SOME CUMULATIVE 'KNIGHTS' STATS

129,000 miles (200,000 km) of cumulative team traveling:

3 U.S. cross-country trips = 18,000 miles
2 North Carolina = 1500 miles
3 Colorado/Wyoming = 15,000
12 Romania = 72,000 miles
2 New York = 1000
1 Florida = 3000
7 Washington DC =  5600

EQUIPMENT

4 video cameras (Panasonic P2 HVX200A, Canon Mark2 5D, Canon Vixia HV30, GoPro Hero)
lighting
field recording
mixing studio (portable and permanent)
battery chargers, cables and connectors too numerous to count
four computers, multiple viewing screens
software (simple and complex)
helicopter (Romanian Aviation Academy)
4WD (Nissan xTerra)

LOCATIONS

US: 4 locations
Romania: 10 locations

THE TEAM

10 individuals directly involved in production
3 historians
2 illustrators
1 singer
4 musicians
40 additional people to thank for help
three ambassadors
an air force chief of staff
colonels, majors, captains
10 institutions

RANDOM

lots of cigarettes
many small cigars
lots of coffee
soft drinks
hot lunches / sushi / pizza / take-out / donuts
beer/wine
snacks

Those are the numbers. None of this was completely planned or anticipated in advance. So what did happen to allow all this to come together with a final flurry of activity prior to 'drop-dead' production date.

* * * * *

HOW IT STARTED (from idea to deadline)

It all started in Bucharest, Romania, on a December day in 2009 when Alex Arma, Romanian air war historian, mentioned knowing a WW-II fighter pilot who had attacked an American in a P-51.
"His name is Ion Dobran. He lives in Bucharest and I can arrange for you to meet him," he said to Nicholas, my son, and me.  We just premiered out first documentary on WW-One, "Hill 789: The Last Stronghold." The 50mn film was shown on TVR1, national Romanian television, and a companion article appeared in the National Geographic Magazine's Romanian edition.
And then Alex added in intriguing twist.
"I think that the pilot he shot at is still alive in America. Maybe you would like to make a film about them?  I have lots of archive material. It could be very good."
His question launched us into the project that became "Knights of the Sky," a working title chosen by Nicholas who had long been intrigued by WW-One lore of fighter pilots the likes of the Red Baron and popularized version such as the graphic novel Enemy Ace and the work of illustrator George Pratt.
On two-days notice Nicholas went with Alex to interview General Dobran, age 91. He came back with footage in-the-can of a WW-Two Ace's (five kills or more) first-hand story telling.

Col Davis and General Dobran (January 2010)

"I have one wish," said Dobran. "I'd like to meet Davis," the pilot whom he had attacked. That was December 3rd in Bucharest.
Back in the U.S. just a week later, Nicholas and I arrived in North Carolina drove to the small town of  Zebulon. We were there to meet Colonel Barrie Davis, Age 86, who as a P-51 fighter pilot had been shot by Dobran over Romania in 1944 and forced to land in the Soviet Ukraine. Welcomed into his home we came away with a second sequence of first-hand stories by an American 'Ace'.
As a spur of the moment question, we asked Colonel Davis whether he would like to meet General Dobran. "Of course," he answered.
Six weeks latter he was in Bucharest to meet Dobran for the first time in 66 years. The Romania Air Force, at the behest of General Aurel Stanciu, hosted the visit. We are all helicoptered from Bucharest to Poiana Brasov. The temperature falls to -34 Centigrade (-30 Fahrenheit). The two 'Aces' share their moments of air battle.

This is how KNIGHTS OF THE SKY began.

A One-Pager describes the documentary

Back in Boston, Nicholas and I brainstormed the film and prepared a one pager.

The story line: Air War Over Romania / Americans and Romanians

Structure: War Context / Romanian Aviation/ B-24 Oil-Field Raids / Prisoners / Dogfight

Initial core team: Nick Director, Kyle Brandse Editor, Alex Arma Researcher

Time line: Ready for television premiere on December 1, 2010 - 50 weeks later

Put on paper, the project became a 'reality.' The words were now in black and white with a deadline. We had no idea of what this documentary would shape itself into or how we would produce it. We had no idea but it did come together. It evolved one idea at a time. One unexpected piece of footage after another.

A team comes together (one person leads to another)

Nicholas and Kyle create a team of uniquely talented individuals ... colleagues … RULE that provides high-end film equipment for sale or rent … creative vitality … Berkeley School of Music, Boston University, Harvard, MIT students … DJ musicians … informality … in business one would call it a 'critical mass of talent' all in one small place ...

A special neighborhood where it got put together

Allston (the Boston neighborhood): The studio is on the ninth-floor with a terrace from which to enjoy a splendid panoramic view of Boston.



