posted
Not at all (well, mabye the Marauder with it's crab claw things and extending neck- what's with that crap?!?)
Probert's orders for TNG was to break away from the previous designs- which I think he did nicely for the most part.
That's not to say I think he could have designed a better Spacedock, Excelsior, Oberth, KBOP or any of the other ILM goodies from STIII.
TNG was also a looong time after TMP- Probert's stuff had improved greatly with age- I dont think he could have made the Warbird back when he worked on TMP.
I've never cared for Probert's shuttles though- the "bar of soap" shuttle he was so disapointed they never accurately built is.....ugly. Hideous in fact, with it's scaled-down galaxy nacelles.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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posted
I had thought that the bulldozer sketch was a joke, but it occures to me that a workbee with a 'dozer blade could be invaluable for shoving wreckage off the fantail, when they need to land more shuttles in a hurry, like after the evacuation of Siagon-XII or something.
-------------------- joH'a' 'oH wIj DevwI' jIH DIchDaq Hutlh pagh (some days it's just not worth chewing through the leather straps in the morning) The Woozle!
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posted
I think the "bulldozer" was more a doodle as he experiemented with the idea of attachments that you'd need around a construction yard. I suspect he was starting with the conventional and then translating those functions into something functional.
As to Andy's stuff imrpving, I'm sure it did. On the other hand, again, let's not forget that films are collaborative processes and the design direction of most isn't solely the work of individuals. I'm sure Richard Taylor and then Doug Trumbull had a lot of say in which design directions Andy was encouraged to go in. "I like this direction, not that."
And, finally, what was actually said and by whom isn't clear. Andy and I had a discussion recently about an interview with Richard Taylor where Richard says things that in Andy's recollection was nothing of the sort. Where's reality? You'll need a Delorean at 88mph to find out...
-------------------- "Well, I mean, it's generally understood that, of all of the people in the world, Mike Nelson is the best." -- ULTRA MAGNUS, steadfast in curmudgeon
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posted
Yeah...plus TMP was a looong time ago- I'd bet their own recollections are dim and that some of what's on Probert's site is him filling in blanks after digging up old sketches.
But that Marauder having crab claws and an extending neck is just awful. Awful I say!
He's a Legend in Trek, but no artist makes masterpieces all the time.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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posted
Not to forget, that he IS an Artist. He's making Art. Art doesn't need to make sense, it just needs to be provoke an impression. I can imagine the thought process at the time... like a bulldozer in space. So, what do you start with.. a bulldozer, and let the inspiration go where it will.
-------------------- joH'a' 'oH wIj DevwI' jIH DIchDaq Hutlh pagh (some days it's just not worth chewing through the leather straps in the morning) The Woozle!
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quote:Originally posted by Jason Abbadon: That's not to say I think he could have designed a better Spacedock, Excelsior, Oberth, KBOP or any of the other ILM goodies from STIII.
Ok, BoP yes, but if I had to choose some designs that "looked like ass" as you so idiomatically put it, the Excelsior and Oberth would be somewhere near the head of the list. Furthermore, I really don't see anything special about the Spacedock aside from its monstrous size. It sure did make an impact on screen, though.
And, like, aren't we forgetting a little something here? As in, THE REFIT? True, Jefferies and Minor had layed out many of the modifications beforehand, but it was still Probert who polished it off.
posted
I swapped emails with Andy recently and asked him about a couple of the issues raised here. Here's what he told me:
"The Marauder's stretching neck...was a locked-in script requirement, to reveal their ship's sensitive areas as their way of surrendering. The writer/producers wanted it to look like a horseshoe crab...[T]he "claws" were a variation of the Klingon disrupter designs from TOS." (remember the metal plates on either side of the "barrel"?)
So there you go. As I said, a lot of this comes from the producer's dicates.
-------------------- "Well, I mean, it's generally understood that, of all of the people in the world, Mike Nelson is the best." -- ULTRA MAGNUS, steadfast in curmudgeon
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posted
Heh - signed on with the Federation, used their immense construction abilities to make taxi cabs for Starfleet. Boy, ain't that a parallel... Oh, and they worked to improve the dice for roleplayers everywhere, too.
One wonders what happened to the travel pod concept in the TNG era... The pods in TMP and ENT served basically a single purpose of transporting people around in orbit or for visual inspections; they had no apparent manipulators for assembly or repair, no tractor beams, and in TMP et. al. they didn't even have seats for the pilot!
And for the love of God, will someone PLEASE fix the spelling error in the title of this thread? It's been driving me bananas...
posted
Hideous.....but I'm not a fan of fighters in Trek so you mileage may vary (as they say).
quote:Originally posted by Mark Nguyen: And for the love of God, will someone PLEASE fix the spelling error in the title of this thread? It's been driving me bananas...
Ahhhh....the plan proceeds according to schedule....or is it skedule?
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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Hmmm...the K-Fighter doesn't have an apparent window for forward viewing. I'll have to ask Andy about that.
-------------------- "Well, I mean, it's generally understood that, of all of the people in the world, Mike Nelson is the best." -- ULTRA MAGNUS, steadfast in curmudgeon
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