Most recent edit on 2005-11-13 20:34:39 by EschaTon

Additions:
Every couple of generations there is a watershed moment that changes the way we, Americans, think of ourselves, of our place in the world. September 11th was one of those days. Jules and Gedeon Naudet, two French documentary filmmakers found themselves alongside Truck 1, Engine 7 Battalion Chief 1 of the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) capturing the raw footage of this moment in time [of one such moment]. What they created, with the help of Executive Producer Graydon Carter - VANITY Fair’s Editor-in-chief - was an Emmy award winning documentary that captures the life of a firehouse before, during, and after September 11th. In doing so, they gave the rest of America a visual record of that day, free of political spin, and helped define the everyday man as a hero.
The original two hour version of 9-11 aired on March 10, 2002 – the eve of the six month anniversary of September 11th- and was hosted by Robert De Niro from the roof top of engine 10, truck 10’s station within the debris field of Ground Zero. The documentary was aired again on September 11th, 2002. Both times CBS[,] in conjunction with Verizon[,] presented the program with limited interruptions. The interruptions were little more than short intermission filed with a montage of first responders from across America [this sentence doesn't really accomplish anything]. Today, this documentary is available for purchase or rental as 9-11: The Filmmaker’s Commemorative DVD Edition. This version does not include Robert De Niro or the short interruptions.
The documentary starts by introducing nine year veteran FDNY firefighter James Hanlon, Ladder 1, and the World Trade Center and how Hanlon and the Naudet brothers went about picking their probationary firefighter. During preliminary interviews at the FDNY training school, Tony Benatatos shows his [youthful] innocence of youth,[:] “It sounds kinda cheesy but I always kinda wonted [wanted] to be a hero and this is really the only thing you can do that you can do that.”
Probationary firefighter Tony Benatatos is assigned to Ladder 1 with James Hanlon. The realization that he is now a fireman strikes Tony as he drives to his new firer house, “I’m terrified, this is what I won’t [want] to do but its scary. I just hope I can do everything I’m supposed to do,” indicating that his probationary training still must continue. Through this training, the culture of the fire house is not only introduced to Tony but to the viewer as well.
Tony’s growth was documented throughout the next two months, but he saw no fire. Training and teasing was the order of the day. James Hanlon [said], about being a firefighter, “before you can love it, you’ve got to learn it. . . With time you become part of a unique extended family. Tell me one other job were everyone sits down to dinner together . . . EVERY NIGHT.”
While he cleans the fire truck, “It’s been four weeks, I think, five weeks, something like that, and still no fire.” The impatience of Tony’s youth shows through. The realization of the dangers of the job was reinforced by the death of a fireman on Staten Island. Not knowing the danger that they will soon face together, Tony and his fellow firefighters reflect upon the September 1st funeral of [the] dead firefighter. And still, Tony’s training continues.
With only a few week[s] experience, Tony is still an inexperienced rooky. James explaines, “Fire or no fire, Tony learned a lot that summer. Sure he had a ways to go, but we’d teach him. Far as we know there was plenty of time.”
September 11th started out like every other day. At 8:30, Ladder 1 receives another mundane call, an odder [odor] of gas in the street. . Jules Naudet was ridding with Battalion Chief Pfeifer. The firemen, while investigating the area for gas, are distracted buy the sound of a low fling [flying] jet liner. They all look up and towards the World Trade Center as flight 11 strikes the north tower. What had started out as just another run, just another role of videotape[,] became the only known video of Flight 11 striking the north tower. Within minutes Jules, his camera, and Chief Pfeifer are entering the lobby of One World Trade Center (the north tower).
Jules’ camera recorded throughout the operation, recording the activity of the command post and firefighters as they are sent to the floors. Throngs of fire fighters pass through the command post as they get assigned tasks. The images of some of these firefighters, such as Fire Chaplin Mychal Judge and Chief Ray Downey, are the last image of them before their deaths. The look of concern can be seen on many seasoned firefighter’s faces as they proceed to the stairs. Besides the large fire, each firefighter is carrying about 60 pounds of equipment. Under such burden, it will take them about one minute to clime [climb] a single story. They have 80 stories to get to the fire.
Gedeon Naudet leaves Tony at the firehouse to record the burning tower. As he makes his way to the site, he catches on tape, the second plane hitting the south tower – confusion takes over the command post in the north tower – fear overtakes the people on the street. Gedeon observes, “When the second plan hit, that’s when you could see fear. You could see it in everybody’s eyes . . . On the few blocks between the fire house and the World Trade Center, the entire world was there.” The realization that this was not an accident, that someone had plan[n]ed this swept through the crowd.
[This is an excellent essay ... the problem is, though, its not an evaluation. This essay merely narrates the events depicted in the film without offering any sense of criteria for evaluation or actual evaluation.]

