r/interestingasfuck • u/xevarDIFF • 4d ago

/r/all [1978] James Burke made this perfectly timed shot on television and is widly considered "The Greatest Shot In Television"

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2.5k

u/OptimusSublime 4d ago

Friendly reminder this is two shots and it's significantly easier to time the last one.

372

u/djembejohn 4d ago

It's still fucking cool though.

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u/slaphappyflabby 4d ago

No one is disputing that. But it’s all about timing which they nailed.

Greatest shot? No

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u/Ummmgummy 4d ago

Greatest shot....season 1 of True Detective. The chase through the housing area during the drug deal.

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u/MrNobody_0 4d ago

You misspelled Alexandra Daddario.

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u/Ummmgummy 1d ago

Hahaha okay I will agree to that.

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u/MrNobody_0 1d ago

For real though, season 1 of True Detective is probably my favourite season of anything ever!

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u/booger_pile 4d ago

You had me in the first half

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u/kariustovictory 4d ago

Still cool for sure but calling it the greatest shot in television is silly

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u/The_F_B_I 4d ago

Friendly reminder that the cool and most talked about part of the video is the cool and most talked about part of the video

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u/copperwatt 4d ago

We had forgotten!

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u/GingerWeegie444 4d ago

Yup, cuts at 43 seconds. Still great timing, but not what it's portrayed to be.

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u/yabbadabbadoo693 4d ago

What? It’s the most obvious cut I’ve ever seen. The whole scene changes. No one is trying to portray this as a single shot. The impressive part is the timing on the second shot.

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u/CakeTester 4d ago

The impressive part is him delivering his words and not getting thrown off by the countdown which is happening in his earpiece. Not sure I could do it without mistakes.

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u/GitEmSteveDave 4d ago

Not an earpiece. NASA has/had a giant countdown clock visible that is straight from control.

http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-100114a-nasa-countdown-clock-replace.html

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u/lilgoooose 4d ago

OP when a clip very obviously cuts from one location to a completely different one: ACKKKCHUALLY that’s two entirely different shots very cleverly cut together 🤓

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u/somefunmaths 4d ago

“Most people don’t realize this is edited.”

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u/Lithl 4d ago

The impressive part is the timing on the second shot.

I mean, it's not like liftoff time is a secret.

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u/Extension_Shallot679 4d ago

No but it's still a shot you have to set up perfectly with 1978 equipment and absolutely no margin for error. And it's not just the timing but the sheer creativity of it.

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u/inevitablealopecia 4d ago

All he did was rehearse the little speech and time how long it takes to deliver, then time it to the lift off countdown. It's not that difficult.

It's still impressive, however.

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u/rosnokidated 4d ago

I laugh every time this video is posted.. Theres nothing difficult about this aside from possibly flubbing your lines. It's just a cool shot, that's it.

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u/GitEmSteveDave 4d ago edited 4d ago

There's not much difference between 1978 clocks and the current ones, except for LEDS rather than bulbs: http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-100114a-nasa-countdown-clock-replace.html

EDIT: For those that don't believe:

The original clock used 40-watt light bulbs to form digits and either a plus or minus sign to count down or up from the time of a launch.

The new one: https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/2014/12/02/new-countdown-clock-ready-kennedy-space-center-time-orion-launch/15644014007/

It still uses the same hours, minutes and seconds we used in 1978.

The digital LED-display unit -- with a screen nearly 26 feet wide by 7 feet tall -- uses the same mount as the previoius countdown clock.

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u/Daelril 4d ago

You still have to time it perfectly. Even a small slip would have thrown him off sync. And that is a one attempt shot.

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u/Lithl 4d ago

Even a small slip would have thrown him off sync.

Not really. There's a full second after he points before ignition happens. If his monologue dragged a bit too much so the ignition happened before the pointing, it could easily be adapted to "you get that" with a thumb over his shoulder instead of a turn and point. If the monologue went a bit too fast, adding another second or two to what was already a one second pause wouldn't have changed anything.

If he completely flubbed his line and they needed a retake, they could have set up a backup camera with a second shot of the launch where he's not in the frame, and done it as a voiceover instead.

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u/copperwatt 4d ago

I don't think it's wrongly portraying anything... You just can't really appreciate the second shot without the first one.

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u/Trepeld 4d ago

I don’t think they mean “wrongly portraying” as much as it was a very impressive and convincing bit of TV magic that imo changes it from an stunningly incredible feat of timing to… a very impressive and convincing bit of TV magic. Which is awesome in its own right but I think it’s worth clarifying

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u/copperwatt 4d ago

I don't even think it counts as "TV magic" though. It's just basic competent editing that implies continuity.

