WEBVTT - TechStuff's Shark Week Special

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<v Speaker 1>Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera.

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<v Speaker 1>It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology? With

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<v Speaker 1>tech Stuff from how stuff looks dot com. Hello everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>and welcome to tech Stuff. My name is Chris Polette.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm an editor here at how stuff works dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>And sitting next to me as usual land blocked area

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<v Speaker 1>is senior writer Jonathan Strickland. We're gonna need a bigger podcast,

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<v Speaker 1>that's right. Shark Week is next week, right, Shark Week

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<v Speaker 1>on the Discovery Channel, and so we thought we would

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<v Speaker 1>do a podcast about something shark related to celebrate Shark Week. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>for those of you are looking at a calendar that'll

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<v Speaker 1>be August two through eight, market down, it's gonna be awesome.

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<v Speaker 1>And you might think, all right, well, what kind of

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<v Speaker 1>angle are they gonna take for Shark Week on tech Stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, you know, sharks aren't known for using their

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<v Speaker 1>Newton's doesn't have good shark handwriting recognition software. Yeah, I'm

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<v Speaker 1>I'm sorry, I can't bite you today. Looks like next

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<v Speaker 1>Thursday is good, right? Well, bites all that could play

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<v Speaker 1>into it, just different spelling. And we also considered the

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<v Speaker 1>game Shark. Yes, we we came up with several different ideas,

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<v Speaker 1>and then eventually the most obvious idea reared its shark

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<v Speaker 1>ish head. We should do a podcast about Bruce. Bruce, Bruce,

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<v Speaker 1>the shark in Jaws. Chris, do you remember that scene

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<v Speaker 1>in Jaws where the shark leaps out of the water

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<v Speaker 1>onto the orca and it and it crashes the orca

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<v Speaker 1>and and Quinn starts to slide down into the mouth

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<v Speaker 1>of Jaws. You remember that seeing, Chris, No, because I've

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<v Speaker 1>never seen the movie. Shut your mouth, Chris. You have

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<v Speaker 1>never seen Jaws. I have never seen Jaws. Ladies and gentlemen,

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<v Speaker 1>when when Chris that obviously that was a setup, I mean, clearly,

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<v Speaker 1>but I have not seen Jaws. I did not know,

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<v Speaker 1>Chris and not seen Jaws until thirty seconds before we

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<v Speaker 1>hit record. I'm not joking, and Jaws is in my

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<v Speaker 1>top five films of all time. That's right. So I'm

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<v Speaker 1>gonna stop talking now and go get a coke from

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<v Speaker 1>the fridge and let you talk for the rest of

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<v Speaker 1>the podcast. So June blockbuster known as Jaws hits the theaters,

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<v Speaker 1>starts to frighten the pants off of audiences from coast

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<v Speaker 1>to coast. I do remember that. I totally remember working

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<v Speaker 1>into theaters and just seeing pants there. They don't know people,

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<v Speaker 1>just pants. Are all these pants here and inside them?

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<v Speaker 1>Totally scared out of them. Um. So June also the

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<v Speaker 1>year and month that I was born. How about that, Chris,

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<v Speaker 1>you remember it? I was born then? Yeah? So anyway, Uh,

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<v Speaker 1>the movie and I are of the same age. The

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<v Speaker 1>film was plagued by several problems throughout shooting, and some

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<v Speaker 1>of them were or because of personalities involved. There's a

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<v Speaker 1>famous story that, um that a couple of the major

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<v Speaker 1>actors had personality issues that escalated throughout the filming process.

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<v Speaker 1>Can't imagine that Dreyfuss was one of them. Shaw was

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<v Speaker 1>the other, and and so that was only a small

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<v Speaker 1>part of the problem. There were also issues they had

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<v Speaker 1>with the locals of Martha's Vineyard, which is where they

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<v Speaker 1>shot Jaws. Uh. They had some problems with some of

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<v Speaker 1>the locals not really liking the fact that their community

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<v Speaker 1>was being invaded by Hollywood for what was supposed to

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<v Speaker 1>be fifty five days of shooting, which turned into over

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<v Speaker 1>a hundred and fifty days of shooting. That's only you know,

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<v Speaker 1>three times as much, right, Yeah? Could the major problem though,

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<v Speaker 1>was with Bruce, and Bruce was the name given to

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<v Speaker 1>the three life sized models of a great white shark.

