Sequence 2 shooting’s finally completed, so for anyone interested in (certifiable) Process here’s some pics showing the assembly of a relatively simple set-up for a seemingly simple result – big bird’s canons firing with prop-spin, on video:
Fixing the brass tubes to line up invisibly below the plane’s plastic canons wasn’t so easy for various reasons. During tests the Ipad screen shows the starboard tube stepping way out of line...
The launch checklist ran to 18 items taking around 7 hours over 2 days before I’d settled on the best furniture/orientation/angles of the ecliptic in the constellation Ursa Minor. At the last minute I had to abandon the hair-drier due to airflow/vibration issues so by the time I was ready to shoot I’d already decided there would be no Take 2 (so completely OVER IT was I), and when the smoke cleared I was convinced the whole idea had been an abject failure. Not a nice feeling when the reality fails in every way to match the ideal image in the mind’s eye, particularly after so much trial/error/prep including building the plane & dio too.
However...as I dismantled the canons later that day (too ticked off to check out the video) I was surprised to discover Melania’s shell was missing – strange because according to my eyesight (while taking cover) the charge had backfired out the fuse-hole. On the other hand Ivana had fired with good muzzle-flash but the shell comically just plopped out the end of the barrel. Reviewing the video frames (and partly thanks to the audio) it turned out not only had Mel fired (with the faintest puff-ette of smoke caught in one single frame) around 0.25 sec before Ivana, but the shell missed the GAZ truck by an inch & ricocheted right off the balcony. The frames don’t help me calculate an accurate velocity but it was around 20 ft per sec...I’m not sure it’s valid to scale that up from 1/35 but if it is that’s 700 fps - the full-size 37mm clocked 2,600 fps but hey I didn’t exactly have Rheinmetal’s resources. In fact my canons’ calibre scales-up to 70mm if that makes any difference.
So Ivana’s shell wasn’t tight enough in the tube, while Mel had a perfect seal for a micro-second before the breech failed and let at least half the blast escape - who knows, with better smithing it might have doubled its velocity. To summarise: Ivana failed/succeeded & Melania succeeded/failed...I think there’s something there for all of us. More to the point I evaded arrest again, and a couple of frames look like they can be salvaged well enough with some gentle Post-prodding if Mike K agrees.
Moving on to Sequence 3 (the main event) a fresh environmental challenge has just appeared...
Jacarandas, it's Springtime. No colour-tweaking, that’s what it looks like out there which makes using the skyline as additional distant foliage problematic. I feel a great Dio title coming on though...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae23y2D8VSI 
