From: cweller@gucis.cit.gu.edu.au (Catherine Weller)
Subject: Re: WIZARD's Up-Hill Bicycle Scene EXPLAINED!
Organization: Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia.
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 92 02:09:56 GMT

jittlov@gumby.cs.caltech.edu (Mike Jittlov) writes:

>Several postings have expressed curiosity about the Hill-
>Climbing Bicycle scene in "THE WIZARD OF SPEED AND TIME"...

>Newsgroup: alt.fan.mike-jittlov, article: 811
>From: chuck@dip.eecs.umich.edu (Chuck A. Nicholas)
>Subject: Up Hill Bicycle Scene in WOSAT
>Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 13:22:44 GMT

>>:) I kept getting hung up on the biz where the *inside* of the
>    Fotomat is larger than the outside

>Along similar lines, the one scene in the film that I find most
>intriguing was when Mike rides his bike up the hill without
>pedalling it.  I mean his feet are completely off of the pedals.

>I watched it frame by frame and everything else in the scene
>seems to be moving normally, i.e. right direction, apparently
>the right speed.  There is a person walking on the hill and some
>cars moving around as well.  If this was done with stop motion,
>did you stop motion the traffic as well?  The only other thing I
>can guess is a small electric motor hidden in the back basket to
>push the bike?

>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Richard Pieri responds:

>Or someone/thing off-camera doing the tow-trick.
>Or Mike pedaled *real hard* before he came on-camera :-).

>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Keith Dickinson notes: 

>If you look closely to when they first cut to the scene, Mike's
>legs are just being being pulled away from the bike.  I believe
>that furious pumping of the bike and then lifting one's legs
>away at the last moment will give you that effect.

>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Chuck Nicholas cites:

>I looked for a tow line/cable or even shadow of one, can't see
>any evidence of one.  Maybe rocket packs?
>"Or Mike pedaled *real hard* before he came on-camera"
>That's a big hill, he must have pedalled *REAL HARD*!

>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Leo L. Schwab :

>Look more closely.  Look at the surrounding buildings and see
>if their angle to the ground is consistent with being on a hill.
>I think he just tilted the camera at an odd angle to create the
>illusion of a hill, much as they do in truck ads, making it
>appear the truck's climbing a steeper hill than it really is.

>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Chuck Nicholas adds:

>OK, I checked.  It's a big hill.  The trees, telephone poles,
>etc, look OK.  Also, you can see the bottom of the hill where
>it flattens out.  I can't even imagine someone "riding" a bike
>backwards that great a distance & reversing the order of the
>film.  The shadows don't seem to move enough for stop motion.
>No wonder they call him The Wizard of Speed and Time!

>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Erik. S. Swedlund offers:

>Suppose he had a *lot* of friends give him a big push just
>before the bike entered the camera field?  Or perhaps some
>other sort of pushing device...

>--*-----*-----*-----*-----*-----*-----*-----*-----*-----*-----*--

>Okay, the poll has officially closed.

>BIKE-MOTOR THEORY:
>The WIZ-bike was supposed to do more, in this movie.  But due to
>my esteamed business partner's mysterious necessity to get this
>production going immediately, I didn't have the 2-3 months of
>prep time to find our shooting locations, design sets, build the
>props, etc.  I had to create and gimmick up the bicycle _during_
>our filming.  The bike's lights and sounds all work, but the fan
>is just a fan - there was no time to find a decent bike motor
>(do they still make'em?).

>INVISIBLE TOW-CABLE THEORY:
>I couldn't locate the company for this.  Besides, the sun angle
>was wrong - you would have seen the glint even on the special
>wire - and we surely couldn't afford the digital-erasing used in
>TERMINATOR 2 (which process didn't exist yet, anyway).  Plus,
>something would probably go wrong, and I or the bike would get
>dragged kicking and screaming for a block until the emergency
>uncoupler finally activated.

>LOT OF PEOPLE PUSHING ME THEORY:
>Nope, it was just me and Brian Thomas, that day.

>PEDALLING REAL FAST THEORY:
>I was dog-tired, it was a hot day, that's a very steep hill.

>RIDING BACKWARDS THEORY:
>I tried that - but the bike isn't designed for backwards riding,
>and it was uncontrollable after more than a few feet.

>STOP-MOTION FILMING THEORY:
>Well within the sanity level of this production, and actually
>used on this stretch of road for the ending to "Turtle Joak" -
>but stop-motion proved undoable due to all the heavy vehicular
>and pedestrian traffic, and the local mongrels occasionally
>attacking the bike's tires.

>ROCKET-PACK THEORY:
>This theory is so far-fetched I won't even bother to answer it.
>(And besides, the only jetpack available was Kenny's Bell unit,
>and it only lasted for 20 seconds, and there were too many
>overhead phone-lines to avoid in case Murphy's Law cut in.)

>                             

>HOW WAS IT DONE??? HOW WAS IT DONE???  HOW WAS IT DONE???  :@

>      The Official *Wizard* Answer may Surprise You...


>             [Coming Soon, to a Posting Below!]


>________________________________________ ___._`.*.'_._ ________
> Mike Jittlov - Wizard, etc       .   . +  * .o   o.* `.`. +.  
>  Hollywood, CA 90026-2714       '   *  . ' ' |\^/|  `. * .  *
>jittlov@gumby.cs.caltech.edu  (: May All Your  \V/  Good Dreams
>  <& alt.fan.mike-jittlov>    and Fine Wishes  /_\  Come True:)
>============================================= _/ \_ ===========

 Mike... You're driving us crazier than we already are, so....

TELL US ALREADY!!!!
'nuf said
cweller@gucis.cit.gu.edu.au