Ana de Armas' high heels in No Time to Die are 100% digital.
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00:00CGI is everywhere in modern movies. All but the most low-budget films employ comprehensive
00:06use of visual effects for a number of reasons, from creating gorgeous far-flung worlds to
00:11fixing unexpected issues that arose during the shoot. And while bad or excessive CGI
00:17can certainly help ruin a movie, sometimes visual effects are deployed with such impressively
00:22subtle artistry that you don't even realise they're there.
00:27Well, nobody watched any of these ten recent movies under the assumption that they were
00:30conceived entirely practically. Each, nevertheless, features a CGI moment that you almost certainly
00:36didn't notice. So, with that in mind then, I'm Ellie with WhatCulture, here with ten
00:41CGI moments in recent movies nobody noticed.
00:45Number 10. Nat and Yelena in the bar in Black Widow
00:48It's of course no secret that every single Marvel Cinematic Universe movie contains a
00:54ton of CGI, in practically every scene. But you might be surprised at just how extensively
01:00VFX are used in even the most basic and practical of camera setups.
01:04When a VFX breakdown was released shortly after Black Widow hit screens, it revealed
01:09that even the scene where Natalia and Yelena hang out drinking in a bar required the use
01:13of blue-screen technology. At a cursory glance, there's nothing about that scene which simply
01:18involves two people sitting down and talking, which necessitated CGI, most likely suggesting
01:24that this portion of the scene was a reshoot captured many months later.
01:28It's been stated before that the crew of every MCU movie captures clean background
01:32plates of all major camera setups, so if it's discovered that shots are missing or a scene
01:36isn't quite working in editing, pick-ups can be efficiently shot in front of a blue
01:40screen and composited in front of the plates.
01:44While it's easy to view this use of CGI as excessive, it's certainly a smart way
01:47to keep reshoot costs down by ensuring the crew doesn't need to revisit the original
01:52location or, worse still, rebuild a set that was destroyed after principal photography
01:57wrapped. And considering you almost certainly didn't notice it, do you really care all
02:01that much?
02:029. Tig Notaro replaces Chris D'Elia in Army of the Dead
02:08Zack Snyder faced a major technical hurdle during post-production of his zombie epic
02:12Army of the Dead, where numerous sexual misconduct allegations were made against cast member
02:17Chris D'Elia.
02:19Snyder decided to digitally remove D'Elia from the film and replace him with comedian
02:23Tig Notaro, an extremely challenging feat given that D'Elia was part of the main ensemble
02:28cast and typically filmed in shots with other actors.
02:32Snyder shot with Notaro against green screens for two weeks, with Anadila Ruggiero being
02:36the only cast member she physically met on set, filming a total of two scenes with her.
02:41D'Elia was then erased from each shot and Notaro painstakingly inserted in his place.
02:48It's an intensely difficult process, and yet one which is near enough seamless in the
02:51final film.
02:52Sure, if you know what to look for, there are a few moments where the lighting doesn't
02:56quite match 100%, but considering most general viewers didn't even know about the casting
03:00replacement, they'd likely have no idea they were looking at a hugely labor-intensive visual
03:05effect.
03:068. CGI Water in The Tragedy of Macbeth
03:10The Tragedy of Macbeth is an undeniably beautiful film powered by the combination of first-rate
03:15production design and cinematography, yet you'll probably be pretty shocked to see
03:19just how much of the film's style and atmosphere was dictated by mind-boggling seamless visual
03:25effects.
03:26The production used countless matte paintings and set extensions to make the film's small
03:30soundstage set look considerably larger, while also employing CGI fog to obscure the set's
03:36limitations and imply a greater sense of scale.
03:40But we all know that water is one of the trickiest elements to replicate digitally, behind only
03:45fire, and this is where The Tragedy of Macbeth truly comes into its own.
03:50During the scene where Macbeth sits in the apparition room and has a vision of the floor
03:54transforming into a bubbling cauldron of black liquid, the liquid is 100% CGI.
04:00While it looks like Denzel Washington is simply sitting in a set filled to ankle height with
04:04water, the actor is actually sitting considerably more comfortably in a totally dry set, with
04:10the liquid instead a brain-breakingly photo-real simulation.
04:14This is the sort of subtle, not showy effects work that deserves much greater recognition.
04:197.
04:20Duke Leto's Army on Caladan in Dune
04:24Dune quite rightly won the Best Visual Effects Oscar earlier this year, and though the film's
04:28VFX are spectacular from start to finish, there are a few moments where they don't
04:33draw absolute attention to themselves.
04:35One scene where you might actually assume the bulk of the setup was filmed practically,
04:39however, is when Duke Leto Atreides is first tasked with presiding over Arrakis while
04:44assembled with his army on his home planet of Caladan.
04:48The eye-watering wide shot shows Duke Atreides standing on a large platformed area with several
04:52hundred officers behind him.
04:54It's certainly lush and expansive, but tangible enough that it could conceivably be filmed
04:59practically in an exotic location, given the film's large budget.
05:03Yet, the scene is actually a mesmerising trick.
05:06Almost all of the officers are digital replications, and only a small portion of the set is actually
05:11real.
05:12Furthermore, the temples and mountains in the background are also 100% digital.
05:17That the end result is photoreal enough to make you question whether it was shot in a
05:21practical location is why Dune absolutely deserved the Oscar.
05:25This is truly next level work.
05:286.
05:29Eddie at the Beach in Venom Let There Be Carnage
05:33The recent Venom sequel ends with Eddie Brock and Venom getting some well-earned R&R at
05:37the beach.