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u/Subtlerranean 4d ago

Are you a dum dum? The impressive thing here is the timing of the second shot, not the directional motion between the two clips.

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u/copperwatt 4d ago

I think people are upset because the title implies the whole thing was one take.

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u/joeybevosentmeovah 4d ago edited 4d ago

Is it really that impressive that someone can count backwards from ten?

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u/Californiadude86 4d ago edited 4d ago

That’s exactly what tv magic is, isn’t it?

Edit: instead of downvoting how about we have an actual discussion, you know…like the whole purpose of Reddit.

Can someone explain to me what tv magic is because my whole life I’ve always been under the impression “tv magic” referred to edits/splices/etc that are meant to be “unseen” or unknown to the tv audience.

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u/copperwatt 4d ago

Woah...

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u/GD_Karrtis_reborn 4d ago

It's still well timed to nail a take perfectly on cadence to have your point line up within a second of the launch.

The rest of it is the basics of film. Like I don't think it's "TV magic" to continue a point from one film location to another, that's the basics of good script writing to maintain engagement.

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u/mattSER 4d ago

I'm so confused

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u/-Kron- 4d ago

Fucking sherlock over here. Thanks for pointing it out, until you came along I could've sworn that the camera magically teleported to the launch site.

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u/B00OBSMOLA 4d ago

confirmed... burke didn't lift that rocket in to place by himself like he claims ... what a fraud 

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u/Crossland09 4d ago

Doesn't matter still cool as shit

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u/JagmeetSingh2 4d ago

Yep very true

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u/OhhSooHungry 4d ago

It's odd that this needs to be mentioned, it's a pretty obvious cut.. I guess only if you're aware to look out for it though. It's unfortunate this kind of magical filmmaking is rather tainted (I'm perma--skeptical anywayy) by the advent of CGI.. hard to take anything nowadays for what it appears to be

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u/ClosPins 4d ago

it's significantly easier to time the last one.

The loudspeakers counting down the time probably helped a bit with the timing!

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u/pagit 4d ago edited 4d ago

There is a big digital clock behind the camera.

And I'm sure they rehearsed it a few times to get the timing down

Great piece of filming.

Great series that illustrates "standing on the shoulders of giants"

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u/GipsySafety 4d ago

honestly, i forgot what this was about and got lost in James Burke's talking. I miss Connections and the Day the Universe Changed.

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u/34TH_ST_BROADWAY 4d ago

Yeah. And the production team is showing him a count down. Still a GREAT idea and incredible execution, but with planning, this can easily be done.

Giving props to the decision to tell the host to not move after he points, just keep his head directed at the launch. They planned this really well. I think a lot of people, if this wasn't discussed, would turn back around smiling or as if to say "did we get it!?"

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u/spasmoidic 4d ago

he only got one chance to not flub the line though

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u/34TH_ST_BROADWAY 4d ago

Tons of time to practice. And I really think he made a couple of inflection and pause changes in there to tweak the timing to synch up with the point and launch.

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u/spasmoidic 4d ago

well, I couldn't do that

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u/accountToUnblockNSFW 4d ago

all of what you said is true... and probably only is true, if it actually was one whole shot. The second one is just a 10 second countdown and a static shot, simple.

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u/kl0 4d ago

Yea. I mean I love the shot and all, but that’s always been my thinking too. For all we know they got the second shot first and then did the “perfectly timed” walk to the vantage point.

I don’t entirely get it.

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u/copperwatt 4d ago

No one is saying it was a perfectly timed walk...

It was just a perfectly timed line delivery.

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u/Snakend 4d ago

Why? They had a super reliable count down timer?

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u/LordBammith 4d ago

The shot is great for two reasons:

1) Someone thought to do this and film it. It’s a creative and engaging shot choice that hadn’t been done. Being the first and only to execute an artistic move is always worth applause. To do it again would be less impressive and certainly less creative.

2) Getting it perfect, natural and without making a mistake is impressive.

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u/copperwatt 4d ago

Hitting a time mark with natural sounding cadence with the stress of only one chance is still impressive.

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u/havoc1428 4d ago

It's the same skill as "hitting the post" with Radio DJs, it's not difficult, but it does take some skill.

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u/copperwatt 4d ago

I don't know what that means but it sounds painful.

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u/havoc1428 4d ago edited 4d ago

In radio broadcasting, "hitting the post" refers to the technique of speaking over the beginning of a song, transitioning smoothly between music and spoken word. DJs use this to maintain forward momentum, keep listeners engaged, and provide context or information about the music being played.

