Great Scott! The photographer recreates a scene from the 1985 film “Back to the Future” in which the DeLorean is hit by flash and travels back to 1955 with a LEGO miniature car and a sparkler
- A photographer captured stunning images of a Back to the Future scene that he recreated at his home
- Daniel Sands used a LEGO DeLorean, lighter fluid to create the burning tires, a smoke can for smoke and a single sparkler to mimic the lightning strike
- The process took about three hours, from setup to capturing and editing the images
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A photographer recreated the moment Doc Brown and Marty McFly travel back in time, but in miniature.
Daniel Sands, who is also a computer programmer, is obsessed, which some would call obsessed, with the 1985 film and reconstructed the moment when a flash of light struck the DeLorean, transporting it to 1955.
Sands pulled out all the stops for his “Big Budget” pictures, using lighter fluid to create the flaming tires, a fog can for smoke, and a single sparkler to mimic the lightning strike.
However, the shrunken DeLorean was the LEGO Icons 10200 Back to The Future Time Machine, which was a small replica of the iconic vehicle from the film.
The iconic Back to the Future scene where light hits the DeLorean has been recreated in a miniature version
Daniel Sands recreated the scene at his home using common items he found around his home – including a LEGO DeLorean
Robert Zemeckis directed the original film, Back to the Future, starring young Michael J. Fox as a 1980’s teenager transported to the 1950’s.
The time travel comedy became an instant classic upon its release in 1985 and spawned two sequels, along with other content including a television cartoon.
“I wanted to try to recreate the moment from the Back to the Future movie where lightning hits the Delorean and transports the car in time,” Daniel told Dorset Live.
“I wanted to use physical effects rather than Photoshop, so I used sparklers to recreate lightning and some BBQ lighter fluid to create the flaming tires.
“I also used some mist in a can for the smoke and some wallpaper patterns for the street texture.”
Sands used lighter fluid to create the burning tires, a fog can for smoke, and a single sparkler to replicate the lightning strike
The entire shoot took about three hours: one hour for the shoot, the rest was setting up the scene and then editing the images
The result is an atmospheric recreation of Michael J. Fox’s character Marty McFly’s time travel in the iconic car.
However, the LEGO DeLorean costs more than $200 but came complete with miniature figures of Doc Brown and Marty and the iconic hoverboard.
“I loved the Back to the Future trilogy from a young age, having recently rewatched it with my kids, who luckily loved it too,” said Sands, who lives in Dorset, England.
“I bought the Lego Delorean model to add to my Star Wars Lego collection and during the initial COVID lockdown I found an opportunity for my photography hobby by taking photos of Lego around my home.
“At the time it was mostly Star Wars sets, but I’ve just started to expand into other movie franchises.
“The Lego Delorean model is so full of authentic detail that it was an easy model to photograph.”
The result is an atmospheric recreation of Michael J. Fox’s character Marty McFly’s time travel in the iconic car
The entire shoot took about three hours: one hour for the shoot, the rest was setting up the scene and then editing the images.
“I’ve always tried to make toy photography accessible to everyone, so I don’t use expensive lighting or studio equipment, I ‘settle’ with things around the house,” Sands said.
“I’ve been known to use barbecue ash, pizza boxes and old bike lights for some of my photos – so while shopping for sparklers to entertain my kids over campfire weekend, I had the idea of recreating the famous ‘Lightning Strike’ scene from Back In the future 1 with a spare sparkler.
“I’m very happy with the result and hope it inspires others to try it themselves. with caution, of course.”