Exclusive Interviews
Below
is an exclusive interview with Andrew
Probert, designer of Street Hawk. Andrew
came up with the design used in the pilot episode of Street
Hawk. Many
thanks go out to
Daniel (HernesSon) for doing this great interview!!
Who
approached you about working on the show?
Unfortunately, I don't remember HOW I got the job. I was coming off
of
Air Wolf and either heard about this new project & went to them
(they
were on the same lot, Universal) or they came to me,.....sorry.
How long did it take to
design the pilot episode bike?
I don't remember how long it took, but I would guestimate maybe a
week
or two.
How much input into it were
you allowed to have?
Total input,.....for the first concept. Then, the producers saw
some
custom bike with ridiculous gold brakes and HAD TO have them
on
Street Hawk. That design also included a 'chain drive' which didn't work
at all for me, on a 300mph system, but it what they wanted so that's
what they got.
Can you tell us a little
about what it is like to see your images
transferred
from drawing board to screen?
It is rare that any of my 'images' go to the screen the way they were
originally
designed. Producers usually will 'bend' a design, while draftsmen,
carpenters,
and model makers will, at best, 'influence' or, at worse, change
something they don't
like (or simply aren't able to understand). Still, my true enjoyment is
finding out what the fans
think, good or bad, about something that I designed or participated
in. I get a kick out
of hearing about how close to, or far from, the mark I came; finding
out if I met THEIR
expectations or not.
Were you happy with the way
Street Hawk turned out?
Not really, (beyond the amazing job that the builders did) because my
original concepts
were designed to accommodate their requirement that Street Hawk be able
to go from
a dirt bike system to a racing system. In order to have that, I
proposed that the bike morph
from one to the other. I designed a 'super shaft-drive unit' (that
would have covered the
difference between the chain-drive dirt bike skeleton and shaft-drive
street bike skeleton)
along with enclosed racing wheels, to further establish the bike's
capabilities. When they
insisted on the wild wheels ("because they look cool"), I think it
diminished the
believability of Street Hawk. Also, the seat was intended to
"raise-up" in order to
hold the rider in whilst the bike went into Hyperthrust, as per the
seatback section line