Burning Man : 2002 : Dr.MegaVolt : AquaBurn.com

BurningMan: http://aquaburn.com This segment is from the Burning Man film "AQUABURN",directed by Bill Breithaupt. The segment is about the crazy world of Dr. MegaVolt. Burningman's most beloved ICON .
Dr. Austin Richards is the creator of the Dr. MegaVolt character, and has been building Tesla coils since 1981. He has been performing with Tesla coils in a metal suit since March of 1997, and has been interviewed on numerous TV shows and news programs, as well as in over a dozen magazines, both print and on-line. Austin is the media point of contact for Dr. MegaVolt, the designer of the Tesla coils used in our shows, and the technical director for Dr. MegaVolt. He holds a Ph.D. in particle physics from UC Berkeley and a Physics BA from Amherst College, and has worked professionally on high-voltage systems since 1987.
In 2000 Breithaupt started screening his films at Flambé Lounge, a pre-Burning Man party held in San Francisco. At Club Cocomo he gave the video jockey a copy of Playa Project, which was promptly played on the screens in the club. It was a hit with the crowd, hailed as hip, new, and exciting. The next year at Flambé Lounge they showcased his film, Got Fire? from Burning Man 2000. It was through this event that he met Andie Grace, Burning Man Org Communications Manager, with whom he shared his idea of a Burning Man Film Festival to showcase the many Burning Man films suddenly springing up. There was electricity in the air as people embraced the years upcoming theme The Floating World at the Flambé Lounge Blue Ball in 2002. Breithaupt showed his 2001 film PlayaScape, and the crowd was ecstatic, cheering in unison as the credits rolled.

A few months later, in July of 2002, Burning Man Head of Media Operations, Jim Graham offered Bill Breithaupt a spot in the 1st annual Burning Man Film Festival held in Santa Cruz, CA. This was a surprising request, as Burning Man is known for having strict policies regarding filming at Burning Man and the usage of such footage. Jumping at the opportunity Breithaupt headed to Burning Man for his fourth year in a row, partying with his friends and filming the entire week as usual. Aside from the beautiful time-lapse footage and cinematic shots hes known for, he also captured some fantastic insight from his fellow burners thanks to the verbal skills of his good friend Scott Sheppard. When he returned home he locked himself in his studio and edited, determined to make his best film yet. With only three weeks between the end of Burning Man 2002 and the day of the film festival, he began burning the midnight oil, editing 14-16 hours straight, rarely sleeping. At the end of this crazy schedule Breithaupt had edited a total of 180 hours, and was off to the festival without having slept for two days straight. The final result was the film AquaBurn. The 300 + audience that packed into the Rio Theater that day were awed. At the end of the film they cheered, then quieted to watch all the credits, and then cheered again, rising to give Breithaupt a standing ovation (at the end of which he thanked his mom). True to form, he filmed the audiences enthusiastic reaction, and was even quoted as saying it was one of the best moments of my life.

Despite agonizing pain from a previous neck injury, he then logged an additional grueling 620 hours of editing time and then AquaBurn was finally complete. It also received approval for sale from the Burning Man Organization, granted to only a few select films. In a meeting with Maid Marian, Burning Man Org Mistress of Communications, she said AquaBurn rocks my world! Keeping all this in perspective, Breithaupt did all this for the love of Burning Man, receiving no financial compensation from Burning Man Org. All expenses were paid out of his own pocket.
Check out Director, Bill Breithaupt's idea put into full motion by Burning Man. The Burning Man Film Festival. Now Playing !!!

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Burning
• Man
• burningman
• BurnMan
• manburn
• MegaVolt
• Dr.
• Austin
• Richards
• Tesla
• coils
• The
• Film
• Festival
• Aquaburn
• Breithaupt
• Andie
• Grace

[dethaduj]

Stay in school - science is cool!

[lancevigorous]

A lot of pizzas went undelivered that day.

[makisrada]

he's just playing with phisics..

[awesomelightning]

i LOVE THAT SYMBOL AND WOULD WANT TO DO WHAT HE DOES.

[popinfresh]

hehe I like the guys with bird cages on their heads :)

[Kelleygarret]

Is This What Are Science Teachers Do At Night....Holy Shit.

[insightllc]

Nikola Tesla made September 1899 Cape Yakataga

and Yakutat Bay earthquakes in Alaska from Colorado Springs.

(SEPTEMBER 3, 1899 - SEPTEMBER 6, 1899 - SEPTEMBER 9, 1899)

"IF YOU ONLY KNEW THE MAGNIFICENCE OF THE THREE, THE SIX AND THE NINE...

THEN YOU WOULD HAVE A KEY TO THE UNIVERSE."

-NIKOLA TESLA (AFTER CAUSING EARTHQUAKES)

[elesar1979]

Looks like a bunch of fuckin aliens!

[szitmadafaka]

Nice freaks :D

[rukasu01]

The tesla coil (the silver thing) generates static electricity. the thing he is wearing grounds the static charge. When the tc is charged, it creates enough voltage to bridge the gap, or arc, between dr. megavolt and the coil. The platform is well grounded. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME, unless Georg Ohm and Nikolai Tesla are characters in your bible.

[Hipster420]

Please come back to Burning Man!...we miss you!!