From: takahash@ntmtv.UUCP (Alan Takahashi)
Subject: Baycon '92
Originator: takahash@lacerta
Reply-To: takahash@ntmtv.UUCP (Alan Takahashi)
Organization: Northern Telecom Inc, Mountain View, CA
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 21:40:15 GMT


[Notes from the Chronicler:

   - Yes, it's that time of year again.  Unfortunately, the regular
      Rick Sternbach/Mike Okuda slide show has not made its way
      to my neck of the woods.  I understand that Mike Okuda is
      going around, though...anyone seen him?

   - Not to disappoint my devoted fans, I'll be substituting notes
      from some panels at Baycon '92 and Con*Fused '92 (was: TimeCon).  
      I *do* have some devoted fans, don't I??  :-) :-)

   - As has become traditional, this posting will be cross-posted
      between rec.arts.anime and rec.arts.startrek(.misc).  To the
      anime folks, not much in the way of anime in-jokes this time.
      As usual, when following up, please edit the newsgroups line 
      accordingly.

   - As usual, implicit permission to reproduce and repost this
      posting in an electronic form is hereby granted, provided 
      you credit me and drop me a note saying that you've done 
      so.  For print in fanzines and such, please contact me.  
      (The STTNG Program Guide is exempt from this as usual).

   - It's less likely this year but, as usual, I will not repeat
      anything that has appeared in previous year's postings.  If
      you want to see what has gone before, look in Appendix G
      of the STTNG Program Guide (free plug!).

   - Thanks to Carol Smith for helping me 'proof' this posting...

Share and Enjoy!
--Alan]

[Yeek!  Just *look* how many times I said "as usual".  Am I falling into
 a rut???  :-)]

----------

Baycon '92 Panel:

  Panel on props used in Star Trek: The Next Generation.  Unfortunately,
  I don't have credits on who participated in this panel, and I arrived
  when it was half-over anyway...

  There were several props from STTNG on display.

----

  - A Klingon tricorder was designed and built, complete with clear
     panels that come out, a built-in display, and *working* LEDs.
     There was only one of them built.  STTNG *really* wanted it
     to use in "Redemption", and bought it.

     The scene for it was written out.

  - From "The Game", the Commander of the Kitarian ship is sitting
     in a redressed Romulan Commander's chair.  At one point, we
     see the scene from her point of view.  Under her viewscreen,
     as part of the set dressing is the Klingon Tricorder.  Mounted
     to a chair arm, no less!

  - As an example of prop-reuse, look at the Klingon pain-sticks used
     in  "Sins of the Father".  There were originally 12 of them.  Only
     3 still exist.  4 were turned into Federation rifles.  The others
     were cannibalized for various purposes...

  - One of the prop people on the panel made it in as an extra.  He
     appears in many places, both in Star Trek: The Next Generation
     and in Star Trek 6.  (He was originally suppose to be on the
     bridge, but ended up in Engineering close to Mr. Scott, because
     "he was not related to anybody".  :-))

     His 'featured' role was in "Redemption" (Part 1) as the transporter
     technician who Worf dismisses before discussing restoring his
     honor with Gowron.

     He was paid a "bump", which is an added fee for an extra, depending
     on the complexity of the scene.  In this case, the "bump" was
     $50.

  - Many many times in prop design, the prop will be designed for one
     purpose, and may never be used or is used in a completely different
     context.  An example of this comes from "I, Borg".  There was
     supposed to be a device which was mounted on the wall to monitor
     the Borg.  STTNG gave very exact specifications for how the device
     was to be used, how it would look, etc.  A great level of detail
     went into this prop.

     Where was it used?  Geordi held it in his hand, as he bid Hugh
     farewell.  We never did get to see it, except in profile...

     [Comment from the audience: we *did* get a closeup of the
      Oscillation Overthruster...]

  - From "Conspiracy", the topographical map of the planetary surface
     was actually a "very shaky" drawing of Kei and Yuri (the Dirty Pair).  
     Yuri was on the right side, and Kei was upside down...

