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BARRRRRR-ROOOOO-ha!
5 years ago
Hello Fellow FA Artists, Writers, Crafters, Musicians, Movie fans and other creative people.
One of the movie features I was eagerly awaiting since before 2019 ended and the effluent hit the propellers, was the Tom Hanks WWII CGI dominated movie titled "Greyhound". One of the reasons I was excited about this particular release was because most of the action took- (Takes?) place on a Fletcher Class destroyer, and I've always been interested in those "Tin Cans" mainly because my friend Ed served on one through WWII in both the Atlantic and Pacific campaigns. Now I must confess that I'm not an "Expert" on Marine Engineering, or Shipcrafting, but Ed told me of his many own adventures while serving aboard the USS Gillespie, (DD-609) and so I've always a "Soft spot" in my head for the Fletcher, and Benson Class Destroyers.
Now the Trailer is exciting enough as it is, but there are several things in that short 2 3/4 minute trailer that really bother me. One... Each time a sub broaches the surface, a loud "Arrogah" claxon horn sound effect goes off. Secondly, A LOT of the German U-boats in the trailer have large, garish pieces of artwork painted on their sails, and third, they use that "Cavitating, high speed propellers" sound way too much. Okay... That said, I also find the idea of A US Destroyer and a German U-boat duking it out a close quarters similar to a "Pirates of the Caribbean" broadside kind of hard to believe, but it's mentioned that the story is based on "Actual Events", so I'll take those battle sequences with a depth charge sized grain of salt. It might just be possible that if the destroyer was turning in a tight circle to intercept the U-Boat, the anti aircraft guns could be lowered enough to give the upper decks and the sail of the Submarine a good pasting.
But I digress. One of the reasons why the U-boats in both World Wars were so effective was because of their stealth. Most the times it wasn't clear to ships on the surface, (Except to those with advanced Sonar and Radar of course.) where the Enemy was exactly. Thus, if a Submarine was to surface and bellow out with a Klaxon Alarm, the U-boat would almost be inviting enemy fire toward it. Also, in almost every armed conflict in the 20th Century, both sides learned real quick that bright spots of colorful artwork or fanciful numbers also proved great targets to shoot at. (Now mind you I am not critical of the practice of festooning battle machines with morale raising "Nose Art", as I have several books on the subject myself.)
But it's that annoyingly over used "Cavitation" sound that gets to me. I'm guessing that in the trailer, their intent was to use some sort of sound to represent the noise that torpedoes or high speed surface craft propellers made. I can go with that, but it reminds me of the tales my Dad told of being aboard a troop transport ship in the closing days of the Pacific war. He told me that one ship he was on got caught in a storm, and when the ship would enter the rise of a storm driven wave, the propeller would dig in, but when the ship broached the crest of the wave. the stern and prop would be lifted clear of the water, and the engines would speed up dramatically. It took quick action of the engine room crew and mechanics to help keep the machinery from tearing itself apart. THAT's why that particular sound bothers me -It induces sea-sickness.
Still, I'm really looking forward to seeing the feature and I've noticed that's it gotten good pre-preview ratings of 5 stars or more. Even though the feature has gone straight into online showing on Apple TV, most likely because the Movie Theaters were closed because of the COVID 19 Pandemic restrictions, let's just say if that service is offering a month's free viewing, it'd be a dandy reason to sign up.
ARRRRRROOOOOOO-GAAAAAHHH!
Okay... Cut that out.
"Peace"
One of the movie features I was eagerly awaiting since before 2019 ended and the effluent hit the propellers, was the Tom Hanks WWII CGI dominated movie titled "Greyhound". One of the reasons I was excited about this particular release was because most of the action took- (Takes?) place on a Fletcher Class destroyer, and I've always been interested in those "Tin Cans" mainly because my friend Ed served on one through WWII in both the Atlantic and Pacific campaigns. Now I must confess that I'm not an "Expert" on Marine Engineering, or Shipcrafting, but Ed told me of his many own adventures while serving aboard the USS Gillespie, (DD-609) and so I've always a "Soft spot" in my head for the Fletcher, and Benson Class Destroyers.
