Tuesday, December 28, 2004
Personal Space
I may sound like an episode of Seinfeld, but some people really don't get the concept of personal space.
While waiting in line to see an IMAX fim at the Air and Space museum today, I was encroached upon upon by a family wishing to see the same film. I normally don't make a big deal about this in social situations, but this group really irked me. When a group is so close behind you that you can see a person in your peripheral vision on both sides, that is not acceptable. I think the problem is that there were people on both sides of me. I found myself getting highly pissed. The woman on my right was so freakin close that several times when I shifted my weight, the camera on my shoulder hit her. That means that she was within six inches of me. I'm getting angry now just thinking about it. Then there was the assenine conversation which they chose to engage in. Ever get the sense that people are just talking to ward off that terrible silence? Before you speak, please ask yourself; "Will ANYONE benefit from me opening my mouth?" If you can't conclude that someone will benefit from your words, reconsider speaking please. Ok, rant ends here.
The film I went to see was Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag. The IMAX people fimled the Air Force's annual combat simulation operation in the Nevada desert. There were some stirring images; the low altitude stuff was intense, causing some butterflies at times. The film overall, however, suffered from a lack of imagination. The same images were repeated again and again and our main charachter was as entertaining as a wet noodle. Several camera angles were computer generated, which you just can't get away with on a six story tall screen. Shots which seemed to look backwards from the center of the aircraft, between the tail fins, were obviously faked. Several shots over the pilot's right shoulder outside the cockpit featured an animated pilot as well. You might never notice this if you weren't training to be a pilot yourself, but I wanted to look at the pilot all the time, and the fake was obvious.
Then there were some scenes whic were supposed to show the of an air attack on armor. The camera was on the ground right in front of the target, looking back at the aircraft coming in. First of all, they show two F-15s attacking armor, which they do not do. The F-15 is an air to air combat aircraft, the A-10 handles the armor. When they start simulating bullet hits, they play the audio from an A-10's main cannon. Trust me, there is a difference, the A-10's 30mm canon is an ungodly roar, the F-15's 20mm is a pop gun in comparison. Then, even though you have seen nothing fall from the aircraft, the armor starts exploding in a ball of fire. Please, don't insult me. There are several scenes in which fire erupts from underneath armor laid out in perfectly straight, closely spaced columns (so the Air Force boys can hit it) even though you never see a bomb drop into the frame and you never see a piece of metal fly. I've seen more exciting footage from gun cameras off of aircraft in Iraq.
Worth the $6.50 just for the high speed low altitude stuff, but it could have been much better.
The producers of this film should have filmed Marine Corps pilots. That may seem like Marine Corps bravado, but I really think the film would have been better. The Air Force pilots in the film looked like a bunch of kids, there was no professionalism or discipline to be seen. In one scene, they get a tour of a bunch of captured enemy anti-aircraft weaponry, and they look like a bunch of kids on a playground, climbing in and on everthing. They are chatting amongst themselves, walking around; completely ignoring the airman who is telling them about this thing that may shoot their sorry asses out of the sky some day. I have to believe that a bunch of marine pilots would at least be professional enough to respect the person teaching them about this piece of equipment.
The museum was cool too, it was the Udvar- Hazy center, which is an add-on facility fo the Air and Space Museum, and is located just outside Dulles airport. They had the SR-71, the Space Shuttle Enterprise, the Enola Gay, the Concorde, and several other historic aircraft. I also got to see the X-35, the first prototype for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The F-35 is being developed to replace severa aircraft, including the Marine Corps' Harrier. I may wind up flying the F-35 someday, I said hi.
While waiting in line to see an IMAX fim at the Air and Space museum today, I was encroached upon upon by a family wishing to see the same film. I normally don't make a big deal about this in social situations, but this group really irked me. When a group is so close behind you that you can see a person in your peripheral vision on both sides, that is not acceptable. I think the problem is that there were people on both sides of me. I found myself getting highly pissed. The woman on my right was so freakin close that several times when I shifted my weight, the camera on my shoulder hit her. That means that she was within six inches of me. I'm getting angry now just thinking about it. Then there was the assenine conversation which they chose to engage in. Ever get the sense that people are just talking to ward off that terrible silence? Before you speak, please ask yourself; "Will ANYONE benefit from me opening my mouth?" If you can't conclude that someone will benefit from your words, reconsider speaking please. Ok, rant ends here.
The film I went to see was Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag. The IMAX people fimled the Air Force's annual combat simulation operation in the Nevada desert. There were some stirring images; the low altitude stuff was intense, causing some butterflies at times. The film overall, however, suffered from a lack of imagination. The same images were repeated again and again and our main charachter was as entertaining as a wet noodle. Several camera angles were computer generated, which you just can't get away with on a six story tall screen. Shots which seemed to look backwards from the center of the aircraft, between the tail fins, were obviously faked. Several shots over the pilot's right shoulder outside the cockpit featured an animated pilot as well. You might never notice this if you weren't training to be a pilot yourself, but I wanted to look at the pilot all the time, and the fake was obvious.
Then there were some scenes whic were supposed to show the of an air attack on armor. The camera was on the ground right in front of the target, looking back at the aircraft coming in. First of all, they show two F-15s attacking armor, which they do not do. The F-15 is an air to air combat aircraft, the A-10 handles the armor. When they start simulating bullet hits, they play the audio from an A-10's main cannon. Trust me, there is a difference, the A-10's 30mm canon is an ungodly roar, the F-15's 20mm is a pop gun in comparison. Then, even though you have seen nothing fall from the aircraft, the armor starts exploding in a ball of fire. Please, don't insult me. There are several scenes in which fire erupts from underneath armor laid out in perfectly straight, closely spaced columns (so the Air Force boys can hit it) even though you never see a bomb drop into the frame and you never see a piece of metal fly. I've seen more exciting footage from gun cameras off of aircraft in Iraq.
Worth the $6.50 just for the high speed low altitude stuff, but it could have been much better.
The producers of this film should have filmed Marine Corps pilots. That may seem like Marine Corps bravado, but I really think the film would have been better. The Air Force pilots in the film looked like a bunch of kids, there was no professionalism or discipline to be seen. In one scene, they get a tour of a bunch of captured enemy anti-aircraft weaponry, and they look like a bunch of kids on a playground, climbing in and on everthing. They are chatting amongst themselves, walking around; completely ignoring the airman who is telling them about this thing that may shoot their sorry asses out of the sky some day. I have to believe that a bunch of marine pilots would at least be professional enough to respect the person teaching them about this piece of equipment.
The museum was cool too, it was the Udvar- Hazy center, which is an add-on facility fo the Air and Space Museum, and is located just outside Dulles airport. They had the SR-71, the Space Shuttle Enterprise, the Enola Gay, the Concorde, and several other historic aircraft. I also got to see the X-35, the first prototype for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The F-35 is being developed to replace severa aircraft, including the Marine Corps' Harrier. I may wind up flying the F-35 someday, I said hi.
// posted by Josh @ 12/28/2004 09:31:00 PM 
