{"id":1145,"date":"2022-10-10T16:02:35","date_gmt":"2022-10-10T23:02:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/?p=1145"},"modified":"2022-10-10T17:26:38","modified_gmt":"2022-10-11T00:26:38","slug":"revised-galactica-tv-2009-interview-marcel-damen-david-stipes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/?p=1145","title":{"rendered":"Revised Galactica.TV 2009 interview:  Marcel Damen &#038; David Stipes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Part 1 of 2009 interview. The original online Galactica.TV website postings appear to be lost. This article was recreated from transcriptions generated during the original interview between David Stipes and Marcel Damen. Minor editing was done for info corrections, clarity, and updates. Galactica.TV questions in boldface type are by Marcel Damen.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>You started creating your own visual effects for movies at a young age. What brought this about? What movie made such an impression on you to get you involved in this field?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s pretty straightforward, <em>King Kong<\/em> and <em>The Son of Kong<\/em>. When I was in the third or fourth grade, the films were shown on television. I was amazed. I didn\u2019t know what was going on exactly, but I knew something was. So I asked my mom, \u201cHow did they get King Kong to do all this stuff?\u201d and she said, \u201cOh, David, it\u2019s a trained chimpanzee.\u201d Well, of course, they didn\u2019t look or move like chimpanzees, and I thought, \u201cThat\u2019s not right.\u201d So even though I was very young, I knew something was going on, and it wasn\u2019t what my mom said.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 100%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-1145 gallery-columns-1 gallery-size-full'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/better-version.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"526\" height=\"395\" src=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/better-version.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/better-version.jpg 526w, https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/better-version-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 526px) 100vw, 526px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>So it fascinated me. When I was about eleven, I discovered <em>Famous Monsters of Filmland<\/em>, Forrest J Ackerman\u2019s magazine. Forry wrote about Willis O\u2019Brien, King Kong, <em>The 7th Voyage of Sinbad<\/em>, and Ray Harryhausen. I thought, \u201cWow! This is terrific.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>I just started collecting everything I could on Kong and movie monsters. I was eagerly waiting for the magazines to come out because there was no internet, pro articles, books, absolutely nothing available.\u00a0 I absorbed these magazines and tried to figure out simple effects.<\/p>\n<p>Eventually, there were many knockoffs of <em>Famous Monsters of Filmland<\/em>. Forry came out with <em>Spacemen Magazine<\/em> and <em>Screen Thrills Illustrated<\/em>. I read as many as I could. I began to see that many people worked on monster and fantasy movies.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-1147 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/310770856_10217799600896527_3214162121896813507_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"320\" height=\"425\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/310770856_10217799600896527_3214162121896813507_n.jpg 320w, https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/310770856_10217799600896527_3214162121896813507_n-226x300.jpg 226w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Then in <em>Famous Monsters of Filmland,<\/em> there was a little blurb in the news column that said: \u201c<em>King Kong<\/em> fan David Allen would love to meet or talk to anybody else who\u2019s a <em>King Kong<\/em> fan.\u201d Of course, David never said that, but Forry posted it for him. It turned out that David Allen lived just a few miles away.<\/p>\n<p>I wrote to David and later called him. I was still so young that I couldn\u2019t drive on my own. I was just getting a trainer\u2019s permit. So my mom drove me to see David Allen, where he was involved with writing, artwork, and film tests. He was using the \u201cTaurus Monster\u201d \u00a0that he had recently completed. Taurus was used later in <em>Equinox.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>I was fortunate to meet someone like David, who\u2019s only a few years older than me and already doing what I wanted to do. I was excited.<\/p>\n<p>David became my mentor for a long time &#8212; talking to me on the phone, looking at my drawings, and allowing me to visit. Eventually, I could drive myself to David\u2019s house, and he let me help with a few shots. So I got to learn about sculpting, molds, and armatures. David encouraged me to build my first monster puppet. I did an armature and a sculpted model. Some of that work was crude, oh so crude, but I learned a lot by doing it. David was so encouraging and gracious about his time and his knowledge.<\/p>\n<p>In many ways, David Allen set an excellent example for me to be generous with information to my students and people who have come to me over the years. Maybe even to my detriment at times, but overall I think it has been an excellent experience to share this and get a chance to have somebody like David in my life. He introduced me to Jim Danforth and Dennis Muren. When Dennis started doing his film, <em>Equinox<\/em>, he invited Jim Danforth and David Allen to be involved. David Allen then asked me to help. I was still in high school and got to build \u2018Charlie,\u2019 the corpse, a temple model, and an animation house David Allen destroyed in a stop-motion scene.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1149\" style=\"width: 555px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1149\" class=\"wp-image-1149 \" src=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/daveallententacles.