The Bridge
The nerve center of the Enterprise was deck 1, the bridge. Innovative in its
day it was designed to be modular, with sections removable for various camera
angles.
In the picture below the assistant cameraman is holding the clapper in such a manner that the bar will not slap against the slate. This indicates to the editor that there is no sync sound. The person with the hat is most likely the director or assistant director.
Notice the elevator doors to the right are 36° degrees off axis from the center line of the command chair.
Designer Matt Jefferies used a functional approach in designing the bridge. Much of his inspiration came from established technology and imagining it in a more advanced stage. Notice the similarity between the real bridge command chair from the aircraft carrier Enterprise CVAN-65 (circa 1963) and Jefferies rendition.
The picture of Shatner on the right also provides the answer as to why the bridge elevator doors are 36° off axis. This camera angle among others allows the actors entering or exiting the doors in the background to be seen and not blocked by Shatner in the foreground. Remember, its a set and therefore made to accommodate the requirements of photography, not reality based design.
For this next camera angle the section with Spocks station was removed. Notice the elongated viewer that Nimoy is looking into. Normally this would not be seen, nor would the microphone on the top right of the screen. Most likely the camera dolly was backed out to allow the assistant cameraman (AC) to get the slate in front of the camera. After filming the slate the camera dolly would continue to roll film and be moved back into position followed by the director saying, "ACTION!"
This shot illustrates the difficulty of lighting the bridge. To properly illuminate Takai and the others a photo flood is mounted to the bridge alcove. Also, because of the distance between the two sets of actors two microphones are used.
A beach ball is filmed for color and light direction reference for the color timer.
The last scene for the day. A film crew member will call out, "That's a wrap!", meaning that the work for the day is finished.
Thanks to contributors Joe L. of Florida and Dave T. of North Carolina and Karl T. for these rare clips!