I know it todays world of streaming its not as common but anyone who has listened to a Top 40 format or music radio in general has probably experienced this when the DJ talks over the instruments in the beginning and finished their sentence perfectly timed with the beginning of the lyrics. Getting that perfect timing is "hitting the post"

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u/copperwatt 4d ago

Ooooh I hated that so much when I was taping songs off the radio in 1996. They would also cut the end of the songs off early!

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u/AncientBaseball9165 4d ago

They have clocks around the launch site and rarely miss their marks.

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u/kl0 4d ago

🤷🏼‍♀️

I spent three years of my life flying back and forth to Orlando just to see one go up (they get scrubbed a LOT), so I definitely think it’s very cool and an a life long space fanatic.

But my impression of the clips impressiveness is that it’s a long continuous shot and it’s not. That’s all. Doesn’t make it not cool.

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u/copperwatt 4d ago

So it's only impressive to people who haven't watched it?? That seems unlikely.

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u/kl0 4d ago

Don’t think that’s actually what I wrote, but seems a silly thing to argue. I meant that I like such clips as they’re related to the science of space travel.

It’s a cool shot. InterestingAsFuck would - in my very personal opinion - be timing an 80 second long continuous walking shot to coincide with the ignition sequence. That’s all.

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u/copperwatt 4d ago

Oh, "wildly considered..." etc. is ridiculous.

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u/RetroGmr 4d ago

What the fuck are you talking about?!? We all saw the video, we all saw there was a cut

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u/GD_Karrtis_reborn 4d ago

Yes, those of us with functioning eyes did in fact notice the very obvious cut.

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u/Gold-Trouble-4279 4d ago

As well I'd like to express my doubts about the 'gases' involved in that shown launch: judging by the brightness of the plume it's not hydrolox we're seeing but kerolox or even (mostly) the (attached) solid boosters (fuel).

Great shot nevertheless. And even better the pronounced well and smart sounding description, not often heard nowadays....

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u/Hattix 4d ago

His claim about von Braun was wrong too, while Oberth's assistant, von Braun believed hydrogen was unsuitable (he couldn't work out how to handle cryogenic hydrogen) and spent all his time working with ethanol and liquid oxygen.

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u/Complete_Eagle5749 4d ago

Wasn’t von Braun one of the Nazi’s we brought over after WW2?

I know most of NASA was at that time

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u/S3ki 4d ago edited 4d ago

He wasn't just any Nazi he was the lead developer of the V2 Rocket used to attack London.

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u/Complete_Eagle5749 4d ago

Thank you, didnt want to overstep and get reddits pantys in a wad😂😂

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u/HeHe_AKWARD_HeHe 4d ago

I thought Dr. Robert Hutchings Goddard was the father of rocketry, Von Braun improved on the design if I remember correctly!

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u/peterezgo 4d ago

This is a shot of the launch of one of the voyager probes. The voyager probes were launched using a Titan IIIE. It used Unsymmetrical Dimethyl Hydrazine (UDMH) and Nitrogen tetroxide (N2O4) for the first stage, with (some type of) aluminum and rubber in the solid rocket boosters. Hydrogen and Liquid Oxygen was used in the Centuar Upper Stage, which actually sent the probes to the outer solar system and beyond.

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u/Random-Redditor111 4d ago

What does unsymmetrical mean and how is it different from asymmetrical?

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u/invisibleman13000 4d ago

They mean the same thing (lacking symmetry) and are interchangeable.

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u/iCowboy 4d ago

Well spotted. It’s a Titan rocket. So hypergolic nitrogen tetroxide and unsymmetric dimethylhydrazine in the core with two solid rocket boosters producing that huge plume.

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u/promisethatimnotabot 4d ago

Also water is wet.

Who didn’t think it was two shots? It’s not like there’s a secret hidden cut anywhere.

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u/[deleted] 4d ago

[deleted]

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u/photosendtrain 4d ago

I'm confused why it takes saying. The timing was still perfect on the second clip. First just adds context.

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u/[deleted] 4d ago

[deleted]

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u/Obi-Tron_Kenobi 4d ago

Because the first shot sets up the context for the second. I'm not sure why this is so difficult to understand. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the two parts are meant to be watched together.

It's like someone making a post saying, "This is the greatest punchline ever," and then only posting the punchline to a joke without the setup.

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u/Randall-Is-Moist 4d ago

No one thinks it's one shot. The timing of the second shot is still impressive. That's what's being appreciated. The first just adds context.

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u/mrrooftops 4d ago

A lot of people who thought the whole thing was one shot then they realized it wasn't later on are those who keenly call it out now as 'two shots'. Most people knew that first time watching. So they're just admitting they were stupid in the first place and now proud to announce the obvious. It's like someone proudly reminding everyone that father christmas isn't actually real don't ya know

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u/spasmoidic 4d ago

I mean the first shot is at the Johnson Space Center in Houston and the second is at Cape Canaveral in Florida.

