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Observations in TNG: "Conspiracy"

A joint project with TrekCore, by Jörg Hillebrand and Bernd Schneider

Here are some observations about sets, props and visual effects in TNG: "Conspiracy" without a specific theme, and a comparison of the original TV release (TNG) with the remastered episode (TNG-R).

"Conspiracy" HD Screencaps @ TrekCore

Description TNG		Other caps	Comparison TNG to TNG-R	Description TNG-R
A viewscreen like this appears in Picard's quarters in this episode and in "The Offspring". The Federation logo appears prominently in several places in this episode. The Evolution of the Federation Emblem				The Federation seal in HD.
Bottles and glasses like this were originally seen in "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock". The bottle features the Starfleet Command logo seen in the early Star Trek films.		"Star Trek III"		A better look at the bottle and the glass in HD.
The graphic of the Mira Antlia star system has appeared in several previous season 1 episodes. It was seen in "The Battle" representing the Maxia Zeta system and as a generic star system graphic in "Datalore". The graphic appeared again in "The Ensigns of Command", this time representing the Tau Cygna system. Re-Used Graphics The graphic seen in the close-up shots differs from the one in the long shots. The first graphic was added in post production, while the graphic in the long shots was a practical, on-set LCARS display.	"The Battle"	"Datalore"		The difference between the displays still exists in TNG-R.
		"The Ensigns of Command"
Dytallix B was previously seen as Velara III in "Home Soil" and will be seen again as the planet on which Starbase 179 is located in "A Matter of Honor". Re-Used Planets in TNG				The planet was rebuilt for the HD edition.
Several cargo crates with a prominent "D" (for Dytallix?) on a label are seen in this scene.		Dytallix logo		In HD, "Dytallix" can just be read underneath the big "D". The dot next to the big "D" seems to be a small "B".
Captain Rixx is the first Bolian to appear in Star Trek, not yet with the typical intense blue skin color of all later members of his species.		"Data's Day"		The make-up in HD.
The viewscreen Data uses to review Starfleet communications is strange. The thick, large screen seen in the shot featuring Data doesn't match the regular desktop monitor seen in the close-up of the viewscreen. The location where Data is sitting and reviewing the data is also peculiar, as there's normally no monitor on the small, low coffee table next to the couch in Picard's ready room. This part of the room is very rarely seen on the show.		"The Naked Now"		No changes
		"The Most Toys"
Many graphics flashing by on the viewscreen appeared in previous episodes such as "The Naked Now", "The Last Outpost" and "Datalore". Among them is a graphic of the "Great Bird of the Galaxy" - Gene Roddenberry's head on the body of a parrot wearing a Starfleet uniform and a graphic of a Type-7 shuttle variation. A graphic of an approach vector to a planet was also seen in "The Naked Now", "Datalore" and "Hide and Q".				No changes to these graphics in TNG-R, but we can recognize more details.


When Beverly enters the bridge, a female crewmember is sitting on Data's seat at the ops station, as Data is still in the ready room doing research on Starfleet communications. In the next shot (less than a minute later), the ops station is unmanned. A few seconds later, Picard approaches the main view screen and all of a sudden, Data sits at the ops station, even though the following scene reveals that he's still doing research in the ready room. This shot is also strangely uncentered. Finally, the shot was originally created for "We'll Always Have Paris".		"We'll Always Have Paris"		No changes
				The debris field, which previously consisted of largely shapeless chunks, was recreated for TNG-R. Some of the bigger pieces of wreckage were put in much the same places as in the original release.

