Commercially available chairs in Star Trek • Hacker News Board

Re: Commercially available chairs in Star Trek

#161

Post by actionfromafar » Wed, Oct 18, 2023, 10:09 PM UTC

TeMPOraL wrote: post #138

ChrisArchitect wrote: post #3

Related: Star Trek + Design https://star-trek.design/ (That's what came to mind from a few years ago, and I see in the credits this page was inspired/originates from it)

I'm surprised they don't seem to have an entry for one of the more recognizable mug from Star Trek - the one they drank coffee from on the Defiant in Star Trek: DS9. It was present in many episodes of the Dominion War arc. The mug itself (a Thermos mug from the 90s) is an absolute pain to find anywhere, but I've managed to secure two of them last year (with shipping prices that would embarrass even a Ferengi) and did…

Did you mean replicate it?

Re: Commercially available chairs in Star Trek

#162

Post by stana » Wed, Oct 18, 2023, 10:22 PM UTC

harimau777 wrote: post #80

charlieo88 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lighting in black and white movies was much more important where you didn't have the additional dimension of color. My understanding was the Star Trek lighting team came with black and white experience.

Not exactly the same, but I love the actor's "lighting" in old German expressionist silent films. Often, instead of using actual lighting, shadows and highlights were applied to actor's faces manually using makeup. If anyone wants to take a look, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari has some great examples.

My daughter made me watch Nosferatu (1922) on a hundred year anniversary of the movie. Very interesting use of shadows.

Re: Commercially available chairs in Star Trek

#163

Post by omnibrain » Wed, Oct 18, 2023, 10:28 PM UTC

coumbaya wrote: post #121

bjpirt wrote: post #67

This is one of my favourite distractions when watching Sci-Fi films set in the future - spotting objects from now. For example: - In Luke's home in Star Wars IV there's a lot of Tupperware - https://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2014/02/in-praise-of-t... - In Alien, Ripley drinks from a Tupperware mug - https://twitter.com/EverRotating/status/1156650673972363264

In The Expanse, a painted Ikea "washcloth hanger" that looks like an octopus is actually a game for special childrens. Also a 3d connexion space mouse is used to control the rocci. I kind of hate spotting them tho.

> Also a 3d connexion space mouse is used to control the rocci.

Did you know that the SpaceMouse got developed by the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt) as DLR SpaceMouse for controlling robot arms in space?

https://www.dlr.de/rm-neu/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-3808/

Re: Commercially available chairs in Star Trek

#164

Post by arp242 » Wed, Oct 18, 2023, 10:35 PM UTC

dragonwriter wrote: post #95

harimau777 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Arg! I can't find it now but a while back I read an amazing article discussing the set design on the original series; particularly for the alien planets. From what I recall, their overall assessment was that the set designers used strong color design and bold shapes to compensate for their lack of budget. In that respect, while later entries in the series had much "better" sets, TOS had the strongest aesthetic.

> From what I recall, their overall assessment was that the set designers used strong color design and bold shapes to compensate for their lack of budget. I thought it was specifically because of (1) the color film process used at the time required it for faithful (-ish) reproduction, and (2) the need to make something that looked good on both black and white and color TVs, as lots of people were still using black an…

It's also just an artistic design choice. They tried very hard to make things look "alien" and "otherwordly" as much as possible, ranging from the set design to the costumes to the music to Starfleet sideburns.

For example sky can be any colour except blue, and doors can open every which way (except downwards, because that would require digging a hole in the set) and they make all sorts of sounds – as long as they're not "just" doors (they're "alien" doors!) They used those awkward holsters for phasers because pockets looked too "common".

Other more technical factors probably played a factor as well, but this also worked two ways and limited creativity: IIRC the origin skin colour for Vulcans was supposed to be red, but was changed to the off-white because the red didn't work on B&W.

Re: Commercially available chairs in Star Trek

#165

Post by Izkata » Wed, Oct 18, 2023, 10:41 PM UTC

verve_rat wrote: post #151

ghaff wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That and in the future we'll apparently forget everything we ever learned about electrical codes and the proper way to build things so they don't spark and catch fire at the slightest provocation.

