effects
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Chlorine -- and More!
From the streets of London to the forbidding environs of horror movies, fog has always been capable of stirring our imaginations. It's the stuff clouds are made of and an enduring symbol of mystery, and it's not too surprising that enterprising people would try to figure out how to generate and use this most elemental of atmospheric vapors as a practical tool and distinctive design element. To start our story, let's flash back to 1970, when the first-ever artificial-fog system made its debut at the World's Fair in Osaka, Japan, as part of Pepsi's revolutionary Pavilion of the Clouds. Just a year earlier, my father, cloud expert Tom Mee, had founded Mee Industries to provide instrumentation that was to enable the government to do a better job of studying clouds and airborne pollution. I can only imagine what it was like for him to receive a call from Japanese artist Fujiko Nakaya, who asked him to develop a system that would generate a cloud to would enfold the outside of a 200-foot dome as a key element of her design for the pavilion. Interestingly, Nakaya was the daughter of the man who had pioneered snowmaking technology, and I've always been intrigued that she wanted to make a
As part of my work on movies and television shows through the past dozen years, I've developed a range of special effects that focus specifically on fire. For the science fiction hit Men In Black, for example, I was charged with devising the flame-spewing weapons wielded by Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith in a spectacular scene in which they shoot down a flying saucer. That system involved a range of safety issues along with devising a specially formulated fuel (alcohol mixed with various metals) to create blue flames as well as a combination of inert gases and electronic control systems that were used to extinguish the fire and protect the actors. As is the way with so much in Hollywood, an on-screen sequence that lasts just a couple of seconds took my team
The fine points of landscape lighting are the worthy subject of The Art of Outdoor Lighting by Randall Whitehead (Rockport Publishers, Gloucester, Mass., 1999). It's a wonderful place to begin a journey of discovery: The text consists of 192 heavily (and beautifully) illustrated pages that break the discipline of lighting design down to several practical areas of concern - and there's a generous section all about ways to light waterfeatures. The verbiage throughout is both brief and focused, leaving most of the space for a parade of beautiful photographs of public and residential spaces. Simply by flipping through the pages and looking at some of these projects, you begin to see just how much interest and beauty can be created when you think about
In conceptual terms, interactive fountains are really nothing new. In fact, fountains have featured water effects and sequencing lights since the turn of the 20th Century. What's emerged lately is a perception that these "dancing" waters are great sources of fun - a means for children to get soaked and for adults to stay dry and enjoy the show. This resurgence of interest has led designers and manufacturers to apply the knowledge and mechanics of the past in creating effects that delight the eye, capture the imagination and bring fun to