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<v Speaker 1>Was named after Steven Spielberg's lawyer. And you know, you

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<v Speaker 1>can make golf lawyer shark jokes, and there are lots

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<v Speaker 1>of them that Bruce Raymer is the name of the lawyer,

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<v Speaker 1>and so they named the they collectively named the three

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<v Speaker 1>model sharks Bruce. So the sharks came in. There were

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<v Speaker 1>three different varieties. There was one design just to be

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<v Speaker 1>shot from the left side, had a hole on the

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<v Speaker 1>right side exactly, and there was one for the right side,

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<v Speaker 1>the hole on the left side, same thing, same idea,

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<v Speaker 1>so you only shoot it from one side. You obviously

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<v Speaker 1>wouldn't shoot it on the side that had the big

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<v Speaker 1>gaping hole in it that shows you all the pistons

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<v Speaker 1>and everything inside of it. And then you had a

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<v Speaker 1>full model that was mounted onto a c sled for

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<v Speaker 1>lack of a better word. It was this kind of

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<v Speaker 1>like a submarine without all the walls, but it was

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<v Speaker 1>a little submerged vehicle that could tow this this model shark,

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<v Speaker 1>and it was manned by scuba divers. Now, the models

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<v Speaker 1>that had just the left or the right side. They

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<v Speaker 1>were mounted onto a platform that ran on a set

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<v Speaker 1>of rails that ran along the ocean floor. I wonder

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<v Speaker 1>if those that's a good question. I wonder if they

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<v Speaker 1>are probably in just a bad repair, because one of

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<v Speaker 1>the major problems with this machine, or these machines, I

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<v Speaker 1>should say, is that they kept on seizing up. And

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<v Speaker 1>part of the reason for that is that saltwater is

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<v Speaker 1>incredibly corrosive. Don't drop your iPod, Yeah, it will die. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>The the This is one of those reasons why electronics

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<v Speaker 1>and ocean water really don't mix. It's because ocean water

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<v Speaker 1>tends to be very the salt content it makes it

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<v Speaker 1>very corrosive. So if you were to drop your uh, well,

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<v Speaker 1>well I'm not gonna drop a name brand. Let's say

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<v Speaker 1>you drop your smartphone in water. If it's freshwater, you

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<v Speaker 1>may actually have a chance to recover it by drying

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<v Speaker 1>it out. You could leave it out, you know, maybe

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<v Speaker 1>put it in some rice to try and draw some

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<v Speaker 1>of the moisture out. That works dry rice, by the way,

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<v Speaker 1>not cooked rice. Or but if if you were to

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<v Speaker 1>drop it and say saltwater, the chances of you recovering

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<v Speaker 1>that electronic gadget have decreased significantly because of the corrosive elements. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>just listen, people, if I've said it once, I've said

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<v Speaker 1>it a hundred times, back up your mechanical shark before

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<v Speaker 1>you put it in there, exactly because if you don't,

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<v Speaker 1>you got the same thing is going to happen to

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<v Speaker 1>you that happened to the the shooting of Jaws. Now

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<v Speaker 1>here's what Spielberg did. He he had decided that he

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<v Speaker 1>wanted to shoot everything on location. He had decided that

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<v Speaker 1>that to shoot it in a studio, like in a

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<v Speaker 1>big water tank would be too obvious, and that the

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<v Speaker 1>movie going public was becoming too savvy and they wouldn't

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<v Speaker 1>stand for that. They would just say, oh, that just

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<v Speaker 1>looks so fake. So he decided he wanted to shoot

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<v Speaker 1>it out on location in the water. They chose Martha's

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<v Speaker 1>Martha's Vineyard because one it resembled the town that was

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<v Speaker 1>mentioned in the novel Jaws, and to the shelf that

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<v Speaker 1>had a very gradual um decline. You could go miles

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<v Speaker 1>and miles off the coast of Martha's Vineyard still only

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<v Speaker 1>be like thirty ft deep, So it wasn't like the

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<v Speaker 1>it woul suddenly drop into a trench you had, you

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<v Speaker 1>could go out a long way so that you were

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<v Speaker 1>out of sight of land. And yet the ocean wasn't

