Air Strike is a short CGI animated film that features a bomber destroying a base. In terms of the official canon, this film recounts the destruction of Cal Pada's mountain base, which makes it concurrent with the events of Com 50 and 007.
Plot Synopsis[]
The film begins with an orange bomber flying towards Cal Pada's mountain base. With the explosives that Com 50 and 007 having destroyed the base's mainframe, all of the guards begin shooting at the bomber with the turret installations as the two fighters that shot down Com 50's plane take off. The bomber lets loose its bomb and hits its target, decimating the base. However, the two fighters attack the bomber, destroying its engines. The bomber careens into the mountain, detonating upon impact. The fighters fly off as Cal Pada's remaining forces regroup.
Production History[]
As part of MEA 135, Computer Animation and Special Effects, taught by Jeff Baker, at College of the Canyons, the final project was to take a ready-made scene and animate it to the given script. With the parameters clear from the beginning, work started in early November.
However, the given file had no surfacing on the models, something director Andrew Bermudez despised. Because of this, roughly a week was spent adding surfaces to all of the models in Maya, as well as correcting other modeling issues, such as adjusting the landscape to extend it beyond the existing boundaries, as it looked like a square floating in space.
Beyond this, animating the film was uneventful. Eventually, it was completed for review on December 10, 2012, with a final release on December 14, 2012.
As part of Digital Decade, this film was re-edited and re-released on February 8, 2019 with enhanced sounds and effects.
Audience Reception[]
Audiences that have seen the film have been rather indifferent to it, but those have been few and far in between. Most people have completely ignored this film, leading to an unsuccessful run.
Mistakes[]
- Visual Error: The bounding box for the explosion particle effect is visible in the film, even though it is only a technical element that is intended to be invisible in the finished film.
Locations[]
- Cal Pada Headquarters
Credits[]
- Andrew Bermudez - Director; Animator; Editor
- Jeff Baker - Producer; Instructor; Writer; Modeler
Tropes[]
Air Strike contains examples of the following tropes.
- Always Someone Better: While the bomber is able to destroy Cal Pada's base, two of Cal Pada's airmen (one of which shot Com 50 out of the sky in Com 50 and 007) fly in and destroy the bomber.
- Big, Bulky Bomb: The bomber naturally drops one on the Cal Pada Base.
- Bloodless Carnage: Justified in that since no one is actually seen in the film, no blood is on display.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: The fighters are green and red, while the bomber is blue and orange.
- The Calvary: The bomber is essentially this for Com 50 and 007, since it is actually the source of the explosion that destroys the Cal Pada Base in Com 50 and 007. Also, the fighter jets are this for Cal Pada.
- George Lucas Altered Version: To correct certain issues that the film experienced when it was originally exported, the film was re-edited and re-released on February 8, 2019. The changes the were made to the film are:
- The main logo was updated for Digital Decade and the Drawn to Life Animation logo was added. The sub-heading "A Mustache Maniacs Film Co. short film" was also removed.
- All of the playblast-grade backgrounds were switched out for mountains, in order to properly set the film in its canon location.
- The film now has an original score, composed by Andrew Bermudez.
- The pre-rendered explosions have been enhanced with fireball stock footage.
- Particle stock footage was added to create a more believable atmosphere.
- All of the sound was scrapped and re-edited.
- Homing Projectile: Both Cal Pada fighters fire these.
- No, I Am Behind You: An airplane variant, with the Cal Pada fighter jets swooping in on the bomber from behind.
- Stuff Blowing Up: First, the base explodes. Then the bomber erupts into flames three times.
- There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Even though the first fighter is able to take down the bomber, the second bomber continues to attack the bomber until it crashes into the side of the mountain.
- Unblockable Attack: Because the bomber is too cumbersome to maneuver around, the fighters take it down with ease.
- Weak, but Skilled: The Cal Pada fighters take advantage of the bomber's bulk to take it down.
Trivia[]
- In the official canon, the explosion that occurs in Com 50 and 007 right after the two heroes teleport away is the exact same explosion as the base explosion featured in this film.
- To keep the bomber, the center of the film's story, illuminated, a spotlight was constrained to the bomber, which makes it follow the bomber throughout the animation.
- The color schemes do not represent any existing military power. However, they are used as a recurring theme to immediately and clearly distinguish who is on whose side.
- When the missiles fire on the fighter jets, the truth is that the missiles attached to the wings never actually detach. Instead, the missile attached to the fighter jet turns invisible right when a separate animated missile turns visible, allowing it to fire.
- The camera that catches the action is the only object (besides the bomb) to be animated using traditional key-frame animation. Everything else either uses motion trails, set driven key, or constraints.