such as nose wrinkles or bumpy foreheads) in place of plain humans in strange clothes. But it's easy to see where it would become somewhat impractical, even if application were economical. Body paint doesn't stay; these actors would be staining the sets and props and fellow actors all day long...
Which reminds me of Marta in "Whom Gods Destroy". Her green paint was all over the place. Perhaps she was in the asylum not because she was a crazy Orion girl, but because she was a crazy girl who thought she was an Orion, and painted herself accordingly?
Timo Saloniemi
OTOH, it's a bit boring if racial variation is expressed by skin color. Here on Earth, we have more interesting aspects for that, such as nose shape or hair type. Andorians certainly appear to come in a great variety of different races, as signified by their different antennae!
I agree with the general lament that we should have gotten more strangely colored humans (with or without minor prosthetics such as nose wrinkles or bumpy foreheads) in place of plain humans in strange clothes. But it's easy to see where it would become somewhat impractical, even if application were economical. Body paint doesn't stay; these actors would be staining the sets and props and fellow actors all day long...
Which reminds me of Marta in "Whom Gods Destroy". Her green paint was all over the place. Perhaps she was in the asylum not because she was a crazy Orion girl, but because she was a crazy girl who thought she was an Orion, and painted herself accordingly?
Timo Saloniemi
http://www.geocities.com/therinofandor/UFP2.html
You're forgetting Troyians (turquoise) and TMP's Betelgeusians - blue.
You're also forgetting TAS's Nasat and Phylosians, TMP's Rigelian chelonids and ST IV's Bzzit Khaht - all green.
Outside of beige, brown and grey tones, I thought blue was the best represented with the Bolians, Benzites and Andorians. Though I liked the red hue on the Kazon.
I have to agree though that body paint can be impractical. I've seen first hand the hazards of blue full body paint and it led to a bit of anightmare for the director.
I have to agree though that body paint can be impractical. I've seen first hand the hazards of blue full body paint and it led to a bit of anightmare for the director.
Do tell!
The problem with blue aliens is that they're so sad and the problem with green aliens is that they're so envious.
It was nothing terribly exciting, just a little annoying, heh. A transformation from an actor into a blue creature (bodybuilder extra), unfortunatly the actor was wearing a white shirt...
From what I can remember of the solution, the director just said "I'll magic the shirt away" and the outfit magically dissapeared.
If one adheres to "form follows function", combined with the Preservers and whomever else spreading terrestrial life all over the place, combined with the common ancestor species from TNG, then it makes sense that most "aliens" would be humans in funny clothes, and that there would be a relative sparcity in spacefaring peoples that are different colors than those found in Earth mammals.
That said, I'd like more of an explanation for the species that are different colors. Bolians are blue, but why? Are they plant-based? Did "higher order" life on their planet continue to carry some manner of photosynthesis? How about those Orion women - are they green for a similar reason, or is their blood copper-based and much richer in it than Vulcans?
Variety would be very visually appealing, but I'd like a little more hard science fiction in the biology of aliens in Trek. Sometimes it's there, sometimes, not so much.
That said, I'd like more of an explanation for the species that are different colors. Bolians are blue, but why? Are they plant-based? Did "higher order" life on their planet continue to carry some manner of photosynthesis? How about those Orion women - are they green for a similar reason, or is their blood copper-based and much richer in it than Vulcans?
Variety would be very visually appealing, but I'd like a little more hard science fiction in the biology of aliens in Trek. Sometimes it's there, sometimes, not so much.
