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Making the Raptor fly - Radio Times, October 2004 |
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Twenty-six years after its last, and only, series, Battlestar Galactica is back, but without its famous over-the-top 1970s campness. "We're trying to make it more of a drama," says executive producer Ronald D Moore. "And its premise of a society suddenly destroyed has a very different resonance in the post-9/11 world than it did in 1978." [So] how did the Raptor vehicle get from flight-of-fancy to flight?
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Step 1: the drawing
"Sketches like this are great for selling a concept," explains production designer Richard Hudolin. "The Raptor is derived from an Apache helicopter and we wanted to give it a retro feel, a nuts-and-bolts look, to give the impression that in its time it was the best of the best, but now its time is almost over."
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Step 2: flying suspended
"The Raptor is made out of foam on a steel frame. We built it so that we could have people safely in there as a 100ft crane picks it up and swings it around. The actors were a little bit surprised: 'Oh, my God, it goes up that high!'"
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Step 3: in flight
"It's custom-built and then it's painted. We have painters who are literally standing by on the day to add to it before the camera rolls [the wires are removed digitally later]. The actors are rehearsing and we have people ageing [it], adding the gunshot hits. One day we had to paint it up as if it had crashed and been on fire - the next day it had to be made pristine again."
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Now take a look at our full Battlestar Galactica guide.
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