Observations in TNG: "Time's Arrow I"
A joint project with TrekCore, by Jörg Hillebrand and Bernd Schneider
Here are some observations about sets, props and visual effects in TNG: "Time's Arrow I" without a specific theme, and a comparison of the original TV release (TNG) with the remastered episode (TNG-R).
"Time's Arrow I" HD Screencaps @ TrekCore
| Description TNG | Other caps | Comparison TNG to TNG-R | Description TNG-R | |
| Both shots of the USS Enterprise-D in orbit of Earth that appear in "Time's Arrow I" were originally created for earlier episodes. This shot was first seen in "The Best of Both Worlds II". |    |
Just like already in the remastered version of "The Best of Both Worlds II", the Moon was not rotated but flipped horizontally. | ||
This is a re-use of the matte painting with combined live action footage, created for "The First Duty". In that episode, the flag was flying at half-mast because of the recent death of Cadet Joshua Albert. In this episode, there was no need for the flag to be at half-mast, so instead of moving the flag up the pole in post production, the flag pole was just digitally removed above the flag, making the pole much shorter here. That way, the flag is no longer flying at half-mast. As footage from the earlier episode was re-used, Wesley Crusher can be seen walking off screen behind the tree on the right. |
 "The First Duty" |
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The shot in HD. The pole is still shortened. | |
| Cargo containers like the one seen in the background have appeared aboard the USS Enterprise-D in numerous episodes, including "The Mind's Eye". |  "The Mind's Eye" |
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No changes | |
| The watch of Samuel L. Clemens, with the engraving "To S.L.C., With Love. 30 November 1889". |   |
A look at the watch in HD. | ||
| Apart from the appearance of Data's severed head in the conclusion to this two-parter, the prop is seen again in Data's dreams in "Phantasms". |  "Phantasms" |
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Data's head in HD. | |
| This shot of the USS Enterprise-D in orbit of Earth was originally created for "The First Duty". |   |
In TNG-R, we can see the same shot as in the remastered version of "The First Duty". The land mass (partially obscured by clouds) appears to be New Guinea. | ||
| Data uses an engineering tool to scan his severed head. The pink glow was added in post production. |   |
The tool in HD. | ||
| A member of the production staff can be seen lurking behind a wall in main engineering at the left frame of this screenshot. |   |
There is still someone visible on the left who doesn't belong there, but it is hardly recognizable in HD. | ||
| A microscopic image of the triolicized rock face from the cave under San Francisco is seen in the first two screenshots. The single celled lifeform LB10445 is seen in the third screenshot. |   |
The graphics were reconstructed for TNG-R and have more depth now. | ||
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| The word "Access" can be vaguely made out in the unlit LCARS display behind Troi. The display was lit only on one occasion, in "11001001". |  "11001001" |
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No changes | |
| Devidia II has appeared as several other planets earlier in the series. The footage was originally created for the episode "The Dauphin" where the planet was supposed to be Daled IV and Klavdia III. It later appeared as Tau Cygna V in "The Ensigns of Command" and earlier this season as Moab IV in "The Masterpiece Society". Re-Used Planets in TNG |
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The planet in TNG-R is new or was digitally retouched. | ||
| Like in the two earlier episodes when this footage appeared, in "The Dauphin" and "The Ensigns of Command", the observation lounge windows are lit blue. As can be seen, the shot in "The Dauphin" still featured the third moon of Daled IV. |  "The Dauphin" |
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| Another shot of the USS Enterprise-D in orbit of Devidia II, originally created for "The Dauphin". |   |
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| Something is strange about this shot. After the camera pans from Picard to Data, the "framing footage" of Picard's arm and the tactical console freezes (the film grain is no longer moving) and only the footage at the center, Data working sitting at the aft bridge station, is still moving. One can also notice that the footage of Data moves slightly to the right when comparing the two last caps. |  |
Picard's arm still freezes in the remastered episode, but it is less noticeably because the grain is still moving. Also, the footage of Data isn't shifted here. | ||
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| Data is holding a small handheld generator as he is slowly phase shifting. |   |
The device and the effect in HD. | ||
| The small energy sparks on the handheld generator were added in post production. |   |
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| Data wakes up on an astonishingly even pavement. |   |
The HD shot shows the fake cobbles even better. | ||
