One item is always removed from cars in films, and fans had no idea | Films | Entertainment

Despite the number of films or TV shows you’ve watched, you may not have noticed that production teams often remove certain parts of vehicles to enhance their appearance on screen.

The amount of work that goes into creating a film or TV show can be staggering, with many aspects often overlooked by viewers. Beyond the obvious elements of acting, filming and editing, there are numerous other teams involved, including set design, stunts, and special effects, to name just a few.

Film enthusiast Reeves Connelly has left many people perplexed as he revealed a ‘film making secret’ that most viewers wouldn’t give a second thought to while enjoying their favourite films.

“Cars in movies and shows will usually have their headrests removed, because it blocks the camera from capturing the actors in the backseat,” Reeves stated at the beginning of his Instagram video. “And the rear view mirrors will also be removed for the same reason.”

However, despite sounding hazardous to remove these items from a car, the vehicles used in films typically don’t require them as the actors seldom actually drive the cars.

Instead, the cars are generally driven by stunt drivers positioned atop the vehicles, allowing the actors to concentrate solely on their performances.

And it’s not just vehicles that actors often pretend to drive or ride. If they lack equestrian skills, an electric horse will be manoeuvred around for them, creating the illusion they’re mounted on a genuine steed.

“And for the sequences where the vehicle flips over, the performers essentially experience a fairground ride, because they’re fastened to their seats by a safety bar, and then rotated on a spinning apparatus, so that their limbs are free to move about to enhance the authenticity,” he clarified.

So what occurs if the motor needs to reverse? Well, these vehicles will have two stunt operators on either side of the car, at the front and the rear, and both will remain hidden from the cameras that are recording the performers inside the vehicle.

He continued to assert in the caption of the post: “The headrests are usually not removed for scenes where there’s nobody sitting in the backseat, but if they already recorded a scene without them, they’ll just remove them for all of the scenes, to keep it consistent.”

Several users soon flocked to the comments section to express their astonishment as they’d never cottoned on to this previously.

“The more you know!” one person remarked, whilst another viewer declared: “Thank you for this information because I’ve always wondered about driving and car scenes lol.”

A third individual stated: “My flabber is gasted.”

Someone else also contributed: “And also they will usually reupholster the interior grey because it shows up better on camera, see Little Miss Sunshine 1978 Bus.”