The Power of Miniatures
You wouldn’t believe how many movies of yore involved heavy use of tiny little miniature models. E.T. seemed so real on-screen, how many times did you even think that you may have been looking at a tiny little model essentially standing on a diorama?
Of course, there were some scenes where a much bigger E.T. was used, but whenever possible, this little guy probably took the limelight – it’s a lot easier to manage a tiny model than a really big one, after all!
All in a Day’s Work
Acting may not seem like a very demanding job to some people, but make no mistake, a lot of effort goes into it – even in the physical realm. Have you seen some of the outfits actors have to parade around in? Needless to say, actors on set take breaks whenever they can get them.
In fact, they may even do so in one big group. Here we can see the cast of The Handmaid’s Tale taking a rest under a tree, all as one. They’ve likely earned that rest after a hard day’s work!
Direct Line of Communication
Many people believe that actors just run around doing whatever a director tells them to do without question, but a good director communicates with their cast to ensure that everyone knows what is happening and that they can do their best.
So, you often see images such as this one behind the scenes, with actress Julia Roberts (playing Tinkerbell) discussing something of importance with director Steven Spielberg on the set of Hook from 1991.
Props Fit for a King
A lot of work goes into props and sets to ensure the audience feels like the things they’re being shown are truly real. That said, it would be a real shame if it all got taken down before anyone could see it off of the big screen.
That’s why actors often take pictures of things if they’re allowed to. CGI makes up a lot of movie magic, but as we can see in this selfie from Florence Pugh on the set of Midsommar, a lot of that magic is real practical effects too.
It’s Easy Being Green
CGI is a huge part of modern movies and television. Normal props go a long way, but some things can only be achieved with computer animation. It usually looks great in the final product, but during the actual filmmaking, it actually looks a little silly.
As you can imagine, a lot of movies have actors doing their thing with nothing but green screens as a backdrop, as we can see in this behind the scene filming from the series WandaVision. It’s impressive how actors can perform when they have to use their imagination alone!
Reviewing the Goods
It’s not like a movie is shot once and immediately put out on the big screen. Each scene has to be painstakingly reviewed by multiple people to see if it’s really up to snuff. If it isn’t, there will likely be reshoots!
Here, we can see director Jordan Peele reviewing a scene from his movie Nope alongside Daniel Kaluuya. Believe it or not, some days of filming involve a lot less actual filming and a lot more review of what has been filmed already!
Getting in Character
Filming a movie or television series is a lot like putting on a play, and in that regard, there’s a lot of rehearsal involved before a director and their actors are comfortable shooting the scene for real. Rehearsals don’t always have to be in costume either, though sometimes it helps.
Sometimes, you do a little bit of both – like in this image of Halle Berry as she rehearses a scene for Catwoman, wearing the mask, but otherwise dressed completely casually. Well, it helps to know how the mask will fit in with your expressions and movements!
Everything Is in Hand
There’s more than just green screens involved when it comes to heavy CGI movies. There are also green props, which will have CGI added to them to get the desired effect. You can see this in action here in this behind-the-scenes moment from Peter Jackson’s iconic King Kong.
It’s a credit to Naomi Watts that she was able to put on a pretty believable performance while being held by a big green hand that she had to pretend belonged to a giant gorilla. Truly, the imaginative make the best actors in these scenarios.
Man’s Best Friend, or Something Like That
Despite all of today’s technology, there comes a time when you really need little more than a doll to get started. Believe it or not, even cinematic powerhouses like Marvel occasionally rely on things like this, as you can see in this image with the late Chadwick Boseman on the set of Avengers: Endgame.
It’s kind of amusing how a little doll like that can be the basis for the creation of a hugely loved character. Of course, we all know that a lot of CGI went into Rocket’s character as well, but still.
Everyone Loves Coffee
If your role in a movie or show is to be a scary monster, you will undoubtedly be hidden under a lot of makeup and costumes at some point. It can take hours to get into character, so if you need to take a break, you often do that just as you are at the time – costume and all.
That’s exactly why we can get pictures like this one – featuring Jamie Campbell Bower enjoying a bit of coffee whilst taking a break on the set of Stranger Things, dressed up as a very grotesque creature while he’s at it.
An Important Call
Many roles require an actor to wear more than usual: often a special costume or outfit. And yet, some roles actually require an actor to wear less on set, as we can see here with Bruce Willis on the set of Die Hard With a Vengeance.
It also looks like he had a really important phone call that he just had to take. Anywhere else, this scene might have looked absolutely crazy, but when it comes to filming, it’s likely far from the most insane thing movie makers see on a daily basis.
