Manfred the Movie- new MvR feature film?

[Willi Von Klugerman]

There are movies about Manfred then any person that I know!After reading your last post Christopher,I admire your idea of 0% CGI,thank gosh,a more Blue Max type flying scenes!Don't let anyone be your boss,you are your own boss.If you let them control your film,all they would do is "add" some "facts" and ruin the crap out of it,in other words,fake and obvious.Good luck with your film,Fight on Fly on!!

[Beto]

Originally Posted by Christopher Nicholson

Meanwhile, does anyone know where I can track down some very cost effective full size Albatros biplane fighters?

Some of the mock-ups used in the german film about MvR were sold at eBay not long ago, at least a Sopwith Camel. Probably the Albatros are still around somewhere, and they made a whole Jasta of them. Maybe you should contact the producers of this film.

About CGI, I think the point Chris is highlighting is not the use of CGI. Nowadays it would be impossible finnancially to build flying replicas in great quantities, and the insurance expenses would be astronomical. CGI are needed, since there are no flying RE8s, very few Albatros, only one or two german two-seaters... The important thing about CGI is avoiding "the CGI look" by using real camera techniques. If you look at recent air combat movies what tells the tale about computer models is not the lighting, textures, shadows, bump maps, backgrounds, render quality etc. That's already have been mastered to perfection. But when films were filmed with real camera planes obviously the camera had to be attached to the plane, not floating still in the middle of the air.
The way to make it understandable to the computer animators would be to make them attach the virtual camera to a virtual plane and shoot the CGI sequences from there, obviously programming the correct dynamics for those planes. Just my 2¢, that I previosly sent to the producers of the german film but were ignored

[Sagittarius]

This idea with the replicas of "The Red Baron" was the first which came into my mind, too! Although I doubt the producers of the film will be helpfull... it would be something like beaten by their own weapons

I also guess CGI isnt really the Problem - its the way how it was used. Yesterday there was Jurassic Park I & II on TV. In part I the Effects were added very tasteful & in a 'realistic' way. Part II wanted just to showed off how much better the CGI was compared to part I - but there were no excitement or plausibility anymore...

So I think its a difficult task to awoid 'showing off' but it will worth the efforts.
The Red Baron looked more like a PS3 game than an aviation movie (although with far too much dialoughe scenes for a game).

[UPZZZZ]

Although I doubt the producers of the film will be helpfull... it would be something like beaten by their own weapons

Maybe the last chance to earn even a few bucks after the big financial disaster

[Catfish]

Hello,

i also instantly thought of the german MvR film with Schweighoefer as RB. They tried to sell their planes, and had a lot of Albatros planes painted in original colours - only they did not use it too correctly in the film. They were made basically of fibre glass or so i think. But to get those to England ...

There is a german guy who builds real flying replicas, but i guess this will be too expensive - or maybe he would lend one of them for being mentioned somewhere - don't know.

And I did not mean a 2-d flight sim in front of a 19" monitor has anything to do with reality ! But apart from the upcoming (or not?) "Rise of Flight" this "OFF" sim i mentioned along with TIR is currently the best you will get in the sim genre - speaking of historically correct colours, aerodromes, squadrons and front changes.

Best film about flying scenes will probably be Mr. Hughes first film from the 1920ies, "Hell's angels". All filmed with real "historical" planes, and with cameras from real planes, using aircrafts that were left from the great war back then. Some of the collisions were real and the pilots died, and Hughes seems to have had no problem to show it in his film.

Greetings,
Catfish

[Miroslav Pokorny]

Just to be fair to Howard Hughes, props man Phil Jones' life has been lost in Sikorsky-Gotha crash after deadly spin - but plane hitting ground in movie is a mock-up. Two pilots perished during HA shoot, but not filming as such.
Cheers MP

[Catfish]

Hello,
thank you for making this clear. I guess i was inclined because of seeing the "Aviator", where Hughes is portrayed as a careless hothead who would do or accept anything to produce a perfect film - they do not directly say or show anything in the film about H. sacrificing actors though.
Thanks and greetings,
Catfish

[Miroslav Pokorny]

Hi, let me recommend 1970s TV movie The amazing Howard Hughes with Tommy Lee Jones - The Amazing Howard Hughes (1977) (TV) - not perfect, but a different view than The Aviator. Includes Thomas Morse crash, a true story of Hughes nearly loosing his own life - the very same aircraft appears in The Aviator - the only genuine plane among replicas. Find info in Howard Hughes Aviator by George J. Marrett and Motion Picture Stunt Pilots and Hollywood's Classic Aviation Movies by Hugh H. Wynn books. Cheers MP

[crankcase]

Originally Posted by Beto

...The way to make it understandable to the computer animators would be to make them attach the virtual camera to a virtual plane and shoot the CGI sequences from there, obviously programming the correct dynamics for those planes. Just my 2¢, that I previosly sent to the producers of the german film but were ignored

interesting...so CGI can be perfected in a way to make the overall effect authentic.

I just hope they don't fill the screen unrealistically with all these diving planes that look like a fist of thrown darts. the rhythm and the cadence of a WW1 fighter has got to be mastered...
marc

[digger9693]

However, having said this, you might be pleased to hear that the actual events in the film are as truthful as possible (e.g. MvR isn't shot down by Captain Brown).

Uhh, Christopher...Only half of us would be pleased to hear that. Unless your movie is fiction.