Personal Space Bubbles in Voyager...

[cyph]

So I'm watching the series, and throughout I've observed that the crew's personal space bubbles is rather close. The typical American urban space bubble I've heard is around 2-4 feet. In Voyager, the crew members are often seen to be damn-near spooning each other.

Any thoughts?

 

[JNG]

Hey, when you live on a ship together for years, even a big one, it seems only realistic that things would change in that regard.

Me, I'd get right up close to Seven of Nine.

 

[Lucy of Nine]

Oh my gosh, I was just about to post a thread about this!

I've thought the exact same thing... I mean, I know that due to certain camera angles on screen, actors need to be close, but sometimes it looks downright ridiculous on Voyager. I was just watching a scene with Chakotay talking to Kathryn, and he was so close he was almost kissing her LOL...

 

[cyph]

Me, I'd get right up close to Seven of Nine.

Yeah, lots of the crew did (in the space bubble sense)

Oh my gosh, I was just about to post a thread about this!

I've thought the exact same thing... I mean, I know that due to certain camera angles on screen, actors need to be close, but sometimes it looks downright ridiculous on Voyager. I was just watching a scene with Chakotay talking to Kathryn, and he was so close he was almost kissing her LOL...

Right?! But the almost-kiss happens alot between Chakotay and Janeway, and I think that's part of the high sexual-tension-but-platonic-on-surface thing the writers were doing. But even just Tom and Harry looking over a control surface together, they would be spooning each other.

And what I really think of is... at such a close distance, I wonder if they could smell each other's breath and body? I mean, how does a sonic-showered person smell? How do Vulcans smell? Or other non-human species for that matter? How do humans smell after eating alien foods? Does the sonic shower also clean their mouths?

ah...

 

[Lucy of Nine]

Sonic Toothbrush perhaps? Sonic deodarant?

The scene i'd watched with Chuckles and Kathryn definitely wasnt one of their sexual will they or wont they scenes.... it was just an oddly shot one. I've seen a few in the last week, and I'm watching season 3, so maybe it was that era?!

 

[ria 75]

Sonic Toothbrush perhaps? Sonic deodorant?

Not sonic, just replicated, I'm afraid. No waves are gonna stop you from smelling!

The scene I'd watched with Chuckles and Kathryn definitely wasnt one of their sexual will they or wont they scenes.... it was just an oddly shot one. I've seen a few in the last week, and I'm watching season 3, so maybe it was that era?!

I'm not sure. They did try to play the Janeway/Chakotay thing at the time. But they do the close two-shots in so many shows and even movies, including in quarrel scenes... That's just not realistic.

It's the actors' breath I'm more worried about. And they're so hot under the spotlights... it mustn't be pleasant every day.

Tough on a ship too, with no fresh air... they have to be extra careful! Do you think they have smell filters in the air filters? Or Voyager would smell like cabbage at best!

 

[cyph]

Tough on a ship too, with no fresh air... they have to be extra careful! Do you think they have smell filters in the air filters? Or Voyager would smell like cabbage at best!

I postulate that the Federation has come up with a neutral smell that all planets under the UFP came to enjoy/tolerate. Like new Las Vegas casinos.

 

[voyagerfan]

A lot of the private quarters had flowers

 

[spoonunseptium]

It's actually because of the camera. As in, in any given scene there is only a certain ammount of space you can create on screen. In order for two people to be in a scene together shoulder-up instead of full-body, you have to squish them together in the frame.


If you look closely at almost any close-up involving two or more people in any TV show or movie, they are usually really, really close to each other.

 

[cyph]

It's actually because of the camera. As in, in any given scene there is only a certain ammount of space you can create on screen. In order for two people to be in a scene together shoulder-up instead of full-body, you have to squish them together in the frame.


If you look closely at almost any close-up involving two or more people in any TV show or movie, they are usually really, really close to each other.

Yeah, this I assumed already. But I was more looking for a inter-StarTrek-universe reasoning. Like, "that's just how they roll in the future" or something...

