Author Archives: Chompsky

Legendary sound designer Ben Burtt, who was responsible for the sound effects in the first Star Wars trilogy, explains how two dozen iconic sounds from ‘A New Hope’ were created. To wit:

The base sound for the blaster shots came from a piece of metal hitting the guy-wire of a radio tower — I have always loved the noise that high-tension cables make. And I never noticed that Vader’s use of the force was accompanied by a rumbling sound. Anyway, this is a 45-minute masterclass in scrappy sound design.

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A (Sundance and SXSW official selection) short by Ellen Evans featuring the contemporary diorama work of UK-based Kath Holden and her mother Margaret Shaw of Delph Miniatures. As Kath sez:

“I like to represent now. The era I life in. If we don’t do miniatures of what we do now, how will it be represented in the future?”

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Well now, if it isn’t the International Space Station. To wit.

Using precise timing, the Earth-orbiting space platform was photographed in front of a partially lit gibbous Moon last month. The featured image was taken from Palo Alto, California, USA with an exposure time of only 1/667 of a second. In contrast, the duration of the transit of the ISS across the entire Moon was about half a second. A close inspection of this unusually crisp ISS silhouette will reveal the outlines of numerous solar panels and trusses. The bright crater Tycho is visible on the lower left, as well as comparatively rough, light colored terrain known as highlands, and relatively smooth, dark colored areas known as maria.

(Image: Eric Holland)

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Behold: the 1958 Riva Tritone ‘Via’ speedboat – originally built as a gift for Ranier III of Monaco and used by the prince and his wife Grace Kelly for several years. Recently returned to its original condition (with its Chris-Craft MCL engines and Chris-O-Matic transmission completely rebuilt) by a Dutch marine specialist.

Up for auction next month. 

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