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<v Speaker 1>so deep that you couldn't use this rail system, right,

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<v Speaker 1>which is important because that's what enabled it to act

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<v Speaker 1>like it was swimming. Yes, exactly, they could. They could

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<v Speaker 1>uh mimic the motions that a shark would make while

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<v Speaker 1>swimming through the water, and you could get all that

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<v Speaker 1>wonderful thrashing about and um. So the sharks used a

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<v Speaker 1>combination of electric and pneumatic and hydraulic motors and pistons

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<v Speaker 1>to open the mouth, to roll the eyes, to move

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<v Speaker 1>the fins, to to swing the tail, to bite and

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<v Speaker 1>uh yeah, that was very important. And I figured that much.

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<v Speaker 1>I haven't seen the movie, but I figured biting, biting

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<v Speaker 1>does take out you know what. There's a movie called Jaws,

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<v Speaker 1>and biting is involved. Um. Also, some of the some

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<v Speaker 1>of the teeth were hollow and had tubes attached to

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<v Speaker 1>them so that blood could be pumped through the tubes

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<v Speaker 1>so that when the shark attacked, blood would spurt out

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<v Speaker 1>of the shark mouth, right, So you know, you don't

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<v Speaker 1>want to just turn them on while the sharks out

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<v Speaker 1>of the water, because then he's just to become a

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<v Speaker 1>blood fountain, which would be an awesome name for a

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<v Speaker 1>death metal band. Um. But let's stay on topic. So Bruce,

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<v Speaker 1>you have Bruce, uh and Bruce was built in Los Angeles, right,

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<v Speaker 1>they had three of them. They had to ship ship

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<v Speaker 1>three sharks. And I'm not gonna say that fast because

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<v Speaker 1>good lord, I know the FCC does not look over us,

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<v Speaker 1>but Discovery does. So they had to send three shark

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<v Speaker 1>models across the country. Okay, no, let's just stop it.

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<v Speaker 1>So ms gun goofy. Because he hasn't seen the movie,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm gonna have to lend him the DVD after the

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<v Speaker 1>sept probably have to close his eyes at the scary pits.

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<v Speaker 1>So um. So, yeah, they're built in Los Angeles. They

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<v Speaker 1>were shipped over without the the the skin that put

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<v Speaker 1>on them. Yet they were actually kind of just this

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<v Speaker 1>weird the wish creamy plastic color exactly. They had a

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<v Speaker 1>a steel tube frame. You had this this uh, this

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<v Speaker 1>plastic foam on top of it to be the flesh.

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<v Speaker 1>Eventually they use this polyurethane as the skin. They use

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<v Speaker 1>some nylon around the joints so that there would be flexibility. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>And you know, shark skin is a is interesting. Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>it's very interesting. It's uh, it's smooth one way. When

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<v Speaker 1>you rub your hand down from from nose to to

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<v Speaker 1>dorsal fin, you would feel a very smooth surface right

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<v Speaker 1>before you got eaten. And then if you rab your

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<v Speaker 1>hand the other way, which really ticks him off, you

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<v Speaker 1>would definitely eat eating. If you try that, it feels

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<v Speaker 1>like sort of like a cat's tongue. It's you know,

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<v Speaker 1>got those little knobby things, and it's very rough. And

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<v Speaker 1>if if you were to rub your hand the you know,

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<v Speaker 1>quite quickly down the wrong side of a shark, you

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<v Speaker 1>wouldn't tell you would cut it up. I mean it

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<v Speaker 1>would and it takes off the shark. Yes, you know what,

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<v Speaker 1>sharks are really not as violent as you're making them

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<v Speaker 1>out to be. Well, I mean it's we are talking

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<v Speaker 1>about jaws here, which you know it totally inflates these

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<v Speaker 1>So in order to get this this texture of skin on,

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<v Speaker 1>they wanted to make sure that the skin looked realistic

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<v Speaker 1>whenever the shark came out of the water, because that

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<v Speaker 1>presumably it would come out of the water a couple

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<v Speaker 1>of times in the in the film. So they didn't

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<v Speaker 1>want to beat up on the polyurethane. So in order

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<v Speaker 1>to get around this, they said, hey, why don't we

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<v Speaker 1>just add some sand to the paint mixture and that

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<v Speaker 1>can create the texture that we need and I don't

