Day 1: Roddenberry with two unhappy actors (John Hoyt and Jeffrey Hunter) waiting for “quiet on the set.” (Courtesy of Gerald Gurian)
A member of the lighting crew was sent into the rafters to scare the cooing birds. He did as he was told – he waved his arms and yelled. The terrified pigeons took flight and proceeded to fly into beams, into scaffolding, into crew people, and into hot lights. Robert Justman urgently yelled for the electricians to turn off the big stage lights and for the ground crew to open the giant stage doors. The hope was the pigeons would fly toward daylight and escape the madhouse that was Star Trek. Many did. Many others, unaware of the fate awaiting them, flew in from outside. The mayhem continued. Finally, Justman hatched the idea to scatter bits of bread, birdseed and even Cracker Jacks on to the studio street outside. It worked and the pigeons were lured away from the soundstage. All that was needed now was a stage hand to guard the doors, making sure only people and no birds came or went … with the exception of the big alien bird planned for in the upcoming menagerie scene.
Day 2, Monday, November 30, the company was supposed to be on Stage 15 to film the spectacular bridge set. But with the production schedule already compromised, the bridge would have to wait. Work continued as they labored over the briefing room scene, then into the ship’s corridors.
Day 2, Scene 50H, Take 1 (Courtesy of Gerald Gurian)
Day 3, Tuesday, December 1. The company was still on Stage 16 finishing work that had been planned for only one day, while trying not to lose all hope. In retrospect, these scenes which spanned three days were among the easiest in the production. On this day, work took place in the transporter room for the first stab at camera tie-down shots needed for the post production work to create the dazzling never-before-seen effect of “beaming.”
Days 4 and 5, Wednesday and Thursday. Cast and crew finally moved to Stage 15 and began filming on the bridge. This was supposed to take one-and-a-quarter days. It took two.
Director Robert Butler was not happy. He later complained, “I remember pleading to get some vertical structures in the bridge, because that was just too ‘clean’ for me. I [tried] like hell to shake up that bridge, and it fell on heavily deaf ears.... Anytime I get into a ‘clean’ situation, I start grinding my teeth. And Star Trek was a ‘clean’ situation.” (26-2)
Production designer Matt Jefferies had other concerns regarding the bridge. In 1968, while still working on Star Trek, he explained his challenges, saying, “The split level bridge was not part of the original idea. I did not like it and, in many ways, I do not now. There is much to be said for it pictorially, in terms of people movement and picture composition. But the split level design limits the type of camera shots you can do. Another problem is the high noise level in the bridge.” (91-4)
Day 5, a second day on the bridge - Scene 9C, Take 3 (Courtesy of Gerald Gurian)
The bridge was designed to include eight “wild” sections. That meant it could be moved to allow different lighting and a greater variety of camera angles. But “wild” sections with split levels are problematic, with connecting portions loosening through wear and then emitting noise whenever a cast member walked on them. Squeaks. Groans.
The soundtrack suffered further because of the water and sewer pipes that ran along the walls. Money had been saved many decades earlier when a second wall had not been placed between the lavatories and the stage. In the silent film era, there was no need for this. Now, whenever a faucet was turned on or a toilet flushed, the sound was picked up by the sensitive microphones. Filming would stop. Then, after the old pipes settled down, it would begin again. Then another flush. And another delay. In desperation, a red light was put into the bathroom so visitors would know not to flush when the camera was rolling. They flushed anyway. Robert Justman commented, “When you gotta go, you gotta go…. My director was getting just a smidgen agitated… So toilet monitors were deployed outside the stage lavatories. No one was allowed in until each new shot was over. Sometimes the shots took a long time. What one doesn’t do for art.” (94-8)
To add to the squeaks, groans and flushes, friction was growing on the set. Butler was not thrilled with the results he was getting from cinematographer Bill Snyder, who, as cinematographers will, was calling the shots more than the director. Butler, who wanted the dark and moody script for “The Cage” to be filmed in a dark and moody visual style, grumbled, “I remember thinking that when Bill Snyder shot it he made it too pretty. I can accurately say that I was in a situation that made me less than comfortable.” (26-2)
Roddenberry and Haskin, meanwhile, were mixing as well as oil and water. The associate producer, who had directed sci-fi movies and critically acclaimed episodes of The Outer Limits, was now taking orders from a man who had far less experience than him. Having recommended Haskin, assistant director Robert Justman was often cast as the reluctant peacemaker. But there was little he could do. Haskin didn’t respect Roddenberry, and Roddenberry didn’t like being disrespected.
