Anthony Boyle and Nate Mann for Masters Of The Air: Exclusive interview

thank you for joining the to film podcast we want to know from you guys tell me about the training and how hard it was and I know that you said they actually separated you guys out there was that sort of different strats that were going on so the sort of relationships were replicated how did that work D die the guy who orchestrates this whole thing is an absolute Legend you know he's done platoon he's done sa private ran he's like the OG I think he basically invented the field of mil military advis in film so you know to have him guiding us through it was great but what he done is he would treat people who were Majors differently than the people who were the sort of lower ranks and he would give us more responsibility tell us to lead the in also I was 26 when we started filming it we were like the old guards at 26 the cast were so young there was these Lads was our first jobs they were 19 so he was really getting into the psych psychology of people and trying to separate them and create leaders and followers and as you would need on a battlefield there in the sky so it was great it was great to have him getting us through how long did you do it for and I think you learned to actually fly the planes as well when you're coming in and landing and Feathering an engine and things like this um so how long did that take that actual process yeah so so inner spers throughout th those two weeks you know where we were you know we were in uniform you know like marching and step and as inter said kind of like learning the rank and file of how everything worked we were taken into the studio and there were replica cockpits and there were also replica you know just different sections of the plane where um we would you know I was talking to the to Tai was one of our military advisers who has is one of the only people to have flown piloted you know some of the remaining b7s on Earth and he was the one telling me you know so for a sequence like coming into a land you know like in episode 6 or something so here if this engine goes down here's the procedure right here's why that procedure exists you know here's these gauges here's these here's these switches to flip so that so that when we're in there and we're in the scene and there's six cameras rolling there's there's a there's a fluidity there right I mean because obviously these guys had done it thousands and thousands of times they were amazing so that's really satisfying on our it's so exciting on our end but also of course a learning curve to somebody who hasn't ever sat in a cockpit before yeah did it give you a taste did you do you fancy like learning to fly for real I did I I was like oh it be little Cruise why not to fly around yeah exactly get get my pilot's license yeah there was a lot of competition I know on this um did you excel in dice or getting in the cockpit quick I was very lucky with the dice I remember being very good when we were playing dice you guys play dice we played before you got there we were playing dice it was like a frat house playing dice bat and all all um but the the getting into the cockpit thing I I sat that one out I had a cup of tea and let them get on with it themselves yeah that was one day that was me you were yeah yeah yeah where did you rank if I recall the statistics uh I think there was a day I got first in it just K it man no one's going to believe the results will be published he was first he was first was first I mean Austin thinks he is but you know you can say it we'll go back to the I got your back tell me about like actually being in this sort of the set with the Gimbal and the volume all around it's not very comfortable and you up there for like 7 hours at a time what was that experience like it was pretty spectacular the first day walking into the the big massive St studio and seeing these complete replicas of b7s getting hoisted up 50 ft in the air and 360° you know these screens the volume stages as they called it traditionally when you're filming with something like that you'd see a green screen and you're just acting to nothing this you would see the planes coming at you small in the distance then bigger bigger bigger and you start to feel the rumble of the plane so as an actor anything we we don't have to act is good you know and they really made it so we didn't have to do too much acting which was good sounds like a Fairground ride it really was like Alton tars yeah yeah it was roll coaster yeah going up there for 7 hours does that give you an idea of the discomfort these guys were going through that they're sort of crammed into these spaces and they've got sort of hours of boredom and then this half hour of absolute sort of fear and horror going on these people could almost relaxed for a bit until the half hour of fighting but the Navigator he had to be completely on to get the coordinates right cuz if he was one second off or one centimeter off the whole mission would be would be sced tell me about the idea of this fear that you have to get into your head about the that they're going up and it's 23% chance that you'll come back what's it like getting into that head space and and sort of thinking about having to do that for real these guys that were doing it the psychological component to you know the the the devastation up there right it's sort of in in two in two Fields because when you're up there and you're just experiencing it right and and and everyone on that plane is doing everything thing they can to try and survive and you know for for the men who made it back on the ground obviously that that that sticks with you right so you know a lot of the show is about kind of how how these men who re were were were so young and also at a time that was where the language we have now around psychology and around trauma just didn't exist those understandings just didn't exist so how did they cope right not only how did how did they cope but how did they get back in there right I mean I remember reading something in the book at Donald Miller's book which is series is based on that talked about how the the odds of of making it from your first mission to your last was similar to you know being diagnosed with like a terminal illness right and it really struck me in that regard of kind of like you know what would it be like to at the end of the day your head hits the pillow and and and you you you still you still want things in your life you know you you might want a family you might want these but the cost is that you might not have though that um that always stuck with me and I remember speaking to uh a soldier because you were talking about the fear and trying to I spoke to someone who was who was in Iraq and I was going what is that like in combat and he said to me have you ever tasted fear I said no he said it tastes like metal I thought wow like they really give me chills and I just tried to imagine that you know it's not just I'm afraid it's a full body physical experience being up there why do you think it's so important to keep telling stories about World War II I mean some people might dismiss it as you know that's the past we don't need to look at that again but you think it's important that we watch these stories the nature of the the these guys specific lives I mean like the lives of the hundredth what struck me when I read the scripts and became more familiar with with the circumstances is just how young these men were right and they came from from everywhere all over the states many of them you know choosing to be a part of this particular War because it was important to them it was important to their families it was important to their country and their values this series I think when I watch it you know something that hits me about it is just the nature of that um compulsion right that fight that drive for for men who were so young to have that commitment and I don't think there's uh any reason why we we shouldn't keep that in mind mhm final question then I know you were very light fingered on set you took a nice coat anything that wasn't nailed down was nailed down I took hats coats scarves I would have took the B7 if I could have fit it on a plan I know I should have I didn't feel I was like no it's not my like I I I don't know I should have I should take I want I got a mask they gave cuz we were practicing with the with the oxygen mask cuz it's tricky to grab it and put it in so I pr for like weeks and weeks before started shooting I was like you I'm doing that and I still have that one the rubber mask the replica mask but it doesn't get much doesn't get much public use no can't get that out of party good brll

Channel: Total Film

Views: 22,896

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Id: VNd8bbUeGAo

Length: 7min 49sec (469 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 26 2024