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"Buck Rogers in the 25th Century"
Theatrical Film (1979) and TV Series
(1979-81)
Articles
 Getting Nowhere Fast:
Some exotic 20th-century gadgets
create the illusion of space travel
from TV Guide, November 3, 1979
There he is folks--Buck Rogers (Gil
Gerard), flashing through space in his sleek Starfighter for NBC's Buck Rogers in the
25th Century. And there beside him, in that limitless void, is the enemy--a Draconian
pirate ship! What's it like out there? Isn't it cold? Lonely? Scary? No... boring. The
real work, you see, is done by cameramen and special-effects wizards, who use some
ingenious gadgets to bring Buck's exploits to life.
 At bottom right for instance, a model of the enemy
ship is mounted on a cactus-shaped arm lighted blue--a color that "disappears"
later in an optical process called chroma key. The camera filming the little ship is controlled by a mini-computer
(foreground), which can instruct the camera to pan, roll, tilt or dolly down a track. The
shots of the enemy fighter are then projected, from the rear, onto the screen in back of
Buck's capsule. His job, to be perfectly honest, is to climb in and sit there. Go
get 'em, Buck! And please--try not to look bored.
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