Impact
Several factors enhanced Special Bulletin's resemblance to an actual live news broadcast. The movie was shot on videotape rather than film, which gave the presentation the visual appearance of being "live." Other small touches, such as actors hesitating or stumbling over dialogue (as if being spoken extemporaneously) and small technical glitches (as would often be experienced in a live broadcast), contributed to the realism.
In addition, some specific references made the movie especially realistic to residents of Charleston. The call letters of the fictional Charleston RBS affiliate, WPIV, were uncomfortably close to those of the then NBC affiliate in Charleston, WCIV. Also, a key plot element mentions "a power failure at a transmitter in North Charleston;" the TV transmitter sites are actually in Awendaw, SC.
Because of all this, the filmmakers were required to include on-screen disclaimers at the beginning and end of every commercial break in order to assure viewers that the events were just a dramatization. The word "dramatization" also appeared on the screen during key moments of the original broadcast. Additionally, the Charleston NBC affiliate broadcasting the movie had the word "Fiction" on screen at all times during the showing. The film also made use of "accelerated time" -- events said to take place hours apart instead are shown only minutes apart. Nonetheless, there were still news reports of isolated panic in Charleston. Much as with the famous 1938 radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds, it was entirely possible for viewers to tune in between disclaimers and make a snap judgment about what they were seeing, although in both cases a quick flip of the dial would reveal that no other stations were covering this supposedly major news event. (When the program was rebroadcast in 1984, the only disclaimers were made at the commercial breaks; there were none on the screen while the action was taking place.)
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