  - Along the same lines, a pair of "Kei and Yuri" guns were made up
     for "an anime con" [could this be AnimeCon? - AMT], and STTNG
     wants to used them in an upcoming episode as police weapons.

     [Of course, judging from experience, we may never get to see those
      guns, or they may end up as part of an armrest... :-) - AMT]

  - In-jokes abound.  From "Predator" (the movie), inside of the Predator's
     ship are some "Alien" skulls.  From "E.T.", somewhere in the back
     of E.T.'s ship are a pair of Triffids arguing...

  - The original 8-foot model of the Enterprise built by ILM isn't used
     much anymore.  The reason is that for motion control work, the
     smaller 4-foot model is *much* easier to use, partially because
     you can get farther away from the 4-foot model, and make it *seem*
     far away.

     The 8-foot model is only used for tight closeups of the ship, and
     for scenes where they need saucer-separations.  The 8-foot model
     is the *only* model designed to do a Saucer-Sep.

  - Speaking of ILM, due to their contract, they *still* get credit
     for special effect work, though they haven't done anything since
     "Encounter at Farpoint".  Even ILM's stock footage isn't used
     much anymore, except for when the Enterprise goes into warp...

  - Mike Okuda does the graphic work for STTNG.  Since he does all his
     work on Macintoshes, Apple loves him and "will give him anything
     he wants..."  :-)

  - An interesting note.  This panel took place at Baycon.  Normal
     policy regarding weapons is that they be 'peace-bonded'.  The
     props shown during the panel were exhibits...each with a handy
     dandy peace-bond attached to them... :-)

  - Transporter effects.
      The OLD way (STTOS):
	 1) Sprinkle glitter against a black background and shine a
	     light through it.  Film it.
	 2) Film the scene, first with the actor, then without.
	     (or visa versa...)
	 3) Matte the glitter over the actor, and double-expose
	     the film.
      The NEW way (STTNG):
	 1) Fill a cannister with water.  Add glitter and shine a
	     light through it.  Stir briskly.  Tape it.
	 2) Film the scene, first with the actor, then without.
	     (or visa versa...)
	 3) Transfer the scene to tape, and use video technology
	     to matte the glitter over the actor.
	 4) Use a video wipe to 'streak down' the glitter.

  - Fun with knives.  Depending on the use, knives are made of various
     materials.  If they're to be used in a fight with stuntmen (or
     sometimes extras), the knives are made of rubber or aluminum.
     If the knives are never to be 'drawn', then they're made of
     hard plastic.  Typically, though, directors like to *see* their
     nice shiny knives, so the knives have to be chromed and polished.

     Steel is *never* used in a knife...too dangerous.

     The knives may be nice and shiny, but they'll never work in a
     filming environment...they reflect *everything*...especially
     set lights.  For work on a set, the knife will have to be dulled 
     with a dulling spray or silver paint.  Worf's ancestral weapon
     was an example of this...

     Of course, the next knife ordered will have to be nice and
     shiny... :-)

  - Q: Do you handle anything larger than a hand-held prop?
    A: Yes.  An example of this would be the telescope that's going to
	be used in an upcoming episode.  ["Inner Light" - AMT]

  - From "Star Trek 6", at one point, McCoy had to shoot someone with
     his hypospray.  As it happens, the hypospray was designed to be
     very similar to the hypos used during the original series.

     DeForest Kelley used it backwards...and no one noticed...

     [Comment from the audience: no wonder the patient died...]


----------

Con*Fused '92 Panel:

  Kim Bailey of Starlight Effects (SFX), a special effects house which
    has done work for such productions as "Predator", "Nightmare on
    Elm Street IV", several commercials and, of course, "Star Trek:
    The Next Generation".  

  Roger Sides is a modeler who works for Starlight Effects.

----

  - If the movie/TV industry follows current trends, Virtual Reality
     is the wave of the future.  Instead of using models, film trickery,
     or even live actors, a director will be able to do everything in
     the computer, up to and including filming the final print.

     For an example of this, something that seems to be in vogue right
     now is the insertion of live actors into stock footage for
     commercials.  I think that the current Coke commercials do this...

  - Wave of the future?  The entire closing effects for "Star Trek 6"
     were done on computer, and mastered on D2...