This graphic is also seen on the bridge of the USS Enterprise in "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" and "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock". It may appear like a starbase but was meant to be something completely different. Rick Sternbach: "[It] was actually the gravity generator art I did for TMP. I think that was on the starboard forward part of the TMP bridge. Some of the original art was still around in 1987."	"Star Trek II"	"Star Trek III"		We can see the graphics much better in HD. The following names of starships can now be identified, in alphabetical order: USS Albert Einstein USS Aleo USS Atlantis USS Callisto USS Copernicus USS Constellation USS Elmer Fudd (yes, really) USS Endeavour USS Equicon USS James Fenimore Cooper (misspelled as "Fennimore") USS Ganymede USS Gremlin USS Heart of Gold USS John F. Kennedy USS Matte Fringe USS Max Planck (misspelled as "Max Plank") USS Minnow USS Mustang USS Nightwing USS Non Sequitur USS Omaha Nebraska USS Puget Sound USS Robert Louis Stevenson USS Sherlock Holmes USS Ticonderoga USS Tranquility Base USS Tycho USS Unicorn USS White Sands
The three star charts seen in this shot were originally created for the Spaceflight Chronology. The graphic previously appeared in "The Naked Now", "The Last Outpost" and "Datalore".		Spaceflight Chronology
This graphic depicting a planet was seen in countless season 1 episodes, usually on an aft bridge station, for example in "The Battle" and "Too Short a Season".		"The Battle"
This ship was originally created for the FASA Star Trek role playing game. According to the role playing game source books, it is a Lotus Flower-class neutronic fuel carrier.		FASA Lotus Flower class
This ship was also created for the FASA Star Trek role playing game. According to the role playing game source books, it is an Orion Wanderer-class Class V blockade runner. The ship also appeared in "The Naked 'Now", "The Last Frontier" and "Datalore".		FASA Orion blockade runner
Another planetary graphic that was seen in earlier episodes and is also seen in Data's quarters throughout the whole series.		"Datalore"
The final new ship seen on the viewscreen was originally created for the Spaceflight Chronology. According to the book, it is a Federation Provider-class starship. Strangely, it seems two ships of this type were combined to create the graphic seen in this shot.		Spaceflight Chronology
This star chart was previously seen aboard the Batris in "Heart of Glory" and the Sanction in "Symbiosis".	TNG-R: "Heart of Glory"	TNG-R: "Symbiosis"
One log features several The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy references. Captain Douglas Adams of the USS Heart of Gold (NCC-42) received an order from Dent Arthur Dent of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation.				In HD, not only the graphics can be seen much better but the text is also legible. Several communications files contain in-jokes.
Another log features MAS*H references. The USS James Fennimore Cooper is commanded by Captain Benjamin Franklin Pierce who received an order from Captain B.J. Hunnicutt.
Gilligan's Island is referenced again as well. The USS Minnow is commanded by Jonas Grumby, who was also captain of the ship in the TV show.
A shot of the desktop monitor previously seen in "The Battle" and appearing again in "The Best of Both Worlds" and "The First Duty" is re-used again. As in the previous episodes, the background of the shot and the table the monitor is sitting on is clearly not the observation lounge table.		"The Battle"		No changes
The Enterprise approaches Earth for the first time in TNG.				This shot looks a lot better in HD.
This shot was originally created for "We'll Always Have Paris" and was previously seen earlier in the episode. Here, it was reframed to show more of Data and the whole extent of the main viewscreen.		Earlier in this episode		No changes
Earth's oceans look unusually bright turquoise in this episode.				New shots of Earth appear in the HD version, and the oceans are more naturally dark blue.
The shots of the Starfleet Command grounds were originally created for "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home". Footage from the film is re-used thrice in the episode, each time slightly reframed to show different parts of the original matte painting and footage. Locating Starfleet Buildings in San Francisco The Starfleet personnel o the matte painting is still wearing the 23rd century uniform style. Something much more noticeable is the Federation emblem is as it was devised by Franz Joseph for the Star Trek Technical Manual, that is, with the two faces instead of the olive branches. The Evolution of the Federation Emblem In the bottom right hand corner of this shot, two Tellarites are seen, thus, this is the only appearance of this species on TNG. As the footage was re-used once more in "Non Sequitur", this is one of only two appearances of the porcine species in the 24th century.		"Star Trek IV"		The scene still is rather blurry in TNG-R, but the anachronistic emblem on the building was replaced with the 24th century Starfleet emblem. In HD, we can make out an error in the matte painting: a hose or cable apparently vanishes in the shadow of the shuttle.
