Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal Forward Lean Explained
Posted in Opinions | 14 comments
I don’t know if most of you were aware of this, as I only found out on Friday. MJ did it in the music video of Smooth Criminal, and he re-enacted that famous “lean” in his concerts too, where his music videos came to live.
Michael Jackson Smooth Criminal Lean
I always thought there were some “strings” involved in the action, though it didn’t make sense at all. Then I found out, it’s actually a patented system, co-invented by Michael Jackson himself.
A system for allowing a shoe wearer to lean forwardly beyond his center of gravity by virtue of wearing a specially designed pair of shoes which will engage with a hitch member movably projectable through a stage surface. The shoes have a specially designed heel slot which can be detachably engaged with the hitch member by simply sliding the shoe wearer’s foot forward, thereby engaging with the hitch member.
1. A system for engaging shoes with a hitch mans to permit a person standing on a stage surface to lean forwardly beyond his or her center of gravity, comprising:
at least one shoe having a heel with a first engagement means, said first engagement means comprising a recess formed in a heel of said shoe covered with a heel slot plane located at a bottom region of said heel, said heel slot plate having a slot formed therein with a relatively wide opening at a leading edge of said heel and a narrower terminal end rearward of said leading edge, said recess being larger in size above said terminal end of said slot than is said terminal end of said slot; and
a second engagement means, detachably engageable with said first engagement means, comprising a hitch member having an enlarged head portion connected by a narrower shank portion to a means for raising and lowering said head of said hitch member above and substantially level with or below said stage surface, said head portion being larger in size than said terminal end of said slot and said shank portion being narrower than said terminal end of said slot, wherein said hitch member can be moved through apertures in said stage surface between a projecting position raised above said stage surface and a retracted position at or below the stage surface, and when said head portion of said hitch member is raised above said stage surface, said first engagement means can be detachably engaged with said projecting hitch member, thereby allowing a person wearing the shoes to lean forwardly with his or her normal center of gravity beyond a front region of said shoes, and maintain said forward lean.
That Patented Lean in Smooth Criminal Music Video
How cool is that? To read more about the patent, click here, and to download the PDF of the patent, click here.
I’m not sure if anyone heard of this song, taken from his last album, “Invincible”, where overall, it was a letdown by MJ’s high standards, but still packed a decent song or 3. Like this one, called “Speechless”.
DOWNLOAD Michael Jackson – Speechless
Thank you for defining the music industry Michael, you will always remain a major influence in many music artistes, and through them, and your songs, your legacy will forever live on.
Wow! I didn’t even know about it. I thought there was strings or some CGI? Haha
Nice one. Thanks for sharing.
I have always wonder about that. Wow, what a genius!
I also thought Jacko was using strings. Now I know. Cool! Thanks for sharing this info
Gee, I didn’t know that. I always thought it was done with wires too … good to know though.
woah…really huh? and i thought he was just damn good of a dancer to be able to fight gravity…but nevertheless, smart!
While Michael’s patent is relatively well known, did you know that his patent was used as prior art in the application (and eventual grant) of an aerospace patent by a major defense technology company?
http://bit.ly/107mTQ
Cool!
Glad to enlighten all. Please go forth and share. MJ’s a GENIUS.
Jim Belfiore – Thanks for sharing that info. It’s out of this world to know that MJ’s groundbreaking patent is now part of a major defense tech company, though I don’t think he’d be too happy about it.
Cool bro, This is very enlightening. I did not know that. I thought it was the string that did the job.
You remember the song that MJ was singing with the corpses walking? What song was that again? Someone told me he copied P Ramlee. True?
Thanks and best regards,
tony
(http://mytaxportal.webs.com)
Tony Chan – Hahahahaha! P Ramlee! Drama cock story!
It’s like saying Badawi copied Mahathir’s hair color. You need to smack that someone for being a dumbass.
yeah! just wiki’ed about the forward lean and found that he actually patented it! how cool is that!
desmond-t –
i thought those shoes had magnets in! and then a magnetic field was created to allow the lean! lol vivid imagination! we miss mj
xx
Well, he’s totally a real genius maybe i want to buy some of this shoes, but where can i get a nail on a floor?????