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"545\" height=\"561\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/daveallententacles.jpg 672w, https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/daveallententacles-291x300.jpg 291w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 545px) 100vw, 545px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1149\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Allen working on the tentacle creature for &#8216;Equinox&#8217;<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p>I mean, how great was that? I visited Dennis Muren and saw him compositing with front projection several years before <em>2001: A Space Odyssey<\/em>. I was in awe seeing all of this fantastic work that Dennis, David, and Jim were doing. It was a wonderful experience, and I was very blessed.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>When did you know this was more than just a hobby and you wanted to make your career out of this?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Well, it was never just a hobby to me. It was sort of an obsession. I went to some high school activities, but whenever I could, I was out in my parent\u2019s garage doing stop-motion animation or practicing matte painting. I\u2019d build my own 16 mm aerial image projector and printer. I was always messing with techniques as I discovered them.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1159\" style=\"width: 233px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1159\" class=\"wp-image-1159 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/f6596dfe83d29a18fff77a2174fb6787.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"223\" height=\"269\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1159\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>In parent&#8217;s garage circa 1965<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p>As I saw VFX shots, I would go to my garage and try to replicate them or do something similar. Sometimes it worked; sometimes, it didn\u2019t. Most of the results were pretty crude, but I kept learning. I was building on a knowledge base I\u2019ve used all my life.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Were you supported by your parents in this choice?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The only significant support I received was when I was obnoxiously persistent that I wanted a movie camera. So, while I was in high school, they bought me an 8 mm camera, which was pretty much the limit of the support. I had researched and requested this funky 8 mm camera that could backwind, do double exposures, and shoot single frames. I was in heaven for a while.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1158\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1158\" class=\"wp-image-1158 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/David-and-matte-mask2-570pix-300x203.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"203\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/David-and-matte-mask2-570pix-300x203.jpg 300w, https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/David-and-matte-mask2-570pix.jpg 570w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1158\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Setting up a split-screen shot circa 1965<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p>I did a split screen around our house and animated my stop-motion monster walking in, tearing the roof off, reaching in, and grabbing somebody. It was all done in 8 mm. They were amazed I could do this, although they thought it was silly and a waste of time.<\/p>\n<p>Even after I began working professionally, because it wasn\u2019t 100% consistent, my mom literally said, \u201cWhen are you going to stop wasting time with this silly filmmaking and get a real job?\u201d\u00a0 So even toward the end of their lives, after I had my pro studio, they\u2019d drive close by on the freeway, visiting their friends, but they never came to see my studio.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>You studied Art and Film both in college. Who were your mentors and examples during that period? Who did you look up to? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I never got the chance to study film. I wanted to go to USC or UCLA, which were so expensive. There were no scholarships I could get a hold of, and my parents couldn\u2019t afford the tuition. So I just went to a Junior College and the State University and became an art major. Most people in the art department pushed me to declare myself as a major in abstract painting or commercial art. But, of course, I wasn\u2019t interested in that. I wanted to do film and VFX work. So every chance I could, I would take independent studies where I could tailor my class to some aspect of filmmaking. I got a lot of resistance from the college people because I didn\u2019t want to follow their standard curriculum. I took the necessary classes and did the best I could, but if it wasn\u2019t about filmmaking, stop-motion animation, cartoon animation, drawing, and techniques like that, I wasn\u2019t excited about it. So wherever I could, I\u2019d take filming classes and history of film.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Since you started at this very young and already worked with some leading people in the industry at that time, like Dennis Muren, why did you ever bother to go through College and University in the first place? Why didn\u2019t you simply continue in the industry itself?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Well, I was still pretty young. Going to college was expected at that time. You have to keep in mind that I graduated from high school in 1966. Everybody went to college, and I didn\u2019t know enough in 1966 to get hired to do anything professionally.