Sunday 05 February 2012

Enterprise interior design

The standing sets of Star Trek were located on Stage 9 of Desilu Studios, which would later become Paramount. The permanent rooms were the bridge, the transporter room, engineering, the sickbay complex, Captain Kirk's quarters, and the briefing room. All other sets, such as the ship's chapel, recreation room, gymnasium, and the quarters of other crewmembers, were redresses of these existing rooms.

The following are excerpts from Star Trek Guide; a list of existing and projected U.S.S. Enterprise sets.

INT. BRIDGE–
A circular, platformed set where Captain Kirk presides over the whole ship's complex. Access is achieved to this set by means of a turbo-lift elevator which opens directly into the set. Kirk sits in his command chair in the inner, lower elevation facing the large bridge viewing screen. Directly in front of him, also facing the screen, sit the Navigator and the Helmsman at their combined console. In the outer circular elevation of the set are various positions for Communications Officer, technician crewmen and other ship's officers. Mr. Spock, our Science Officer, presides over a console which is known as the "library-computer station."

Concerning the design of the Enterprise's bridge, Jefferies explained: "It was pretty well established with the model that the thing was going to be in a full circle. From there it became a question of how we were going to make it, how it could come apart, where the cameraman could get into it. Of course, every director that came in wanted to pan three hundred and sixty roundy-roundy. We'd tell them it's just going to wind up on the cutting room floor, it isn't going to work, but every one of them had to try it regardless."

"I decided that the crewman would work like in the navy, so foten would be on for four hours, off eight hours, and it had better be comfortable. The switches would all be so that the crewman doesn't have to reach for anything. Each of the viewing screens would be at right-angles to his eyes, and we drew a full size section of the bridge that way."

"I wanted an all-black instrument panel that would light up form behind which is pretty much what we came up with. I did all of the artwork on each one of the instruments, and got the negative, put the colour on the negative and mounted 'em under black glass. I was still assembling those things on one side of the bridge when they were shooting the other side . . ."

The Star Fleet Technical Manual, now considered apocryphal, states that the bridge was rotated 36° port, which would have the turbolift shaft travel down the centerline of the saucer section. No good reason is given as to why the bridge crew would be looking in another direction than they were travelling. With artificial gravity limiting any sense of momentum and electronic displays instead of windows, there may have been no reason for the bridge crew to face directly forward though.

INT. ELEVATOR–
Throughout the ship are turbo-lifts which can be programmed for lateral and/or vertical movement. Once can reach almost any section aboard by activating its controls vocally.

INT. SHIP'S CORRIDORS–
Curved corridors with various interconnecting sub-corridors. Various doors and hatches upon upon a variety of areas within the Enterprise proper. We play these as existing on the different decks and levels of the ship, and, of course, all have connecting turbo-elevators.

INT. TRANSPORTER ROOM–
We assume there are various transporter rooms throughout the vessel. The one we use has access from a corridor. WIthin, there is a console, free-standing, which is controlled by the Transporter Officer and a technician. They, in concert or singly, can transport up to six people at a time and, of course, accomplish the return of said people. At certain times, objects out in space which are in close proximity can be brought aboard also, providing their mass and size are not too great. At one end of this set is the transporter chamber itself. It is a circular platform with several steps leading up to its six positions. Each person to be transported stands upon one of six light panels. There is a light panel above each position also. Within this chamber people are made to disappear and appear optically as they are "beamed" to and from vessels or planet surfaces.

INT. SICKBAY AND DOCTOR'S OFFICE–
A four-room complex. The Doctor's office has direct access to a ship's corridor. There is access from his office to an examination room, also to sickbay proper. Access to sickbay can also be made directly from the corridor. Within the sickbay, there are built-in bed positions with a complete diagnostic panel above each. This medical device scans the patient continually, takes readings, and registers same upon the diagnostic panel instrument face. Thus, blood pressure, pulse rate, heartbeat, respirations, and various other readings are continuously recorded and displayed for each patient without the necessity of physical contact between doctor and patient. Adjoining the Doctor's office is a medical lab.

INT. ENGINEERING DECK–
A section of the ship's innards, wherein we find the basic components of the ship's motive force and energy. This is a large set, the main province of the Engineering Officer (Scott). Access to the main feed of the starship's circuity is available here. A smaller set, "Emergency Manual Monitor," is an adjunt to Engineering.

INT. BRIEFING ROOM–
A large set where Kirk and Spock can convene all department heads aboard for briefings, discussions, and staff meetings. A large table with sufficient chair positions. There is a viewing screen device on the table. This set can double as a wardroom. Access directly into a main ship's corridor.

INT. RECREATION ROOM–
A redress of other sets to give us a variety of mess and recreation facilities. In these, crew members can relax and enjoy their leisure time. Various games, such as three-dimensional chess, can be played here. A larger, totally new recreation room has been added.

INT. CAPTAIN'S QUARTERS–
Captain Kirk has a two-room complex. One room contains his working area when he is away from the bridge. There is access from this room to the next room where his sleeping quarters are. There is direct access to the ship's corridor from either room. There are viewing and communications devices as in most major sets.

INT. MR. SPOCK'S CABIN–
A redress of Captain Kirk's cabin. It will, of course, be distinctly "Spockian" in nature and suggest something of his homeland.

INT. PASSENGER QUARTERS–
Again, a redress of Captain Kirk's quarters unless a larger area is required, at which time it will be constructed out of a redress of briefing room.

INT. SHIP'S CHAPEL–
Redress of transporter room.

INT. DINING ROOM–
Redress of other sets as required.

INT. GYMNASIUM–
A redress of another set. It is sufficiently sized to allow various forms of physical exercise and limited-area sports, such as wrestling, fencing, etc.

EXT. SHUTTLECRAFT–
Full-sized mockup of a six- or seven-passenger ship which can be sent out on intrasolar system missions. This craft can be duplicated in miniature.

INT. SHUTTLECRAFT–
Full-sized interior mockup of above craft.

INT. HANGAR DECK–
A miniature set, optically creatied to be a "huge football field" size area where our shuttlecraft or crafts are stored. It is at the rear of the thick cigar-shaped "engineering section" of our vessel and on the scale model are visible the huge hangar doors which roll open when a shuttlecraft departs from or returns to our vessel. Caution–miniature and optical work like this is expensive and must be a vital element in the story when used.

OTHERS–
Obviously, various stories may require specialized "one time" sets. Past examples of this have been a botany section, a computer bank area, an observation deck (with stars visible through a window), and so on. Again, completely new and unusual sets are costly and should be vital in the story if used. If planet sets and interiors are required, then new ship sets should be minimized–the writer must use experience and common sense in keeping construction costs within a normal television budget.

 

N. Ottens
4 July 2007

Sources for this article include:
• Whitfield, S.E. & Roddenberry, G., The Making of Star Trek (1968)