AN AUTUMN CORNUCOPIA by Michael S. Malone
Random thoughts on a rainy day. What do World War II, Apple v. Microsoft and the Republic of Armenia have in common? Recently, they’ve all been reminders that technology — and the people who create it — are always moving on, and forever upending the status quo.
We’ve all grown so jaded about technological change, and the miracles big and small it brings, that’s it pretty rare these days that something comes along that actually makes us sit up in amazement.
But this week, I had that experience while watching, of all things, the History Channel. I don’t know what’s lately gotten into this cable channel – just a few years ago derided as the ‘Nazi Channel’ for its endless run of cheap war documentaries – but it is doing some amazing, landmark, work. Coming up is “The Beatles On Record”, which promises to be both terrific and timely. And next Spring will bring “America: The Story of Us.”
But both will have a tough time improving on this week’s extraordinary five night, ten hour production of “WWII in HD”. This series is the product of two years work by producer Frederic Lumiere (whose name sounds like an homage to the pioneers of cinema) and his team, who combed the world for more than two years in search of 1940s footage, some of it never publically seen before, then used state-of-the-art digital tools to clean it up and present it in HD. [Coincidentally, the Smithsonian Channel is showing an equally stunning WWII documentary series at the same time – though its technical achievement is not quite as great.]
The footage itself is stunning, not least if you’ve spent your entire life watching footage from the War and assuming that you’ve seen just about every clip four times. In some episodes of “WWII in HD” it seems that at least three-quarters of the footage is seeing the light of day for the first time in sixty years. And some of that footage is horribly gory – which may explain why even the official copies have been hidden away for so long.
But the glory of this series is not just the footage, or the music score (which, though not original, is the best I’ve heard for such a production since “Victory at Sea”), but the incredible technical achievement of putting these old –and I’m sure delicate and brittle – films, most of them in color, into high definition digital video.
The result is mind-boggling. And disorienting: at first the clarity of the imagery is so good that it doesn’t seem real, but rather like out-takes of a really high-budget war film. This, of course, is a legacy of how we’ve always been taught to see that war: black-and-white footage is authentic, color footage is staged. But once you get past that perceptual hurdle – for me it was in hour three – something extraordinary happens: In a strange way, for the first time World War II seems real.
What I mean by that is the old, grainy black-and-white footage enabled us to psychologically distance ourselves from the events unfolding before us. Sure, we knew it actually happened, and that those were real people in those images – but it seemed a different reality, filled with folks not like us at all. “WWII in HD” erases that distance. Suddenly the faces on those soldiers waiting on the decks of transport ships are not only visible, but indistinguishable from the clerk at Starbucks or the Fed Ex driver. The shattered bodies on the volcanic sand of Iwo Jima aren’t just misshapen forms and piles of torn clothing, but gaping wounds, smeared blood and swollen faces. And if that little shivering child on Saipan always broke your heart, it explodes it now. These aren’t just soldiers and civilians fighting and dying in another age . . .they are here and now.
As you might imagine, if you know my family history, the episodes on the 8th Air Force were of particular interest to me. I never forget that my sons and I are only in this world because of two men: Paul Campbell, pilot of the B-17 ‘Badland Bat’ on which my father was bombardier; and James H. Howard, the P-51 ace and Medal of Honor winner, who single-handedly fought off 20 German fighters and saved the 401st Bomb Group. But the documentary library of 8th Air Force footage is, with the exception of “Memphis Belle”, both slim and, not surprising, given the conditions in which they were filmed, murky and jerky.
But watching “WWII in HD” I found myself, for the first time, searching faces for a glimpse of my 23 year-old father, scanning wing markings for the familiar Triangle S, even looking for my dad’s name on mission blackboards. I was immersed in the Second World War in a way I had never been before.
I like your columns and also agree with your comments about WWII in HD. Great stuff from the History Channel! My dad was a Bataan veteran and like you I watched the clip from the Death March to see if I could get a fleeting glimpse of him.
I would really like to get a Mac because I believe they have a better OS than Microsoft but the cost factor is a big negative. I’m still holding on to XP and for guys like me that build their own computers it’s a lot cheaper to upgrade my motherboard and memory and migrate to Windows 7 than to buy a state of the art Mac. I find it incomprehensible that Apple still ties their OS to their hardware. But its their dime so who am I to complain?
I can no longer watch,
have had a few bad dreams and get cold and tremble when I see some of these scenes.
I guess ptsd is always there just under the surface?
John Wayne black and white glory sagas on Okinawa and dark Vietnam war movies can never hold a candle to these real scenes of real men and civilians in real mortal combat.
