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40 Bits of Trivia About TV and Movie CGI, SFX and ETC

November 29, 2024

It took the Academy Awards 10 years to make a Special Effects category. And yet, we’re coming up on a century, and still no awards for stunt people.

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40

The Ten Commandments

CRACKED.COM Amazing effects made without CGI The Ten Commandments The parting of the Red Sea was made by reversing footage of two water sources flowing together. This was then composited with the walls of water (which were sideways shots of, well, rushing water), and the actors. — Source

39

The Fountain

Actual petri dishes were used to make the visual effects in The Fountain. The space voyage effects were made by swirling things like curry powder and yeast in a petri dish. — Source: AWN

38

Independence Day

40 Bits of Trivia About TV and Movie CGI, SFX and ETC

37

Society

Amazing effects made without CGI Society Spoilers for this 1989 classic by Brian Yuzna: The rich are cannibalistic aliens! Not only that, but they melt into each other in a shapeless, Akira-like blob. The bonkers effects were done by cult Japanese artist Screaming Mad George. CRACKED.COM — Source: WhatCulture

36

The First Special Effect Screen Credit

Historical Firsts in Practical Effects The term. Special Effect 1926 gets its first screen credit In the 1920s, studios began dedicating entire departments to special effects, and the term Special Effect first appears in the credits of 1926's What Price Glory? CRACKED — Fox Film Corporation
FX Making Of

35

Phil Tippett

Steven Spielberg Movies Jurassic Park Phil Tippett is still supervising dinosaurs. Tippet had one job: to make awesome dino effects, and he's great at it. Even after the effects went full CGI, Spielberg kept him around to work with the visual effects team. Phil truly deserves some love. DINOSAUR SUPERVISOR PHIL TIPPETT CRACKED.COM — Source: Wikipedia

34

Friday the 13th

40 Bits of Trivia About TV and Movie CGI, SFX and ETC

33

Fellowship of the Ring

Surprising Ways Beloved Movies Accomplished Their Effects - In Fellowship of the Ring, when Frodo and Gandalf are at the same table — Source: 8 Movie Special Effects You Didn't Know Weren't CGI: Classic

32

Dracula

Surprising Ways Beloved Movies Accomplished Their Effects - In the book and train montage shot in Bram Stoker's Dracula, — Source: 8 Movie Special Effects You Didn't Know Weren't CGI: Classic

31

Will Smith

WINTER'S TALE Most of the $60 million budget must have been spent on Will Smith's cameo and not the special effects. CRACKED.COM

30

Sarah Connor

40 Bits of Trivia About TV and Movie CGI, SFX and ETC

29

Tron

Remember how digital the original Tron looked? That was achieved with practical effects. It was 1982, and the CGI it would take to render the high-tec

28

E.T.

Elliott (Samuel Ludlow) and the world fell in love with 3 different actors and 3 mechanical puppets. E.T. SFX artist Carlo Rambaldi took 6 months and $1.5 million to create the puppets and a costume for a 12-year-old without legs, and a mime (voiced by 3 separate actors). CRACKED.COM — Vintage News / Today

27

Terminator 2

Terminator 2 Cheap SFX When the Т-1000 walks through the barred door at the hospital, that smooth whooshing sound was done by holding a can of dog food upside down, and recording the oozing sound of its contents slogging down. It all cost 75 cents. CRACKED.COM — Cinemablend

26

The Exorcist

Here's a sound trick that will make your HEAD SPIN THE EXORCIST CRACKED.COM How did they make the sound of Linda Blair's head spinning round? SFX man Gonzalo Gavira pulled out a cracked leather wallet full of credit cards, held it up to the mike and twisted. The riffling sound made the final cut. — Vulture

25

The Rains Came

Historical Firsts in Practical Effects The first Academy Award_ 1939 for Best Special Effects. The Rains Came won the first-ever special effects Oscar. Of its $2.5 million budget, $500k was used for flood and earthquake scenes. The effects took almost 50 days, requiring 350 laborers, 14 cameras, and 33 million gallons of water. CRACKED — 20th Century Studios
Listverse

24

The Matrix

BULLET TIME 1999 CRACKED.COM The term bullet-time was first used in the original script for The Matrix and has since been used in a variety of video games. The effect is achieved with the aid of multiple cameras to capture moments in slow motion that were otherwise unfilmable. — Source

23

Edison Labs

Historical Firsts in Practical Effects The first-ever special effect 1895 Shot at Edison Labs in New Jersey, 1895's Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots was the first film to use a visual effect. They used stop- action for her beheading, and since no one had ever seen special effects, viewers thought they actually killed the actress. CRACKED — Source

22

Tenet

Tenet had way, way fewer scenes with visual effects than you might think. It had under 300 shots with visual effects, and editor Jennifer Lame says the VFX shot count is probably lower than most romantic comedies. CRACKED.COM — Source

21

Predator

Predator (1987) The Predator's blood is a mixture of K-Y Jelly and glow stick fluid. The same effect is still used in the sequels.

