Slow-motion videos—much like time-lapse videos—offer all kinds of insights not available to us here in real time. Watching bugs take off in slow motion, for example, is a shockingly beautiful sight. Now, we can add to the list of things thrust into a new, extremely slow, light, a pinball machine. Which, in slow motion, reveals its hidden mechanical complexities.
Gav of The Slow Mo Guys put together the new slow-motion video, which explores the insides of a Willy Wonka pinball machine. The Slow Mo Guys, for those unfamiliar, is the YouTube channel responsible for an endless number of these slow-motion videos. Along with this pinball machine, Gav, and his co-host Dan, have slow-mo’d everything from iPhones to cats to glitter.
In the video, Gav notes he’s not a fantastic pinball player, but is fascinated by the machines themselves. And it’s no wonder after seeing one of these arcade Cadillacs in action; especially the inside of the machine, where all of the mechanical processes necessary to keep the ball in (or out) of play fire off in perfect sequence.
The Slow Mo Guys
Speaking of which, the slow-motion look at the inside of the cabinet occurs at about five-and-a-half minutes into the video. And watching the machine’s various switches, circuits, rods, rings, ejectors, and plungers all work in harmony is entrancing. Particularly the machine’s bumpers, which are able to bounce a ball back and forth eight times in less than half a second.
The Slow Mo Guys
For those now in the mood to watch a bevy of other slow-motion videos, there are many options from which to choose. Watching mannequins explode in slow motion, is, of course, always a treat. And few things are quite as satisfying as watching a hunk of metal annihilate stuff in slow motion. Conversely, those who just want to check out more pinball action should take a (normal-speed) look at this Jurassic Park cabinet.
Feature image: The Slow Mo Guys