<\/p>\n<p>About 1970, the folks at Cascade Pictures needed more stop-motion animators, so Jim Danforth and Phil Kellison, the effects supervisor, hired David Allen. I frequently visited David Allen at Cascade and got to see Jim Danforth. Then I got to know Phil Kellison, a more mature VFX artist.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1150\" style=\"width: 338px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1150\" class=\"wp-image-1150\" src=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/stage6_v02-e1665351065941.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"328\" height=\"541\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1150\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>\u00a0 Phil Kellison\u00a0 (c) vfxmasters.com by Harry Walton<br \/><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p>Phil never took on the role of a mentor, like, \u201cHey buddy, let me take you under my wing\u201d or anything. But I learned so much because I was at Cascade for a long time, working and watching Phil, Jim, and Dave. For that, I was so fortunate and grateful.<\/p>\n<p>I got some great career advice from Phil Kellison: learn to do multiple things and not be fixated on just one thing. I took that advice to heart. I wound up doing many different jobs and skills in my career.<\/p>\n<p>When I was teaching, I drew upon these varied, wild job experiences to share with students. My background was so diverse that I got to teach in Visual Effects, Digital Film, \u00a0and Animation majors. I was equally qualified to be in all three of them.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>What were the most important skills you learned when you just started?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I learned much from attending school and my jobs at Cascade. Yes, I was learning many technical skills, but I needed to know about working with people, not taking things personally, and how to stand up for myself. Many self-growth issues came to light that I needed to work on in my life and my personality. There were a lot of experiences that I considered very unpleasant. But, over the years, they have helped me become a more mellow person and realize what poor treatment felt like. They tempered me for when I later became a boss having my own company and employees.<\/p>\n<p>Later, when I was an instructor, I was more conscious of how I interacted with people because of the, shall we say, unconscious way I was treated. People were just pretty oblivious to what they were saying and doing. And, in truth, I was sometimes somewhat unconscious, too. I said and did things that I immaturely thought were funny but wound up hurting people\u2019s feelings. So yeah, I had to learn a lot to learn and apply. While I gained technical skills, the film industry was more about learning to be a better human being.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>How did you get involved in <em>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Dennis Muren had come to work at Cascade. I\u2019d known him for a while because I\u2019d worked on his <em>Equinox<\/em> film. At some point, he heard an assistant was needed to work on shots for this funky little film, <em>Star Wars<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1171\" style=\"width: 365px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1171\" class=\"wp-image-1171 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Dennis-crop.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"355\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Dennis-crop.jpg 355w, https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Dennis-crop-266x300.jpg 266w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 355px) 100vw, 355px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1171\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dennis Muren<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p>So Dennis interviewed with John Dykstra, who hired him to work with Richard Edlund on the night shift. So I went out there to visit Dennis and see his work. Wow! I walk into this fantastic motion control studio with electronically controlled cameras, stepper motor-driven things, models, and spaceships. I was amazed.<\/p>\n<p>That opened my eyes because we were still in \u201cboilerplate technology when I first started in VFX.\u201d It was analog, pre-digital, pre-computer, and we didn\u2019t even have videotape players when we started. So, for example, we would lay out 50 feet of paper tape, go down and draw 1\/4-inch marks. We used a needle as our indicator and moved the dolly by hand for 50 feet at 1\/4 inch per film frame to animate it. So that\u2019s how we did it, over and over and over.<\/p>\n<p>So when motion control came along, and <em>Star Wars<\/em> exposed me to that growth step, it was eye-opening, like when I first met David Allen and was exposed to stop-motion, optical printing, front and rear projection, and all those techniques. Wow! I wanted to do motion control, too! But, of course, the equipment was costly at that point, and I didn\u2019t know how to do it.<\/p>\n<p>Over the next couple of years, I kept pushing, trying to learn more and more about motion control and digital technology. So in the mid to late seventies, there was a break in writing about visual effects as <em>American Cinematographer<\/em> and <em>Cinefantistique<\/em> came out with articles about <em>Star Wars<\/em>. Then, about 1978, I think <em>Starlog<\/em> magazine had an article, \u201cSee what $2 million can buy,\u201d with preview images from the new <em>Battlestar Galactica<\/em> show.<\/p>\n<p>I heard they were hiring for <em>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>. So I went and interviewed with John Dykstra.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1152\" style=\"width: 566px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1152\" class=\"wp-image-1152 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/ASCVFX-John-Dykstra-Battlestar-Galactica-e1665352151930.