Artificial visual or mechanical effects introduced into a movie or television show.
Artificial visual or mechanical effects introduced into a movie or television show.
Wikipedia Page: Special effect
Questions tagged [effects]
222 questions
116
votes
7 answers
Has a major film ever intentionally used live ammunition to film a scene?
I was imagining the other day that most war films and scenes are filmed with people faking shooting. Sometimes wars scenes are not even using blank rounds, like in Star Wars. This leads me to wonder if anyone has ever filmed a major movie without…
Mark Rogers
- 1,593
- 2
- 12
- 21
40
votes
1 answer
What do they use for broken glass pieces in movies?
Most of action movies involve tremendous amounts of explosions and shattered glass. I remember watching Die Hard (1988) and the amount of broken glass made me wonder, what was it made of to keep actors safe?
eYe
- 16,029
- 38
- 105
- 171
40
votes
4 answers
How do they film scenes with the actors driving in a car?
I know long ago they would have the car stationary and use a projector screen to with moving scenery to make it look like the car was moving. It was obviously staged, but good enough. I've seen "behind the scenes" video clips and still showing some…
Jim McKeeth
- 531
- 1
- 4
- 7
25
votes
2 answers
How are surgery scenes shot in TV/Film?
How are the medically invasive surgery scenes shot in movies or even for television ? House MD has some of the most detailed surgery scenes on television - for example the scene where House himself tries to remove the tumors from his leg after…
stark
- 2,738
- 5
- 31
- 52
12
votes
1 answer
How is the "bullets whizzing through water" effect created?
We've all seen action sequences in which someone dives into the water to avoid being shot, and bullets whiz past them while they swim.
I just watched the scene above from XXX: State of the Union, and started wondering how they do it. Certainly they…
BrettFromLA
- 23,644
- 20
- 84
- 149
12
votes
3 answers
How are 3D still shots or "time stop" effects created?
I am always amazed by 3D still shots in which the action freezes and a character is able to walk around and the people are frozen like statues. How do they do that?
Some of the famous movies featuring 3D still shots:
The Matrix (1999)
Clockstoppers…
Tyler Durden
- 10,621
- 11
- 54
- 101
9
votes
1 answer
How do they create the side-impact-crash "from inside the car" shots?
I've wondered about this for years. It's become quite popular to film car crashes from inside the vehicle that suffers the worst damage. These scenes are usually shot from inside the "target" vehicle, looking out a side window as the oncoming…
JVC
- 436
- 1
- 4
- 11
8
votes
2 answers
Would Hollywood have been able to fake the moon landing of Apollo 11 in 1969?
So could Hollywood, with a 100 million dollar budget, have had the ability to produce the film of the Apollo 11 moon landing that was seen on TV in 1969 without it being debunked with our current technology?
(I do not think the landing was faked at…
blankip
- 1,125
- 1
- 9
- 20
7
votes
1 answer
How Was The Superimposed Billboard Effect Achieved In Michael Jackson's Billie Jean Music Video?
In the music video for Billie Jean by Michael Jackson one interesting effect I noticed is on a billboard which show three different pictures of two women. It looks like the pictures were added in post production as opposed physically existing like a…
The Movie Man
- 449
- 3
- 11
6
votes
1 answer
Showing old TV programs in modern films, is this a special effect?
I am watching The Crown, and in the newer seasons, the royal family is shown watching TV in several episodes. Especially Season 3, Episode 7 is about the first moon landing, and there are multiple scenes in which the live reports of the landing are…
rumtscho
- 161
- 3
5
votes
1 answer
In The Time Machine, how did the books disintegrate so easily?
In 1960's The Time Machine, the hero takes a fragile book in his hand. As he turns one of the pages it disintegrates. He then accidentally pulverizes the entire book to dust. He does the same to an entire shelf of books. Here is the scene:
The…
BrettFromLA
- 23,644
- 20
- 84
- 149
5
votes
1 answer
How were starfields / streaming stars created in the pre-computer era?
Starfields or streaming stars are ubiquitous to give the impression of movement of space crafts.
I am thinking of flying directly and frontal into the starfield, as in the beginning of the intro or the famous Windows screen saver. Of course it is…
his
- 2,941
- 2
- 23
- 34
5
votes
1 answer
Wounded Men in War Films
In a war film, sometimes a soldier will be thrown up into the air by an explosion, or a grenade will go off, and when it is over, they will be missing arms or legs. How do they make the soldiers with missing limbs in war movies look so life like?
Jeremy Toman
- 905
- 8
- 10
4
votes
4 answers
Can amputated limbs be portrayed without computer graphics?
When a character in the plot is supposed to lose their limb(s), how does that special effect get portrayed without the use of computer graphics?
For example, Rust and Bone.
Sparkler
- 143
- 1
- 4
4
votes
1 answer
How do movies like The Poseidon Adventure (1972) do floods and rogue waves?
In The Poseidon Adventure (1972) when the gigantic rogue wave hits the ship, the interior of the ship is violently flooded. How do they do that effect?
HowardK32588
- 95
- 1