[SkateDC] Special effects explosion not as big a deal as we hoped

[Emily Bennett]

Don't call in sick just yet:


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/23/AR2009032301714.html

"The press release that went out makes it sound like something much scarier than it actually is," said Josh Friedman, spokesman for the D.C. Film Office, which is helping CBS Paramount with a show called "Washington Field," which the Hollywood Reporter says is an action series about an FBI unit "comprising elite experts in different areas who travel around the world, responding to events that concern the U.S. national interest." 
 

To hear Friedman tell it, they won't be needed near the Key Bridge tomorrow, because there most definitely will not be an "explosion" on the Potomac River. "That word is misleading," he said, hoping to calm any worry. "It will be a self-contained pyrotechnic special effect. . . . It's actually out on the water. Nothing is being blown up. There's no impact or force of any kind. I think there was some indication that a boat was going to be blown up, and that's not the case." 
 
"It will last for two seconds, not two minutes. It's really just going to be a flash of light and a puff of smoke, and it will be vaporized into the air in seconds. Really -- I mean, if you blink, you'll miss it. It's really a nonevent." 
 
So don't bother coming out to gawk. 
 
"It'll be safely upriver from the Key Bridge, a clear distance from any structure or roadway or bridge," Friedman said. "D.C fire and emergency management, the Coast Guard, Homeland Security, the airport authority, the D.C. police -- they've all signed off on the safety of this. It's been in the works for quite some time, and it's gone through several levels of review." 
 
On TV, it will sound quite loud -- dare we say, like an explosion. But on the river Wednesday morning, Friedman said, "it'll be a low thud, audible only in the immediate area." 




________________________________
From: Andrew Baxley <baxlap at msn.com>
To: skatedc at skatedc.org
Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2009 1:10:47 PM
Subject: [SkateDC] FW: Special effects explosion to occur in Washington, D.C. on March 25



FYI:





Special effects explosion to occur in Washington, D.C. on March 25

The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments has issued an advisory that there will be a special effects explosion on Wednesday, March 25, between 9:30 a.m. and noon on the Potomac River near Key Bridge in Washington, D.C.  The explosion is being filmed as a scene in a new television series entitled “Washington Field” highlighting the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s elite District field office.

In the scene, which will be shot just north of Key Bridge near Jack’s Boathouse, one of six nearby sculling boats will be depicted as being destroyed.  The fire ball resulting from the explosion is expected to last about two seconds and reach 20 to 30 feet high.  Please be advised that the boat will not actually be destroyed, that all explosive materials will be vaporized, and there may be a small plume of smoke.  The sound will be a low thud, not a loud bang.  

The Department of Homeland Security, the Washington, D.C. police and fire departments, and the Washington Airports Authority have been alerted.  Traffic delays due to the filming are expected to be minimal.

_______________________________________________
SkateDC mailing list
SkateDC at www.skatedc.org
http://lig.net/mailman/listinfo/skatedc