Apollo 11 Film Review – AS 1.5

Apollo 11 is a documentary film written by Todd Millar that shares real unseen footage from the mission to the moon. The director’s intention in this film is to make the viewers feel like you are there, crouching on the viewing platform awaiting your perfect shot. In displaying this he uses things like cinematography, sound, and atmosphere techniques to build suspense, anticipation, and to add tension. Incorporating digetic and non-digetic sound builds suspense for the viewers and makes us feel like we are on the journey with these astronauts. He also uses different camera angles to share the real-life footage from this journey. Although, these camera shots and angles can only go so far and may make this mission seem boring to some including myself. Overall, this film can be a great one to watch if you are interested in astrology and space.

50 years ago this rocket set off for its mission to the moon, and just 50 years later this extraordinary film was documented. Apollo 11 starts as this mission did at Kennedy Space Centre, Florida awaiting the rocket to launch. This astonishing experience changed people’s lives forever. It was the first time ever something like this has occurred. The director shares all the major events leading up to this ‘once in a lifetime experience’. Millar uses cinematography, atmosphere, and different sound techniques to draw the viewers into the experience. This film documents every step of the way leading up to this incredible moment in history. Astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, and Michael Collins share the experiences they were put through to make this mission successful. They made this successful by sharing real-life unseen footage and radio transmission conversations that were had between the astronauts and the control room. I believe that they achieved this well because it made me feel like I was there for this special moment in history.

Todd Millar uses different sound techniques to build suspense and add tension throughout the film. The use of digetic and non-digetic sound helps to achieve this. This can be shown where Todd uses non-digetic sound to build suspense during the launch scene. Incorporating the astronaut’s heartbeat in place of the countdown gets the viewers on the edge of their seats. They shared this non-digetic sound instead of the classic “10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1” to recognize how the astronauts were feeling at the time. All the astronauts were relatively calm throughout this process, which was needed to make this mission successful. The use of commentary throughout this documentary can grab the viewer’s attention and make them feel like they are on the rocket to be the first man on the moon. The use of commentary in films nowadays is very different in terms of how Millar used this aspect of sound. Incorporating the use of communication between the astronauts and the control room can display this. In terms of how this was displayed is that in modern films is the fact that in a lot of documentaries nowadays tend to use commentary to give you a sense of understanding of what is happening. Instead, like I stated Millar used actual conversations that were had between the people that made this journey a success.

The director uses different camera techniques and angles to share the final moments of the countdown. This is shown by Millar by effectively incorporating different cinematography techniques when sharing the control room, viewing platform, and rocket ship. This builds suspense effectively for the rocket launch and I believe it adds a sense of achievement that this mission is successful. For Example, Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon were shown from Buzz Aldrin’s point of view. This was effective in many ways and made me feel as though I was watching him take those first steps. Another way Millar showed this was by sharing the control room in different ways and how many people were needed to make this mission successful. This truly showed me that this was not an easy experience and so much hard work was put in to get these astronauts to the moon.

Millar uses authenticity throughout the events of the film to make the viewers feel they are a part of this. For instance, he uses various camera angles, and shots when they landed on the moon. Camera shots were used to share Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon from Buzz Aldrin’s point of view. This was to add the feeling to make the viewers feel like they are in this experience with the astronauts. Authenticity is used to share exactly how this mission was a success and how the events of this mission were undergone. Instead of using modern film techniques, Todd used real authentic footage, communication techniques throughout the film. Another example I could take from the movie is when Todd used shots of the crowd on the viewing platform followed by a long shot of the far away apollo 11 rocket ship. Once again using this technique is very effective for viewers including myself to draw us into the experience and believe we are included in this experience. This is a successful technique in many ways more than I have stated and helps me understand why Millar chose these ways to share this experience.

Millar used many different aspects of the film to make it successful. Cinematography, Sound, and atmosphere techniques were used in displaying this effectively. Shots of the crowd, control room, rocket pad were shown in order to make viewers feel they were there a part of this atmosphere that was built by the director intentionally. I think this made me feel like I was there awaiting the perfect shot for this major event in history. A wide range of camera angles and techniques were used effectively to share what Buzz Aldrin was viewing on the moon to make the viewers feel the intensity of this moment. I felt like I was in Buzz Aldrin’s position watching Armstrong take the first ever steps on the moon. Lastly, sound techniques were used by Millar to build suspense and add tension. I believe this worked well when the director didn’t stick with the traditional “10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1” and instead used the astronaut’s heartbeat to share what these astronauts were feeling. This also added suspense to the film and keep me on the edge of my seat for this launch. I would recommend this film to anybody interested in the moon and how this landing was shared by the director. Todd Millar showed us that marvelous times from the past can be revised and shared using real life footage and different aspects of the film can be used effectively. I think it was a great film altogether although I am not all that interested in space movies I enjoyed it.