| The New York Street backlot at Paramount Studios wasn't completed in time for the filming of episode of "Time's Arrow I", so all exterior shots were filmed at historic Pico House and along Olvera Street in old Los Angeles. All exterior footage for part II was filmed on the Paramount backlot, however. Re-Uses of the New York Streets Set |
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The street in HD. | ||
| A close-up of the August 13th 1893 edition of the San Francisco Registercan be seen in this screenshot. The text consists of the same filler text, which was also used for other newspapers seen on Star Trek. Newspaper Pages in Star Trek |
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We can read the text better in HD. | ||
| Data is handing Jack London a $1 bill. Abraham Lincoln's face can clearly be made out. The 1$ bill in circulation in 1893 featured an image of Martha Washington, however, and Lincoln is historically depicted on $5 bills. |   |
The dollar bill in HD. | ||
| The two Devidian time travelers (disguised as humans) remove the neural energy of the beggar encountered earlier by Data. |   |
The sequence in HD. | ||
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| Guinan lowers the evaporation point of a Tzartak aperitif, causing the beverage to evaporate rapidly. |   |
The preparation of the drink in HD. | ||
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| The opened phaser worked on by Data here was originally created for "The Ensigns of Command" and also appeared in "The Hunted". |  "The Ensigns of Command" |
 "The Hunted" |
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The opened phaser in HD. |
| Sparks fly as Data manages to make his contraption work. |   |
The effect in HD. | ||
| The Type-2 phaser somehow disappears in this scene. It still present when Data takes a seat again but has disappeared when the shot switches to an over the shoulder shot showing Jack London. |  |
No changes | ||
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| All the text seen in this newspaper is again filler text similar to the one seen earlier in the episode and in other Star Trek episodes featuring newspapers. In the wanted ad on the back side of the newspaper, a young girl is needed to ride a diving horse. Diving horses were indeed popular attractions in the late 19th century and were fortunately banned in the mid-20th century. |   |
The newspaper in HD. | ||
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| The guest list of the literary reception can barely be made out in this screenshot. |   |
Nothing is legible even in HD. | ||
| This is the final shot of the USS Enterprise-D in orbit of Devidia II. Again, it was originally created for "The Dauphin". |   |
Another look at the planet in HD. | ||
| According to the script of the episode, Riker is setting up a relay station for the larger generator set up by Geordi in this scene. The three relay stations appearing are slightly modified pattern enhancers, which first appeared in "Ethics". |  "Power Play" |
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The device in HD. | |
A subspace field is established between the generator and its three relay stations. We can see a blurred black border on the top of this shot (vignetting?). |
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The light effect was reconstructed for TNG-R. The framing or vignetting problem is even more obvious in TNG-R. |
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| As this panning shot featured FX elements (the Devidians), it was shot anamorphically. The panning was then achieved using the technique of "pan & scan", explain why the footage is a little blurry. Pan & Scan Effects in TNG |
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The visual effects of the Devidians were recreated for TNG-R, apparently using existing footage for the most part. The blue light is much better equalized in the TNG-R version, and the Devidians are generally better defined. In some shots the old SD footage looks a bit more plastic, however, while the HD shots are a bit flat (like pure light). | ||
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| The Devidian is seen absorbing neural energy through an opening in its forehead. |   |
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| A glowing sphere of neural energy flows out of a large receptacle at the center of the cave on Devidia II. |   |
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| A few more Devidians are seen in these two screenshots. |   |
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| The glow around Troi's fingertips was added in post production. |   |
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| A temporal vortex opens in the Devidian cave. |   |
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| Two Devidian time-travelers dump more neural energy into the central receptacle. |   |
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| An ophidian, a snake-like creature, used by the Devidians to generate temporal vortices, can be seen in this screenshot. |   |
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The away team of the USS Enterprise-D has left Devidia II through a temporal vortex leading to Earth in the late 19th century. Note the blurred black border (vignetting?) on top. |
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The black border is even more noticeable in TNG-R. | ||
