Greenscreen Exploding Volcano Effect

Mega Disasters for THE HISTORY CHANNEL gave all of us wonderful opportunities to combine old school and cutting edge visual effects. The next three clips illustrate the progression of a shot from origin in the CLOUD TANK to final CGI layers.

LINK TO CLIP #1 - CLOUD TANK ALONE USING GREEN SCREEN We constructed a scale model of the volcanic island that would disintegrate when we blasted it with our high-pressure "pyroclastic flow."

LINK TO CLIP #2 - THE GREENSCREEN IS REPLACED WITH PACIFIC OCEAN BACKPLATE A still photo what 'Keyed" over the tank shot. This would have been the level of shots that you would see in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."

LINK TO CLIP #3 - ENTER DOUGLAS MARTIN AND CGI VFX Douglas lifted the shot into the twenty-first century with his magic box. Shockwaves, fire and vibration all add up to make this shot dynamic. This is a technique that you might see on a film such as "Independence Day"