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"556\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/ASCVFX-John-Dykstra-Battlestar-Galactica-e1665352151930.jpg 556w, https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/ASCVFX-John-Dykstra-Battlestar-Galactica-e1665352151930-261x300.jpg 261w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 556px) 100vw, 556px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1152\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Dykstra circa 1977-78<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p>Unfortunately, I was very formal and stuffy. The contrast was pretty funny because John Dykstra was kicking back, smoking, and scratching his big dog. He appeared to be a hippie with a loose shirt, shorts, and sandals. He showed me around the studio, but he didn\u2019t hire me.<\/p>\n<p>I kept going along on commercials, and then Dykstra pulled out of <em>Battlestar Galactica<\/em> to work on something else. So Univeral shipped the equipment &amp; resources over to their Hartland VFX facility.<\/p>\n<p>Cascade Pictures closed in 1975, and a follow-up company called CPC Associates took its place. It incorporated many of the Cascade people, including David Allen and myself. Phil Kellison had gone on to another company. So now it was David Allen and a few others. There also was a matte painter named Jena Holman, who frequently worked with us. David later left CPC Associates and started on <em>The Primeval<\/em>, so I inherited the position of effects supervisor for CPC in 1978. Jena Holman was accepted into the matte painter union, and she started working over at Universal Hartland.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1155\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1155\" class=\"wp-image-1155 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DSP2_S_190-e1665353216669-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DSP2_S_190-e1665353216669-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DSP2_S_190-e1665353216669-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DSP2_S_190-e1665353216669-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/DSP2_S_190-e1665353216669.jpg 805w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1155\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jena Holman at Hartland circa 1978<br \/><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p>Jena recommended that I come over because they needed a matte camera person to work with her. So I interviewed with Peter Anderson. Peter loved what I was doing and liked me. So finally, here was a chance for me to learn motion control. So I left CPC Associates and went to work at Universal Hartland towards the end of 1978.<\/p>\n<p>The Hartland facility was working on <em>Buck Rogers<\/em>, the feature film, and they were also working on <em>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>. My primary duties were to support the matte work. In addition, I often went to locations and supervised the photography of background plates. I loved the whole matte painting process. I had experimented with it from the time I was in high school. Eventually, I did matte paintings for other feature films and taught it for a while. At that time, because it was very much union bound, I wasn\u2019t officially allowed to do anything other than union-specified work.<\/p>\n<p>At the studio, I did color testing, test composites, and whatever was needed for Jena to do the matte paintings. Because of my research in matte painting, testing, and talking with people, I knew how to do original negative matte painting compositing. So we did original negative and rear-projection matte painting composites and turned shots around pretty fast, which is what they desperately needed. The Hartland facility was producing 50-75 shots\/week. They were just struggling to get shots done. They had over 100 people, and the work was all done analog \/ photo-chemical.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>What were your favorite areas to work in?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When I wasn\u2019t working on a matte camera, I\u2019d be working on the motion control stage, or sometimes they\u2019d let me help in the model shop or something.<\/p>\n<p>I got the chance to learn some beginner motion control, but I didn\u2019t do much of it. Because I had this weird, eclectic background, I was doing all of the odd shots using techniques that were not motion control. For example, I filmed a moving model reflection test with stop-motion animation because all the motion control setups were tied up. They were amazed I could do shots without the electronics. But, to be fair, that was their experience base. I did not have their experience in electronics, and they did not have my more hands-on approaches.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Can you remember the first thing you started working on?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I started by helping Jena Holman with her matte shots for <em>Buck Rogers,<\/em> such as the \u2018New Chicago\u2019 matte shot. I was shooting film tests and moving the heavy glass paintings. The glass plates were large in wood frames. Unfortunately, the frames were pine that began warping and cracking the glass. We researched and decided to use kiln-dried redwood for the frames. It solved the glass cracking problem but made the glass and frames larger and heavier.<\/p>\n<p>I had a chance to do all kinds of funky stuff that drove the union people crazy because they wanted to put people into little niches.<\/p>\n<p>I soon assisted with the Ship of Lights from the \u201cWar of the Gods\u201d episode. I had a model-maker background, and though I wasn\u2019t legally in the model-making union, I was allowed to help build this fun model.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many people worked on the Ship of Lights? Can you remember that? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I know that artist Wendy Dupont worked on it with several model makers. Let\u2019s see. I\u2019m looking at <em>Starlog<\/em> #27 with a picture of Wendy on the cover. I don\u2019t remember all the guys. I remember Wendy being the main driving force on it.