With FANTASTIC FOUR opening this Friday and first reviews seemingly painting the film as a bit of a disappointment, I suppose we may have to look elsewhere for the Fantastic Four action we crave. It's not all a loss however, a new piece of FANTASTIC FOUR viral marketing has emerged which features a Human Torch drone being lit on fire and taking off into the night sky. I really want one.
The man behind the video, Michael Krivicka, was also behind a similar video called Flying People in New York City which served as a piece of viral marketing for Josh Trank's first film, CHRONICLE.
I was a little confused as to how a drone could be engulfed in flames and still manage to fly, but if you're one of those spoilsports who just has to ruin the illusion and know how everything is done, Michael Krivicka offered this explanation to Popular Science:
Until now, we have left it a mystery because we wanted viewers to figure out how we did it. The burning aircraft is actually not a self-powered drone. It is being pulled by one. You simply don’t see the cables because it is dark. We shot it so you wouldn’t see the drone pulling it. We originally tried to make each burning aircraft be remote-controlled and self-powered, but we never got it to work. Too many challenges and risk factors. Pulling it was the only way to achieve this effect.
FANTASTIC FOUR opens on August 7, 2015.