Special effects have pretty much become the holy grail of Hollywood movies. CGI and green screens have made major changes in the way movies are made. These advancements in technology have blurred the fine line between real and fake in the film making industry. But how different does the process looks from the final product on the silver screen? The reality behind some of Hollywood’s best movies is captured in these photos. From actors looking bizarre to full backgrounds being nothing but a blank screen, Hollywood has been pulling the wool over our eyes for years. Feast your eyes with these behind-the-scenes shots because they are about to change the way you watch movies!
Harry Potter And The Order Of Phoenix
Anyone who has ever thought about Hogwarts as a real school hidden somewhere, this photo is heartbreaking. So many of us found solace in the fact that out letter to Hogwarts was probably lost when Voldemort destroyed the Ministry of Magic’s records! But now the reality is out in the open. There are no magical creatures in Hogwarts, the real magic lies within the green screens. Human hands were holding the books all this while and we thought they were magically floating!
Game Of Thrones
Nobody really imagined that real dragons could make an appearance in Game Of Thrones. We always knew that some CGI and green screen was involved but not in our wildest dreams had we thought it would come down to a green stick! Dragons are so scary and intimidating, they deserve more respect! Couldn’t they have used something creepy instead of a stick wrapped in green fabric? How on earth could Emilia Clarke act so perfectly with this joke of an imitation of a dragon?
Beauty And The Beast
Nobody can say that Emma Watson is not a good actor after looking at this photo. The woman kept a straight face all through the movie where she was in love with Dan Stevens or rather with the character he was playing. But all through the movie this ‘beast’ was nothing but a handsome man in a funny padded suit. She even danced with him without cracking a laugh, how was this even possible? She deserved an Oscar nomination just for being able to keep herself from laughing every time she faced the ‘beast’!
Life Of Pi
Nobody was fooled into thinking that a boy was actually on a boat with a lion but it pains to see the proof. There was no lion in ‘Life Of Pi’ and while we are relieved for the sake of the boy, it still knocks the icing off the cake! Sooraj Sharma was floating and acting on water with the blue screen in the background instead of wild raging waves. That dampens our feelings about the movie but who are we kidding, it still managed to give us the chills!
Space Jam
Of course this was CGI, how else would they film Michael Jordan with cartoon characters? Kids had a great time watching this basketball legend with their favorite Looney Tunes cartoons. Who has the heart to tell them that it was all CGI and special effects? This movie was the perfect cocktail of the things kids love- basketball and ducks! Children have a wild imagination and since it runs faster than a cheetah, they may not even care that their favorite movie wasn’t real.
Titanic
There were plenty of scenes in Titanic that needed a green screen but this one? The scene that gave us ‘couple goals’ and the most iconic pose, was shot like this a studio! All they needed to reenact this was a small boat, a huge ocean liner wasn’t even needed for this one. Our belief in romantic scenes is shaking! There was no boat, no breeze and definitely no romance when they shot this. We will need some time to deal with this!
The Avengers
Anyone who hasn’t seen or heard of the Avengers is living under a rock. This team of superheroes are slowly cementing themselves as the most iconic and loved characters of the century! While every Marvel fan has their own favorite character, there is no denying the fact that Hulk has no haters. The green giant is played by Mark Ruffalo who also skillfully portrays the character of Bruce Banner in the franchise. Every time Bruce transforms into Hulk, Ruffalo also gets to transform with his now-famous but hidden CGI-suit.
Game Of Thrones
HBO’s big budget made it possible to shoot Game Of Thrones with its impeccable CGI and special effects. Season three brought us the opportunity to watch the wildlings and Jon climb the wall and we are still not over it! This scene surely needed a green screen because there was no way anyone was going to climb a snow wall of that height. But we are impressed to see that a vertical wall was used, even though it was more like 30 feet instead of 300!
I Am Legend
Was there anyone who didn’t cry while watching this scene? Robert was being attacked by a mutant dog and his own dog jumped in to defend him but unfortunately got infected in the process. There was not a single dry eye in the theatre during this scene! But looking at this man dressed in a green suit to play the character of the mutant dog, we feel a lot better. In fact, it is borderline funny to look at Robert holding a weird dog head that is attached to a green man’s arm!
Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince
Our hearts ache every time we come across a behind-the-scenes photo from the Harry Potter series that reveals the not-so-magical side of the filming process. It seems like our childhood was a lie and we waited for a letter that wasn’t even real! Our only solace is that just like Harry, we can glide and float in the air with one of those coin-operated rides outside a convenience store. We’ll just need some machine generated wind and a green screen that can be replaced later with a mountainous background!
The Matrix
Most people would remember trying to imitate the dodging moves from The Matrix as a kid. We were awestruck by their moves and getting even 30 percent of that made us feel invincible! But the truth is out- majority of the movie was filmed using a green screen designed soundstage. The mystery behind how they dodged the bullet by leaning back in slow motion has been solved. The magic of technology was in full force here!
Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
Of course the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ franchise revolved around Captain Jack Sparrow and his adventures but the movies wouldn’t be a hit without the other characters. Davy Jones was one such character that breathed life into the ‘Dead Man’ Chest’ as the ghost captain. Nobody really imagined someone to have a snake like moustache but we assumed some prosthetics and a wig would have helped Davy Jones to come to life. But this behind-the-scenes photo reveals it was all CGI and honestly, we are a little disappointed!
Mad Max: Fury Road
This movie was in its own class, largely because of the special effects. The cars definitely looked real with a rugged and authentic feel but the same can’t be said about the explosions, flips and dystopian desert. Everything running in your head right now was actually a work of green screen! Mad Max was on steroids with its action when it was released. It was so real that we vowed to never to drive on the same road with those guys. The fact that it was all created using a green screen makes it more impressive!
Guardians Of The Galaxy
Just like other Marvel movies, this one wasn’t possible without some CGI and green screen! How else would they have created the character of ‘Rocket’? Nobody expected a talking raccoon anyway but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any disappointment in this photo. Bradley Cooper was credited for playing this role so it’s sad that we didn’t get to see him in this green morph suit. Replacing him in the suits is Gunn Sean, an effect actor who had to keep a low profile to complete this project!
The Dark Knight
At the time Harvey Dent was going through an identity crisis, Aaron Eckhart was making waves with his acting skills. Playing Two-Face wasn’t easy but the man made a great attempt at making one half of his face look more frightening than the other. Kudos to him! They could have simply used some prosthetics and let Aaron’s acting do the rest. But the decision to bring in CGI for the Harvey’s second face wasn’t bad either. The results were petrifying!
Broadwalk Empire
In the movie this scene looked real and we didn’t bat an eye but looking at this behind-the-scenes photo has opened our eyes. A few green screens were deployed to breathe life into this scene. It is funny how some technology can remodel a scene completely! A few decades ago it would have been impossible to create this scene without a giant water body. The dated ocean liners wouldn’t even have made an appearance. It is incredible how the film making process has come so far.
The Avengers
Marvel movies are full of action sequences and explosions going off in every direction. There was no way that the director would have put the superheroes at risk with real fire. Green screen came to their rescue here! This scene would have been impossible a few decades ago without real explosions. It is even hard to imagine Scarlett Johansson looking unfazed by a giant fire behind her. Aren’t we glad this gorgeous lady wasn’t filming this in that time?
Gravity
Anyone who has ever watched a movie set in outer space knows that CGI is bound to be involved in the making. There is no other way to shoot such a film unless there is a practical and cost effective way to ship the entire crew into outer space! This still from the making of Gravity shows just how much effort goes into making a movie like this. Sandra Bullock had nothing close to the equipment we saw in the movie and yet everything fell into place, thanks to CGI.
The Avengers
This photo is giving us two for the price of one! Everyone was on the edge of their seat during this scene but as it turns out, the tumbling buildings in the background are green screens. We wish they had a disclaimer in this scene, “No buildings were harmed in the making of this movie”! Another ‘fake’ part of this scene was Mark Ruffalo aka the Hulk. While both Chris Hemsworth and Evans were chilling in their superhero costumes, Hulk was in a funny suit hoping it to look like a green monster in the final edit!