  - Kim is a special effects supervisor.  This means that he 'orchestrates'
     all of the elements in a special effects shot (e.g. lighting, set
     layout, element composition, etc.)

  - In response to a question about Stop-Motion effects, Kim said that
     Stop-Motion is a thing of the past and will be disappearing.  With
     the advent of computer animation, Stop-Motion is just a more
     expensive and frustrating method of getting the same thing done.

     This also eliminates a problem with Stop-Motion.  When elements
     shake during the shot, this is called 'Stop-Motion chatter'.  This
     happens when the effects technician, while moving the main object,
     also nudges trees, rocks, or other elements in the shot.  Since it
     takes upward of 30 minutes to set up and film just one frame, NOBODY
     is going to go back and do it again...

     [Anime doesn't have this problem, but then again, anime doesn't tend
      to shoot 30 separate cels per second either... -AMT]

  - Computers can also be used to 'extend' a shot, so if you're a
     director and you need a 35 second shot, but the original clip is
     only 30 seconds long, don't worry.  By digitizing the 30 second
     clip, you can instruct the computer to extend it to 35 seconds.
     NOBODY WILL BE ABLE TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE.

     This technique is used in music videos so that minor errors in
     lip-syncing can be corrected by computer.

     [Take the technique even further, and Milli Vanilli won't even
      have to work to lip-sync! :-) --AMT]

  - From the department of unofficial acronyms:
     FORD = "Fixed Or Repaired Daily"

  - Kim Bailey had a previous career as a stuntman.  You can see him
     in the movie "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century".  He was the
     Draconian technician who was flung over the fighter.

     Something that you didn't see on camera...the air-spring platform
     had been adjusted too high, so it flung Kim over the fighter...
     ...and past the airbag he was supposed to land on.  Ouch!!

  - From "Q Who", the Borg ship:
     There were two visual supervisors at the time: Dan Curry and Rob
     Legato.  They each had their own specifications as to what the
     Borg ship should look like.
       Rob Legato - the Borg ship should be a ball with a trench
		    of detail around the middle.  Does this design
		    sound familiar to anyone? :-)

       Dan Curry  - the Borg ship should be a cube that looked smooth
		    at a distance.  As you got closer and closer,
		    more detail would be revealed the closer you got.
		    BTW: Dan had hired SFX for this job...

     As it turned out, Rob Legato's team had some problems, so SFX
     got the job and built the Borg ship.  It took 14 modelers 2 weeks
     to finish the job.  That's nothing short of amazing when you see
     how much detail went into the model.  

     The requirement was that the Borg ship have one side finished,
     because that's all that would be shot.  SFX gave them a Borg
     ship that was finished on *all* sides.

     In order to get that level of detail, SFX put everything they
     could find on the ship: R2-D2, toy soldiers, the SFX logo...
     ...in fact, everything but the kitchen sink.

     Oh wait, they put a kitchen sink into it too...

  - From "Q Who", remember that the core sample carved out of the
     Enterprise had a 'space toilet' (2nd level in the core sample).
     Peter Lawrence saw it...and wasn't exactly pleased about it,
     though he thought it was kind of funny...

  - SFX is working on a model of the 'Calypso', the Captain's Yacht,
     in hopes of showing it to the Star Trek office and saying "See,
     now you've got the model...now you can use it in a story...".
     No word yet on how the Star Trek office will react...

     The Captain's Yacht will also have a toilet...

     [Patrick Stewart is ecstatic about the model...]

  - Some special effects secrets: during the promo reel, one of the
     SFX shots were of someone grabbing a doorknob which became red-hot.
     The doorknob was hollow and made of super-thin plexiglass, and
     coated inside and outside with aluminum dust.  This gave the
     doorknob that 'doorknob' look.  Shining a red light into the
     doorknob made it glow 'red-hot'.

  - Rick Sternbach is known for placing anime in-jokes in STTNG.  This
     practice actually appears to be RAMPANT in the industry.  Some
     examples:
     + "Mork and Mindy on ABC on <day of week/time>" punched in the
	V'ger set for "Star Trek: The Motion Picture".  Comes out
	(clearly!) in the patterns of lights...

