Class Project - The Fugitive

Although the class was set up to promote establishing shots, we occasionally included some sort of action scene.  This one picks up after the bus has already rolled onto train tracks.  The hero character sees an oncoming locomotive from inside the bus, scrambles out, and jumps at the moment of collision.  The derailing train seems to chase him as he dives into a ravine.  (I'm still a little surprised we tried this.)  Our bus was realized as a partial set and in two miniature scales, with the train as one large miniature.

The interior POV from the bus used a 1/6 scale toy with his legs against a broken window.  He's still dressed as a fireman from an earlier "Backdraft" project, but we only saw his legs. 

The exterior window set was a 4'x8' flat, angled against a table that he slid across to "climb out".  Shot against bluescreen, he stood and turned to jump off.  He actually jumped off a blue box for the wider shot.  Layers of hanging fog were shot against black and composited behind and in front of him to blend the shot.  At the time this beard happened, makeup was not yet part of the course - sorry.

The collision set was carved foam on an angled base, with large branches stuck into it.  Since the plywood train cars were much larger than hobby trains, we came up with a different method for rolling them.  A trench was built into the Styrofoam base shallow enough that they could ride on refrigerator casters.  It also allowed a sunken area for placing our "explosive".

To maximize use of the hero bus, it was built as a hinged body from 1/4" plastic.  It had three skins made of sturdy black aluminum foil, with decals and painted details for the multiple takes.  Since we would never see the back end of it, both ends were detailed like the front in case one was damaged.

Fog was pumped into the hollow bus to establish the wreckage, and at the moment of the train impact a roll of flash paper was ignited underneath.  It illuminated the fog, enhancing the effect.

We had very little bluescreen available, and in a tiny stage space, so a patch of mulch was our only ground.  Even so, a decent split-shot was still possible. 

The final shot of the bus being pushed across a bridge was achieved by pushing all the cars from the back as fog poured out of the bus.