HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER miniature effects part 1

[@jamesabernethy7896]

Yet more great stories. Hunt for Red October is one of my favourite films. The models in this movie were so important, they weren't simply props, they were characters in their own right. Model making can be about so many different things. Sometimes you make something that you know exists in real life, but in miniature form. Sometimes it is about creating something that doesn't exist, and yet stimulates the correct responses in the viewer.

[@filmdesigner800]

Those were good times. I had forgotten that Bruce put our names on the DSRV. That was a fun model to work on.

[@johnprudent3216]

This movie came out when I was a kid. I finally got to sit down and seriously watch earlier this year. Great movie with a great story as I expected. Then visual effects work was beautiful even now.

[@jamesabernethy7896]

I’ll be honest, I don’t read as much as I used to but got into audiobooks during lockdown. The book has some small but important additions to it that had to be left out for time but simply add to rather than change the content. I really enjoyed both versions

[@randybaumery5090]

It came out right about the time my ex wife set me free. Reruns of it remind me of freedom as well as a good submarine and Navy battle movie.

[@gieselats]

I could listen to you guys for hours. It is so interesting. So many background informations and stories. Awesome

[@jamesabernethy7896]

I found their channel about a year ago and fell in love with their material. What I love the most is that it’s from such a human perspective and not just a technical one. This is the passion that is missing from modern movie making. Few blu rays have commentaries now and that’s an experience that is totally missing from streaming

[@WhiteScarsEmo]

4:33, spewed my drink all over my desk reading that! LMAO!!

[@MikeGrauerJr]

The rescue sub you see in Hunt for Red October is hanging up as a display at the Navel Undersea Museum in Keyport Washington. It's a pretty epic miniature and big.

[@harbl99]

"So, the Navy asked us to make our sub model less accurate for security reasons" is one heck of a low-key flex.

[@SubBrief]

I would love to have one of these models. Amazing craftsmanship.

[@SeanWickett]

Great! Brilliant interviews, I love these.

[@permiek]

RIP Greg

[@skylabnewyork]

Great Movie! I always wondered how they did the effects, this is great!

[@piercefilm]

You'll have to watch my other segment on the ILM effects for this film. All of Boss Film's work was scrapped and thrown out.

[@twunt2000]

Spectacular!

[@partyalldaypartyallnight1057]

That akula looks a whole lot like an alfa to me. Vents, control surfaces and size are consistent with that boat. Also the hull being sleeker aft of the sail and lacking the reactor cooling intake fins. Just saying. In any case, the work done to the modeling and the film itself is LEGEND and i was deeply immersed in it as a kid. Thank you for your hard work and inspiration.

[@piercefilm]

Bruce Macrae also worked on Crimson Tide which had Soviet sub models. He mentioned he gets them mixed up sometimes as it's been a long time.

[@partyalldaypartyallnight1057]

@@piercefilm Both films are masterpieces and i am not at all salty. I wish i was half the model builder these teams are.

[@matthiasbolz8219]

It is in fact an alfa-class submarine because it was mentioned in the movie that it is one. It is lacking the reactor cooling intake fins because at the time the movie was produced, they didn’t know how russian submarines look like below the waterline. The same with the stern of the “Red October”. Aside from the fact that it’s a “modified” Typhoon, the stern is not accurate to real-life Typhoons because they had to build it how it could have may looked like. But to be honest, Akulas and Alfas look quite similar, and it can of course be confusing, especially if you built models of both.

[@TK421-53]

Bruce Mcrae should have told that guy to go “….” himself, instead of shorten the Akula / Shchuka class! Interesting detail that the USN was funding both Hunt for Red October and Flight of the Intruder. The acoustic tile story is brilliant. Great stuff as always, literally :)

[@piercefilm]

Well, telling the director to go F himself might lead to unemployment...

[@TK421-53]

@@piercefilm of course you are right, but it just isn’t right :)

[@SteveT3D]

"Interesting detail that the USN was funding both Hunt for Red October and Flight of the Intruder" Indeed, you might be surprised by the level of involvement of various agencies and industries in entertainment.

[@TreadwellJay]

That's one of those don't do it but tell 'em you did things (if they even ever ask about it, which they probably won't)

[@bdwillis8284]

Great stuff here. Thanks

[@harryalpert3801]

awesome!

