Just Saw Flyboys...

Sun Apr 15, 2007 3:58 pm

Well, I just saw flyboys and I have a question. I was wondering about how realistic the dogfights were in the way the planes were so close. Is that about how close dogfights were in WWI? Or was it like Top Gun where they had the dogfights so close to make it a better movie? Thanks!

Sun Apr 15, 2007 5:02 pm

I am pretty sure that aerial combat in WW1 was fought at very close range. What did you think of Fly Boys? I liked the flying but I thought the story was lame, especially the ending.

Sun Apr 15, 2007 11:06 pm

I think that a lot of the aerial fighting in WW1 was very close in, and mid-airs were not uncommon. The famous German ace Oswald Boelcke died in a mid-air with a squadron mate during combat.

Obviously the CGI airplanes in Flyboys did some things that the real ones couldn't, and I can tell you that the pilots in the aerial unit did a lot of real flying that never made it to the screen.

Tue Apr 17, 2007 3:37 am

Baldeagle wrote:Obviously the CGI airplanes in Flyboys did some things that the real ones couldn't, and I can tell you that the pilots in the aerial unit did a lot of real flying that never made it to the screen.

You would have to expect a massive shooting ratio, say over 15:1 on a movie like that. Over 50 hours of footage was shot for Battle of Britain, and only 40 or so minutes appears in the actual film. Although now it is possible to view most of the rest if you know where to look!

Steve

Tue Apr 17, 2007 5:28 am

Bradley, where can the out takes from the BoB be found?

Tue Apr 17, 2007 8:17 am

Try www.worldbackgrounds.com and do a search for 'Spitfire', which will give you pages and pages of clips. You can download quite a bit in low res (about 10 hours worth) which is all good, but if you ask them nicely they will put it all on DVD for you at really quite good quality.

Steve

Tue Apr 17, 2007 10:15 am

[/quote]

You would have to expect a massive shooting ratio, say over 15:1 on a movie like that. Over 50 hours of footage was shot for Battle of Britain, and only 40 or so minutes appears in the actual film. Although now it is possible to view most of the rest if you know where to look!

Steve[/quote]

Since Flyboys was filmed with the new Genesis digital cameras they told us that how much film they shot wasn't the issue that it used to be with expensive film. I would guess that the ratio of hours we flew for the cameras compared to what made it on screen is more like the BoB ratio than 15:1.

Tue Apr 17, 2007 9:40 pm

I thought the movie was alright, but they could have found a better acting cow puncher to act in the lead role :roll:

Lynn

Wed Apr 18, 2007 4:00 am

[quote
Since Flyboys was filmed with the new Genesis digital cameras they told us that how much film they shot wasn't the issue that it used to be with expensive film. I would guess that the ratio of hours we flew for the cameras compared to what made it on screen is more like the BoB ratio than 15:1.[/quote]

Hi Baldeagle, I read your reports from the filming and it all sounded very interesting. Not seen the film yet though as it has not opened here in Australia.

The 15:1 ratio is a guess of course based on my time in the industry, not surprised to hear that it was more like the B of B ratio. Working with video does make you less disciplined and more inclined to just leave the camera running. I suppose that it is possible that the extra Flyboys footage may be available from a stock library in the future.

All the best

Steve

Wed Apr 18, 2007 4:28 am

Bradleygolding wrote:Hi Baldeagle, I read your reports from the filming and it all sounded very interesting. Not seen the film yet though as it has not opened here in Australia.

Steve, it 'opened' in late Feb, and was only distributed, as far as I can see, to a few cinemas. Two weeks after, I couldn't find a cinema in Melbourne that had it on. Sunk.

Wed Apr 18, 2007 8:32 am

[quote
Steve, it 'opened' in late Feb, and was only distributed, as far as I can see, to a few cinemas. Two weeks after, I couldn't find a cinema in Melbourne that had it on. Sunk.[/quote]

Hi JDK,

I did see a trailer for it in early Jan at the cinema and informed the current Mrs G that we were going to see it, but I have not noticed anything here yet. Maybe it just slipped in under the radar, and now you say I've missed it......B****R!!!

So DVD then, at some point in the future.

Steve

Wed Apr 18, 2007 12:13 pm

According to the "Box Office Mojo" website, "Flyboys" opened in Oz on Feb 15 of this year and grossed a whopping $88K.

Wed May 23, 2007 2:13 am

Uhhh, I finally watched this the other night and I just have to say....
It pretty much stank on ice.
The writing was awful, the CGI flying sucked (when will they learn to get it right?) aside from the fact that he did not get the girl at the end everything else was completely telegraphed.

It was not the worst movie I have ever seen but it was right up there.
Totally disappointed given all the hype and reviews.

Wed May 23, 2007 11:12 am

I think the computer generated aircraft in the movies these days look good as far as appearance but they just don't move right. When they are flying straight and level its hard to tell them from the real thing, but as soon as they turn or do any acro it goes downhill fast. I wonder how much pilot input they have when they create these things.

Steve G

Wed May 23, 2007 2:42 pm

The days of "Hell's Angels" and "The Blue Max" are over. Insurance costs, potential loss of life and shear operating expense will quarantee a CGI future. "Flyboys" was the next step towards this technology and satisfied my entertainment requirements. As far as FB's CGI, view their DVD package which explains the sensors mounted on an aerobatic biplane to be downloaded into the CGI software. I believe the aircraft was a Stampe or a Bucker Jungmann, both which are more capable of akro than their predessors. Relax, it can only get better and enjoy the flybys of actual aircraft.