Movies - TV
How An Invisible Wall In The Twilight Zone Sent A Stunt Man To The Hospital
By DEBOPRIYAA DUTTA
“The Twilight Zone” episode titled “Valley of the Shadow” used several special effects to reflect the story’s advanced technology, including one that injured a stuntman.
Upon encountering a string of strange events in the town of Peaceful Valley, a lost reporter named Phillip Redfield decides to leave but crashes his car into an invisible wall.
Director Perry Lafferty talked about the mechanics of filming this sequence, where identical cars were used to create the illusion of a collision with the help of well-timed cuts.
Lafferty explained it “was achieved by putting a one-inch chain around the back axle and running it with about twenty feet of slack, to a steady nearby tree where it was tied off.”
He added, “By framing a portion of the road, a stunt man drove the car into the frame of the camera and, when the slack was used up, was slammed against the steering wheel.”
Unfortunately, the stunt professional hit the steering wheel too hard while driving at low speed, leading to injuries that landed him in the hospital.