(Jake): Alright, so I guess we're...
Are we doing rehearsal, or just going into it?
(crew): We're actually doing it. Here we go! Background!
Move in!
(Jake): So we need to find Doc, and figure out a way to get Back to the Future!
For the first episode of season one of Could You Survive the Movies,
We really wanted to go big and speak the language of the film,
and what better way to do it than filming here
on the Universal backlot where they actually filmed Back to the Future?
If we can figure out how to get back... - Boom. And then jump...
- This episode of Could You Survive the Movies kicks off the 35 year anniversary
of Back to the Future. And I'm one, thrilled to be involved in it,
but also, it adds a lot of responsibility.
We have to be respectful to the original film.
But getting it right involves a lot more than just filming on this incredible backlot.
Go around, come back to me, try to leave, get back out...
- The way that you guys brought the film back to life is amazing.
It created what I felt back in nineteen eighty--whoo-- four!
...Bob Zemeckis, and tell him about this,
'cause we can make a moving picture about the future...
(Jake): That was awesome, Don. Thank you! (director): Free setting!
(Jake): We're getting smoldering. Action!
- My name name is Adam Contras, I'm the owner of the fastest DeLorean in the world.
(engine revving, electricity crackling)
- Doing the exact same thing they did in the exact same place in the exact same car...
Yeah, I just feel like this is a dream.
- This is the place that started it all.
I think any one of us is in film or TV now.
At a certain point in your life you look back and you go,
"That was the movie that inspired me to do what I'm doing now."
- Marty in the car, camera's in the passenger's seat.
For me, I feel like I got a little taste of what it was like
when they filmed the original movie in 1984.
Cool, cut it. So now we're just doing the close-ups of him.
(crew member): Three, two, one, strike.
(electricity crackling) Ready? Here we go.
Action. Aw! (Jake): Not everything goes exactly as planned.
Did anyone talk to you about sparks?
- Yeah. - You're comfortable with that?
- Oh, absolutely. - And you're comfortable with jumping back into a pan?
- Yeah. - Montana High School teacher of the year. - Action!
(Craig): I'll just hold the two ends together like Doc Brown did...
(Jake): Back to the Future has so many iconic parts of it
we obviously wanted to reference some of that,
but also create our own world that we exits in that still feels like Back to the Future,
but also feels like something different.
(Jake): And it was also working with our incredibly talented crew
to pull that off.
And action! - It worked! We did it!
See you in the future, Jake!
(Jake): You just gotta watch out,
your left foot was kinda getting into the flame.
While staying true to the source material is very important,
I also love playing with expectations.
I think there's something really fun about that.
- I'm Diana, I run the Youtube channel Physics Girl.
Today I'm playing Doc Brown. Look what I made!
Makes a lot of sense to bring in Physics Girl, like the physicist.
Crazy mad scientist.
'Cause he's excited about going back to the future in his crazy science.
Of course. 1.21 gigawatts. That would be enough power!
And I'm excited about science as well, so it's a good mash up.
- This show is clearly about accidental learning.
To use Jake's words, what better place to do it
than a place that already kind of feels like a safe place?
'Cause it's a place from our childhood, it's a place from our past.
And then you get to delve in, and we get to blow it up.
(explosion)
- We're trying to replicate the force of the pressure wave
that would be hitting Marty when he blows up through the amp on our set here.
- We have an air mortar filled to 100psi...
Not only is it important to capture the details of the movie
in our narrative element of the show,
but it's also equally as important to dissect the science.
- Angular rate sensors, which will measure angular velocity.
- We're using a high-speed FLIR capable of up to a thousand frames per second.
FLIR itself stands for forward looking infrared.
(Jake): The point of shooting with these scientific cameras, like a Phantom or a FLIR,
besides just being incredibly cool,
hopefully, it gets you very excited about the film all over again
and also the science.
(pressurized air)
- That was... (laughing)
- Just happy that we decided not to use me for this stunt.
'Cause that would've been horrible.
I mean, really cool, but for my well-being...
...horrible.
(crew member): Ladies and gentlemen,
that was our Abby. That is a good night!
(Jake): Now I'm gonna go home, and take a little nap.
As always, thanks for watching.
(victorious music)
- It's real to me!