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1132\" src=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/tilleysmagazines.com-30052017_0007-1080x1459-1-758x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"550\" height=\"743\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/tilleysmagazines.com-30052017_0007-1080x1459-1-758x1024.jpg 758w, https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/tilleysmagazines.com-30052017_0007-1080x1459-1-222x300.jpg 222w, https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/tilleysmagazines.com-30052017_0007-1080x1459-1-768x1038.jpg 768w, https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/tilleysmagazines.com-30052017_0007-1080x1459-1.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Was this the only model you worked on, or did you also work on other models?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you look in <em>Starlog<\/em> #27, page 34, there\u2019s one of the episodes where Starbuck and Apollo sneak on one of the Cylon Basestars. There\u2019s a big miniature in there where they had the different Cylon ships parked in there. So I got a chance to work on that. The people at Hartland were fantastic, allowing me to work on a few projects like that.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1122\" style=\"width: 580px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1122\" class=\"wp-image-1122 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Galactica-hanger-570-pix.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"570\" height=\"418\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Galactica-hanger-570-pix.jpg 570w, https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Galactica-hanger-570-pix-300x220.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1122\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cylon Basestar interior model.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p>Most of the time, my job was to be a camera person. Again, it was a union shop, and they could only indulge in a little bit of rule-bending<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>You didn\u2019t work on any of the <em>Buck Rogers<\/em> models?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The only model-related thing I did on <em>Buck Rogers<\/em> was in the Second Season when they introduced the Hawk ship. I did that shot with the Hawk ship, where the claws unfold and come out. I used stop-motion on that episode. They didn\u2019t have the money or the time to build an extensive mechanical, so I made the little claws out of styrene pieces. I pinned them together, used some stick wax to hold position, and just animated these little claws coming out of the bottom of the ship. It was one of those weird little things I could do because of my varied background.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Can you remember some other weird little things you had to do for <em>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yeah, we did a gas planet. It was one of the things where Peter Anderson said: \u201cWe really need these planet shots, and we only got about three hours to do them in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They were supposed to be gas planets, which was a last-minute thing. How were we going to do this? We had no time to experiment, so we just did it based on our prior experiences. Peter and I set up a 36 or 48-inch planet sphere model on the motion control stage. While Peter programmed a motion control \u2018fly-over\u2019 move, I quickly painted the planet white, which gave us a matte pass to later prevent the stars from double exposing.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1130 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/DSP2_S_223-570-pix.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"297\" height=\"403\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/DSP2_S_223-570-pix.jpg 570w, https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/DSP2_S_223-570-pix-221x300.jpg 221w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 297px) 100vw, 297px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I then painted the planet black. Then we would paint a few red, blue, and purple stripes and film the planet spinning. I painted black over those colors, put different colors over other areas, and then spun the planet at different speeds. We did multiple filmed passes with colors in different regions of the globe. So it was just a series of double exposures on a sphere with different rotational speeds.<\/p>\n<p>It became a multi-exposure shot so that as the Vipers flew over, the color bands flowed around like Jupiter at different speeds.<\/p>\n<p>The other shot I was delighted with was where a Viper ship had been damaged. So the pilots had to do an extra-vehicular spacewalk. They\u2019re trying to fix the side of it. So we did this long pullback, seeing these guys stranded in space.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>That\u2019s from the <em>Galactica 1980<\/em> episode \u201cSpaceball,\u201d where Troy and Dillon are drifting in space for almost the entire episode and then do an EVA to repair their ship before they run out of oxygen.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Right. That was one I loved because the production had a full-size Viper and real actors, but they were unsure how to make the shot on a minimal budget. So we went to the stage, and they had some stunt guys hanging on wires in front of the full-size Viper.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1118 size-medium alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/space-walk-Viper-570pix-e1665354122349-300x265.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"265\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/space-walk-Viper-570pix-e1665354122349-300x265.jpg 300w, https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/space-walk-Viper-570pix-e1665354122349.jpg 484w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>So we filmed the full-size Viper and these guys hanging there as a live-action plate. Later I had a registration film print made of the live-action. I owned a rear screen, single-frame projector, so I could do rear screen projections as Ray Harryhausen did.