     + From "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", look as the mothership
	makes it's first pass over the mountain.  From the underbelly,
	you might find R2-D2 looking back at you...

     + From "Raiders of the Lost Ark", as Indy and Salah lift the Ark
	out of the Well of Souls, the wall behind them has C-3PO and
	R2-D2 engraved.

  - Q: Has SFX been involved with all 5 seasons of STTNG?
    A: No...well yes, SFX has *kind of* been involved with all 5
	seasons.  Models were done for the first 4 seasons, and
	the 5th season had a generic terminal prop designed for
	use on the Enterprise.

        Where did it appear?

        On ROMULUS...from "Unification", Spock carried the prop
	around.  It, of course, had been redressed with alot of
	"Romulan stuff" on it...

  - From the 'unofficial titles' department:
       1: Star Trek  : The Motion Sickness
       2: Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Cash
       3: Star Trek 3: In Search of Cash
       4: Star Trek 4: The Voyage to the Bank
       5: Star Trek 5: The Final Insult
       6: Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Currency

  - From the 'truism' department:
       "No movie makes a profit...or the IRS would be interested..."

  - Andy Probert designed the Enterprise-D.  He also OWNS the designs
     to the Enterprise-D.  Paramount is using his designs with
     permission.

  - The first season of STTNG had some problems...sometimes the
     Enterprise engines would become transparent due to matte
     problems.  For those who understand it: "The luminosity
     had a difference of 1 stop".

  - From the "unofficial motto" department:
       On Star Trek 6, the crew had a mascot.  There was a bird
       that went around saying "cheap cheap cheap..."


  - SPECIAL SECTION: Renovation of the U.S.S. Enterprise

     + For those of you who don't know, the original model of the
        USS Enterprise - NCC-1701 is hanging in an exhibit at the
        Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.  This is the only example
        of a FICTIONAL spaceship to be displayed in this manner at
        the Museum.

     + Recently, Roger Sides of SFX was part of a team that was to
        to do yet another renovation of the TV Enterprise.  Up this
        that point, the Smithsonian had renovated it twice.

     + The Enterprise is a model that was constructed mostly of
        wood and plastic parts.  It is also 20 years old.  
	A wood model does not stand up to that kind of aging very 
	well...particularly when it's been abused.

     + HISTORY 1: After the series was over, the Enterprise sat in
	a warehouse on a one-inch pipe, with the saucer detached.

     + HISTORY 2: Paramount loaned out the Enterprise to USC for
	a convention there.  They didn't know how the electronics
	worked, so they plugged it in...and burned out the engine
	lights.

     + HISTORY 3: Paramount wanted to get rid of the then useless
	Enterprise model, so they were going to toss it...except
	that the Smithsonian wanted it.  The model was donated, and
	the Smithsonian saved it.

     + HISTORY 4: The Smithsonian didn't know much about models with
	plastic parts either, so on their first renovation attempt,
	they installed 100 watt bulbs.  Not the smartest thing to
	do with a plastic model...it melted.  The phaser ports on
	the underside of the saucer were sagging about 1/4 inches.

     + HISTORY 5: The Enterprise was in such poor shape, that Mike
	Okuda mounted a campaign to refurbish the Enterprise in time
	for the 25th Anniversary.  He succeeded.

     + Per Smithsonian rules and requirements, the entire restoration
        project had to be documented on videotape.  [No, I don't
        think that you'll ever find this tape in your local video
        rental store... - AMT]

     + Roger is a fan of Star Trek.  This meant that he *wanted* to
	do this project, and do it right.  This also meant that he
	spent alot of his own money for this project...the Smithsonian
	did not pay for airfare, hotel, or meals during the course
	of the project.  A true fan.

     + Before work could begin, a paint analysis had to be performed
	on the model.  This helped determine color, consistency, and
	especially the chemical composition of the paint...which would
	identify how the paint reacts to the elements...

