Nowadays, as an audience we are pretty used to having special and visual effects in movies, as this enhances the overall ambiance or allows the creators to add depth that would otherwise be either too difficult or expensive to make. But are you aware of how much do special and visual effects change a movie?
These photos will show you how drastic a movie can be before and after special effects. Who knew it was such a big part of a film’s production?
Special effects are Wonderful
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It's fantastic how much special effects had a role in “Alice in Wonderland”. Wonderland is definitely not very wonderful without any of these visual effects!
John Carter
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This sci-fi 2012 movie featured some fantastic creatures, and special effects were used to recreate these. From Thoat to the adorable Woola, a big part of this movie success was thanks to its cool visual effects.
Guardians of the Galaxy
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This is another action/sci-fi movie we know and love, and that would not have been as cool without the fantastic special effects. Did you know there was actually an actor on set dressed in a green suit to create Rocket Raccoon's movements? Sean Gunn was on set, and the character was later voiced by Bradley Cooper.
World War Z
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Hollywood Blockbusters have so many special effects nowadays it's hard to discern what is real and what is not. The thriller World War Z had some pretty incredible scenes that were actually filmed on a green screen. They look so real!
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead man's chest
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Remember Davy Jones and his crew on this iconic Pirates of the Carribean movie? That was not a look achieved by makeup artists, it was all special effects. This movie even won an Oscar for best Visual Effects.
The terror of the high seas!
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The level of detail on the faces of these characters was insane! Bill Nighy, the actor who portrayed Davy Jones was very impressed when he saw the final result on the theaters. He could not believe it was him!
Green screens or blue screens?
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By now, you must be aware that filmmakers use green screens to film something that will later be visually enhanced by a computer. But did you know that on exterior scenes they use blue screens? This helps when there are trees or other greenery on the location. Who knew!
It's not all what it seems
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And special effects don't have to be only added digitally. A lot of filmmakers use props and special filming techniques to achieve cool visual effects the old school way.
Avengers Assemble
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When you see what your favorite superheroes look like without special effects, they are not as impressive. Especially Hulk!
Captain America needs some help
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Captain America would look really goofy without all these fantastic visual effects. He surely needs help from the great visual editors to be as impressive as he looks on screen!
Hulk? Is that you?
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Without the magic of special effects, some key scenes in movies would completely lose their appeal. Take for example this scene in Avengers where Thor is trying to hold onto the incredible Hulk. It sure didn't look that hard when they were filming it.
You can create places
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Special effects not only allow movies to enhance their characters, they also allow movies to have fantastic sets and backgrounds. In 300, Sparta was nowhere near as impressive during filming as it was on the final version of the film.
And you can create animals, too
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Visual effects can help recreate fantastical creatures, but they are also a big help when you need to act alongside a real animal that would probably be very grumpy on set. In the movie Life of Pi, which shows a fantastic friendship between a young man and a tiger, they used special effects to recreate the tiger on the screen
You can even turn people into animals!
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Special effects also help achieve was is unattainable in real life. For the Twilight saga movies, the story required a werewolf and special effects were used to turn actor Taylor Lautner into a giant wolf.
Sometimes the visual effects are everything
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Most movies have at least some form of visual enhancement or special effect to help tell a story. But some movies absolutely rely on these visual effects for their story to make sense. In the award-winning movie Avatar, special effects transformed the actors into Na'vi aliens and without these visual aids this movie would not have been the same.
Game of Thrones
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Some of the dragons and creatures in hit TV Show Game of Thrones are nowhere near as scary without special effects.
Keeping the actors safe
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Sometimes visual effects are also used in situations where actors would most likely get harmed. For the movie The Walk, based on the memoir of Philippe Petit, actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt had to recreate walking o a cable set between the Twin Towers in New York City's World Trade Center.
All you need is a green screen
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From the most fantastical creatures to the most beautiful views and backdrops, you can recreate whatever you want with the help of a green screen and special effects.
Anything is possible
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It really is impressive to think that all you need is a computer and some green fabric. Well, and some highly talented visual editors who spend a long long long time making these fantastic effects.
It's all a matter of perspective
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Special effects can take you to the top of the skies or the depths of hell. It's all a matter of where the story needs to take you.
