Editing Four Feather Falls (section)

==Production==
American [[Western (genre)|Western]] TV shows such as ''[[Gunsmoke]]'' and ''[[Wagon Train]]'' were popular with British audiences, so APF's [[Gerry Anderson]] and [[Arthur Provis]] decided to make a [[cowboy]] series based on a story concept pitched to them by [[Barry Gray]].<ref name="Fryer2016"/>{{r|BFI4FF}} According to Anderson, ''Four Feather Falls'' "was really me trying to make the sort of films I used to see in the cinema."<ref name="Archer&Hearn">{{Cite book | last1 = Archer | first1 = Simon | author1-link = Simon Archer (author) | last2 = Hearn | first2 = Marcus | title = What Made Thunderbirds Go! The Authorised Biography of Gerry Anderson | year = 2002 | publisher = [[BBC Books]] | location = London, UK | isbn = 978-0-563-53481-5 | pages = 49–55 | chapter=Strings Attached}}</ref> APF offered Gray about £100 (£{{Inflation|UK|100|1959|r=-3|fmt=c|cursign=£}} in {{Inflation/year|UK}}) to buy his idea, which was originally titled ''Two Gun Tex Tucker''. This was changed to ''Two Gun Tex of Texas'', then ''The Sheriff of Four Feather Falls'' before the final title was chosen.<ref name="LaRivière2014">{{Cite book|title=Filmed in Supermarionation|first1=Stephen|last1=La Rivière|author1-link=Stephen La Rivière|year=2014|edition=2nd|orig-year=2009|publisher=Network Distributing|location=London, UK|isbn=978-0-992-9766-0-6|pages=35–64|chapter=''Four Feather Falls''}}</ref> 

Development began in late 1958 while the first 26 episodes of ''[[Torchy the Battery Boy]]'' were still in production, and without the knowledge of APF's employer [[Roberta Leigh]], with whom Anderson planned to sever ties in the aim of becoming an independent producer.<ref name="LaRivière2014"/> The pilot episode, "How It Began", was produced in April 1959 on a budget of £6,000 (about £{{Inflation|UK|6000|1959|r=-3|fmt=c|cursign=£}} in {{Inflation/year|UK}}).<ref name="Bentley2008">{{Cite book | last1 = Bentley | first1 = Chris | title = The Complete Gerry Anderson: The Authorised Episode Guide | publisher = Reynolds & Hearn | location = London, UK | edition = 4th | year = 2008 | orig-year = 2001 | isbn = 978-1-905287-74-1 | page = 31}}</ref> A full series of 39 episodes was commissioned by [[Granada plc|Granada]] after APF's intended distributor, [[Anglo Amalgamated]], turned it down.<ref name="Archer&Hearn"/> Except for the pilot, which was made in APF's studios at Islet Park House in Maidenhead,{{r|tv.heaven}} all episodes were made in a converted warehouse on the [[Slough Trading Estate]].{{r|NMM}} Previously owned by special effects artist [[Les Bowie]], this provided quadruple the floor space of Islet Park House, where the crew had been filming in a re-purposed [[ballroom]].<ref name="Archer&Hearn"/> After moving to the Slough estate in June 1959, APF upgraded its new facilities with the installation of a director's [[control booth]] and [[video assist]] TV monitors to guide the puppeteers, who operated the marionettes from a [[Dexion]] bridge built several feet over the set.<ref name="LaRivière2014"/> The model set representing the town of Four Feather Falls measured {{Convert|30 x 15|ft|m}}.<ref name="Bentley2008"/>  Filming in Slough ended in April 1960.<ref name="Bentley2008"/> 

Anderson considered the puppets with static heads, made by [[Christine Glanville]] for his earlier productions, to be unacceptable because the viewer could not tell which character was talking unless its puppet moved up or down. For ''Four Feather Falls'', the [[papier-mâché]] heads were replaced by interchangeable hollow [[fibreglass]] heads with internal rods that could move the eyes from side to side. The heads also contained sound-activated [[solenoid]]s, which allowed the puppets' lips to move automatically in synchronisation with the dialogue.{{r|NMM}} The electronics of the day required more space than would be available in a human-scale head, therefore all the puppets in ''Four Feather Falls'' had oversized heads, though the bodies as a whole were one-third life size. Anderson's aim was to make the puppets look as realistic as possible, the beginning of the [[Supermarionation]] puppetry process, although that term was not coined until his next series, ''[[Supercar (TV series)|Supercar]]''.

The wires used to control the puppets were eight feet long and made of [[tungsten steel]], an improvement on the curtain wire used in Anderson's two earlier puppet series (''[[The Adventures of Twizzle]]'' and ''Torchy''), and were only 1/200 of an inch thick. Being shiny, the wires had to be blackened. The horses moved by being pulled along on a trolley, which meant the viewer never saw their feet when they were moving.

The voice cast assembled to record each script without seeing the puppets, much like recording a radio series; synchronisation of each character's speech with the movement of its puppet's mouth was performed later.{{sfnp|Parsons|2011|loc=The Joys of Television|ps=}} The tight budget precluded the use of sophisticated special effects, and less costly alternatives were used. For example, to achieve the effect of [[muzzle flash]]es, small specks of black paint were carefully applied to the [[35mm movie film|35 mm]] [[film negative|negative]]s so they would appear as white flashes on the finished prints. The [[production design]] and puppet costuming were more detailed than those of ''Twizzle'' and ''Torchy''.<ref name="Peel1993">{{Cite book | last1 = Peel | first1 = John | author1-link = John Peel (writer) | title = Thunderbirds, Stingray, Captain Scarlet: The Authorised Programme Guide | year = 1993 | publisher = [[Virgin Books]] | isbn = 978-0-86369-728-9 | pages=10–11; 26}}</ref>

[[Continuity (fiction)|Continuity]] for the series was provided by [[Sylvia Anderson|Sylvia Thamm]], who later married Gerry Anderson. Provis, who left APF mid-production due to disagreements over the direction of the company, was given a five per cent share of the profits from the series.<ref name="LaRivière2014"/>