10 scenes from films, the effects of which seem to be made on a computer, but in fact are not (12 photos + 1 video)

These are the scenes in these films that were filmed without the participation of computer special effects specialists, although it would seem!





Even in CGI-heavy blockbusters, there is still room today for practical, rather than digital, tricks to help filmmakers create magic on screen. Sometimes you may not even believe at first that certain scenes were filmed not against a green background, but with the help of makeup, special costumes, overlays, sculptures and actually built sets.

It just so happens that audiences respect films that use practical effects more and are happy to learn that in their favorite films, most of the visual tricks are done not with the help of CGI, but as if they were natural. And we are ready to pleasantly surprise fans of these 10 paintings - they just belong to this noble category.

The distorted T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)







Nowadays, such effects would probably be done using a computer, as they did in the new parts of “Terminator,” but in the early 90s, the use of such sculptures helped to realize the idea much more realistically.

Cafe scene from the movie Inception (2010)



The flying tents with vegetables and fruits were beautifully slowed down for the film, but the film crew did not draw anything, but actually organized a series of mini-explosions right on the street.

The use of forced perspective in the film "The Lord of the Rings"



One could assume that the actors are filmed separately, and then the fragments are superimposed on each other, adjusting the sizes, which is quite possible. But it uses a clever technique in which one actor is much further away from the camera than the other, although it doesn't seem that way to the audience.

The same technique in the film "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (2004)



There is a video of the film's director, Michel Gondry, personally explaining how this scene was filmed.

Levitating truck in Thor 2 (2013)



Why draw something if you can use a powerful hydraulic unit and “mount” a real truck on it? After all, this way the frame looks much more naturalistic.

Monsters in the film "The Cabin in the Woods" (2011)



The film features two dozen different monsters, and most of them were created with the help of makeup and costumes. In particular this creepy merman.

Polka Dot Man from the movie "Suicide Squad: Mission Beast" (2021)



Even in 2021, such effects can be done not on a computer, but with the help of complex overlays on the actor’s face. In this case, David Dastmalchian experienced it himself.

Aunt Marge in the film "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" (2004)



Actress Pam Ferris was dressed in a huge costume of a bloated Marjorie Dursley and used cables to lift her into the air to film the moments where she flies into the air.

Real squirrels in the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)



To film the scene, artificial squirrels were used for extras and 40 real, specially trained rodents. They actually broke the walnuts and collectively attacked the heroine.

Throwing Ripley in Alien: Resurrection (1997)



The scene where the heroine hits a basket with a basketball from a considerable distance, and even standing with her back to it, was originally planned to be edited using a computer. Like, you just throw it, and then we’ll digitally correct the flight of the ball. But Sigourney Weaver insisted that she could handle it herself and actually hit the target, and not on the two hundredth attempt, but on... the sixth.

Actor Ron Perlman, standing in the background, was so unexpected that he almost ruined the shot by changing his character's malevolent expression to an uncharacteristic smile.