Nakatomi Plaza - Model Miniatures

'DIE HARD' is a top-notch Skyscraper Thriller from the glorious 80s.
A thrill-a-minute masterpiece of Action Cinema with a cool hero, played by Bruce Willis, and a charismatic arch-criminal, 
brilliantly embodied by Alan Rickman.
A great show, brimming with impressive full-size explosions and stunning visual effects.
The flawless composition of Al Di Sarros physical effects and the model miniature art of Richard Edlunds 
Boss Film Cooperation is pretty spectacular.
'Die Hard' - reinventing the Action Movie Genre.

Preparing a highspeed shot with the Image300 on the BOSS parking lot.
Visual effects art director Brent Boates, Director John McTiernan, visual effects DOP Bill Neil, Richard Edlund 
(Chief) and BOSS model shop supervisor Mark Stetson (r-l).

Welcome to Nakatomi Plaza for some fast and furious thrills and state-of-the-art movie magic.
Look who's coming to visit! Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) and his heavily armed dancers.
Bruce Willis is John McClane, a New York City Cop at the wrong time at the wrong place.
McClane starts an explosive battle with the Gruber (Alan Rickman) boys. 
McClane assembled a 'chair bomb' and hurls it down an elevator shaft. 
His special greeting to Gruber is causing a violent explosion.
A fireball is chasing up the elevator shaft. 35mm Slide of the visual effects shot - model miniature.
A forced perspective miniature of the elevator shaft was needed for the visual effects shot.
The wood-framed structure was about 23 feet tall and was constructed by model shop supervisor Mark Stetson and his crew on the BOSS stage.
The tricky scene with the miniature fireball (flame powder and mothballs/naphthalene) was shot with the aid of a 
rheostat to alter the camera speed (lower the frame per second rate).
Several different takes of the explosion were combined optical to get the best result.
Model maker Kent Gebo is working on a section of the forced perspective elevator shaft miniature.
The enlarged photo of a Fox Plaza elevator shaft is for reference purposes.
Chief model maker Pat McClung supervised the construction of the miniature.
The miniature lights in the elevator shaft support the illusion.
McClanes elevator shaft bomb triggers a devastating explosion in the third floor of the Nakatomi Plaza.
A great composition of on location (Fox Plaza) footage with hundreds of flashbulbs and footage of a miniature explosion (BOSS).
The composition looks quite impressive even on a low-quality 35mm transparency.
The miniature Set for the 3rd floor blowout on the Boss parking lot.
The boys used special 'blast boxes' made of steel for the explosive charges and shot the scene at night.
The finished explosion shot was matted into the Fox Plaza flashbulb material.
Gruber's boys have placed explosives everywhere on the Nakatomi Plaza rooftop.
McClane wants to save the hostages ...and ends up in the fire of the FBI.
It's a composite of 2 live-action plates. 
The helicopter scenes were filmed separately and matted into the Willis/hostages plate.
McClane in a hail of bullets - 35mm transparency.
The helicopter comes very close, stay cool!
Bill Neil and camera operator Clint Palmer on the heavy 65mm camera shooting the Helicopter live-action plate.
DOP Jan de Bont is watching the scene.
Jan de Bont (DOP) - Bill Neil - Clint Palmer
Panavison 65mm - Visual Effects DOP Bill Neil was filming some Helicopter Scenes from the perspective of the FBI sharpshooters. 
He is wearing his 'Masters of the Universe' Crew Jacket. BOSS did some visual effects for that show and Bill 
was the VFX DOP. They also shot several VFX scenes for 'Masters' on 65mm.
Machine gun fire on the rooftop of the Nakatomi Plaza...
Model miniature of the upper floors of the Nakatomi Plaza for the burning rooftop scene and the striking scene 
with the crashing helicopter - BOSS Studio parking lot.
On the right a daylight test run with the model helicopter - the final scene was shot at night with pyro effects.
The Nakatomi model was scaled down to match the unique 1:7.2 scale of the helicopter kit and
constructed from plexiglass, aluminium and plywood. 
The model was covered with photo enlargements (FOX Plaza). Painter Ron Gress made last embellishments.
Nakatomi Plaza (upper floors) - Almost like the real thing!
Hey mate, you're in the wrong movie!
'Die Hard' - Offbeat 1:7.2 scale model miniature helicopter.
Heli operator Larry Jolly pimped out an existing radio controlled Helicopter Kit with gags and gadgets like breakaway fiberglass. 
The model was rigged with pyro charges to blow apart on cue.
Model painter and airbrush expert Ron Gress is giving finishing touches to the camouflage design of the heli.
The burning rooftop of the Nakatomi Plaza - Model Miniature.
The model helicopter breaks apart on cue in a fireball - Nakatomi Plaza Miniature.
Several small explosive charges (napthalene) masking the model heli.
The model miniature rooftop explosions were designed to intercut with the explosions 
Special Effects Supervisor Al Di Sarro did full-size. 35mm Slide.
A skyscraper on fire. German Lobby Card - Nakatomi Plaza Model Miniature.
Giant model miniature of the front face of the Nakatomi Plaza - The originial Fox Plaza (right).
Standing on the scissor, stand-by model maker Al Faucher and model maker Dana Yuricich. 
Chief model maker Pat McClung is the guy on the ground fixing the facade. 
On the ladder in white shirt model maker Tom Griep and the other guy on the ladder is Joe Contegiacomo.
This model was built for another challenging sequence, the tilt-down shot composition.
The camera swings down from the burning upper part of the Nakatomi Plaza (model) to the ground (on location at Fox Plaza).
The Nakatomi Plaza on the Boss parking lot. Preparations for a night shot.
Working on the Nakatomi Plaza model: Al Faucher (on scissor), Joe Contegiacomo and Pat McClung.
There are a lot memorable scenes in 'DIE HARD'. My favorite one is the 'Let's drop the actor' scene of Alan Rickman.
Hans Gruber (Rickman) flies to his death in a superlatively achieved bluescreen composite. Just awesome!
Usually they hang the actors on wires and the moving camera pulls back. 
This works properly when the actor is a small dot in the frame, which was not an option here.
We all saw Hans Gruber falling...
In order to bring maximum realism in the scene Alan Rickman did the stunt himself.
He, more or less ready to be dropped, will fall 25 feet onto an air bag!
The scene was filmed high-speed from above with a fixed camera (Image300).
Falling away from a fixed camera is causing major focus problems.
The guys managed that with a special computerized follow-focus system developed for dynamic sport events.
Stunt Coordinator Charlie Picerni (right).
Twenty five feet are quite high! The air bag looks so small from up here... Must I?
The 65mm background plate for the bluescreen shot was filmed on location at the Fox Plaza out of a window in the thirtieth floor.
Alan Rickman, one of the best film villains ever!
Alan Rickman: 'They were very careful to make it my very last shot on the film.' (Youtube)
Oh, oh, ...I hope the air bag is ready.
This is real Panic! 
Hans Gruber disappears into the night.
Transparency - Hans waves a las goodbye.

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