Friday 29 March 2024

Deadlier Than the Male 1967

 A few shots of a private jet liner appear in this film supervised by Kit West.

The model looks to be a fibreglass travel agents model of a Boeing 707 that has received a more realistic paint job.

When the plane explodes the model is removed and an explosion is substituted in the same position.

There is also an explosion on a tall building that looks like it was a large photographic cutout of a slightly different building exploding.









Frame before the explosion

Model substituted with explosion.






Live action shot of the location building

Explosion shot seems to be a large photographic cutout of a different building in black and white. The foreground building  on the right is slightly different as well.









Monday 4 March 2024

Hell's Angels 1930

 Famous for its aerial photography and the use many actual biplanes from the WW1 period, this film, in addition, has some incredibly well staged and shot miniature scenes.

A 60 foot (18.2m) zeppelin miniature was constructed and filmed in a 240 foot long aircraft hangar. It travelled on a trolley that ran on a cable stretched the length of the hangar. An electric winch system allowed for up and down movement. Chemical clouds were generated from skywriting equipment. On the floor was a miniature version of London. 

There are a number of miniature SE5a aircraft miniatures hung on wires as well as the zeppelin bomb spotting gondola.

This whole sequence is tinted blue.

This sequence is very well lit and photographed. The smoke clouds hang realistically and the destruction of the dirigible has a very compelling realism with the truss construction all visible in the conflagration.

An old issue of Modern Mechanics has a story on the making of this sequence.




The second sequence is of a bombing of a German depot using a captured German Gotha bomber. The pyrotechnics are spectacularly forceful and the miniature buildings break up extremely realistically. There is a terrific shot of a miniature truck being blown into the air.

In the final dogfight all the aircraft action is for real except for a mid air collision shot which is a miniature.










































































































































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