Day 6. Fred Phillips touches up Susan Oliver with more green body makeup (Courtesy of Gerald Gurian)
Day 6, Friday. Production was now two and a half days behind. The company remained on Stage 15, having moved over to the “Ext. Orion Courtyard” set. Robert Butler’s next challenge was over the controversial scene where Susan Oliver, wearing little more than green paint, did her sexy dance for Jeffrey Hunter. He complained, “I remember my reaction was ‘Oh God, those costumes, and that belly dancer; are we doing Victor Mature all over again?’” (He was referring to that actor’s roles in such exotic and campy films as Samson and Delilah). Butler added, “I thought, ‘Dare we?’ Generally I was wincing and wondering if we were going to get away with that.” (26-2)
Susan Oliver remembered, “The usual easy ‘Hi Suse’ [sic] banter was gone. The guys stood back and stared or averted their eyes as though it were immoral to look at such a woman. There seemed almost to be a sense of their whispering, ‘Wow, Susan’s not such a nice girl after all; she’s maybe wild; evil.’ Even before the dance began and I was just standing demurely to the side, this feeling was in the air. Gene had touched on something dark in man’s unconscious; one could imagine doing things with a green mate that he would never dare with one of his own color.” (132)
“Take 1. Action!” Oliver remembered thinking the crew were whispering, “Wow, Susan’s not such a nice girl after all.”
Sound problems continued. Stage 16 was not the only one that lacked soundproofing. Stage 15 was just as big and just as noisy. While the company filmed on Stage 15, there was construction next door. Dialogue had to be recorded between the roar of power saws and pounding hammers.
Days 7, 8 and 9, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The company moved back to Stage 16 where the Enterprise had been replaced with the inhospitable surface of Talos IV. The beam down of the rescue party was filmed, then their journey along the ravine, Spock’s fascination over the “musical plants,” and the discovery of the spaceship wreckage and crash survivors. This barren, dusty alien world was more to director Butler’s liking. There was nothing even remotely “clean” about the scenery. There was nothing easy about it either.
Bob Justman recalled the set was encircled by a huge backing that had been painted to simulate the sky of an alien world. Director of Photography Bill Snyder and his gaffer, Bob Campbell, spent two days trying to pre-light the massive background with its unearthly sky. Campbell finally complained to Justman, “No matter how much light we throw on it, it’s never enough. The damn backing just soaks it all up.” Thirty years later, Justman could still hear Campbell’s next words: “You can kiss your f…..g shooting schedule goodbye.”
The massive Desilu-Culver Stage 16, and the surface of Talos IV (Courtesy of Gerald Gurian)
Actually, they already had.
Work resumed on the infertile surface of Talos IV. The scenes filmed included Pike accompanying Vina to see the mystery behind her survival and that of the other stranded space travelers, then the “Rocky Knol
l” where a portal opens and Pike is abducted by the Talosians, followed by the sequence where Number One and her rescue party use a laser cannon to try to blast apart the doors of the portal. Next, the scene where the “lift” brings Pike, Vina, Number One and Yeoman Colt to the surface for the final confrontation with The Keeper.
Day 10, Thursday. The final days on this expansive planet set turned out to be the hardest. The “Camera Tie-down” shots of Vina as she ages was supposed to take half a day. It ended up taking almost a full one.
