: BTW some of these pictures may be
: composites... The one with McQueen his
: Romantic interest, with the cars on the
: track in the background in particular is
: likely a retouch/composite image... In fact
: there was a thread over in the TimeZone
: Omega Forum last week on the topic
: (initially) of which watch did Steve McQueen
: wear in the movie Bullitt that one of these
: photo's was discussed and disected. Here is
: a post from that thread where I disected one
: of these photos...

: I think you can rule out image flipping,
: since the text in the picture is all the
: legible. No, I'm not sure I can...

: Here is the picture again... (Smaller
: version)... Now here is a
: version outlined with what I believe may be
: separate pictures composited to the
: original:

:

: This picture started out with a
: background of the grandstands on the right
: side, the track with the cars, and the
: pitside grandstands on the left of the
: picture. I'm all but convinced that the
: image of the actress (outlined in pink) was
: then added to the shot, I'm very certain
: that this was not part of the original
: background photo. The
: brightness/contrast/texture is different
: from the rest of the photo and the image is
: very sharp edged when you compare it with
: it's background.

: I also believe there is a very good chance that
: the image of Steve McQueen (outlined in
: light blue) was flipped from an original
: photo, modified and then added to the
: picture... The
: brightnesss/contrast/texture/and sharpness
: of the edges are distinctive from the
: background and the image of the actress.

: Compare the images above with this screen snap
: directly from the DVD...
: Note that between the B&W and the DVD Snap
: all of the patches are in the same location
: except for: the Gulf stripes, the Signature
: name is curiously missing, the Firestone
: patch is missing it's middle, and the
: American flag patch is missing a wrinkle in
: the B&W photo that the suit underneath has
: at it's lower left corner! It is almost as
: if this picture was cut, mirrored and placed
: on an earlier photo element(s). In the movie
: the "Gulf Stripe" progression is
: Navy Blue/White/Orange, while in
: ,,composite,, photo, the progression is
: reversed/mirrored Lighter
: (orange)/White/Darker (Navy Blue)... Curious
: isn't it? And why would you not put the Gulf
: Patch on the Gulf Stripes/Colors? Doesn't
: really make sense to put the Heuer patch on
: those stripes and separate the Gulf patch
: from them...

: My theory that an image was mirrored and the
: patches were placed on later would explain
: these discrepancies.

: The bystanders on "Pit Row" (outlined
: in purple) also look to my eye like they
: could possibly have been placed in the
: photo, perhaps to add drama to the shot.
: Something just feels odd about their
: placement and the area around their feet to
: my eye... But then again I've been looking
: at this picture/seeing it on a daily basis,
: for over 20 years. So I've had time to see
: these things...

: So in summary, and in my assessment (but only
: my assessment), this picture is a
: Solar/Cinema Center Films composite of at
: least two, probably three, and possibly four
: pictures.

: What do you think? Am I seeing things or is
: there a possibility/probability that this is
: the result of some compositing?

: Anyway, a link to the thread in TZ's Omega
: Forum follows if you'd like to see the rest
: of the discussion over there...

: -- Chuck

Agreed on your analysis - another 2 factors suggesting the image was mirrored are (a) the Omega on his left wrist, with the crown on the wrong side - during the filming of Le Mans, McQueen is always seen with a watch on his RIGHT wrist - he wore a gold band on his left, and (b) look at McQueen's face - it just doesn't seem quite right, does it - humans never have entirely symmetrical faces...

Mark