Entry 05 - Send More Money (haha).

October 16, 2007

Entry 05 - Homestay, Salt Lake City, UT

Today was a day of … not disaster, but a day of destruction and disappointment - on many levels and for many people. In the morning, the team from the University of British Columbia attempted their qualification run on the 100-foot tether. The actual competition will take place on a 360-foot tether, suspended on a whopping 400-foot tall crane. Yesterday the Kansas City Space Pirates qualified for the games with their climber on a sunny, virtually windless day. Unlike them, the UBC team faced clouds, an impending storm (which is currently howling outside as I write this), and wind. Lots and lots and LOTS of wind.

Their climber barely made it onto the tether, much less up it. The machine itself, a beautiful, spidery-looking metallic organism comprised of poles, wires, suspension cables, and tons of solar cells, barely stood a chance on the tether. The moment it was let go the whipping tether shook the climber so violently that solar cells began flying off and crashing to the ground. The climber itself cocked to one side and the qualifying climb had to be halted. A second attempt was made, during which time the wind ripped three enormous mirrors off their gigantic reflecting arrays. These arrays look like giant siege machines, poised for an impending assault on a stronghold. The second trial had to be abandoned when the climber itself simply couldn’t be let go of for fear of it being ripped apart on the tether. The scenes that we have captured on video are reminiscent of watching old films of early airplanes as the wings folded in on themselves and crashed into a pile of rubble as the pilots ran for cover. It was really a sight to see. Then the clouds came back. And all this was before Nic ruined our only wide-angle lens in what can only be called “The Money Shot” -- a piece of footage that cost the production $400 dollars and some delays. But we’ll get to that in a moment …

Meanwhile, we tried to find a location for interviews -- not an easy task when all we have locally are huge hangers lit from above by gigantic sodium-vapor lights (which, as we mentioned in the previous blog) are just about the worst light you can you on video. Not to mention the fact that sound is terrible in a huge room even when you don’t have nine teams of 10+ people doing construction of various types. Not having interviews is simply unacceptable in this project, as they are what will drive the story. And having poorly-lit interviews (or interviews with terrible sound) is also unacceptable given the amount of time, money, and energy that so many people have put into this documentary.

In the end, we secured an empty moving truck, graciously lent to us by the LaserMotive team from Washington state. We were able to get half of a single interview before the rain started. The pounding rain on the top of the truck made sound recording futile. However, it was amusing to walk an unsuspecting professional scientist up a narrow plank, into the back of a truck, sit him down in an ominously lit metal chair, and slam the back door down behind him. Then, locked in the back of some scary truck surrounded by four strangers with hot lights two cameras staring at him, begin to grill him on why the heck someone would ever want to build a space elevator in the first place!

We have this documentary in our sights!! We can see the finished piece in our heads. The footage we've gotten thus far is really pretty great. If the future interviews go as well as the one today went, the film is going to be rock solid, gripping, and entertaining. But clouds are on the horizon for us as well ...

The worst part of the day by far had to be when all the team captains were called to a special meeting. The simplest explanation would be to say that they had a nice talk about the weather. The more complicated explanation is that this weekend’s space games have been postponed. Not by months or even weeks, but by days. The weather is supposed to get much worse over the next several days. And even if it clears up by Friday, eight out of the nine teams will not have practiced or qualified on the shorter tether. They don’t want to have the public come to see climbers getting destroyed, either, as that wouldn’t do much to promote a positive image for what they’re trying to accomplish. So the plan is to postpone the actual space games until Tuesday or Wednesday. The Spaceward Foundation will then forego the revenue from an audience for the sake of finishing this years competition. It’s a setback, but the important part is the competition itself, not the audience being there to see it. That part is important, but it isn’t essential.

Unfortunately, this is probably the worst possible scenario for us. We are trying to scramble to figure out if we can afford to stay to see the actual games … the main reason why we came out here. But that would mean penalty fees for changing four flights, another three days of equipment rental, car rental, gas, food, and potentially lodging Monday and Tuesday nights.

Add to that The Money Shot and, well … : ) The Money Shot consists of a very short, very beautiful scene. Square metal supports were being cut by a metal circular saw which produced a cascade of metal sparks. We’d shot this several times over the past few days, but today Nic wanted to trying something different. So he stood in the path of the sparks, flying toward the camera in a shower of orange and white. It looked AWESOME. It also melted four spots on our wide rented angle lens. There is a debate amongst the crew as to what was melted (the glass itself vs. some kind of protective coating that we didn’t know was on the glass). Our insurance will cover the cost of the lens (minus our deductible), but the bigger concern is not having a wide angle lens for a day or two. And not having a location for interviews. And … not being here for the Space Games. :-\

The footage we have to date is simply gorgeous. People think we’re crazy, watching what we shoot, but we know what we’re doing. Assuming we can get the interviews we need, secure a lens ASAP, and find additional funding to stay until Wednesday … we really think we’re going to have an amazing piece. We’re doing our BEST to get clips and photos up on our site, but it’s not an easy task, sadly. We will soon though, we promise. We were jokingly invited by a member of the Saskatchewan team to drive back with them to Canada if they win. For now, we just hope we’ll be here if they do.