The Chronicle Original series examines the rapid development of the bomber, its’ far reaching impacts and the dark shadow it continues to cast today. In today’s article we go behind the scenes with the series director, Dan Jobson to explore and discover what it took to bring this story to life.
“What stood out to me with the story of The Bomber were the incredible feats of speed, innovation and technological advancement – but most importantly, the terrifying immorality of it all” says Jobson.
Barely thirty years after the first primitive aircraft had flown in military service, air power had become the greatest single factor in twentieth century warfare, influencing morale, productivity and the very shape of the landscape.
“My dad was in the Australian army, and his dad, uncles and generations of Jobson’s all fought for Britain in different theaters around the world. I grew up with my dad telling me stories about his father, my grandfather and my great uncle who flew as a tail gunner in an Avro Lancaster over Europe and the Battle of the Atlantic. It is incredibly hard for me to comprehend just how impactful those experiences must have been.”
The filmmaking team mined archives from across the world for historical footage and images from the bomber’s history that was then converted to high-definition and treated by the film’s finishing team. Combined with the voices and insights of global experts, the team turned to highly detailed CG recreations to highlight the planes themselves.
“I had seen many photos and grainy films of bombers, and restored models in museums, but to properly tell this story we felt we had to reach through the fog of time and pull these incredible planes into the modern world.” says Jobson. “I wanted to feel what it was like to fly alongside these machines in the sky. Like a grown up version of me as a kid turning over a model plane in my hands to see it from every angle. To feel the impact of what it must have been like for the pilots and then the devastating human and moral impacts they caused.”
To bring the planes to life with meticulous accuracy the models were built and textured by Polish military illustrator Piotr Forkasiewicz.
“I feel strange when I realise those machines had been designed as weapons, but the sense of aesthetics forces me to see their beauty first.” says Forkasiewicz.
Every rivet, decal, wing flap and bomb door were researched and modelled and then the Wildbear graphics team animated and rendered the planes into hyper realistic sequences.
“The stand out sequences for me were following a Junkers Ju 87 Stuka through its infamous howling dive, a formation of B-17’s flying at golden hour and following the Lancasters ‘bouncing bombs’ skim across the water.”
The series traces from the beginnings of aerial warfare and the catalog of inventions that have changed the way battles are fought: the catapult, the longbow, the cannon, the machine gun – right up to the devastating climax of the atomic bombs being dropped over the skies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
“For me it was about trying to show how the Bomber shaped WWII and the far reaching impacts it had, for better or worse. It is impossible nowadays to comprehend the scale of devastation and the fever pitch escalation of madness from all sides during the Second World War.
We hope The Bomber helps give a deeper sense of knowledge of just how fast the train of progress moves and the blindness of hoping the next scientific advancement is enough to save us from the last one.”
To find out more watch the six part, original series exclusive to Chronicle now. To discover more of Piotr’s illustrative work or buy his prints visit: www.peterfor.com
“It seems to me that the moment has come when the question of bombing of German cities simply for the sake of increasing the terror, though under other pretexts, should be reviewed.” –
– Sir Winston Churchill After the bombing of Dresden.
The Bomber – streaming on Chronicle
Media Release – Chronicle
