For all these years I never really knew how they shot the text crawls that opened each Star Wars picture, but I never imagined it was something this low-tech:
A camera hanging from a track, shooting a printout that's been gaffer-taped under some glass? Are you kidding me? Next time I'm going to look for the cameraman's feet beneath the last line.
Vanity Fair's got a good behind-the-scenes photo essay of the Empire Strikes Back, featuring the above shot and many more that show you how the magic was made. (Here's a heads-up: They weren't above using monkeys and mattresses.)