The container for the alien parasites is a Class Act Stuff-It binder.		Stuff-It binder		No changes
A first look at the neural parasite, which is somewhat reminiscent of the Ceti eel from "Star Trek II".				No changes
The transporter platform of Starfleet Command will be re-used for the Klingon Bird-of-Prey in "Star Trek V".		"Star Trek V"		No changes
This is the very last time a man is seen wearing a skant.				No changes
For the second time in this episode, footage from "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" is re-used.				In this shot the emblem was corrected too.
Another beautiful new shot of Earth, using real footage of our planet.				In this shot too the old footage was replaced, and the oceans are a darker blue.
Like in "Coming of Age", a large desk usually reserved for appearances of admirals on TNG is seen in Admiral Quinn's guest quarters. This desk first appeared in Admiral Jameson's guest quarters in "Too Short a Season".		"Coming of Age"		No changes
As Riker is struggling with Admiral Quinn, the stunt doubles are well recognizable as such. Visual Bloopers				The stunt doubles are even better recognizable as such in HD.
Footage from "Star Trek IV" appears for the third time.				In this shot the emblem was corrected too.
The doors to the Starfleet Command dining room seem oddly familiar. Only two episodes later, they would be re-used as the doors to Ten Forward, created for the second season.		"Force of Nature"		No changes
The Starfleet Command duty roster behind Picard is similar in design to the Starbase 74 directory seen in "11001001".		TNG-R: "11001001"		We can see the duty roster better in HD, but it is still far from readable.
Earth and Moon look spectacular in the remastered episode. Again, real footage of the planet and moon were used.				The shot too was greatly improved for TNG-R.
This is what the corridor still looks like. Beginning in the second season, the wall curtain will be replaced by a less colorful one.		"Attached"		No changes
This is the last appearance of the central season 1 biobed on TNG originally created for "Where No One Has Gone Before".				No changes
The scan of Admiral Quinn's head.				Vertical lines have been added to the footage, apparently to make it look more like a scan. Is it possible that the lines were already in the original footage but just couldn't be resolved in SD?
The medical monitor to the right of Crusher only appears in this episode.				No changes
One of the bowls the mealworms are served in curiously later appears in Troi's bathroom in "The Survivors".		"The Survivors"		The prop in HD.
The complete Starfleet Command duty roster can be seen in this shot.				At the bottom of the directory, the text "Fleet Operations Center - Sol Sector" can be read in HD.
The chair was first seen in the Federation Council chambers in "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home". A similar chair appeared in Tasha Yar's quarters in "The Naked Now". Also, pay attention to the circular carpet with the Federation logo seen in this shot.	"Star Trek IV"	"The Naked Now"		No changes
The Starfleet Command transmitter room is a redress of the Starfleet Command transporter room seen earlier in the episode.		Earlier in the episode		No changes
The star chart behind Dexter Remmick was created by Mike Okuda. It featured most planets visited by the original USS Enterprise in The Original Series and The Animated Series. The same star chart appeared in many later episodes. It was seen in the court room on Starbase 173 in "The Measure of a Man" and the tactical room aboard the Enterprise-D in "The Emissary". It was also seen in the tactical laboratory of the USS Enterprise-D in "The Mind's Eye" and in the ship's engineering laboratory in "The Game". Furthermore it appeared in the classroom aboard Deep Space 9, featuring the heading "The Explored Galaxy" in "In the Hands of the Prophets" and "Cardassians". In addition to episodic Star Trek, it also appeared in Captain Kirk's quarters aboard the USS Enterprise-A in "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country". Finally, the chart was also seen in the pilot episode of the British science fiction series "The Sarah Jane Adventures" in the eponymous main character's attic.	"The Measure of a Man"	"Star Trek VI"		We can recognize more details of the chart and read some more names in HD.
	"The Emissary"	"In the Hands of the Prophets"
	"The Mind's Eye"	"Cardassians"
	"The Game"	"The Sarah Jane Adventures"
There are color differences between the model of the parasite used in stop motion (as it approaches Remmick) and the one that Remmick puts into his mouth.				The different models are even more obvious in HD.

The unusually cruel shots of Remmick's exploding body were edited out in some TV releases.				The Blu-ray edition includes the complete scene.
The chair Dexter Remmick is sitting in is a redress of Admiral Mark Jameson's wheelchair from "Too Short a Season".		"Too Short a Season"		The wheelchair in HD.

Credits

Thanks to Florian Haag for the hint about the movie-style uniforms and the error in the matte painting.

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