- Joined
- Apr 11, 2019
- Messages
- 69
- Points
- 123
The Cold Blue - A restoration of film captured at the height of the 8th Airforce's WW2 raids on Germany. The film, taken by director William Wyler (Ben Hur, Best Years of our Lives, Roman Holiday) was taken during "ride alongs" on actual missions. The film was originally used in the documentary "The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress". One of the four cameramen died during filming.
The restoration involved moving the silent 16mm film to 4K Digital, and adding voice-over narration and as much authentic sound as can be recreated. Using a surviving B-17 and up to 17 microphones, the restorers captured the sounds of that mighty plane. Nine B-17 veterans were found to provide voice-over narration (all in their nineties now). Like Peter Jackson's "They Shall Not Grow Old", this film captures a momentous time and the hardships faced by the crews. The 8th Airforce bomber crews suffered over 50,000 casualties, with some 26,000 killed.
Sadly, this was in cinemas for one night only. It will debut on HBO this June 6th.
On a personal note, I recently posted some pictures from the "Wings of Freedom Tour", where the Collings Foundation flies restored WW2 warbirds into local airfields to let folks crawl over them, and if they have lots of extra cash, fly in the planes. The B-17 I photographed was used to capture authentic engine sounds, from all angles, inside and out. As a tragic footnote to The Cold Blue film, one of the 94-year-old narrators died in a P-51 crash a year ago, a flight given to him as present.
The restoration involved moving the silent 16mm film to 4K Digital, and adding voice-over narration and as much authentic sound as can be recreated. Using a surviving B-17 and up to 17 microphones, the restorers captured the sounds of that mighty plane. Nine B-17 veterans were found to provide voice-over narration (all in their nineties now). Like Peter Jackson's "They Shall Not Grow Old", this film captures a momentous time and the hardships faced by the crews. The 8th Airforce bomber crews suffered over 50,000 casualties, with some 26,000 killed.
Sadly, this was in cinemas for one night only. It will debut on HBO this June 6th.
On a personal note, I recently posted some pictures from the "Wings of Freedom Tour", where the Collings Foundation flies restored WW2 warbirds into local airfields to let folks crawl over them, and if they have lots of extra cash, fly in the planes. The B-17 I photographed was used to capture authentic engine sounds, from all angles, inside and out. As a tragic footnote to The Cold Blue film, one of the 94-year-old narrators died in a P-51 crash a year ago, a flight given to him as present.