CDTV - What Went Down – San Francisco Earth Quake
Destruction of SF City Hall Re-Creation Effects Boards
Joe Dea 08-08-08

At almost precisely 5:12 a.m., local time, a foreshock occurred with sufficient force to be felt widely throughout the San Francisco Bay area. The great earthquake broke loose some 20 to 25 seconds later, with an epicenter near San Francisco. Violent shocks punctuated the strong shaking which lasted some 45 to 60 seconds.

It was rolling and undulating: the buildings swayed like giant hula dancers, and the streets rolled like waves on the ocean.  San Francisco is comprised mostly of very sandy soil, and that causes it to roll and shimmy like a giant water bed, or a bowl of Jell-O, amplifying the ground waves and magnifying the intensity and damage.

The city hall was snow white: alabaster is probably the closest…

The big problem was the dome swayed around so much and the façade was so poorly anchored that it shed and landed on the roof of the main part of the building.

06;19;52
Did the columns come down in pieces? Were there like, bricks flying out? What would be the structural sort of decomposition, the anatomy of the earthquake?
It looks like walls just peeling off the structure and probably coming down in very large chunks.

06;19;20
So basically it was just like a wedding cake just coming apart and just slamming into the roof?
That’s correct. A lot of it comes from the swaying of that dome, and if you were sitting on top of that dome, it was probably swaying back and forth three or four feet.

 

1-A 
CG - San Francisco city hall - dawn

camera subtle dolly in:

 

1-B
CG - the quake begins:  the tower & dome wavers, swaying back and forth three or four feet, glass breaks, dust rises.

 

2-A 
CG - close up - city hall windows rattle, dust rises

camera subtle dolly in.

 

2-B 
CG - close up windows burst out toward camera– dust rises

camera subtle dolly inTesla Motors

 

3

CG - close up tower and dome do the hula dance, dust rises

camera subtle dolly in

 

4

CG - CU of tower as large sections of facade crack and shed, dust rises.

camera subtle dolly in

 

5
CG - close up tower and dome do the hula dance, small bits of facade drop off, dust rises, the façade continues to break and fall off, dust rises

camera slow dolly in

 

6

CG - corner of city hall begins to crack and crumble, dust rises

camera subtle dolly in

 

7

CG - CU of corner - large secton of corner breaks off and drop out of frame

camera subtle dolly in

 

8

CG - large secton of corner breaks enters frame and smashes into the sidewalk.

camer subtle dolly in

 

9
CG - corner of city hall quake begins to subside, small bits of facade drop off, dust rises

minimal distruction in this shot to keep the cost down - we can cut this is we must:(

camera subtle dolly in

 

10-A

CG - City hall – wide – the quake subsides, dust rises, distant fires give a warm glow to the dust

 

10-B 

CG - one last large chunk of façade breaks off - dust rises, distant fires give a warm glow to the dust

 

11-C

CG - façade chunk shatters on impact, dust rises, distant fires give a warm glow to the dust

 

END