There's some magic to this Boston neighborhood. At first site it's nondescript architecturally, even seedy in places. But a second-sight it's a vibrant, creative environment, rich in young talent, ethnically, racially mixed, and economically diverse running the spectrum from rich to poor. Late model cars are parked next to second or third hand cars. There are the local eccentric 'bag-men' or 'bag-ladies' who collect beer cans and bottles to earn the 5 cent return-deposit.
The local liquor store for beer is managed by a Nepalese immigrant. The favorite take-out place is Thai. The doorman at the studio/apartment complex is Moroccan. The variety store for snacks is owned by a Colombian. The small Japanese-menued sushi bar (superior) is run by a Chinese team. There's the local tatoo parlor. A cage-fighting gym. A car-wash. A Muslim mosque. And much more.



In view from the studio is a busy fire station its huge ladder-trucks busy at all times of day. Looking down to another side is a compact set of rows houses, mostly Brazilian residents. On July 4th and New Year they launch their own fireworks (illegal but spectacular). On summer days they are in a small park with small barbecue sets. Next to them a basketball court attracts pick-up teams. Nicholas and his friends are often there matching skills against the local 'black' basketball stars. In another direction are two parking lots that serve as temporary storage for cars towed from illegal parking spots. This provides frequent entertainment as angry drivers come to argue and pay high towing fees.
The studios of WGBH-TV are nearby. The station produces high-quality programs like NOVA and FRONTLINE along with BBC-TV co-productions. A number of film production houses are located within walking range. One of them is Northern Lights that created the Johnny Cash film. In view, two blocks away, is an old industrial ten-story industrial building turned into a thriving warren of artist and sound studios.
And then there's Deep Ellum, a local bar with an exceptional beer selection and limited sitting inside and a small terrace in the back. The waiters and barmen are artists or students undergraduates and PhD candidates. This is where we go to drink, talk, share news. Everybody knows everybody.

INTERVIEWS (lucky breaks, surprises)

Nicholas goes to California to meet Major Robert Sternfels, the pilot of The Sandman, a B-24 that was on the famed August 1, 1943 TIDAL WAVE low-level air-raid over Ploesti. He comes back with an exceptional interview from a man who lived through one of the War's most horrific raids. His recollection of the raid is vivid, dramatic and historic. A photo of his B-24 just meters away from hitting the chimney of the Astra-Romana refinery is one of two most famed air-war documents of the whole of WW-Two.



Nicholas and I go to Pennsylvania to meet two B-24 airmen one of whom was a gunner shot down and taken prisoner in a village south of Bucharest. The second airman grants us a film interview and signs a release form - but some days later accuses us of 'stealing' his story.

ARCHIVES & A TRAGIC COINCIDENCE - Romania / USA

Jilava is home to Romania's national film archives where Nicholas, Alex Arma and Kyle Brandse go to research old footage and film. Thanks to a friendly staff-person they detour and walk through thick woods to find the abandoned site of a gruesome Communist-era women's prison. The prison, a late 1800s fortress, is circular without exterior windows dug into a deep enclosure. Many were tortured or killed here. A short distance away is the men's vesion of the same.



Some weeks later, we are at our hill-top family-owned Inn in Bran, Romania. We get a surprise visit from a friend accompanied by an Israeli (ex-Romanian) who has been sent to create a memorial site for the military crew of a large Israeli helicopter that crashed just 2-3 km away into a Carpathian Mountain cliff while on a training flight in a thick fog. All abroad were killed. We had heard the helicopter on that tragic day and now we had this unexpected visitor. We talked about the sad event. We mentioned, too having been at Jilavi a short time earlier. This triggered the visitor to recount that his uncle had been caught by fascist 'Legionnaires' early in the War and taken with about 120 others to Jilava where all were shot.

MUSIC - A lucky break in Rasnov



We are starting to think about music during one of our trips to Romania. By coincidence we hear of a film festival at Rasnov Citadel organized by Nicolae Pepene. The theme quite serendipitously is "World War-Two films." We learn, too, that Irina Sarbu, a famed jazz singer will be featured at a concert with a play-list of 1930s songs. We arrive with cameras and quickly she welcomes us to film live. One of her songs 'Bucuresti' becomes the perfect lead song for the film.

TRAVELING - customs / equipment / sites

The miles built up. Even with equipment it is surprisingly easy to travel through layers of check-points. The biggest chore is keeping track of all the smaller bags … three people on a plane equal six or seven carry-ons plus two or three checked bags.  It's easy to forget something but after one-year of production nothing is missing. Having a detailed checklist of everything from cameras to cables to adapters to chargers helps. The biggest hastle is at customs. Invariably a carry-on triggers a signal and all the contents are looked at: cameras, cables, adapters and chargers.  There were occasional mistakes. In Bucharest Nicholas was stopped when a huge knife showed up on the screening terminal. It turned out to be a 12" long bayonet he had purchased at a flea market. Luckily his carry-on with the bayonet was re-sent as checked baggage.

