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November 15th, 2013
12:07 PM ET
Jean-Claude Van Damme's stunt goes viralHow did he do that? To show the world how smooth their steering is designed, Volvo commisioned a stunt where action star Jean-Claude Van Damme does a split between moving trucks and it's pretty amazing.
"I've had my ups and downs," the actor says in a voice over. "My fair share of bumpy roads and heavy winds. That's what made me what I am today." What follows is a short speech and probably one of the most amazing splits ever performed with trucks that are driving backwards. Super impressive for a man who is 53 years old, even a man known for his extreme martial arts moves. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVYG0rz7Ea8&w=560&h=315] Of course Volvo states that the stunt was performed "by professionals in a closed off area." In other words, don't try this at home folks.
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For those intimate moments when you would rather spit than swallow.
I REALLY DONT CARE, ITS A BREATHTAKING AD WITH AMAZING MUSIC AND AS FAR AS DEMONSTRATING THE VOLVOS QUALITIES, ITS DONE AN AMAZING JOB. BEGONE ALL YE BARBARIANS
Would you PLEASE STOP YELLING, Jan?
It was all done with CGI, animatronics and stop-motion claymation.
I can do that.. hold my beer.
I'll hold your beer for ya. I will video it for ya, too. We'll post it for the rest of the Marquee bloggers to watch. Deal? 🙂
My wife and I had the pleasure of meeting Jean Claude years ago back in Vail on a ski lift.......what a nice and humble man he was! He was skiing solo and looked very happy! 🙂
Monsieur Van Damme, ce vidéo est absolument exceptionnel. Votre performance est tout simplement magique. Quand vous ouvrez les yeux, ceux qui sont photographes (amateurs ou professionnels) savent lire entre les lignes.....J'adore, tout simplement. Le choix de "Only time" de Enya, est magique, pour qui se donne la peine de comprendre les paroles......Merci pour ce que vous avez fait . Une de vos fans de la Ville de Québec. xx
CNN you posted the wrong video. This is the proper one. http://youtu.be/M7FIvfx5J10 That's why the music cuts out in the video you posted.
Think for a moment people. The purpose of this commercial is to show the technology that allows these trucks to drive backwards with such precision. This isn't a commercial for JCVD doing stunts. Or a production company showing visual tricks. This is a Volvo commercial. SO yes, the trucks are going backwards.
is it possible that the trucks are going backwards because this was shot in reverse? meaning he was in split and the trucks apart then slowly came together. it would make more sense and less risky. kind of how they shot the coldplay music video for The Scientist.
the drivers are looking backwards... so endeth your forward driving reverse played film.
I've been reading through the comments and am amazed at all the negative or ridiculing comments that have been posted but at the same time encouraged by all of the positive and supportive comments as well. Jean-Claude himself said he has experienced many ups and downs in life, so have we all, instead of ridiculing the man, look at yourselves first. Jean-Claude, you have my respect, not so much for this feat/commercial than as for how you've survived those ups and downs and definitely appear to be on a wonderful path now.
Again, Mike, thanks for the kind words and support, but you don't have to keep making comments in my defense here - it's getting kind of weird. I'm a big boy and I can take care of myself.
Thanks again though.
Regards,
J.C.
You are the best of the best J.C. All the best and new roles .God bless you my hero . I'm very respect you.
Regards,
Mike
You are so kind, Mike, and it is a pleasure being a hero and role model to you and to millions of others.
Yours in Christ,
Jean-Claude
I am IMPRESSED.
I don't care how contrived.
That's two D.U.I's in one right there.
It hurts my left nut just watching this.
It's real. That's why those lines are painted on the ground. The trucks follow them to sure they remain the correct distance apart.
Dan, think before you talk. The ENTIRE purpose of this commercial was to show that the trucks could drive in reverse with this measure of accuracy.
I watched this clip over and over on YouTube...I thought it might be fake too, until I noticed JCVD's foot adjustemt. Just before the camera sweeps to the side, JCVD moves his right foot slightly to gain better footing. To me the = no fake. Could it? Yes, but not likely. Watch for it.
It is cool.
Filmed at very slow speeds, a crawl, and then sped up to make it look superhuman?
The trucks are driving slowly backwards, yes.
Film is normal speed.
It looks like it started with him doing the splits and then drove forward ....... the recording is backwards. Imagine driving those trucks with the trailer backwards... how did it stay straight.
The tractor-trailer on the right is driving backwards. The whole point of the stunt is to demonstrate how accurately straight the truck can back up with a trailer.
The truck on the left is a box truck. As such, it is the only truck that makes the ever-so-slight turn to the left causing the trucks to separate. Without the trailer to worry about, it just needs to maintain the appropriate distance from the semi.
Volvo trucks are the best trucks out there. The drivers are both probably million plus mile drivers, the ultimate in professionals. The semi tractor and trailer were also new so that made the backing in a straight line so much easier. But even a Volvo 660 tractor with 150,000 and a trailer that is 5 years old and has been bounced over curbs can be backed with ease with the steering in one of those Volvos. I back one in a straight line for a quarter mile at about 10-15 mph over a quarter mile at night. It freaked out my boss who was a Freightliner fan but drove the Volvo tractors too.