[@kdrapertrucker]

Konolovov was an Alfa class, not an akula class. Alfa's were small submarines built with titanium hulls and liquid metal reactors, they had a crew of 20 who were all officers. They were very fast, and could dive very deep. But they couldn't sail for very long. They were the submarine version of an Interceptor.

[@piercefilm]

Yeah, but it doesn't really matter because the director decided to chop out a chunk of the sub and invent his own.

[@hugoverdeguer6891]

Amazing

[@302KingCobra]

Talent!

[@uktenatsila9168]

Were any of the crew in the Society for Creative Anachronism?

[@RealMakerOfStuff]

RIP Greg Jein

[@machdaddy6451]

I sometimes wonder what becomes of all these props after they're finished making these movies.

[@piercefilm]

Many end up in private collections through auctions. Or you buy them at places like Propstore.com. And some are in the Museum of Miniatures in Lyon, France.

[@pixelforge4858]

interesting stuff

[@sanderfilmes902]

👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽🇧🇷

[@Daveyboy100880]

Must’ve been a bit hard to see those beautiful models being passed on to a rival company… ah, the politics of the business! I also can’t help but wonder if those painted labels are legible in 4K 😄

[@piercefilm]

I believe ILM rebuilt or repainted all the models from Boss. What a waste.

[@kdrapertrucker]

Pretty common occurrence.

[@peterthx]

@@piercefilm a waste? The film looks magnificent and the sub photography is first rate. Those subs look massive.

[@piercefilm]

@@peterthx A waste of the beautiful model work done by Greg Jein and his crew at Boss Film. Their work was scrapped. ILM re-did everything.

[@houstonhelicoptertours1006]

4:34 did a lot of that with the (digital) models I worked on (at Amblin, SPI, DQI, Foundation etc.), just putting nonsense text & signs into textures for the sake of overall detail. Stuff like greetings to family and friends...or bible verses, silly proverbs and song lyrics. 😂

[@thekaiser4333]

How is this legal?!

[@piercefilm]

Not sure what you mean?

[@thekaiser4333]

@@piercefilm Hunting U-boats in international waters without an official declaration of War? And mutiny on a militrary ship? Treason? That is outrageous! That is promoting international and national crime! And as far as I know, that is a felony according to American and international law.

[@piercefilm]

@@thekaiser4333 Makes for a fun story, though. Same with Firefox. Or any James Bond film. Red October is based on a real event on a Soviet ship. Also, a number of Soviet jet pilots defected to the west during the cold war.

[@thekaiser4333]

@@piercefilm ;->

[@thekaiser4333]

@@piercefilm Thanks for all your great videos. I learned a lot from them.

[@georgiashort3039]

Even crap movies have teams of geniuses working behind them, I wish we could go back to practical effects.

[@joemck74]

Should have just left the Akula as it was and told the director you'd cut it.

[@piercefilm]

Then you don't get any more work...

[@joemck74]

@@piercefilm Didn't sound like he was taking measurements. If he was certain it was the look he wanted rather than just a whim, then you could always say 'We'll take another 4 inches off then'. But then, I have limited experience with directors.

[@dtiydr]

I thought 80% was CGI, and it like the opposite.

[@ryand4533]

CGI wasn’t that far ahead yet and was massively expensive and time consuming. The first star wars trilogy still looks better than the 2nd. Sometimes CGI is better or just flat out necessary but it always better to build them if you can. Even if it’s miniatures it just comes out better in the end.

[@dtiydr]

@@ryand4533 True, some renderings could take a month back then. Now a modern graphic card could to it live.

[@peterthx]

More like 97% stage shot. The only CG in the film is the wake of the subs, the bubbles in the water and other flotsam.

[@dtiydr]

@@peterthxYea I know, its really good.

[@stewartmcminn7773]

Red Ockhtobah shhtanding by

[@ADAPTATION7]

It must be very infuriating having to satify the wish list of every Tom Dick and Harry that puts their nose in your business. Especially when you've completed the work.

[@lewis7515]

This is mostly a guy complaining.

[@piercefilm]

You would be complaining too, if you worked hard making useless changes only to have all the work scrapped and be redone at another company.