SCENES FROM ABOVE - helicopter views

A B-24 caught fire on its bombing run over Campina in 1943. Flying low over the Prahova River, a wing broke and it cartwheeled into the river bed. We're flying over the site - on the same flight path - 67 years later with Sorin Pintea-Dobrin, an experienced helicopter pilot. The landscape rushes past unchanged from the b&w images in our hands that recorded the event from another B-24 and from the ground after the crashed plane and its dead crew from Romanian military on the ground. The moment becomes all too real as though having happened just days not years before.
We fly over the Ploesti refineries on the same low track flown by Tidal Wave bombers only 200-300 feet above ground. All the same landmarks, buildings, railyards are there, unchanged except for the Aquila refinery that was demolished and never rebuilt. The horrific moments described by Robert Sternfels as his B-24 flew into the flaming cauldron is better understood. Forty per cent of the 178 bombers didn't return.

FINAL FEW DAYS

It's fifty-one weeks later. With a broadcast date set in stone with TVR1 for December 1, the deadline is unavoidably real.  There are seven days to go and a lot to be done.  Some major edits still waiting to complete the last seven minutes and a lot of small checklist TO DO items. Checklist are a critical tool especially now. We end the day saying: "Where against our deadline are we?" We start the day saying: "What are our priorities and who does what today?" This works very well until there's an unexpected intrusion by some one needing a download … or a search in some remote file for a forgotten clip. Each case delays the checklist and creates a need for a new one. Next to each item on the list I add a little box which can be checked off. The checkmark is a psychological sign of progress. It's tangible.

Last editing days schedule (November 2010)

These are 10-12 hour days. Kyle and Nick are there first. I show up with food and snacks from Whole Foods.  The coffee is going.  Tanner Ross, doing music and Foley arrangements comes; Mike Tran arrives to work on music compositions;  Nathan Bice will drop by from his nearby sound studio where the final mixing is underway.
This is a time for multitasking and Kyle Brandse -  the editor  is the one in the hot seat. I begin to understand the phenomenon parents have been so quick to criticize. "My son is always multitasking messages on his cel with any number of friends and playing computer games all the while." But now that ability plus a dose of creativity and intellect and it becomes a unique professional skill. Between smoke breaks and cell phone intrusions he's proving adept and masterful at juggling the demands.
Five people are working side by side other than Kyle. Myself (producer) keeping track of deadlines, pitching in with editorial nit-picks. Nicholas (director) watching that the flow between script, visual edits and music selections meet his vision of the final film.
"That's setting me back on the clock," Kyle announces whenever Nick sees an opportunity for a change.
Tanner Ross is asking for editing segments to match his real-time sound edits to match.  We've nicknamed him "Dr. Sound" for the magic he performs. His success as a DJ creating unique compositions on the fly is coming in handy. He gets what we are looking for and creates perfect matches from a portable sound mixing system he moves about in a small roll-on suitcase.
Michael Tran is working with Nick to get the scripted narration recorded and editing to perfection. And he's working in parallel on musical compositions along with two musician colleagues.
Nathan Bice calls in and drops-by for downloads to take to his studio for mixing and balancing sound into a final professionally acceptable track.
All this energy is funneled through Kyle (editor) who is creating the digital master of the film sewing all these elements together. It's no easy task.



"I have to stay one step ahead of Tanner and feed stuff to Bice," Kyle says.
Technical terms are bandied about.
"The sample rate was 441. But we need to export it at 48."
"Can you get the pitch down on that sound by two steps."
"Let's be sure that the frame rates are all in sync."
"I'm working on the sound effects and field audio Foleys."
"The time marker begins at 11:29:11. The vibration shots ends at 11:39:17."
The two eight core MAC computers are maxing out. Terabyte memories are filling up all too quickly. Three 27 inch displays are working side by side. Obscenities fly occasionally when the software crashes or when a rendering takes too long. Moments for comic relief are found. The favorite for this project is a popular You Tube site called "Come-On Son". Varied other sites provide levity.
Three days to go. Bice brings a final mixed sound track for the first 15 minutes. We watch the sound matched against the visuals. We note minor glitches.
"Can you delay that sound clip by one second."
"That scene needs you to hold the 'wind' sound a little longer."
"Bring down the guitar note there."
We all like what we see. The project is on track. The pieces are falling into place.

Meanwhile, I've been coordinating our progress with the producers at TVR1 in Bucharest. Two weeks earlier they received a 30 sec spot announcing the film and its premiere on December 1. Attached was the film script. Then two days letter the film script with revisions. And they don't know yet that more script revisions will reach them as they start the process of translating the English text into Romanian in preparation for adding sub-titles. They have twenty days to get it done and will only receive the final film edit on November 16th - at best. On the 15th a master is created at a Boston studio and then uploaded. A duplicate is sent by air-courier.


mmmmmmmmmmmmm

Nicholas and I leave for Romania on November 20th. A panel discussion on the subject of the film will be taped on the 26th with the U.S. Ambassador Mark Gitenstein. Cristian Lascu the editor of National Geographic Magazine (Romania) will release his December issue of the Magazine with the PLOESTI article companion to the documentary. Kyle arrives two days later.

The documentary premieres on TVR1 on December 1, 2010. Along with U.S. Ambassador Mark Gitenstein, Nicholas shares in a pre-show interview. Later we celebrate at the Le Theatre Restaurant.

 

Behind the Scenes Photos

About the Film

In Memory of Nicholas (1985-2011)

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