     + During renovation, Roger found some mistakes made by the Museum's
	previous renovation attempts.  For example, the Museum had just
	repainted the hull each time, so there were several layers of 
	paint that had to be sanded off.  As the paint layers came off, 
	some things came to light:
	- When the Museum repainted the hull, the lettering was slightly
	   off in position.
	- Interesting pieces of history came out, such as someone
	   penciling in "Wrong -- 2 inches back" on the port side.

     + The famous grid pattern on the Primary Hull had just been
	penciled in (i.e. someone drew it).

     + The spinning lights on the engine nacelles were just christmas
	lights and spinning mirrors caused the spin effect.  The
	lights were replaced with car stop lights.

     + The Smithsonian paid $3000 for the restoration.  It actually
	cost about $15,000 to do the work...the Museum essentially
	got the restoration done for free...


--------------

Con*Fused '92 Panel:

  Andy Probert is the original designer of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D.
    He also done other design work for Star Trek, and other productions
    including "Battlestar Galactica".

  A slide show of his work was shown.

----

  - The Cylons were originally going to be reptile-people who wore
     armor.  By executive decision, the Cylons became robots because
     "you could only kill a certain number of living things per hour".

  - The end of the Galactica landing bay was an actual 2" x 1/2"
     painting.  It was NOT a matte painting added later.  The
     painting was installed and lit in the actual model during 
     filming.

  - Galactrivia: everyone has seen how the fighters land.  Nobody
     has really seen how they launch.  The Galactica was designed to
     launch fighters diagonally forward from the sides of the landing 
     bays.  This shot was never done.

  - "Planets, I do planets!"
       -- Many of the slides were planetscapes...

  - Andy's design philosophy: "Form follows Function".  That is, how
     a piece is used will determine what it looks like.

  - From "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" (STTMP), the drydock was much 
     more form-fitting, and the Enterprise was completely lit.  This 
     was so workers could easily get to their work (the drydock was 
     next to the ship), and they could *see* what they were doing (Form
     follows Function).

     This was changed for dramatic reasons...

  - From "STTMP", the original shuttle pod was suppose to be a surprise.
     Kirk and Scotty were suppose to just walk into a room, and the
     doors would close and viola!, we would be in a shuttle pod.  Andy's
     original design had doors on both sides so the pod would be entered
     on one end, and dock on the other.  Gene Roddenberry wanted just
     one entry/exit, so the design was changed.

     This, of course, meant that the pod would have to stop, and back
     up in order to dock...

  - Life after "STTMP": the shuttle pod is now used as a storeroom...

  - From "STTMP", the design of the Shuttle Bay again follows the
     "Form follows Function" philosophy.  The diagram shows the general
     layout of the Shuttle Bay:

     !-----------------!                !-----------------\
     !                 .                .                  \
     !   CARGO BAY     .!--------------!.    SHUTTLE BAY    \ <- Shuttle
     !                 .!              !.                    \    Doors
     !-----------------!! SHUTTLE      !!---------------------\
			!    ELEVATOR  !.                     !
			!--------------!.    HANGER DECK      !
					.                    /
					!--------------------

     The idea was that the shuttle would enter and exit through the
     Shuttle Bay, then would enter the Elevator to deliver cargo to
     the Cargo Bay, and then the Elevator would move the shuttle
     over to where it would be stored in the Hanger Deck.

     [My apologies for the crude Ascii diagram...the real artwork
      looked ALOT more impressive... - AMT]

  - The original design for the VIP Lounge was someplace with large
     windows looking out of the rear of the saucer section.  This
     was supposed to be located at the center level of the saucer.
 
     Andy pointed out a problem: that's where the Impulse Engines
     were.  The resulting design was to place the Lounge - now
     the Rec Deck - slightly off-center.

     To make it less obvious, it was decided to fill the Rec Deck
     with people...hence destroying the view.  (The scene was, of
     course, the big speech to the Enterprise crew).

  - Part of Darth Vader's TIE Fighter made it in as part of the Vulcan
     Long Range Shuttle - the Surak.  BTW, the model appeared to be
     gray in the movie, but was really painted as purple/mauve.

