> I've seen an illustration or two where they get as much weight as possible
> to the rear, and run it off a ramp with an extra small front ramp to
> launch it. They drop the front piece as soon as the front axle is over
> it, which launches the whole thing 'nose up' and allows it to come down
> relatively flat.
There's another variation where a small charge is placed beneath the vehicle
within a sort of mortar tube which directs the force in such a way that the
desired part of the vehicle lifts off of the ground on command. Having seen
first hand the results of, er...shall we say over-exuberant SFX crews, I
most certainly would not care to be the driver.
> Even so I'm sure we all remember such classic as' Dukes of Hazzard',
> 'Knight Rider', and 'Hardcastle and McCormick' where the lauched vehicles
> came down so hard they had to be swept up with a brush, but are still seen
> 'driving away'
Yeah. DoH bought tons of cars and kept the salvageable items stacked in
behind the production warehouse. I recall seeing a picture of some fifty
Dodge car doors with the Sheriff's dept. emblem on them, just waiting to be
stuck on a vehicle that lost its door in some other stunt. They wrote off
multiple copies of the "General Lee" every week.
> I can't remember any film stunt with any military vehicle that is truly
> memorable for originality and effect, they are all pretty much 'push it
> off the bridge and blow it up when it hits the ground' Nobody has ever
> done a film where an MV gets the sort of plot attention that Minis get in
> 'The Italian Job', for example.
>
> Any offers ?
Just one for the moment, and that's the James Garner vehicle "Tank" where
the tank in question truly is the star of the film. I guess the LRDG-type
WWII jeeps in the old series "Rat Patrol" probably rank right up there too.
Andy Hill
MVPA 9211
Vancouver, B.C.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Feb 05 2001 - 07:13:46 PST