Deletions:
Every couple of generations there is a watershed moment that changes the way we, Americans, think of ourselves, of our place in the world. September 11th was one of those days. Jules and Gedeon Naudet, two French documentary film makers found themselves alongside Truck 1, Engine 7 Battalion Chief 1 of the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) capturing the raw footage of this moment in time. What they created, with the help of Executive Producer Graydon Carter - VANITY Fair’s Editor-in-chief - was an Emmy award winning documentary that captures the life of a firehouse before, during, and after September 11th. In doing so, they gave the rest of America a visual record of that day, free of political spin, and helped define the everyday man as a hero.
The original two hour version of 9-11 aired on March 10, 2002 – the eve of the six month anniversary of September 11th- and was hosted by Robert De Niro from the roof top of engine 10, truck 10’s station within the debris field of Ground Zero. The documentary was aired again on September 11th, 2002. Both times CBS in conjunction with Verizon presented the program with limited interruptions. The interruptions were little more than short intermission filed with a montage of first responders from across America. Today, this documentary is available for purchase or rental as 9-11: The Filmmaker’s Commemorative DVD Edition. This version does not include Robert De Niro or the short interruptions.
The documentary starts by introducing nine year veteran FDNY firefighter James Hanlon, Ladder 1, and the World Trade Center and how Hanlon and the Naudet brothers went about picking their probationary firefighter. During preliminary interviews at the FDNY training school, Tony Benatatos shows his innocence of youth, “It sounds kinda cheesy but I always kinda wonted to be a hero and this is really the only thing you can do that you can do that.”
Probationary firefighter Tony Benatatos is assigned to Ladder 1 with James Hanlon. The realization that he is now a fireman strikes Tony as he drives to his new firer house, “I’m terrified, this is what I won’t to do but its scary. I just hope I can do everything I’m supposed to do,” indicating that his probationary training still must continue. Through this training, the culture of the fire house is not only introduced to Tony but to the viewer as well.
Tony’s growth was documented throughout the next two months, but he saw no fire. Training and teasing was the order of the day. James Hanlon, about being a firefighter, “before you can love it, you’ve got to learn it. . . With time you become part of a unique extended family. Tell me one other job were everyone sits down to dinner together . . . EVERY NIGHT.”
While he cleans the fire truck, “It’s been four weeks, I think, five weeks, something like that, and still no fire.” The impatience of Tony’s youth shows through. The realization of the dangers of the job was reinforced by the death of a fireman on Staten Island. Not knowing the danger that they will soon face together, Tony and his fellow firefighters reflect upon the September 1st funeral of dead firefighter. And still, Tony’s training continues.
With only a few week experience, Tony is still an inexperienced rooky. James explaines, “Fire or no fire, Tony learned a lot that summer. Sure he had a ways to go, but we’d teach him. Far as we know there was plenty of time.”
September 11th started out like every other day. At 8:30, Ladder 1 receives another mundane call, an odder of gas in the street. . Jules Naudet was ridding with Battalion Chief Pfeifer. The firemen, while investigating the area for gas, are distracted buy the sound of a low fling jet liner. They all look up and towards the World Trade Center as flight 11 strikes the north tower. What had started out as just another run, just another role of videotape became the only known video of Flight 11 striking the north tower. Within minutes Jules, his camera, and Chief Pfeifer are entering the lobby of One World Trade Center (the north tower).
Jules’ camera recorded throughout the operation, recording the activity of the command post and firefighters as they are sent to the floors. Throngs of fire fighters pass through the command post as they get assigned tasks. The images of some of these firefighters, such as Fire Chaplin Mychal Judge and Chief Ray Downey, are the last image of them before their deaths. The look of concern can be seen on many seasoned firefighter’s faces as they proceed to the stairs. Besides the large fire, each firefighter is carrying about 60 pounds of equipment. Under such burden, it will take them about one minute to clime a single story. They have 80 stories to get to the fire.
Gedeon Naudet leaves Tony at the firehouse to record the burning tower. As he makes his way to the site, he catches on tape, the second plane hitting the south tower – confusion takes over the command post in the north tower – fear overtakes the people on the street. Gedeon observes, “When the second plan hit, that’s when you could see fear. You could see it in everybody’s eyes . . . On the few blocks between the fire house and the World Trade Center, the entire world was there.” The realization that this was not an accident, that someone had planed this swept through the crowd.

