The world of CGI and special FX expands way more than most people realize. It’s hard to bring some scenes to life by just using sets or props, so movie directors higher professional graphics animators to bring in scenes that no one could ever think of…
From creating the landscapes of Mars to computer generating dragons into scenes, there’s not much that these animators can’t do! Even for a lot of these scenes, you wouldn’t have even known it was all fake!
Twilight: Eclipse (2010)
They really made Taylor Lautner put on that suit and get petted by Kristin Stewart… They didn’t just get a random actor to do it. Lautner was really in it to win it.
Godzilla (2014)
The entire premise of the Godzilla series is to fight a gigantic monster. In reality, the actors have to pretend to find this giant beast… They pulled it off so well!
Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Manâs Chest (2006)
It was probably a bit hard for Bill Nighy to get in character while playing Davy Jones, but he nailed it! Even if his costume was just a bizarre grey suit.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
This one makes a bit more sense, doesn’t it? The actors were moved by rigs and machines to make it seem like they were flying through the air.
Paranoia (2013)
Apparently, this movie wanted to pay homage to the Philly tourist trap of Geno’s Steaks. Instead of heading over there, they decided to bring it to LA!
The Matrix (1999)
The Matrix is one of those movies that’s still being referenced to today, 20 years later. Fans loved the action-packed scenes and crazy backdrops. To the surprise of most people, most of the movie was filmed in a movie studio packed with green screens! Talk about movie magic.
Hunger Games (2012)
These actors really put in their word with this fake switchboard! Unfortunately, the crazy switchboards in The Hunger Games don’t exist and are just really cool CGI.
Narnia (2005)
Yeah, unfortunately, the real Narnia only exists in crazy CGI. If only a real place looked as cool as this… They made it look so real!
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
Andy Serkis had the bizarre role of playing a CGI chimp. As you can see, there was a lot that went into creating Caesar, but it was well worth it.
Beauty And The Beast (2017)
This film would be way less impactful if the Beast looked like this… Although, it’s already pretty weird that a human woman is in love with a man-turned-beast, but whatever.
The Wolverine (2013)
Since Wolverine can pretty much immediately heal his wounds, there’s no use in a makeup artist spending time on creating the wound in real life… So, computers will do all of the work!
The Avengers (2012)
No worries, The Avengers squad didn’t really destroy the city. Once again, most films like this one work all in a sound stage with crazy green screens.
Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (2011)
This one is kind of a bummer! You mean to tell me that Edward and Bella didn’t go off on a romantic honeymoon to a private island and it was just a screen???
I Am Legend (2007)
All of a sudden, this scene isn’t as crazy… They did make one ugly dog prop, though!
300 (2006)
The most important part about this scene was keeping things historically accurate. The directors used screens and computers to accurately portray the time period to keep things in perspective.
Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
Even in this simple shot, a green screen made it all the better. Even though they had a massive budget for this film, they had to get creative with all of the travelings!
Life of Pi (2012)
Hats off to Suraj Sharma to acting so well with just a blue plush toy! This film is so good that many people forgot that the tiger was just CGI.
Game of Thrones
This is kind of a no-brainer… A lot of Game of Thrones is CGI, especially these intense scenes beyond the wall.
The Avengers (2012)
Suddenly, The Hulk is not so terrifying… That looks like a pretty uncomfortable costume.
Kill Bill (2003)
Not-so-surprisingly, Uma Thurman was not the super athletic character that she played in Kill Bill. She was basically a puppet with literally a bunch of strings attached.
Iron Man (2008)
This one is kind of a bummer… The super cool Iron Man suit is just CGI. At least that makes it easier on RDJ!
Superman Man of Steel (2013)
Most of the Superman movies consist of heavy CGI. He still made being completely attached to strings look pretty good!
X-Men Series
All of the movies with the X-Men involved some heavy specialFX and CGI! It was all worth it to make this franchise as cool as it is. In fact, the movie crew had to employ 12 studios just to make it happen.
Walking Dead Series
There was only so much that the crew could do to keep the end of the world going! They had to rent out vacant spaces and then use computer magic to keep the dream alive! Or, dead. Whatever.
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
It’s pretty crazy to think that they’re not really filming in front of those buildings… It looks so real!
Game of Thrones
Those dragons look way less scary now! In order for anyone to try and touch the dragons, a bizarre greenscreen prop had to be used. Must be hard to keep a straight face while petting what essentially is just a green sock.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Mad Max is one of those movies were you can’t even fathom how they shot it! It took a lot of props, green screens, and CGI to create the intensity of this film. It must have been crazy to figure out!
Robocop (2014)
Not only did the production team use CGI, but they also used stop motion and a life-sized version of the robot to create some of the iconic shots.
