Star Trek: 10 Secrets Of The Kelvin Enterprise You Need To Know
6. Moving Parts
One of the many stylistic departures in the design of the Kelvin Timeline's USS Enterprise is the inclusion of articulated moving parts in various locations across the ship's hull.
According to Ryan Church, JJ Abrams wanted a physical transformation of the Enterprise, "something that made it obvious the ship was about to enter warp speed. So the idea of vents or panels popping out on the trailing edge of the nacelles was explored in conjunction with a change to the deflector dish."
The resulting articulated components include panels that open and illuminate in the "fins" of the Enterprise's warp nacelles and an iris-like opening and closing effect in the ship's deflector dish.
The blue bussard collectors also grow more illuminated the faster the ship is depicted traveling in Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness, though the effect was abandoned for permanently glowing bussards in Star Trek Beyond.