The Enterprise is brought to Station K-7 to deal with some Klingons…and a cute furry menace
Video preview / Local Station & Showtimes / More at Memory Alpha
This classic Trek episode is a whimsical fan favorite. In addition the CBS team are debuting their new and improved model of the USS Enterprise. CBS are going all out for this episode so make sure to check it out. Keep your eye out for…
- new K-7 space station
- brand new shots replacing repeated establishing Enterprise shots
- new Klingon Ship (not in original, first for TOS-R)
- cleaned up matte for view monitors
- new shots through windows on K-7
- …and of course new nacelle caps
so what did you think of Trouble With Tribbles Remastered…and the new Enterprise
I hope there is an oppurtunity to showcase a closeup of the Klingon Battlecruiser model for this episode.
It would be interesting if they alternated between the Enterprise and Klingon D-7 for the establishing shots circling the station, but then again that would merely be a gratuitous oppurtunity and take away from the dramatic narrative since every scene focuses on Kirk and crew and never the Klingons.
Also, I hope they distance themselves from the appearance of the Klingon ships established in Voyager and Enterprise, and study the studio model as they did the U.S.S. Enterprise.
The Klingon Battle Cruiser was based on a Manta Ray, and painted like a shark, with a purple/grey dorsal, light grey underside and neck, and mint green nacelles.
Rarely has that proper depiction been accurately reproduced, and it’s actually quite intimidating and alien looking.
^^^^
Greg Jein’s studio model featured in the DS9 episode was lovely and detailed, but absolutely wrong in both color and details.
I have always thought it best when the Klingons were differentiated from the Romulans as far as the design aesthetic and paint schemes.
Everything was fairly straightforward until the advent of “the Search for Spock”, when you got a clearly Romulan design suddenly established as a popular Klingon design, if not THE most popular. ( In the script drafts Lord Kruge stole the Bird of Prey from Romulans.)
Although the K’tingas appear grey on our Tv screens in Star Trek- The Motion Picture, the studio model is quite green, with grey paneling and details, metallized.
I’ve always just chalked it up to the brief alliance between the Kl;ingons and Romulans mentioned in “The Enterprise Incident” where technology was shared.
Klingons got cloaking devices and Romulans obtained Photon Torpedoes, disruptors, and warp drive if memory serves hmmmm.
That would account for the sudden dramatic similarity in Klingon and Romulan designs.
Congratulations to CBS-D for all their accomplishments so far. Given the little lead time they had, they have done some wonderful stuff. With that said, I do hope to see the quality improving as we continue through the seasons. As I was re-watching some of the earlier Remastered episodes, some of the FX felt a bit cartoonish. By that I mean that in keeping with the feel of the original FX, suddenly the new FX shots felt very much like an episode of Captain Proton (VOY). In particular, in “Balance of Terror”, the proximity phaser explosions look super hokey. Now, I’ve heard people say that by replacing the original shots with new ones that seem inconsistent with the style of the original show, they’d be doing TOS a disservice. I beg to differ. Certainly, there is a middle ground that can be achieved. Look at DS9’s “Trials and Tribble-ations” – the exterior shots are beautiful and have DEPTH. Now, the new 1701 model looks excellent from what I’ve seen so far. I hope for future DVD release, the episodes preceding the model switch will be improved. I also second the voices that say that live action shots should be enhanced where possible. The castle in Catspaw was excellent, as was the new Cestus III matte painting. Finally, I love the brilliance of the colors in the new transfer. I sooo want to see this show in HD. I am already purchasing a new set in anticipation of future broadcasts. I also wish they’d show episodes at a reasonable time (L.A.– hint, hint PTB). Nuff said. Bring on “Tribbles”.
I absolutely love the design of the original Klingon Battlecruiser (later named “D-7”).
I was thrilled to see one in T-A-T, then disappointed to see it all “asteked” up.
I hope we see a smooth-hulled Battlecruiser this weekend; I really do.
Seeing a Klingon D7 with a clear original color scheme as Josh has described would be most interesting! And yes, they need to stay smooth-hulled. Their appearance in The Enterprise Incident was a bit boring color-wise, perhaps due to very bright lighting for the bluescreen process?
But I fear that in The Trouble with Tribbles they may keep the Klingon model tiny and “in orbit” around K-7. But I’d sure love to see a close-up flyby of the D7 as we see of the Enterprise in the preview!
As someone else mentioned in another entry’s comments, the physics is very poor to have the ships orbiting a space station; it would make far more sense for them to just sit in one spot using station-keeping thrusters rather than zipping around to become navigational hazards. But that level of accuracy would remove dynamism from the various establishing scenes. If they do orbit, maybe they’ll put that baby Enterprise in the office window into motion? And have a baby Klingon zipping by in the window now and then? That would seem fun – and if I were a CBS Digital worker, I’d be SO tempted to put in a garbage scow!
