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How did they make cars fall apart in old movies (2017)
- monkeymeister 2y agoThis is both engineering and art. Magnificent.
- ErigmolCt 2y agoThey didn’t just build cars to fall apart... they choreographed it like a performance
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- sirshmooey 2y agoJust don’t look up how they made the horses fall down.
- Over2Chars 2y agotripwires?
- wisty 2y agoFor those who don't know, Keaton was amazingly dedicated as a comedic stuntman - a silent era Jackie Chan (he was less popular after the silent era, but kept working until his death in the 60s). From Wikipedia: Garry Moore recalled, "I asked (Keaton) how he did all those falls, and he said, 'I'll show you.' He opened his jacket and he was all bruised. So that's how he did it—it hurt—but you had to care enough not to care." This would have been in about 1955, when Keaton (born 1899) was an old man and well past his heyday of really dangerous stunts (he once broke his neck during an early stunt). And he usually had an amazing commitment to film in a lot of other ways. The first time he was shot in a film he took a camera apart to figure out how it worked, because he really cared about every detail (though in the middle of his career this really hurt him, as execs wanted to just trot him up in front of the camera as a high paid celebrity - they didn't want him wasting his valuable time fussing over details, or risk their investment letting him do stunts).
- ErigmolCt 2y agoHis dedication was truly next-level
- keiferski 2y agoVideo of some of his better stunts: https://youtu.be/yOo_ZUVU_O8?si=1OEwZTk-d88ma2Zs https://youtu.be/yOo_ZUVU_O8?si=1OEwZTk-d88ma2Zs And a great Every Frame a Painting film essay on his work: https://youtu.be/UWEjxkkB8Xs?si=n-4ZNr_cMnYVKijs https://youtu.be/UWEjxkkB8Xs?si=n-4ZNr_cMnYVKijs He was truly an innovator that makes today’s “films of people talking to each other” look amateurish. A few months ago the local theatre was playing Sherlock Jr. with a live band, and it was awesome. Try to see it in similar circumstances if possible.
- acuozzo 2y ago> A few months ago the local theatre was playing Sherlock Jr. with a live band AFI in Silver Spring?
- keiferski 2y agoNope, other side of the world
- exhilaration 2y agoWow, those stunts are incredible - it's hard to believe he died of old age and not of these super risky stunts.
- smusamashah 2y agoAll those falls, my toddler is going to love his films I guess.
- PaulDavisThe1st 2y ago> He was truly an innovator that makes today’s “films of people talking to each other” look amateurish. I feel you could have said the first part without attempting to critique films with a different aesthetic aspiration. I just watched Eisenberg's "A Real Pain" last night, and there is no way that any of the things Keaton was good at would have improved that film at all. Which is not to say that Keaton was not an innovator .. just that there is more than one aesthetic goal for films, and room for all of them.
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- hilbert42 2y agoThose reasons seem to make sense but I'd say just as much has to do with Buster Keaton himself, he had nerves of steel. During the filming of the Civil War movie The General there are images of Keaton doing things that even the bravest of stuntmen wouldn't do these days and we'd now rely on film animation and tricks to make the scenes work. For instance, Keaton—who obviously was very fit and agile—is filmed sitting on a cowcatcher of a moving locomotive whilst removing rail ties that were placed on the line to impede the train's progress and then tossing them aside. I read somewhere that Clyde Bruckman the film's director gave instructions to the cameraman "to keep filming the scene until finished or until Keaton is killed" or words to that effect. I can't remember whether Bruckman was referring to this scene or another such as when he's running across the locomotive's tender (the comment could equally have applied to many other scenes I reckon). Others who are more knowledgeable could perhaps fill in the details. I like this movie, Keaton was a great performer and his movies are a testament to that.
- ggm 2y agoMy favourite Keaton movie is the one near his end where he goes across Canada by hand crank car on rail roads. "The railrodder" (1965) Kenton died 1966
- hilbert42 2y agoYeah, I came across that one by sheer accident some years back. It was such a surprise. Now you've reminded me of it I'll watch it again. :-)
- mkl 2y agoI found the movie interesting in that they managed to make the Confederates the good guys by simply never showing a Black person on screen or mentioning slavery. There were a few good stunts and it was worth watching as a historical curiosity, but I didn't think it was all that good as a movie. I'm not American, so may have missed some things that would have let me follow the story better.
- db48x 2y ago
- csours 2y ago"The only secret of magic is I'm willing to work harder on it than you think it's worth" - Penn Jillette https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trRJ4J15xU8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trRJ4J15xU8
- wisty 2y agoSpending more time and effort than other people are willing to do works in a number of fields.