20

The Ring

40 Bits of Trivia About TV and Movie CGI, SFX and ETC

19

The Raid 2

40 Bits of Trivia About TV and Movie CGI, SFX and ETC

18

Jurassic Park

The raptors in Jurassic Park weren't CGI. Those were men in costumes. John Rosengrant was the main raptor Suit performer. To make his movements convin

17

The Force Awakens

You'd think Dejarik would be CG by The Force Awakens. lt's not. It's still stop-action animation. The original props had deteriorated, though, sO spec

16

Alien: Resurrection

40 Bits of Trivia About TV and Movie CGI, SFX and ETC

15

The Nightmare Before Christmas

A SEQUEL TO The Nightmare Before Christmas WOULD'VE SEEN JACK VISITING Thanksgiving World AND THE STOP-MOTION WOULD'VE BEEN DITCHED FOR CGI. CRACKED.COM — Source

14

El Hotel Electrico

STOP-MOTION 1908 CRACKED.COM Segundo de Chomón was a Spanish filmmaker who pioneered the use of stop-motion technique in 1908 with his film El hotel eléctrico. Actors held their positions while small objects were moved slightly between frames, creating the illusion of movement. — Source

13

The Lost World

Historical Firsts in Practical Effects The first full-length 1925 stop-motion animation Stop-motion pioneer Willis O'Brien developed several innovations for The Lost World that are still used today. Не created a technique that joined stop- motion and live-action onscreen at the same time. CRACKED — Source

12

Claymation

CLAY ANIMATION 1912 CRACKED.COM Modelling Extraordinary was released in 1912 and was one of the first clay animation movies to use stop motion. It was met with great critical acclaim. — Stop Motion Central

11

Elf

Son Of A Nutcracker Facts About The Christmas Classic Elf - Most of the North Pole’s creatures, except for the Snowman, were stop-motion animation. — Source: Creative Planet Network

10

Dragonheart

Awful CGI DRAGONHEART Because we're old farts, we can still remember when Dragonheart was supposed to be the next Jurassic Park in terms of CGI. Now take a look at what-its-name's head popping out of the water. Look how false it looks. Look at its robotic, one-at-a-time facial movements. Look at it and think about all your past mistakes. CRACKED.COM — Source

9

Planet of the Apes

TIME TRAVEL MOVIES PLANET OF THE APES THE STATUE OF LIBERTY IS NOT A MODEL. Lady Liberty in the iconic ending is a matte painting, added to the Malibu cliffs (reachable only by helicopter) where the scene was shot. Matte painting was truly CGI before CGI. CRACKED.COM — Source

8

Les Miserables

Inconspicuous CGI Les Misérables The singing was not added in post-production, but recorded right there with the actors singing their hearts out while they shot their scenes. Clever use of CGI was made to hide the earpieces and microphones the cast was wearing. CRACKED.COM — Source

7

Gone Girl

Inconspicuous CGI Gone Girl Mirroring the much better-known CGI ping-pong balls in Forrest Gump, we give you: CGI gummy bears. Tyler Perry is not a master marksman, so to get the gummy bears to hit Ben Affleck in the exact places David Fincher wanted, CGI was used. CRACKED.COM — Source

6

John Wick

Inconspicuous CGI John Wick This scene is a synonym for absolutely unnecessary CGI. It's dog poop. That's it. When the puppy leaves John's house to poop in the lawn, the doggy waste can be seen as the little girl sprints back. They couldn't give her laxatives, so they added CGI poop, which probably cost a few hundred-wait, $5,000? CRACKED.COM — Sources: WatchMojo.com/YouTube, WhatCulture/YouTube
Image Credit: Lionsgate

5

Spawn

Awful CGI SPAWN There's not enough snark in the world to make fun of Spawn's peak-'90s CGI. Almost everything looks off, but then there's the hell scene. Look at the crowds of copy- and-pasted characters. Look at the friggin' monster thing, Malebolgia, whatever, we'll call him Dumbassaroth, because he has weird hairs sticking out and speaks with his mouth open like a dumbass. CRACKED.COM — Watch it on YouTube

4

Star Wars: A New Hope

Star Wars Then VS. Now CGI evolution Ignoring the later, CGI-filled editions, A New Hope has some rudimentary (but state-of-the-art) computer work. With the prequel trilogy, Lucas pushed developing CGI to the next level. The sequel trilogy's CGI is probably just what Lucas always wanted. CRACKED.COM — Source: evltube/YouTube

3

Fight Club

CRACKED.COM FIGHT CLUB THE SEX SCENE IS CGI. Marla and Tyler boinking is a direct predecessor to The Matrix's bullet time. In fact, it was the first time a fully CGI-rendered sex scene was ever put to film. — Source: WhatCulture/YouTube

2

Blade

Superhero Movies Then vs. Now From Blade CGI to current CGI CGI has had its ups and downs. Compare the photorealism of the MCU or of Snyder's destruction scenes to the crappy, peak '90s CGI at the end of the first Blade. Awesome movie, hilarious effects. CRACKED.COM — Source: CinemaBattle/YouTube

1

George Lucas

George Lucas added CGI to more of his past films than you probably think. Lucas couldn't help but insert a CGI sunset into the opening credits of the DVD version of American Graffiti. Raiders of the Lost Ark randomly replaced a car chase stunt with an entirely CGI shot - a change that was seemingly reversed in the subsequent Blu-Ray release. CRACKED.COM — Source: George Lucas Screwed-Up His Non-'Star Wars' Movies Too

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