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Edited on 2005-11-05 19:32:23 by Squad514

Additions:
The Incidental Historian
It was a sunny Tuesday morning. The primary election had many of the city’s residents running late for work. You have been working on a documentary about a young man finding himself in his new role as a probationary firefighter. There has been very little fire over the summer months that you have been following him. While on scene of an odder investigation, everyone hears the roar of a jet liner. You pan up and to the left just in time to see the commercial airliner – American flight 11- slam into the north face of the World Trade Center, Tower 1. . . it is 8:46 a.m., Tuesday, September 11, 2001 and history was just made.
Every couple of generations there is a watershed moment that changes the way we, Americans, think of ourselves, of our place in the world. September 11th was one of those days. Jules and Gedeon Naudet, two French documentary film makers found themselves alongside Truck 1, Engine 7 Battalion Chief 1 of the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) capturing the raw footage of this moment in time. What they created, with the help of Executive Producer Graydon Carter - VANITY Fair’s Editor-in-chief - was an Emmy award winning documentary that captures the life of a firehouse before, during, and after September 11th. In doing so, they gave the rest of America a visual record of that day, free of political spin, and helped define the everyday man as a hero.
The original two hour version of 9-11 aired on March 10, 2002 – the eve of the six month anniversary of September 11th- and was hosted by Robert De Niro from the roof top of engine 10, truck 10’s station within the debris field of Ground Zero. The documentary was aired again on September 11th, 2002. Both times CBS in conjunction with Verizon presented the program with limited interruptions. The interruptions were little more than short intermission filed with a montage of first responders from across America. Today, this documentary is available for purchase or rental as 9-11: The Filmmaker’s Commemorative DVD Edition. This version does not include Robert De Niro or the short interruptions.
The documentary starts by introducing nine year veteran FDNY firefighter James Hanlon, Ladder 1, and the World Trade Center and how Hanlon and the Naudet brothers went about picking their probationary firefighter. During preliminary interviews at the FDNY training school, Tony Benatatos shows his innocence of youth, “It sounds kinda cheesy but I always kinda wonted to be a hero and this is really the only thing you can do that you can do that.”
Gedeon Naudet immediately realizes that “This is the kid, lets go.”
Probationary firefighter Tony Benatatos is assigned to Ladder 1 with James Hanlon. The realization that he is now a fireman strikes Tony as he drives to his new firer house, “I’m terrified, this is what I won’t to do but its scary. I just hope I can do everything I’m supposed to do,” indicating that his probationary training still must continue. Through this training, the culture of the fire house is not only introduced to Tony but to the viewer as well.
Tony’s growth was documented throughout the next two months, but he saw no fire. Training and teasing was the order of the day. James Hanlon, about being a firefighter, “before you can love it, you’ve got to learn it. . . With time you become part of a unique extended family. Tell me one other job were everyone sits down to dinner together . . . EVERY NIGHT.”
While he cleans the fire truck, “It’s been four weeks, I think, five weeks, something like that, and still no fire.” The impatience of Tony’s youth shows through. The realization of the dangers of the job was reinforced by the death of a fireman on Staten Island. Not knowing the danger that they will soon face together, Tony and his fellow firefighters reflect upon the September 1st funeral of dead firefighter. And still, Tony’s training continues.
With only a few week experience, Tony is still an inexperienced rooky. James explaines, “Fire or no fire, Tony learned a lot that summer. Sure he had a ways to go, but we’d teach him. Far as we know there was plenty of time.”
September 11th started out like every other day. At 8:30, Ladder 1 receives another mundane call, an odder of gas in the street. . Jules Naudet was ridding with Battalion Chief Pfeifer. The firemen, while investigating the area for gas, are distracted buy the sound of a low fling jet liner. They all look up and towards the World Trade Center as flight 11 strikes the north tower. What had started out as just another run, just another role of videotape became the only known video of Flight 11 striking the north tower. Within minutes Jules, his camera, and Chief Pfeifer are entering the lobby of One World Trade Center (the north tower).