<\/p>\n<p>We also took photographs of the Viper for high-quality detail. I mounted the Viper photo on a large piece of glass. I cut out and lined up the area where the actors were in front of the real Viper, the big one. We programmed a long motion control pullback away from the Viper with these guys floating in space. I just single-framed the actor\u2019s action frame by frame and finally added stars.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1117 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Space-Walk-comp.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"371\" height=\"267\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Space-Walk-comp.jpg 640w, https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Space-Walk-comp-300x216.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 371px) 100vw, 371px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Everyone was amazed that we pulled that off without optical printing, and there were no matte lines. It was all done in the camera. Everyone was just blown away. That was one of those great shots, and I was like: \u201cYeah! we got that one.\u201d That was a satisfying shot to do.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Working at Hartland was transformative. I arrived slightly intimidated and concerned because I didn\u2019t know how to do motion control. I was still thinking, \u201cI don\u2019t know if I can measure up to these guys.\u201d After some successful arcane assignments, I had a liberating awareness or pivotal experience. I finally realized what I knew. At that time, I\u2019d already been working professionally for almost ten years, plus I\u2019d done all that experimenting in high school and college<\/p>\n<p>As it turned out, I knew a lot more than I realized. That is not a place of ego but a growth in self-awareness. It made me more confident to jump in and try more projects. I like to feel that I contributed and helped get some shots done that would not have been completed without my approach to some things. It was a pretty neat moment.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Did you also visit the sets or meet any of the actors?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I got a chance to meet Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict. I never got the opportunity to go on the sets a lot. I got a chance to go on the <em>Buck Rogers<\/em> sets when they were shooting some of their crazy episodes, but for the most part, we were pretty insulated. It wasn\u2019t like <em>Star Trek,<\/em> where I was frequently on the set.<\/p>\n<p>I was one of the VFX crew; David Garber and Wayne Smith were the effects supervisors in charge of the VFX and ran the Hartland facility. Peter Anderson was the on-set supervisor and was responsible for how all the effects shooting worked. So I was under him and kind of low on the food chain.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How much freedom were you given to realize the effects? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Peter Anderson was a great guy to work with. Once he realized what I could do, he gave me a lot of freedom. Peter was very supportive of all the guys and me. He gave people as much independence as needed to get the jobs done. Let\u2019s face it: we had to turn in a lot of work quickly, and if you\u2019re being micromanaged and everything is looked at repeatedly, you\u2019d never get anything done. So basically, they had a lot of really good people who knew what they were doing, and there were very few snafus in the process, believe it or not. At the time, I was pretty insulated from most of the staff. I knew what I needed to do, we all had meetings, and we all talked about what had to happen. Then, you go and do it. We had ridiculously long hours, but it was a delightful and wonderful studio to work at.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1166\" style=\"width: 580px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1166\" class=\"wp-image-1166\" src=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/36345_21_img_0240-1024x685.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"570\" height=\"381\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/36345_21_img_0240-1024x685.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/36345_21_img_0240-300x201.jpg 300w, https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/36345_21_img_0240-768x514.jpg 768w, https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/36345_21_img_0240-1536x1027.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/36345_21_img_0240-2048x1370.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1166\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Peter Anderson circa 1979<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p>Peter was also &#8212; you may or may not hear this from anybody else &#8212;\u00a0 a bit of a jokester. He knew it was stressful, so he would sometimes bring food in, but if Peter ever walked out with his rain slickers, you knew you were in trouble. He had a set of rain tans and overcoats, stuff like that, for rain and wet stuff, because he loved to pie people &#8212; hit them with pies or food fights, things like that. It blew off a lot of tension, plus we all got a certain level of camaraderie from all that silliness. It wasn\u2019t done at certain times. It didn\u2019t hurt the production or anything like that. We finished a shot or got some accomplishment, and he\u2019d bring in some food. It was always exciting and often ended with the famous Peter Anderson Hartland food fights. Those were the only times these guys were silly and zany. Otherwise, they were an exceptionally professional group working their butts off.