COMBAT!
 

 

 

 

This article appeared in "Showtime" December 4, 1965

Special Effects Chief Concocts Nonlethal Dangers for Combat!

by Edgar Penton

loserex.jpg (22275 bytes)There's a great deal of shaking going on at the MGM Studios in Culver City, Calif. These tremors are man-made, however -- not the kind that register on Richter earthquake graphs.

A.D. Flowers, a quiet, scholarly gentleman, is the culprit jarring the citizenry, and he gets paid for doing it. As the special effects expert for ABC-TV's World War II series, Combat!, his stock-in-trade is creating havoc without chaos -- minor skirmishes, full-scale battles.

The hour-long shows, featuring Vic Morrow, Rick Jason, Jack Hogan, Pierre Jalbert and Dick Peabody, air over ABC Tuesday evenings, 7:30-8:30 pm. Eastern time. Flowers delivers simple effects, such as a 30-caliber bullet biting into a piece of wood, and complex ones -- village-leveling bombardments. Yet there is no serious damage done in his "war," and the only casualties to be found in the aid station are actors following the script.

Flowers, a skilled, meticulous technician well-versed in his trade, has been blowing up and destroying things as a special effects man since 1941. The tools of his trade, which he insists is nonhazardous, include rifle powder, flash powder, black powder and other explosive compounds; detonators, cork, balsa wood, spongy plastics, electric wires, batteries, switches, iron pots, butane gas, gas tanks, valves and burners, and special weaponry.

"We rent the practical (working) firearms for the show," says Flowers. "I did build the rifles used for firing pellets. Special effects men are particular about equipment like this and we are constantly rebuilding and changing the original model." Lightweight balsa wood, cork and plastics serve as debris flung about by the blasts. Butane, flaming from a series of burners concealed around and within a building, creates the illusion of a flaming structure without really damaging it. "By feeding this to burners through pipes, we can 'fire' an entire village," says the special effects wizard.

Asked to explain how some of his "special" special effects work, he smiles an "I-though-you'd-never-ask" smile and begins: "The most frequently asked question is: 'How do you make it look like bullets are striking wood, stone or ground?'

"Two effects are used. To simulate bullets striking wood, a small charge is planted in a particular spot. Detonated electrically, the charge splinters the wood. For bullets striking masonry or cobblestones, 'dust pellet' are fired from an air rifle.

"Some special effects men use a slingshot. I prefer the rifle. It's much more accurate, and its force makes the pellet-burst more effective.

"To simulate bleeding, we fill a thin, synthetic casing with 'blood.' When the actor is 'shot,' pressure applied by the actor on this casing forces the 'blood' through a small copper tube and out through a torn piece of covering cloth.

"For mortar shots and other large-scale explosions, we put the iron pots to use. These mortars are wide at the top, narrowing toward the base. This forces the power generated by the explosion up, and not out.

"It's something like a balloon bursting. If you hold the balloon by the stem and burst it, the force release is equal on all sides. Put the balloon in a bowl, pop it, and the force is all upward. By applying this principle, the actors can work in close to the explosion without danger.

"These pots are usually buried with only a small part above ground. Covered with peat moss, they are invisible to the camera. The charges vary according to script demands, and are used to simulate shell bursts brom big guns, mortars and grenade explosions.

"When detonated by pushing a button on the special effects panel, they blow in a planned direction. The peat moss, which to the camera looks like dirt, scatters, leaving the actor safe. In three months last season, we used 1,500 bags of peat moss.

"During the same period we used 15,000 bullet hits. These charges cost $1.30 each. In one episode we had 20 special effects men working on the bombardment and destruction of a French village. It took us two days, cost more than $25,000 for labor and required 300,000 feet of electrical wire."

Recalling the early days of Hollywood westerns when a six-shooter sometimes fired seven shots, Flowers says: "There are dozens of ways to do each of the effects we use on the show. Every special effects man experiments to decide what works best for his show. The goal is authenticity."

Combat has been cited by the Association of the United States Army for its authentic and creative presentation, and each episode is cleared with the Army before filming is started. Effectiveness of any special effect can only be judged by how close it appears to being the real thing to televiewers.

Flowers maintains some of the simplest "sight tricks" are the most baffling to the viewers. "One effect that raises the hair on a viewer's neck is the illusion of a bullet shattering a windshield. This requires no more than a gelatin-filled capsule fired from an air rifle. When the capsule impacts on the windshield, it shatters and sprays the glass with the jelly-like substance. "For greater effectiveness, a black disc is contained in the capsule. Sticking to the gelatin, it appears to the camera like the hole left by the bullet as it passes through the glass. "By adding aluminum dust to the gelatin, and firing it against metal instead of glass, the effect of a bullet-strike on metal is achieved."

Although he is the man behind all the special effects for the series, Flowers is reluctant to take full credit for their effectiveness. "Creating and executing these effects is a combined effort. Fifty per cent of the credit has to go to the camera and dolly operators. Without them even the most spectacular explosions would be duds. No one knows better than a special effects man just how important camera angles are.

"Of course, the most important part of the action centers on the actors, and the guys in Combat! are the best. They never hesitate to do what is necessary to achieve the desired effect. "And I am with them every minute, looking out for their safety. They are as anxious to keep our accident record clean as I am."

Asked what he considers the most difficult effect to control, Flowers answered, "Firing a mortar when an actor is running toward it. This demands split-second timing on the part of the actor and myself. The slightest error could be extremely dangerous."

Flowers recalls an incident that occurred when he was working on special effects for The Untouchables television series. "We had rehearsed a difficult explosion scene several times, and were ready for the take. We had worked out the cue for me to set off the charge -- the actor was to turn and look over his shoulder at the camera. "All went as rehearsed until the actor took an early, hurried look at the camera. He turned, I set off the charge and a nurse spent an hour and a half removing splinters from his backside."

What precautionary measures are followed when special effects are used? Flowers says, "I have complete control over revery explosion and every shot fired on the set. Every scene using an effect is carefully plotted and rehearsed. Everyone on the set knows when and where something is going to blow. We have never had an injury during the filming of Combat!

"Every blank and every charge is treated with the utmost care. Most of the equipment I use could be extremely dangerous if used improperly or by untrained personnel."

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