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Le Maitre supplied some of the special effects on Kenneth Branagh's new film The Magic Flute. The film of Mozart's opera is set in World War 1, and opens with a dramatic battle scene in the trenches.
The film's special effects supervisor, David Harris, had contacted Le Maitre to create explosions synchronised to the soundtrack. When the soundtrack was recorded at Abbey Road, a timecode was laid down alongside the score to provide the cues. Le Maitre used the timecode to fire the explosions.
The stage at Shepperton was converted into a WWI battlefield complete with trenches, barbed wire pickets and bodies! Le Maitre's pyrotechnicians buried high explosive charges and 5 strafe runs in the ground which were connected to the controller. As the stuntmen ran across No Mans Land, the explosions were fired precisely in time with the music.
The scenes were so successful that Le Maitre was called back to do more explosions later on in the movie.
If you want to find out more about this article, you can contact Tim Haddon, our Events Manager, at tim.haddon@lemaitreltd.com
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