- https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/henry-cavills-third-option
- https://web.archive.org/web/20100917090118/http://www.startrekpropauthority.com/2008/05/bill-theiss-lost-interview-rare.html
Another quirk involving the original series’ tunics were the colors - in particular, “command.” Trekkies everywhere will swear Spock wore blue, Scotty wore red and Kirk wore gold. Wrong. The three Starfleet colors were blue, red and green. Lime green, to be exact. “It was one of those film stock things;” Theiss states, “it photographed one way - burnt orange or a gold. But in reality was another; the command shirts were definitely green.” As further proof, look at the wrap-around tunics as well as the dress uniform tunics of Kirk’s – all green. They came off as their true colors because they were constructed of different materials than the standard duty command shirts.
It doesn’t really matter what the “true” color of the tunics were. If it photographed one way and was presented that way on screen, THAT is the canon color. It doesn’t matter what color the actual prop or costume was, all that matters is the final presentation. That (whether an accident of lighting or intentional) was an artistic choice. It’s a fun bit of behind the scenes trivia, but it doesn’t change the fact of canon that command had variously colored tunics, sometimes in green and sometimes in gold.
Makeup for film actors was pretty garish and multicolored in the early days of black and white films. But, no one would claim that the characters “real” faces were those same shades.
I agree.
We gotta use what’s on the screen as a source, not what was behind the scenes.
What’s next, they’re gonna tell us they weren’t really in space? 😁
Its an interesting bit of trivia though.