Part 2 of Classic movie scenes: before and after special effects

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
We’re not sure which is scarier, the part-man part-sea monster crew of the Flying Dutchman, or Bill Nighy and co. in skin-tight onesies. But, by wearing mo-cap suits on-set, animators were saved plenty of hassle and could work with the raw footage. Captain Davy Jones’s skin texture was based on a coffee-stained Styrofoam cup.

The Matrix
Visual effects supervisor John Gaeta won an Oscar for creating ‘The Matrix’s’ pioneering action sequences. ‘Bullet Time’, now a registered trademark, was achieved by surrounding the actors with a ring of still-cameras, each timed to shoot a single frame in quick succession.

Godzilla

Actor Haruo Nakajima racked up an impressive 20-year career playing a smorgasbord of suited monstrosities in Japanese Kaiju movies. His most famous incarnation was the King of the Monsters, ‘Godzilla’. Here he takes a break from filming to practice smashing up the streets of Japan.

Life Of Pi

Previously undiscovered actor Suraj Sharma took a beating during Ang Lee’s ‘Life Of Pi’. The soon-to-be Oscar winning Lee shot for 10 weeks inside the World’s largest self-generating wave tank, then placing his young star at the centre of a state-of-the-art blue-screen boat rig to complete some of the more spectacular storm shots.We were very impressed.

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
Perhaps the most iconic and parodied moment from the entire original ‘Star Wars’ trilogy.It’s not quite as dramatic though with a pile of what looks like old mattresses dumped below the set.

Inception

‘Inception’s’ gravity-defying hallway fight scene took an arduous three weeks, and over 500 crew members, to shoot. Three different hallway sets were built, including an impressive 360-degree rotating corridor.Star Joseph Gordon-Levitt trained with the stunt team for two weeks straight to avoid making any dangerous dodgy steps.

District 9

Director Neill Blomkamp wanted ‘District 9’s' creepy “Prawns” to evoke a sense of disgust, using mentor Peter Jackson’s Weta Workshop to design the extraterrestrial refugees. Still, Blomkamp knew the aliens should still look slightly human-esque, otherwise we just wouldn’t relate – hence the lucky chap in the revealing mo-cap suit. Problem sold.

The Dark Knight
The Joker’s reign of terror came to an end when Ledger’s character was left dangling by the Bat, gift-wrapped for Gotham’s finest. In reality Heath Ledger was slightly safer with a convincing city backdrop later green screened in.

Jurassic Park
The greatest special effects sequence in movie history? We think so. Spielberg’s crew blended superb CGI and complex animatronics to play out the intense jeep attack scene. The 18 ft. tall T-Rex model soaked up so much rain during filming though that it caused the electronics to start malfunctioning. Apparently during one lunch break it came to life and the crew all scattered, screaming.

The places for Signals Summer Film Camp (age 12+)are going fast!! Book yours now!
Mon 19th to wed 21st August, 10-4pm

Our great new film camp is a three-day practical film school for young people providing the ultimate filmmaking experience. Participants will work in small groups to create a short film.

Activities include:

Day 1: Film Screenings and Ideas Discussion, Scriptwriting and Storyboarding, Camera and Sound Skills

Day 2: Production Roles, Filming

Day 3: Filming, Editing Skills Workshop, Post-Production and a Screening for friends and family.

You can book online through our website (www.signals.org.uk booking fee applies) or you can save the booking fee and call Signals direct on 01206 560255.

1. It’s not quite as dramatic though with a pile of what looks like old mattresses dumped below the set.

   
   

Classic movie scenes: before and after special effects Part 1

Star Wars
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, titles were tedious - then the opening ‘crawl’ of ‘Star Wars’ swept across the screen and made the simple act of reading as cinematic as any other part of the film. These titles (actually from 'The Empire Strikes Back') were produced surprisingly DIY-ish by slowly panning a camera along a 6 ft. piece of text.

300
To achieve the shot-from-short adaptation of Frank Miller’s Spartan comic, director Zack Snyder photocopied the graphic novel and built the set and each shot around it. The iconic cliff-top fight involved filming a few actors falling, and then replicating them in post-production for an army of tumbling warriors.

Ghostbusters

“He's a sailor, he's in New York; we get this guy laid, we won't have any trouble!” That was Bill Murray’s suggestion to deal with the 100 ft. marshmallow man terrorizing New York. Bodysuit actor and character creator Bill Bryan probably would have preferred that suggestion to being cooked alive by the Ghostbusters. The costume was made of two layers: an outer flammable layer and an inner fireproof suit.

Forrest Gump
‘Forrest Gump’ took a lot of critical flak for reinterpreting American history and CGI-ing Tom Hank’s naïve Gump into iconic newsreel footage. One thing that did quietly amaze though was how animators managed to amputate able-bodied actor Gary Sinise’s legs. The answer? Very clever socks.

Lord Of The Rings

To tackle the challenge of the Hobbit’s tiny size, director Peter Jackson used an array of simple, but very crafty camera tricks. Although size doubles were frequently used, for scenes that required the actors themselves (such as Frodo’s memorable cart ride with Gandalf), Jackson’s team designed clever props to achieve what’s called “forced perspective” - in this case an l-shaped cart.

Avatar
James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’, the highest grossing film of all time, was filmed entirely with state-of-the-art motion-capture technology that had been over a decade in the making. Still, the raw footage is surprisingly lacking in the epic. Actors Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana spent 31 days wearing skullcaps and blue dots in an aircraft hanger to film their original scenes.

The Godfather

To achieve the realistic (and gruesome) effect of Sonny Corleone getting riddled with bullets, actor James Caan had fishing-wire attached to pieces of fake-flesh on his face. When the triggers were pulled, the crew tugged on the wire, making the bullets seemingly explode through Caan. Ouch.

Independence Day
There’s a reason ‘Independence Day’ bagged the Oscar for Best Visual Effects. Although the movie required over 3,000 SFX shots (a then-record), much of the movie’s dazzle was actually achieved through practical techniques – involving twice as many miniatures as had ever been used. The main alien craft itself was 65-foot wide.

Back To The Future

When the DeLorean hits 88 mph the flux-capacitor kicks in and ‘makes time travel possible’ - leaving the present day with nothing but some flaming tyre tracks. Alright, it’s not the most seamless use of green screen (look at the Doc’s feet), but it’s up there for iconic.

The places for Signals Summer Film Camp (age 12+)are going fast!! Book yours now!
Mon 19th to wed 21st August, 10-4pm

Our great new film camp is a three-day practical film school for young people providing the ultimate filmmaking experience. Participants will work in small groups to create a short film.

Activities include:

Day 1: Film Screenings and Ideas Discussion, Scriptwriting and Storyboarding, Camera and Sound Skills

Day 2: Production Roles, Filming

Day 3: Filming, Editing Skills Workshop, Post-Production and a Screening for friends and family.

You can book online through our website (www.signals.org.uk booking fee applies) or you can save the booking fee and call Signals direct on 01206 560255.