The Matrix
This scene was set up in a storehouse and green screen still had to be deployed. Some people may think that doesn’t make sense but the director had to take into account the fact that a good part of the plot revolves around ‘Neo’ doing his thing while inside The Matrix so a lot of CGI had to be used! Keanu Reeves might have played his role in the entire movie using his own imagination and wits or at least that’s the impression he gives!
X-Men
Everyone knows that Wolverine is a mutant that can regenerate after any kind of damage to his body. Whether it is a bullet going through him or he is being sliced, he comes back unharmed but angrier. So why is Wolverine smiling with actual metal rods stuck in his body? This behind-the-scenes photo shows that the cast members set him for success! Even though it looks like the metal rods are passing through him, in reality they are only attached to the exterior of his body. Well, that explains the smile!
Godzilla
This is movie is based around a giant lizard that is waiting to attack after staying dormant in a secluded place. Nothing about this movie can be real, at least that’s what we are hoping! If there is a possibility of this actually happening, our world is already doomed! Thankfully, a green screen and some CGI came to help for filming this movie. Live and breathing actors were deployed in front of a giant green screen and CGI somehow managed to get Godzilla into the shot!
Life Of Pi
Film makers are getting away with using regular things as a replacement of scarier creatures, thanks to green screen and CGI. From sticks to soft toys, they are using the least creepy things to shoot a scene that would eventually have some scary monster. This scene from Life Of Pi was no different because they weren’t going to bring in a real tiger to sit on this boy’s lap. But getting a cutesy blue soft toy to play an angry tiger is an insult to the majestic animal!
300
This film is based in a time period that is long gone by. The time and the places no longer exist so the director had to come up with a solution. In this case, green screen was the answer to all their shooting troubles. Had this movie been shot in a real open location, it would have been classic. But the way they managed to make it all look so real with just a plain screen is commendable!
Robocop
This behind-the-scenes photo is so eye opening for anyone who thought the film makers used a real robot or at least a robo suit for filming! It was just a regular looking cute guy who played the terrifying cop with some cool headgear. Giant robot cops roaming the streets in reality would be frightening. We do feel that in the future this may become our reality but for now, we are glad they had to use green screen and CGI for the effects!
Superman
We have all at least once in our life dreamed of having a super power. The idea of be able to do something that is otherwise impossible for humans, is enticing. The ability to fly is just one of those powers we wanted but had to settle for airplanes to take us in the air! Clark Kent doesn’t have that problem because he can fly or at least pretend that he is flying. All it takes is some harness, a green screen and a bunch of people aiming their wind blowers at his cape!
Narnia
Who believed that Narnia was shot at a majestic mansion off the coast of a beautiful island? The book evoked great imagination in kids but sadly, everything they showed on the screen was a bluff! A run down building was in fact the ‘mansion’ we saw in the movie. But we have to give it to the creators who used technology to create something that a kid might have imagined. Narnia sure looks like a place we’d want to visit some day!
A Good Day To Die Hard
There is no denying the fact that Bruce Willis is a hardcore but it is even impossible for him to be out there with death staring him in the face! Of course he needed some help from the tech department, how else would he have lived through the shooting of this film? In this scene when he was escaping from a chopper, there were green screens instead of the real thing because that would have slapped the life out of him!
Walking Dead
Zombies don’t exist in the real world and we are thankful for that. But how are these movies filmed about zombies attacking people and turning an entire city into an abandoned ghostly town? Desolate cities aren’t readily available for filming, unless the crew is ready to risk their lives and inhabit a town with an active volcano in its center! This photo proves that a studio with some green screen action is needed to bring alive an alternate reality where zombies are real.
Hunger Games
For a fan of the sci-fi genre, this photo is a big disappointment. That tech equipped table we saw on the screen was nothing but a normal table wrapped in green. They didn’t even put a monitor screen on it for the feel! The cast was not paid enough to pretend they were doing some high tech stuff when in reality they literally had nothing on the table or their hands. This is some kind of art that is not being giving enough appreciation!
The Wolf Of Wall Street
The 2013 film about a stockbroker was a big hit and why wouldn’t it be? Leonardo DiCaprio starred in it, along with the gorgeous Margot Robbie! The movie showed the lifestyle of a man rolling in wealth and his subsequent downfall. It is funny that a movie about money needed green screen for a scene where he seems to be heading to have the time of his life. The location looked breathtaking on screen but it wasn’t real! They could have just flown them to an actual location, wouldn’t that be easier?
