MetaFilter posts tagged with Video and Documentary

Last Minutes with Oden

Lord_Pall — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:38:21 -0800

Last Minutes with Oden, A beautiful but heart-wrenching short documentary about an ex-convict saying goodby to his best friend

21st Century Jet: The Building of the 777

FishBike — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 10:49:47 -0800

21st Century Jet: The Building of the 777 (part 1 of 5) In the early 90's, Boeing decided to build a new airplane, the 777. They also decided to allow KCTS Television and Channel Four London to film the design, construction, and testing of the new airliner. This 5-hour documentary, first aired in 1996, is no longer shown on TV, and out of print on VHS, but you can now watch it on Google Videos. The 777 is still the largest twin-engined airliner ever built. Its engines are the largest aircraft engines ever made. It was the first fly-by-wire airliner from Boeing, their first to be designed entirely on computers. The documentary covers all of this with plenty of airplane stuff, plenty of manufacturing stuff, and also a surprising amount of "people" stuff. Boeing tried a new "Working Together" philosophy to improve teamwork internally, with sub-contractors, with regulatory authorities, and even with customers. As a result, the 777 was the first twin-engined plane certified to fly up to 180 minutes from the nearest airport at entry into service (rather than the usual 60 minutes), and was the first Boeing plane where the first one delivered was accepted by the customer the first time around. Part 1 covers the decision to build a new airplane, how they got United Airlines to be the launch customer, the computerized design process, the new "design-build teams" concept, and some footage of cold weather door tests. It also covers the design of the cupholders and toilet seats (yes, really). Part 2 shows a lot of the initial assembly of wings and fusealge, an internal discussion about whether or not to use aluminum-lithium alloy for some 777 parts, and a visit to a Japanese sub-contractor's new factory. Some of the logistics of getting parts to the assembly line are also included, such as bullet-proof rail cars to prevent skin panels from arriving with bullet holes in them. Don't miss the 130-foot tractor-trailer with a driver at each end. In Part 3, the 777 rolls on its own wheels for the first time. Extensive coverage is given to the design and testing of the new engines, including water, ice, and bird ingestion, and a "blade out" test where a fan blade is intentionally detached from a running engine to make sure the fragments will be contained. Also included in part 3, pressure testing of a completed fuselage, and the large airplane ground operations simulator (LAGOS)--a cockpit on a very long stick to test how best to manuever such a large plane around airports. Concludes with a high-speed taxi test where the 777 "almost" takes to the air. Part 4 begins with the first flight of the 777 and then focuses on the flight testing process and Boeing test pilot John Cashman. In this part, we see such things as intentionally dragging the tail of the aircraft along the runway, a "spray test" involving driving through deep puddles at high speeds, and various brake tests including "the big one" that destroys $750,000 worth of wheels and tires. Part 5 starts with a wing structure being tested to failure, United Airlines making an advertisement featuring the 777, the steps taken to certify the 777 for 180-minute ETOPS at entry into service, and an emergency escape systems test where 419 volunteers get out in less than 90 seconds. Final test flights are flown by United Airlines to prove they are competent to operate the 777 on commercial flights. We see the purchase and delivery of the first plane to United (including a very complicated conference call to conduct the transaction). The documentary ends with the inaugural commercial flight (which one passenger had mis-heard as "an all girl flight").

"Until then, the only music anyone heard was Opera.."

The Whelk — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:11:25 -0800

The Year 3000 looks back on the Beatles: A future-documentary on the world-changing impact of the Fab Four. (via)

"Everything is pessimistic. Your grandma stocks up on washing-up liquid in case there’s another Holocaust."

sleepcrime — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 16:48:28 -0800

Marc Isaacs is a British documentary maker with a talent for making poignant, revealing films about people. You can watch his new film Men In The City ‒ an affecting and beautifully shot profile of four very different London workers ‒ on the iPlayer, following its broadcast on the BBC yesterday. You also shouldn't miss his BAFTA-nominated short film Lift, filmed entirely from within an elevator inside a block of flats, and All White In Barking, a study from an English town with high immigration and strong BNP support ( pertinently ). Another interview with Marc.

"I don't think it's nice to have diversity anywhere, myself."

afx237vi — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 15:43:42 -0800

BNP Wives. A 46 minute documentary following three female members of the far-right British National Party.

"I knew there was an element of danger, but the job had to be done."

Monsters — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 10:26:44 -0800

Inside Chernobyl Sarcophagus (1996). Deep inside the sarcophagus, a remarkable group of Soviet physicists is at work in levels of radiation that would be considered almost suicidal in the West. In 1991, a joint team from WGBH and the BBC went to Pripyat, Ukraine to interview the scientists working in the wreckage of Chernobyl nuclear power plant. A BBC team went back in 1996 to follow up with the scientists. This documentary is the result, updating the 1991 footage with ten minutes of new material. The film shows nuclear scientists Viktor Popov, Konstantin Checherov, Alexander Borovoi and Edvard Pazukhin in 1991 and 1996, as they attempt to manage the aftermath of the Chernobyl accident while battling fierce levels of radiation, 'Chernobyl heart,' and "an invincible bureaucracy." The 1991 footage seems to be the same footage that aired in the USA as "Suicide Mission to Chernobyl", for which PBS received an Emmy Award in 1992. Previously on Chernobylfilter: Chernobyl Today: A Creepy Story Told in Pictures. Radioactive Fungi. Chernobyl, 20 years later. Surviving Chernobyl.

CGI-brows short mockumentary

planetkyoto — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:04:40 -0800

CGI-brows (link goes to video on Vimeo which contains a naughty word but is otherwise SFW.) A short mockumentary about extreme emoting through SFX by RocketSausage (Dir. Andrew Gaynord) which has won the Virgin Media Shorts People's Choice Award for 2009.

