This article appeared in "Showtime" December 4, 1965 Special Effects
Chief Concocts Nonlethal Dangers for Combat!
by Edgar Penton
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."