Magic Movie

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
German title Magic Movie
Original title The Wizard of Speed ​​and Time
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1989
length 95 minutes
Rod
Director Mike Jittlov
script Mike Jittlov
production Mike Jittlov, Richard Kaye
music John Massari
camera Russell Carpenter
occupation

Magic Movie (Original title: The Wizard of Speed ​​and Time ) is a 1989 released low-budget film directed by Mike Jittlov . He wrote the script, directed and appeared as one of the main characters.

Short film from 1979

The origin of the feature film is a short film by Mike Jittlov from 1979. In this you see a young man in a green wizard's cape running across the United States in fast motion. On the way, he takes a pretty woman in his arms and brings her to Hollywood . At the end of the film, he slips on a banana peel and ends up in a film set that is magically brought to life.

In 1980 this appeared with a new soundtrack on a 16mm film , along with other of his short films. Jittlov played the magician and shot all the special effects himself, most of them stop-motion. The short film was shown as part of an episode of The Wonderful World of Disney under the Major Effects category . After that, the short film was shown at various science fiction events and achieved a high level of popularity. Jittlov mentioned at the time that he might make a feature film in which he shows how the short film was made.

1989 feature film from 1989

A few years after the short film, Jittlov turned it again and added it to his feature film. This feature film also features other of his short films ( Time Tripper and Animato ). Mike Jittlov plays himself in the role of a special effects wizard who wants to fulfill his dream of a full-length film. Many of the visual effects in this film are clearly exaggerated, as is the portrayal of the unionized film industry. The effects in the film were shot using stop motion , rotoscopy and pixilation .

The main story of the film is the creation and shooting of the short film and Jittlov's attempt to present it in a show called Hollywood's Greatest Effects . A film director (played by Steve Brodie ) supports him, but both are hindered time and again by his producer (played by Richard Kaye ) at work. The producer bets the director for a sum of 25,000 dollars that Jittlov would not be able to produce the film and boycotts Jittlov's work wherever he can. Another obstacle is the high level of union membership in the film industry, which is clearly excessive in the film, which limits Jittlov as a non-member in many situations.

useful information

  • Richard Kaye produced the feature film and appeared in the film as producer Harvey Bookman. His then 16-year-old daughter Lauri Kaye was the production secretary of the newly shot short film and worked as a voice-over speaker and hand model for the feature film .
  • The feature film was shot in 1983, took 5 years to complete and was shown in only a few cinemas in 1989. It was later released on VHS and Laserdisc and achieved some sort of cult status. An official release on DVD has not yet taken place.
  • In the meantime, the film was also released on DVD in Germany in March 2020.
  • If you look at the new short film frame by frame at some points , you will find many hidden messages. Some of these can also be seen in different situations in the actual film, for example hidden in electrical discharges.
  • The two policemen in the film, played by Philip Michael Thomas and Lynda Aldon , are named Mickey (Polanko) and Minnie (Smith), the police dog is called Pluto
  • Two actors have names based on cigarette brands in the film: Lucky Straeker and Dora Belair
  • Jittlov's mother and brother also play these roles in his film
  • To avoid copyright infringement, a new birthday song was composed for a movie scene ( Merry Birthday to You )
  • In the chase scene with the police officers, Jittlov is wearing a cloak and is sitting in the back seat of the police car instead of the dog
  • Just like in the movie, Jittlov has an aversion to shaking hands in greeting
  • Jittlov played the "pool stunt" in the film himself, holding his breath for two minutes.
  • The scenes in the various offices of the union building were all filmed around the same table. Voice-over spokesman Will Ryan played all of the officers depicted here. The film union symbol shown is a vulture with its claws wrapped in film strips
  • The music heard during the short film was used in a trailer for the Toy Story 3 video game

Web links