For the aging of Vina, a special brace was built to hold Susan Oliver’s head immobile and was hidden from view by her hair and neck. Footage was rolled in the camera, approximately 15 seconds worth. Then Fred Phillips whisked Oliver away to alter her makeup, making her older, uglier. Then back into the brace, with more film exposed. Another 15 seconds. Then back into the makeup chair. The ordeal took more than half of the day. Oliver was going well beyond the call of duty, well beyond the “snap of a finger” she had been led to expect. She politely added, “It was a process that required a great deal of patience.” (132)
“I knew that she would not be kindly disposed towards me,” said Oscar Katz, who had promised the actress an easy shoot. “And so I had to forgo my usual visit to the set on the first day of shooting. I’d made it a habit to attend the first day of shooting of a pilot to show that the head of the studio was with them. On Star Trek, I stayed away religiously even though it was just a 15 minute ride away from my office.” (96)
Susan Oliver dares Oscar Katz to show his face (Courtesy of Gerald Gurian)
As the production went over schedule, Oliver realized she would have to sacrifice her vacation to Hawaii. Each day she asked where Katz was. The joke behind the question became so apparent that shooting stopped as Oliver posed for a photographer, holding signs with the legend “OSCAR WHERE ARE YOU?” The photograph was sent to Katz. He still didn’t show. More pictures were taken -- a new one each day -- with other cast members holding the sign. And still no Katz.
At the end of Day 10, the company moved back to Stage 15 to work on a new set -the underground living areas of Talos IV -- for scenes where The Keeper and two other Talosians watch a monitor depicting images of the Enterprise crew on the planet’s surface and Pike in his jail cell. It was the first easy shot Butler and his crew had taken.
Day 11. Robert Butler reluctantly films a scene with “the killer fowl,” to be deleted (Courtesy of Gerald Gurian)
Day 11, Friday. A short move across the cavernous stage took the company to the “Int. Menagerie-Cage” set. Among the sequences filmed, Pike awakening to find he is a prisoner, then seeing an “Anthropoid Spider” and a “Humanoid Bird” in other “cages.” Robert Butler hid his displeasure from the cast and crew by grinding his teeth. He later said, “I remember there was some chicken -- some killer fowl -- being locked in some cell somewhere, and I’m talking to this stuntman -- it’s crazy, me talking to this Janos Prohaska, [who was] Hungarian or something... [saying], ‘Janos, okay that’s good, baby, now try this.’ And there’s this big chicken -- this killer chicken -- or some equivalent. I mean, it was nuts.” (26-3)
Most of the film of the “killer fowl” was left on the editing room floor, although the great bird of the galaxy appeared briefly as part of the creature menagerie.
As work progressed on this day, leaving behind the Humanoid Bird creature, the Talosians entered and communicated with Pike. He threw himself against the transparent wall to the amusement of his captors, the veins in their heads wiggling as they sent thoughts to one another. Bob Justman was the man crouching below the camera’s frame and squeezing a rubber bulb which forced air through a plastic tube running inside Meg Wyllie’s gown. The tube also ran up the back of her neck and into the oversized head where the spurts of air manipulated the pulsating veins, all to the rhythm of The Keeper’s dialogue being read out loud by script clerk George Rutter.
Filming “The Cage,” Day 9 of production, Scene 45, Take 2, with Meg Wyllie (Courtesy of Gerald Gurian)
The refined Meg Wyllie said, “I had never played such a role nor had such a makeup job applied to me. The base was an old-fashioned rubber bathing cap -- the type with a chin strap.... Upon the cap, a rubber substance was placed. When that was set, the special effects people finished the skull -- placing the blood vessels and covering them. The makeup was not comfortable -my ears especially suffered being so confined under the cap.” (195)
Wyllie’s instructions were to play the part with “dignity and control.” She remembered, “A mental, rather than physical, approach was needed to concentrate on the words I was saying. The pulsing in the veins in my skull and very little facial expression were to be the only visible effects of my thought transfers.... I was most intrigued.” (195)
Filming at Desilu 40 Acres for the fight with the “Neanderthal Creature” (Courtesy of Gerald Gurian)
Despite the challenges, the hard work and the sacrifice, Wyllie found the mood to be surprisingly light. She said, “We were encouraged daily by Gene Roddenberry’s visits to the set. It was an enthusiastic company enjoying their work.” (195)
Jeffrey Hunter was also enthusiastic, especially concerning the potential of the series. In an interview with Joan Schmitt for the Los Angeles Citizen News, he said, “We run into pre-historic worlds, contemporary societies, and civilizations far more developed than our own. It’s a great format because the writers will have a free hand -- they can have us land on a monster-infested planet or deal in human relations involving the large number of people who live together on this gigantic ship.”