     [Andy did tell us why he chose purple, but I forgot... - AMT]

  - A proposed ending for STTMP:
      V'ger never *destroyed* anything...he just converted them for
      pattern storage.  When he made his final transformation to the
      next dimension, everything that was patterned was released...
      ...including 3 *very* annoyed Klingon cruisers.  In the pitched
      battle that follows, 2 are destroyed, and the remaining Klingon
      only has impulse engines.  The Enterprise's secondary hull is
      so badly damaged, that she has to do a saucer-sep.  The Klingon
      flees, and the Enterprise saucer is in pursuit...

      The End
            -- credited to Andy Probert

  - Andy designed the "AirWolf" helicopter based on a Bell prototype.
     The electronics for the interior were so bulky, that the controls
     had to be mounted on the back, away from camera view.  [Ever wonder
     why we only saw one side of AirWolf? -- AMT]

  - The design for the DeLorean for "Back to the Future" was based on
     one of Andy's designs.  In fact, in the end, the producers kept
     everything on the car...except for the antenna...

  - From "Back to the Future", Andy also drew the comic book cover used
     to describe Marty "alien invader" McFly.  In the grand old tradition
     of comic book artists everywhere, Andy also signed his work in
     the corner...the first time his signature ever appeared on screen.

     What...you never noticed his signature??  Look at the scene again.
     Closely.  There, do you see it now?  It's right under that
     kid's thumb...

  - From "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (STTNG), the original design
     of the bridge called for a conference area, two operator stations,
     and a maintenance station which would be visited once a week or
     so.

     In the final series, the conference became a conference room 
     somewhere else, and the table was moved there.  The two operator
     stations became Con and Ops.  The maintenance station became
     Security/Tactical.  Note that the maintenance station didn't
     need a chair, since it would only be used once in a while, but
     they didn't add one when the station became Security/Tactical...

  - The bridge has about the same footprint as the original bridge
     from the NCC-1701, but is taller than the original.

  - Something else to note about STTNG's bridge...it was designed
     to be an equal-access bridge.  This means that you don't have
     to climb any stairs to get anywhere.

  - When designing the actual ship itself, Andy and Rick Sternbach
     had a problem: what color to make the ship.  The problem is
     that the original Enterprise was white, but frequently suffered
     from what is known as "blue-spill".

     By now, everyone knows that the original series filmed the 
     Enterprise in front of a blue-screen, so that other elements
     could be added later (e.g. stars, planets, etc.).  Filming
     in front of the blue-screen sometimes caused a faint reflection
     of blue on the model, however, so that even though the blue-screen
     was removed during optical processing later, the Enterprise
     itself would appear with a slight blue tinge to it.  This is
     called "blue-spill".

     The final decision, of course, was create NCC-1701D with the
     grayish color that we all know and love... :-)

  - The painting of the Enterprise that appears in Captain Picard's
     Ready Room is co-painted by Andy Probert and Rick Sternbach.
     Andy did the Enterprise and Rick did the stellar background.
     They retain the copyright.

     Note: for Season 6, the painting is being replaced with a piece
     of sculpture.  [Oh well...I liked that painting... - AMT]

  - Andy designed the bridge with one additional feature: he added
     a bathroom.  This was in response to the many fans asking where
     the toilets were on the Enterprise.  The door was actually built, 
     but never shown on camera.

     Quote: "You can lead a producer to a bridge head, but you can't
 	     make him film it"

  - The bridge plaque (the one with Admiral Roddenberry) has been
     replaced with one with 5 rows of names on it...

  - Remember that red beacon next to Sulu?  You'll notice that it
     doesn't appear on either Con or Ops.  Has it disappeared?
     No, but it has moved...it's right underneath the bridge screen...

  - Picard's wall of starships has also disappeared.  Andy doesn't
     know what happened to it.

     [Answer from the audience: the wall was destroyed during filming
      of Star Trek 6.]

  - The original design of the Enterprise corridors had plant boxes
     outside of the quarters.  This was removed later.

  - Lt. Commander Data has the quarters formerly occupied by another
     illustrious Trek personality: Admiral James T. Kirk.  The quarters
     were refurbished for Data, of course...

