Check this video out. Guy speeds up to about 140 MPH on Paris Streets

[Michael Hill]

http://www.hardscience.net/rendezvous20_04.mov

On an August morning in 1978, French filmmaker Claude Lelouch mounted a gyro-stabilized camera to the bumper of a Ferrari 275 GTB and had a friend, a professional Formula 1 racer, drive at breakneck speed through the heart of Paris. The film was limited for technical reasons to 10 minutes; the course was from Porte Dauphine, through the Louvre, to the Basilica of Sacre Coeur.

No streets were closed, for Lelouch was unable to obtain a permit.

The driver completed the course in about 9 minutes, reaching nearly 140 MPH in some stretches. The footage reveals him running real red lights, nearly hitting real pedestrians, and driving the wrong way up real one-way streets.

[KenWittlief]

or, he mounted the camera close to the ground to give the illusion of speed, and staged the whole event at 5:30AM on a sunday morning.

Dont believe everything you see on film :^)

[Nick Bailey]

Wow, that's insane!!!

Made some REALLY cool footage though.

EDIT maybe not

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

or, he mounted the camera close to the ground to give the illusion of speed, and staged the whole event at 5:30AM on a sunday morning.

Dont believe everything you see on film :^)

I don't care who the guy is, he's still nuts to be doing it.

You'd have to put a lot of zeroes on a check to pay me enough to do that on a closed course!

[dubious elise]

Very cool movie Michael, it reminds me of the auto-racing films at the IMAX. If that story is true, I totally second Billfred, I would hate to actually be in that car.

But I think Ken has a valid point. Maybe it was the quality of the camera, or maybe the sound was added afterwards, but that certainly does not sound like a real Ferrari engine, they have a slightly lower sound which (i think) could only be deepend if the sound had to reflect off the pavement en route from the back of the car (where the engine actually is) to the front bumper.

[Michael Hill]

Originally Posted by dubious elise

Very cool movie Michael, it reminds me of the auto-racing films at the IMAX. If that story is true, I totally second Billfred, I would hate to actually be in that car.

But I think Ken has a valid point. Maybe it was the quality of the camera, or maybe the sound was added afterwards, but that certainly does not sound like a real Ferrari engine, they have a slightly lower sound which (i think) could only be deepend if the sound had to reflect off the pavement en route from the back of the car (where the engine actually is) to the front bumper.

Here is another article about it.
http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2005/Rendezvous.shtml
I got that other text from another article here.
http://www.jerrykindall.com/...1/07_...rendezvous.asp

[Cory]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

or, he mounted the camera close to the ground to give the illusion of speed, and staged the whole event at 5:30AM on a sunday morning.

Dont believe everything you see on film :^)

Kinda like in the Bourne Identity (Or the second one. whichever it was).

They filmed the car chase in Moscow(I think? It was some eastern european city), and they weren't allowed to break the speed limit while filming.

But watching the scene, they look like they're going about 100.

[Madison]

I'd do it.

Does anyone want to provide me with the 275 GTB and a plane ticket to Paris?

[GlitterRave113]

jesus christ! thats even randomer than the whole vanilla thingy! YES! I LURVE RANDOMNESS! haha, wish i could c the footage! did he ever get busted?

[KenWittlief]

Come on guys! lets look at this logically:

1. He was a film maker .An expert in creating the illusion of reality on film.
2. He had a LOT to lose if someone was hurt of killed.
3. The car was very expensive (more to lose).
4. The driver was a professional racer? Someone else who had a lot to lose if someone was hit or killed.

Stop action filming.
You can drive through a city street at a normal speed, stopping for red lights and then 'running' them when the street is clear, filming at a normal speed. Then back in the editing room you drop frames from the final footage to:

1. get the illusion of the speed you want
2. make it appear you ran red lights
3. even to make turn signals on cars infront of you blink at a normal rate (while the film has been sped up).

This would be easy for a film maker to stage. Early in the morning nobody is on the streets. You get drivers for the other cars and busses that you are going to include in the film, and you have them all drive slow, so it appears you are passing them at incredible speeds.

then you speed up the footage in the editing room.

Its a great final product, nicely done - but its not 'real'.

BTW, this is a good example of why movies, videos and photographs are not admissable as evidence in a court of law. Its too easy to doctor them.