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Kirk always knows how to find his perfect lighting.
(startrek.website)
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this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2023
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Risa
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I'm actually rewatching TOS with my wife (which is a miracle)
I love seeing Shatner again .... every single scene looks like he's about to do something, say something important, the ship is about to be destroyed or his toast is on fire .... every camera shot of him is overly dramatic and looks like the last image we'll ever see of him.
I love it.
Even the set designs make it all feel like a stage play. I think that's why my father still likes TOS episodes so much.
One of the consequences of a wisely used ~~but small~~ budget. Simple sets and costumes, plus a LOT of creative lighting. All that's left are actors to fill that otherwise empty-feeling space on the stage.
Also, color TV was in its infancy, so networks used the medium to compete for viewer attention. It really looks like NBC made sure that every scene was as vibrant as possible. But now that I think about it, it also had to "read" well in B/W too.
Edit: @StillPaisleyCat@startrek.website corrected me here. TOS was indeed an expensive show, which upon rewatching (as I am today), becomes more evident the longer you look at it.
Star Trek was considered big budget television in the 1960s. It was early peak broadcast television made to show off colour technology.
Roddenberry modeled and pitched the original pilot (The Cage) on MGM’s movie Forbidden Planet, which was the most expensive science fiction movie to date when it was made in the mid 50s.
The style of acting really grows on you as you watch it. It's so dramatic and punchy.
I love it too.
So glad to be witnessing some Shatner love. I also just re-watched TOS and TAS. They get better with every rewatch.
Only TOS season three... Every time I get mad, idk, some episodes have such a heavy 70's community love vibe. I actually love the style of the 70s, just not the hippie sing along stuff, that always somehow creeped me out. I'm so happy i was born in 1971, so i got to the 80s when i was 9 years old. Perfect timing, considering how delicious the 80s were for coming of age.
I made the mistake ( or not ) of watching all of Madame Columbo in between Star Treks, what an awkward ride for Janeway.
I'm in the process of a TOS rewatch right now, on S3. I feel like I'm slowing down because I don't want to reach the end again.
Shatner's performance as Kirk is just pure fun to watch. His delivery is confident and over-dramatic, and it's like he's competing with the main cast and even the guest star actresses to always be the prettiest one in the scene, lol. He gets a lot of flak for his "main character energy" on and off the set, but he sort of is the main character, and he also really embraced engaging with the (extremely passionate and opinionated) fans over the years, which I appreciate. I don't think any of them were prepared for the level of popularity they were thrust into (still household names nearly 60 years later!), and many of them didn't know how to handle it.
I saw that documentary where Shatner visits the other Captains. Loved it and his encounter with Chris Pine ( i kept writing Pike lol ) was just wholesome. I've thought a lot about sudden fame and how people deal with it - it must be difficult to see the thing you're in get popular, coupled with another person getting the spotlight in that popularity. Nowadays the whole cast is popular, but i assume it wasn't always like this or at least the actors didn't get the kind of feedback, that's possible with internet and social media.
I was heartbroken, when Shatner came back from his short amazon(g) space trip - for the way he was dismissed by Bezos when landing and for his experience. Some Astronaut might have said this kind of thing before, but it was my first time hearing someone that was in space, say other things than it was a miracle, wonderful, in awe, 100% would do again, etc.
The way he was shocked about the bleakness, darkness and the void that is around us. I think we cannot imagine how it feels to see Earth from 'another' place - i now imagine the Earth like a submarine in the deepest depth of the ocean, but with less protection. We only have an atmosphere, keeping the surrounding void from destroying us in a whim.
LOL - i've been dong this consciously as of late. Like, going 3 episodes back, before watching the last episode. Just not letting it end. I've only caught myself doing this with Star trek series though.
I'm now doing this with Picard season 3. Watching it the first time and i just don't want it to end. I avoided spoilers, so them all coming back caught me pretty off guard.
Bezos was particularly jerky about it when its established fact that Shatner was one of the celebrity calls that astronauts asked to have in the early days of the space station when communication was more limited.
So this actor, who was an inspiration for astronauts, had been asked to talk to them during their missions and hear their perspectives for morale benefits. But when he finally has his own experience, Bezos assumed no one wanted to hear it. Just tone deaf and uninformed.
Yeah - that was jarring to see.
Didn't he prefer theatrical acting & live audience and thus played his TV role like a theater actor would? I vaguely remember reading about it.
Those tend to traditionally exaggerate gesture, mimic and tone so the last row still gets everything even when they're further away.
He’s a classically-trained Shakespearean actor, trained with the Royal Shakespeare Company. You should check him out on his The Twilight Zone episodes. They’re about the hammiest, scene-chewiest things you can imagine. 
What, food? Naw, this cast eats the scenery. But there's a grill in the back alley if you wanna cook something.
While he was a Shakespearean actor at Stratford in Canada, and in fact was Christopher Plummer’s understudy before taking on leading roles himself, Shatner’s US career kicked off in the 1950s in film noir. He was considered a quite serious actor.
YES! Something about Shatners performance just screams captain. The composure. The looks. The inflection. Like every decision truly weighs on his character