Now the Trailer is exciting enough as it is, but there are several things in that short 2 3/4 minute trailer that really bother me. One... Each time a sub broaches the surface, a loud "Arrogah" claxon horn sound effect goes off. Secondly, A LOT of the German U-boats in the trailer have large, garish pieces of artwork painted on their sails, and third, they use that "Cavitating, high speed propellers" sound way too much. Okay... That said, I also find the idea of A US Destroyer and a German U-boat duking it out a close quarters similar to a "Pirates of the Caribbean" broadside kind of hard to believe, but it's mentioned that the story is based on "Actual Events", so I'll take those battle sequences with a depth charge sized grain of salt. It might just be possible that if the destroyer was turning in a tight circle to intercept the U-Boat, the anti aircraft guns could be lowered enough to give the upper decks and the sail of the Submarine a good pasting.
But I digress. One of the reasons why the U-boats in both World Wars were so effective was because of their stealth. Most the times it wasn't clear to ships on the surface, (Except to those with advanced Sonar and Radar of course.) where the Enemy was exactly. Thus, if a Submarine was to surface and bellow out with a Klaxon Alarm, the U-boat would almost be inviting enemy fire toward it. Also, in almost every armed conflict in the 20th Century, both sides learned real quick that bright spots of colorful artwork or fanciful numbers also proved great targets to shoot at. (Now mind you I am not critical of the practice of festooning battle machines with morale raising "Nose Art", as I have several books on the subject myself.)
But it's that annoyingly over used "Cavitation" sound that gets to me. I'm guessing that in the trailer, their intent was to use some sort of sound to represent the noise that torpedoes or high speed surface craft propellers made. I can go with that, but it reminds me of the tales my Dad told of being aboard a troop transport ship in the closing days of the Pacific war. He told me that one ship he was on got caught in a storm, and when the ship would enter the rise of a storm driven wave, the propeller would dig in, but when the ship broached the crest of the wave. the stern and prop would be lifted clear of the water, and the engines would speed up dramatically. It took quick action of the engine room crew and mechanics to help keep the machinery from tearing itself apart. THAT's why that particular sound bothers me -It induces sea-sickness.
Still, I'm really looking forward to seeing the feature and I've noticed that's it gotten good pre-preview ratings of 5 stars or more. Even though the feature has gone straight into online showing on Apple TV, most likely because the Movie Theaters were closed because of the COVID 19 Pandemic restrictions, let's just say if that service is offering a month's free viewing, it'd be a dandy reason to sign up.
ARRRRRROOOOOOO-GAAAAAHHH!
Okay... Cut that out.
"Peace"
I'm just sayin'.
And yeah, often the trailers are better than the movies.
That's the purpose of Movie Trailers. They're supposed to sell the movie, and ultimately sell tickets.
Having worked on boats in the water just about any near by propeller noise is heard. A couple of times I could hear the racing shells go by the shop with their swish swish swish of the ores.
Man! I like the idea of things being quiet enough to hear a racing shell's oars go by which intrigued me. When I lived in Oakland, the Berkeley water sports training lagoon was right next to 580 freeway, and sometimes when I'd drive up to work, I'd see the racing shells and oarsmen practicing.
It was common to hear the different propeller noises as we were working on a boat in the water. We always knew when one particular Foss tug went by because it had a different sound to the prop.
On the submarine with art on the tower - yes they did that. I think it's the Smithsonian channel that had a very good program of the last American ship sunk in the war. The survivors rememberedd a red hose on a yellow background. Darned if they didn't find that U-boat as it was sunk further down the coast. The art work was exactly as described.
V.
But yeah. I recently noticed that there's several books out now that list the toxic chemicals in common art supplies. Sometimes I wonder how I survived my days of building plastic models.
S'okay. You're a good watcher.
poor guy was so screwed. :(
there is an urban legend that during WW2 one german uboat made it into the NY habour undetected. no idea how true that is, it seems possible, as uboats were already pretty advanced by then I think.
there is a german saying that translates to "war is the father of all things".
I didn't like them re-using the 'Hell from on high' clip twice. But I'm desperate enough for naval movies to buy the Blu-Ray. The USNI and the Naval Historical center did have input on the film, and they did shoot scenes on a real USN WWII DD.