ActiveMan
No Result
View All Result
  • Health & Fitness
  • Style
  • Living
  • Culture
  • Health & Fitness
  • Style
  • Living
  • Culture
No Result
View All Result
ActiveMan
No Result
View All Result

Best Practical Effects in Film

by Matthew Brosche
in Culture
Reading Time: 3 mins read
Best Practical Effects in Film
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The creation of CGI was a significant contribution to the film medium, allowing for more spectacular visuals then could have ever been done before. Even with all the benefits that CGI has presented, many people still prefer the old ways of particle effects.

I can certainly understand why people prefer the practical over the computer generated. There’s a certain charm to an effect that is tangible to the audience; even bad practical effects can still entertaining to see.

Here are a few of the most famous examples of particle effects and how they were done.

The Exploding Head in Scanners

Scanners_Exploding_Head.png.CROP.promovar-mediumlarge

Know for his gore-filled practical effects, David kronenberg’s Scanners contains one of his most famous depictions of gore. Even if you’ve never seen the film, you’ve probably seen the effect before, as it has been shown again and again becoming a general metaphor for something mind-blowing in pop culture.

The film revolves around a group of people called scanners, who have psychokinetic powers. In the particular scene, I am referring to a scanner is talking about his abilities during a lecture and decides to demonstrate them by blowing up the moderators head with his mind.

The scene is incredibly visceral and shocking for the audience, as it’s not only gory, but the build-up to the actual explosion looks unbearably painful.

How The Effect Was Done

Several different attempts were made to make the exploding head look as real as possible, but the wax and plastic heads didn’t look convincing enough. Eventually, the team decided to take a plaster mold of the actor’s head and then proceeded to stuff it with all sorts of old meat and unused wax from the other heads to make the explosion look authentic.

When they realized the prop would make a massive mess up implosion, the special effects team built a small replica set in a warehouse and put the dummy there. The actual explosion was achieved by one of the effects artist telling everyone else to get in their cars while he sat beneath the model and fired a shotgun to the back of its head.

The Shark from Jaws

zG9ATIX

An impressive effect born from adversity, the shark, lovingly nicknamed Bruce by the crew, was supposed to be seen much more than it is in the end product. Due to constant malfunctions of the mechanical shark, the crew was forced to shoot around the technical issue and decrease the amount of time the shark is on screen.

The technical limitations of the animatronic turned out to work in the film’s favor as not seeing the shark for most of the movie added a lot more tension to each scene.

How the effect was done

There was actually three shark animatronics collectively named Bruce, all with a heavy rubber skin wrapped around a full-size robotic shark skeleton. Even though the sharks broke down constantly they were still an impressive creation for the time and showed how the full extent of what could be done with animatronics.

The problem with the animatronics was that when they were put in salt water, the electronics began malfunctioning, despite the best efforts of the creators to make the sharks waterproof. Even though the effect didn’t work as well as intended, Bruce is considered a technical marvel by special effects artist.

The Hallway fight in Inception

6RpJl3W

Even with the prevalence of CGI in most recent films, there are still some directors who chose to use particle effects. Christopher Nolan’s awe-inspiring but confusing Inception is one such film. Since the plot revolves around dreams, a lot of dream logic was used in the film, with one fight scene imparticular exemplifying this.

Due to a long, convoluted series of events that would talk a whole other article to explain, one of the characters finds himself in a fist fight taking place in a rotating hallway. Many are surprised to learn that the effect was entirely practical.

How the Effect was done

The effect was done by creating a hallway that was opened to a green screen on each side so that the cameras could film everything inside. Editors could then use the green screen to make the hallway appear closed off on both sides. Cables attached to large metal arches that stood over the set suspended the large hallway so that it could be turned quickly creating the effect of a rotating hallway.

Photo by Avel Chuklanov on Unsplash

Share2Tweet
Previous Post

Skin Care Tips For Modern Day Men

Next Post

5 best personalized gifts for Men

Related Posts

So You’ve Lost the Spark: Now What?

So You’ve Lost the Spark: Now What?

For most couples, the quality of sex plays a big role in the long-term success of the relationship. Once the...

Use Roman Swipes, Fulfill your Fantasy and Last Longer in Bed - 2022

Use Roman Swipes, Fulfill your Fantasy and Last Longer in Bed – 2022

Premature Ejaculation is the most common problem amongst men. If you too are suffering from this then do not worry....

Best Overview of Cremaster Muscle 2022 - Check Out this Essential Guide

Best Overview of Cremaster Muscle 2022 – Check Out this Essential Guide

Cremaster muscle is a muscle that is found only in male humans, that covers testicles and the spermatic cord. The...

7 Tips for the Great American Road Trip

7 Tips for the Great American Road Trip

Road trips have increasingly become the most preferred mode of travel in the U.S and across the world today. The...

The Most You Could Get Out of Hookup Sites

The Most You Could Get Out of Hookup Sites

Have you been considering hookup sites or you're already signed up? Well, you may be wondering what's the best you...

5 Famous Black Male Actors of Hollywood All the Time

5 Famous Black Male Actors of Hollywood All the Time

Hollywood is loaded with many hot black male actors. When it comes to charming and appealing black male actors top...

A Few Ideas for What to Buy Men at Christmas

A Few Ideas for What to Buy Men at Christmas

While Christmas shopping is never easy, the men in your life can be among the most elusive people when it...

5 Fun Bachelor Party Ideas

5 Fun Bachelor Party Ideas

Why do we have bachelor parties? For one thing, they serve as a great way to bring friends and family...

6 Things to do Before Baby Comes

6 Things to do Before Baby Comes

Welcoming a baby into your life is one of the most exciting and joyous things that will happen to you,...

Load More

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Relationships

10 Delicious Foods That Will Make You Horny

Health & Fitness

10 Men’s Style Bloggers And Influencers in New York

Culture

Best Practical Effects in Film

Health & Fitness

6 Creative Hacks On How To Lace Vans Like A Rockstar

  • About
  • Disclaimer
  • Contact us

© 2021 ActiveMan. All rights reserved. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. All the information on this website –activeman.com – is published in good faith and for general information purpose only. ActiveMan does not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability, and accuracy of this information. Any action you take upon the information you find on this website (ActiveMan), is strictly at your own risk. ActiveMan will not be liable for any losses and/or damages in connection with the use of our website. ActiveMan might get paid commissions on purchases made through our links to retailer sites. ActiveMan is a registered trademark of Placeful, Inc.

No Result
View All Result
  • Health & Fitness
  • Style
  • Living
  • Culture

© 2020 ActiveMan. All rights reserved. All images property of their respective owners. ActiveMan is a registered trademark of Placeful, Inc.