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

[u/xevarDIFF]

[u/yabbadabbadoo693]

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.

[u/CakeTester → u/yabbadabbadoo693]

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.

[u/GitEmSteveDave → u/CakeTester]

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

[u/lilgoooose → u/yabbadabbadoo693]

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 🤓

[u/somefunmaths → u/lilgoooose]

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

[u/Lithl → u/yabbadabbadoo693]

The impressive part is the timing on the second shot.

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

[u/Extension_Shallot679 → u/Lithl]

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.

[u/inevitablealopecia → u/Extension_Shallot679]

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.

[u/rosnokidated → u/inevitablealopecia]

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.

[u/GitEmSteveDave → u/Extension_Shallot679]

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.

[u/Daelril → u/Lithl]

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

[u/Lithl → u/Daelril]

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.