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<v Speaker 1>even feel like a shark skin. And so they did

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<v Speaker 1>and it seemed to work pretty well. Um, they had

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<v Speaker 1>to tweak the paint um formula quite a bit once

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<v Speaker 1>they got to Martha's Vineyard. What they had done is

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<v Speaker 1>they had tested it back in l A and it

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<v Speaker 1>seemed to work fine on the skin that they had

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<v Speaker 1>created back in l A. Problem is the climate in

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<v Speaker 1>Martha's Vineyard is totally different from the climate in l A. Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>and the paint did not stick properly to the skin,

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<v Speaker 1>so they had to start tweaking. Well. This meant that

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<v Speaker 1>Steven Spielberg had to look at scenes that did not

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<v Speaker 1>involve the shark and shoot those first to give the

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<v Speaker 1>build team enough time to finish the shark design um.

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<v Speaker 1>So he would look at any other scene that he

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<v Speaker 1>could shoot and start shooting those first, with the exception

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<v Speaker 1>of the crowd scenes. Because the problem was that Martha's

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<v Speaker 1>Vineyard when they started shooting, it was early spring and

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<v Speaker 1>it was cold in the water, and I couldn't really

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<v Speaker 1>pay extras to run around in freezing cold water all

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<v Speaker 1>day long to get six seconds worth of footage, and

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<v Speaker 1>they didn't. They considered briefly putting stunt people into the

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<v Speaker 1>water wearing wetsuits that were painted a skin tone in

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<v Speaker 1>order to manage these shots, and then decided that was

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<v Speaker 1>not very um that what that just wasn't gonna work.

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<v Speaker 1>So the best idea was to put those scenes at

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<v Speaker 1>the very end of the film process, so that way

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<v Speaker 1>the water would be at a bearable temperature, which meant

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<v Speaker 1>that they had a certain number of scenes that they

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<v Speaker 1>could film and that was it. Once they were done

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<v Speaker 1>with those, they needed the shark, and the shark just

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<v Speaker 1>kept giving problems. First it was the paint. Then it

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<v Speaker 1>was the fact that they would get the shark out

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<v Speaker 1>into the water and they hadn't tested it in ocean water.

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<v Speaker 1>This would yes, yes, so the salt water would tend

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<v Speaker 1>to make the different parts of seize up. Now, these

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<v Speaker 1>were sharks mounted on gimbals, and if you want to

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<v Speaker 1>know what a gimble is, there's a great article written

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<v Speaker 1>by Jonathan Strickland on house tofforce dot com that explains it,

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<v Speaker 1>but the gimbles allowed the sharks to tilt at certain

0:12:33.679 --> 0:12:36.679
<v Speaker 1>angles to make sure that they could submerge and and

0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:40.199
<v Speaker 1>and uh through the go move through the water in

0:12:40.240 --> 0:12:43.000
<v Speaker 1>a way that looked natural, and also even leap up

0:12:43.120 --> 0:12:45.880
<v Speaker 1>at the characters that were up on boats or on

0:12:46.160 --> 0:12:50.040
<v Speaker 1>docks or whatever. Um. So there are a lot of

0:12:50.120 --> 0:12:52.360
<v Speaker 1>parts moving parts that could seize up, and they did

0:12:52.960 --> 0:12:55.760
<v Speaker 1>a lot, so much so that people began to worry

0:12:55.840 --> 0:12:58.079
<v Speaker 1>whether or not this movie would ever be filmed. The

0:12:58.400 --> 0:13:01.240
<v Speaker 1>the production costs went from about three point five million

0:13:01.320 --> 0:13:06.440
<v Speaker 1>to some say over ten million, which today is tiny. Yeah,

0:13:06.760 --> 0:13:09.160
<v Speaker 1>that's not even a marketing budget today for a film,

0:13:09.400 --> 0:13:13.880
<v Speaker 1>but back then that was big bucks, so right, and

0:13:14.280 --> 0:13:16.960
<v Speaker 1>to have your budget more than double, that's bad news.

