Picture the scene. A stage-coach is travelling through the Wild West. The camera moves in to give us a close-up and for some inexplicable reason we see the wheels moving backwards. We know it cannot really be happening, otherwise the stage coach would be going backwards. However, our eyes are not deceiving us. That is what is up on the screen. So what is going on?
The problem is that the wheels on the carriage are moving more slowly than the film is running through the camera. If they speeded up to the same rate as the film, they would appear to stand still, which would be even more absurd. Only when the wheels move faster than the film do they appear to move forwards. Even then they do not go at the same speed as the vehicle.
Picture Credit : Google
