Wah Chang
Hawaiian prop and creature designerWah Ming Chang (2 August1917–22 December2003; age 86), surreptitiously contracted byDesilu Productions Inc., was responsible for the design and construction of many familiar items used inStar Trek: The Original Series.
Chang's association withStar Trek began in1964 when he was hired to create makeup and props for "The Cage" by ProducerRobert H. Justman. His first contribution was the prostheticTalosian head make-up. He then designed thelaser pistol for the pilot after Justman was unsatisfied with the original designs. He was later hired to design various items for the regular series, including the famoustricorder, flip-topcommunicator props, and theRomulan Bird-of-Preystudio model. He was usually sent a copy of the script for the episode he was hired to work on, and he began to work on design, make sketches, and models in his home taking his cue from the scripts. Chang's association withStar Trek ended in middle of thesecond season after the fabrication of dozens oftribble props, conceivably due to the budget cuts resulting from Desilu's purchase byGulf+Western.
Originally his work was not credited, nor did Chang take the credit afterwards and his work forStar Trek went unnoticed well into the 1970s. It was throughfandom and its correspondingStar Trek convention circuit of the 1970s that his contributions became known. The reason for this state of affairs was eventually revealed when ProducersHerb Solow and Justman published their bookInside Star Trek: The Real Story in 1996. In it (pp. 119-120) Justman described that it all originated from a conflict with the propmaker's union. Chang as a non-member was neither allowed per their rules to fabricate props for the show, nor was he allowed to join, creating a catch-22 situation. At Justman's urging, who considered Chang's work superior to anything elsewhere available by far, the studio devised a ruse to make it appear that the props were bought as pre-existing and off-the-shelf from Chang, which was allowed under union rules, and it was reflected as such in Desilu's purchase orders sent to Chang. As a result Chang could neither be officially credited for his contributions, nor be mentioned in the, otherwise thorough, contemporaryreference bookThe Making of Star Trek, where most of his hand-held props were prominently featured. The ruse however, was uncovered by the union just prior to the start of the second season, as mentioned by Justman in his book, and might have served as the additional reason why Chang's talents were not called upon again from the mid-second season onward, as the union was now alerted to Chang's involvement.[1]
Career outsideStar Trek[]
Already a recognized sculptor, Chang became crippled at age 31 by the effects from polio, but it did not prevent him and his company Project Unlimited, Inc. to carve out a career in the motion picture industry by designing puppets, costumes, sets, make-up, and special effects for a number of films, most notably producer/directorGeorge Pal's science fiction and fantasy features, includingTom Thumb (1958),The Time Machine (1960, withWhit Bissell and for which he designed the iconic title object and the Morlocks), andThe Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962, withIan Wolfe andJon Lormer). He also worked on classic pictures such asThe King and I (1956),Spartacus (1960, withJean Simmons,Peter Brocco,John Hoyt,Arthur Batanides,William Blackburn,Paul Lambert,Dick Crockett,Seamon Glass, and narration byVic Perrin), andMutiny of the Bounty (1962, withAntoinette Bower,Torin Thatcher, and stunts byPaul Baxley). Chang designed the famous headdresses worn byElizabeth Taylor inCleopatra (1963, with John Hoyt).
On television, Chang designed masks, creatures, and special effects forThe Outer Limits (1963-1965), where his cooperation withStar Trek associate producer Robert Justman began. He was also a dinosaur model maker on the television seriesLand of the Lost (1974-1976) and also worked on the special effects of the originalPlanet of the Apes (1968, withLou Wagner,James Daly,Paul Lambert,Billy Curtis,Jane Ross, andFelix Silla, and music byJerry Goldsmith).
In 1994, he was given the George Pal Memorial Award by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films for his contributions to the genres.
Contributions[]
The extent of Chang'sStar Trek contributions is preserved for posterity, as Desilu's purchase orders were later donated to UCLA and stored in their archives.[2] Several of them were reproduced in the aforementionedInside Star Trek reference book, as well as in the 1997 bookStar Trek: The Original Series Sketchbook (indicated below by their price quotations).
Manufactured props[]
- Thehand phaser, designed byMatt andJohn Jefferies; constructed for US$520.00
Designed and manufactured props[]
- The flip-topcommunicator; designed and constructed for US$1,019.20
- Thetricorder; designed and constructed for US$572.00
- TheTalosian head make-up for "The Cage"
- TheHumanoid bird for "The Cage"
- Thelaser pistol in "The Cage" and "Where No Man Has Gone Before"
- TheFesarius,Balok's cube, andBalok's puppet in "The Corbomite Maneuver"
- TheM-113 creature in "The Man Trap"
- TheVulcan lute in "Charlie X", et al.
- TheRomulan Bird-of-Prey in "Balance of Terror"
- TheRomulan helmets andears in "Balance of Terror"; designed and constructed for US$748.80
- Theanthropoid creature in "The Galileo Seven"
- TheGorn costume in "Arena"
- Theflying parasite in "Operation -- Annihilate!"
- Thetribbles in "The Trouble with Tribbles"
Further reading[]
- Life and Sculpture of Wah Ming Chang, Wah Ming Chang, 1989 (ISBN 0962529311)
- Wah Ming Chang: Artist and Master of Special Effects, Enslow Publishers, 1995 (ISBN 0894906399)
External links[]
- Wah Chang at theInternet Movie Database
- Wah Chang atWikipedia
- Creator's biography, Part 1 andPart 2 atHeroComm.com – detailed biography of Wah Chang