05:38While the sunset certainly looks suspiciously picturesque, you'd be forgiven for assuming
05:42that the scene was shot on a real beach and the sky was merely retouched during post-production.
05:46Incredibly, though, the entire beach is fake, with Hardy actually sitting on a small patch
05:52of sand on a soundstage in front of a blue screen.
05:55In fact, because so much of the shot was replaced in post, the microphone used to capture Hardy's
06:00dialogue didn't even need to be concealed from the camera's view, as it was simply
06:04painted out by the film's VFX artists.
06:07Though 98% of the film's CGI moments draw absolute attention to themselves, this is
06:12actually pretty clever and shows the benefit of hiring a VFX-savvy filmmaker like Andy
06:16Serkis to get the job done.
06:185.
06:19The Sherman Fields Candyman in Candyman It's certainly no secret that the new Candyman
06:25sequel uses CGI to de-age original Candyman star Tony Todd in its delirious climax, but
06:32did you know there's actually a 100% digital character hidden in plain sight throughout
06:37the film?
06:38Early on, we're told about the tragic tale of Sherman Fields, a hook-handed black man
06:42who was shot by racist police officers decades ago, and several times throughout the film
06:46we see him appear as a version of the vengeful Candyman.
06:50While it simply seems that actor Hargrove was kitted out in grotesque make-up effects
06:54to perform these scenes, that's not quite the case.
06:57Though Hargrove did indeed perform all of the scenes himself, during post-production,
07:02director Nia DaCosta decided that the prosthetic facial scarring effects didn't quite look
07:06good enough, and so VFX house Luma Pictures was charged with replacing Hargrove with a
07:12total digital recreation from scratch, using crime scene photography to create a more visceral
07:18facial wound.
07:19Yet because this decision was made in post, no movement data for Hargrove have been captured
07:23during principal photography, making the process considerably more difficult.
07:27But the end result is extremely difficult to spot, in large part thanks to smart use
07:32of dim lighting to conceal the obvious tells of a digital human face.
07:374.
07:38Everything but the boat in Death on the Nile
07:41Anyone with even a rudimentary understanding of VFX will likely be aware that Death on
07:45the Nile wasn't actually filmed on the River Nile.
07:49It was in fact predominantly shot on soundstages in London, with the footage then composited
07:53into background plates, which were shot in Egypt by the film's second unit crew.
07:58And while many noted how phony the film's Egyptian exteriors looked, you might be surprised
08:03to learn just how much CGI was actually employed to place the focal crew ship, the SS Karnak,
08:08on the Nile.
08:09You probably assumed that the London soundstage contained a water tank and some Egyptian scenery,
08:14and yet the soundstages are shockingly bare for a $90 million movie.
08:19Some sequences were quite literally filmed in what appears to be a large gravel backlot
08:23outside the studio, with every piece of the Egyptian locale either a background plate
08:28or a CGI element created from scratch.
08:31The film's effects are certainly far from perfect, but it's nevertheless shocking just
08:35how artificial it all is.
08:383.
08:39Piccadilly Circus in Last Night in Soho
08:42Edgar Wright is an extremely shrewd filmmaker where visual effects are concerned, yet when
08:46it came to recreating 1960s London for his most recent film Last Night in Soho, it was
08:52reasonable to assume that he would simply alter shots of modern day London to resemble
08:56their past.
08:57While that's largely true during the scene set in Soho itself, the sequence where Jack
09:01drives Sandy around Piccadilly Circus is actually a feat of low-key VFX genius.
09:07Though you probably assumed Edgar Wright simply shot the scene in Piccadilly Circus for real
09:12and then had the shot edited to resemble its 60s self, the car ride was actually shot at
09:17another location altogether.
09:19From the VFX breakdown, it's clear that the car was filmed riding along a closed street
09:23slash track and then cleverly composited into a 100% CGI recreation of 60s Piccadilly Circus.
09:31Because the lighting between the raw footage of the car and the VFX shot match up pretty
09:35much perfectly, it looks supremely photorealistic.
09:382.
09:39Paloma's High Heels in No Time to Die
09:42One of No Time to Die's most memorable sequences involves the introduction of arse-kicking
09:47CIA agent Paloma, who promptly takes down a fleet of goons while wearing a pair of precarious
09:53high heels.
09:54As a testament to the art of subtle CGI, Ana de Armas actually wore trainers while filming
09:59this scene, and the film's VFX artist then replaced them with high heels, presumably
10:03for the sake of both practicality and safety.
10:07Whilst the heels would fundamentally change the actress's posture, her legs also had
10:11to be digitally altered to ensure the effect was totally convincing.
10:15And considering not a single living soul picked up on this until the incredible VFX breakdown
10:20was released, it's most certainly a job well done.
10:231.
10:24The Dog-Shaped Shadow in The Power of the Dog
10:27Jane Campion's Oscar-winning western The Power of the Dog uses way more CGI than you'd
10:32ever guess simply from looking at it.
10:34From the mostly digital animals to the extended sets and CGI buildings, it's a testament
10:39to how subtle effects can add so much presence and atmosphere to a film.
10:43One of its most memorable scenes involves Phil and Peter staring at what appears to
10:48be the shadow of a barking dog in the hills near his ranch.
10:52While you might assume that a lower-budget arthouse film simply location scouted a hilltop
10:56that resembled the profile of a barking dog at a squint, it was ultimately less hassle
11:00to just rely on VFX to create the precise visual that director Jane Campion wanted.
11:06In post-production, the entire topography of the hills was changed, with new lighting
11:10and shadows layered on top to both create the dog silhouette and make it blend believably
11:15into the originally shot material.