Visible crew/equipment: As it sits on the table you can see the reflection of a crew member moving in the coffee pot at the center of the screen when Cathy asks Mitch why the birds are attacking. (01:38:20)
Visible crew/equipment: A large equipment shadow can be seen on Melanie and Mitch as they stop to look at the people in the restaurant hiding in the corner. (01:28:05)
Visible crew/equipment: As Melanie parks in front of the general store stage lighting and the reflection of a crew member can be seen in her car door as she opens it. (00:12:20)
Visible crew/equipment: As Melanie sits down on Annie's couch you can see the shadow of the boom mike move across the books in the bookcase to her left. (00:41:20)
Visible crew/equipment: As the birds fly around the house there's a close-up of Melanie holding Cathy with Lydia in the background. If you look closely near the picture on the left wall you can see the shadow of the wires holding up some of the birds. (00:55:30)
Visible crew/equipment: After finding Mr. Faucets body Lydia gets back in her truck and you can see the reflection of a crewmember wearing headphones in the lower right part of the windshield. (01:00:55)
Visible crew/equipment: After Mitch puts the bird back in its cage as he walks towards Melanie the shadow of the camera appears on his jacket. (00:06:30)
Answer: The movie takes place in the 1960s, so presumably gas pumps worked a bit differently back then. This is also a small town and probably the gas station had not modernized. There may not have been automatic shut-offs, or if there was, it was faulty.
raywest ★
The automatic shut off is in the handle of the hose. When a person grips the handle they have to lift a levered switch to allow gas flow; the lever is spring loaded so that if it is released the gas will stop flowing. I have looked at older antique gas pumps and they are all the same; even the visible glass gravity flow ones. If that hose was dropped the the gas should have stopped flowing.
michael g