They did cut away to crewmen fighting to save the ship in later Enterprise episodes - watch Azati Prime for a good example. It was quite refreshing, and *far* more dramatic then people punching buttons on the bridge.Notice, however, that in Star Trek TV shows, regular crewmen may as well not exist. Why cut away from the bridge to show crewmen being killed and bravely fighting to save the ship, when even damage control is handled by fucking touch-screens on the bridge? Why have a crewmen in engineering desperately trying to seal off a blown pipe when you can have O'Brien say "I'll have to reroute the EPS flow around the overloaded conduit" and then punch a couple of buttons?
Exploding bridge consoles ... of DEATH!
Moderator: Vympel
Doubt it as by this point it's become a standard sci-fi thing. Though I found it refreshing that while listening to the audio commentary for Alien, director Ridley Scott noted that the Nostromo "doesn't hold up to close scrutiny" in regards to consoles sparking and CO2 randomly getting sprayed everywhere. It's a dramatic tool, that while fake works, but was way too overused by Voyager and Enterprise.Darth Wong wrote:Whenever I hear people talking about how they have technical advisors on set (which is an exaggeration of the tech advisors' roles anyway), I have to wonder whether these tech advisors ever admonished the writers about this stupid exploding-console thing.
I always found those situations conveyed more tension than seeing one guy get fried on the bridge. In "Q-Who" one of the most effective scenes is when the Borg cut out a few decks of the Ent-D which was more than effective in conveying "holy fuck". Also in BoBW pt 1 engineering is breached and when Geordi gets the the bridge he reports how many people they lost was still more effective in illustrating the severity of the situation than a couple guys getting fried on the bridge.Look at ST2: they didn't show Enterprise bridge crew dying in the battle with Khan, although a couple of people suffered burns. They showed deaths belowdecks, with crewmen and Scotty's nephew dying as a result of battle damage. And that was sufficiently dramatic; there's no need to have an exploding console for fuck's sake.
-A.L.
"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence...Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race." - Calvin Coolidge
"If you're falling off a cliff you may as well try to fly, you've got nothing to lose." - John Sheridan (Babylon 5)
"Sometimes you got to roll the hard six." - William Adama (Battlestar Galactica)
"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence...Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race." - Calvin Coolidge
"If you're falling off a cliff you may as well try to fly, you've got nothing to lose." - John Sheridan (Babylon 5)
"Sometimes you got to roll the hard six." - William Adama (Battlestar Galactica)
It's annoying that the least dramatic most ridiculous things become brainbugs rather than powerful images. I would rather Star Trek ships have had paper thin hulls and the ST:VI with the exploding kitchen and battle damage have become a brainbug than the consoles.
What the fuck is wrong with cutting away to a jeffries tube and having crewmen rush to fix it only to have a torpedo explode right in the crewman's face? Or show more hull breaches. Combat should be combat.
And what is with phasers that hit the walls and no damage happening to it. I'm reminded of Full Metal Jacket and the patrol shooting up a concrete wall with their M-16's. That was a "holy fuck" moment, if phasers actually exploded walls in a shower of sparks and people got injured by shrapnel wouldn't they be much more dramatic. The sanitized version of phasers being almost like a hospital surgical tool never worked for me. It didn't work in B5 either and sure didn't work for Star Trek.
Brian
What the fuck is wrong with cutting away to a jeffries tube and having crewmen rush to fix it only to have a torpedo explode right in the crewman's face? Or show more hull breaches. Combat should be combat.
And what is with phasers that hit the walls and no damage happening to it. I'm reminded of Full Metal Jacket and the patrol shooting up a concrete wall with their M-16's. That was a "holy fuck" moment, if phasers actually exploded walls in a shower of sparks and people got injured by shrapnel wouldn't they be much more dramatic. The sanitized version of phasers being almost like a hospital surgical tool never worked for me. It didn't work in B5 either and sure didn't work for Star Trek.
Brian
- Isolder74
- Official SD.Net Ace of Cakes
- Posts: 6762
- Joined: 2002-07-10 01:16am
- Location: Weber State of Construction University
- Contact:
An exploding kitchen that was a direct result of a hit to that section of the hull
Hapan Battle Dragons Rule!
When you want peace prepare for war! --Confusious
That was disapointing ..Should we show this Federation how to build a ship so we may have worthy foes? Typhonis 1
The Prince of The Writer's Guild|HAB Spacewolf Tank General| God Bless America!