Jules’ camera recorded throughout the operation, recording the activity of the command post and firefighters as they are sent to the floors. Throngs of fire fighters pass through the command post as they get assigned tasks. The images of some of these firefighters, such as Fire Chaplin Mychal Judge and Chief Ray Downey, are the last image of them before their deaths. The look of concern can be seen on many seasoned firefighter’s faces as they proceed to the stairs. Besides the large fire, each firefighter is carrying about 60 pounds of equipment. Under such burden, it will take them about one minute to clime a single story. They have 80 stories to get to the fire.
Gedeon Naudet leaves Tony at the firehouse to record the burning tower. As he makes his way to the site, he catches on tape, the second plane hitting the south tower – confusion takes over the command post in the north tower – fear overtakes the people on the street. Gedeon observes, “When the second plan hit, that’s when you could see fear. You could see it in everybody’s eyes . . . On the few blocks between the fire house and the World Trade Center, the entire world was there.” The realization that this was not an accident, that someone had planed this swept through the crowd.
Inside the north tower, Jules continues to record. The chiefs immediately realize that a second rescue operation must be set up in tower two. Escaping civilians can be seen scurrying along the second floor mezzanine above the command post, but exiting the building is risky. Anyone that watched this tragedy unfold on television will remember the sight of people above the impact floors jumping to escape the fire. In the background of Jules recording the succinct sound of those people hitting the glass awning, the fire trucks and death could be heard, each time startling the men running the command post.
All of the off duty firefighter were recalled to the station. Gedeon had made his way back to the firehouse when the first off duty men started to arrive. Retired Chief Burns also arrives at the station. The chief has Tony get his gear and they get lost in the crowd as they head to the World Trade Center.
It is just before 10:00 a.m. A little over an hour since Jules captured the video of flight 11 striking the north tower. Hounded of firefighters from every corner of the cite are climbing the stairs in the two towers. As Chief Pfeifer tries to call another chief on the radio, a low rumbles starts. The sound grows louder as everyone stops talking. Floor after floor of concrete and steal fails slamming onto the floor, and people below. In unison, the command post starts to run, but its too late. The sound becomes defining as they reach the escalators to the second floor, a cloud of dust envelopes and chokes the fleeing men. IN a little over ten seconds, the south tower, and all of its occupants are gone. Chief Pfeifer orders the north tower evacuated.
Once outside, through the dust and smoke, a sliver – the remnants of Marriott World Trade – of a twenty story building is all that stands next to one world trade center. The chiefs, with Jules and his camera in tow, try to regroup and set up a new command post at West Street and Vessy Street. Within minutes, the rumble of the north tower’s collapses sends the group of bewildered men fleeing once again for their lives . . .
Both of the Naudet brothers return to the fire station. The men of truck 1 and engine 7 soon follow. An outpouring of emotion from the firefighters embraces the arrival of each lost member. Dazed and confused, each man tries to clean himself. But a head count shows that one firefighter, the probe Tony, has yet to return.
At about six o’clock, Tony just walks back into the firehouse. The last member of ladder 1 was accounted for. In closing, firefighter Hanlon says, “As for Jules and Gidion, its strange how things work out. In the beginning, they came to me and said lets make documentary about a boy becoming a man during his nine month probationary period. It turns out Tony became a man in about nine hours trying to help out on 9-11. You know how you can tell that, he’s not bragging about that.
In their video, 9-11, the Naudet brothers recorded the events of that horrific day from a perspective that no other camera was capable of getting. They saw, and saved for us, September 11th as seen by the first responders, the firemen, that were asked to do the impossible, and paid for it with the lives of 343 of their own. Yet they also recorded humanity. The every day faces of the firefighters of Truck 1 and engine 7, and the growth of probationary firefighter Tony Benatatos in to a fireman. - a common man that can be called hero.