0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:19.240
<v Speaker 1>So this this film for a while, looked like it

0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:23.680
<v Speaker 1>was gonna be the albatross around Spielberg's neck. But everything

0:13:23.840 --> 0:13:26.520
<v Speaker 1>eventually came together. Eventually they were able to get the

0:13:26.640 --> 0:13:30.600
<v Speaker 1>shark working enough for them to get the pivotal scenes

0:13:30.640 --> 0:13:33.760
<v Speaker 1>they really needed shot. One of the other things that

0:13:33.880 --> 0:13:35.199
<v Speaker 1>was taking a lot of time was the fact that

0:13:35.360 --> 0:13:38.079
<v Speaker 1>underwater scenes. They could spend a whole day trying to

0:13:38.080 --> 0:13:40.680
<v Speaker 1>shoot underwater scenes, and they would get six seconds worth

0:13:40.760 --> 0:13:43.679
<v Speaker 1>of usable footage at the end of the day. So

0:13:43.920 --> 0:13:47.000
<v Speaker 1>you think about that, how many seconds are in all

0:13:47.080 --> 0:13:50.760
<v Speaker 1>of those underwater sequences and jaws, you know, you break

0:13:50.840 --> 0:13:53.439
<v Speaker 1>that out by minutes, and then you figure that out. Okay,

0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:55.520
<v Speaker 1>well six seconds of each of those minutes that took

0:13:55.559 --> 0:13:59.319
<v Speaker 1>a day to do, so days per minute. It's crazy. Yeah,

0:13:59.520 --> 0:14:01.680
<v Speaker 1>you think about that, you know. And and now granted

0:14:01.760 --> 0:14:05.120
<v Speaker 1>there's not like really extended underwater sequences, but there are

0:14:05.120 --> 0:14:09.439
<v Speaker 1>a few. There's a couple of of shark cage sequences.

0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:12.280
<v Speaker 1>There's some other stuff. I won't spoil the movie for you.

0:14:12.960 --> 0:14:16.240
<v Speaker 1>You haven't seen it yet, Thank you very much, appre um.

0:14:16.480 --> 0:14:18.040
<v Speaker 1>Except you know I won't be able to watch anyway

0:14:18.120 --> 0:14:20.520
<v Speaker 1>with the scary scenes right, well, you know, we'll we'll

0:14:20.520 --> 0:14:24.040
<v Speaker 1>get someone to explain it to you using very gentle language.

0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:28.480
<v Speaker 1>The we can say things like the man who was

0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:31.400
<v Speaker 1>bitten by the shark is in a field playing with rabbits.

0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:37.400
<v Speaker 1>Now go. So, once they got these sharks working, they

0:14:37.440 --> 0:14:40.160
<v Speaker 1>went ahead and shot the images. Uh. The the other

0:14:40.240 --> 0:14:43.080
<v Speaker 1>issue they ran into was that there were some things

0:14:43.120 --> 0:14:44.560
<v Speaker 1>they just they weren't going to get the sharks for

0:14:44.720 --> 0:14:46.920
<v Speaker 1>Steven Spielberg came up with this brilliant idea of using

0:14:47.640 --> 0:14:50.920
<v Speaker 1>uh the footage of just these barrels to represent the

0:14:51.000 --> 0:14:55.800
<v Speaker 1>sharks presence. There's a point where Quint harpoons the shark

0:14:55.920 --> 0:14:59.880
<v Speaker 1>and attaches these barrels that contain air to the shark.

0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:02.200
<v Speaker 1>Idea being that it will keep the shark close to

0:15:02.280 --> 0:15:05.360
<v Speaker 1>the surface. It can't dive down, and of course the

0:15:05.400 --> 0:15:08.400
<v Speaker 1>shark dives down because it's Jaws and the movies named

0:15:08.400 --> 0:15:11.040
<v Speaker 1>after it, So screw you, Quent, And so that you

0:15:11.040 --> 0:15:12.680
<v Speaker 1>would see the barrels go under the water, and whenever

0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:14.840
<v Speaker 1>the barrels will pop up, you would realize, okay, the

0:15:14.880 --> 0:15:17.320
<v Speaker 1>sharks there nearby. You wouldn't have to see the shark.

0:15:17.800 --> 0:15:19.640
<v Speaker 1>You just knew it was there because the barrels were there.