When you want peace prepare for war! --Confusious
That was disapointing ..Should we show this Federation how to build a ship so we may have worthy foes? Typhonis 1
The Prince of The Writer's Guild|HAB Spacewolf Tank General| God Bless America!
Screenshots :They did cut away to crewmen fighting to save the ship in later Enterprise episodes - watch Azati Prime for a good example. It was quite refreshing, and *far* more dramatic then people punching buttons on the bridge.
Crewmen putting out a fire in Engineering
Redshirt on fire
Explosion in corridor
More bleeding redshirts
Redshirts getting sucked into space
- Uraniun235
- Emperor's Hand
- Posts: 13772
- Joined: 2002-09-12 12:47am
- Location: OREGON
- Contact:
Probably the most vicious thing about this particular brainbug is that it's jumped over to other series. Babylon 5 had exploding consoles (notably, in the fourth season when the Omega destroyers get pounded), as did Seaquest (well, it was almost never Seaquest herself, usually other ships that got hit). Hell, neo-BSG has even had an exploding console, due to a computer virus.
- Patrick Degan
- Emperor's Hand
- Posts: 14847
- Joined: 2002-07-15 08:06am
- Location: Orleanian in exile
I remember consoles sparking from damage and overload and a fire breaking out on the command deck on Capt. Hall's flagship in "No Surrender, No Retreat" but not actual killer explosions such as we've seen in TNG-era Trek.Uraniun235 wrote:Probably the most vicious thing about this particular brainbug is that it's jumped over to other series. Babylon 5 had exploding consoles (notably, in the fourth season when the Omega destroyers get pounded), as did Seaquest (well, it was almost never Seaquest herself, usually other ships that got hit). Hell, neo-BSG has even had an exploding console, due to a computer virus.
When ballots have fairly and constitutionally decided, there can be no successful appeal back to bullets.
—Abraham Lincoln
People pray so that God won't crush them like bugs.
—Dr. Gregory House
Oil an emergency?! It's about time, Brigadier, that the leaders of this planet of yours realised that to remain dependent upon a mineral slime simply doesn't make sense.
—The Doctor "Terror Of The Zygons" (1975)
—Abraham Lincoln
People pray so that God won't crush them like bugs.
—Dr. Gregory House
Oil an emergency?! It's about time, Brigadier, that the leaders of this planet of yours realised that to remain dependent upon a mineral slime simply doesn't make sense.
—The Doctor "Terror Of The Zygons" (1975)
There was a huge exploding console on the Cortez in Rising Star that wasn't in the script (and so didn't kill anyone). The director thought it would be cool. I believe JMS had words with him.
B5 did use the shaky-cam quite a bit, but I think EVERYONE does that.
Edit Just remembered. An exploding console injures Sheridan and kills or KOs a woman standing next to him in C&C in Severed Dreams, but this is because a superheated mass of debris that had very recently been a Starfury slammed directly into the facility's blast doors.
B5 did use the shaky-cam quite a bit, but I think EVERYONE does that.
Edit Just remembered. An exploding console injures Sheridan and kills or KOs a woman standing next to him in C&C in Severed Dreams, but this is because a superheated mass of debris that had very recently been a Starfury slammed directly into the facility's blast doors.
- Nephtys
- Sith Acolyte
- Posts: 6227
- Joined: 2005-04-02 10:54pm
- Location: South Cali... where life is cheap!
Aside from like.. two cases of minor exploding consoles, the only real one I can think of is when Ivanova got hospitalized. Which was for pretty good reason. (Actual physical impact)Uraniun235 wrote:Probably the most vicious thing about this particular brainbug is that it's jumped over to other series. Babylon 5 had exploding consoles (notably, in the fourth season when the Omega destroyers get pounded), as did Seaquest (well, it was almost never Seaquest herself, usually other ships that got hit). Hell, neo-BSG has even had an exploding console, due to a computer virus.
B5 had plenty. More than a few times on the White Star. The Battle in "Endgame" had the EAS Aggamemnon's bridge get pretty beat up and CnC was trashed at the end of "A View From the Gallery", I always assumed from the "exploding consoles of doom".Nephtys wrote:Aside from like.. two cases of minor exploding consoles, the only real one I can think of is when Ivanova got hospitalized. Which was for pretty good reason. (Actual physical impact)Uraniun235 wrote:Probably the most vicious thing about this particular brainbug is that it's jumped over to other series. Babylon 5 had exploding consoles (notably, in the fourth season when the Omega destroyers get pounded), as did Seaquest (well, it was almost never Seaquest herself, usually other ships that got hit). Hell, neo-BSG has even had an exploding console, due to a computer virus.