Aided Deforestation
When it comes to practical effects, you may wonder how a director could possibly get the green light to burn down a big part of a forest, which was needed for the opening scene of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator. As it turns out, all you have to do is ask.
The US Forestry Commission was planning on removing this part of the forest anyway – so Scott asked them if he could film there and offer them a little help along the way with some controlled burning. As we can all tell based on the iconic scene, the Commission agreed!
A Lot of Extra Aid
Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan is absolutely iconic. But, with little to no CGI used, how did they portray Omaha Beach so realistically? Well, it involved more than one thousand extras on set, and around two dozen amputee actors pitched in for some of the most horrific scenes.
We don’t get to see any of that right here, but just knowing those numbers makes us wonder how hard it was for Spielberg to coordinate all of it while ensuring that Tom Hanks could stand out properly.
Gone Too Soon
Sometimes, it’s not the director or the special effects that bring a movie to life, but the actor alone. Bruce Lee was a legend in the martial arts field, still talked about in the pantheon of history’s greatest fighters. Every move we saw him do on screen was something he was actually capable of.
Needless to say, Bruce was taken from the world too soon. We’ll never get over how many amazing martial arts movies could have been in another, better timeline. At least he was able to leave a legacy even with a short time to shine.
Stay Puft, Michelin Man
Ghostbusters is a classic that will be remembered for several more decades still, and it had a lot of nifty special effects. But, how did they get that giant marshmallow man to walk around the big city? Well, naturally, they didn’t.
Behind the scenes, we can see that our puffy ghost monster is a lot smaller, and it’s all about perspective. It’s one of the oldest tricks in the filmmaking book, but it never ceases to get the job done on the big screen.
Even Droids Need Lunch
When Star Wars was initially being filmed, a lot of people thought it was going to flop for sure. However, the whimsical, epic story and amazing practical effects blew people away worldwide. For many fans, a little guy called R2-D2 was their favorite.
We’re willing to bet that a lot of fans didn’t think there was actually a person in there! All movie magic is made possible by people, but sometimes, it’s quite literally just a guy in a costume – if you can’t fathom that while watching, it’s a really good costume!
Small Models, Big Impact
Lots of dangerous things happen in movies. Some of them are actually carried out by stunt people, while others are just too dangerous to ever consider. As you may imagine, Back to the Future did not involve a DeLorean nearly getting run down by a real train.
As we can see in this behind-the-scenes shot, small models were used, along with proper camera perspective, to create that gripping moment on the big screen. After all, you’d have to pay someone a lot of money to risk their neck with a real train!
Filming a Title Crawl
When people think of Star Wars, one of the things that likely comes to mind is the iconic title crawl. Few people have probably thought of how those title crawls originally made their way onto the big screen, but the truth will probably come as a surprise to many.
They took a camera and filmed a smaller screen that had the title crawl moving along it. Filming a screen with a camera to put the result on another screen isn’t something done very often anymore, but it may have been the only option back in the day.
An Intense Stare Down
One of the things that’s easy to forget when it comes to movies is that you have to put a performance on in front of a lot of people… at all times. On-screen, Dumbledore may have been giving a grand speech to a chamber of students, but in reality, he had to give it to this grim-faced crew.
Needless to say, acting is not for those who have issues with stage fright, or those who are self-conscious. For our part, we couldn’t imagine having to give a speech about magic and Hogwarts with all these guys staring us down!
The Scope of Filming
The Gate wasn’t exactly a smash hit in 1987, but the way it was filmed behind the scenes was pretty impressive. Without CGI to create a fake background, how did the director make it look like those little demons were tiny in a normal-sized room?
Easy, just have normal-sized demons in a really big room! Before CGI let directors make whatever backgrounds they wanted for a scene, you had to get creative with real, physical sets. That often meant supersizing things to change the audience’s perceptions.
It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s…!
Making Superman fly in a modern movie is mostly a matter of computers and technology. Making Superman fly in the original film from several decades ago required some complex wire setups that could carry the actor or his stunt double through the sky.
Practical effects like this are always amusing, because they look so different behind-the-scenes compared to how they’re portrayed on the big screen. But, we suppose the ability to take something kind of silly and make it look good is part of movie magic.
Exactly as Advertised
OK, so maybe this one is a bit of a misnomer. After all, surely everyone expected the behind-the-scenes moments of The Muppet Movie to look like this? They’re puppets, after all! Still, it’s kind of funny to imagine a movie that’s essentially just a filmed puppet show.
Not that anyone should look down on it. Make no mistake – it takes a lot of skill and coordination to operate a puppet, especially in conjunction with a bunch of other puppets in a way that looks natural. It’s hard work!
