How Did They Do That?

Here's one more "How Did They Do That" to ponder while Dave is away:

Did you ever wonder how the director and film editor of The French Connection lost sight of the fact that a car lost 9 hubcaps during one of the greatest car chase scenes ever made?

In the Oscar winning film of 1971, starring Gene Hackman, a car is giving chase to an elevated train through the streets of downtown Brooklyn. Along with fast driving speeds of up to 90 mph, there were 5 specific stunts within this 13 minute chase scene. One of which included the car going against traffic in order to get back into parallel position to the elevated train that it's chasing.

Some of the most unique camera angles in movies first appeared within this famous scene:

The director ran one camera from the backseat of the car while he was wrapped in a mattress for protection.

Another camera was attached to the front bumper to get a unique view of the streets while zooming by at 90 mph. This camera cranked out 18 frames per second to give the viewers a feel for the speed at which this chase involved.

So, with all of this technological concentration for this scene, and 2 days worth of filming it along with many different takes, one can understand how the film editor failed to notice the car lost 9 hubcaps when the final editing was complete.

It's safe to say the film still won an Oscar for Best Picture and for Best Director. So I guess the film editor can be forgiven!