BSG hasn't had them much. With the computer virus, but also during the final battle in the miniseries. Though at the very least in that somebody cared about the fact that their consoles were sparking. After said station sparked Tigh calls for a "Function check on the damage control console".
-A.L.
"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence...Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race." - Calvin Coolidge
"If you're falling off a cliff you may as well try to fly, you've got nothing to lose." - John Sheridan (Babylon 5)
"Sometimes you got to roll the hard six." - William Adama (Battlestar Galactica)
"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence...Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race." - Calvin Coolidge
"If you're falling off a cliff you may as well try to fly, you've got nothing to lose." - John Sheridan (Babylon 5)
"Sometimes you got to roll the hard six." - William Adama (Battlestar Galactica)
Yeah, I wouldn't call that an exploding console at all. The whole bridge was smashed in by a piece of debris.Which was for pretty good reason. (Actual physical impact)
Lots of sparks, but I don't recall the Star Trek syndrome of "severe crew casualties because we have volatile plasma stored behind every surface."B5 had plenty. More than a few times on the White Star.
- Uraniun235
- Emperor's Hand
- Posts: 13772
- Joined: 2002-09-12 12:47am
- Location: OREGON
- Contact:
I'm sure that budget issues drive the brainbug in large part. You want to shoot an episode on as few sets as possible and for your "battle damage" to be easy to install/show. A Seaview explosion on the bridge is very, very cheap.brianeyci wrote:It's annoying that the least dramatic most ridiculous things become brainbugs rather than powerful images. I would rather Star Trek ships have had paper thin hulls and the ST:VI with the exploding kitchen and battle damage have become a brainbug than the consoles.
What the fuck is wrong with cutting away to a jeffries tube and having crewmen rush to fix it only to have a torpedo explode right in the crewman's face? Or show more hull breaches. Combat should be combat.
- 18-Till-I-Die
- Emperor's Hand
- Posts: 7271
- Joined: 2004-02-22 05:07am
- Location: In your base, killing your d00ds...obviously
I'm wondering...
Why do they explode? They cant just spontaniously combust there must be some kind of flamable materal exploding to cause whole walls to vaporize like in that Generations picture. What on Earth (or space...) can do that and why put it, of all places, some place vital like the ship's comamnd center?
So like...what? Was it ever explained? Do they pack their walls with TNT in a futile attempt at ablative armor? Antimatter fuel lines? (ok that would be retarded even for the Federation but i'm grasping at straws)
A if this question has been asked before, my bad, but i dont know much about Trek technology outside of the big stuff like phasers and transporters.
Why do they explode? They cant just spontaniously combust there must be some kind of flamable materal exploding to cause whole walls to vaporize like in that Generations picture. What on Earth (or space...) can do that and why put it, of all places, some place vital like the ship's comamnd center?
So like...what? Was it ever explained? Do they pack their walls with TNT in a futile attempt at ablative armor? Antimatter fuel lines? (ok that would be retarded even for the Federation but i'm grasping at straws)
A if this question has been asked before, my bad, but i dont know much about Trek technology outside of the big stuff like phasers and transporters.
Kanye West Saves.
I took the exploding consoles to mean that they must have high voltage power lines running through them for some odd reason. Why consoles would be desinged to include high voltage power lines is a mystery to me....maybe all that ultra-sophisticated future technology is really power hungry.
I like frogs!
- ngc7293
- Youngling
- Posts: 111
- Joined: 2005-11-28 12:22am
- Location: Lower Right on Right hand
- Contact:
Said in different words: "drama" at the expense of "intelligence"
It might have been smart if the lights just went out "Captain, I just lost helm control. All the lights went out." "Damn it!" Kirk says, "We'll have to get Scotty to take over from engineering. You just sit there and look dumb....er"
"Wait, Captain, there IS this high voltage power line running under my feet. I could rig helm control with that" "OK, that sounds stupid.....er but better....er do it." Soon, helm is up and running.
Then, the ship is hit by a floating Ford Pinto. Helm Explodes and the crewman is thrown from his chair, smacking his skull on the railing. They quickly go to commercial and wipe the blood from the railing. The show comes back. An overjoyed Bones is on the bridge, waving his C-cell battery over the deadman, "He's Dead Jim."
And the show goes on.