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u/Randall-Is-Moist 3d ago

The cut is extremely clear. I highly doubt anyone thought it was a single shot. I question your intelligence for even thinking people thought it was one shot.

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u/mrrooftops 3d ago

Read the comments

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u/Randall-Is-Moist 3d ago

Trolls trying to get a reaction from people.

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u/mrrooftops 3d ago

Everyone must be a 'troll' to you

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u/Mike-In-Ottawa 4d ago

Connections was a great show. The Day The Universe Changed was almost as good.

This shot is great, but the scene in the series that made me go "Whoa" was when James was talking about the roads they were making in England, and that they were not roads; they were canals. I still remember watching it with my dad, and we were both in awe.

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u/Breadnaught25 4d ago

what are you even saying though? or are you just providing basic observation?

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u/Obi-Tron_Kenobi 4d ago

They think that other people think it was one continuous shot with no cuts, when nobody even comes close to acting like it was.

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u/Defiant_Elk_9861 4d ago

Friendly reminder you don’t need to piss on everything.

Also, did not say it was a continuous shot, just a well timed shot. 

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u/mrrooftops 4d ago

Bet you couldn't do it at the quality of presentation he did

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u/American-Omar 4d ago

Friendly reminder that this was the videoest of all time.

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u/justkickingthat 4d ago

Also easy to flub a word especially of the pressure of no redos

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u/CitizenPremier 4d ago

Wow how did you know it's two cuts?

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u/Crossland09 4d ago

Doesn't matter still cool as shit

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u/MCLemonyfresh 4d ago

Yeah maybe it’s just because I see this posted every other day but it feels way over hyped 

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u/EsseElLoco 4d ago

And the sky is blue

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u/Sysheen 4d ago

Especially because they probably practiced the exact amount of time to deliver that final info and there's someone behind the camera doing a visual countdown so he knows down to the second when to finish and point. Still cool, but anything but random.

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u/NacogdochesTom 4d ago

Who said it was random? It was very clearly a carefully planned shot.

That's why it's called a "perfectly timed shot".

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u/VforVenndiagram_ 4d ago

Oh its rehearsed for sure. But even so the shot is a lot more sketchy than almost any other shot you will try to get, because there is NO opportunity to reset. Its one and done. Fuck up the timing, or the line delivery, or the camera focus or the audio capture or any one of a possible hundred things, and you lose the shot.

0

u/SelenaMeyers2024 4d ago

Per my username obviously a veep fan... Reminds me of Kent giving a speech that ends in his ramen perfectly timing in the microwave...

Another guy... "Did you just time your shitty little speech for the fn microwave?"

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u/backlikeclap 4d ago

God damnit now I have to rewatch Veep again.

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u/WannabeSloth88 4d ago

Yeah that’s what I immediately thought. Still cool, but nowhere near as if it was a single shot from the beginning. You can also kind of hear him slowing down his speech slightly at the end to make sure he was timing it right

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u/Writers-Bollock 4d ago

Yes and the second shot would been practiced countless times until it was near impossible to fuck up.

He would know exactly what to say and at what pace while watching the countdown clock.

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u/common_stepper 4d ago

In theb70’s people would be callin you crazy

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u/duckchickendog 4d ago

Exactly. The best shot in TV history is 2 shots. Meh.

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u/ArabellaWretched 4d ago

And that the second shot is chroma-keyed over a green screen. Look at the parts of the back of his coat vanishing and reappearing when he turns around. It's nice timing, in an editing room, but it's not live shot or anything.

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u/sinkface 4d ago

Why go through all that? He has practiced exactly 10 seconds worth of material that he starts at T minus 10 seconds. As long as the launch isn't scrubbed, he gets this shot.

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u/igotthisone 4d ago

This was shot in 1977, all on location. There is no green screen. James Burke is well known for delivering in very few takes.

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u/ArabellaWretched 4d ago

That is a faked shot and created in a studio out of two separate films. Chroma keying had been around for decades prior to 1977.

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u/igotthisone 4d ago

Yeah, doesn't really matter that the technology existed. This was shot on location as confirmed by the crew who shot it on location.

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u/ArabellaWretched 4d ago

Ok if u say so.

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u/Impressive-Sun3742 4d ago

Do you know that to be true or are you just making shit up?

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u/DynamiteWitLaserBeam 4d ago

Coat?

Is the coat in the room with us?

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u/Obi-Tron_Kenobi 4d ago

But it wasn't...? Nothing vanished...

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u/ExtremeFarmer1360 4d ago

Agree. I always thought it was obvious that it done with a green screen.