[kevin]

I'm kinda divided over whether I find a busier bridge a problem or not - on TV having only a handful of people just made the set look quiet and deserted.

Yet, it's true you can also have too many people in a set as well.

[Captain Tom Coughlin]

Originally Posted by kevin

I'm kinda divided over whether I find a busier bridge a problem or not - on TV having only a handful of people just made the set look quiet and deserted.

Yet, it's true you can also have too many people in a set as well.

I like the busier bridge, it helps portray the sheer scope and size of the ship and works for a movie. There are a lot of people on a starship and a lot of things going on.

[kevin]

Originally Posted by Captain Tom Coughlin

I like the busier bridge, it helps portray the sheer scope and size of the ship and works for a movie. There are a lot of people on a starship and a lot of things going on.

I kinda take it as one of those differences between TV screens and Movie screens.

More people adds depth, detail, movement and visual excitement - it's probably not a coincidence that the first thing Generations did with the D Bridge was to do exactly the same thing.

Add more people and add more stations to the existing set.

[Captain Tom Coughlin]

Even in TMP and Wrath of Khan you had a lot more going on in terms of sound. Lots of radio/intercom conversations going on and what not.

[horatio]

If memory serves, the addition of stations at the side (i.e. between captain/helm/conn and the stations at the wall) was the only major non-superficial design chance, kinda like those extra stations in GEN.
It is more realistic IMO and fewer frontal yet more shots from different angles which treat the bridge less like a stage fits this very well.

[Kaboom]

The biggest change in the D's bridge for Generations was that they turned down the lights and had the red alert lights constantly on. Otherwise the set was practically unchanged.

[Livingston]

I liked that new lighting scheme on the bridge in Generations. Too bad the D was destroyed to early on. The bridge of the Enterprise E looked pretty bad IMO though. Lost all the style the D had. It seemed they became much more militaristic with the E. The luxury of the D was gone.

[horatio]

Originally Posted by Kaboom

The biggest change in the D's bridge for Generations was that they turned down the lights and had the red alert lights constantly on. Otherwise the set was practically unchanged.

These are the extra stations:

Originally Posted by Livingston

I liked that new lighting scheme on the bridge in Generations. Too bad the D was destroyed to early on. The bridge of the Enterprise E looked pretty bad IMO though. Lost all the style the D had. It seemed they became much more militaristic with the E. The luxury of the D was gone.

Indeed, it was nice to see children on the D for a last time in GEN.

But long bridge shots which were used quite often in TNG were rare in GEN, so it was understandable IMO that they went for a new bridge with a new console configuration which made close-ups visually more interesting.

[OneBuckFilms]

One thing on the new Bridge that I noticed.

Those two Hostess Stations almost seem like points for co-ordinating between the department stations on the perimiter and the Captain.

It may have been designed such that the Science and Engineering department heads could optionally man those stations, and work with people in the departments working within the wedge, as it were.

It makes sense that multiple Communication, Engineering and Science officers work under their department heads, and can pass information to those standing stations during routine operations.

In TOS, Kirk would often have some Ensign or Lt. hand him a report to review or sign, and those two stations probably act as an assembly/filtering point for all of the department information.

Of course in an emergency Yellow or Red Alert, the department heads might be all over the place working with other departments as we've seen.

The new Bridge suggests more of a management structure in this way.

[Commodore]

According to the floorplan in the Playmates Enterprise bridge playset, these are the bridge positions:
-Commander
-Navigation
-Helm
-Auxilary Science
-Auxiliary Communications
-Security
-Threat Assessment
-Damage Control
-Readiness
-Science A
-Science B
-Defense
-Weapons
-Observatory
-Environment
-Engineering
-Communications A
-Communications B

This doesn't include the four data screens