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Knight Rider 2008 Light Scanner Prototype Video
After providing that prototype, they requested to see different patterns, so it was back to the drawing board. We came back to them after working day and night to show them the next sample, as we knew that they were ready to start shooting the light on the car very soon. There were talks of just adding it in as a computer graphic (TV magic), but everyone knew that a real light would make it more authentic. We drive up to the set, somewhere in Simi Valley to meet the producer and designers of the movie. Within 24 hours we had completely redesigned a circuit board to give them different patterns, as they asked for 4 new designs. It started to look like we were almost there, working long hours and with very little sleep we knew we had to get it done.
With the new designs approved, they wanted to see the unit in one of the hoods, so we went back to the Picture Car Warehouse where the cars were being built and installed the unit into the hood. We then returned to the set and showed them the light in the hood. Well you would think we were all done and ready to put in the other cars? Nope, as we had to make the lights invisible when the lights were off, so we added a window tint film in front of the lights which it made it hard to see the lights bright, during the day. The Producer said "nope it's not going to work, thank you very much for coming out and thank you for your work, but we are just going to have to CGI it!"
So with our heads down low, we drove back to the warehouse. I must admit that I felt as though we had failed, keeping in mind we have never failed a job and have always come through. All that hard work was just swept away. They said that they would just put the light into the film, which in my opinion is a fake addition using "CGI" (computer-generated imagery) to add the light to the car. When I got back to the warehouse I told Ted, "Well I guess there's one for the books, we failed! They didn't like it. It wasn't bright enough, or the light didn't flow right. I understood now what they needed, but it was to late. If we knew that was what they were looking for we could have done it that way in the first place." Ted replied, "can you make it the way that they want?" Of course my reply was "Yes!" So within a couple of days we completely redesigned the unit again, the way I thought it should be done. We built a new display unit with the new version of what we thought they wanted.
Knight Rider 2008 Raw LEDs Video
I showed Ted Moser the light that we came up with and he replied, "that's it! they need to see it!" He picked up the phone and called the Producer, Sean Ryerson, and told him he was sending up the guys with the new light. I'm glad that Ted believed in us and had us working on it. We drove up to the set in Simi Valley about 10:00 pm, setup the display unit and waited for the crew to come over to see what we had done. We had to wait for them to finish shooting so we wouldn't interrupt the crew. It was freezing cold and of course with the rush of getting everything done, I forgot my jacket. We started up the unit which was a most nerve-racking experience because they had already told us no, but we knew that we had it. 
Wow, you should have seen the look on their faces when we lit it up! What a feeling! They loved it! They replied, "you guys are right on track--that's exactly what we are looking for... perfect!" The mood was totally different now... we did it! Pats on the back and everything... I know it sounds corny, but we had put a lot of work into it, to a point of almost passing out and of course we all got sick from the long hours and stress.
We got together with the designers David Andron and David Bartis, and talked about different design patterns and the thought of being able to make the light do whatever we wanted it to do. So back again to the shop to make the different designs and a computer program so any light design could be made without having to put in long hours to do each one. Each design took about 10 hours to program, so since they wanted to have the option to make changes to the lights for different scenes in the show, we made a computer program that was easy to change the light pattern on the circuit board. Of course they needed to see it in a hood... you would think why didn't we do that in the first place! But with as much as they were shooting and the cars being changed at the warehouse, we were not able to place the unit in a hood. We headed home to again make some changes and re-program the board.
We installed the unit in a hood and since we already showed them the new unit at night, they needed to see in during the day.
I drove up to the Santa Clarita Studio, got my pass at the gate and headed to the set. I backed up my truck to the door of the set, the sunlight was very bright, and I thought, "I hope the sun isn't too bright when the crew comes out to see the light." I had to set up the battery to make them work. I then lit it up... it was great! It worked perfectly--everyone loved it! The light flowed to the right. The light was very bright, even in the bright sunlight. I then went inside to find Sean Ryerson, the Producer, as he had the final say. He took one look at the light and said, "Perfect! You guys did exactly what we were looking for! He then gave me a big hug and said, "Thanks for the great work. We really appreciate you guys for getting it done!" We then talked about making other units for the other cars (because they use different cars for different scenes). So back to the shop to produce one more unit. We made one for the regular KITT and one for the attack KITT.
MCB: What are all the components that make the light scanner work?
PH: The scanner is a complex computer circuit board.
MCB: What is under the hood and inside the car?
PH: Under the hood are the LED lights and circuit board to flash the lights in the patterns desired, a thick dark tint film which is mounted on 1/8" acrylic used to make the light invisible when off and to protect from rocks and other debris. In front of the LEDs is a another panel to diffuse and filter the LEDs so the light is more like a flow pattern so you don't see the flicker of the lights as they move. We want to change the current design so the lights will fit better in the hood, but with time constraints we had to work with what we had. There is a resistor to regulate the power going into the light scanner so spikes from the engine will not damage the unit. There is a control box inside the car that can adjust the speed of the light and four other patterns. Keep in mind we can now change the patterns with our program that can be connected from any computer.
Knight Rider 2008 Daytime LED Hood Video
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