Check Out BACK TO THE FUTURE Set Locations – THEN & NOW

‘On The Set’ YouTube Channel by Herve Attia.

Beyond the Marquee fan, Jessie J, dropped us an e-mail yesterday while waiting for “The Walking Dead” panel to start up in Hall H at Comic-Con.  She ran across this fun Facebook page called On The Set: The Movie Filming Locations Channel.

Jessie thought that with our involvement with the Back to the Future hoverboard promotion at the MATTEL booth this year, that we may enjoy this.  She was right!  It looks like Herve Attia, the filmmaker and creator of On The Set, has painstakingly dissected major scenes from the 1985 film,  Back to the Future, and split-screened them with how the locations look today.  It’s a pretty interesting comparison and they’ve even done some clever compositing of images and characters from THEN into the locations as they look NOW.  But this is just the tip of the iceberg for film location comparisons; you’ve got to click beyond and see the rest …

It’s certainly fun to match a single current picture to a frame from a classic film scene, but Herve Attia takes it a few steps further by putting himself in what appears to be the exact footprint of the camera that shot a film’s scene on-location.  With a blending of FX and Color Correction, he seemlessly transitions from a movie 20-30 years old into the current location. Here’s an example of the compositing technique explained by Herve himself…

“There are different techniques to show a filming location as it looks today: Either u use side-by-side comparative shots or u merge shots together.  But in order to preserve the climax or spirit of the sequence, I enjoy recreating new shot by inserting characters from the scene.  The attached screenshot does not exist in the BTTF movie.  This is the branch from the exact tree where George McFly was hiding across the street from Lorraine Baines’s house and peeping into her window with a set of binoculars.”

On The Set: Peeping Tom – George McFly

 

Herve has also done this split screen effect for such movies as E.T., Ghostbusters, Superman, Close Encounters, Goonies, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Planet of the Apes, Blade Runner, A Clockwork Orange, Home Alone, The Blues Brothers, Groundhog Day and many more.  Check out his official VIMEO page for all his videos … some really impressive stuff!  And keep a sharp eye out for Herve as he likes to give himself cameos in some of his scenes … brilliant!).

Herve in 1955 Hill Valley

 

Herve sight-seeing in Metropolis

 

We are currently tracking down Herve down for a future interview on Beyond the Marquee.  In the meantime, check out our own ongoing BTM movie location segment; LOCATION, LOCATION, Location?.   This week we have a Comic-Con themed locale with a chance to win some fun prizes!  And thanks to Beyond the Marquee fan Jessie J once again, for the tip about Herve’s cool site.  If you have a tip on something cool you’ve seen, photographed or heard about; drop us a line at posts@beyondthemarquee.com 

 

*** BONUS ***

I found this hidden gem on Herve’s Facebook page.  It’s a short but great video I’ve never seen before.  Michael J. Fox, at the peak of his performance years, sitting in the classic George Pal Time Machine!!!

As Herve tells us;  “I recently watched DVD features of “Time Machine (1960)” movie and I stumbled into this rare footage of Michael J. Fox doing a speech about time machine. As I could not find this archive in Youtube, I decided to share it on my channel. I’m sure a lot of BTTF fans have missed it.”

 

 

 

 

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