 

[Jeri]

I postulate that the Federation has come up with a neutral smell that all planets under the UFP came to enjoy/tolerate. Like new Las Vegas casinos.

T'Pol's "nasal numbing agent" is standard issue.

 

[2 of 10]

Perhaps Starfleet officers and crew undergo so kind of psycological testing
in much the same way that the officers and crew of Submarines have to. Also, Voyager was only supposed to be on a 3 week mission. Voyager seems to be pretty spacious to me. The ship that would have been really cramped would have been Equinox, from the screen shots, Equinox looks to be only about half as big as Voyager and it was in the DQ for just as long if not longer...

Resistance is Futile

 

[Jeri]

So I'm watching the series, and throughout I've observed that the crew's personal space bubbles is rather close. The typical American urban space bubble I've heard is around 2-4 feet...

Interesting premise, I thought. Conde Nast Traveler magazine runs a regular column, entitled "Etiquette 101," where they clue travelers in on what's customary in various countries.

In November, they decided to turn the tables and interview foreign travelers in the U.S. about the customs here. Here's what they said about:

...PERSONAL DISTANCE: Weaver warns visitors that Americans are not to be touched beyond the forearm and estimates personal space here at nearly two feet -- twice what it is in the Arab world and in Mediterranean countries. The author Aleksandar Hemon, who emigrated to the United Statest from Bosnia in his late twenties, noticed that people here flinched at his touch. It's not that Americans are cold or that Eastern Europeans are pushy, he says. It's just a cultural difference related to notions of personal space and privacy.

(As an aside, here is the one on EYE CONTACT: Whereas in other cultures, avoiding eye contact -- particularly with an elder -- can be a sign of respect, here eye contact is mandatory, even if you're just making small talk about the weather.)...

 

[cyph]

So I'm watching the series, and throughout I've observed that the crew's personal space bubbles is rather close. The typical American urban space bubble I've heard is around 2-4 feet...

Interesting premise, I thought. Conde Nast Traveler magazine runs a regular column, entitled "Etiquette 101," where they clue travelers in on what's customary in various countries.

In November, they decided to turn the tables and interview foreign travelers in the U.S. about the customs here. Here's what they said about:

...PERSONAL DISTANCE: Weaver warns visitors that Americans are not to be touched beyond the forearm and estimates personal space here at nearly two feet -- twice what it is in the Arab world and in Mediterranean countries. The author Aleksandar Hemon, who emigrated to the United Statest from Bosnia in his late twenties, noticed that people here flinched at his touch. It's not that Americans are cold or that Eastern Europeans are pushy, he says. It's just a cultural difference related to notions of personal space and privacy.

(As an aside, here is the one on EYE CONTACT: Whereas in other cultures, avoiding eye contact -- particularly with an elder -- can be a sign of respect, here eye contact is mandatory, even if you're just making small talk about the weather.)...

In the book, "The Definitive Book on Body Language", I remember one of the chapters saying that body language is more about upbringing. If one is from a sparsely populated area, like rural America, then personal space bubbles can be 4ft or greater. Inner city space bubbles, however, because of the denser population, can be as little as 1ft.

So I was thinking that because it's a ship with corridors big enough for 2 people to walk down side by side, I'm guessing that might be why they spoon each other so much...

 

[Jeri]

^ ^ Sounds good; I'd believe that.

 

[2 of 10]

It also depends on your rank and title. Janeway what seem to be very large and nicely appointed quarters. The same seem to be the same for the rest of the senior staff, how does Neelix rate though?? never went through Star Fleet Acadamy and he gets his own quarters. In "The Good Shepard" in a few scenes it shows Billy having to be quiet while he is talking to Tal, for they are sharing almost bunk-bed type quarters with other non-coms.

 

[dave_R_treker]

Hey, when you live on a ship together for years, even a big one, it seems only realistic that things would change in that regard.

Me, I'd get right up close to Seven of Nine.

Resistance is futile