In the Jaws of Creativity
We’re pretty sure everyone knows that a real shark wasn’t used to portray the antagonistic shark in the movie Jaws. But that darn thing just looked so real – and this was before CGI became super advanced – so how did they pull off this level of realism?
Well, they made a big animatronic shark, obviously. His name was Bruce. It’s so simple, yet so very impressive. Truly, you have to wonder how artists and craftsmen can make something fake look so deceptively real.
In a Tight Spot
Sometimes, actors and stunt doubles only have to pretend to be in a sticky situation. But, as we can see with this behind-the-scenes moment from The Hobbit, occasionally they have to actually be inconvenienced for the sake of the movie.
Of course, it’s not like they’re in any real danger, but it’s fun to acknowledge that not everything on screen is faked. Sometimes, actors do have to be tied up, covered in slime or mud, or hung upside down… among other things.
Are You Not Entertained?!
Real animals are often used when filming movies, but needless to say, alternative methods take the stage when a scene depicts a human being in close proximity to a dangerous animal – as we can see in this iconic scene from Gladiator.
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Sure, it’s not a guarantee that a tiger is going to hurt someone; some tigers are actually quite amicable. But at the end of the day, it’s still an incredibly powerful predator that could easily remove someone from the census, so it’s best to play it safe.
The Promising Power of Props
These days, movies often use a combination of CGI and physical props to create the effects they need. On-screen, it looks great. Behind the scenes, it honestly looks kind of silly. Here, we can see just what a Thestral from the Harry Potter series looked like in reality.
Yep, just a really well-made head from the props department! Of course, some CGI was also used for the final scene, but it was the combination of the two that gave the impression that this mythical beast could actually exist in the real world.
Waiting for the Big Moment
A lot of things go into movies, but one of the oft-underappreciated elements is definitely the makeup! The makeup department has to do a ton of work to create lifelike visuals on actors, especially when it comes to injuries and the like.
After all, it’s not like you want your actor to get hurt for real! Needless to say, actors can spend hours just sitting around and patiently waiting for makeup artists to do their thing, as we can see with Nicolas Cage on the set of Drive Angry.
Sweeping Fields of Plastic
Shooting on location in a big, sweeping, beautiful place is all well and good – but it’s also very expensive. Some big films can afford to do it, but there are times when it’s just more effective to create a little miniature landscape and film it with the right perspective.
Here, we can see Steven Spielberg on the set of Raiders of the Lost Ark, doing exactly that. We’re starting to wonder how many scenes throughout our years of movie-watching were actually just tiny sets like this one.
When You Just Need a Sub
Titanic was a massive undertaking that required all sorts of special effects, props, and of course, a lot of water. But filming scenes underwater is not easy to do, and some special equipment was needed – pictured here is the MIR submarine James Cameron used for the film.
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It just goes to show that a lot more goes into movies than many people realize. But then again, the fact that the audience is never aware of any of this is kind of the point. The end result is what matters, and sometimes it takes a submarine to get there!
What’s in a Dalek
With CGI making the creation of settings and props a mostly computerized affair, some people forget that actual physical creations are or were actually used. In older film and TV especially, many things we saw on the big screen were made for real.
We’re not sure what exactly this Dalek from the original Doctor Who in 1965 was made out of, but apparently, it was sturdy enough to jump around on. Then again, it’s an incredibly advanced lifeform – should any of us really be surprised by that?
Motion Capture Magic at Work
CGI alone can’t create a very good humanoid character – as humans ourselves, we can tell when motion looks off, creating that uncanny valley effect. That’s where motion capture suits come in! They allow the creation of a CGI character that moves like a real person.
Well, we struggle to say that Gollum moved like a person in general, but as Andy Serkis proves in this behind-the-scenes shot from Lord of the Rings, the movements are more than possible for a human being, they just aren’t the norm.
Not as Whimsical as You Remember
Not everyone likes the remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as much as the original, but nobody can deny that it had some great special effects. Of course, a lot of it was just good CGI, like the boat ride on the chocolate river.
As with many movies, actors have to use their imagination to react to what’s supposedly happening around them, when they can really only see a bunch of green screens everywhere. It’s impressive that they can do that so well!
The Unsung Fabric Heroes
OK, so maybe there’s no real movie magic going on here, but we just wanted to acknowledge the hard work of the behind-the-scenes staff that rarely gets any attention. After all, costume designers do a whole lot of work to create the wardrobes that really bring characters to life!
Not only do they have to make the costumes, but as we can see from this image from the set of the movie Cruella, they have to conduct repairs and maintenance on those costumes too. Without them, these movies would not be the same!
