Fleming’s 1939 American film The Wizard of Oz is an early pioneer of the use of innovative techniques in camera work, music, visual and special effects in modern day movie production.  The musical-fantasy classic has also become a firm favorite among the American public and coupled with its influence in the film industry, it should be regarded as the most significant American film of all time.

Today’s moviegoers revel in the thrill of highspeed car chases and high octane explosions. It is for this reason that engineers, designers and expert cameramen work continuously to bring us closer to the action. One new development by the Adventure Equipment group is the use of “a gyrostabilized, camera-mounted, remote-controlled crane system attached to an SUV” –  affectionately referred to as the Ultimate Arm. The pan/tilt/rotation capabilities of the camera coupled with the motor’s ability to reduce turbulence and wind resistance enable the camera crew to capture steady footage from a variety of angles during even the most intense chases. The audience is transported “directly into the flow of traffic.” Much has changed since the day Dorothy first rode a tornado into Munchkin City. In 1939, audiences were stunned by the sweeping camera movements as they followed Dorothy and company along the Yellow Brick Road. It is clear that today’s techniques are a bit more complex but with so much progress constantly being made over the years, we can only imagine what lies ahead in the world of filmmaking.

NASA Tech Briefs. "Motor Used to Stabilize Remote-Controlled Camera Crane." NASA Tech Briefs.
       (Aug. 2006). NASA Tech Briefs. Findarticles.com, 1 Dec. 2008. .

Truck Hits Bus; Bus Crashes Into Bank

NEW YORK (WCBS 880)  -- One person is dead and four people are injured after an out-of-control dump truck coming off the Manhattan Bridge slammed into a waiting bus that was loading people for a trip to Boston.

The dead was a 57-year-old pedestrian.

Photo Gallery - Chinatown Bus Crash

That Fung Wah bus that is now jammed into the side of the United Commercial Bank at Canal and The Bowery
 
An entire traffic light has been brought down by this accident. Police are still on the scene investigating.

The impact of the collision caused the bus to go into the plate glass window of the bank, so that's smashed, and so is the bus's front window.

BRONX (WABC) -- Six people were hurt when a bus scraped an overpass on a Bronx highway Friday night.

None of the injuries are considered life-threatening, but the roof of the Greyhound bus was ripped off in the crash.

The incident happened on the Henry Hudson Parkway near 252nd Street. The bus was coming from Massachusetts.

CrashStat: Crash Mapping & Analysis

Maps and Tables - Pedestrian Crashes 1995-2001
Maps and Tables - Bicycle Crashes 1995-2001