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IMAX Film About Aircraft Carriers Opens Friday At The Fleet

U.S. Navy Captain Craig A. Clapperton, former commanding officer of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, right, is pictured with crewmembers on the bridge of the warship in this undated image from the IMAX film, "Aircraft Carrier: Guardian of the Seas."
Courtesy photo
U.S. Navy Captain Craig A. Clapperton, former commanding officer of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, right, is pictured with crewmembers on the bridge of the warship in this undated image from the IMAX film, "Aircraft Carrier: Guardian of the Seas."
IMAX Film About Aircraft Carriers Opens Friday At The Fleet
IMAX Film About Aircraft Carriers Opens Friday At The Fleet GUESTS: Captain Craig A. Clapperton, former commanding officer, USS Theodore Roosevelt Mark Kresser, film producer, "Aircraft Carrier: Guardian of the Seas"

Within days three U.S. aircraft carriers will be conducting joint military exercises in the Western Pacific. Officials in exercise with three carriers is where and very complex. Luckily without leaving San Diego we can get a glimpse of how aircraft carriers and the strike groups operate in a IMAX film opening at the Fleet Science Center and by coincidence two of the three warships in the exercises are the focus of the film the U.S. has Ronald Reagan and Peter Roosevelt. Joining me is Mark the producer of the film. Welcome to the program.Thank you.Can you expand on the film's title what are some of the many ways that aircraft carriers are guardians of the sea?They are the ultimate apex of naval technology and they are at the center of most naval exercises. We wanted to tell the greatest story in the history of what they meant to shaping history.As a former commanding officer of the theater rose about how you interpret that aircraft carrier guardian of the sea?It's a perfect title. And aircraft carrier is unique. It can answer the full range of military operations. Not only is it a platform to launch and recover airplanes but it also serves as the command center for the -- in charge of the strike group. It's really not only is it the high-value asset in the centerpiece but the command center for that carrier striker. It serves in so many different roles.Whether we see them doing?We see them performing their jobs drink flight operations. We also get a glimpse of their life on board. You can describe this as their capable mayor. It is a city at sea so we see the day-to-day life of that everything from assembly moments to full on flight operations that are performed test performed like in combat. We had to stay out of everybody's way.I know that a focus of this film is the fact that the crew of the aircraft carriers are using science, engineering, technology and math. Tell us more about that?They are very well trained and highly educated. Are most talented military force today. The some aspects of what goes on come out throughout this film and then there's great graphics that help the audience to see inside the aircraft carrier things like the catapults in the systems in the reactor to really see the breakdown of the and how it works and give you a small sense of how complicated these machines are.Something we start dusting inside is a cockpit.That was a later addition to the film. They're providing us with access to the cockpit. It was interesting dance because it's the cutting edge strike fighter in so although the Navy and we want to be showing the capabilities, there's no capabilities want to show. A lot of things you see is computer-generated although it looks realistic but because were not allowed at this point to put cameras inside that. The airplane does have capabilities. All the parties information is seen on their visor so wherever they look, they see the information they need and when they look down, they see through the aircraft.That is amazing. There are a lot of political tensions right now surrounding military exercises. The sailors on board the carriers must be aware that. So does that add an extra level of pressure to their jobs?I don't really think so. They understand when they deploy that they need to be ready for any of those numerous military operations that I listed in the beginning. They understand that they understand that they are sailing into harms way. So they know exactly what they're going out there to do they are very well trained and they know their job is to execute the blocking and tackling a flight operations and present operations around the world and operating in harms way or the water is part of the job.What would you like viewers of this film to come away with?We talked a lot about that. Very few people get to come on board an aircraft carrier. You reach out to hundreds perhaps 1000 people during a year-long opportunity on aircraft carrier but with this film you're giving the audience a chance to be front row center in the cockpit on the bridge and on the flight line and with the potential to reach millions of people via this format. The IMAX bumps it up a notch because you really feel like you are there and in the cockpit and on the aircraft carrier. I hope they come away with some sense of how complicated these machines are. I think the film does an amazing job. They have all the latest and greatest military hardware but I also hope they come away with some sense of the professionalism and the great young men and women that are on board. They work six days a week on the appointment and those appointments can go from 6 to 8 months long and they can be some incredible environments and you can see heat indexes. These younger woman got every day and operate safely and efficiently into an incredible service or country.The new film opens tomorrow at the Fleet Science Center. I've been speaking with Mark producer of the film and with Captain Craig Clapper

The new IMAX film "Aircraft Carrier: Guardian of the Seas" opens Friday at the Fleet.

Captain Craig A. Clapperton, former commanding officer of USS Theodore Roosevelt, which is home-ported in San Diego, is featured in the film. He says few people are able to board an aircraft carrier.

"With this film, you're really giving the audience the chance to be front-row center in the cockpit, on the bridge, in the engineering spaces, on the flight line," Clapperton said. "The IMAX really bumps it up a notch because you feel like you're there."

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Clapperton and film producer Mark Kresser join Midday Edition Thursday to discuss the film.

Trailer: "Aircraft Carrier: Guardian of the Seas"