Later in the day on December 11, scenes were filmed where Pike paces in his cage seeking a way out, questioning Vina about how to hide his thoughts from the Talosians. Finally, Vina reacts to being inflicted with excruciating pain and disappears.
Days 12 and 13, Monday and Tuesday -- the company held at four days behind. This was the only exterior work, with filming on Desilu 40 Acres behind Stage 15 and 16. The scene where Pike and Vina run toward the “Rigel Fortress” was photographed to be used for a matte shot, sharing the film frame with a brilliant painting by Albert Whitlock of the giant fortress looming in the distance. Next, inside the courtyard of the fortress for Pike’s fight with the “Neanderthal Creature.” It was supposed to take one day. It, of course, took two.
Days 14 and 15, Wednesday and Thursday. The company returned to Stage 15 for two additional days in Pike’s cell. First up: the scene where Pike tries strangling The Keeper, which then transforms into some form of alien beast. Next, Pike’s journey in and out of a place listed on the schedule as “Hell-Fire.” After this, Pike is joined in his cell by Number One and Yeoman Colt, the women The Keeper has selected for Pike to breed with. Last to be filmed: the scene where Pike uses the phaser to blast a hole in the transparent wall, allowing all to escape.
“That’s a wrap!” Susan Oliver, Gene Roddenberry, Robert Butler and Robert Justman at end of shoot (Courtesy of Gerald Gurian)
Day 16, Friday, December 18, 1964. The ping-ponging company had moved back to Stage 16 for scenes in the darkened stone maze of corridors where Pike again encounters the green skinned Orion dancing girl. In many ways, the production had been hell, so it only seemed appropriate that Jeffrey Hunter was agonizing in the “Hell-Fire” pit. Finally, ending on a happier note was the “Parkland” set, portions of which would be combined with another matte painting by Albert Whitlock, this time of a modern Earth city in the distance. The final scene filmed was the picnic between Pike and Vina. There was a touch of irony in making the picnic the last scene. The production had been anything but.
The pilot had taken 16 days to film, not 11. It had also gone well over budget.
“We spent more on those sets than any studio in television had ever spent before,” Roddenberry boasted in 1968. “I think probably we spent more than even any motion picture had ever spent in building a spaceship up until that time. On several occasions the studio got very upset about the mounting costs,
but fortunately Herb Solow went to bat for us. He believed in us and helped us, and that was a great help.” (145-4)
Truth be known, Solow was not pleased. As the liaison between the studio and the network, how could he be? The Desilu bean counters were mortified. And the NBC men, skeptical to begin with, would certainly factor in the final tally before making their decision whether or not to order the series. It was a bad situation and the biggest bills had yet to hit the studio accountants’ desks -- those tied to the costly post production phase. The biggest ticket item -- the Enterprise -- had yet to even be delivered for filming. And it was long overdue.
Roddenberry inspects a model of the U.S.S. Enterprise while on location at Desilu 40 Acres, before approving the making of the 11 foot 2 inch version (Courtesy of Gerald Gurian)
Work on the starship began in October. Based on Jefferies’ detailed drawings, Richard Datin, a model builder, fashioned a three-foot version of the Enterprise from wood. It took two weeks. His prototype was sent to Darrell Anderson in early November. An 11-foot, two-inch version of the ship was still needed for filming, and time was running out. To expedite construction, Datin took his smaller model and the plans to Volmer Jensen at Production Model Shop, located in Burbank. Jensen immediately assigned the construction to two employees: Mel Keyes and Vernon Sion. Datin supervised the building and did the detail work, including decals.
According to Datin’s job notes, it took 350 hours over a span of six weeks to make the big model. It weighed 220 pounds. The cost, prior to installing lights, was roughly $3,000 ($22,600 in 2013). The lights were actually an afterthought. This addition resulted in another 300 hours of labor and kept the model from being delivered until mid-December, as the pilot was wrapping. Datin recalled, “Roddenberry had said he didn’t want any lights at all. But then he got the idea of running lights on the port and starboard sides of the saucer section, so we put those on. He liked those running lights so much that he wanted even more lights here and there. But he ran out of money. I believed in him and the series idea, and so I added some [lighted] windows, gratis.” (46)
These Are The Voyages, TOS, Season One Page 13