The Matrix (1999)
So this is how that iconic scene was filmed! Seems easy enough, just two guys and some wooden planks!
Gravity (2013)
Obviously, Sandra Bullock did not head into space to film this 2013 blockbuster. Although it is still cool to see how they filmed it!
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
This just proves that technology is crazy! They were able to mesh Thanos’ face onto Josh Brolin’s to make accurate facial expressions. It may seem like a lot of work, but it was actually automatically generated.
A Good Day to Die Hard (2013)
Obviously, Bruce Willis wasn’t really dodging a crashing helicopter, but he did have to dodge some real debris! We all know Bruce likes doing his own stunts…
Life of Pi (2012)
This movie would be a little less crazy if we could really see how it was filmed the entire time… In a pool, without a real tiger.
Boardwalk Empire
In order of keeping the costs low during the filming of the series, the directors had to get creative. Instead of finding two gigantic Titanic ships, they were able to find a spot to film and edit in the ships.
300 (2006)
They only needed a few real warriors to film and then fill the rest in with CGI… how is that even possible?
The Avengers (2012)
No fire here! Just some spooky looking green screens. Just for this one show, they had to have an entire green screen set up… For one shot. Crazy.
Tron (2010)
Naturally, the entire Tron world was CGI and computer graphics. It’s probably so hard to film something that’s literally not there.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
Well, that makes sense! Although it looks a bit creepy before editing… I wouldn’t be surprised if there were hands that just handed people books in that library!
The Dark Knight (2008)
Who knew that adding a bunch of dots to someone’s face could eventually get made into the grotesque post-accident face of Harvey Dent.
Iron Man (2008)
A lot of the crazy Iron Man scenes were completely made from a computer… They got so realistic!
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
This was probably the weirdest role to cast for the casting director. They got Bradley Cooper to voice Rocket and Sean Gunn to actually put on that green suit and act as Rocket. Pretty interesting role!
Space Jam (1996)
This film probably confused a lot of kids back then! We were always told that cartoon characters were fake… But, there they were, with Michael Jordan!
The Hobbit (2012)
Even though the film series set up camp in New Zealand, that wasn’t quite enough for the directors. They ended up filming a few of the most incredible scenes on sound stages in order to get it just right!
The Hobbit (2012)
The Hobbit did their best to build their own sets and film on location, but sometimes, it’s just not happening! That beautiful pagoda is absolutely real, but those breathtaking views are not.
Alice in Wonderland (2010)
Tim Burton is basically the King of CGI and special FX. Most of the magic of this film was created in post-production, even most of the characters!
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
There were only about 70 actors during the Battle of Wakanda… They were able to make it look like over 1,000 people were fighting! Just don’t look too closely at them…
District 9 (2009)
There’s that suit again! The aliens were played by actors on stilts in order to make their walk look even more foreign!
Alice in Wonderland (2010)
Tim Burton didn’t put these actors in those grey suits… He went all out and designed specialized green screen suits for this!
The Great Gatsby (2013)
If only there was a real spot that looked like 1920s New York City! Sadly (yet impressively), it was all made in CGI…
Game of Thrones Series
The scenes of the Wildlings climbing the wall were intense and scary… Luckily, they didn’t have to worry too much in real life, although that still looks like a bit of a long fall!
Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)
Hats off to Franco for making this scene feel as scary as it looks even though he was just sitting in the basket! Actors who can successfully pull of intense green screen scenes deserve all of the awards.
Deadly Honeymoon (2010)
It was way easier to get a small yacht and work some movie magic than to actually move everyone out to sea. Still brings the same effect!
The Martian (2015)
Obviously, they didn’t head to Mars for this movie! They pulled this film off so well that viewers were able to really get into the story.
Deadpool (2016)
Deadpool is as funny as it is impressive, with crazy special FX being touted throughout the film. All they did for this shot was put Ryan Reynolds in a prop car in front of a green screen and tilt the camera around.
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)
They really made this scene work for them! Instead of using those kinds of wimpy hills, they were able to create some awesome mountains with those green screens!
Grey’s Anatomy Series
This one is a bit random! Instead of filming in front of an actual city skyline, they opted for a green screen. Who would have thought?
300 (2006)
300 definitely made green screens their best friend. They were able to create some of the most stunning and impressive scenes just with some computer graphics!
Into the Woods (2014)
In order to get Into the Wild really wild, they had to use green screens to get these breathtaking scenes!
The Maze Runner (2014)
Obviously, they had to get creative with the mazes in this film.
Titanic (1997)
The Titanic is all about special FX. The crew was never actually on a real ship. It was all a sound stage and green screens.