Observations in TNG: "Aquiel"
A joint project with TrekCore, by Jörg Hillebrand and Bernd Schneider
Here are some observations about sets, props and visual effects in TNG: "Aquiel" without a specific theme, and a comparison of the original TV release (TNG) with the remastered episode (TNG-R).
"Aquiel" HD Screencaps @ TrekCore
| Description TNG | Other caps | Comparison TNG to TNG-R | Description TNG-R | |
| Several new shots of the USS Enterprise-D were filmed for this episode. This sequence of the ship approaching Relay Station 47 is one of them. |    |
The shot in HD. | ||
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An excellent establishing shot showing Relay Station 47's ops. Several consoles were rented from Modern Props for this episode and a large number of new LCARS displays were created. It appears that the console segments on the lower level in the background are re-used from the Enterprise refit bridge, also known as Enterprise-D battle bridge. |
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The interior of the relay station in HD. | ||
| The large console in the foreground was rented from Modern Props. It was seen in several earlier episodes, including "Datalore" and "A Matter of Perspective". One of the retractable side panels that are usually hidden inside the main body of the console, can be seen in the second screenshot. |  "Datalore" |
 "A Matter of Perspective" |
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| One of the newly created LCARS displays showing schematics of the relay station antennae. |   |
A better look at the graphics in HD. | ||
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| The console in the foreground was last seen on another space station, the Tyran particle fountain in "The Quality of Life" |  "The Quality of Life" |
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The console in HD. | |
| A newly created shot of the USS Enterprise-D in close proximity to Relay Station 47. |   |
The space shot in HD. | ||
| A Type-2 phaser is used to cut out a piece of floor board. |   |
The sequence in HD. | ||
| Another shot showing the two LCARS displays featuring schematics of Relay Station 47's subspace antennae. |   |
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| Consoles like the one next to Geordi and Riker have been seen before in "Devil's Due" and "The Masterpiece Society". This is the first time we get to take a close look at the old-fashioned keyboard and light-up buttons, however. The encryption protocol activity log display was inserted in post production. |  "Devil's Due" |
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The encryption protocol activity log display was recreated for the remastered version of the episode, with legible text. | |
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 "The Masterpiece Society" |
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| The small black console on top of the black drawer was also seen in Dr. Ira Graves' lab in "The Schizoid Man". |  "The Schizoid Man" HD |
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Only in HD, the Klingon logo can be seen on the LCARS display in the background. | |
| The green piece of wall decoration will later be seen in Tuvok's quarters aboard the USS Excelsior in VOY: "Flashback". |  VOY: "Flashback" |
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The decoration in HD. | |
| La Forge's tool box, featuring a red engineering PADD, can be nicely seen in this screenshot. |   |
The static was faithfully recreated for the remastering of the episode. | ||
| The static on this monitor is similar to the one shown on the Enterprise bridge monitors in "Star Trek: The Search for Spock" after the Enterprise was damaged by the Kruge's Klingon Bird-of-Prey, as well as seen on the disabled Saratoga bridge, the disabled spacedock, Starfleet Command, and on the Klingon Bird-of-Prey / HMS Bounty bridge in "Star Trek: The Voyage Home", and finally seen briefly on bridge monitors and on the viewscreen on the Enterprise-A bridge in "Star Trek: The Final Frontier". |  "Star Trek IV" |
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| A newly created sickbay tool scans the cellular residue found aboard the relay station. |   |
The effects shot was recreated for the remastered episode. | ||
| The Relay Station 47 model is a redress of the cryosatellite originally created for "The Neutral Zone". Federation Space Stations |
 "The Neutral Zone" |
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The shots of the station in HD. | |
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| The device Geordi uses for the data transfer was originally created for "Hero Worship". In that episode, no cable was needed to connect the two computers. |  "Hero Worship" |
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The storage device and monitor in HD. | |
| The large Klingon logo is usually seen in the Great Hall on Qo'noS in episodes such as "Redemption I+II". The Evolution of the Klingon Emblem |
 "Redemption I" |
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The Klingon logo in HD. | |
| This is the first appearance of Geordi's quarters since the redress of the set between seasons 4 and 5. La Forge's quarters were last seen in the season 4 episode "The Mind's Eye". For this scene, a new wall monitor was added to the set. This monitor did not appear in earlier season 5 and 6 episodes when the set was redressed as Data's or Worf's quarters but would remain a part of all three quarters until the end of the series. The console in the bottom left hand corner was seen in earlier episodes, the outlet for the data transfer device was added for this episode, however. |  "I, Borg" |