Hey Anthony – Thanks for the highlight listing on the “Trouble With Tribbles” but did ya’ have to mention nacelle caps?
Perhaps this weekend will put to an end all the Nacelle talk. Then we can concentrate on really important matters —
The Gorn Captain Underwear — Boxers? or Briefs? lol
#1 and 2 – Josh – Nice insight. I didn’t know about that bit of detail from the script drafts…
#7 – Greg – Definitely briefs or perhaps the male thong… Boxers would definitely have shown under the tunic… ;)
Star Trek XI : The wrath of nacelle caps
Why go for the art deco motion picture look when you can have spinning, bulbous, transluscent, clearly 60’s inspired big fat engines?
I love this episode. The Memory Alpha site lists some of the more memorable quotes. I think this episode has some of the most entertaining dialog of the series. As far as the more burning issue of the Gorn’s choice in undergarments, Check out the link below and scroll to the bottom. It should clear up all questions.
http://www.startrekhistory.com/restoration/makeup.html
Can’t wait to see this show.
FYI, for all you ship-hounds out there, I just got my copy of Pocket Books new “SHIPS OF THE LINE” celebrating 40 years of… you guessed it, starships! The artwork is beautiful. I would have liked to have had more text on the opposite pages, to talk about the ships themselves, etc., but alas, the pictures look really nice and the presentation is great. The book covers from NX-01 all the way through NCC-1701-J! I got mine through Amazon (thanks for the link, Anthony!) and it makes a nice companion piece to the anniversary year.
Interesting Gregster (yes, we are not the same guy) that pic at the bottom of the page certainly does answer the question.
Now I’ll file this bit of trivia under “too much information”. lol
Good eye Josh… your appraisal of TMP’s nacelles being inspired by Art Deco is right on the money… Little known facts:
The reason they “re-fit” the Enterprise for TMP is because Roddenberry, Wise and Trumbull got into a knock-down, drag out about nacelle caps. This put the production into a quagmire and slowed down the effects work tremendously.
Further, this is when Harve Bennett actually got involved with the franchise. He was remodeling a home on the Pacific Palisades and had ordered columns for his porch from the same company that did some of the renovations for Radio City Music Hall in New York.
Anyway, Bennett and Trumbull had just finished nine on the links and were planning on spending the afternoon with a particulary peaty single malt when the columns were delivered to Bennett’s home. Bennett freaked ’cause they weren’t what he had ordered but there was a mean glint in Trumbull’s eyes being the artist that he is.
Well, you know the rest… Trumbull did amazing work… Wise moved past the incident as true professionals do and Roddenberry was told by Paramount that Bennett would do the next picture.
Now this may be untrue, I don’t know… Roddenberry quickly decided to remodel his house in Swedish Contemporary but the studio didn’t want to go that route until Roddenberry proved he could shave some dollars on the Bridge of the Enterprise-D.
I’m just sayin’ ya never know what you get when you mix artistic temperament, re-modeling and some good scotch.
I am thinking they won’t show any real close ups of the klingon ship. It wasn’t in the original episode (I think they didn’t have the model yet?) so the shots before wouldn’t have had it. Secondly it keeps them from having to show it with detail as some people wan’t to see it remain smooth like in TOS but to remain consistant with Trials and Tribbleations where we actually did see the ship it had slight pattern on it. Obviously could be wrong but not seeing it close up the detail seen in T&T or lack of could be argued either way (and most likely would be :-). Even though the Ent will look different then the model the lighting in the sneak peek article looks similar.
Even so, I think it would be awesome to see a good shot of the remastered D-7! Looking forward to seeing it along with the “New” Enterprise and K-7!
From Josh above: “The Klingon Battle Cruiser was based on a Manta Ray, and painted like a shark, with a purple/grey dorsal, light grey underside and neck, and mint green nacelles.”
I have pictures of one of the filming models used from the show and it’s pretty much all light gray. It’s really not an impressive model in actuality. As I review the pictures, the windows are just painted on, some scratches and no lighting whatsoever. It’s big though, probably about 1/350 scale.
It will be nice to see the ship in the episode.
That K-7 station model always reminded me of the chandelier that still hands over my mom and dad’s dining room table. I used to ‘orbit’ my model Enterprise around it when I was a kid. I’d gladly loan that light to the CBS team!
Josh (re: #2) — I don’t know if the early drafts of the ST3 script had Kruge stealing a Bird of Prey from the Romulans, but my copy of the original story treatment (by Harve Bennett) actually has the villains being Romulans. No Klingons at all. I recall Bennett saying that they switched to Klingons because they were more widely recognized as villains, and they were more visually interesting after the head-ridge refit in TMP.
trekbbs is down! argh what will I do?
