Quick , what ’s the first thing you noticed about the planetwe travel to in last nighttime ’s Doctor Who particular ? That ’s right : It was a soundstage.*None of Matt Smith ’s final hour was filmed in a literal location . Alien worldsused to be take in the studio more often — here ’s why we miss visitingPlanet Soundstage .
There are a few rationality to get it on a soundstage satellite . First , you’re able to get a lot more strange flora , by scattering eldritch faux flora everywhere . Second , it opens up the possibility for some really beautiful matte shots , which are still a matter even in the eld of CG . Third , there ’s just somethingotherworldly and weird about an entirely fabricate landscape . Fourth , thesky can be any color you want , without post - processing .
Nowadays , you ’re much more potential to see an alien worldcreated entirely using greenscreen , as in the case of Avatar . Or flying to an exotic location like Iceland or Utah , as in the case of Prometheus or John Carte . Few tv set shows , peculiarly in the U.S. , even endeavor to depict alienplanets any more — but if they did , it would be some rocks somewhere .
Classic Star Trekrarely did locationshooting , although it splendidly shot the conflict between Kirk and the Gorn atVasquez Rocks . Also , a few minute of “ Shore Leave ” were filmed at awildlife preserves , and some Paramount studiobuildings were used as a Nazi home base and a NASA readiness . Plus the DenevaColony was filmed at the TRW Space and Defense Park , which have tons of futurist computer architecture .
But meanwhile , there wereloads of alien satellite make indoors , with funky rocks and weird sky and strange plant . And excellently , when Star Trek need to chit-chat anEarthlike closure , the show used the streets of Mayberry , the quaint townfrom the Andy Griffith show .
Classic Doctor Whois famous for its dateless gravel quarries , as spoofed in the drollery short“Curse of the Fatal Death . ” But the show also make a number ofalien worlds on soundstages , some of which still look pretty darn impressive — like the strange planet Vortis in “ The entanglement major planet , ” and the alienjungles in “ Kinda ” and “ Planet of Evil . ”
There are also a ton of classic science fiction films that usesoundstages to produce their alien worlds — complete with some awesome matteshots .
Below are some of our favorite images of soundstage planetsfrom classic science fiction …
Lost in Space:
Lost in Space spend a lot of sentence ona satellite that was created entirely inside a soundstage . The show made the jump to color in its 2d season , which meant allthe huge panoramic shot prove the ship ’s exterior from a distanceagainst the exotic landscape could n’t be reused — and thus you neverreally see the whole ship ’s exterior in the second and third seasons .
Forbidden Planet:
checker out those amazingmatte shots ! The planetary locations were shot on the MGM studio fate , inside a soundstage , designedby Cedric Gibbons and Arthur Longeran .
Star Trek:
You have to admire some of Trek ’s completely way - out - there matte paintings , in add-on to the soundstage planet .
Doctor Who:
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century:
Okay , so it ’s a future post - apocalyptic Earth rather than an alien world — but you have to have it off thesematte shots by Syd Dutton .
Alien:
The alien worldly concern in Alien and Aliens were filmed at the disused Acton Power Station , with fantastic H.R. Giger - inspired sets .
I feel like we ’re just come up the surface here … what ’s your favorite exotic universe created in an indoor studio ?
- plain this is a fact I invented , and it was actually take on fix after all . Apologies for the error !
AlienAliensDoctor WhoLost in SpaceMoviesStar TrekTelevision
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