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Especially at the end of the pilot, when there was a lot of time pressure, was there also some original equipment made by the ILM crew, reused to create new things? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Of course, all the models and some crew came over. I think Colin and Gil Cantwell were part of that group, along with Davy Jones, Pete Gerard, and some of the model guys.<\/p>\n<p>When I got there, Hartland was running and flowing pretty well. Hartland engineers were still building equipment &#8212; I know that \u2013 because Richard Bennett and Gil Cantwell were building these incredible machines, which were patterned after something Richard Edlund had put together for John Dykstra at ILM. I heard an interview where Richard Edlund shared that he was displeased that some of his equipment was copied at Hartland. I don\u2019t know what was copied, but it was basic mechanical construction.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1156\" style=\"width: 580px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1156\" class=\"wp-image-1156\" src=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/14333573_10210390777504065_1696523177676575647_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"570\" height=\"380\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/14333573_10210390777504065_1696523177676575647_n.jpg 960w, https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/14333573_10210390777504065_1696523177676575647_n-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/14333573_10210390777504065_1696523177676575647_n-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1156\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Edlund circa 1977-78<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p>The production needed a repeatable camera platform that had to go up and down, pan and tilt, and be on a track. You can build a big Dykstraflex boom arm at considerable costs or use an existing dolly and get it up and running, so you can start making movies. Taking the expedient route allowed Hartland to get some stuff done pretty quickly.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>I heard the flying motorcycles were actually built for an episode of <em>Battlestar Galactica,<\/em> which wasn\u2019t filmed, and they later reused those for <em>Galactica 1980.<\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Oh, were they? Was that what happened? <em>Galactica 1980<\/em> had sort of the same problems that <em>V<\/em> did. You\u2019re spending a lot of money on getting the show set up, but you can\u2019t keep on spending the money, and you go: \u201cThose spaceships can\u2019t keep flying around. Let\u2019s go and have them ride motorcycles.\u201d Later, <em>V: the Series<\/em> did a similar motorcycle budget saver. When you\u2019re cutting costs, you sometimes get crazy solutions.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Alan Levi, who took over from Richard Colla on the pilot, said there was a set budget for the season in those days. Most of the money was always spent on the first five episodes to get the audience to watch it, but all the money spent only led to cheaper shots in the later episodes. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sure, that\u2019s right. We saw that happening. The shot count started going down, and the editors began recycling stuff. There was one episode &#8212; Gosh, it was in <em>Buck Rogers,<\/em> I think \u2013 there was a sequence where our heroes had to go from one place to another. In one shot, it\u2019s Princess Ardala\u2019s shuttle, and in another shot, in the same sequence, it\u2019s the <em>Battlestar Galactica<\/em> shuttle. I was saying, \u201cOh my God, guys!\u201d They responded, \u201cDon\u2019t worry; nobody will notice.\u201d Well, everybody noticed! It looked horrible.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t remember if it was the Hawk ship, but some spaceship is going into a cave, and you see its blazing engines as it goes in. Later there\u2019s a shot of it coming out of the cave, and they just optically printed it backward, so now it\u2019s flying out with its engines blazing backward. They were so desperate for money that they were doing crazy stuff like that toward the end of production. I was rolling my eyes, \u201cOh my God!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eventually, I learned not to take things personally. It\u2019s not my show. I need to be responsible for my shots and do my best. If the producers, directors, or somebody else wants to drop or change something, that\u2019s out of my control &#8212; it\u2019s not my movie. I groaned about some clunky work there, but I can also say that about other productions.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>How surprised were you that they restarted <em>Battlestar Galactica<\/em> only a year after it had been canceled?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Oh yeah, we all were surprised but glad to work on it.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Were the lower budgets for <em>Galactica 1980<\/em> also affecting your work and your co-workers in the visual effects department? <\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1125\" style=\"width: 580px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1125\" class=\"wp-image-1125 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Galacticia-1980-w-Dan-from-internet-570.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"570\" height=\"428\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Galacticia-1980-w-Dan-from-internet-570.jpg 570w, https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Galacticia-1980-w-Dan-from-internet-570-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1125\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dan Curry circa 1980<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p>I don\u2019t remember being adversely affected by that, except we had very little time. For example, in <em>Galactica 1980<\/em>, the flying saucer hangar matte shot was done in one week. That\u2019s all the time we had. Matte artist Dan Curry and I had to go to the studio, shoot the plate, come back, paint the thing, and put it together. It was finished in seven insane days.