Created: July 24, 2010
Installing the railing proved to be one of the more challenging tasks for us. In order to get the railing to work, we ended up buying metal brackets and applying them above, below, and on the side of the rails at every joint. That results in some problems, but we realized we could cover the railing with the same fabric as the arms of the captain's chair, and it worked like a charm!
With the advanced production date, we opted to go with Randy's designs and using paper appliques. There's a touch of lens flare here and there from the approach, but with the right lighting, none of it appears in the test footage.
You'll notice that we originally had black (Gorilla) tape over the ventilation system, but we opted to bail on that approach. It just never looked good. Instead, we replaced the black vinyl tape with white duct tape, and it worked perfectly for the shoot.
The good folks at Albany's Impressions Made Easy constructed a very nicely done bridge plaque that we proudly placed on the bridge on Friday before filming.
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Jeff was impressed with the detail on the set. Most of the graphics were created by Randall Landers, based in part on work by Keiichi, Shane Johnson, Lee Cole, and several other folks on the Internet. Thomas Sasser also provided some graphics as well, especially the turbolift controls and graphics, and much of the control panel of the science station.
We did purchase a small portable air conditioner which allowed us to keep the temperatures down in the low 90's during filming. At one point, temperatures cracked 105! Still the a/c helped, and we're glad we ran the exhaust and water hose out the side of the carport to keep it manageable!
So what's next?
Randy Landers will be taking a week off from any set construction. This will give his batteries some time to recharge (and maybe that tennis elbow will heal up some, too). Ricky Thompson is working on preparing his home to sell prior to his move to the Saint Augustine, Florida, area.
The following week, we plan on the following:
Captain's Ready Room -- Michael Zock has helped design a very cool ready room that will be constructed at Fast Copy in Albany, Georgia. The area available is oddly shaped, so it will be perfect for the ready room.
Starboard Turbolift -- a two-dimensional flat piece will serve as a background for our actors while they're in transit. We're also going to install the pulley cord system to allow the doors to open and close smoothly.
Rear Alcove -- the "backdoor" of the bridge was a sore spot for Ricky, Randy and Jeff during the filming. It had been our hope that the white vinyl backdrop would suffice. It didn't. It simply didn't work, and we're going to have to do something about it. We're considering a folding door sort of contraption that we could extend during filming and fold up when not. Suggestions for this would be welcome!
Main Bridge -- the overhead ventilation system looks good, but due to excessive echo in the bridge, Jeff has suggested that we cover that section with mattress padding. That will help muffle the echo problem considerably.
If anyone else has any suggestions, we would welcome them!
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