Carabimero
Senior HTF Member
I've had my ST: TOS-R discs for many years now. With two exceptions, I love them. Last night I was watching BALANCE OF TERROR and when it was over, I realized that not once during the episode did I think: There's one of the "new" effects. The episode has become the new normal for me, pretty much.
I'm sure in an episode like THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE, which is effects heavy, I would think in passing about the new effects as I watched, but the point of this thread is to see if others are acclimated to TOS-R as being the "new normal" for them.
If you are not acclimated, what is preventing you from being acclimated?
Two problems will always jump out at me and prevent me from being 100% acclimated : 1) the dissolves are sometimes a second early or late because they didn't have the discrete elements to redo them and there was no other way to cover up the old dissolves; and 2) in some shots, in my opinion, the Enterprise looks too dark grey.
I understand the true color of the 11-foot studio model. But I will always believe that Gene Roddenberry intended for the Enterprise to APPEAR white on the screen. Good guys don't ride into town wearing grey hats. While it's true that Matt Jefferies once remarked he made the Enterprise grey so it would stand out more against white stars and such, in my professional opinion, there was a more pressing reason for the grey: If I was shooting with Etkachrome-based 35mm film stock today, and wanted to absorb blue spill, the perfect color to use on my model would be grey with a dash of green. That's a technical fact, as well. Not only that, but the grey is ideal for preventing loss of detail against the hot studio lights of that time while rendering a somewhat white appearance. Further, when the original model kits first appeared, Roddenberry signed off on the Enterprise being "white."
So to me, TOS-R missed Roddenberry's intention that the Enterprise appear, more or less, white. The often dark grey is something I don't think I'll ever acclimate to. Roddenberry intended the bad guys, the Klingon ships, to appear grey, not the Enterprise.
Having said all that, I rarely watch the old versions anymore and feel lucky to have TOS in HD with the new effects. I think CBS meant well when they produced this set. But Roddenberry never intended for the Enterprise to APPEAR that grey.
P.S. I have a memory of watching BALANCE OF TERROR - REMASTERED premiere on TV and the Enterprise was white. But soon thereafter the white ship vanished and was never to appear again. Nobody, however, seems able to corroborate my memory.
I'm sure in an episode like THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE, which is effects heavy, I would think in passing about the new effects as I watched, but the point of this thread is to see if others are acclimated to TOS-R as being the "new normal" for them.
If you are not acclimated, what is preventing you from being acclimated?
Two problems will always jump out at me and prevent me from being 100% acclimated : 1) the dissolves are sometimes a second early or late because they didn't have the discrete elements to redo them and there was no other way to cover up the old dissolves; and 2) in some shots, in my opinion, the Enterprise looks too dark grey.
I understand the true color of the 11-foot studio model. But I will always believe that Gene Roddenberry intended for the Enterprise to APPEAR white on the screen. Good guys don't ride into town wearing grey hats. While it's true that Matt Jefferies once remarked he made the Enterprise grey so it would stand out more against white stars and such, in my professional opinion, there was a more pressing reason for the grey: If I was shooting with Etkachrome-based 35mm film stock today, and wanted to absorb blue spill, the perfect color to use on my model would be grey with a dash of green. That's a technical fact, as well. Not only that, but the grey is ideal for preventing loss of detail against the hot studio lights of that time while rendering a somewhat white appearance. Further, when the original model kits first appeared, Roddenberry signed off on the Enterprise being "white."
So to me, TOS-R missed Roddenberry's intention that the Enterprise appear, more or less, white. The often dark grey is something I don't think I'll ever acclimate to. Roddenberry intended the bad guys, the Klingon ships, to appear grey, not the Enterprise.
Having said all that, I rarely watch the old versions anymore and feel lucky to have TOS in HD with the new effects. I think CBS meant well when they produced this set. But Roddenberry never intended for the Enterprise to APPEAR that grey.
P.S. I have a memory of watching BALANCE OF TERROR - REMASTERED premiere on TV and the Enterprise was white. But soon thereafter the white ship vanished and was never to appear again. Nobody, however, seems able to corroborate my memory.
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