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the stuff was just crazy &#8212; little tiny things we had to do. I was filming elements on the down shooter. I did this little matte shot that was 2 \u00bd inches wide of a building in the distance. I think it\u2019s in the show. It\u2019s some refinery or factory, and it\u2019s off in the distance. It\u2019s just some little front and backlight thing, and I jumped in and did it. When you don\u2019t have much money, you do what you can. It just comes with the territory. You just suck it up and do it.<\/p>\n<p>I had a great time because I always had something to push my mind against. Maybe that\u2019s one advantage I had over some folks who don\u2019t remember doing this stuff that well. I was very young when I was doing it, and everything was a big memorable challenge to work on. I was trying to figure out how to do them and what was the best way and coming up with solutions that we could do within the time frame. So, I don\u2019t remember talking about money per se. I know the budgets were tight. We couldn\u2019t do some things because we didn\u2019t have enough time to do them well or we didn\u2019t have enough resources to make them happen at all.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1175 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cylon-attack-on-hollywood-galactica-1980-e1665440814329.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"569\" height=\"332\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cylon-attack-on-hollywood-galactica-1980-e1665440814329.jpg 569w, https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cylon-attack-on-hollywood-galactica-1980-e1665440814329-300x175.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 569px) 100vw, 569px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>But sometimes there was something spectacular that we got to do. That attack on Earth, the Cylons coming on straight down Hollywood Boulevard, was one of those things I got a chance to work on.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>I\u2019ve also read that some of the towers on fire in those shots are from other movies.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yes, stock shots. We used stock shots all the time. Why not? We tried to do an awful lot with very little money on that Hollywood Blvd. sequence. One <em>Galactica 1980<\/em> shot you may or may not hear about from anybody else is what happened with a bunch of extras\u2026<\/p>\n<p>We were on the Universal backlot. I was the matte cameraman filming the scene so Jena Holman could paint in the Hollywood sign and hills in the distance. Because the scene called for the Cylon Raiders to be strafing Hollywood Blvd., the Special Effects Dept set long rows of charges or squibs down the street.<\/p>\n<p>The extras were told to show up to set in street clothes, and one lady wore a large bright yellow hat. The Assistant Directors (ADs) grouped the extras on each street corner. The extras are told that the Cylons are attacking and to run across the street screaming. The yellow-hat lady stood out brightly. Unfortunately, they didn\u2019t have enough extras, so for more screen time, one AD would run people across the street, and the other assistant director would turn them around and run them back. That should have worked, except for the very obvious yellow-hat lady running back and forth screaming.<\/p>\n<p>The extras were all running back and forth, screaming at nothing because they couldn\u2019t see Cylon Raiders strafing or anything unusual around them. Yet.<\/p>\n<p>But, then, down the center of the street, these long strips of strafing sparks suddenly go off sequentially and zoom down the road toward and right under this crowd.<\/p>\n<p>So now the extras were really panicking, wildly running and leaping as explosives went off under them and between their legs. We all watched with our mouths hanging open. Of course, nobody got hurt, but it was one of those scenes that was way more startling than dangerous. Ultimately this shot was cut from the sequence, but we got a good \u201cwar story\u201d to tell, even the lady in the large yellow hat.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1173\" src=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cropped-hat-e1665440271598.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"347\" height=\"202\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cropped-hat-e1665440271598.jpg 714w, https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cropped-hat-e1665440271598-300x175.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 347px) 100vw, 347px\" \/><\/p>\n<h6 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><em>All photographs are (c) copyrighted by their respective owners and are used for educational purposes.<\/em><\/span><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Part 1 of 2009 interview. The original online Galactica.TV website postings appear to be lost. This article was recreated from transcriptions generated during the original interview between David Stipes and Marcel Damen. Minor editing was done for info corrections, clarity, and updates. Galactica.TV questions in boldface type are by Marcel Damen. \u00a0 You started creating [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,1],"tags":[80,9,57],"class_list":["post-1145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-film-vfx-history","category-uncategorized","tag-education","tag-film-history","tag-universal-hartland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1145"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1192,"href":"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1145\/revisions\/1192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidstipes.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}