60 Cycles

60 Cycles is a film about the 11th St-Laurent long-distance bicycle race covering 2,400 kilometres of Gaspé countryside in 12 days. With the curving, picturesque landscape as backdrop, you see here an event where the challenge seems more personal than competitive. 60 Cycles was the first to use a 1,000-mm lens in an opening shot that remains famous: a group of cyclists is shown riding towards the camera with the impression that they are not even moving due to the long focal length of the lens.{{cite book|last1=Morris|first1=Peter|title=The Film Companion|url=https://archive.org/details/filmcompanion0000morr|url-access=registration|date=1984|publisher=Irwin Publishing|location=Toronto|isbn=0-7725-1505-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/filmcompanion0000morr/page/277 277]}}{{cite journal|last1=Alioff|first1=Maurie|title=Delinquent Days: An Interview with a Quebec icon, Cinematographer/Director/Scenarist Jean-Claude Labrecque csc|journal=Canadian Cinematographer|date=November 2009|pages=6–11}}

In 1966, Labrecque told Take One magazine, "I found I could go further in experimenting with the effects of various lenses on heat. For example, we found out how heat waves can be seen coming off the road on a hot day. We first noticed the effect approaching the camera way in the distance. With everything telescoped, it produced a unique effect. Notice how, on the right of the line of cyclists (they were on a straight road seven miles long), the telephone poles seem to be a narrow fence. In reality, there is a 180 feet between each pole.

"We used Eastmancolor and had three telephoto lenses (1,000, 600 and 300 mm) on Arriflex cameras with an Angenieux zoom 25–250. We had two operators, two assistants, one racing car driver and one business manager. In the end, we only used the sequence shot with the 1,000-mm lens. This was done so as not to break the rhythm, since the three sequences gave different speeds to the racers and varied the rhythm of the 'heat waves', which are so noticeable in the film."{{cite journal|title=Jean-Claude Labrecque|journal=Take One|date=November 1966|volume=1|issue=2|pages=13–14}}

George Lucas has stated that he was influenced by 60 Cycles when he directed his 1966 student film 1:42.08.{{cite book|last1=Smith|first1=Jim|title=George Lucas|date=2003|publisher=Virgin Books|isbn=9780753507551|pages=12|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G2lZAAAAMAAJ&q=%221:42.08%22+%2260+Cycles%22|access-date=30 April 2017|language=en}}

• 18th Canadian Film Awards – Best Colour Cinematography{{cite book|last1=Wise|first1=Wyndham|title=Take One's Essential Guide to Canadian Film|date=2001|publisher=University of Toronto Press|location=Toronto|isbn=0-8020-3512-4|page=260|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oveMBgAAQBAJ&q=take+one%27s+essential+guide+to+canadian+film|access-date=May 1, 2017}}
• 19th British Academy Film Awards: Nominee: BAFTA Award for Best Short Film

{{reflist}}

• {{NFB film|60_cycles_en}}
• {{YouTube|8KotsGmYl8A}}
• {{IMDb title|0224574}}

Category:1965 short documentary films

Category:National Film Board of Canada short films

Category:National Film Board of Canada documentaries

Category:Films directed by Jean-Claude Labrecque

Category:Documentary films about cycling

Category:Films shot in Quebec

Category:Films produced by Jacques Bobet

Category:Canadian short documentary films

Category:1960s French-language films

Category:French-language Canadian films

Category:1960s Canadian films

Category:Cycle racing in Quebec

Category:French-language short documentary films