Flames in Detail – Chapter 7, Act 4, Strip 9

Just adding some detail and texture to the situation that was described in more general terms (and stunning visual metaphor) the last time.

Naturally, George Geekish, the SFX guy, had a field day with this segment of the movie! “Field day” as in, shooting this segment made him wish he was back in Wisconsin, working on a farm instead.

For example, the script called for “huge masses of orcs”, but the budget didn’t answer. Miniatures made for tabletop playing were an obvious next step (down), but he gave up on painting all of them about halfway through…but, hey, it’s fantasy, so who’s to say that the forces of evil don’t use…uh…robotic orcs made from mimetic metal, or something like that? It would only make them seem more ominous, so that’d be a net positive.

As for the great visual metaphor of an eagle, symbolizing freedom, being stepped on…well, George never told anybody how he pulled that one off, it might be that he’s worried about the Endagered Species Act

The next shot fell flat due to a communication issue. The script called for a “sky filled with vile lizards”, and that was easy enough to make a reality. A quick trip to Pet Mart and a few modifications to the catapult that has so often been employed to launch Lee Douglas into the general direction of the Pacific, and some prime footage of a sky filled with lizards was obtained. Unfortunately, the script writer had imagined the winged kind of fantasy lizards, which can actually fly, not just a bunch of catapulted pets flailing helplessly…well, his own fault for not being more explicit. George is lacking imagination in any but the strictly technical field.

The saving grace of the whole segment, if you ask George, was the “ominous sky” bit. George knows a dozen different ways to scratch, sand, crease or otherwise abuse a film negative, and here he’s been able to employ all of them at once for the first time in his life. That was about the only part of the whole process George enjoyed more than piloting a combine harvester…

More on Mon…uh, Thursday.

2 Replies to “Flames in Detail – Chapter 7, Act 4, Strip 9”

  1. In fairness, I don’t think bird or person alike would like it if it was raining lizards. You can’t grow crops by watering them with lizards; and the things actually take up sunlight so that’s a double negative towards living in the post-apocalyptic evil world.

    1. On the other hand, rain comprised of lizards gives you a much better excuse to stay indoors than the conventional kind. No one’s going to “are you afraid of a few drops of water” you if you stay indoors during a lizard shower. ._.

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