Footage in movies that is run backward/forward/backward, etc...

I've been seeing this for years and years, mostly in older films. I assume that it's done because the director wanted to make the scene longer and perhaps they cut too soon and need to extend it out a bit. I recall this "trick" used at the end of Escape from the Planet of the Apes when baby Milo calls for his mother. I was watching That's Entertainment a few months ago and saw it used in some footage from a Doris Day pic (I think.. It was a few months ago, after all.) I recall in the The Lemon Drop Kid that this was used to get the cow to lick the gangster's head longer. Not sure if was a gangster, but I do remember the tongue.

There must be many, many films in which this trick was employed. Sometimes it's more subtle and you have to watch for it, sometimes you'd have to have your eyes closed in order to miss it.

Do any of you guys know of any other films where you can clearly see that the footage was run backwards and forwards again to extend the scene?

 

Here's the Escape from the Planet of the Apes example. Painfully obvious.

 

A scene in Star Wars has this. It's where the Tusken Raider is brandishing his weapon above his head after surprising Luke while he is looking through his binoculars. It was discussed in some documentary, perhaps Empire Of Dreams.

 

A good example is from Christine, the "show me" scene where Christine restores herself after being beat up. Starts at about 1:50:



John Carpenter talks about this on the commentary, cables and rods were attached to the inside of one of the Plymouths used as Christine and rigged to collapse the car from the inside. Turn the camera upside down, shoot the action, and when the film is played right-side-up, it's in reverse, and looks like the car is restoring itself.

 

Jean Cocteau uses this a lot. In La Belle et la Bête there's a scene where the Beast creates a necklace by commanding a bunch of loose pearls to magically fly together, this was of course done in reverse, the shot started with the necklace together, then rigged to come apart and send the pearls flying.

Truffaut uses this at least twice in Fahrenheit 451. Once is when Montag is putting on his protective gear in preparation to burn some books. The whole thing looks a bit odd, especially when his gloves and hood appear to put themselves on. It's because the scene was filmed in reverse, he's taking off the gear, not putting it on. Starts at about 0:40 in this clip:



Also at about 1:30 of this clip, a fireman slides up a fire pole, this is done with reversed film.

Near the end of Two English Girls, Muriel falls and hits her head on a bed frame. This was done in reverse, the giveaway is that her head winds up being impossibly still. I'm sure Truffault used this effect to give shots a dreamlike quality.

In Tobe Hooper's Salem's Lot, the end of the scene where Danny Glick comes to the window and then inside is done in reverse. You can tell because at the end when he bites Ralphie, his head winds up being unnaturally still. Then when you look closer you can see other telltale signs that they actors worked "backward" for about 20 seconds and the film was reversed.

On the Unknown Chaplin DVD, they show an elaborate stunt/gag where the Little Tramp is walking along, oblivious to the fact that there are workers doing demolition or construction work. One of them barely misses hitting him with a giant axe. This was done in reverse, with a lot of choreography required to make it look "normal" and practicing walking backwards, picking the axe up quickly to make it look like it's being thrust down, etc.

Also, more in line with your original post, the end of Mouchette is extended out quite a bit with a reversed shot.

 

Not the same. While pretty cool, that's a scene shot and shown in reverse for effect. What I'm talking about is showing footage forward, then backward, then forward, then backward, etc., to extend the scene. Take a look at the example I posted and you can see how two seconds of footage is stretched out to ten or so.

 

Guys, look at the example I posted. I'm not talking about shooting something and showing it in reverse for effect. I'm talking about purposely extending a scene by repeating footage by showing it forward then backward X number of times.

 

It's also quite obvious from watching the scene.

 

"Brad Hamilton
Made manager of MI-T-MART June 12"

 

Spencer Tracy crashes into a pet store and gets licked by a Great Dane in 'It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World'.

jerol

 

That's right! Good example.

 

Purina Cat Chow commercial from early 1970s
Starring Patsy Garrett (who, at 93 passed in January) and an uncredited Feline.