0:15:19.640 --> 0:15:22.800
<v Speaker 1>It actually made it much more scary, and in fact,

0:15:22.880 --> 0:15:26.040
<v Speaker 1>you could say that the absence of the shark and

0:15:26.400 --> 0:15:29.640
<v Speaker 1>the end was a huge boon for the film because

0:15:29.840 --> 0:15:32.720
<v Speaker 1>it meant that the mystery was preserved through most of

0:15:32.800 --> 0:15:34.720
<v Speaker 1>the movie. You only got little glimpses of it, and

0:15:34.800 --> 0:15:36.920
<v Speaker 1>it made it that much more terrifying because the it

0:15:37.040 --> 0:15:39.320
<v Speaker 1>was your mind that was filling in all the details.

0:15:40.680 --> 0:15:45.240
<v Speaker 1>So in a way, Bruce the malfunctioning shark is. I

0:15:45.280 --> 0:15:47.240
<v Speaker 1>would say it was one of the main reasons why

0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:50.160
<v Speaker 1>that movie is so freaking awesome and you need to

0:15:50.240 --> 0:15:55.240
<v Speaker 1>see it. A few other just quick notes about the

0:15:55.440 --> 0:15:58.280
<v Speaker 1>shark models. Do you know how long they were? How

0:15:58.360 --> 0:16:01.320
<v Speaker 1>long the shark models were? Yeah? Um, you know I

0:16:01.360 --> 0:16:03.600
<v Speaker 1>didn't write that part down. I know how heavy they were?

0:16:03.720 --> 0:16:07.400
<v Speaker 1>How heavy were they? They were around um, two thousand pounds. Yes,

0:16:07.520 --> 0:16:10.440
<v Speaker 1>that was two thousand pounds dry. Yes, because they gained

0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:13.480
<v Speaker 1>ten to twelve percent water weight after being in the water,

0:16:13.640 --> 0:16:16.720
<v Speaker 1>which is another reason why the the sharks wouldn't work

0:16:16.800 --> 0:16:19.880
<v Speaker 1>very well. The kimbals weren't designed to lift an object

0:16:19.960 --> 0:16:22.960
<v Speaker 1>that was that heavy. They were supposed to be neutraly, buoyant.

0:16:23.040 --> 0:16:25.400
<v Speaker 1>They were supposed to just stay wherever you put them.

0:16:25.480 --> 0:16:29.160
<v Speaker 1>But because they gained weight through water, they weren't. Um,

0:16:29.280 --> 0:16:34.120
<v Speaker 1>they were long each Okay, so these are big, big models. Yeah,

0:16:35.120 --> 0:16:38.360
<v Speaker 1>and uh yeah. They had more than thirty different rams

0:16:38.440 --> 0:16:40.680
<v Speaker 1>and motors in them to make everything go. And of

0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:42.960
<v Speaker 1>course if one of them is not working, then it's

0:16:43.000 --> 0:16:45.560
<v Speaker 1>not gonna look right right. You know, the more complex against,

0:16:45.600 --> 0:16:48.160
<v Speaker 1>the more likely something's gonna go wrong. I also know

0:16:48.240 --> 0:16:50.360
<v Speaker 1>that the shark that didn't have a hole in it.

0:16:51.360 --> 0:16:54.000
<v Speaker 1>Also on the track could swim as far as sixty

0:16:54.080 --> 0:16:57.440
<v Speaker 1>to seventy, which is pretty when you think about it.

0:16:57.480 --> 0:16:59.080
<v Speaker 1>It's kind of a long way because you could do

0:16:59.120 --> 0:17:01.880
<v Speaker 1>a lot with that much room. They would they would

0:17:01.960 --> 0:17:05.520
<v Speaker 1>tow the shark down this rail and uh, they would

0:17:05.520 --> 0:17:08.480
<v Speaker 1>shoot for the length of the rail. But of course

0:17:08.520 --> 0:17:11.560
<v Speaker 1>once the rail runs out, that's it. Yeah, you gotta

0:17:11.760 --> 0:17:13.600
<v Speaker 1>go back to the beginning, go back to one, as

0:17:13.640 --> 0:17:17.240
<v Speaker 1>they say in the movie biz Um. And you know,

0:17:17.520 --> 0:17:20.679
<v Speaker 1>I was talking to Chris earlier. I was thinking, if

0:17:20.720 --> 0:17:22.679
<v Speaker 1>they were to make Jaws today, Let's say that they

0:17:22.800 --> 0:17:25.120
<v Speaker 1>never that Peelberg had decided to pass on this movie.