^^^ Maybe everyone is trying to post their comments on “TwT” and it crashed their server! :)
So far, the new model looks MUCH better, although the transition between the Enterprise approaching the camera at high speed in that first shot and the hard cut to a near-stationary shot (relative to the camera) was a bit jarring.
This episode, one of my favorites, will air later today, and I’ll comment perhaps when Trekmovie posts its review. All in all, I am really thrilled with what CBS Paramount has accomplished in restoring this classic cultural icon and perhaps introducing it to a new, if you pardon the term, generation.
I think successor series had wonderful teleplays, i.e., Darmok, The Inner Light, The Best of Both Worlds but the best Trek to me is the first, which had a magic that I don’t think any successor captured. Of course, that is my opinion.
I think CBS Digital is improving; I do look forward to the HD versions. This article and interview with Dave Rossi is interesting:
http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/news/article/31235.html
OK, one thing that I am really starting to notice is that the CBS Digital editors are having the same problem I was having with my own “Doomsday Machine” project… seamlessly replacing the old effects with the new effects is very difficult to do when you have cross-dissolves to deal with.
One example: right after the first scene with Captain Koloth in Cmdr. Lurry’s office, we get that gorgeous shot of the Enterprise and K-7. In the original episode there was a cross-dissolve from the live action to the exterior effects shot. Same here… but in order to completely cover the old shot, the CBS Digital editors had to start the dissolve *much* sooner… and as a result, we see the Enterprise onscreen waaaaay before the “hero music” for the Enterprise.
Oh well. Gotta say, the new CGI Enterprise looks terrific.
I could handle that D-7 in T&T.
And this new Enterprise model and footage look great.
After the episode — Wow!!
SPOILERS —
New ship and station shots are much more dynamic. The team has taken advantage and given much more “motion” to the Station Orbital segments. As with the Gorn ship do not look for a close-up of the Klingon ship. You can make it out but you will not get any closer.
The New Transfer allows for greater depth – the Tribble Pile has shades of color and texture. Mr. Scott’s Black-Eye is more visible.
Loved Mr. Baris’s glance to his left when we first meet him inside the Station. It is in sink with the appearance of the Enterprise outside the window.
Many would feel that the “real” money shot would be the Enterprise’s departure from K7. A clear look at the New CGI model (dare I say — Nacelle Caps). But Surprise — a New angle is chosen — we will have to wait a little longer.
To tide us over as the ship sails along with the End Credits — the Impulse Engines are in operation.
NO DS9 elements have been added.
Are the “Flame Gems” on the Bar Counter left over from Korob’s Bribe from Catspaw?
Very nice! Just watched the episode. Man, that was great! Well done CBS, the ship looks gorgeous, the station was perfect and yes, the nacelles looked really good. The new renderings And the new various angles around the station were all respectfully done and had me looking forward to each new establishing shot to see what was next. And what a fun episode, I haven’t seen this in forever and watching Kirk mix it up with Barris was great fun. The new effects really do add a new excitement to the show, especially when new angles of the ship are ued… recreating the original shots to the letter is fine, but I’m enjoying the revised shots much more.
Yep, that was great fun. To all the artists at CBS, take a bow…mission accomplished!
Regarding Scott Gammans’ post (#22), dissolves should not be a problem for the CBS Digital if they are working with the original camera films or a good copy as they are supposed to be. They should have the extra film without the opticals to work from. Yes?
I’m still confused by the 16×9 thing. I was always under the impression the the episodes were shot in 4×3 on 35mm film, are we talking about cutting the tops and bottoms off of scenes so the 16×9 effects fit? Or do they plan to CGI the scenes into a wider format, now that I would pay to see. I’ve yet to hear a CBS person address this directly.
Good to hear postive feed back, it sounds like its looking good.
I am looking forward to seeing some screen shots!
Thus far it has looked awsome. More to come later on this evening when I post screenshots.
#27
TOS was shot on 35mm film which is an AR of 1.37:1. which is approx 4×3. The CBS Digital team is making their new CG 16:9 safe should they make a decision in the future to do a 16:9 version. As you noted the only way to a 16:9 version to to a “pan and tilt” of the live action scenes. Thus they haven’t done it yet.
Matt, some of these shots look good enough for computer wallpaper.
I certainly have no interest in a 16×9 Star Trek. It would be completely impractical to use CGI to expand all existing 4×3 scenes to 16×9, and pan-and-tilt is a travesty since it cuts off large portions of the filmed image and completely undermines the original intent of a shot. That is certainly a far worse fate for our favorite show than some funky nacelle caps! I’ll happily stick with a 4×3 HD image, and presumably CBS is smart enough to give us that option. Alas, Sony and Toshiba were so stupid that they forced a format war over HD discs, which will greatly slow its adoption – a curse on both their houses.
From the comments it certainly sounds like this episode is going to be a winner – I just hate having to wait until 11 pm for my local station to air it!
