I picked up the July ST Mag today. Not because of the closeup on Voyager or the Equinox, but because of the Voyager preproduction spotlight on the design of the bridge. There's a BUNCH of Jim Martin sketches of Voyager bridge concepts, from the initial ideas through the refinement to the final set. Wonderful!
Mark
Posted by Siegfried (Member # 29) on :
Most excellent. What were some of the original ideas for the Voyager's bridge? A rehash of early set designs or ideas really far out that got roped back in?
Posted by The_Tom (Member # 38) on :
Scans are good. Scans make Tom glad he didn't go out and track down the magazine and pay an obscene price for it. Scans make Tom happy.
Posted by Treknophyle (Member # 509) on :
Tom not very subtle.
Posted by Bernd (Member # 6) on :
Tom looking for things to make him go.
Posted by Vogon Poet (Member # 393) on :
People who make scans are smart.
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
But smart people with magazine and scanner are busy with grad studies.
Mark
Posted by Spike (Member # 322) on :
Not from the Mag, but from "The Art of Star Trek".
zandura? what is this? I've never heard of or seen this before. Please can some one fill me in?
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
I believe the Zandura was a conjectural drawing for one of the new ships to be seen in First Contact, but the idea was scrapped.
I love that Third Bridge idea from The Art of Star Trek. Very cool.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Interesting how they considered such far-out designs (1 & 2) and such small designs (3 & especially 4), yet they went w/ a fairly traditional, rather expansive bridge.
For some reason, #3 makes me thing of something older. Like an Ambassador, or something...
Posted by Mr. Christopher (Member # 71) on :
I wonder why it is that they draw sketches of bridges with windows, but never make bridge sets with windows?
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
who knows? its a big mystery! *coughs*-money-*coughs*
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
'Cuz windows are expensive. You'd always have to matcht the windows with what's going on outside - this would quickly get expensive in combat scenes.
For example, you'll notice that the DS9 Runabouts had windows on their sides. After a few VFX mishaps (ships turning or bouncing around and the "stars" outside the window remaining the same), the runaobut set suddenly had these "retractible" covers over those windows. Convenient, no?
As for those bridge concepts above, the third one reminds me more of a smaller ship, like a Defiant - or a Sabre. An Amassador's pretty big for a bridge that small.
The article, BTW, explains the size of the bridge as being indepndent of the size of the ship. For example, the living room in a three-bedroom house wouldn't be half again the size of the living room of a two-bedroom house. I've got a little free time tonight, so I'll try to scan at least a couple of the other concepts in.
Mark
Posted by Mr. Christopher (Member # 71) on :
While we're on the subjects of bridges, I'd like to mention that what we saw of the Odyssey's bridge is pretty damned cool. I saw "The Jem'Hadar" for the first time tonight (I know, I know; I suck ) and I really liked what I saw. I wonder what set they used...?
PS - Mark, check your PMs...
[ June 21, 2001: Message edited by: Mr. Christopher ]
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
PMs..? Prime Ministers? I mean, I Am Canadian and all that, but what do my country's politics have to do with this topic?
Anyway, "The Jem'Haddar" was on SPACE reruns today, which is where I suspect you saw the Oddysey. Great battle, eh? The Big O's bridge was constructed with the aft third or so of the TOS movie bridge (used for the E-A, Excelsior et.al.). It uses TNG LCARS on the standard set, adds that nifty rail, and puts the XO chair *behind* the CO chair. I ought to do a sketch sometime..
Mark
Posted by The_Tom (Member # 38) on :
The Big O? So its roof was late in being completed and chunks fall off every so often?
(obscure Canadian joke)
Posted by Mr. Christopher (Member # 71) on :
PM -> Private Messages. One can tell you don't update your profile often... Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
Ah.. I see. But my sig and caption are too cool to be changed, you see. So I don't got here often. Epxect a reply in your mailbox, Fabrux.
Woo hoo! My clan is in the Star Trek legacy now!
Mark
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
Tah-dah! Here are those scans. Apologies for the resolution; the scanner's a bit wonky today. I was wondering if someone could put these pictures on their website, so I won't have to pester my ISP guy with this? Thanks.
Anyway, check 'em out. I'm a real fan of #5, and really could've seen it that way if they'd built that one.
Personally, I think that squirreling Tuvok and Kim away in their little cages at the corners of the bridge contributed to their characters' underuse... From their stations, they can't interact socially with the rest of the bridge crew, since they're physically far from the rest of the stations (Kim-Tuvok combadge follies non-inclusive).
This is different from the Enterprise, where everyon important was in a sort of tight splotch with Tactical, CO, XOs, Conn, and Ops; and the Defiant, with everyone squished in. In short, I think that Voyager's dramatic possibilities were limited by the large size of the bridge!
Thoughts?
Mark
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
I happen to really like the alcove design of both of those stations. It makes sense when you consider how many tasks seem to fall under the umbrella of Ops and Tactical. I'm not sure I see the dramatic limitations of them.
Posted by Daniel (Member # 453) on :
Concept 5 looks so...overcrowded. I like 2 much better. And, yeah, why do they all look like they're over fifty feet in diameter? (Except for the last one, which looks like it's only twenty feet in diameter.) Is that just the drawing's perspective?
) and I really liked what I saw. I wonder what set they used...?
Epxect a reply in your mailbox, Fabrux.