Like Dorothy and Toto on their journey to Oz, prepare for a mind-whirling ride inside the center of a tornado. So, what happens when a tornado-enthusiast IMAX filmmaker and a renowned meteorologist join forces? Well, it has something to do with a one-hundred plus pound camera, a few Doppler Radars, a whole lot of adrenaline, and an armored vehicle known as the TIV.
Sean Casey needs an epic shot. He wants to go inside the center of a tornado, and he wants to take his IMAX camera with him. Sea
n has been filming tornados for awhile, and he used to rent mini-vans to do it. But, now, Sean is on most rental company’s “do not rent” list, and a mini-van isn’t going to keep him safe when high-speed winds and debris are flying all around. For this Sean has a solution, and it is called the TIV, or Tornado Intercept Vehicle. The TIV, basically a “bullet proof tripod on wheels,” was concocted from this filmmaker’s imagination…and money. But, Sean is not the only one on a mission; This is where meteorologist Josh Wurman comes in. It is Josh’s goal to measure the wind speeds of the bottom 30 feet of a tornado: the area where his Doppler cannot reach and where all the destruction happens.
Tornado Intercept is an action-packed thrill ride which matches nature’s fury. The show never seems to slow down, and viewers may come to the end of the hour realizing they had been holding their breath all along. The action is not fueled by the twisters, but by creative filmmaking. Perhaps to accommodate what must be cramped conditions inside the TIV, much of the
camera work was handheld, which, of course, led to shaky, unstable video. And yet, it is this unsteadiness that creates so much of the apprehension for viewers as the TIV moves in to intercept. This unsteadiness both on the screen and in our nerves is only intensified by a deep underscore of music and sound effects—rain, hail, thunder and lightning, and ferocious winds—match the personality of a F5 tornado. Also, keeping minds spinning is a creative use of that old-time movie technique—split screen. In one corner we have Sean and his IMAX camera, in another Josh is on the two-way radio, then there is, of course, the TIV, and finally, the TIV’s destination, the twister. With so much chaos to focus on, viewers may not know where to turn their attention. Tornado Intercept is fu
ll of intense imagery, suspense, and some ground-breaking science. But, does Sean ever get his final epic shot inside the funnel of the storm? I’m sorry, but that’s something I just cannot tell you…
I was eight years old when the film Twister, starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton, came out in 1996. Twister, it is safe to say, was my favorite movie for years and sparked an obsession with tornados that has stayed with me even until today. People would say: what do you want to be when you grow up? and for years my response had been “storm chaser.” But as I grew up, I begin to realize science was not my calling, I was far more creative than logical. But the dream of chasing twisters has not entirely left me, it has only changed courses. I still want the adrenaline rush of being a storm chaser, but now, instead of filling the role of scientist, I want to be the one behind the camera.
My Rating:
Buy the DVD: http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/product/1166/3044/1074.html
Learn about the TIV: http://science.howstuffworks.com/tiv.htm
See more images of the TIV: http://stormchaser.ca/Misc/TIV/TIV.html
The Fujita Scale of Tornado Intensity: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/f-scale.html
Watch a clip from Tornado Intercept:
Sean Casey needs an epic shot. He wants to go inside the center of a tornado, and he wants to take his IMAX camera with him. Sea
n has been filming tornados for awhile, and he used to rent mini-vans to do it. But, now, Sean is on most rental company’s “do not rent” list, and a mini-van isn’t going to keep him safe when high-speed winds and debris are flying all around. For this Sean has a solution, and it is called the TIV, or Tornado Intercept Vehicle. The TIV, basically a “bullet proof tripod on wheels,” was concocted from this filmmaker’s imagination…and money. But, Sean is not the only one on a mission; This is where meteorologist Josh Wurman comes in. It is Josh’s goal to measure the wind speeds of the bottom 30 feet of a tornado: the area where his Doppler cannot reach and where all the destruction happens.Tornado Intercept is an action-packed thrill ride which matches nature’s fury. The show never seems to slow down, and viewers may come to the end of the hour realizing they had been holding their breath all along. The action is not fueled by the twisters, but by creative filmmaking. Perhaps to accommodate what must be cramped conditions inside the TIV, much of the
camera work was handheld, which, of course, led to shaky, unstable video. And yet, it is this unsteadiness that creates so much of the apprehension for viewers as the TIV moves in to intercept. This unsteadiness both on the screen and in our nerves is only intensified by a deep underscore of music and sound effects—rain, hail, thunder and lightning, and ferocious winds—match the personality of a F5 tornado. Also, keeping minds spinning is a creative use of that old-time movie technique—split screen. In one corner we have Sean and his IMAX camera, in another Josh is on the two-way radio, then there is, of course, the TIV, and finally, the TIV’s destination, the twister. With so much chaos to focus on, viewers may not know where to turn their attention. Tornado Intercept is fu
ll of intense imagery, suspense, and some ground-breaking science. But, does Sean ever get his final epic shot inside the funnel of the storm? I’m sorry, but that’s something I just cannot tell you…I was eight years old when the film Twister, starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton, came out in 1996. Twister, it is safe to say, was my favorite movie for years and sparked an obsession with tornados that has stayed with me even until today. People would say: what do you want to be when you grow up? and for years my response had been “storm chaser.” But as I grew up, I begin to realize science was not my calling, I was far more creative than logical. But the dream of chasing twisters has not entirely left me, it has only changed courses. I still want the adrenaline rush of being a storm chaser, but now, instead of filling the role of scientist, I want to be the one behind the camera.
My Rating:
Buy the DVD: http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/product/1166/3044/1074.html
Learn about the TIV: http://science.howstuffworks.com/tiv.htm
See more images of the TIV: http://stormchaser.ca/Misc/TIV/TIV.html
The Fujita Scale of Tornado Intensity: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/f-scale.html
Watch a clip from Tornado Intercept:
