Another 3D rendering, although it doesn’t really explain the water pushing the wheel
This one is neat, but same problem as first, and less likely since wood doesn’t really bend that way, but still. (The clip starts slow and ends fast).
Here’s yet another I found, this time of a store-bought plastic model, although whoever made this video had way too much fun with the effects (jump to the 2:15 mark to skip most of them) and made it way too long .
Here the fall and the wheel line up, but the rest of the water doesn’t.
(And here’s a less annoying picture of that in an article)
Here’s a piece of what someone said on a site:
“If you look closely at the water on the floor closest to the camera you can see that the entire base of the waterfall is not in contact with the ground, which aids in the slope of the first wooden channel.”
All of the ideas sound good to me—hidden pumps, CG, stitched-together takes. But so far as I can tell, the secret has not been leaked on the internet… which is another incredible feat, I think.
And I guess it’s good… I don’t want to be told the answer, I’d just sure like to know it.
Geez this is driving me crazy—thanks so much @gorillapaws ahaha ; )