Actors in Motion
James Cameron’s Avatar movies sold themselves mostly on visual appeal. As you may imagine, a lot of work goes into that, but most of it is costly and labor-intensive CGI work. Naturally, that included a lot of motion capture suits as well.
IMDb // Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
For anyone who has seen the second movie already, you probably remember those great underwater sequences – lo and behold, it required a lot of actors in motion capture suits to make it happen. Who knew they worked even underwater?
The King of the Monsters
Movies with big monsters require really big props, so it’s no surprise that the set of Jurassic World: Dominion included some pretty big dino props, as we can see in this behind-the-scenes shot. Frankly, we’re furious as to how much it cost just to build that thing.
It’s probably not the only one they have either. When you think about how many props like this have to be built, on top of all the other things to take into consideration, it’s no wonder that movies take so long to produce.
When All Eyes Are on You
Being camera shy would be absolutely unacceptable if you wanted to become an actor, especially considering how many of them get pointed at you for every possible scene. We have no doubt that there were more cameras than we’re seeing in this behind-the-scenes shot from Bullet Train.
Of course, it makes sense that you would want to get multiple angles for the same scene. That way, you can pick and choose which one you think works the best and not have to film the scene all over again. It’s just prudent, really.
How to Add to a Mountain
In 1984, CGI wasn’t quite capable of delivering very believable props and set pieces. But, it wasn’t like they could just build an actual castle on a mountain for Conan the Destroyer, so what did they do instead? They made a little prop and positioned it perfectly.
This is one of the things we love about filmmaking – it requires real creativity and clever workarounds to achieve the results you want. Seeing the behind-the-scenes magic reveals that it’s all even more impressive than you’d think.
All Coolant Systems Nominal
One of the things that made Star Wars great over the years was the on-site filming in real-world locations. No fake deserts here – just real filmmaking in Tunisia. Of course, that could be a pretty harrowing experience for the actors out in the sun.
Especially poor Anthony Daniels, who had to play C-3PO in the desert heat with his very restricting costume. Notice how he doesn’t even have a chair to sit in while he cools off, because he probably can’t sit in that thing. We appreciate your sacrifice, Daniels!
Don’t Look Into the Light
Lighting is an incredibly important part of shooting a good scene, and it can be harder to get it right than you might think. We’re sure that the audience watching Jordan Peele’s Nope had no idea the lighting setup was this complex.
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Heck, they’re practically stadium lights held up by wire! We’re not sure if we would want to actually be under one of those while filming. Of course, we have little doubt that they were very secure, but still, it would be a little nerve-wracking.
If Only You Knew the Power of the Mattress!
Maybe crash pads just weren’t a thing when The Empire Strikes Back was being filmed, but it’s really funny to just see a huge pile of mattresses serve as Mark Hamill’s safety net during this iconic scene.
There’s always a hilarious juxtaposition between the final scene and what it looked like behind the scenes, but this one just strikes us as really amusing. Star Wars has always been kind of campy, but imagine how the actors must have felt about it during the actual process!
Light Up the Night
When you need to shoot a scene at night, but still need things to be bright enough so the audience can see what’s going on, that can be pretty hard to pull off. It requires a lot of work, as we can see in this behind-the-scenes shot from Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
We can’t even imagine how much time, money, or effort it took just to light up that small section of the freeway for as long as they needed. When you think about it, it makes total sense why making a movie costs millions and millions of dollars.
Studying the Source Material
When an actor understands the character they’re trying to portray, it goes a long way in making a truly good performance. So, it really helps when the actor in question reads up on the character, even if it means going through a comic book!
As we can see, even Benedict Cumberbatch thinks it’s a worthy use of his time in this behind-the-scenes shot from a Doctor Strange movie. Well, it’s not like comic books can’t be enjoyed by everyone of all ages, right?
The Women of Rohan
Lord of the Rings ended up using a lot of real horses in their filming, and the best way to do that is to have the actual horse owners around to keep them calm and controlled. Well, that’s exactly what Peter Jackson did – most of the riders of Rohan were actually women with fake beards!
That’s because most of the horses used were owned by these female extras, and they weren’t going to be examined too closely in the movie anyway, so almost no one would notice. We’re sure this little factoid shocks plenty of fans!
Hanging on for Dear Life
Rose hanging onto Jack’s hand for dear life in Titanic hits a bit differently when you see how the dramatic scene was filmed. Kate Winslet is holding onto Leonardo DiCaprio’s hand, but she’s not exactly in any danger.
The actress is on a mock ship that’s very close to the ground, in case she falls. There are cameramen above her, and some production crew below her, so the actress is perfectly safe.