The abnormal has become the norm

tellurian — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 17:37:55 -0800

Brenda Kenneally documents the effects of illegal drugs in her Brooklyn, New York neighborhood. Money Power Respect and Big Trigg. NSFW [previous comment]

BBC4 Documentary: Factory - Manchester from Joy Division to Happy Mondays

Item — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 01:04:47 -0800

'This is the story of how Factory pioneered Briton's independent pop culture, imagined a new Manchester, and blew a shedload of money:

Factory - Manchester from Joy Division to Happy Mondays'

How to start and operate a Ford Model T

loquacious — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:52:26 -0800

How to start and drive a Model T

1983 Ilsington Squatter Punk Documentary

KoobieKitten — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:40:30 -0800

1983 Ilsington Squatter Punk Documentary

Nightmares on Wax.

loquacious — Sat, 23 May 2009 19:35:06 -0800

RCA Victor's record manufacturing process in 1942: Part one - Part two.

One Pair of Eyes

miss lynnster — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 01:31:58 -0800

Architectural critic and writer Reyner Banham loved Los Angeles. (Last link is a BBC documentary, circa 1972, 52 minutes -- NSFW at 47 minute mark) Surprisingly, some parts of LA seemed much more run down 30 years ago than now. Most shocking to me was being reminded of how horrific the Santa Monica Pier looked back when it was slated for destruction (appx. 32 minute mark). And no, the pre-GPS Baede Kar system wasn't real, they made it up.

Life in the Tunnel - Dark Days

Fuzzy Skinner — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 01:19:28 -0800

Sunday Morning Movie - A moving and fascinating documentary, Dark Days is on Google Video. Marc Singer lived in the tunnel, and started filming with the help of his fellow tunnel dwellers. Trivia here. Inevitable Wikipedia link here. The online video can't possibly do justice to the stunning black and white imagery, but it's worth seeing in any form. I'd encourage anyone to add this to your Netflix Queue, or get the DVD, which includes the director's commentary.

I Am Not Tom's Friend

MiltonRandKalman — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:04:26 -0800

Will You Be My Friend [Flash]

From beautiful downtown Gondwanaland!

brundlefly — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 18:57:58 -0800

Gary Owens (previously) and Eric Boardman on dinosaurs: "More Dinosaurs," 1, 2, 3. "Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs," 1, 2, 3. "Son of Dinosaurs," (featuring Jimmy Stewart) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Not dinosaurs, but still cool: "Prehistoric World," 1, 2, 3. These videos were a huge part of my childhood and I was thrilled when Laelaps linked to them. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find any background on these at all. Or maybe I was too busy mouthing the dialogue to notice.

Swastika Tube

hortense — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 23:43:50 -0800

Spiegel TV has tracked down rare Nazi TV footage, complete with everything from bizarre cabaret acts to interviews with people like Albert Speer. Pop culture done by Nazis, the banality of showbiz evil. found here alternate link

Hands on a Hard Body

acro — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:31:19 -0800

"It's a human drama thing." This is a documentary film about a group of people in Texas who enter a competition to win a new "hardbody" pickup truck, merely by keeping one hand on the truck the longest. (via Kottke via waxy) More background to the competition, which is no longer run, due to a tragedy which occurred in 2005.

"It doesn't really seem that long ago."

Miko — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:52:54 -0800

Home Movies. A 1975 documentary by a young academic folklorist, exploring what it was that people were doing when they made home movies: remembering selectively, creating a "golden age." This little film looks kind of clunky these days (though I think I hear a clear antecedent of Ira Glass' delivery style in the narration of the filmmaker) , but it provoked some interesting thoughts about how little of our motivations for recording our lives has changed in the digital age, even as the ease with which we do it increases. We're still trying to preserve our lives, prevent time's motion, and create stories about ourselves.

War-porn clearinghouse

stbalbach — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:15:58 -0800

Real Military Flix. Documentaries, combat clips, full-length movies. For all your warporn needs. Iraq/Afghanistan firefights. The Great War etc..

Don't Say It Can't Be Done! -- This Brave Nation

carsonb — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:52:40 -0800

Pete Seeger and Majora Carter sit down together and bridge the generational gap with a discussion on environmentalism, activism, history, and music. A kind of "living history" project composed of short videotaped conversations, This Brave Nation brings together the most intelligent, passionate and creative voices of one generation with the activists, journalists and artists of the next to dialogue on loves, lives, politics and history. A coordinated effort from The Nation and the The Brave New Foundation.

Koyaanisqatsi

phrontist — Sat, 10 May 2008 23:59:12 -0800

Koyaanisqatsi (wiki, previously)

Online Music & Performing Arts Films

progosk — Thu, 08 May 2008 07:21:20 -0800

Medici.tv is an online "television" dedicated to performing arts and music documentaries. Its current catalogue includes many classical concerts, documentaries by Johan van der Keuken and on the Kinshasa musical underground (previously), portraits (lots of Glenn Gould, Shostakovich by Sokurov, Maya Plisetskaya...), and plenty more. Launched April 30th, it's streaming its full contents in lovely quality for free until May 15th. Geek tip: check Safari's "Activity" window....

Carlos Castaneda And The Shaman.

empath — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 19:38:57 -0800

Carlos Castaneda And The Shaman. A BBC documentary on the anthropologist, best-selling author, con-artist, drug guru and cult leader: Carlos Castaneda. (google video, 1 hour)

Bush's War

auralcoral — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 06:29:01 -0800

In honor of the 5-year anniversary of the Iraq War, PBS' Frontline presented a fantastic 2- part special on the issue this past Monday and Tuesday. It is now available in it's entirety online along with interview transcripts from senior officials, a video timeline of the war, and battlefield stories from soldiers. Bush's War