0:17:25.160 --> 0:17:27.800
<v Speaker 1>It was never made. And now today they decided to

0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:31.520
<v Speaker 1>make Jaws, and they decided instead of going practical, which

0:17:31.560 --> 0:17:35.240
<v Speaker 1>is what we would call the mechanical sharks, they decided

0:17:35.240 --> 0:17:38.040
<v Speaker 1>to go c G. I do you think it would

0:17:38.080 --> 0:17:40.560
<v Speaker 1>be as successful a film today as it was back

0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:46.320
<v Speaker 1>in Um, that's a good question, because you know they

0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:49.960
<v Speaker 1>wouldn't have had that. As you pointed out, UM, the

0:17:50.080 --> 0:17:52.960
<v Speaker 1>mind is really powerful, and so if they weren't having

0:17:53.040 --> 0:17:57.879
<v Speaker 1>to replace the shark with the uh, the barrels, you know,

0:17:58.040 --> 0:18:00.280
<v Speaker 1>it might not have been a scary Yeah. I think

0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:04.320
<v Speaker 1>of other shark movies I've seen, and while some of

0:18:04.359 --> 0:18:06.920
<v Speaker 1>them are very gory and they have a lot of

0:18:07.000 --> 0:18:10.960
<v Speaker 1>jump scares in them, they don't necessarily fill you with

0:18:11.119 --> 0:18:14.080
<v Speaker 1>the terror that I felt when I first watched Jaws,

0:18:14.359 --> 0:18:18.879
<v Speaker 1>because just hearing John Williams score on m once you

0:18:18.920 --> 0:18:22.080
<v Speaker 1>start hearing that, especially early in the film. Early in

0:18:22.119 --> 0:18:26.280
<v Speaker 1>the film, that score always indicated the presence of the shark.

0:18:26.880 --> 0:18:29.639
<v Speaker 1>If you heard that theme, the shark was there, and

0:18:29.760 --> 0:18:33.000
<v Speaker 1>it it got you used to that. Later on you

0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:35.560
<v Speaker 1>would hear the theme, but the shark wouldn't be there.

0:18:35.760 --> 0:18:37.280
<v Speaker 1>But you're on edge because you hear the theme and

0:18:37.320 --> 0:18:39.800
<v Speaker 1>you've been trained, Okay, now the shark is here. Or

0:18:40.520 --> 0:18:42.560
<v Speaker 1>in other parts you don't hear the theme and suddenly

0:18:42.640 --> 0:18:44.600
<v Speaker 1>there's the shark, and that freaks you out because you

0:18:44.640 --> 0:18:47.680
<v Speaker 1>didn't get the warning that you expected. It was a

0:18:47.800 --> 0:18:51.440
<v Speaker 1>wonderful use of suspense. Um right out there with Hitchcock,

0:18:51.480 --> 0:18:54.480
<v Speaker 1>I would say, and uh, and I can't imagine with

0:18:54.560 --> 0:18:57.080
<v Speaker 1>c G. I being able to resist the temptation to

0:18:57.200 --> 0:19:00.320
<v Speaker 1>show the shark off every chance you got, you know,

0:19:00.400 --> 0:19:03.720
<v Speaker 1>which is done quite frequently with computer graphics, right, So

0:19:04.119 --> 0:19:07.560
<v Speaker 1>I think in a way the busted sharks are are

0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:10.640
<v Speaker 1>really what made that movie special now granted, and made

0:19:10.680 --> 0:19:12.359
<v Speaker 1>it a living hell for the people who are working

0:19:12.400 --> 0:19:15.080
<v Speaker 1>on the film at the time, But as a as

0:19:15.160 --> 0:19:17.879
<v Speaker 1>a an audience member, Um, I'm actually thankful that it

0:19:17.920 --> 0:19:20.399
<v Speaker 1>did happen that way, because otherwise we wouldn't have nearly

0:19:20.480 --> 0:19:24.640
<v Speaker 1>as as memorable a film, I would wager. Uh, it's

0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:26.960
<v Speaker 1>it's neat stuff. And if you want to learn more

0:19:27.000 --> 0:19:30.159
<v Speaker 1>about hydraulics and and things of that nature, we have

