Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/06/03/is-this-the-greatest-shot-in-t.html
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Yup, pretty much.
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I think he had some practice. There’s a cadence in his speech in that launch scene and his eyes wander off in a very subtle manner, probably to a timer slightly below the camera.
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I remember Connections being amazing. I should look it up again
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I immediately knew that this was Connections, but I had no idea that was the actual launch of Voyager 2.
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It really is great. Apparantly, he was go-to correspondent for the Apollo Moon landings in the UK, so for those of a certain age, that is a close association, in the same way Walter Cronkite is in the US.
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That was very good, but I was all ready for it to be right at the end of his walk-and-talk without a cut in-between. THAT would have been impressive.
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It was and still is great TV. Connections 2 was also excellent
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I got goosebumps.
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Connections was such a brilliant show. I remember eating it up as an intellectually starved kid growing up. I had the opportunity to see Burke speak about his career and the program when I was in college. if I remember correctly, it was almost an accidental success.
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That was a thing of beauty.
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The dad version of this is using the Force to open up automatic doors. Every. Time.
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There was a book which was a companion to the show as well. I have it on a shelf; it’s similar material but with a bit more detail.
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I loved “Connections” and James Burke – any time I caught it on PBS I’d be hooked.
That sign-off is great, too, a real Cold War relic and Burke acknowledging in typical fashion that technology can be used for good or evil.
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The preamble could have been shot at any time, but they must have timed the length of his talk in the second part, and hoped that the launch was as accurately timed as the German train system and that they didn’t delay for any reason, which was not uncommon.
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Connections is still great. There are crappy versions on youtube and it really holds up despite its vhs quality. I remember it pretty much dismantling the whole “lone genius” inventor concept - something that we could use today as well.
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And I don’t think that the Saturn V is located where you could easily see the launch.
Edited to add: The Saturn V is closer to SLC 37 (one of the Saturn pads than to SLC 41 where the Voyager missions were launched.
Edited even more. Well it looks like they have moved the Saturn V since that was filmed. However it doesn’t appear that the camera is pointed in the direction of SLC 41 when the first portion ends.
ISTR that there was an episode that started out with him showing off a remarkable, high-tech satellite navigation system: It was the size of a steamer trunk. (Transit, I believe)
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They were using NASA’s own countdown to time it, I’m sure. His comment before ignition is only a few seconds long, so it wouldnt be hard to time it right, even if he was off by one or two seconds it would still work (but yes, nailed it.) Obviously the part prior, where he’s walking next to the display rocket, was recorded separately.
And if they missed, so what, edit something together later. Doesn’t hurt to try.
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I loved Connections. For a long time I could not find it anywhere, but I just discovered the entire series is available on Archive.org. https://archive.org/details/ConnectionsByJamesBurke. (Link wasn’t working, but now seems to be.)
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Ooh, thank you. Now if I find me some HQ Secret Life of Machines I’ll be a very happy boy.
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