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Spock was originally going to use hypnosis before NBC's "precautions to avoid hypnotizing a viewer" led to the creation of the Vulcan mind meld (lemmy.ml)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/tenforward@lemmy.world
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/37876959

https://www.slashfilm.com/1823758/star-trek-vulcan-mind-meld-nbc-meddling/

screenshot of text in quotation marks: "In accordance with our precautions to avoid hypnotizing a viewer, the act of hypnotizing must be either out of context or done off-camera. Further, since you are portraying hypnotism as a legitimate medical tool, Van Gelder should be hypnotized by Dr. McCoy rather than Mr. Spock unless Mr. Spock can be established as being qualified in the use of this technique."

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[–] 55 points 1 year ago* (11 children)

It's fascinating when a much-loved and now quintessential aspect of a show only turned out the way it did because of bothersome real-world factors.

Just like how transporters and "Beam me up Scotty!" only happened because it was too expensive to be doing shuttle model shots every episode.

As the audience, we tend to assume that every aspect of what we see on the screen is intentional and deliberate, but just like any job there are surprises and curveballs, and the production team are making things up and solving problems as they go along. I always love learning about stuff like that.

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  • [–] 9 points 1 year ago (9 children)

    The transporter VFX were cheaper than filming model ships?

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  • [–] 13 points 1 year ago (5 children)

    It's a single frame, where they would make a mask of the person and run the same film on that part every single time. The film they used was a slow motion shot of falling metal dust, upside down.

    It probably took minutes to make those shots once they had the stock footage made.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    The film they used was a slow motion shot of falling metal dust, upside down.

    I swear I read it was gold glitter in water that was swirled

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  • [–] 8 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Not just the model. You have to build a full shuttle on the planet set every episode. Want to do an episode with on location shoots? Oh boy, that's going to be fun to haul out there. Almost might as well leave it at Vasquez Rocks permanently.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago*

    It was a 3/4 size model, wasn't it? Surely they could tow it on a trailer?

    Edit: from wikipedia

    Art director Matt Jefferies originally envisioned a sleek, streamlined shuttle based upon his background as a pilot. The curved shape proved too expensive to build for the first episodes.[3] AMT offered to build a full-sized shuttlecraft at no cost in exchange for rights to market a model kit. The final design of the mockup, by Gene Winfield,[4] is 24 feet (7.2 m) long and weighs one ton, has a plywood hull, and was built in two months by a team of 12 people. A separate set was used for interior scenes as the mockup was too small for filming.[5]

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    • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Hypnotizing people is pretty easy, if they're receptive and able to relax, but it ain't happen' through a TV tube.

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