Project Detail

Backstory

Synopsis

Almost everyone has watched a movie in which a person, viewed straight on through the windshield, alone or with passengers, drives a car for some distance. The memorable thing about the scene is that the driver seems to have almost no physical relationship to the vehicle and barely seems to be making any effort to operate it. It is no secret to anyone that what we are watching is a composite scene in which the exterior has been photographed previously and then projected behind the set-up in which the performers have been filmed.

Mark Lewis has been fascinated by the technique of back projecting for years and has used it with startling and unusual effects in his work. In Backstory, Lewis invited the Hansard family, which has been instrumental in the provision and development of rear projection for hundreds of Hollywood productions over several decades, to tell (with humour and straight-laced directness) their own story of the heyday of the techniques and their decline and disappearance as they are replaced by new technologies and new tastes in visibility.

Details

Year
2010
Type of film
Shorts
Director
Mark Lewis
Producer
Mark Lewis
Director of Photography
Brian Pearson
Principal cast
Bill Hansard Sr, Bill Hansard Jr

Categories

Production Status

Production Company

Mark Lewis Studio

T +44 (0)20 3092 6241

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