BOOMING FILM SETS IRK SOME; VALLEY RESIDENTS SOUND OFF ON NOISE.

Byline: Yvette Cabrera Daily News Staff Writer

Hollywood movie production may be booming, but San Fernando Valley residents were none too pleased about it Wednesday night as an explosion jolted them out of their slumber.

``It's just shaking the heck out of my house,'' said James Conrad, a Lake View Terrace resident. ``Now I just saw a big smoke ring come up. Like a ring from a giant cigar.''

The rippling vibrations that terrified Conrad came from an accidental explosion during post-production filming for the upcoming Warner Brothers film ``Sphere,'' an undersea science-fiction thriller starring Dustin Hoffman and Sharon Stone.

A pyrotechnician was loading the visual effects for a flash explosion onto a trailer inside the Hansen Dam flood plain when the explosives went off shortly after 10 p.m., according to Lisa Rawlins, vice president of studio and production affairs for Warner Brothers.

The man suffered first- and second-degree burns to his hands and face and was treated at a local hospital and released, said Rawlins.

The explosion irked area residents who have witnessed local film production rebound in the past two years, resulting in more noise and disruption to their daily lives.

Since the visual effects unit creating the explosion for ``Sphere'' was small, Rawlins said, she did not notify residents because she didn't anticipate any loud sound effects.

``This is such a small company and we didn't think there would be a need (to notify residents) and that was a bad judgment call on my part,'' said Rawlins. ``The lesson we learned is that it always matters, always notify the neighbors.''

In Los Angeles County, film production days have jumped by 60 percent over last year's figures, according to the Entertainment Industry Development Corp., which has received only one complaint from the northeast Valley area so far this year, said spokeswoman Stephanie Hershey Liner.

``Getting complaints about a production is not unusual,'' said Liner. ``I personally have not heard of any complaints in that area. Warner Brothers is probably the most responsible of all the studios.''

Residents have, however, complained to their local politicians.

``What I have noticed is there are real concerns,'' said Patricia Davenport, field deputy for City Councilman Joel Wachs. ``We see more of these companies that have come into the area and that has increased the complaints undoubtedly.''

In the past 3-1/2 months, Davenport has received half a dozen complaints related to film production in the district, which includes Lake View Terrace, Sun Valley, Sunland and Tujunga.

``One of the problems in this rural area is how far sound travels . . . they don't realize that 500 or 1000 feet is not sufficient, that sound will travel,'' said Davenport.

Lake View Terrace residents are not alone. In Pacoima, resident Raymond Jackson has been awakened by early morning explosions that he said are coming from the sound stages of the nearby Arroyo Studios.

``The noise lasts 30-40 seconds - it's one big explosion and then it ends,'' said Jackson, who is president of the Northeast Community Improvement Association and lives a block from Arroyo Studios.

When Jackson complained to Arroyo Studios in January, he said a manager assured him residents would be notified of any future explosions. That has not happened, said Jackson, who noted there were three explosions alone in July.

But an Arroyo Studios spokesman said the company only does a maximum of two to three explosions a year and takes the proper precautions by having fire safety officers, water trucks and fire extinguishers on site.

``We always get a permit from the city,'' said John Trube, adding that explosions are never done after 9 p.m. ``You have to realize this neighborhood has some crime problems and just because they're hearing explosions doesn't mean it's us.''

Snider, who is vice president of the Lake View Terrace Homeowners Association, still remembers when the explosion-filled bridge scene of the movie ``The Long Kiss Goodnight'' was filmed in Hansen Dam the winter of 1995-1996.

``Our houses just shook something awful,'' said Snider.