I've always wondered... Were original audiences able to distinguish between stock footage and the actual film? Watching this from DVD, it's obvious where they use stock footage of the sea and battleships, but was it obvious for original audiences? Not talking about this film specifically, but it's as good an example as anything of the phenomenon I'm referring to.
shareI guess it depends on the individual. I spotted stock footage in films and TV showsfrom the time I was a kid, and that was back in the same time period this film was made.
Oh Lord, you gave them eyes but they cannot see...
You probably noticed because the image suddenly got granier, and that's because the real WWII stuff was shot on 16mm and was then blown up to 35mm and the rest of the flick was shot on 35mm to begin with.
That would certainly have been apparent to the original audiences on a big movie screen, and it was when Midway came out in 1976--the original WWII color footage was easy to spot instantly on the big screen, and DVD shows the difference in razor sharpness even on a TV screen.
Stock footage always presents this problem, and you see it even in black and white war movies where they cut in actual combat camera footage.
I saw this flick for the first time on TV in the 1970s, and the stock footage was obvious even then.
I've occasionally seen stock footage integrated quite well into the rest of the film. The Godfather movies, as I remember, used color footage of an airliner, a passenger train, Las Vegas street scenes, and an overhead view of Hollywood.
But filmmakers in recent years rarely seem to use such footage. I suppose with CGI and other effects they don't have to.
I've occasionally seen stock footage integrated quite well into the rest of the film. The Godfather movies, as I remember, used color footage of an airliner, a passenger train, Las Vegas street scenes, and an overhead view of Hollywood.
But filmmakers in recent years rarely seem to use such footage. I suppose with CGI and other effects they don't have to.
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Know the scenes you're talking about (love the shot of the Constellation Hagen is supposed to be on), but they were probably shot on 35mm and in Technicolor just like the GF movies. I doubt Coppola would have used them if they'd been blown up 16mm footage and lower grade film stock. Those scenes blend perfectly because they were shot big budget with the best cameras to begin with.
Where it's obvious is when they try to intergrate old combat footage or in old sci-fi cheapies where effects sequences, especially slow motion, needed faster film, which has a coarser grain.
Thanks for the information. I never thought of the 16mm versus 35mm issue.
shareNo, they were not able to tell the difference, because it was a simple time and people were not as smart as they are today. They didn't have sophisticated entertainment, they would just make a banjo out of an old cigar box or kick a can down the street, maybe swing a dead cat if it was Saturday night.
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