More restored clips from our contributors.
Thank you William McCullars from the IDIC Page for this promotion picture of Robert Walker Jr. playing Charlie Evans in the episode Charlie X.
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Another great picture from William.
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During filming it is the director's prerogative to have a variety of angles shot in order to expand the creative process in editing. Many of these shots end up not being used. For instance, this shot is from Mudd's Women The foreground object is not a Klingon grill or a Romulan hibachi. It is a set piece which can be seen in the background of other angles of this scene but not as prominently as seen here, which is probably why this angle ended up on the cutting room floor.
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An outtake from the episode, The Naked Time.
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This next clip shows an example the director wanted to have an alternate version or an insert shot for the scene. The letter X is used on the slate followed by the scene number to inform the editor of this. Letters are also used after the number to designate which set-up it is, but X is always used at the beginning to indicate an alternate version or insert shot. For example, the 3rd alternate set-up for scene 17 would be slated as X17C.
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A common fantasy theme with television series during the 1960's was the "twin" scenario. The Patty Duke Show was the first television show to use this technique extensively with the adventures of twin cousins. Two other series that habitually used the twin theme were Bewitched with Samantha and Serena, also cousins, and I Dream of Jeannie with Jeannie's naughty sister - also named Jeannie. Science fiction also ran with this concept. Star Trek had it's share of episodes which used this effect including The Enemy Within, What Are Little Girls Made Of?, The Alternative Factor, I Mudd, Whom Gods Destroy, and That Which Survives.
When the "twins" interact with each other a double is used with a similar physical appearance and shot from behind or from a distance where the doubles face cannot be seen clearly. For interaction where both of the twins faces are seen a technique known as a split screen effect was used. Typically the set up would have the camera locked into position with the main character reading lines to a stand-in with the same height and so that the eye line would match. This process would be repeated with the actor and stand-in reversing their positions. The lines would be read off camera for the actor to hear and respond to for each set-up. Close-ups and reaction shots were filmed as usual, but would also be a safety net to be used if the actors lines would overlap because of timing error in the line reading during the master split-screen effects shot, or if a character moved across the split screen border.
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A major continuity error is in the teaser ( the portion of the episode seen before the opening credits) of the episode The Enemy Within. Shatner is missing the arrowhead emblem on his tunic - he was given Eitner's gold tunic by mistake. |
This next clip shows the set-up for the split screen shot in the sickbay set from the same episode. Eitner has the same uniform on as Shatner as he will be taking Shatner's place on the bed. Note the stool has been chained to the floor to keep it from moving. This split screen was quite daring for its time. Normally there is an amount of dead space between the actors, but in this scene it was necessary for the two Kirk's to hold hands. In the episode the split is just to the right of Shatner's right arm restraint. Shatner's "evil" Kirk is afraid and is breathing quickly, causing his tunic to rise and fall. This produces a double exposure where the split screen takes place. Also, the weight of the actors are obviously different as the mattress appears more recessed when Eitner lays on the bed. As the scene was so short these technicalities are not that obvious and the illusion of the two Kirks holding hands is quite effective.
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A close up of the viewscreen graphic used in Balance of Terror. I cleaned it up a bit and thought it would make a nice wallpaper for your computer. Click here to download it.
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Placing Tribbles at the actors feet apparently requires three men and a hammer.
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Thanks to Audrey A., Dave T.and "Stompy" from TX for these clips.