That makes a lot of sense.
/facepalm
"This test was set up to demonstrate the stability of Volvo Dynamic Steering" at 1:04 in the clip.
Driving backwards is the entire point of the commercial.
That is the entire point – to demonstrate the precision steering of the trucks. Going forward wouldn't demonstrate anything unusual.
Do some research folks. JCVD, the director, and Volvo have all stated that it is real, it was done in one take, and the only safety equipment is a wire attaching him to one of the trucks in case he fell. Feet aren't attached (what a bad idea THAT would be if something went wrong). If he went down, he would still likely be injured, but at least he wouldn't smash his head open.
Props to JC.
Those who guessed they filmed it going forward, i.e., he started in the splits position, and the trucks slowing came together while driving forward, then they ran the film backwards for the commercial are correct.
Additionally, you can see that his left foot has a brace attaching him to the truck, while the right leg does not have the same bracing. This would allow him to quickly release from one truck, while remaining attached to the other, in case it was needed.
Still a very impressive stunt, and all those 'tricks' are not tricks, but proof that indeed these were professionals doing this, as professionals do not take unnecessary risks.
Agreed, also only one truck really separates. If you notice the lines on the road,its only when a third one start appearing that the truck goes to the side and the camera goes back and slightly changes its angle of viewresulting you thinking that both trucks actually do separate. Still Pretty amazing nonetheless
He's amazing to be in that kind of shape, and to pull off that kind of stunt at any age, let alone 52. However, like any good trick, there is always a method to the madness. I am an amateur magician – and there are hundreds of tricks, when performed, absolutely blow your mind. But when you know the very clever secret, the magic is gone and you are far less impressed. I think that is what is going on here. The split is, no doubt real, and amazing in and of itself. But the risking his life part is probably not as impressive if you knew the methodology. I don't think he would risk his life for the 50k they probably paid him.
Actually, if you look at the lugs on the truck wheels they appear to be turning counter-clockwise, which is the wrong direction if the trucks are going backwards. In addition, even a professional driver would struggle to drive a truck backwards at speed without weaving. It's still an incredible stunt, but the trucks were almost certainly moving forward during the taping and then reversed for the ad.
So, you say the trucks are driving forward because the lugs are turning counter-clockwise (i.e. opposite the direction of travel). If that were the case, then the wheels would be going clockwise with the trucks driving forwards (i.e. opposite the direction of travel).
Hi Godspeed,
I'm not disputing your contention that they reversed the video footage, it's entirely possible. However, the odd wheel rotation you mentioned isn't a clue – here's why:
If the wheels were rotating opposite the way you'd expect, either the trucks would be being towed against the force of the tires (resulting in a lot of smoke, I'd guess). If the trucks were moving under their own power, regardless of direction, the wheels would move in the appropriate direction whether the footage was reversed or not.
What you're seeing is what I think could be called phase shifting, in this case an optical illusion. Let's say the camera was recording the shot at 24 frames per second, and for ease of illustration, let's say the wheels have 1 lug nut each. If the wheel is rotating at 24 rotations per second, or 48, 72, 96, etc., all multiples of 24, the lug nut will be in the same position every time the camera exposes a frame. If the wheel is rotating at 24 and the camera is shooting at 24, the wheel has made one revolution between frames. If the wheel is rotating at 48, then it's spun around twice between frames, etc. If the phase is locked in this case, it looks like the wheel isn't turning. If the wheel spins slightly faster in one direction, the lug nut will be slightly ahead of where it was previously; if the wheel spins slightly slower in one direction, the lug nut will be slightly behind where it was previously, all regardless of the number of revolutions made between frames.
So what you're seeing in the video, at least as far as the wheel rotation is concerned, is an optical illusion.
"Actually, if you look at the lugs on the truck wheels they appear to be turning counter-clockwise, which is the wrong direction if the trucks are going backwards."
Optical illusion. Watch old cowboy movies with a stagecoach. The wheels appear to be moving in the wrong backwards while the coach is moving forward. Just watch the stagecoach in the movie "Stagecoach". It even has a name, it is called the 'stagecoach-wheel effect".
Godspeed,
dbarak is correct about the phase-shifting. There is a mismatch between the rotation rate of the wheels and the frame rate of the video camera. The wheels appear to be rotating counter-clockwise, but in reality they are moving clockwise. They just haven't moved far enough between one video frame and the next for each lug nut to have moved all the way to where the next one in line had been in the previous video frame, presenting the appearance that all the lug nuts moved in the opposite direction.
You'll see this sort of thing in any car/truck commercial where the vehicle is moving above a certain speed. In fact for every vehicle/wheel/camera combination, there is a certain road speed where the wheels will actually appear to be perfectly stationary. (But this is rarely captured on video.)
Insanitary? Really?
This is impressive. It's the Go Daddy ads that creep me out!
Ya gotta know some fool is gonna try this and wind up being roadkill.
Instant Darwin Award.
Amazing
YeeeeeHAAAAAAAAA!!!! Lookit this, ya'll!
Still good at what he does best