Star Trek TOS: Regular or Remastered - Page 2

Richard, yeah exactly. It was grey so it wouldn't wash out and it would minimize bluespill and look white. That means, arguably, the intent was the on-screen creation of a white Enterprise. That's my argument as to why it should be more or less white in the remastered shows.

Come to think of it, I not only had one white model Enterprise, I had a cool die-cast white Enterprise that shot these orange pellets out of the front of the saucer section.

Since my last post I also asked all my non-ST-loving friends on my FB page what color the original Enterprise from the first ST series was. All 14 said white. None said grey. Perception is reality on the glowing screen.

Younger1968: I have owned the remastered DVDs since street dates, and seen them all before, but haven't watched them in a couple of years because the Enterprise being grey put me off. I am trying to give them another chance now and learn to love the grey. There's so much to like about all the great work done by CBS/P on these remastered episodes. I'm just expressing my opinion about what I believe the intent of the creators of the show was--that the Enterprise be portrayed onscreen as a more-or-less white starship, citing the technical considerations mentioned above and the color of the first officially licensed models.

Whatever the creators' true intent, in my heart and in my boyhood dreams the Enterprise was, and always will be, white.

Edit: A friend just emailed me and said James Blish described the Enterprise as "white" in one of his dramatizations of the original series, and that some blueprints of the original Enterprise say that it is "ceramic white." Despite the real model being grey, the fictional Enterprise clearly isn't.

Edit #2: The Enterprise is white in the original Gold Key Comics, too, as well as the vast majority of other comic books.
Edited by Carabimero - 1/28/12 at 10:43pm

It is neat seeing the different perspective on the re-mastering of the star trek series. I am huge star trek fan and love anything to do with star trek.

Also, the Enterprise float that Paramount had constructed to celebrate its 100th anniversary and fly in the Tournament of Roses Parade...it's white.

Or any episodes incorrect as far as the title credits go? I thought I read that some of the episodes have the wrong season openings on them.

I am not expert enough on TOS-R to address that issue, although my impression from watching nearly the entire first season recently is that they sometimes dissolve out of principal shots a few seconds early to have extra time for the CGI shots of the grey Enterprise. That takes me out of the episode every time.

I think it's a trade off. To see the sensational work of the Star Base in Court Martial almost makes it worth stomaching that grey Enterprise, and unnatural tweaks in the editing. One thing that did bother me about the title shots, say, in Shore Leave, is that was the only episode, if I recall correctly, that had the Enterprise orbiting from right to left. They should have left it that way (pun intended).

"One thing that did bother me about the title shots, say, in Shore Leave, is that was the only episode, if I recall correctly, that had the Enterprise orbiting from right to left. They should have left it that way (pun intended)."

Carabimero,

Yes, you're correct, unless you count the alternating/intermittent orbiting shots included in Mirror, Mirror.

Do you mean to say that in Shore Leave, the Enterprise is orbiting from left to right (as in all of the other episodes) in the Remastered set? May I ask why this was changed?

Yeah, but that's the J.J.prise - from the 2009 movie. Totally different animal.

As to the color, I go by the real color of the filming miniature. Color on-screen varied way too much depending on when and where it was broadcast, the quality of the local station video feed from the film projection into the camera during those early syndicated runs (which also varied from 35mm to 16mm copies - don't know if and when videotape copies from Paramount began to be used - if ever), the quality of the TV you were watching it on (how likely was that early 70s TV set with the light-gray shadow mask properly calibrated?). Even looking at the Blu-rays of the original effects today, the color of the ship ranges from off-white, to gray, to blueish, to purplish-blue, to sometimes even a bit greenish. There are some shots where the model does look very close to it's real color. I think it depended on who did the composites at that point. But, to me, using what it looked like on TV as a basis is almost pointless. Remember that even AMT sold the model kit in varying colors over the years. It started out white, but there was a light blue period in the early 80s, and finally gray by the mid 80s until they no longer made the kit themselves.

The actual color is a gray with very a slight greenish tint.. On the model at the Smithsonian, the top of the saucer is the only part not touched during any of the museum's two refurbishments (the first, when it got there, and a second during the mid-80s) or the 90s renovation. A sample of the color was dabbed on a sheet of the original Jefferies drawings. It was still in original model builder (the late) Richard Datin's possession when he was interviewed about the model for a Star Trek magazine several years back.

Here's my argument, and supporting points, as to why I believe the creators of the original Star Trek intended the grey Enterprise model to appear white onscreen, and be perceived as a white starship.

Roddenberry pitched the show as "Wagon Train to the stars," saying it was "Cowboys and Indians in outer space."

The good guys don't ride into town wearing GREY hats.

The model was mostly grey to minimize washout and reflection, and slightly green to minimize bluespill. The intent was to create the impression of a more or less white starship. That is why the first licensed models were white, die cast toys were white, the ship is described as "white" by James Blish, who adapted TOS from the original scripts into a series of novellas; the blueprints describe it as white; it's portrayed in the original Gold Key comic books as white. In the new movie it is white, in the Macy's Parade last month it was white, and on and on and on...white, white, white--it's PERCEIVED as white.

That's because the good guys wear white hats, not grey ones.
Edited by Carabimero - 2/2/12 at 4:19am

I like your argument. I just reach a different conclusion. But that's fine.

I just personally chose not to include adaptations done based sometimes on early script drafts by someone not actually involved with the show. Blish was based out of England.

Or fandom.

As great as Franz Josephs' blueprints and tech manual are (I have both), they are, in fact, fan interpretations. (Never mind that Roddenberry originally approved of Josephs' initial work but later distanced himself from the effort - that was very wrong and rude on Roddenberry's part).

Unless there are other blueprints you are referring to - Matt Jefferies' original drawings perhaps? I wouldn't accept any others.

I would say that during production of TOS, the idea of Star Fleet was loosely based on an extension of the Navy, even though in the 1st season's "Tomorrow is Yesterday", Kirk describes it as a "combined service". Still, most ranks are based on Naval ranks and then there is the whole "voyage at sea" aspect that is brought up more than once throughout all of Star Trek.

What color does the Navy paint all their ships and vessels?

Gray.

Well, they are a bit darker gray than the model of the TOS-E.

Okay, so the shuttlecraft is white (with a gray bottom).

And the Enterprise refit (ST-TMP, 1979) is glossy white based, with that beautiful pearlescent panelizing (and then ILM promptly ruining it for ST-II).

But, again, that's just me. If you want white for the TOS-E, great.

I am writing an essay entitled "The Enterprise is White," which is really about perception versus reality more than Star Trek or the Enterprise, and I certainly want to present other points of view and other arguments. Yours is a good one, Joel. That the navy paints ships grey is probably the best counter argument a person could make. I like it (it will actually help me enjoy TOS-R more, for sure!).

If anyone else has any thoughts on this topic, it would help me with my essay tremendously.