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Oldest known version of this page was edited on 2005-11-02 02:06:04 by Squad514 []
The incidental historian:
It was a sunny Tuesday morning. Many were running lat to work because of the primary election leaving the streets only half full. The documentary you have been working on about a young man finding himself. The young man wants to be a fireman but has seen very little fire over the summer months that you have been following him. While out on an odder investigation, everyone hears the roar of a jet liner. You pan up and to the left just in time to see the commercial airliner slam into the north face of Tower 1, World Trade Center. . . It’s 8:46???, Tuesday September 11, 2001 and history was just made.

Every few generations there is a water shed moment that changes the way we, Americans, think of ourselves. Historically, we only saw the aftermath of these defining historical moments but on September 11th, 2001 the Jules and Gedeon Naudet were working what they had hoped to be an exciting tale of a young probationary firefighter becoming the fireman he wants to be but history got in the way.


Flag razing on IwGema - - took months for film

Pool News reporters in Viet Nam - took a week or so

Naudet’s WTC video - in the first days

All dark clouds have a silver lining, so this white cloud has a dismal black lining, Sep. 11th.


This moment in our history will be one like “

We all saw the horrible images of people jumping from the towers, but just three minutes into the documentary you hear the end of a life. The sound of jumpers hitting the ground, glass aunnings, death.


It isn’t common for the film makers to become part of the story, but this is no ordinary story. Both Jules and his brother are intrigue parts of the story..

Jules Naudet: “They say thee is always a witness for history . . .that day we were chosen to be the witness.”

James Hanlon: tired faced, weary eyed {V.O. starts with wide shot of tower 2’s collapse and smoke covered tip of Manhattan then cuts to the tired James H.

June 9, 2001 At the ROCK, FDNY Probe school.

Gedeon N.: ‘The idea was to show how a kid, almost, becomes a man in nine months.” the time of probation in FDNY

A montosh of training shots and then a rude awakening. Stories of f.f. veterans and their burns.

J.H: “This job is no joke!”

They then pick the probe.

Tony: “It sounds kinda cheesy but I always kinda wonted to be a hero and this is really the only thing you can do that you can do that.”

Introduce the culture of the fire house…


J.H. : “Guys say there are 2 kinds of probes, black clouds and white clouds. When a black cloud comes to the fire house, that probe, he brings all the fires in the city with him. A white cloud, just the opposite. No fires . . . The kid (Tony) was one very white cloud.”


This work, now available for rent at many movie rental shops, was originally shone on March 11th, 2002 on CBS as a presentation by VERIZON and was hosted by (from back draft) VERIZON then re-presented the show on Sep. 11, 2002.

This show was the first to take its viewers into the life of the firefighter, before and immediately after 911. IN the face interviews, you can tell which were shot before and which were shot after sep. 11 by the look in the face, eyes of the firefighters. After 911 they have a slight stair of the un known.

This appeared to have been planes as a lower cost production documentary. The cameras are all hand held units that appear to be higher end cam corders or lower end video cameras. Not even the SONY Beta Cam system. Most likely 3CCD cameras but not TOP line equipment.


September 11,

The

J.H: “A firefighter in full gear carrying 60 something pounds in hose and equipment takes about a minute to clime one flight of stairs . . . These guys were looking at 80 stories just to get there, then they’d start to work.”

At the command post: Camera stays with Chief Phifer?? In lobby… the last known video of many of FDNY’s officers and firefighters. Last video of a live fire Chaplin