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Observations in TNG: "Realm of Fear"

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

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

"Realm of Fear" HD Screencaps @ TrekCore

Description TNG		Other caps	Comparison TNG to TNG-R	Description TNG-R
The USS Enterprise-D approaches the plasma streamer in the Igo system. The footage of the ship was originally created for "Half a Life", where the ship approaches the star Praxillus. In order to make the plasma streamer appear larger, the footage of the ship was gradually shrunk, the further the ship flies away from the camera.		"Half a Life"		The plasma streamer was edited for the HD release to appear a bit less cloudy.
		"Half a Life"
		"Half a Life"
		"Half a Life"
		"Half a Life"
The USS Enterprise-D is dwarfed by the red giant in the foreground. The ship encountered a similar phenomenon in the Kavis Alpha sector in the season 3 episode "Evolution". The same footage created for "Realm of Fear" will later reappear in "Preemptive Strike" where a Maquis ship is seen in front of the two suns of the binary Topin system.		"Evolution"		This mistake was fixed for the remastered version of the episode; all elements of the footage are properly aligned.
		"Preemptive Strike"
If one clicks through the three screenshots from this episode (the third one comes from later in the episode), one can see, that the red glow of the impulse drive and the blue glow of the port nacelle (missing or incomplete in the first screenshot) slowly appears as the ship drifts to the right.
The USS Yosemite adrift in the plasma streamer between the two stars in the Igo system.				A look at the ship in HD. The previously cloudy environment now looks like what it should be, a plasma stream.
The ops of the USS Yosemite features a wall console similar to the ones usually seen in the USS Enterprise-D's science and medical labs.		"Ethics"		A look at the graphic in HD.
Aboard the USS Yosemite, Crusher and Riker are seen going from one room aboard the ship to another. If one compares the first two screenshots, one can see that these two scenes were actually filmed on exactly the same set. In the second screenshot, the wall console was hidden behind several cargo containers. In the third screenshot, showing Riker and Crusher in the second large area aboard the ship, we can even see the small transporter platform, which was previously seen in the first area, in the background.				No changes


Between seasons 5 and 6, the LCARS display behind the transporter console was changed slightly. Though the arrangement of colorful blocks is mostly the same, the large block on the left was subdivided into several smaller blocks and the colors were changed for several of those blocks and lines.		"Darmok"		The transporter room LCARS display in HD.
		"Redemption I"
This is the first time the transporter effect is seen from the perspective of the person being beamed.				There is more sparkle in the reconstructed effect in HD.

The transporter platform of the USS Yosemite was later modified slightly and appeared again aboard the USS Jenolan in "Relics".		"Relics"		The transporter area in HD.
Two consoles featuring top and side views of the Oberth-class vessel USS Yosemite can be seen in ops aboard the ship.				The two consoles in HD.

This is the first appearance of another version of the Admiral's uniform. This uniform would be in use until the introduction of new uniforms in "Star Trek: First Contact". Only in this episode, an admiral is seen without a communicator.				A look at the admiral in HD.
Reginald Barclay is attacked by a quasi-energy microbe in the matter stream.				The creatures were recreated for TNG-R.

This is one of two episodes in which parts of the transporter platform is opened to expose circuitry. In "Attached", the transporter is accessed like this again, this time a different section of the platform is opened, though.		"Attached"		The circuitry in HD.
The PADD with the large viewscreen in the foreground was originally created for "The Ensigns of Command".		"The Ensigns of Command"
The exposed transporter circuitry can be seen a little better in this screenshot. The open transporter platform features two blue flashing LED lights, one of the early examples of blue LEDs on TNG. The scanner on the platform was originally seen as a botanical tool in "Data's Day" and was used by Ro in "Disaster".	"Data's Day"	"Disaster"
This biobed cover, featuring a small alcove for a tricorder, was first seen in the season 4 episode "Suddenly Human". This is the first time that the small box on top of the biobed cover is seen being removed.				The sickbay set in HD. When the episode was remastered, it was forgotten to add the blue glow on Lt. Kelly's left leg in the second shot.

After five seasons, this is the first time that the round structure in the sickbay ceiling is shown actually serving a function. The laser scan beam was added in post production.

The tricorder in the biobed cover alcove can be seen up close in this screenshot. This is the medical tricorder created for the third season. It was replaced by a different type of tricorder later in the third season (in "Sarek", to be precise).	"The Vengeance Factor"	"The Defector"		A better look at the tricorder in HD.
The cardiostiomulator used by Crusher here was originally created for "First Contact" where it is used by the Malcorian doctors to monitor Riker's heartbeat. The prop was also seen being used as a medical tool in "Ethics". It appears once more as a cortical scanner in VOY: "Alliances".	"First Contact"	VOY: "Alliances"		The device in HD.
	"Ethics"
This shot of a medical console was originally created for "Ethics" and is re-used here, featuring two different animated medical displays. The large blue console seen here only appears in the footage from "Ethics" and was not seen in the earlier scenes in sickbay.	"Ethics"	"Ethics"		The display was recreated for TNG-R.
The small monitor next to Crusher displays a graphic of a human brain, while the large sickbay monitor in the background displays a graphic of a human heart.				The device in HD.
This is another scene most likely originally filmed for "Ethics", though it does not appear in that episode. Similar curved displays can only be seen on the large biobed used during Worf's operation in that episode.		"Ethics"		The graphic and prop in HD.
This is the small console Crusher actually looks at when the two inserts from "Ethics" are re-used in this episode. As can be seen, this monitor displays a completely different graphic and does not match the previous two consoles.
Barclay is seen playing with a Terrace piece. Two Terrace board games have been part of the Ten Forward set since the middle of season 5.				An HD close-up of the game board.
Barclay's hand glows blue for the first time, due to the infection with quasi-energy microbes.				The effect in TNG-R:
Barclay's quarters are a redress of the junior officers' quarters which first appeared in this form at the beginning of the fifth season. Later in the episode, the section of the quarters featuring his bedroom will be seen. The leg of a tripod can be seen in the left half of the second screenshot.		Barclay quarters floorplan		No changes

