View-Master (or ViewMaster) is a three-dimensional stereoscopic viewing device that utilizes specially produced image reels which, when inserted into and viewed through the viewer, create stereoscopic or 3-D images. Typically, modern reel packets contain three reels each, with a total of 21 pairs of images altogether. Since its creation in 1939, the View-Master has been produced in many forms and by several companies. Currently, Fisher-Price (a subsidiary of Mattel) has rights to make the device.
Star Trek releases[]
Over the years, five licensed Star Trek-themed projects have been made for the standard View-Master viewer. The first, adapting the episode TOS: "The Omega Glory", was shot on set with a stereo camera while the episode was being filmed. At that point in time the company operated as Sawyer's, Inc., who adapted the images into the View-Master slides, made by a by them suggested still photographer hired by Paramount Pictures. That photographer, Don Jim (Trek, issue 5, p. 6), was onset for three days on 15, 18 and 19 December 1967. Hired for US$72.93 a day, Paramount charged the costs of the photographer against the episode's production budget, but did bill Sawyer's for them. [1] It explains the divergent angles of the scenes when compared to the episode as aired. In one of the View-Master slides taking place on the bridge at the communications station for example, Nichelle Nichols is seen taking advantage of the time for the View-Master shots to study her script; you can see it open on her lap as George Takei stands next to her. That shot was obviously not in the episode proper. (TTF: "Sawyers Inc View-Master memo - December 19, 1967") The two most divergent image stills photographer Jim took however, were those that showed the USS Enterprise pulling up alongside the USS Exeter in a sequence not seen at all in the episode. One of these was used as the cover of the View-Master set, shown below. Featured were the original three-foot studio model alongside a commercial Enterprise AMT model kit, standing in for the Exeter, especially set up for the occasion at the Howard Anderson Company, the visual effects company located on the studio lot. (Trek, issue 5, p. 6)
The second release, Mr. Spock's Time Trek (adapting TAS: "Yesteryear"), consists of drawn art based on the Filmation animated episode, which were actually newly made at Filmation, especially for the View-Master release. (TTF: "Sawyers Inc View-Master memo - December 19, 1967")
The two movie-based sets (based on Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) feature 2-D publicity photos processed into "layered" 3-D images. The final set's images (adapting TNG: "A Matter Of Honor") appear to simulate 3-D via computer manipulation of the paired images.
The first three sets were released in the original square paper envelopes (complete with story booklets or a trivia booklet), while the latter two saw release exclusively on "blister cards" (long cardboard cards with the reels held on in plastic "blister" bubbles) and with two different release numbers.
Reel sets[]
View-Master viewer
Additional releases information[]
The TAS: "Yesteryear" set was also released in a version usable with the "Talking View-Master" viewer available at the time (Reel Set AVB555).
The TOS: "The Omega Glory" and TAS: "Yesteryear" sets were available in the Spacemen Theatre In The Round cylindrical cardboard tub, which also included "Flash Gordon" and "Buck Rogers" reels, a 2-D projector and a 3-D viewer.
The Star Trek: The Motion Picture set was alternatively available in a Gift Pak & Poster cylindrical cardboard tub, complete with a 3-D viewer, a double-sided movie poster and customized cardboard 3-D glasses (to view the 3-D side of the poster).
30 drawn and colored 2-D animation-style images, based on publicity stills from Star Trek: The Motion Picture, were available on a small cartridge (Set 3158) made for the View-Master Show Beam push-button projector, which resembled a long plastic torch.
Star Trek: The Motion Picture's three-reel set was re-released on a blister card (Reel Set 2362), to match the carded Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan set.
A Star Trek image pair of the USS Enterprise filming model appears on the Smithsonian Institution's "National Air and Space Museum" View-Master reel set. Two images of the Star Trek Adventure attraction appear in the blister pack version of "Universal Studios, Hollywood, Set 2: Entertainment Center".
Further reading[]
- "3-D Without Glasses!", Starlog, issue 5, May 1977, pp. 18-27 (includes information about the Star Trek reels)
See also[]
External links[]
- View-Master at Wikipedia
- View-Master at Fisher-Price.com – official web site
- Deja View-Master – overview of Star Trek-themed reels compiled by Ian McLean
- A View-Master surprise, with Star Trek’s worst episode at CollectingTrek.ca