He wowed us in 2014 taking us back in time with paleolithic excavations with Dinosaur, only to then take us to the moon and back with an up-close and personal look at the Apollo 11 mission with his acclaimed 2019 documentary Apollo 11. And now, in what seems destined by the gods, director/producer/editor TODD DOUGLAS MILLER continues the journey of Apollo 11 with APOLLO 11: QUARANTINE as we go into quarantine with Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins following their splashdown and safe return to Earth in July 1969.
For 21 days after splashdown, the crew of Apollo 11 was forced to quarantine following their contact with lunar material. While select promotional and news footage was aired to millions around the globe in 1969 showing us the crew in their sleek and shiny modified Airstream-esque quarantine quarters, nothing compares with what Todd has assembled with this short film. No talking heads. No voice overs. Just beautifully restored footage, both visually and sonically, punctuated with subtle musical scoring. We watch the methodical, clinical nature of quarantine unfold while at the same time seeing the public faces of Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins smiling through layers of glass and metal, wondering their own bacterial or viral fates.
Why a short documentary on the Apollo 11 quarantine? And why now?
In this exclusive conversation with TODD DOUGLAS MILLER, he talks about that at length. Following the production of the Apollo 11 feature documentary, there was still plenty of footage that landed on the cutting room floor, much of which related to the astronauts’ quarantine. An after-thought at the time, when the pandemic reared its ugly head in 2020 and the world went on lockdown and into its own quarantine, Todd was inspired. With his next feature project put on hold because of the pandemic quarantine, Todd took another look at the Apollo quarantine situation from 50 years ago, realizing the mirroring of the past with the present with masks, isolation suits, the solitude, the loneliness, the inability to celebrate and rejoice or even experience physical human contact, and all while scientists analyze data. And with that, Todd went back to work and into the editing bay, putting together APOLLO 11: QUARANTINE.
Take a listen to this exclusive conversation as Todd talks about the editing process, creating a throughline for this short doc, the importance of making this documentary in today’s times, historical research and obtaining original footage, the restoration process and preservation of sound and visual, sound design (meticulous attention is paid to the ambient sounds within the footage), and more. And see the film. Space geeks and tweeps will rejoice. The layman will be intrigued and interested. Given world events over the past year, everyone will be able to relate to APOLLO: QUARANTINE.
Exclusively in IMAX theatres January 29th
Premium On Demand on February 5th
by debbie elias, exclusive interview 01/27/2021