Some posters here have stated that the “pan and tilt” process yields a product not as bad as one might think. But I personally have never seen a single frame example of a TREK episode altered this way.
i created a trouble with tribbles vfx reel on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEjTNJG9Unw
The Enterprise going by a window everytime a scene with a window comes on was improbable. Why not show the Klingon ship? Other than that great stuff. I woulve snuck in the DS9 crew.
Well done Joe! Thanks for those of us who won’t get a chance to see it until tomorrow afternoon, what a great treat. The beauty pass at the end looks very nice.
It would be interesting if this episode includes scenes of the DS9 characters from the episode ‘Trials and Tribble-ations’.
So far no Trek episode has employed the pan and tilt for 16 x 9. People were simply talking about the potential problems in using this method for a HD widescreen version of these episodes.
The way close-ups of characters are framed in 4×3, will result in chins and foreheads being cut off in 16×9 pan and tilt editions.
A prime example of this was accidentally aired during the first season of Babylon 5 of which I have some of those episodes on tape. You could immediately tell that something was painfully wrong in character close-ups.
This was an issue with the satellite transmission company using a print that was not a final master. This was corrected in subsequent airings, but if you saw any of those first ten episodes during their first run then you know exactly what is being discussed here.
Making the 4×3 originals in 16×9 would be a far more expensive proposition than simply enhancing the SFX in these episodes as it means basically adding sides to each and every single shot in the series. And the episodes will look rather strange when all the action takes place in the middle of the screen with nothing going on outside the 4×3 image area.
Then you run into the problem of them creating items to throw into those open areas… with all the complaints that have been airing around the net concerning the SFX for these new episodes, I can’t begin to imagine the level of dissatisfaction that will exist if they chose to follow this course.
Joe – 33: Excellent job and Thanks for posting your work here. Thats what this site should be about instead of inner squabbles and so on – sad.
However….when I played it I couldn’t hear any audio at all. Did anyone else
experience this problem too or was it just me? Let me – someone know!
Whoo-hoo…and you all know what I am referring to! Yipee!!!! Was it just me, or did they do a better job on the sydication editing, too? A few good lines I wish they’d kept, though…like Spock’s complicated line to Cyrano Jones to which he responds….”well, yes……(giggle, giggle)….what did he say?” Kinda butchered up the bidding on the tribble, too, but what I liked is that the cuts all seemed smoother. There were some very subtle ones that you have to know the lines by heart to even realize they were taken out.
No audio with his clips, I believe….but the clips are for “site” anyway!
oh sorry, i choose not to include the audio, i think it would have been too jarring hearing all that jumbled music and dialouge
Couldn’t these clips somehow be reposted with sound or would that take up too much space or effort? But all in all its a excellent effort and the site
seems much better – less cluttered then before without certain posters.
On that subject…doesn’t this site has a moderator? It should. Thanks all!
Joe…thats wasn’t a personal dig on your efforts. You make this site worth a visit. Please keep up your excellent work. Hmm…I recorded some of the episodes of my DVD-Recorder – what application did you use – how did you go about posting them (uplinking) them here. Is it a difficult process?
Thanks for all of your excellent work.
Dont worry, Duane Boda. destructive1 didnt include audio with the video.
i plugged my ATSC tuner into the video inputs of my computer, i recorded the episode, and used winDVD creator to edit together all the VFX
Thanks Joe: You’re a true shining star and highlight (among many here) for all of your help and input. ATSC as in Tv tuner? Or Tv – DVD Recorder?
Sometimes I can piece it all together and other times I’m simply brain dead like now.
Well, excellent job Joe.
I really am wishing they had gone all out with this restoration job though. I cannot imagine how clean and clear the image would be if CBS had gone with DTS Digital images for the restore job and Eden FX for the new VFX. Oh well, it looks a hell of a lot better now than it did in the 60s.
However, they kind of lied in the promo reel when they stated that they were using what “came out of the camera” to do this project. The fact that cross fading is an issue means they are using the final production reels from the 60s and not the true original camera negative. Otherwise, the wipes and fades would not exist and could be done over with modern day techniques.
I do VFX work and I would have to give this project a B- overall.
OK, after watching the YouTube file (I haven’t been able to watch the episode yet), I am salivating. The new model looks great and the shots were excellent. I loved the final sequence with the impulse engines lit up! That was a great touch.
The Enterprise’s coloring looking better, nacelle caps too! Great new station sequences, colored stars (but not too many…). Very happy seeing the Enterprise, it looks much better.
Now, can someone please tone down that background singer during the titles??? I can’t stand it! It’s as bad as seeing the previous nacelle problems. It isn’t faithful to the original and it overpowers the music.
Some fine turning still remains in this area…..
Yo Joe:
thanks for the VFX reel on YouTube ! ! !! ! !
this would be a great weekly tradition…..