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The monitor in HD. | |
 "Rascals" |
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| The small pink crystal ball was a part of Geordi's quarters since the very beginning of the show. The crystal ball was seen in his quarters in "Code of Honor" and "Galaxy's Child" and will appear once more in "Interface". |  "Code of Honor" |
 "Interface" |
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The decoration in HD. |
 "Galaxy's Child" |
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| Two star charts are seen in Relay Station 47's ops in these screenshots. |   |
HD close-ups of the charts in HD. | ||
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| This shot of the Klingon Vor'cha class attack cruiser, Relay Station 47 and the USS Enterprise-D was newly created for this episode. Starship Gallery - Vor'cha |
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The Klingon ship in HD. | ||
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| The large geode behind Geordi's bed was previously seen in Riker's ready room in "Future Imperfect" and will be seen again in Geordi's quarters in "Force of Nature". The painting seen on the left was first seen in Geordi's quarters in "Galaxy's Child" but has also continuously appeared in Data's quarters since "Silicon Avatar". |  "Future Imperfect" |
 "Galaxy's Child" |
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The decoration in HD. |
 "Force of Nature" |
 "Silicon Avatar" |
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| Keith Rocha's personnel file was not legible in SD. |   |
In HD, most of the text can be made out. Rocha was born on Beta'Elan Minor in the city of New Lagos and his first assignment was the USS Mare Tranquillitatis under Captain Douglas Drexler, for example. | ||
| A shuttlebay with the Relay Station 47 shuttle. |   |
In HD, the name of the shuttle, Verne, can clearly be read. | ||
| A good look at the aft shuttle LCARS display. |   |
The display in HD. | ||
| Another nice shot of Relay Station 47. |   |
The shot of the station in HD. | ||
| More LCARS displays and star charts can be seen in Relay Station 47's ops. |   |
In HD, the names of several starbases (Starbase 56, 78, 12, 4112, Meta) and starships (USS Merrimac, USS Hood, USS Charleston, USS Zhukov) can be read. | ||
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Keith Rocha's log entries are partially legible in the original version of the episode. The peculiar console with a sphere at the center earlier appeared in Dr. Soong's lab in "Brothers". |
 "Brothers" |
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When the graphics were recreated for the remastering, only the first sentence of the first log entry was kept on the first page, the rest was newly written. The text on the second page (completely legible in the original version of the episode) was faithfully recreated. It contains references to Delta Vega ("Where No Man Has Gone Before") and the Epsilon IX station ("Star Trek: The Motion Picture"). | |
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| This shot of the USS Enterprise-D facing the Klingon attack cruiser first appeared in "Reunion". |  "Reunion" HD |
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The Klingon ship in HD. | |
 "Reunion" HD |
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 "Reunion" HD |
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| Consoles like the ones seen behind Lt. Aquiel have appeared in countless earlier TNG episodes. The consoles, both rented from Modern Props, were first seen in Dr. Soong's lab in "Datalore". |  "Datalore" |
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The console in HD. | |
| A beautiful shot featuring the camera slowly flying past Relay Station 47 and towards the USS Enterprise-D. |   |
The great shot in HD. | ||
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| Parts of a DNA molecule are displayed in the bottom left-hand corner of the large sickbay monitor in this episode. |  |
No changes | ||
| What remains of the coalescent organism stretches towards Dr. Crusher and imitates her hand. |   |
The effect was recreated with more of a 3D effect for the remastered episode. | ||
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| The glow of the canar was added in post production. |   |
The recreated effect in the remastered episode. | ||
| Geordi's new quarters are fully seen in this scene. The large shelf with several geodes, seen in the last screenshot, is a unique feature of La Forge's quarters, previously seen in "Galaxy's Child" and "The Mind's Eye". |  Floorplan of Geordi's quarters |
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No changes | |
 "Galaxy's Child" |
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 "The Mind's Eye" |
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| The engineering duty roster is displayed on the new wall monitor. |   |
The display was recreated for the remastered version of this episode. | ||
| The dog Maura is revealed to be the coalescent organism that killed Keith Rocha. The lifeform is killed by Geordi La Forge. |   |
The CG effect was faithfully recreated for the remastered "Aquiel". | ||
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Credits
Thanks to Rusty0918 for the hint about the reuse of the Enterprise-D battle bridge and about the static on the monitors in the movies.
