The Star Trek Episode Randomly Shot Like a Horror Movie
Star Trek: The Next Generation has often been described as comfort food television, and one of the reasons for that is that you almost always know what to expect from an episode’s production details. Every now and then, though, the show throws us for a real loop with a stylistic choice that threatens to overpower the entire dish. For example, the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Contagion” randomly has several shots that were filmed on a handheld camera, making it feel like more of a horror story than our usual bowl of replicated comfort food.
The Teaser
In the episode’s teaser, pay close attention to when Captain Picard leaves his Ready Room: from this point up until Varley mentions “grasping at straws” on the Enterprise viewscreen, many of the shots look like they were filmed on a handheld camera.
Unless this is your first episode of Star Trek, you’ll immediately notice how out of place such shots are because they seem like they came right out of a horror B movie rather than a cutting-edge science fiction show.
Following Picard
For better or for worse, this early use of the handheld camera footage gives us a look at the Enterprise-D bridge as we have never seen it before.
For example, we actually follow Picard’s movement across the bridge, and while that may not seem like a big deal, The Next Generation almost always relies on multiple camera takes and organic cuts to show characters moving from one place to another.
The handheld tracking shot of Picard is out of character for this Star Trek show, giving us a tilted look at the bridge even as it makes us feel like a horror movie monster stalking the captain.
Handheld
If these shots didn’t immediately scream “handheld camera” to you, just look at when Picard and Riker are reacting to communications from the Yamato or selected shots in the Iconian control room. In these shots, you can clearly see the telltale shaking of someone holding the camera in their hand.
It’s easy to understand why these shots make this Star Trek episode feel like a scary movie when you learn a bit more about the history of horror and handheld cameras.
Lowkey Horror
The most basic use of a handheld camera in a horror movie is to simulate the POV of a character as they frantically look for their attacker. This makes audiences feel like we are in that character’s shoes, adding a sense of urgency to their attempts to escape.
Similarly, over-the-shoulder shots make it seem like a killer is stalking someone, which is why those tracking shots of Star Trek icon Picard made it seem like he was about to suffer a horror movie-style death.
Finally, the use of the handheld camera in this episode makes us feel tense for the simple reason that our fictional world suddenly feels off-balance. Stable cameras provide…well…stability, and shaky, handheld cameras make everything seem off-balance for both our characters and our understanding of the world.
In short, Star Trek has a visual language that this episode contradicts, quietly making an otherwise not-so-scary episode into a lowkey horror movie.
A Style That Didn’t Repeat Much
It’s worth noting that “Contagion” is a season 2 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation—back then, the show was still finding its stylistic footing, so maybe it made sense to throw some horror movie film techniques into the mix.
Those techniques didn’t stick around, but for a brief moment, we had a TNG episode evoking the creepiest moments from The Shining. Too bad the script didn’t go the extra mile and gives Picard some suitably Kubrickian dialogue—honestly, if he had blurted out “HERE’S JEAN-Y,” the memes alone would make this episode the stuff of Star Trek legend.
