The not quite serious truth of the siren test

How do you make a sheep bleat? With an elaborate mechanism, of course. (Image: Elefant Studios)Finally we know what's going on. The unnerving sound that startles people up and down the country once a year - always on the first Wednesday in February - is no accident. The Federal Office for Civil Protection (FOCP) provided an insight into the siren test procedure. As proof, the scene was captured on film, by Elefant Studios. Exactly by those animation specialists who also had to do with Gian and Giachen, the talking ibexes of Graubünden, and with the eyes from "Eyes on the Road". Now they reveal the truth behind the sirens - the not entirely serious truth.The reaction chainStep by step, the film leads the audience to the "aha effect" with subsequent and guaranteed laughter. The process is reminiscent of a nonsense machine by Rube Goldberg or Jean Tinguely. A marble falls into an alphorn and releases the various mechanisms. Each element has its Swiss origin. At the beginning the alphorn, followed by a Swiss cannonball, a cheese wheel, a crossbow and so on until finally the Swiss knife cuts a rope, unleashing the trigger for that annoying siren sound. A rubber glove slapping a sheep. Not amused, the sheep must bleat. Cut. An image of a siren in a city follows. The "meow" sounds exactly like the sirens on the day in question. Aha!

Behind the scenes"The goal of the film was to make viewers aware of the announced siren test. The spot was supposed to be eye-catching, surprising and unconventional, and in no case was it allowed to stir up fears. After all, this is not an emergency drill, but a purely technical test," explains Fabian Gasser, director at Elefant Studios and of the film. In setting the task, the team had a lot of freedom, which invited different approaches. The team also posed the question of how the siren sound comes about. The acoustic connection to a bleating sheep was quickly established. "The question now was how to make a sheep bleat on command," Gasser said. To do that, a clever trigger mechanism was needed. "So the idea for a device was born, which of course is housed in a purpose-built civil defense facility, well maintained and ready for emergencies," it would seem. In fact, filming was done in an empty factory in Glattfelden.The machine was designed and built by tinkerer and mechanic Valentin Altorfer. "Although the process of the machine was not filmed in one piece, Valentin Altorfer's mechanic ethos made it possible to build it in one functional piece," explains Fabian Gasser. The whole construct can be seen in the making-of video.Planning is the keyHowever, the big challenge of the project was not the machine alone, but the sheep. "A lifelike model was taken for the sheep, which was then generated in 3D and integrated into the spot. The difficulty, however, was to realistically generate the curly sheepskin," Gasser describes.With projects like this, and especially when many people are involved, planning is key. "In the layout phase, the processes already had to be worked out to such an extent that all parties, i.e. the customer, the cameraman, the mechanics and the 3D specialists, could imagine something about it," emphasizes Fabian Gasser. Only in this way could the various processes harmonize with each other.The team also succeeded, which is clearly visible in the making-of video. In it, they show parts of the storyboard, the concept of the machine with the individual parts, the shooting and finally the sheep animation.On TVThe spot was handed over to all TV stations after production. They are legally obliged to inform about the siren test in advance. Whether there will be a new spot for the coming years was not revealed. We still want to believe in the sheep behind the sirens.