I know sometimes they are animated, Like when David is in the cowfield, and at other times they are connected to each other but the camera angle hides it, like in the aircraft hanger...
... but in the gas station scene, when the two tourists kids are playing, they are clearly seprate real objects which have some "Give" when pushed but look like they are floating, the children walk right around them, How was this done?
I suspect different methods for different shots. Back to the Future 2 used a variety of methods to make the flying car from one scene to another.
shareI just watched it on TV yesterday and it's pretty clear how they do it most of the time, there are shadows from the supporting struts that hold the steps up. They must've had a couple of different setups for the different angles they used.
Still clever though, and a lot of the practical stuff still holds up quite well, even today. The ship interior still looks great as well.
Yes, but my op asks how it is done in one specific shot in one specific scene, the gas station when the kids are playing with them and they have some "give" when pushed.
It's a mid shot They are not animated and they are not held together like in the long shot. I have no idea how it was done as the kids walk around them at the same time.
Just been back and rewatched it, they must've had struts projecting out of the back at the same angle as we're viewing from. You can actually see the girl step over one of them. They do the same trick in other scenes but it's not as obvious in this one because the whole thing's in shadow.
As I said, it's cleverly done stuff.