M*A*S*H Opening Credits - Disappearing Chopper?

MaxPlague

MaxPlague

Well-Known Member
Been spending my evenings with episodes of M*A*S*H lately. If you've never seen it or have been thinking about watching it again—like me—do it!

You remember the iconic opening shot, right? The view from behind Radar O’Reilly watching the two choppers come in.

Have you ever noticed that the helicopter on the right disappears for an instant before reappearing again?

Check out my frame-by-frame screenshots below:

vlcsnap-2010-05-02-21h32m35s218.jpg

Oh hi, Radar. Yes, I see the choppers coming. Yep, they're loaded with wounded soldiers too. Hawkeye and Trapper are gonna be busy.

vlcsnap-2010-05-02-21h33m55s224_2.jpg

Yep, there they are; two birds of mercy majestically winging their way through the mountains.

vlcsnap-2010-05-02-21h33m58s225.jpg

Won't be long now. They're within spitting distance of the helipad.

vlcsnap-2010-05-02-21h34m01s225.jpg

Hey, wait a minute! I can't see the right chopper!

vlcsnap-2010-05-02-21h34m04s226.jpg

Holy smokes! What just happened?

vlcsnap-2010-05-02-21h34m08s226.jpg

Where did the chopper on the right go?

vlcsnap-2010-05-02-21h34m12s226.jpg

Oh, wait—there it is.

vlcsnap-2010-05-02-21h34m15s227.jpg

Whew!

vlcsnap-2010-05-02-21h34m17s227.jpg

All better now.

So what happened here, folks? Did the right chopper warp to another dimension or something?

Was it dust on the lens?

Dirty film print?

Was there something on the mountain that was painted out?

What are your thoughts?
 
The shadow of the mountain to the right "obscured" it for a second... That's it...
Same background color = Invisible chopper

Just my 2 cents:)
 
Ramiel said:
The shadow of the mountain to the right "obscured" it for a second... That's it...
Same background color = Invisible chopper

Just my 2 cents:)
Click to expand...

Wondered that once myself. But I don't know. Though perhaps not impossible, the position of the choppers in relation to the mountains doesn't seem quite right for that.

Also, the sun seems to be high and to the right—too high to cast long obscuring shadows.
 
Well I just did some fooling around with the brightness etc...


chopper001.jpg
chopper002.jpg
Chopper003.jpg



At first I though that the chopper was still there- and it was just the refection of the windshield that was gone...

But what I thought was the outline of the chopper in the second pic is actually the shape of the mountain (which can also slightly be seen in the third picture).

Certainly looks to me like the chopper actually disappeared for a few frames! :confused


Kevin
 
Seriously and technically, a rising air thermal with different temperatures can create a lens like effect in the atmosphere rendering an optical illusion like this. It is quite common to see in mountain areas and desert areas. You can see the same effect on a hot day driving down the road commonly seeing "heat waves" that seem to warp the road ahead of you. Given the shadowing and that thermal activity in those mountains, it is nothing unusual to see/not see.
 
Man I forgot all about that!

(And yes I should know better as I used to be a glider pilot and learned all about thermals).


Kevin
 
Ah, amazing! I hadn't thought of that, Trip! I imagine the heat where they filmed would have been enough for that to happen. Hard to tell if there was any other thermal distortion occurring on the mountain. Mystery solved?

Here's a GIF I made of the "blink." Easier to see it actually happening. Cropped to just that area to keep the file size down.

mash_chopper_disappears.gif


What do we think, folks?
 
I still think that's a shadow on the chopper, especially now looking at the gif, but I could be wrong
 
Thanks for posting the vids, Kevin. I hadn't yet made it beyond Season 1.

It does seem to make it through in Season 2, doesn't it. But there also seems to be something funky going on with that mountain.

While it could be shadows, or thermal phenomena, I honestly wonder if there was some rotoscoping going on here. Coulda just been crap on the film too, who knows? I'm looking forward to seeing it at better resolution.
 
That would have to be a very narrow thermal since none of the other areas in the field of view appear to be affected.

I say UFO's captured the craft, took it and anlyzed it. They thought they could be tricky and return it to the exact point in time and no one would notice. But they were off by 1/12th of a second didn't count on the scene being filmed.

Anyone mention this on "Coast to Coast" AM? :lol

Gene
 
It could be bad telecine work in the earlier season. Or maybe 5 O'clock Charlie had something to do with it.
 
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