The Criterion Edition of Brazil (one of my all-time favorite movies, along with Time Bandits) has behind the scenes of how the flying scenes were done. Large set with fake clouds and smoke, motorized miniature of Sam with flapping wings, filmed at a super-high frame rate. In real time it flew for a couple seconds. They all thought it was going to turn out terribly until they got the shots back from the lab.
Gilliam is an insane genius. Too bad he’s a complete asshole, too.