Barclay orders a glass of water from the small replicator in his quarters. When a close-up of the materializing glass is seen, stock footage from "The Vengeance Factor" is used. In that episode, Riker used the much larger replicator in the senior officers' quarters, which is also lit much brighter, creating a discrepancy here. When Barclay uses the replicator again later in the episode, the same stock footage from "The Vengeance Factor" is used again.		"The Vengeance Factor"		No changes
		"Data's Day"
Metal water bottles like this will also later be seen in the Voyager pilot episode "Caretaker".	"The Mind's Eye"	VOY: "Caretaker"		In HD, it can be seen that the PADD displays the same graphic of "Starfleet Operations - Sectors 21166-22079" originally created for "The Mind's Eye".
For this episode, the Jefferies tube, which was previously not connected to any part of the USS Enterprise-D sets, was moved to this location behind one of the two doors close to the "pool table" in main engineering. In the previous five seasons, a turbolift was located behind the door. The turbolift was last seen in use in "The First Duty", the door label with the word "turbolift" was last fully visible in "The Next Phase". From now on until the end of the series, the Jefferies tubes would be located here.	"The First Duty"	"The Next Phase"		A better look at the set in HD. The words "Jefferies tube access junction ..." can be barely made out on the label.
	"The First Duty"
When the Jefferies tube set was moved to the location adjacent to main engineering, a second level was added to the set. The Jefferies tube junction, first seen in "Disaster" no longer featured a grated metal ceiling in this episode and a hatch in the floor.		"The Game"		No changes

		"The Game"

As Barclay and Troi frantically run through the corridors of the USS Enterprise-D, the same section of the set was used in four consecutive shots, making it appear that the set is much larger. In the graphic next to this text, the 4 paths walked by Troi and Barclay are highlighted.		Barclay and Troi's walk		No changes




As mentioned before, the same footage of a materializing glass of water (recycled from "The Vengeance Factor") appears again in this shot.		"The Vengeance Factor"		Although Barclay wears green pyjamas in this scene, the reflection of a red Starfleet uniform (Riker's reflection from "The Vengeance Factor") can be made out in the back wall of the replicator when the glass of water materializes (after gamma enhancement).

Ops aboard the USS Yosemite is seen from the perspective of somebody materializing on the small transporter platform. The console on the right was originally created for the replicator center aboard the USS Enterprise-D, seen in "Data's Day". The console displays the same LCARS display as it did in that episode.		"Data's Day"		The reconstructed effect in TNG-R.
The medical tool Crusher uses to scan Barclay here was originally created for "Shades of Gray". The prop also appeared in "Transfigurations" before it was modified (adding the blinking LEDs, one of the first appearances of blue LEDs on Star Trek) for "Conundrum". Its appearance here is identical to how it looked in that last episode.	"Shades of Gray"	"Conundrum"		The device in HD.
	"Transfigurations"
This is one of the rare cases when somebody is seen entering or leaving sickbay through the side door next to the large medical display. People previously used this door in "The Bonding", "Night Terrors" (where it lead to the morgue) and "The Game". The door will be used again in "Tapestry".	"The Bonding"	"The Game"
	"Night Terrors"	"Tapestry"
A sample from the plasma inside the plasma streamer is beamed into a sample container, protected by a force field. A smaller version of this sample container previously appeared in the season 5 episode "Cost of Living". The sample container appears again in the Voyager episode "Time and Again". In the first and third screenshot, a microphone briefly pops into view at the top of the screen.		"Cost of Living"		The set and the reconstructed effect in HD. The field is overall better defined.

		VOY: "Time and Again"

The medical monitoring device on Barclay's arm was previously used as a motor assistant band in "Transfigurations" and a motor assistant unit in "Ethics".	"Transfigurations"	"Ethics"		The medical device in HD.
La Forge takes a close look at the plasma streamer sample behind the cylindrical force field in main engineering.				The previous dirty fog looks like glowing semitransparent plasma now.
Barclay glows even more intense due to the quasi-energy microbe infection in this screenshot than before.				The glowing effect in HD.
Crusher's new medical case, first seen in the season 5 episode "I, Borg" can be seen a little better in this screenshot.		"I, Borg"		A good look at the case in HD.
More quasi-energy microbes are seen within the transporter stream in these two screenshots.				Another look at the new effect.

The small box that O'Brien's spider Christina is housed in was previously used as a gift box by Riker in "Angel One".		"Angel One" HD		The prop in HD.

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