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Short Treks: Children of Mars

Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2020 5:17 pm
by Archanubis
So, I have a question about one scene in this episode: How, on the cusp of the 25th century, do the schools of the Federation still use padlocks on school lockers? I would have thought, I dunno, some kind of DNA/fingerprint/eye scanner would have been in more widespread use by this point.

Re: Short Treks: Children of Mars

Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2020 5:40 pm
by Thebestoftherest
Archanubis wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 5:17 pm So, I have a question about one scene in this episode: How, on the cusp of the 25th century, do the schools of the Federation still use padlocks on school lockers? I would have thought, I dunno, some kind of DNA/fingerprint/eye scanner would have been in more widespread use by this point.
Actually that make sense. Because with eye scanner, finger printer readers or the like they have inefficiency and way to work around it meanwhile with padlocks the only through is to guess whoch assuming 1 in 25 choices for three numbers is 15,625 possible choices.

Re: Short Treks: Children of Mars

Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2020 5:59 pm
by TGLS
Well, I think it comes down to:
1) Biometric Lock: Fancy, high tech, not cheap and probably having subversion possibilities (especially when the vice-principal and possibly teachers need to be able to unlock it)
2) Padlock: Cheap, can be removed with a bolt cutter.

Re: Short Treks: Children of Mars

Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2020 6:30 pm
by Riedquat
So, for all of Chuck's fears about what the reaction to this review might be, it's padlocks? :D

Personally speaking I like that it's padlocks because I rather dislike it when something's vastly more high tech than needed to do an adequate job.

Re: Short Treks: Children of Mars

Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2020 6:51 pm
by jeffpiatt
Riedquat wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 6:30 pm So, for all of Chuck's fears about what the reaction to this review might be, it's padlocks? :D

Personally speaking I like that it's padlocks because I rather dislike it when something's vastly more high tech than needed to do an adequate job.
Short Treks are made with whatever money is left over in Discos production budget in Canada and recycling there existing production assets. The school set was a actual Canadian school in Ontario where Bell Media is based and CBS had there Co Venture to film Discovery the Daniels building of the University of Ontario was used as the filming location. https://www.daniels.utoronto.ca/news/2020/01/09/daniels-building-has-starring-role-newest-star-trek-short
The padlocked lockers came with the Real world location and as we know they have a guy who thinks out would they over complicate something by the 24th century or would a earbud just stop changing shape for a human. It's unlikely a schoo! would not stop using padlocks even then.

At least he didn't bring up the school bus being a class C shuttle from Discovery in use in the 24 century. It's miltary surplus they removed the phasers upgraded the avionics package and gave it to schools and private transport companies.

Re: Short Treks: Children of Mars

Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2020 7:11 pm
by Archanubis
Riedquat wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 6:30 pm So, for all of Chuck's fears about what the reaction to this review might be, it's padlocks? :D
I'm a weird little monkey. :P

Re: Short Treks: Children of Mars

Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2020 8:18 pm
by AllanO
I don't really disagree with Chuck's review. I thought the short Trek was okay mood setting, but I did not really understand what was going on because I saw it before seeing Picard and not knowing much about Picard and yeah I don't think the choice to just have a song in the background going on about mostly unrelated stuff (not even thematically related) helped the overall effect. I find it interesting for Chuck to talk about craft, so even though I don't think the failings of the piece matter much (it was an okay trailer for Picard as discussed), I don't mind him talking about it for so long.

In terms of the actual content of the piece over execution, I thought it was okay but I sort of think by the 24th century one might expect schools to be a little better at dealing with interpersonal violence among the students. Even for a 21st century school these incidents seemed extreme. I suspect one needs to chock another one up for cheap drama.
jeffpiatt wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 6:51 pm The school set was a actual Canadian school in Ontario where Bell Media is based and CBS had there Co Venture to film Discovery the Daniels building of the University of Ontario was used as the filming location.
This is not fair, but as an alumni of the University of Toronto, I smile that you call it the University of Ontario. :lol:

I guess the set must have felt at least a little familiar to me (my memory of the piece is pretty hazy at this point) as I have actually been in that building like once (they may have renovated since).

Re: Short Treks: Children of Mars

Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2020 8:22 pm
by clearspira
Like TNG season 1, there seems to be an unending supply of Short Treks. Every time you hope there are no more another comes along.

Re: Short Treks: Children of Mars

Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2020 8:29 pm
by clearspira
AllanO wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 8:18 pm I don't really disagree with Chuck's review. I thought the short Trek was okay mood setting, but I did not really understand what was going on because I saw it before seeing Picard and not knowing much about Picard and yeah I don't think the choice to just have a song in the background going on about mostly unrelated stuff (not even thematically related) helped the overall effect. I find it interesting for Chuck to talk about craft, so even though I don't think the failings of the piece matter much (it was an okay trailer for Picard as discussed), I don't mind him talking about it for so long.

In terms of the actual content of the piece over execution, I thought it was okay but I sort of think by the 24th century one might expect schools to be a little better at dealing with interpersonal violence among the students. Even for a 21st century school these incidents seemed extreme. I suspect one needs to chock another one up for cheap drama.

jeffpiatt wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 6:51 pm The school set was a actual Canadian school in Ontario where Bell Media is based and CBS had there Co Venture to film Discovery the Daniels building of the University of Ontario was used as the filming location.
This is not fair, but as an alumni of the University of Toronto, I smile that you call it the University of Ontario. :lol:

I guess the set must have felt at least a little familiar to me (my memory of the piece is pretty hazy at this point) as I have actually been in that building like once (they may have renovated since).
One of my pet peeves with fiction that is. School bullies acting like blood thirsty psychopaths and often with free reign to do so. The worst example I saw recently was SHAZAM where a bully runs over a kid with his car. The second is probably ''Let Me Out'' where the bullies try to drown the lead boy at the end.

And yeah, i'm sure someone can show me proof that such things happen, but the thing is that kids who do these things are both in the minority and are not actually school bullies - they are criminals who in any real world would be in juvie.

Re: Short Treks: Children of Mars

Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2020 10:48 pm
by FaxModem1
One thing I wonder is if the picture of Picard on the news was to make him look sinister. Because that's the take I got the first time I watched it, was that he was almost framed here as the villain ruining the two girls' lives.

I do like that if you look outside of Trek, it's just two girls who look past their differences in the face of tragedy, and find the empathy to comfort each other, but it requires that the school be so sloppily run that they don't notice the bullying going on, the destruction of Mars, and the general feeling that even in the Utopia that is Earth, kids still beat the physical shit out of each other.