The Guardian of Forever

[Spock's Barber]

It was a significant part of the episode COTEOF, and it was an impressive set piece/prop. Does anyone have any info on what happened to this item? I’m guessing it was trashed, kind of like what happened to the full size mock up of the Shuttlecraft Galileo.

 

[NCC-73515]

It turned into a smoking newspaper guy

 

[1001001]

It turned into a smoking newspaper guy

Yes, he took his portal and hid during the temporal war.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

It was a significant part of the episode COTEOF, and it was an impressive set piece/prop. Does anyone have any info on what happened to this item? I’m guessing it was trashed, kind of like what happened to the full size mock up of the Shuttlecraft Galileo.

As soon as the last footage was checked and they knew they wouldn't need any reshoots, I'm sure that huge donut hole was busted up into pieces that would fit in the studio dumpster.

Even if a later script would come along wanting to revisit the Guardian, it would be less trouble to rebuild the donut than to keep that huge thing standing around for a year. Unless they knew that script was coming, of course.

 

[Doug Otte]

I never thought about this before, but: what was it made of? It was lit inside, so I assume it was panels of colored glass or lighting gels that were glued to a wooden frame.

 

[Doug Otte]

I never thought about this before, but: what was it made of? It was lit inside, so I assume it was panels of colored glass or lighting gels that were glued to a wooden frame.

I checked Inside Star Trek, the Compendium, The Making of, and the The World of, and could find no reference. But, I may have missed something.

 

[plynch]

Windsock dipped in … wait,

 

[DonIago]

^Now we need a novel that proposes that the Guardian and the DDM were built by the same people.

 

[Metryq]

Even if a later script would come along wanting to revisit the Guardian, it would be less trouble to rebuild the donut than to keep that huge thing standing around for a year.

I wonder if it might have been easier, and more impressive on camera, to use a scale model in various kinds of in-camera VFX shots? I'm thinking of some of the old-style forced perspective shots, like those used in the 1993 Attack of the 50ft Woman with Daryl Hannah. That might have helped with the ruins that "extend to the horizon."

There aren't any shots that require close interaction with the Guardian. The landing party pass in front of it, around the back of it, and jump through it. They might have pulled it off with no need for post-FX work. (Just a few years later, Space: 1999 produced almost all of its VFX without post optical work.) Such shots might have been too time consuming, though, even for the short time the Guardian and the planet appear in the episode.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I wonder if it might have been easier, and more impressive on camera, to use a scale model in various kinds of in-camera VFX shots? I'm thinking of some of the old-style forced perspective shots, like those used in the 1993 Attack of the 50ft Woman with Daryl Hannah. That might have helped with the ruins that "extend to the horizon."

There aren't any shots that require close interaction with the Guardian. The landing party pass in front of it, around the back of it, and jump through it. They might have pulled it off with no need for post-FX work. (Just a few years later, Space: 1999 produced almost all of its VFX without post optical work.) Such shots might have been too time consuming, though, even for the short time the Guardian and the planet appear in the episode.

Neat idea. I can't remember what sci-fi movie it was (1980s or later), but it had a very long and expensive looking, futuristic corridor (with those rotating red lights from an old police car, for urgency), and down at the end of it you could see the actors.

It was really a miniature corridor in front of the camera, and we're looking through it with the actors much further away, showing up through the hole at the far end. They cannot walk toward the camera.

That shot is a lot simpler than the "multiple exposure" thing in Space: 1999 and Moonraker. But for Star Trek there might be another problem: Ralph Senensky talked about how tiny the planet set was on Stage 10. It impacted how he shot "Metamorphosis." There might not be enough (acceptable looking) distance for the actors to appear behind a miniature time portal between them and the lens. And they couldn't cross in front of it, but that could be managed with a cool re-design.

A TOS solution would be to composite the cast with a matte painting, like Charlton Heston at the end of Planet of the Apes. And then when they're jumping through the portal, frame the shot so close that you can't tell the Guardian isn't really there. But it might look fake as hell.

 

[johnnybear]

I've always thought that the Guardian probably slept or maybe better described as shut down when not needed or being used! He did look pretty dormant in the episode until Spock actually asked a question as it were...
JB

 

[1001001]

I've always thought that the Guardian probably slept or maybe better described as shut down when not needed or being used! He did look pretty dormant in the episode until Spock actually asked a question as it were...
JB

He kept busy, when he was able to.

As for the original question, I can't find anything online to provide an answer. There used to be a touring prop recreated in fiberglass, but it wasn't the original.

 

[Trekker09]

This site talks about the prop -- not sure it provides a clear answer though.

https://thepropstop.wordpress.com/2...s-i-did-not-purchase-including-scenery-items/

 

[publiusr]

^Now we need a novel that proposes that the Guardian and the DDM were built by the same people.

I wouldn't be against that---or perhaps the aliens from ARRIVAL might be an even better fit.

One of the things that has come out of Webbs findings is the hint that the Universe is older than it should be. I like that steady state idea---that, just perhaps, the Guardian is hundreds of billions of years old---dropped from one planet to the next...

 

[DonIago]

Turns out the Guardian was a prototype and the DDM was dispatched by a temporal cold war faction via a much larger "Guardian", hence the somewhat similar construction methods.

I guess SG-1 kind of already did that, but it's not a a very serious idea in any case.

 

[Metryq]

^Now we need a novel that proposes that the Guardian and the DDM were built by the same people.

Did the same model-makers work on all episodes of TOS, or were the tasks farmed out as needed? If the former, then "the same people" may well have built both the Guardian and the Doomsday Machine!

 

[Commishsleer]

This site talks about the prop -- not sure it provides a clear answer though.

https://thepropstop.wordpress.com/2...s-i-did-not-purchase-including-scenery-items/

Was this the actual prop given away in 2022 or was it some replica?

 

[Trekker09]

Was this the actual prop given away in 2022 or was it some replica?

It seems like the actual prop, but it's really hard to believe no one bid on it - ! That site seems to say it was just given away and whoever picked it up sold it.
Think I remember walking through it, at the Air & Space museum exhibit in 1992, same year all the Trek costumes were on display at the Smithsonian.

Maybe the Guardian will show up someday on Pawn Stars.

 

[Noname Given]

I wouldn't be against that---or perhaps the aliens from ARRIVAL might be an even better fit.

One of the things that has come out of Webbs findings is the hint that the Universe is older than it should be. I like that steady state idea---that, just perhaps, the Guardian is hundreds of billions of years old---dropped from one planet to the next...

Well, remember the famous line of the Guardian:

"Since before your Sun burned hot in space, and before your race was born, I have awaited a question..."

So yeah it had been sitting absolutely dormant for quite some time.

 

[Doug Otte]

Was this the actual prop given away in 2022 or was it some replica?

That site mentions "replica" several times.