"Robert A. Heinlein - Shooting Destination Moon (Article)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Heinlein Robert A)

That the picture did not end up as a piece of fantasy, having only a comic-
book relation to real science fiction1 can be attributed almost entirely to the
integrity and.:~
good taste of Irving Pichel, the director. Mr. Pichel is not a scientist, but he is
intelligent and honest. He believed what Mr. Bonestell and I told him and saw
to it that what went on the screen was as accurate as budget and ingenuity
would permit.
By the time the picture was being shot the entire companyтАФactors, grips,
cameramen, office peopleтАФ became imbued with enthusiasm for producing
a picture which would be scientifically acceptable as well as a box office
success. Willy LeyтАЩs Rockets and Space Travel was read by dozens of
people in the company. Bonestell and LeyтАЩs Conquest of Space was
published about then and enjoyed a brisk sale among us. Waits between
takes were filled by discussions of theory and future prospects of
interplanetary travel.
As shooting progressed we began to be deluged with visitors of technical
backgroundтАФguided missiles men, astronomers, rocket engineers, aircraft
engineers. The company, seeing that their work was being taken seriously by
technical specialists, took pride in turning out an authentic job. There were no
more remarks of тАЬWhat difference does it make?тАЭ
Which brings us to the third hurdleтАФthe technical difficulties of filming a
spaceship picture.
The best way to photograph space flight convincingly would be to raise a few
hundred million dollars, get together a scientific and engineering staff of the
caliber used to make the A-bomb, take over the facilities of General Electric,
White Sands, and Douglas Aircraft, and build a spaceship.
Then go along and photograph what happens.


2
We had to use the second-best methodтАФwhich meant that every shot, save
for a few before takeoff from Earth, had to involve special effects, trick
photography, unheard-of lighting problems. All this is expensive and causes
business managers to grow stomach ulcers. In the ordinary motion picture
there may be a scene or two
with special effects; this picture had to be all special effects, most of them
never before tried.
If you have not yet seen the picture, I suggest that you do not read further
until after you have seen it; in this case it is more fun to be fooled. Then, if
you want to loOk for special effects, you can go back and see the picture
again. (Adv.)
The Moon is airless, subject only to one-sixth gravity, bathed in undiluted
sunlight, covered with black sky through which shine brilliant stars,
undimmed by cloud or smog. It is a place of magnificent distances and
towering mountains.
A sound stage is usually about thirty feet high, and perhaps a hundred and
fifty feet long. Gravity is Earth normal. It is filled with cigarette smoke, arc light
fog, and dustтАФnot to mention more than a hundred technicians.
Problem: to photograph in a sound stage men making a rocket landing on the
Moon, exploring its endless vistas, moving and jumping under its light gravity.