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Observations in TNG: "Identity Crisis"

A joint project with TrekCore, by Jörg Hillebrand and Bernd Schneider

Here are some observations about sets, props and visual effects in TNG: "Identity Crisis" without a specific theme, and a comparison of the original TV release (TNG) with the remastered episode (TNG-R).

"Identity Crisis" HD Screencaps @ TrekCore

Description TNG		Other caps	Comparison TNG to TNG-R	Description TNG-R
The impressive surface structures on Tarchannen III are seen in this video recording of the USS Victory logs. We can see late 23rd century labels as in the TOS movies in several places, indicating that these buildings are old. The math of the stardates is as follows here. If 40164 is one day and 40165 is the next day, then 40164.7 goes from 16:48 to 19:11, which complies with the displayed time of 17:30.		"Star Trek VI"		The planet set in HD. All writing on the screens was reconstructed for the remastered episode.
All the computer log scenes filmed on Tarchannen III take place in 2362. While the USS Victory away team wears the proper phasers and uniforms for this time period (two years before "Encounter at Farpoint"), the tricorders are wrong, as they were not introduced until the third season of TNG.	"The Arsenal of Freedom"	"Who Watches the Watchers"
When Leijten says "freeze visual", the footage of the USS Victory away team freezes and the same frame appears in the wider shot showing the observation lounge monitor.				In the remastered episode, the footage no longer freezes and the last frame of the material seen in the close-up of the log (both Mendez and Leijten look at La Forge) no longer matches the footage on the following shot showing Leijten standing next to the observation lounge monitor.

The USS Enterprise-D flies towards the camera. Enterprise Flybys in TNG and TNG-R				In the remastered version of this shot, the ship was replaced by a CG element, as the original footage could not be located.
A Type-7 shuttlecraft piloted by Paul Hickman approaches Tarchannen III.				The sequence in HD, with a newly constructed CG planet. We can make out the registry "NCC-70367" on the hull. Also note how much better the fiery trail looks now.
The shuttle flies closer to Tarchannen III and blows up in orbit of the planet. The primary of the Tarchannen system can be seen in the background.



More beautiful shots of the surface structures on Tarchannen III. Note the steps underneath the overpass, which appeared as part of the TNG cave set in several episodes.		"The Enemy"		The planet set in HD.
		"The Most Toys"		The planet set in HD.
The aft wall of the shuttlepod had been removed and replaced by a simple carpet-covered wall for "The Most Toys". This simple wall was still in place in "Devil's Due" earlier this season. In "Identity Crisis", the regular back wall is back, though the lower section was changed and still features a carpet-covered "backseat". Variations of the Type-15 Shuttle	"The Ensigns of Command"	"The Most Toys"		The interior of the shuttlecraft can be seen a bit better in HD.
	"The Price"	"Devil's Due"
The effect of the flashlight lighting up the footprints was added (or at least enhanced) in post production.				The reconstructed effect in TNG-R.
As Susanna Leitjen wakes up, we can see the reflection of the sickbay ceiling in her eye. This sort of foreshadows what would happen to her a bit later.				No changes
This is the first appearance of a thin PADD stylus on TNG. In previous episodes, much wider styli were used to type information into a PADD or tricorder. A different type of stylus with a transparent tip appeared on DS9.	"The Bonding"	DS9: "The Muse"		No changes
A small vial can be seen on the PADD Doctor Crusher is holding in this shot. The PADD is the first regular device of its kind. It debuted in "Lonely Among Us" and hasn't been seen in a while.		"Lonely Among Us"		In HD, it can be made out that this is a blood sample from Susanna Leijten.
For the camera (marked blue) to be able to pull off Geordi and Susanna's little corridor walk (red), it must have moved backwards into sickbay through the main entrance door to the set at the end of the shot.		Corridor floorplan		No changes
		Corridor floorplan		No changes
A cell sample and footprint of the Tarchannen III lifeforms are compared to various other alien cell samples and footprints. In the original episode, "Match Negative" written in red briefly flashed up before the next sample was shown (sixth screenshot).				This effect is missing in the remastered version of the episode. Tarchannen is misspelled in the newly created LCARS displays as "Tarchanen".






In this one shot, Data is using the desktop monitor originally created for the Picard family home seen in "Family" instead of the regular white sickbay desktop monitor. This monitor also appeared in the previous episode "Night Terrors" and was later turned into a Klingon monitor for "Unification I+II".	"Family"	"Night Terrors"		No changes
	"Family"	"Unification II"		No changes
Geordi watches the USS Victory video logs recorded on Tarchannen III. The tiny text on the left is not legible.				We still can't read anything of the tiny text in HD.
Susanna Leijten looks at a graphic of a "spindly Tarchannen plant", according to the script of the episode. A famous blooper appears in the middle of this sequence, as a screen with the TNG logo is seen for one frame. Mike Okuda: "That's a visual effects error. The logo on the screen in that frame is the 'slate' that I put at the beginning of the computer animation so that my colleagues in visual effects would know which shot it was to go with. Although they did a good job in compositing my animation into the filmed scene, they inadvertently included a little bit of the slate. It's really not that bad of a mistake, seeing as how few people have noticed it over the years."				The blooper was removed in the remastered release.






