Jay: Oh, let me guess. Way up high in the clouds there's a helicopter pulling the rocket up by a wire.

With the LEM in mind, it could be that they were raised/lowered by a very similar operating mechanism to what was constructed at the Lunar Landing Research Facility.

It could be a most excellent bit of deception, very much like when you are standing on a hill or mountain near to the edge of a drop. For example, if you frame the picture in such a way as to exclude the area immediately at foot, the actual severity of the drop becomes unknown, and thus the resulting image is often very suggestive. Almost as though the drop you are teetering over is considerably greater than it actually is. The same could be true of the assent stage, as if the camera were to pan up a fraction more then a portion of the lift mechanism would be revealed and with it the illusion shattered.