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Post by the light works on Jan 30, 2016 2:08:42 GMT
One thought. When did this trope start? I would guess around the days of the original Star Trek series. They feature some panels that blow up, but more commonly your have equipment that shorts out behind closed grates. The reason I say this is that the late 60's were primary based on vacuum tube electronics and electromechanical relays. Transistors were in the process of taking over, and while there were integrated circuits, they were very limited in everyday life. The common people thought of tech as tubes. That is why you hear all the relays clicking when the computer in TOS crunches data. That is what people were used to when it came to computers. The thing about vacuum tubes is that they take a fair amount of power to operate. And the heater inside can get quite hot, even though it is contained. Vacuum tubes are known to fail spectacularly. When they do go, they can cause electrical arcs (flashs) and depending on the failure, even can send some glass flying. So for the time, a panel exploding and injuring someone is not that unreasonable for people to think about. That is wht they are used to dealing with everyday. This idea of spectacular equipment failures has grown over the years as they try to make shows more exciting. Fast forward 45 years and technology is completely different. When we think of tech today, it is miniaturized to an insane about and power requirements to do the same task is WAYYYYY less. Because of that, electronics are much more robust and when they do fail, these failures tend to be much more contained with minimal damage to surrounding components. To us, the idea of an exploding piece of equipment seams silly because of the technology we are used to on an everyday basis. My attempt to figure out how it got this way. computers operate by smoke and mirrors. but when the smoke leaks out, the mirrors don't work any more. |
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Post by wvengineer on Jan 30, 2016 3:12:56 GMT
Old time computers required a LOT more of the magic blue smoke than modern ones do.
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Post by GTCGreg on Jan 30, 2016 5:24:15 GMT
Exploding control consols is nothing new to science fiction. The old TV series from the 60s, "voyage to the bottom of the sea" had more than its share of exploding consoles.
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Post by Cybermortis on Jan 30, 2016 10:05:31 GMT
The simple answer to his this trope started is simple, and doesn't actually relate to the technology of the period.
Basically you need to show the crew in danger, TV being a primarily visual medium by definition. Doing this when the crew is sitting in a small room and you can't see the bad guys just doesn't work. So you add a couple of cheap pyrotechnic charges to ramp up the tension.
As for when it started...I seem to recall equipment failing with a bang in some 50s sci fi films, and have the vague nagging feeling I may have also seen similar effects from the serials of the 20s and 30s. Regardless, its not new and even in an age when even low budget shows can afford CGI effects capable of showing battles between hundreds of craft on screen exploding consoles remains the cheapest and simplest way to backup the idea that the crew is in real danger.
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Post by silverdragon on Jan 31, 2016 10:34:59 GMT
Hollywood.
Its always worst case scenario with them.
Makes you wonder why my own home has lasted over 100 yrs without a plane falling on it, dropping into a earthquake, blowing up with a meteor, or having a space alien living in the attic?..
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Post by GTCGreg on Jan 31, 2016 12:14:05 GMT
Hollywood. Its always worst case scenario with them. Makes you wonder why my own home has lasted over 100 yrs without a plane falling on it, dropping into a earthquake, blowing up with a meteor, or having a space alien living in the attic?.. You're overdue. Just give it a little more time. |
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Post by silverdragon on Jan 31, 2016 12:18:22 GMT
Hollywood. Its always worst case scenario with them. Makes you wonder why my own home has lasted over 100 yrs without a plane falling on it, dropping into a earthquake, blowing up with a meteor, or having a space alien living in the attic?.. You're overdue. Just give it a little more time. How much time?.. Not that far from here is a 13th century castle. Its had some revamps in its time, but its still standing, and has never had a complete rebuild required after any disaster. |
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Post by GTCGreg on Jan 31, 2016 12:29:28 GMT
You're overdue. Just give it a little more time. How much time?.. Not that far from here is a 13th century castle. Its had some revamps in its time, but its still standing, and has never had a complete rebuild required after any disaster. But has anyone checked the attic? |
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Post by silverdragon on Feb 1, 2016 7:49:29 GMT
I evicted the squirrel a while back and the christmas decorations went up there last month.
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Post by GTCGreg on Feb 1, 2016 11:27:36 GMT
I evicted the squirrel a while back ... See, that's my point. Last time it was a squirrel. What could be living up there next month. Won't be long before some wayward space traveler needs a spot to rest. |
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Post by ironhold on Feb 2, 2016 4:39:06 GMT
Update with pictures.One of the posters literally had a CFL bulb at work explode. He could only do a cursory autopsy after maintenance came around, but by all appearances the explosion came about because a capacitor failed catastrophically.
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Post by GTCGreg on Feb 2, 2016 5:03:13 GMT
Update with pictures.One of the posters literally had a CFL bulb at work explode. He could only do a cursory autopsy after maintenance came around, but by all appearances the explosion came about because a capacitor failed catastrophically. Yep, capacitors like to do that from time to time. |
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