When making the various series, was there a steady staff position for Door Wrangler?
That is, since opening the doors had to be done fairly consistently (particularly during the latter series when fandom really took off), both for a constant visual look (opening with the same speed and timing) and for the sake of the actors’ noses, was the job handed to the same staffer every week? Was it someone’s sole responsibility or did they do general gripping/gaffing? Did that person get any mention in the credits? Or was it some sort of shit assignment: “you were late for work three times this week; it’s door-wrangling for you!” (though I guess that would still be better than “it’s your turn in the barrel.”)
Talking completely out my ass here, but I seriously doubt it. Disappointing as it is to us fanboys Star Trek was just a TV show. Their legendary sliding doors were just another prop so they were probably just pulled by whichever union stage hands were there that day…
Door-wrangling was a stage-hand’s job, and they weren’t that trained. Go to any Star Trek convention and watch the blooper reels. The cast were walking into doors all the time because somebody was late on their cue.
Not expecting a highly trained, certified door wrangler. Just wondering if it was a particular job (given intricacies of union contracting and positioning, something like that wouldn’t surprise me) or if it generally went to the same person week to week. The existence of blooper reels showing mishaps would suggest that a tiny bit of practice and familiarity with director/actor cues (when they are going to actually go through the door to make it look natural) would be beneficial. Not that it woudl get someone a spot in a convention (bring your door and have it autographed!). But with the volume of cast and crew writings about the series, I’m wondering if the details of the job were ever mentioned in passing.
David Gerrold talks about the doors in his The World of Star Trek. He mentions the nose bumping, but I don’t recall much else. Anybody have a copy handy?