PHArchivist
Master Member
I wonder if its not too late to research the props made for Steve Ausitn's rebuilding? After all, it has been 38 years... But with the release of the entire series on DVD, I have a renewed interest.
I recently watched the first pilot episode, which featured the crash sequence, and his transition to bionic man. In comparing the pilot episode sequence to the classic opening credits sequence, it seems to me that only three or four props were used.
1. Clearly, there is the eye, seen through the lit magnifier (in both the pilot and the credits).
2. The pilot episode dives moderately deep with his arm. There are fantastic shots of the full arm, along with its carrying case. The arm features both the forearem and the upper arm; it is essentially complete. The images show very good shots of the electronic and mechanical elements of the arm.
3. The credit sequence shows what seems to me a truncated version of the arm; or basically, just the forearm. I'm not sure if it is simply part of the larger version from the pilot, or a separate prop.
4. The credit sequence shows forceps fiddling inside an opening in the leg. No leg parts are shown in the pilot.
Thanks to an 18-minute feature on the making of the credit sequence (chaired by the director of the sequence himself), there is more known.
First, and obviously, the credit sequence came after the pilot episode. Some shots - particularly of the eye - were reused, cut into the credits. But the arm and leg shots of the credits do not appear in the pilot.
Were they unused clips from the pilot? Or shot wholly new for the credits? This is not completely answered by the feature. If they were shot as new footage, then the props may be new/different from the props used for the pilot.
The credit sequence director DID shed light on the leg, however. He stated that the leg used was the same leg used in Clint Eastwood's "Beguiled", (after the women amputate Clint's leg to entrap him further).
This suggests that the leg prop was very possibly created for the credits. Also, in the credit shots of the leg, recall there is a blue-green cloth draped over the ankle, and (to me, anyway) the foot looks very real. I've always wondered if the foot itself may have been real, inserted perhaps up through a hole in the table.
On the arm, closer examination and comparison of the credits versus the pilot could probably help ascertain if they were the same prop or not. I'll have to do that later, and post caps (sorry I don't have any now).
The eye has been replicated on the RPF in the past.
The DVDs show very good looks at the prop; good enough to build a convincing replica. However there is no known insight to how the design was derived, how it was built, who built it, or where it may be now.
Finally, the pilot episode credits contain an acknowledgement and "thank you" to the UCLA Prosthetics Department. This makes me wonder if the show producers contracted UCLA to build (or help build) the "bionic" limbs. Problem is that 38 years later, I doubt there is still anybody on board there that was there in 1973. We'd have to hope that perhaps information was "passed down".
My hopes with this thread is that perhaps we can dig up more information on these briefly seen but iconic props. Info on who built them, how there were built, and if perhaps they still exist today.
.
I recently watched the first pilot episode, which featured the crash sequence, and his transition to bionic man. In comparing the pilot episode sequence to the classic opening credits sequence, it seems to me that only three or four props were used.
1. Clearly, there is the eye, seen through the lit magnifier (in both the pilot and the credits).
2. The pilot episode dives moderately deep with his arm. There are fantastic shots of the full arm, along with its carrying case. The arm features both the forearem and the upper arm; it is essentially complete. The images show very good shots of the electronic and mechanical elements of the arm.
3. The credit sequence shows what seems to me a truncated version of the arm; or basically, just the forearm. I'm not sure if it is simply part of the larger version from the pilot, or a separate prop.
4. The credit sequence shows forceps fiddling inside an opening in the leg. No leg parts are shown in the pilot.
Thanks to an 18-minute feature on the making of the credit sequence (chaired by the director of the sequence himself), there is more known.
First, and obviously, the credit sequence came after the pilot episode. Some shots - particularly of the eye - were reused, cut into the credits. But the arm and leg shots of the credits do not appear in the pilot.
Were they unused clips from the pilot? Or shot wholly new for the credits? This is not completely answered by the feature. If they were shot as new footage, then the props may be new/different from the props used for the pilot.
The credit sequence director DID shed light on the leg, however. He stated that the leg used was the same leg used in Clint Eastwood's "Beguiled", (after the women amputate Clint's leg to entrap him further).
This suggests that the leg prop was very possibly created for the credits. Also, in the credit shots of the leg, recall there is a blue-green cloth draped over the ankle, and (to me, anyway) the foot looks very real. I've always wondered if the foot itself may have been real, inserted perhaps up through a hole in the table.
On the arm, closer examination and comparison of the credits versus the pilot could probably help ascertain if they were the same prop or not. I'll have to do that later, and post caps (sorry I don't have any now).
The eye has been replicated on the RPF in the past.
The DVDs show very good looks at the prop; good enough to build a convincing replica. However there is no known insight to how the design was derived, how it was built, who built it, or where it may be now.
Finally, the pilot episode credits contain an acknowledgement and "thank you" to the UCLA Prosthetics Department. This makes me wonder if the show producers contracted UCLA to build (or help build) the "bionic" limbs. Problem is that 38 years later, I doubt there is still anybody on board there that was there in 1973. We'd have to hope that perhaps information was "passed down".
My hopes with this thread is that perhaps we can dig up more information on these briefly seen but iconic props. Info on who built them, how there were built, and if perhaps they still exist today.
.
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