See, a typical Trek episode explained. (appologies for too many words)
It might have been smart if the lights just went out "Captain, I just lost helm control. All the lights went out." "Damn it!" Kirk says, "We'll have to get Scotty to take over from engineering. You just sit there and look dumb....er"
"Wait, Captain, there IS this high voltage power line running under my feet. I could rig helm control with that" "OK, that sounds stupid.....er but better....er do it." Soon, helm is up and running.
Then, the ship is hit by a floating Ford Pinto. Helm Explodes and the crewman is thrown from his chair, smacking his skull on the railing. They quickly go to commercial and wipe the blood from the railing. The show comes back. An overjoyed Bones is on the bridge, waving his C-cell battery over the deadman, "He's Dead Jim."
And the show goes on.
See, a typical Trek episode explained. (appologies for too many words)
"All Suspects are guilty, period. Otherwise, they wouldn't be suspects, would they."
You're close. They're actually powered by "plasma conduits" and it's those that explode.So like...what? Was it ever explained? Do they pack their walls with TNT in a futile attempt at ablative armor? Antimatter fuel lines? (ok that would be retarded even for the Federation but i'm grasping at straws)
- FSTargetDrone
- Emperor's Hand
- Posts: 7878
- Joined: 2004-04-10 06:10pm
- Location: Drone HQ, Pennsylvania, USA
This business of the bizarre possibility of large amounts of energy traveling through these consoles has me wondering...
Onboard real warships, especially submarines, surely the designers and engineers must account for the possibility that electrical equipment will at some point be submerged, or at least sprayed with water. I cannot recall a film or TV show where a flooded section of a ship results in the electrocution of nearby crewmembers. How is this potential issue handled? Anyone know? Are there built in safety breakers? There should of course be mechanical backups (spin a valve to shut the flow in a pipe instead of pressing a button to do the same thing, etc.) which might mitigate this problem, but surely there is lots of electrial equipment in spaces that could be flooded.
Onboard real warships, especially submarines, surely the designers and engineers must account for the possibility that electrical equipment will at some point be submerged, or at least sprayed with water. I cannot recall a film or TV show where a flooded section of a ship results in the electrocution of nearby crewmembers. How is this potential issue handled? Anyone know? Are there built in safety breakers? There should of course be mechanical backups (spin a valve to shut the flow in a pipe instead of pressing a button to do the same thing, etc.) which might mitigate this problem, but surely there is lots of electrial equipment in spaces that could be flooded.
- Isolder74
- Official SD.Net Ace of Cakes
- Posts: 6762
- Joined: 2002-07-10 01:16am
- Location: Weber State of Construction University
- Contact:
Usually hermatically sealed moduals. barring that circuit breakers.FSTargetDrone wrote:This business of the bizarre possibility of large amounts of energy traveling through these consoles has me wondering...
Onboard real warships, especially submarines, surely the designers and engineers must account for the possibility that electrical equipment will at some point be submerged, or at least sprayed with water. I cannot recall a film or TV show where a flooded section of a ship results in the electrocution of nearby crewmembers. How is this potential issue handled? Anyone know? Are there built in safety breakers? There should of course be mechanical backups (spin a valve to shut the flow in a pipe instead of pressing a button to do the same thing, etc.) which might mitigate this problem, but surely there is lots of electrial equipment in spaces that could be flooded.
They also probably make use of DC circuits as they require much more current to kill compaired to AC circuits. and in the case of water its not as deadly as on might think since salt water has a pretty low resistence. as such the current will not go through you as readily. Current tneds to go to ground which is the hull of the sub.
Hapan Battle Dragons Rule!
When you want peace prepare for war! --Confusious
That was disapointing ..Should we show this Federation how to build a ship so we may have worthy foes? Typhonis 1
The Prince of The Writer's Guild|HAB Spacewolf Tank General| God Bless America!
When you want peace prepare for war! --Confusious
That was disapointing ..Should we show this Federation how to build a ship so we may have worthy foes? Typhonis 1
The Prince of The Writer's Guild|HAB Spacewolf Tank General| God Bless America!
- FSTargetDrone
- Emperor's Hand
- Posts: 7878
- Joined: 2004-04-10 06:10pm
- Location: Drone HQ, Pennsylvania, USA
D'oh, of course, salt water. Forgot about that.Isolder74 wrote: Usually hermatically sealed moduals. barring that circuit breakers.
They also probably make use of DC circuits as they require much more current to kill compaired to AC circuits. and in the case of water its not as deadly as on might think since salt water has a pretty low resistence. as such the current will not go through you as readily. Current tneds to go to ground which is the hull of the sub.
Good stuff, thanks.