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About

CLASSICAL GAS

Bob Rector
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She looked like a squirrel on speed and the psychedelic effects were baffling at the time. How was it done?

The film was shot one frame at a time to achieve the speeded up action and psychedelic effect, snapping the zoom lens in and out during the exposure. This technique is called photo-animation.

This girl (about 16 at the time, I think) was a friend and classmate of my little brother. Her mother and my mother were good friends and so I had known her for some time before I made the film. She was a lot of fun and had a zany sense of humor and, as you can see, looked a lot like Twiggy and Goldie Hawn at the time.

I shot some other footage of her for a film about a girl whose boyfriend was breaking up with her, but I just couldn't make it work. I did get some poignant shots, though, including her in a dressy gown that she was clearly uncomfortable wearing, and decided to work that footage into the wild psychedelic footage. The result was what I called The Butterfly because I saw it as a girl's frantic, often chaotic, often reluctant, transformation into inevitable womanhood.

Before filming, we had gathered a number of props and costume articles and while I snapped away, I called out things for her do to, trying to throw as many curve balls as I could. As you see, she knocked them all out of the park. Very imaginative and witty.

I was very happy when I found this film at the bottom of a mislabeled box packed away for years and luckily transferred unopened from one abode to another. As you can see, it has suffered over the years, but I think the essence is still there and it's still fun to watch and very indicative of the era.
The film was shot one frame at a time to achieve the speeded up action and psychedelic effect, snapping echnique is called photo-animation.
This girl (about 16 at the time, I think) was a friend and classmate of my little brother. Her mother and Back to the Videoswn her for some time before I made the film. She was a lot of fun and had a zany sense of humor and, as you can see, looked a lot like Twiggy and Goldie Hawn at the time.
I shot some other footage of her for a film about a girl whose boyfriend was breaking up with her, but I just couldn't make it work. I did get some poignant shots, though, including her in a dressy gown that she was clearly uncomfortable wearing, and decided to work that footage into the wild psychedelic footage. The result was what I called The Butterfly because I saw it as a girl's frantic, often chaotic, often reluctant, transformation into inevitable womanhood.
Before filming, we had gathered a number of props and costume articles and while I snapped away, I called out things for her do to, trying to throw as many curve balls as I could. As you see, she knocked them all out of the park. Very imaginative and witty.
I was very happy when I found this film at the bottom of a mislabeled box packed away for years and luckily transferred unopened from one abode to another. As you can see, it has suffered over the years, but I think the essence is still there and it's still fun to watch and very indicative of the era.
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