  - One flaw in the "easy-access" philosophy is the Transporter Room.
     Notice that you have to climb a single step to get to the platform.
     This, of course, makes it difficult for anyone in a wheelchair
     to get up to the platform.  [Nice trick to use against Daleks,
     though... :-) - AMT]

     The rationalization is that the center step is actually an *elevator*.
     It would be capable of moving anyone up or down, providing access
     to the Transporter Platform.  Normally, it's in the center
     position, so it *can* be used as a stair.

     We will, of course, never see this elevator in operation... :-)

  - The Holodeck had a sticky problem.  If it provides such a good
     simulation, then how do you find the door?  The answer that Andy
     came up with?  The Arch, which could be called into existence,
     and provide access to the Holodeck environment.  [This was for
     the first season, remember... - AMT]

     The Arch was used in "Elementary, Dear Data", but eventually the
     Holodeck control became completely voice-driven.  This is where
     the "Computer - End Program" and "Exit" commands came from...

  - Behind the scenes: Andy lost a design battle.  He believed that
     the NCC-1701D would not fit in drydock.  By now, everyone has
     seen how big drydocks get, starting with the station in
     "11001010"...

  - From STTMP, the new communicators were supposed to be wrist devices
     instead of the traditional communicators from STTOS.  Andy's
     first design for this new communicator was a wrist-band with a
     megaphone mounted on it...

  - From STTNG, the scripts always called for Riker to "switch on
     his communicator".  So, Andy came up with a design drawing
     with a communicator badge...with a light switch in the middle.
     Needless to say, that particular expression disappeared from
     scripts soon after...

  - If you want to see what Andy Probert looks like in person, look
     again at "Encounter at Farpoint".  In the post-atomic court
     scene, Andy is the spectator "wearing the giant tribble" (actually
     a very large fur hat).

  - One of the things that fans noticed immediately about the new
     Enterprise is that the warp nacelles moved below the level of
     the Primary Hull/Saucer Section.  This was done as a daring
     move to make the new Enterprise *different*...though no one
     at the time knew whether the fans would accept it or not.

     There was a practical side to this change as well...moving the
     engines down moved them closer to being behind the center of
     mass...

     Gene Roddenberry paid the ultimate complement to the new design
     by suggesting only *two* changes:
       - bring the warp nacelles out a bit
       - Add a bubble on the Saucer for the bridge

  - The shuttlecraft originally had the entry door between the pilot
     and copilot seats.  For some obscure reason, the door moved to
     the side...

     [Andy had a valid design reason for putting the door there, but
      I forgot what it was.  I suspect, though, that the change was
      made, because that's how the original Galileo was designed...-AMT]

  - The model of the Enterprise is actually a hollow plexiglass shell
     which is painted.  This is so the windows could be easily lit
     from the interier.

     One question which seems to crop up is: why are the windows
     vertical.  The reason is "equal access"...a horizontal window
     could only be used by people/beings of a certain height.  A
     vertical window could be used by both short people and tall
     people...

  - The Ferengi ship has several features which were never explained
     on camera:
        - Mounted under the main hull is a drop ship which could be
	   used for raids.
        - On the front of the ship is a ramp that could be extended
	   for boarding parties ready to raid other ships.
	- The lit area on the rear of the Ferengi ship is often
	   mistaken as the engines.  As it happens, the warp engines
	   are mounted just under the edges of the "wings".

	   This area is actually a WEAPON, used to fire an electro-
	   magnetic pulse at pursuing ships...

  - From "Haven", the design of the Tarellian ship had a strange
     twist to it.  Gene suggested that instead of having a ship
     pushed by some engines, design the ship so that it is wrapped
     *around* the engines.  The result is what we see on screen...

-------------------------  NEW .SIG IN PROGRESS  -----------------------------
Alan Takahashi                          !        hplabs   amdahl
Northern Telecom Inc.                   !            XXX XXX
Mountain View, CA                       ! UUCP:  ...!{-----}!ntmtv!takahash
					!               |  
"When you need to knock on wood is when !              ames
  you realize the world's composed of   ! INTERNET:
  aluminum and vinyl." -- Flugg's Law   !   ntmtv!takahash@ames.arc.nasa.gov
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