0:19:30.800 --> 0:19:32.880
<v Speaker 1>articles on how stuff Works dot com and actually goes

0:19:32.960 --> 0:19:36.080
<v Speaker 1>into the details of how hydraulics work. We didn't really

0:19:36.080 --> 0:19:38.879
<v Speaker 1>go into that here because uh, well you know, it's

0:19:38.880 --> 0:19:41.920
<v Speaker 1>a lot of other fans stuff for me to cover

0:19:42.119 --> 0:19:44.639
<v Speaker 1>because I'm such a fan boy of the film. I

0:19:44.680 --> 0:19:47.080
<v Speaker 1>didn't even go into the U. S. S Indianapolis speech,

0:19:47.119 --> 0:19:49.600
<v Speaker 1>which is, by the way, one of the best monologues

0:19:49.880 --> 0:19:53.920
<v Speaker 1>in film history, even though it's not historically accurate. Is awesome.

0:19:54.800 --> 0:19:58.480
<v Speaker 1>Um yeah, so I'm freaking out a little bit over here. Okay,

0:19:59.040 --> 0:20:01.320
<v Speaker 1>well are you done freaking I'm done freaking out. Okay,

0:20:01.440 --> 0:20:05.080
<v Speaker 1>So I thought I would mention there's a pretty cool website.

0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:10.440
<v Speaker 1>I would suggest people check out. It's www dot Frenzied

0:20:10.600 --> 0:20:14.560
<v Speaker 1>waters dot com. Oh yeah, yeah, it's pretty mysterious. There's

0:20:14.640 --> 0:20:17.960
<v Speaker 1>some interesting little videos and some other stuff there. There's

0:20:18.040 --> 0:20:21.719
<v Speaker 1>a you know, do some digging, and I would suggest

0:20:21.760 --> 0:20:25.159
<v Speaker 1>going beyond just the website. I say, search around, use Google,

0:20:25.440 --> 0:20:28.080
<v Speaker 1>take a look. Uh, you might be surprised at what

0:20:28.160 --> 0:20:32.080
<v Speaker 1>you find. There's some pretty cool, scary stuff on that

0:20:32.200 --> 0:20:35.719
<v Speaker 1>website and things that are related to that website. Personally,

0:20:36.000 --> 0:20:38.080
<v Speaker 1>I'm going to stick to showers now because I am

0:20:38.119 --> 0:20:41.560
<v Speaker 1>afraid to go in the water. Yeah. Yeah, I'll tell

0:20:41.600 --> 0:20:44.760
<v Speaker 1>you what we'll do. What we'll watch Psycho and then

0:20:44.800 --> 0:20:52.560
<v Speaker 1>you won't even want to do that. I know you're wondering. Nice.

0:20:53.280 --> 0:20:54.960
<v Speaker 1>I'm glad that we got that all the way. So

0:20:55.080 --> 0:20:57.920
<v Speaker 1>remember Shark Week August two through August faith on the

0:20:58.000 --> 0:21:01.919
<v Speaker 1>Discovery Channel. We hear it, text stuff, wish you happy swimming,

0:21:03.280 --> 0:21:05.240
<v Speaker 1>and if you have anything you'd like to say to us,

0:21:05.280 --> 0:21:09.320
<v Speaker 1>any comments or questions or criticisms, anything of that nature,

0:21:09.480 --> 0:21:12.280
<v Speaker 1>send it to tech stuff at how stuff works dot com.

0:21:12.359 --> 0:21:14.879
<v Speaker 1>Remember we have tons of shark content on how stuff

0:21:14.880 --> 0:21:17.280
<v Speaker 1>works dot com. And we will talk to you again.

0:21:17.400 --> 0:21:22.200
<v Speaker 1>Assuming We're not eaten really soon. For more on this

0:21:22.400 --> 0:21:25.080
<v Speaker 1>and thousands of other topics, visit how stuff Works dot

0:21:25.160 --> 0:21:28.239
<v Speaker 1>com and be sure to check out the New tech

0:21:28.320 --> 0:21:35.560
<v Speaker 1>stuff blog now on the How Stuff Works homepage, brought

0:21:35.560 --> 0:21:38.760
<v Speaker 1>to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. It's ready,

0:21:38.960 --> 0:21:39.240
<v Speaker 1>are you