Susanna Leijten's hands now look like those of the native Tarchannen III species.				A good look at the hand in HD.
The USS Enterprise-D in orbit of Tarchannen III. The planet was re-used in many later TNG episodes and appeared as Valo II in "Ensign Ro", as Mericor system planet in "Ethics" and as Rekag-Seronia in "Man of the People", for example. Re-Used Planets in TNG		"Ensign Ro"		The planet in TNG-R is a new CG model.
The microscope on a custom-built stand in the background was rented from Modern Props and has appeared in several earlier TNG episodes, like "Home Soil" and "Samaritan Snare". Consoles by Modern Props in Star Trek	"Home Soil"	"Samaritan Snare"		A close-up of the microscope in HD.
Susanna Leijten's eyes, featuring slit pupils, glow eerily in this shot. This is a practical effect with fluorescent contact lenses.				The effect in TNG-R.
A graphic of Susanna Leijten's changing cells is displayed on Doctor Crusher's sickbay desktop monitor. She is holding another type of stylus previously seen on the eponymous planet in "Angel One", which later reappeared in the Voyager episode "Resistance".	"Angel One"	VOY: "Resistance"		The monitor image was newly created for TNG-R.
The desktop monitor created for "Family", used by Data earlier in this episode, can be seen behind the regular monitor in this shot. This is the first time we can see flowers in Beverly's office.				No changes
The shelf below the wall display in the sickbay office is gone in "Identity Crisis" and will not reappear in the course of the series. This change probably dates back to "Data's Day" when we could see that the shelf on the opposite wall was gone.		"Sarek"		No changes
The afterglow of Leijten's skin was added in post production.				The light effect in HD.
Geordi looks at footage from the Tarchannen III mission logs again, using spectral enhancement to highlight an unknown shadow.				The reconstructed sequence in HD.
				The reconstructed sequence in HD.
Geordi wears an older version of his VISOR in the USS Victory logs. The old VISOR seems to be completely silver and features rectangles instead of circles on the side. Geordi's VISOR and Eyes		Current VISOR		An HD close-up of the old VISOR.
As the USS Victory away mission to Tarchannen III took place in 2362, two years before the first season of TNG, the away team carries old-fashioned phasers and wears the previous version of the Starfleet uniform, as seen in the first two seasons of TNG.				No changes
The handheld palm-beacons seem to have also been in use as far back as 2362. In the series, however, they first appeared in the third season. In earlier episodes, a variety of different lamps was used instead.	"The Battle"	"Peak Performance"		No changes
The approximated silhouette of the Tarchannen III lifeform.				The reconstructed silhouette in TNG-R.
Now Geordi also has mutated Tarchannen III hands.				Geordi's hand in HD.
The medical tricorder attached to the biobed is an old model. One way to tell them apart from the newer models is the orange (instead of black) area around the big red EMRG button. The device displays the same graphic as Pulaski's medical tricorder in "Where Silence Has Lease" and Data's regular tricorder in "Booby Trap".	"Where Silence Has Lease"	"Booby Trap"		In HD, it can be seen how the decal on the upper half of the tricorder has noticeably come off at the bottom.
The medical scanner Nurse Ogawa uses here has earlier and later appeared as an engineering scanner used by Geordi.	"Tin Man"	"Phantasms"		A better look at the device in HD.
A scan of Leijten's torso with an insert featuring her thymus.				In HD, the thymus noticeably moves in the shot. Also, the newly created scan of Leijten's torso now includes the outline of her heart and a reflection of the sickbay lights was added.


A very good look at the sickbay ceiling structure. The light is dimmed and more bluish here than usual because Leitjen's eyes are light-sensitive.		"The Host"		The sickbay ceiling in HD. The subdued lighting is even more obvious now.
The medical device seen in this shot previously appeared in "Shades of Gray".		"Shades of Gray"		A good look at the apparatus in HD.
The new biobed cover, introduced at the beginning of season 4, features a transparent pane that can be slid in and out of the cover.				We can see the transparent cover much better in HD.
In the scene where the crew discovers that Geordi is gone, Dr. Crusher's location changes mid-dialogue from sickbay to her office but the same microscope is seen in both shots. Her different hairstyle points towards these two shots having been filmed on different days.				No changes
				No changes
The creepy silhouette of the Tarchannen III creature appears in two more shots.				The reconstructed shots in TNG-R.
				The reconstructed shots in TNG-R.
The effect of partially cloaked Geordi, turning into a Tarchannen III lifeform. During beam-out, his facial features can be easily recognized.				The reconstructed effect in TNG-R.



Another shot of the USS Enterprise-D in orbit of Tarchannen III.				The shot with the new planet in HD.
Data modifies an emergency beacon on a desk put into main engineering just for this episode. The desk was repainted and previously served as the desk of Admiral Philippa Louvois in the courtroom in "The Measure of a Man".		"The Measure of a Man"		We can clearly recognize 20th century relays, a heat sink and an two SOIC14s on the small circuit boards.


Another look at the surface of Tarchannen III and the restored shuttlepod interior. The shuttle belongs to the USS Aries NCC-45167, which also appears in the tachyon detection grid in "Redemption II" and (misspelled) as part of the task force in "Star Trek Nemesis".	"Redemption II"	"Star Trek Nemesis"		A look at the set in HD.
The modified emergency beacon appears again in "The Next Phase", "Eye of the Beholder" and "Bloodlines".	"Eye of the Beholder"	"Bloodlines"		The prop in HD.
Geordi has been transformed almost entirely into a Tarchannen III lifeform.				Geordi's new appearance in HD.
The USS Enterprise-D leaves orbit of Tarchannen III. Comparison shots demonstrate that the very same footage of the planet and the ship appeared in other episodes.		"Ethics"		The shot in HD. Like in the beginning of the episode, the footage of the 4-foot model was replaced by a CG Enterprise-D.
		"Man of the People"

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