When we see special effects in movies nowadays, we tend to think it’s all CGI.
But there are still a few filmmakers that believe in good ol’ fashion elbow grease. Then, of course, there are some that are just too lazy to work on something more complicated.
Twitter user David Amador took the time to point out some of the more interesting movie effects, Easter eggs, and slip-ups. I don’t know where he found the time, but I’m so glad he did.
1) Spiderman Lunch Tray Catch
In Spider-Man (2002) scene where Peter Parker catches the tray and objects wasn’t CGI. Tray had a sticky substance so stuff wouldn’t roll when falling but Tobey Maguire had to catch them, it took 156 takes. The studio wanted this scene cut because of how long it was taking. pic.twitter.com/JZzfbjIPgc
— David Amador (@DJ_Link) May 18, 2018
2) Instant Bread
In Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) the bread scene is a practical effect that took the team 3 months to come up with. They molded an inflatable bread, it was deflated underneath the liquid and then slowly inflated it and sucked out the liquid with vacuum pumps pic.twitter.com/SVKt4zC9WY
— David Amador (@DJ_Link) May 17, 2018
3) Apparently Elijah Wood Wasn’t Small Enough Already
In The Lord of the Rings (2001), Hobbits being smaller was achieved via practical effects. For example the scene where Frodo and Gandalf are on the cart sitting side by side, to simulate it cart was built in a way that Frodo was further from the camera, so he looks smaller. pic.twitter.com/MobeuFHnZ2
— David Amador (@DJ_Link) May 16, 2018
4) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Was *nuts*
For Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) they trained actual squirrels for months to get them to sort the nuts and the attack scene. The double had to wear a mask to protect face from their sharp claws https://t.co/CiRbW9s1Lq pic.twitter.com/sFbhOdcY8I
— David Amador (@DJ_Link) May 19, 2018
5) I’m Going As a Sexy Car Seat For Halloween
The Raid 2 (2014) had a 1 take scene where camera follows a car, enters, and shows driver. This was accomplished by having a camera man disguised as a car seat in the back & another one strapped on the side of car, they had to manually hand over the camera. pic.twitter.com/JINZvoTydl
— David Amador (@DJ_Link) May 18, 2018
6) The Force Was With This Overhead Projector
For the famous Star Wars (IV-V-VI) opening crawl they used a camera moving along a physical model slightly tilted. It was difficult and time-consuming to get a smooth scrolling effect, and they needed one for each language (German, French, Spanish etc). pic.twitter.com/Vd6O2BSqsv
— David Amador (@DJ_Link) May 17, 2018
7) Disney Has Mastered the Easter Egg
Zazu in Lion King (1994) said Scar would make a handsome throw rug, in Hercules (1997) you can see him throwing a pelt that looks exactly like Scar pic.twitter.com/ss8OPyVUv7
— David Amador (@DJ_Link) May 16, 2018
8) Slappin’ Da Bass
In Jurassic Park (1993) for the famous water cup scene, Steven Spielberg wanted timed concentric rings, starting from the center, moving its way out. For this they placed a guitar string through the car and had someone lay under it and pluck the string pic.twitter.com/YiUuC2482b
— David Amador (@DJ_Link) May 16, 2018
9) Don’t Forget to Put Your Jacket on
In The Matrix they couldn’t hide the camera in doorknob reflection, so the camera still shows but they tried to disguise it with a coat to match Morpheus tie. pic.twitter.com/LB6V8aNT2i
— David Amador (@DJ_Link) May 15, 2018
10) Who Needs A Mirror When You have A Twin?
Terminator 2 (1991) had some practical effects with the help of Linda Hamilton’s twin sister. When Sarah cuts a hole in T-800 head it’s a model of Schwarzenegger’s head in the foreground, the real Schwarzenegger plays his own reflection, and Linda’s twin sister mimics her moves pic.twitter.com/RcTrCDsW6P
— David Amador (@DJ_Link) May 16, 2018
