Brief:    A Lexus drives out of a dirigible that drifts above wheat plains somewhere in the heartland.  Make an airship that harkens back to the new age of air transport.

(1)  The live-action set used for the interaction between the car and the dirigible.  We had to build the set up so the car would begin a decent close to the airship, on an incline similar to that of the trailing road added in post production.  Additionally, the opening of the live action set had to be within a single inch tolerance of the miniature gondola that was built as an exterior of the airship - see (8), next page.

(2)  Interior view of the airship’s door control  wheel and cargo area pressurization management panel.  I designed the windows to allow for motivated light onto our operator.

(3,4) Different phases of construction.  It was  difficult to find a scene shop in LA to build my vision, since there were so many complex curves, drill outs and lightweight construction, but finally, after I found a shop capable, we were on our way.

(5,6)  The Academy Award Winning cinematographer, Russell Carpenter, ASC and I discussed ways of lighting the car inside the set, and I proposed a bleached muslin that would glow beyond the grid work of the dirigible, providing an excellent accent to the architecture, as well as the perfect ‘beauty’ light on the car.  It was a conversation we had early on so we could all be on the same page, and from there, I was able to design the structure of the set to allow this successful treatment.  Below is a schematic.

(7)    The full dirigible was the smallest scale mini-
ature - we built four miniature elements (three shown here, the fourth was a piece of the hull for the motor mini background).  All propellers on this model were controlled by stepper motors used with the motion control system.

(8)    This is the miniature that integrated with the

live action set on the previous page.  The doors of the gondola were also controlled by stepper motors linked to the moco system.

(9,10)    Different views of the last two photos.

(11,12)    There was a shot boarded that Zack and I had talked about - a close up of one of the motors pumping out smoke, propeller turning - that I didn’t actually have budgeted, and Miniature Coordinator, Erich Stohl (shown in image 12 testing the smoke effect), and I worked it out so we could build it with-in the budget for the entire job!  This is certainly one of the great benefits of working with a team that has worked together for years - besides all the experience and loyalty, there are sometimes simple and gracious solutions to the most costly problems.

Miniatures are interesting in that what makes them successful is the detail.  Every little detail we take for granted when we see something from afar is likely to matter when filming close in to a miniature.  Mostly because we need to feel that it is much bigger than it is, it needs to have scale, and empty spaces have no scale.  It is like driving through the desert (or Iceland), and heading toward a mountain that looks like it is just there in front of you, but you keep on driving and it doesn’t seem to get any closer, only taller.  if one
had a city or buildings, or even trees between themselves and the mountain, one would then have scale. But alas, you just might need an art department to put them there.