I actually saw a reasonable explanation for this once: battleshort[1]. That is, sometimes equipment has its fuses bypassed because under battle conditions it is better to have the equipment working in a dangerous state, than not working at all. So when the ship goes to red alert all the major systems are automatically put in battleshort mode. So a couple of ensigns die rather then the weapons stop working because a f…

Also, Star Trek uses a plasma grid to distribute energy, not simple electrical lines. I think I remember reading somewhere (this may have been fan theory) the sparks flying off are a pressure-release so it doesn't just straight explode.

Re: Commercially available chairs in Star Trek

#166

Post by aardvark179 » Wed, Oct 18, 2023, 10:57 PM UTC

duskwuff wrote: post #140

coumbaya wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In The Expanse, a painted Ikea "washcloth hanger" that looks like an octopus is actually a game for special childrens. Also a 3d connexion space mouse is used to control the rocci. I kind of hate spotting them tho.

The Expanse used a ton of off-the-shelf props; most of them were used cleverly enough that they didn't stand out too badly. My personal favorite was a couple of laptop coolers used as "vents" in a maintenance passage: https://i.redd.it/rn2iac41t8h51.jpg

One of the real skills of commercial model and prop making is know all the corners you can cut, and things you can reuse.

To take an example from Aliens, the ship is only seen from one side, so the model only has one finished painted side, and the interior sets scavenge loads of bits and pieces from computer cases and whatever.

You also shouldn’t underestimate the tradition of hiding Easter eggs in models and sets.

Re: Commercially available chairs in Star Trek

#167

Post by Izkata » Wed, Oct 18, 2023, 10:57 PM UTC

RodgerTheGreat wrote: post #47

hef19898 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Course, given the accelerations in Star Trek you are red smudge without them anyway. But then there is all the flowing around around the bridge, engineering, everytime a ship is hit... Maybe a seatbelt wouod have helped! Or some space space suits, proper footware for away missions. Alongside clothing...

Starfleet is the Federation's solution to the existence of type-A personalities, giving them something exciting and challenging to do in order to prevent them from screwing up the socialist utopia for everyone else. All Starfleet technology is optimized not for efficiency , but for excitement ; giving Starfleet personnel brushes with danger, interesting puzzles to solve, and opportunities to improvise and collaborate…

Re: Commercially available chairs in Star Trek

#168

Post by karakot » Wed, Oct 18, 2023, 11:00 PM UTC

duskwuff wrote: post #140

coumbaya wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In The Expanse, a painted Ikea "washcloth hanger" that looks like an octopus is actually a game for special childrens. Also a 3d connexion space mouse is used to control the rocci. I kind of hate spotting them tho.

The Expanse used a ton of off-the-shelf props; most of them were used cleverly enough that they didn't stand out too badly. My personal favorite was a couple of laptop coolers used as "vents" in a maintenance passage: https://i.redd.it/rn2iac41t8h51.jpg

they used a Thule or Yakima (don't remember) car roof box (something like that) https://www.thule.com/en-us/cargo-carrier/car-top-carrier/th... as a casket :D

Re: Commercially available chairs in Star Trek

#169

Post by Izkata » Wed, Oct 18, 2023, 11:07 PM UTC

philwelch wrote: post #96

ascagnel_ wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Supposedly this "maneuver" was due to a combination of the early seasons using spandex and the actor having back issues (because they sized the costumes too small).

The version of the story I remember is that Jonathan Frakes had a bad back because he used to work as a mover before he made it as an actor. But the costumes almost certainly didn't help matters.

Being 6'3" (190cm) probably made it a whole lot easier to do that, too.

Also I think the last scene in that youtube link is from the 7th season (looks like the admiral from The Pegasus) so I'd hope any uniform issues would be fixed by then.

Re: Commercially available chairs in Star Trek

#170

Post by Izkata » Wed, Oct 18, 2023, 11:14 PM UTC

qup wrote: post #73

donatj wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This! This is what I want from the internet. Obsessively complete lists that seem unnecessary at a glance but will actually one day help you settle some weird argument or issue. I remember quite vividly a Geocities page that had wiring diagrams for a ton of Realistic brand CB radios my friend and I used to build an adapter for the DIN microphone.

Do you host any content like this?

Not mine and the site has sadly gone down, but enjoy this archive of The Indeed Project: https://web.archive.org/web/20201112020739/http://www.skulld...

(Every time Teal'c says the word "Indeed" throughout Stargate SG-1)