That particular Oogie-Boogie Roulette Wheel Set had a curse on it. A few days after the Things Go Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump, Bump In The Night episode, one of our quantum physics degreed camera operators decided to drive their brand new motion control rig from Stage 1 to Stage 20.
In defense of Doctor Einstein, his next assignment did take place on Stage 20. However, driving a contraption of speed rail, welded metal plates, block and tackle from 1700s, and a motorized Worrall head through the Escher-like construction of Skellington Productons in the dark, may not have been the best plan. Throw in that duvetyne wrapped everything on the stage floor in a black shroud of grim death and the only place more dangerous to take a spin on four wheels might be Demolition Derby on ABC’s Wide World of Sports.
[Whoa! Look at that, Jim. Hunter McQueen just backed his Brinks Armored Vehicle over the Yugo driven by the former Jimmy “The Bohunk” Abramowitz!]
[Yes that is something, John!]
But don’t let common sense interfere with a joyride in the middle of the night . . . on a pitch black studio floor . . . with hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment in the way . . . and millions of dollars of set pieces, props, and puppets on display.
The following is the chagrined personal account of said cameraman and the production assistant on rounds. Follow the layout of Skellington Studios in the photo to understand the sequence of events.
The camera operator took off from Stage 1 and worked the Motion Control rig down one of the narrow alleyways on the studio floor. The stages laid out in organized fashion. Stages 1 through 7 were on the right hand side of the studio as you go from front to back, and Stages 8 through 13 sat on the left. 14 through 20, or the Auxiliary Stages, were in the far reaches of Skellington and defied such military regimentation.
We had an overhead of the stages that I used until I memorized the layout. Several thousand trips to each working set will do that.
Back to the accident about to happen.
The motion control rig, far from street ready, initially avoided collisions, despite the lack of definition in the driver’s field of vison. Just before the safety of open space, which lay on the other side of the drapery that divided stages 1-13 from the newly constructed 14-20, the motion control rig crashed into a corner of the Oogie-Boogie Roulette Wheel Set (see map).
A six-inch protrusion off the corner of the set extended into the alleyway, invisible due to the black duvetyne camouflage. An additional piece of wood had been added to allow the animator to keep certain tools and materials close at hand.
Or, perhaps the amorous couple of a few nights back needed a little extra room to move around.
We will never know.
Whatever the reason, the MoCon (That’s film lingo) rig had inadvertently committed one of the several zillion cardinal sins of stop motion animation known as unnecessary filmed movement.
It causes horrific things to happen when events occur such as Oogie-Boogie moving six inches in perspective without any known motivation and against all the laws of physics. The shot, to this juncture, might be ruined.
The fallout and possible solutions.
1. The animator can kill the camera operator and be found not guilty due to justifiable homicide. Also included would be the subsequent dismantling and melting down of the MoCon rig. The entire camera department would be forced to attend this event known as The Smelting.
2. The animator can commit suicide, greatly reducing his productivity ongoing.
3. The shot, already 360 frames into a 720-frame extravaganza, can be restarted. This request would precipitate #2.
4. Phil Lofaro works on a brilliant solution. He sends the finished 360 frames to Disney. They send back specs to line up the set in its original position. The animator starts from frame 361, and Disney’s editorial staff is prepared to make further micro adjustments in post.
Strangely, as much as we wanted to see the camera operator dispatched and the cursed MoCon rig turned into lava, we opted for #4.
Courtesy Reminder: When I said Phil Lofaro could do anything, I was not joking. The shot continued and finished on schedule. It looked great.
Side Note: If another performance of the Posturepedic Polka occurred on the Oogie-Boogie set, I was not the one to hear it.
And really, you two. That Roulette Wheel had a surface like an Iron Maiden.
Ouch.
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