This week's Behind-The-Scenes photo, from
The Black Hole, takes us to the effects stage of Walt Disney Studios, circa 1979, and the shooting of one of the two 12-foot USS
Cygnus miniatures with Disney's A.C.E.S. (Automated Camera Effects System). Aside from the pair of 12-foot, full models of the
Cygnus, there were several other sectional models built to a much larger scale for close up shots. The 12-foot miniatures weighed 170 pounds each and were constructed primarily of brass. They were built from scratch, with EMA tubes and domes used for detailing. Under the brass exoskeleton were sections of translucent plastic, built in sections, which housed about a hundred and fifty automotive light bulbs. The two models cost $100,000 and took a crew of 12 to 15 people approximately a year to build.
One of the two models was completely destroyed filming the story's climax. The other miniature went to the Museum of Modern Art in New York for a while after filming. It's fate since then is a mystery.
The Black Hole ultimately received two Academy Award nominations - one for Best Visual Effects and one for Best Cinematography.
Awesome pick I like how they shot in from of the painted backdrop instead of bluescreen. Classic movie. One of my favorites of all time
ReplyDeleteI've seen several places online where movie props and models are discussed which mention that the second Cygnus model was being stored at one of the Disney theme parks until it was ruined in a forklift accident. The remains of it were thrown away since it was so heavily damaged. Some googling of Cygnus model and forklift should produce the sources.
ReplyDeleteAs noted by Robert above, the Cygnus model was photographed in front of a background cyc, rather than composited. As with the shots of Discovery in 2001: A Space Odyssey, it took hours to photograph just a few seconds of screen time. The shots of the Cygnus lit only by distant starlight looked magnificent on the big screen. The movie The Hunt for Red October had similarly low-lit shots of submarines in the ocean depths, which looked great in the cinema, but looked almost like silhouettes on video. Maybe a Blu-ray release of The Black Hole is somewhere in the future?
ReplyDeleteInteresting. That explains why outer space looks so unusually bright in Black Hole.
ReplyDeleteI always liked how the Cygnus and Palomino appeared as dark shapes against the backdrop, suggesting that space near a black hole would have a luminescent quality.
ReplyDeleteI have heard the same store about the forklift. I really hope that it isn;t true, but since the ship has never resurfaced it could be true.
ReplyDeletePaul
the japanese puppet show Xbomber,redone as Star Fleet in the west also used the same sort of painted starfield backdrop
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sfxb.co.uk/origins/toru.html#photos2