This next film holds some interesting ties for me. My grandpa actually served during World War II as a B-17 pilot, so watching this brought back a few memories of some of the stories he has shared, as well as helped me understand a bit better how important his role was in the war effort. For this project, I’m focusing on the story itself, including dialogue, character development, any subplots, how a story presents itself, the speed at which it moves, if it slows down unnecessarily, etc.
Update: In February 2022, I started a video version of the DFP on Tiktok. You can find the video below. Thoughts expressed in the video may be different than what are expressed in the blog post, due to the time difference in posting.
A Brief Summary
This 1943 film is about how long-range air power could bring about the end of World War II. It begins with an animated history of aviation, then followed by the introduction to Major Alexander P. de Seversky who wrote the book that the film is based on. Major Seversky then, with the help of animated visual graphics, talks about what has been currently happening in the war, followed up with his theories about air power and what could be coming up in its development. Includes the Wright Brothers, submarines and a battle between an eagle and an octopus.
What works
- Something that I thought was really cool, technique-wise, was that they changed tenses throughout the film. The film is set (appropriately) in 1943. That being said, the first portion of the film (after Billy Mitchell’s little bit of footage) is the ‘History of Aviation’, so everything that is mentioned is all in past tense…obviously. Then when Major de Seversky starts speaking, he switches to present tense because he’s talking about the WWII, what’s been happening so far and what choices are being made. Then he talks about the future. If there was a greater focus on long-range air power, here’s how these different things could happen. Living on the other side of the end of the war, it was absolutely fascinating to have that transition, especially knowing the outcome of the war.
- the History of Aviation portion was actually pretty cool. I knew a little bit already, such as the Wright brothers and different historic flights made.
- not only was it pretty cool, but it moved both smoothly and quickly. The segment is 16 minutes of a 65-minute film, about 24% (if my math is correct), and yet I didn’t feel the time go by at all. It was educational, entertaining at moments and moved seamlessly into the next segment, the brief animated bio with the introduction of Major de Seversky himself.
- Despite the heavy material that filled this film (war), between the animation and the narration, the information was shared in a relatively simple story format. There was the introduction of planes and how they came to be used in war (History of Animation); the introduction of Major de Seversky and why he was an expert to be listened to; As de Seversky talks about what has been going on in WWII up to the point of the film, he tells it in this almost light manner with a very easy learning curve. Is it serious what he’s talking about? Sure, but he makes it more understandable, using smaller words to describe what’s going on rather than in strict military language. Then there’s the final section, which was the most different as it involves what could be rather than what is.
Honorable Mentions
- The narrator during the History of Aviation saying that Fritz was not only a hot head but also a square head. It was just this little line of dialogue that made me chuckle.
What I learned from watching this film
- I so wanted to put this film in the same type of structure that I’ve been using for the past few films. But I can’t because this isn’t like the previous films. It’s a mixture of non-fiction and fiction, with fiction being the last segment of the film, discussing what could be coming in the months to come with the war and different plans and strategies to try.
- It sounds weird, but with the final section being focused on theories and strategies, it kind of reminds me of a ‘Choose your own Adventure’ storyline. ‘If you decide to create long-range bombers, turn to page 45’. I’m not trying to make light of the theories and suggestions being made, that’s just what I was reminded of. Especially since I’m on a ‘story hunt’, that’s what fit.
If you’ve seen ‘Victory through Air Power’, what did you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Rewind to the beginning of the Disney Film Project
Skip back to the previous film with Saludos Amigos
Fast Forward to the next film with The Three Caballeros
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