“No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country.
He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.”
Patton.
Agree, the WWII HD is amazing!
Apple v Microsoft, always seems like a win for Microsoft to me because the Mac commercials basically reinforce the choice as limited to the two named companies, leaving the thought of a new or different OS unthinkable, as well it leaves out the fact that most people don’t choose between Mac and PC, but between the various manufactures of PC’s and notebooks etc. in that scenario, known as basic reality, the machines running windows OS are cheaper and have everything most people require. Most of the people I know that use Mac’s spend their time using mac-enabled Microsoft programs anyway. besides people with some pretty specific graphics needs, a Mac is a waste of money.
I never forget that my sons and I are only in this world because of two men
Many Afghans have this feeling in reverse. They never forget that their sons are not in this world because of Air Force men accidentally dropping missiles on their rooftops.
Informative article, but one grammatical mistake: “his medal has an unusual history . . .not least because it was devised by Synopsys VP Rich Goldman and I two summers ago while driving cattle up Oklahoma’s Chisholm Trail.” “I” should be “me.” in “by Synopsys VP Rich Goldman and I,” so that it reads “by Synopsys VP Rich Goldman and me.”
Moho, The US Air force has never in it’s history dropped missiles on civilians homes. Missiles are fired, never dropped. And not fired at friends either. BTW, War is Hell.
Moho- Never waste an opportunity to impune the US or its military!
What a maroon! Anyway, we have drones now that drop them “accidently”.
As for the History Channel’s series…yes, it’s been amazing! It should be required viewing for today’s X, Y (and Z!) generation.
And, Microsoft vs. Apple? Good points, and clearly Apple IS looking smug and TOO satisfied. I suppose millions of iPods and IPhones can do that to you. But neither company is addressing the REAL FUTURE and what it will bring. Namely…”cloud computing”.
BOTH companies (well, maybe not Apple) may someday resemble GM when in a few years cloud computing makes the software on PCs or Macs obsolete. And the winner is…..?
Google.
It’s coming! I wonder what Apple’s commercials will look like then!
Ignore Mo’s Ho. He’s a troll.
moho: how do you know that many Afghans feel this way? did you do an online survey? was it a pc or a mac that they used. you one funny guy
I need to see the WWII in HD. Currently my DVR is full so I kinda have to catch it live. :p
Though it’s not something I can’t watch with my daughter and wife around. :\
As for Mac Vs. PC I’m a Mac user and moved there about 5 years ago and have never really regretted it. I’ll agree there is a smarmy and self-important air about the “Mac Culture” that I don’t agree with. OS X is just a better operating system you don’t have to beat on Windows to get that point across. Everyone knows Windows, show us how Mac is better.
As for the using “Mac Enabled Microsoft Software” that’s just silly. Every one of those I’ve ever used crahsed more than any other program in OS X. I use iWork (Pages and Numbers) for any of my Office stuff. Why mess with half-hearted conversions?
For those who don’t like the cost of Macs I’d suggest putting a Linux Partition on your HD. It’s a cheap (Free in cases) alternative that you can do all of the same things you do in Windows (except games). Hell if you’re only doing Word Processing, Excel, and Web browsing there’s no need to use Windows at all. The only reason I have to use windows is Work (The work computers are Windows) and gaming.
# 11 john from cinncinatti: MOHO the antisemitic Mohammedan ARAB knows INSTINCTIVELY what all other Mohammedans in the world think and feel as do all other Mohammedans. Which is why you get SPONTANEOUS and instantaneous riots and atrocities worldwide at the drop of a hat on some totally innocuous, but to a Mohammedan overwhelmingly offensive, event. But of course all Mohammedans are PEACEFUL and any Terrorist acts as solely an INDIVIDUAL as this mass Mohammedan thing completely bypasses them.
Concur with most on WWII HD. Incredibly compelling and true-to-life – there was no sugar-coating the images. War is indeed hell! Perhaps the nuclear option should have been employed on Doolittle’s first Tokyo raid early in the war. And, by extension, Berlin on the other side of the world.
On Windows 7 – if first reports are accurate the OS has finally made it to the big leagues. Hey, it only took Microsoft 30 years. I switched to Macs eight months ago and now wonder why I wasted so much time and energy fighting the many iterations of the flawed DOS and Windows offerings. Although I have to admit I have made a pretty good living working in the IT field with these dinosaurs.
#14 “Perhaps the nuclear option should have been employed on Doolittle’s first Tokyo raid early in the war. And, by extension, Berlin on the other side of the world.”
Er, it wasn’t ready. But I certainly do want to watch the WWII HD footage.