Ooops, I mean, we meant to do that.
When making a short film a lot of things get overlooked due to the quick pace and short resources this type of project demands. Also, compromises must be made because of that same lack of resources. There are a bunch of little glitches or errors in 405 that we wish we could have changed. There are also a lot of decisions made due to the pace of production in order to get this film done. The baseline for these decisions was: will anyone catch this in just a few views? Sure some might, but if it didn't take away from the overall enjoyment of the film and it would have taken days or weeks to fix, it was left in.

The odometer reading never changes
Probably the most common comment that people make is concerning the two speedometer shots and its odometer. There are two shots about 40 seconds apart. The odometer reads the same on both shots. While this was something that was honestly overlooked, we are surprised by how many people have asked us about it. Assuming a steady reduction of speed from the first shot at 145mph to the second shot at 35mph it is possible that the car could have been on the same mile during these two shots. But really it would have been changed had it been caught.

The interior and exterior of the Jeep are from different model years
The interior of the car, including the digital odometer were shot inside of a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The exterior CG Jeep used was the 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee which did not have this odometer. This is one of many examples demonstrating that the interiors were shot on a slightly different model of Jeep than that of the exteriors. In fant when the Jeep pulls into frame at the end of the film, it is not the same as the CG 1993 Jeep seen in the wide shot but the actual 1999 model used for the live action shooting.

Where did all the cars on the other side of the freeway go?
Another often asked question is about the first shot of the jet in the film: Why are there no cars on the other lane when we saw them gridlocked there in a previous shot? The truth of this shot is simple. This was one of the last shots completed and it just never turned out the way it was envisioned. The addition of the traffic was intended to be added as a final polish. Unfortunately, too much time was spent trying to get the over-all shot to look right. The deadline came up and this was used as it was. We understand now why George Lucas always wants to go back and niddle his Special Edition films.

Did you know the old lady's car is in park?
This was one of the true over-sights. It would have been easy to put chucks under the wheels and put the car in neutral. Unfortunately on the day of this shoot the things being concentrated on were getting a usable performance out our actress before she got tired and her brain fried in the 105 degree car. Plus many people are just unfamiliar with steering column shift levers and we were surprised so many people caught this.

The Jeep is standing still in one shot
While shooting on the freeway a lot of raw footage was shot. The editing process involved finding usable action sequences that also had no cars or obstacles visible in the background. A few shots fit so well into the flow of the action that they were used despite objectionable items visible for a few frames in the background. In one such shot seen from outside the car, It can bee seen that the car is actually standing still. It takes a quick eye to catch it at the end of the shot. Several other shots from this angle were also used. But being more noticeable, the stationary backgrounds were digitally replaced.

How could the plane fit under that overpass?
In another shot after the plane has landed on the Jeep, a bridge underpass can be seen just having passed. It would be difficult for the plane to make it past this obstacle. This was another example of something that was to be digitally removed but in the end the filmmakers put more of their effort into things that were more obvious. It is only visible in the first two frames of the cut but it is there if you look for it.

Exactly what side of the road are they on?
For all of the car exteriors and backgrounds for many of the live action plates a fully CG environment was created. This environment included the road, barriers, sound walls, signs, trees, and mountains on the horizon. In order to create the sense of realism all these elements were used where ever possible. Sometimes they were inadvertently placed in places they should not have been. Notice the the sign to the right of the freeway. It can be argued, however that what you see is a merging lane from another freeway. But there are quite a few inconsistencies like this in 405.

Why didn't the driver just stop when he saw the plane behind him? It would have flown right overhead.
This is more of a psychological issue than a mistake in the film. You never know how someone might react to such a sight, and our driver chose... poorly.