“I wanted the film to be as exciting as it could be without compromising the authenticity”. Ron Howard – Director of Apollo 13.
Apollo 13 is a historical dramatisation of the unlucky lunar mission of the same name. This factual scenario would provide director Ron Howard with various authenticity barriers that he would have to overcome is he wanted to make the film as visually accurate as possible. The first and biggest of the challenges would lie with the film’s low-gravity setting.
[1]The film’s biggest challenge is that for the majority, it takes place in an anti gravity setting within a space craft flying in outer space. Originally the most probable solution would have been to attach wires to give an anti-gravity illusion. Howard states that he “shudders to think” what the visual outcome of the film would have been had the use of wires been introduced. The reality is that the filmmaker would have no such problem due to the co-operation of N.A.S.A. Prior to the filming locations being determined, members on the cast went on a training exercise inside a fixed wing aircraft called a KC-135A (NASA 930). This was an acting exercise to increase the bio mechanical knowledge of bodily movements in space intended to be duplicated later during production. The exercise would propose a complete solution to the anti-gravity problem. Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer decided to enquire about the opportunity to film all of the anti-gravity scenes inside the aircraft. Eventually, NASA would agree offering the use of KC-135A for all of the desired anti-gravity shots. The aircraft would go through the physical act of free-falling toward the earth inducing a low gravity setting, this free fall which lasts about 25 seconds. The number of “parabolas” that the cast and crew would endure would hit the 500 mark. This achievement with the production would ultimately mean that that Apollo 13 would hold some of the most memorising, realistic shots in the history of cinema.
[2]The set designs used in Apollo 13 are some of the most accurate ever produced because of the intense level of detail. The biggest feat that Ron Howard and the production team accomplished was the complete re-creation of NASA’s Houston based mission control station. According to actor Bill Paxton (Fred Haise, Apollo 13 Pilot) the copy was built to “complete specifications”. This was an enormous task which was carried out to perfection, all in the push for an unprecedented level of authenticity. The detail of the replica caused Apollo 13 flight director Gerald Griffin to say “When I first walked into the set I could have swore it was Houston”. Another set design which would provide one of the most memorable scenes in the film was the creation of the command module Odyssey splashing down in the Pacific Ocean. A scaled down version of the pod was created and subsequently dropped from a helicopter with parachuted attached to give off the desired effect. The production team had originally thought the design would cost too much, however the team eventually agreed that the falling Odyssey would provide a more dramatic and real scenario.
[3]Actor research is an important part of any historical re-enactment and the cast certainly did not let up with their role researching. Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton and Kevin Bacon all attended the Johnson space centre in Houston and familiarised themselves with the anti-gravity situation with the aforementioned KC-135A prior to filming commencing. Therefore they would be comfortable in their movement while navigating the aircraft, thus providing a more professional astronaut portrayal on screen. In preparation for Ed Harris’ own role playing Apollo 13 flight director Gene Kranz (Harris sporting Kranz’ exact same buzz cut), attended a flight controller school, other members of the cast also attended to help improve their language skills with the various command jargon. The cast also attended a crash course in physics. The attitude of the cast is impressive and best summed up by director Howard “Everybody was digging through transcripts and looking at documents”. This in-depth research into the specific terminology would provide authenticity within the dialogue of the film. Finally, before filming began, Tom Hanks (Jim Lovell, Apollo 13 commander) and Kathleen Quinlan (Marilyn Lovell) both separately lived with Jim and Marilyn Lovell and studied their character and emotional anecdotes while they spent a 3 day stay over at their family home.
[4]Like any Hollywood movie, the film must have a compelling story line that people can relate to. Tom Hanks calls the Apollo 13 tale “one of the great stories of literature” and a “getting home” movie. The factual storyline would naturally fit in within what is considered a conventional narratives. However there was some artistic licence taking up with some of the scenes. As Bill Paxton notes that the scene in which the astronauts are arguing over a gauge being incorrectly checked, did not actually happen, however claiming that without the inclusion of scenes like that “the audience is denied that common bond of humanism”. This is only one of very few scenes in the film where such an approach is taken towards the audience. The accuracy regarding the rest of the scenes and dialogue is down to the transcripts of the actual mission that were utilised. There are other scenes in the film where it may look like the filmmaker is trying to make a character bond with the audience, but the probability is that they are genuine anecdotal re-enactments. In one scene Tom Hanks’ character embraces Bill Paxton’s character in an attempt to warm is body up, this didn’t require any artistic license as it genuinely occurred. The scene which produced the most controversy was the scene where Jim Lovell’s wife Marilyn drops her wedding ring down the bath tubs drain. This was due to a newspaper reporter from the LA Times suggesting that this scene was implemented into the film. The moment actually happened and Marilyn describes the incident as an “omen” on the rest of the mission. The scenes where there are some small changes towards the storyline are only there to enhance it, for the majority of this film the accurate footage is down to a large amount of respect towards the original story .
[5]The final aspect of the film (albeit complete manufactured) that plays a vital role in this films authenticity is the inclusion of CGI (Computer Generated Images). Robert Legato the films’ visual effects supervisor describes the beginning of the research process as the artistic team looked through NASA footage of previous rocket launches. Although given the option to use the stocked footage, the team decided that there was a large amount of “disparity” with the footage and issues such as continuity and image quality would no doubt emerge because of this. The team then decided that the launch should be a computer generated process. Of course, the cinematic experience would not falter because the research that went into the launch was so profound. Such an analytic approach resulted in a very accurate reproduction. These results would come of the back of an in-depth study and concluded with shots like the ice falling from the stationary rocket, an actual occurrence due to the “ice-shield” that would form over it pre-flight. With the spacecrafts' rocket booster action scene, CGI was integrated with actual live explosion footage. This was done as a separate piece of footage capturing and added to the computerised take off imagery. This would give the fire from the rockets a more natural feel to it.
Apollo 13 was a complete success with former and current NASA employees. The film also achieved high critical praise and was nominated for nine Oscars, winning two of its categories (Best Film Editing and Best Sound Mixing). However it is the feedback of the former astronauts that unquestionably packs the most value. Buzz Aldrin said about CGI of the launch that he thought the footage was “real” and asked where in the NASA video vault they had found it, even asking if they (NASA) could “use it”. The resulting authentic piece of cinema is down to the director’s vision with producer Brian Grazer calling him part of “the accuracy police”. This film’s achievements are perfectly summed up by Apollo 15 commander Dan Elliot who states “I’m really impressed with the authenticity of the way they’re doing this, there so interested in getting this accurate and precise”.
