Filming Documentaries on Submarines

Bubblehead just wrote about the documentary "Sharks of Steel" they filmed on board his old boat, USS TOPEKA. It brought back memories for me. (I started to write this as a comment on Bubblehead's blog, but then decided it was long enough I should just post it on my own blog).

On my first use-ta-city, we got to film a special for the History Channel called "The Great Ships." Man, we joke about midshipman ops being "groundhog day ops," but shooting a documentary TV show magnified the groundhog day aspect of it times a hundred.

Step up the camera in control. Sound the General Alarm. Gong gong gong gong gong gong gong... Man Battlestations. Everyone scurries about. Cut. That was good. Everyone go back to your rack or wherever you were before we sounded the General Alarm.

Move the camera to Crew's Mess. Sound the General Alarm. Gong gong gong gong gong gong gong... Man Battlestations. Everyone scurries about. Cut. That was good. Everyone go back to your rack or wherever you were before we sounded the General Alarm.

Move the camera to the FCML passageway. Sound the General Alarm. Gong gong gong gong gong gong gong... Man Battlestations. Everyone scurries about. Cut. That was good. Everyone go back to your rack or wherever you were before we sounded the General Alarm.

Move the camera to the torpedo room...

You get the idea. They had to get the view from EVERY possible angle.

Okay, great, got the battlestations shots. Now let's do a FIRE DRILL!

Set the camera up in Control. 4MC report of simulated fire. Sound the general alarm. Rig ship for fire and general emergency. Everyone scurries about putting on EABs and OBAs and manning fire hoses. Okay that was good. Secure from fire and general emergency, restow all damage control equipment. Everyone go back to your rack or wherever you were before we sounded the General Alarm.

Set the camera up in Crew's Mess... rinse and repeat.

As much as it was a pain in the arse filming it, I thought the History Channel did a really good job with it. It cracks me up when I got a phone call out of the blue years later from my cousin, Jud, saying, "I just saw you on TV!!! My cousin's a FAMOUS TV STAR!!!"