- ErigmolCt 2y agoIt’s hard to believe they could make cars fall apart so perfectly without the tech we have today.
- mrb 2y agoI immediately assumed this article was about the French movie Le Corniaud (1965) in which a 2CV falls apart in 250 pieces in an accident—this scene specifically: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnLj5Xo4zBc&t=19s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnLj5Xo4zBc&t=19s It became one of the most iconic scene of French comedy movies. To prepare the scene, the special effects engineer sawed off the car in 250 pieces, reattached every piece with hooks, and secured the hooks with "explosive bolts". At the right moment, the actor driving the car pushed a button to trigger the (tiny) explosives which made the car fall apart. Here is a French article about it: https://2cv-legende.com/expo-de-la-2cv-du-film-le-corniaud-a-st-raphael https://2cv-legende.com/expo-de-la-2cv-du-film-le-corniaud-a... PS: the French wikipedia article on the movie has a picture of the explosive bolts they used: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Corniaud#L'accident_de_la_2_CV https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Corniaud#L'accident_de_la_2...
- 4gotunameagain 2y agoSuper impressive ! Thanks for sharing. Similar (albeit a bit heavier from the all paperwork) explosive bolts are user for stage separation in launch vehicles (rockets).
- amelius 2y agoBy the way, I always wondered why we got modern versions of the Mini and the Beetle, but not the 2CV.
- dostick 2y agoWas one 20 years ago, Citroen c5 or c3 or something. Maybe still is.
- amelius 2y agoIt doesn't have the iconic 2CV look ...
- prmoustache 2y ago
- OuterVale 2y agoThis made me think of the scene in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang when Lionel Jeffries is captured and forced to convert a car into the titular phantasmagorical fuel-burning oracle. I was wondering just the other day how they achieved that effect. Wonderful little read. Thanks!
- vodou 2y agoI love Buster Keaton. For me he might be the greatest performer ever. I actually watched the video linked in the comments with his greatest stunts and also one short movie together with my kids (5 and 8 years old) just the other day. They laughed their heads off! So if you can hear me, Buster, wherever you are: Your films are holding up a hundred years later. That is quite a feat.
- watersb 2y agoI'm surprised there's no mention yet of the incredible scene from the 1980 film "The Blues Brothers". https://youtu.be/QfN1GRqKXpM?si=-4Mwmipl5sCFtCWN https://youtu.be/QfN1GRqKXpM?si=-4Mwmipl5sCFtCWN This practical effect took weeks to set up. I can't find documentation specifying any special techniques used to create this version of the car. I recall reading an interview naming the builder who set it up, and how no one on set was allowed to touch it except the actors, John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd. Only one take. Can't find that interview now.
- gregoriol 2y agoIt's a very nice scene, but not as good as the 2CV from Le Corniaud. Also looking at it closely, you can see at the camera angle change that the car is not the same (roof shape cut, rear door a bit open, ...), and that it is not standing on its wheels with supports appearing below
- blululu 2y agoI remember watching that movie recently and seeing that the cast was almost half stuntmen. The fact that the Chicago police basically gave them free range and unlimited extras also made a lot of things possible. The final chase scene is about 15 minutes of car crashes including the one where the neonazis fly off the bridge and the camera jump cuts to the car dropped from an airplane into Lake Michigan. https://youtu.be/FD9N7v5qGig?si=p-QYJSkkYJIlN3b4&t=110 https://youtu.be/FD9N7v5qGig?si=p-QYJSkkYJIlN3b4&t=110
- lenerdenator 2y agotakes off hat
- Cumpiler69 2y ago>This practical effect took weeks to set up. Today that's replaced by crappy CGI done on a crunch by a sweatshop.
- radar1310 2y agoKinda looks like the Michael Waltrip 1990 crash at Bristol in the NASCAR race.it’s on YT, look it up.
- sandworm101 2y agoMuch of these tricks comes from how cars used to be constructed. Without any concept of safety cages, they were basically a bunch of very light structures secured atop a heavy metal frame. So long as the actor remains on the seat above the frame, they are in a falling house of cards. Today we build the frames around the people. Pull such a stunt in a modern car and you will be trapped amongst twisted metal rails. Cars were also much simpler to take apart. A few bolts here and there and a couple people could remove an engine. A few more and the roof came off too. Today, it is all spot welded and tight tollerances. Removing any substanial part of a modern car, anything beyond the seats, requires planning and specialized tools.
- josefritzishere 2y agoThis is brilliant. Today it'd all be CGI trash.
- DonHopkins 2y agoOr a CyberTruck dumpster falling apart, bursting into flames, then exploding, naturally.
- betimsl 2y agoThey loosened the screws.