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10 Amazing Movie Special Effects That Are Not CGI
As technology evolves, CGI has become a prevalent tool filmmakers use for the visual effects
they need in their movies. Just about anything is possible with computers, meaning that the
only limit is the director’s imagination. While digital effects are extremely photorealistic
and an easy, safer method, there are those who still prefer to do things to old-fashioned
way. Practical effects still have a place in Hollywood and are arguably making a comeback
in big budget productions. Here are 10 amazing movie special effects that are not CGI.
The Dark Knight Rises
In the opening sequence of this threequel, Bane and his mercenaries hijack a CIA plane
and crash it, jumping to another aircraft for their getaway. It seems tailor made for
CGI, but Christopher Nolan did it for real. Stuntmen jumped out of a real C-130 jet in
the beginning, and their exterior shots on the CIA plane were accomplished by hanging
a piece of fuselage from a helicopter. A model was used for the part when the plane’s wings
blew off, and an actual aircraft was dropped from the sky at the end. The jaw-dropping
scene took only two days to film, which is even harder to believe now.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
J.J. Abrams used motion capture for two new characters in his Star Wars sequel, but the
lovable droid BB-8 was the real deal. Seven props were constructed for the film, including
one that had to be operated by a puppeteer. Having an actual robot on set was beneficial
for actors Daisy Ridley and John Boyega, who shared a number of scenes with BB-8 in the
movie’s first act. Knowing that the droid was a practical effect was a prime example
of movie magic, and wowed fans that saw BB-8 attend conventions and events throughout the
year. It was so successful, Rian Johnson will be using the props for Episode 8.
Speed
This action-thriller was made before CGI became too advanced, so the filmmakers had no choice
but to pull off one of the film’s most daring stunts for real. In one sequence, the bus
has to jump over a 50-foot gap in the incomplete highway so it can keep going. A ramp was built
and an actual bus accelerated to 61 miles per hour. The vehicle traveled 109 feet through
the air, and the front wheels reached an altitude of 20 feet from the ground. It was a greater
leap than anyone anticipated, and the bus went out of frame due to incorrect camera
placement. The gap was added digitally, but that was the easy part.
Skyfall
In the cold open of this James Bond film, 007 tracks his prey to a train and they engage
in a fight on top of it. The actors – including Daniel Craig – were attached to the speeding
locomotive by extremely thin wires while they acted out the physical scene. This was the
only thing keeping them from falling off to impending doom. It was a highly dangerous
stunt, but it added authenticity to the project and delivered a hard-hitting sequence that
Bond fans won’t soon forget. The Craig era has been defined by practical visual effects,
and this is quite possibly the finest instance of that.
Jurassic Park
Steven Spielberg’s seminal tale of dinosaurs brought back to life was noteworthy for ushering
in CGI effects and pushing the next wave of technology forward, but he still found the
time to blend the two techniques seamlessly. A good portion of the dinosaur footage was
handled practically, including a full scale t-rex animatronic. For the famous sequence
of raptors hunting the kids in the kitchen, performers were wearing rubber suits as opposed
to be digitally inserted in post. Maybe this is why the film holds up more than 20 years
later. It wasn’t too reliant on CG and maintained real world elements.
The Amazing Spider-Man
Sam Raimi’s trilogy used digital effects to show Peter Parker swinging through New
York, so Marc Webb tried something different for the reboot. The 2012 film used stuntmen
hanging from wires that were allegedly “no thicker than a bootlace” 60 feet in the
air. The wire was connected to a winch on a rail, which would move down to create the
full arc of the swing. It’s kind of incredible that Webb went to these lengths to bring Spider-Man
alive, demonstrating extra determination and effort. Hopefully, the MCU films with the
new Spidey will carry over some of these techniques to ground the hero in reality.
127 Hours
When a character needs to lose a limb nowadays, the easy trick is to cover it in a green screen
sleeve and remove it later in post. For the infamous arm cutting sequence of the biopic
127 Hours, director Danny Boyle relied on classic prosthetics. Three fake arms were
created for the scene. One was a recreation of star James Franco’s arm, and the other
two contained the muscle and bone he needed to chop through. They were made in a way that
Franco shouldn’t have been able to cut all the way through, but that’s exactly what
he did when the cameras started to roll and the take ended up in the finished film.
Star Trek
To deactivate Nero’s drill, Kirk, Sulu, and a poor red shirt need to perform a jump
from space into Vulcan’s atmosphere. Initially filming the actors on harnesses facing downward,
J.J. Abrams had to resort to a different method when they kept passing out. It wasn’t CGI.
Abrams shot the actors standing on mirrors from an angle so that the reflection of the
sky from behind the actors created the illusion of them falling through the air. It would
have been simple to stick them in front of a green screen, but this proved to be a creative
solution to a problem and nobody knew the difference when watching it for the first
time.
The Dark Knight
The centerpiece of The Dark Knight is the car chase through Gotham City, where the Joker
attempts to take out an armored vehicle escorting Harvey Dent. Always one for practical effects,
Christopher Nolan crafted it so that it could all be captured in-camera. This included the
money shot of the sequence: an eighteen-wheeler flipping over in the streets. The crew actually
used a real truck for filming, building a steam-piston mechanism to put in the trailer
to create the needed upward force. After testing it out, they closed off a section of Chicago
and flipped the truck, delivering an iconic cinematic moment.
Inception
By now, fans are aware that Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s hotel fight was accomplished by building a
rotating set, but Christopher Nolan did even more outrageous things practically. When the
team first enters the first dream level in the third act, a train comes shooting through
the street, knocking over all the cars in its path. A life sized train was actually
constructed and then molded to a semi, which would then drive through the set creating
the needed effect. Even though the train is only in the film for a fleeting moment, it
was still important for the crew to do it for real, and audiences are all the more appreciative
of their efforts.
Those are just some of the most incredible instances of practical effects being used
instead of digital. Which ones are your favorites? Sound off in the comments below and be sure
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