Movies - The Wizard of Speed and Time

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	Movies - The Wizard of Speed and Time

The Wizard of Speed and Time is a 1989 low-budget feature film written, directed, and starring animator Mike Jittlov, as well as a 1979 16 mm short film, also by Jittlov.

In the original short film, a young man in a green wizard costume runs throughout America at super speed, much like the superhero The Flash. Along the way, he gives a pretty girl a swift lift to another city, gives golden stars to other women who want a trip themselves and then slips on a banana and comically crashes into a film stage, which he then brings to life in magical ways. Jittlov is a special effects technician, and produced all of the special effects in the film himself, many produced through stop motion animation.

Years later, Jittlov was able to incorporate the short, as well as many of his other short films (such as Time Tripper and Animato), into a feature-length 35 mm film. The feature version recounts the exploits of a special effects "wizard" (played by Jittlov) trying to fulfill his dream of making a full-length movie. The tricks of movie magic are exposed; but so are the tribulations of the independent moviemaker working around the Hollywood system.

Many scenes in the movie turned out to be only too prophetic, according to Jittlov. In the film, two rival producers bet over whether Jittlov can actually complete a major effects assignment, and one does everything in his power to thwart Jittlov. In real life, the producer/actor who played the Evil Producer turned out to be a real-life Evil Producer, selling the film to distributors without Jittlov's knowledge or compensation.

The feature film is also filled with subliminal messages, many hidden in single frames during the "Wizard Run" sequence (which was remade and expanded from the original short film), or hidden in electrical sparks generated by various happenings in the film

The feature film was released to theaters in 1989 (though it was never widely distributed), and was later released on VHS and laserdisc. Although there is no official DVD release yet, Jittlov's fans have (with Jittlov's knowledge and at least tacit approval) created a DVD image file, and made it available for free on peer-to-peer networks until such time as an official release is realized.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for The Wizard of Speed and Time ]

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