We’re all aware that Hollywood is just one big illusion, with the goal being to trick our minds into believing that what we’re seeing on screen is real, but even so, having that mystique upended can be a somewhat disorientating experience. Even as a grown man, I recoiled in a combination of horror and amusement at several of the behind-the-scenes shots in our last feature on the subject, being pulled out of a childlike fascination with cinematic imagery, and realising the deception of these staggeringly-realised special effects.
Well, because we thought you hadn’t quite had enough, we’re back for more; as the years pass, more and more rare images from blockbuster movie sets become unearthed, and of course, that means the magic of 10 more films can be totally destroyed for us. If you want to preserve those youthful memories of some of your favourite movies, look away now – if not, proceed ahead!
The finale to the third Back to the Future film is so well-realised that you’d probably assume the vast majority of it was shot practically – except, perhaps, for the flying train right at the end – yet this set image reveals that even the main set-piece, a mad dash to stop the train careening off an unfinished track, was achieved with Hollywood’s pre-CGI go-to staple, the miniature (which will feature heavily in this list, by the way).
One would love to think that Robert Zemeckis and co. just drove a train around on a track with a car attached to the front, but alas, they opted for this presumably more cost-effective approach. Oh, and I imagine it’s a lot safer too, because there’s no risk of, y’know, killing a few stuntmen or anything…
Fantastic though these miniatures look, I prefer to stick to ignorance and assume they just shot it for real…
Robots need hydration too, who would have thought it? Going by the sheer number of behind-the-scenes pictures out there of costumed actors being fed and/or watered through their suits, it’s safe to say that without the invention of straws, most of these folk would probably have died of dehydration. Here’s the one that above all else de-mystifies a classic, beloved movie, as the iconic machine from George Lucas’ inaugural sci-fi masterwork enjoys a refreshing drink in between takes.
The image is made all the more hilarious and absurd because of the perennially blank look on the robot’s face. Furthermore, I can’t help but wonder exactly what’s inside the cup. Answers on a postcard, please (or in the comments below…)
Either Godzilla has finally found a monster-sized woman to love, or…this is a distressing (if funny) image from the set of the classic monster movie. Though the ambiguous facial expression of the female standing next to “him” almost makes it seem like the monster has taken her by force – a new story where Godzilla gets shrunk down to human size, perhaps? – this is apparently a staged image, rendered most surreal by the fact that Godzilla, in an uncharacteristic act of chivalry, is holding an umbrella for the young lady.
But wait, it’s not even covering her head. What a monster indeed.
The faun who helps guide Ofelia throughout Pan’s Labyrinth is an ambiguous figure of sorts, and one who appears to harbour an unexpected affinity for Coca Cola in this amusing behind-the-scenes image, in which actor Doug Jones is forced to eat his lunch while remaining inside the faun suit, presumably because of the arduous make-up application process.
We all like to think that these magical creatures just don’t need to eat, or would eat a bunch of magical foliage, yet to see the faun as addicted to the sugary beverage as any of us are – equipped with a straw, no less – makes it difficult to think of the horned, long-haired guy the same way again.
One of the all-time best set-pieces in movie history is the materialisation of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man as he lays waste to New York City in Ghostbusters, stampeding around, at least until the truth is revealed that, in fact, Stay Puft is a regular-sized guy stomping through a miniature city. Superbly achieved though the effects are – and we all know they didn’t actually have a giant animatronic marshmallow man walking through New York’s streets, awesome though that would be – I prefer to stick to the “how did they do that?” sense of fascination I had as a kid.
On the plus side of this image, I really want a Stay Puft suit in time for Halloween…
The landscapes of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy may have looked superbly convincing to the point that we just assumed it was all shot in New Zealand, but these sweeping locales weren’t made without the help of some deceptive miniatures from time to time. In fact, so authentic-looking is this set that our mind wants to believe that the set-dresser pictured on the left has been photoshopped into the image; our brain struggles to comprehend the geometry of the image otherwise.
Rest assured, however, this is the real deal, and despite evidently being considerably scaled-down, WETA did coin the term “bigatures” for the film, given the large size and scale of the models compared to the majority of movie miniatures.
An all-time classic of the horror genre, William Friedkin’s The Exorcist continues to terrify audiences to this day, and Linda Blair was much-praised for her startling performance as Regan. However, she had a little more help than you might have expected in achieving the duality of innocence and creepiness; not only was make-up employed to convey the toll the possession has taken on her body, but a complex animatronic was used for the more physically challenging possession scenes, notably the one in which Regan’s head spins around.
That’s not to say we expected that Linda Blair did the physically impossible feat for real, but seeing Blair and the puppet together – and specifically, how false the puppet looks without proper cinematic lighting and so on – completely destroys the illusion that we’re looking at an actual human face when the head spins. That said, those cold, dead eyes do add to the creepiness.
Anthony Hopkins gives one of cinema’s most terrifying and memorable performances as Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, yet this set image depicts a curious bout of downtime between set-ups, where a still-restrained Hopkins is being fed a french fry by director Jonathan Demme.
Amusing for sure – given that it seems as though Demme is taunting Lecter, and Lecter doesn’t appear to be particularly thrilled about having a chip thrust in his face – the only way that this shot doesn’t kill the magic of cinema is if we imagine that Lecter broke his shackles and started munching on the taunting director’s face mere seconds later.
Otherwise, it suggests that Lecter eventually had a change of heart and decided that the otherwhite meat wasn’t so appetising after all. And without his bizarre dietary requirements, what is Lecter really?
The most conflicting image on this list is at once jaw-droppingly impressive and also somewhat depressing. In the age of CGI, it’s staggering to believe that a shot as complicated as this was ever achieved through practical effects, let alone that any filmmaking team was crazy enough to even attempt it.
The shot, of a jet fighter bounding through a cavern as explosions go off around it in Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day, was somehow achieved with practical miniatures, though at the same time, it reveals the complete artifice of even the most striking shots cinema has to offer.
It’s not like many expected Emmerich to actually fly a fighter jet through an explosion-filled cavern, yet at the same time, seeing this effect achieved with dozens of crew members standing idly by will forever ensure I cannot look at it the same way again.
Boris Karloff gave cinema’s definitive portrayal of Frankenstein’s monster, and here we see him taking a load off in full monster make-up, drinking a cup of tea and smoking a cigarette. Though plenty of cinematic badassess have smoked, how often do you see them sitting down to enjoy a cup of Earl Grey?
It completely shatters our steadfast illusion of the man as an unstoppable miscreant, making it seem as though all the thing wanted to, aside from find a bride, was sit down and relax with a cuppa.
Which behind-the-scenes image has ruined your childhood the most? Let us know in the comments below.
(Whatculture.com)
Tags: cinema shots, movie moments
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