A TV commercial parody

On our prior location, while watching TV at dinner time, a new TV commercial about a local cable company offering HD content was shown. It was a mock of a director wanting more of the actor as he was set on fire. The crew laughed and pointed at me for they say I'm always asking for more risk and more intense realism for the film, so we decided to make a parody of it using archetype grumpy director attitude and using footage recently shot of the Cochrane's bunker.

Ended up well. Silly but funny :)

The Ciudadela fort and Cochrane explosion scene

Big plastic water tanks, special effects components, burnt oil, cables. All those aspects handled by an expert who knows the stuff puts things easier.

Well...here are the pics. Will post more facts soon. It's late and tired I am here.

Hammering all details of the cannon in place.

The Cochrane bunker scene.

Screwing the cannon pieces together.

Green screen chroma-key.

Painting the columns metallic color.

So far it's looking good!

Lovely lamby reminding me of baby visting us often.

One of the explosions for the Ciudadela scenes.

Another explosion.

Cochrane sailors burned by explosion.

Putting the beams in place after painting them.

Making the cannons look worn.

Rehearsing the scene actions.

Glueing the "bolts" on the beams before painting.

I know it looks ridiculous but...if it works, works.

Making the beams.

The green screen already lit.

Looking in a junkyard for parts for the cannons.

Sandpapering the found parts.

At wood store cutting woods in pre-measured forms.

Found interesting parts.

Designing the Cochrane bunker

Now on location in the outskirts north of Lima.
Been away from here some days before the holidays and now back. All dusty like if we've been away for weeks. So dusty and windy here that even a day we don't clean and it's all covered in a thin layer of dust.

This next days beginning tomorrow will be mostly of artillery takes and close-up shots of Krupp, Voruz and Parrot cannons firing and the soldiers operating them while being shot down by the enemy.
Also designing now the bunker (in spanish called "casamata") inside the Cochrane for the scene where chilena navy soldiers operate and fire the Armstrong cannons against the peruvian Manco Capac and also the one where one shot from More's artillery at the top of the morro (scene filmed in february this year) hit the Cochrane and entered inside the bunker, injuring 27 chileans and putting the Cochrane out of the game for a long while.

It will take me days to finish building the bunker and hope to do it by this weekend. Hate to spend a lot of resources for a scene that is so short in the final film but necessary for it connects to a consequence that is important and relevant for the story to be understood (apart from being a fact historically).

So, almost midnight and so tired after cleaning, sitting here and designing the bunker.
Tomorrow, artillery shots all day round.

All these details will have to be covered.

Cochrane navy soldiers.

Manco Capac and Cochrane ready for filming

The time finally came to pick up two of the three commissioned miniature battleships for the film.
Rusted bolts and worn out painting all around help to give it a more realistic look. We will see when filming if it needs a bit more retouching but so far it looks very well done. Alejandro's work is worth praising. Really like his work.

The Manco Capac and the Cochrane are now ready for launching into the sea, so to speak. :)

Manco Capac and Cochrane.

Fully detailed to give it a more realistic look for the film.

Cochrane almost done

Finally, the Cochrane chilean battleship is almost done. Alejandro's work on it is simply on the spot and great. Just needing a few touches here and there as to apply rusting bolt lines and "used" finishing and it's perfect for the takes I need it for.

Here, a few pictures sent by him from his workshop before I pick it up for the first tests.

So far, so good :)

Ready for applying "rusting and used" painting finish.

Notice the fume pipe stains.

Ready for used wood finishing.

The Cochrane almost done.