Brachacki Phone Panel

[Rassilons Rod]

Hi there,
I was just working on doing a Brachacki Phone panel design for inclusion in the Phone Panel reference thread.

I have noticed something a little strange that I don't think has been mentioned before. I think that the Pilot
sign is not the same as the sign used from Unearthly Child onwards...

Pilot sign: It looks to me as if the sign is made from acrylic sheet or acetate (did that exist in the 60's?) because
I think you can see the unpainted wood of the box behind it (in some shots I took grabs of, you can also see
the grain of the wood in the rest of the TARDIS through the paint). And also check out the shine of the studio
lights reflecting off it.


UAC sign:
This is clearly white backed now.


What do you guys think?

[Rassilons Rod]

Oops, no shine on that pic of the pilot panel, though you can see the wood through it.

This one shows the reflection.

[geminitimelord]

Nice Shots Marc

[Rassilons Rod]

Nice Shots Marc

Cheers

More to come (been playing with photoshop )

[whofan88]

Well if not acrylic do you think it could have possibly been printed on a sheet of glass? 

[rmef2]

Why not a sign covered by a piece of glass to prevent weathering.

[Rassilons Rod]

@WhoFan88: possibly, but I would think against that theory on the grounds that it sounds
expensive, glass would be not so durable to the rigours of moving props during filming
either, I think.


@RMEF: Mainly cos I think that the pattern behind the text is the bare wood.

I'm open to other opinions too

[mordrogyn]

Acrylic was invented in 1936 by DuPont and sold under the brand name of Lucite.

So it could be an acrylic sheet.

Alternatively it could be something as simple as a few coats of clear varnish applied later on, to protect the bare wood.

[Rassilons Rod]

I found that out also about acetate, which was invented in the late 1800's, so thats also a possibility.

In hindsight, I think whats seen through the signage is not the police box, of course, but rather the wood that makes up the back of the phone panel.

I'm also reluctant to go with clear varnish, cos that would mean remaking the whole sign when it became white backed.

So I'm still thinking something clear (acetate or acryllic) and the wood behind it was done in white afterwards.

Of course that doesn't explain why its not shiny afterwards. Perhaps they painted the outside with matt varnish, or maybe it really is a brand new sign...?

[galacticprobe]

Of course that doesn't explain why its not shiny afterwards. Perhaps they painted the outside with matt varnish, or maybe it really is a brand new sign...?

A matt varnish wouldn't surprise me if it was used to cut glare. It's an old trick. If you remember the "Lost In Space" robot from the TV series, that ribbed collar that was the base of his head was made from bent, clear acrylic rods, and they had to spray them with a matt varnish because the acrylic was causing too much glare during filming.

Of course the Beeb could also have simply removed whatever clear covering was over the sign if they didn't like the light reflections. And again I'll reference another series, "Star Trek: The Next Generation." In the first season (and maybe its second) you could see the reflections of the crew in the large windows of the conference/observation room behind the bridge. From the third season on you saw no reflections at all because the production crew had removed ALL plexi or whatever from all of the "viewports" on any part of the sets that had them so there would be no reflections. (Why? I have no idea.)

But that's two possibilities for the lack of reflection on the phone panel sign.

Dino.

[deck5]

From the third season on you saw no reflections at all because the production crew had removed ALL plexi or whatever from all of the "viewports" on any part of the sets that had them so there would be no reflections. (Why? I have no idea.)

To avoid reflections of the equipment and crew.

[galacticprobe]

To avoid reflections of the equipment and crew.

That would make sense, but you never saw any filming crew or equipment because of the way the windows were angled and curved; you saw the actors' reflections only when they walked right up to them. I at least thought it lent an air of realism: windows, rather than just an opening sealed by a force field.

Still, the TARDIS phone panel could have had its cover removed after the pilot, when they did the repaint for production. And it could have been intentional - to eliminate reflection and glare - or it could have been one of those things that was just forgotten about when they put the new white-backed panel back in. (Just like they forgot(?) to leave the phone panel frame white when they painted rest of the box.)

Dino.

[Rassilons Rod]

I can see these as very valid suggestions

the only thing I still wonder is what the text was printed on. It can't have been on the wood, or how would they preserve it when they painted it white?

Could they have made a new sign entirely, or perhaps it could be 2 layers of whatever-clear-stuff?

[mordrogyn]

Without wanting to state the obvious...

What would there be to stop them from painting the wood white, then repainting the lettering?
I'd imagine they still had the stencil for it.

[Rassilons Rod]

Thats fair, I didn't think about stensiling though I think the 2 graphics are identical. I still wonder why they left the wood bare in the first place.

I will look to see how close they are when I next get to photoshop.

Edit: I don't know anything about sign making, do you think they had a stensil for the whole sign, or just a font sheet?