This Exploding Head Effect was achieved by blowing painted, lifecast wax heads apart with pea gravel blown through an air cannon. The waxes were kept brittle and chilled with dry ice as much as possible before shattering. Adjustable height, cross-pattern dispersal bars were welded above the air cannon orifice to make the pea gravel disperse in just the right pattern and at just the right height to shatter the head evenly. To insure proper safety, black fabric barriers were thrown up around the staging area and no one was allowed anywhere nearby within line of sight of the Heads. Anyone distant within line of site were required to wear safety goggles. Needless to say, wax fragments found their way to remote corners of the sound stage. Film was shot at high speed to capture all of these split-second performances.