The 1980's New York City is envisioned in a 1930 film "Just Imagine" featured Depression-era aesthetics with wild futurist...
The 1980's New York City is envisioned in a 1930 film "Just Imagine" featured Depression-era aesthetics with wild futuristic visions with massive 16-lane highways, vertical terrace architecture and a plethora of weird "future" technologies. Interestingly, the film compares life 50 years before (1880), present time (1930), and 50 years into the future (1980).
In the days before CGI and other visual effects that we see on blockbuster films, the producers have done something George Lucas and the Industrial Light and Magic would be proud of. They managed to build a massive Art Deco style cityscape at a former Army balloon hangar by an army of 205 technicians over a five-month period. There was a giant miniature that cost $168,000 to build and wired by over 15,000 miniature lightbulbs with 74 arc lights used to light the city from above.
There were over 50 special effects shots combining previously photographed backgrounds with live foreground action were accomplished using the Dunning Process. Rear projection technology of the scale and quality required was not available at the time.
What was 1980s like during the Depression Era? People have numbers instead of names, babies are born from vending machines, but the Prohibition was not yet repealed. Future fashion is inspired from Martians with lightning bolts, spikes and metallic-print bikinis mixed with ridiculous wigs and eye makeup are part of the wackiest outfits in film history. One of the characters look like a giant lion fish, and her spiky dress makes a satisfying rattling sound as she flounces around. The men's double breasted lapel-less suits, buttoned on the hip, reinforce how little male dress has changed over the century. In our real 1980, they would not be lounging in sexy fluttering chiffon, but in a jogging suit.
We have yet to establish human settlements on Mars but the film got video chatting and hand dryers right. Apparently, most Martians are leatherboys and dominatrixes in weird silver-foil headdresses and often greets visitors by forcing them out of their clothes and into a walk-in bath.
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