Star Trek: Into Darkness
Star Trek was originally released in the 1960s and left a legacy in the genre of sci-fi. It is easy to understand that the scenes seen in such movies cannot be shot entirely in real life without the help of some CGI. The ship-to-ship jump in ‘Star Trek: Into Darkness’ had Chris Pine and Benedict Cumberbatch flying through a field of debris, trying not to get hit by it. Of course it was all shot in front of a green screen and not in outer space!
The Dark Knight
The audience was blown away by ‘The Dark Knight’ when it was released in 2008. The movie brought forward a more realistic superhero that was relatable. But the highlight of the movie was the Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker, one of the most iconic villains ever! A lot of scenes in the movie needed CGI and green screen. Like this memorable scene, where the Joker was dangling from the skyscraper. It was filmed inside a studio in front of a green screen for safety of the actors.
Shutter Island
Based on a novel by Dennis Lehane, Shutter Island mostly took place inside a creepy looking asylum. The movie starred Leonardo DiCaprio and was a major hit at the box office by making almost $300 million. Some credit of the movie’s success has to go to special effects! This scene for example, was shot inside the studio with a green screen and some manmade structures to bring the director’s vision to life. The final product looks real and horror, going with the genre of the movie.
Avatar
When it was released in 2009, Avatar became the world’s most successful movie and remained so until ‘Avengers: Endgame’ took the spot in 2019. All box office records were being shattered and 3D was brought back into the theatres! A movie based on some mythical creatures in a wonderland couldn’t be shot without help from CGI. Most of the characters and backgrounds were impossible to create realistically without bringing in green screen and CGI. This close up shot of the lead characters reveals how a lot of the scenes were made possible!
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
The sequel to the 2015 Jurassic World, this 2018 sci-fi action film brought over $1 billion at the box office! How did it do that? It brought back dinosaurs on the big screen, just what the audience had wanted. It is a no brainer that the movie needed some serious green screen and CGI action. Dinosaurs don’t exist anymore and recreating them for a movie was not easy. People got into dino costumes to bring them to life in front of green screens and then special effects made them look more realistic!
Blade Runner 2049
The original Blade Runner was hailed as the greatest sci-fi movies of all time so it makes sense that a sequel hit the theatres. But sadly, it lost money at the box office. Even though extensive CGI was used in the movie to create its dystopian world it failed to bring in the viewership. The CGI also drove up the cost, like for this shot, Ryan Gosling stares as a green screen to get the fabulous shot post editing. It was a flop but we are still amazed by the special effects!
Men in Black: International
Audience likes to watch remakes, reboots and sequels on the big screen and so, movies like Men in Black: International thrive. Production houses want to take fewer risks and franchises are a good bet, except in this case. Even Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson’s chemistry couldn’t save it from failing at the box office. In this picture the duo is fighting a green screen man with a weapon because costume just did not do it. It may be in loss, but the movie had great CGI and a true fan would appreciate that!
The Dark Knight Rises
The previous two films of the Batman trilogy had set the bar pretty high with its visual effects. But ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ had some epic set pieces that made it more impressive. The best one was filmed thousands of feet above the ground in the Scottish highlands. The opening scene where Tom Hardy is rescued from a CIA plane mid-flight looks seamless. But the stuntmen wore parachutes and had to spend months rehearsing these jumps. Some green screen action and props were also used to nail that scene!
Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice
Wonder Woman made an appearance in ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’ and the audience loved her. The way she entered with a thrilling-riff, it became a memorable part of the soundtrack! This photo is from a scene where Gal Gadot fought a man in an outfit with sensors. The camera in front of the man recorded his facial expressions that were later used while creating a CGI character. Though the movie was about Batman and Superman, this scene with Gal Gadot can’t be overlooked for the brilliant use of green screen!
Deadpool
Some of the most extravagant scenes in movies are a product of technology and Deadpool is no different. Those crazy action sequences couldn’t have been real, did anyone really think that they let Ryan Reynolds deal with real fire? This scene required some serious CGI to make it look believable because actors are definitely not set on fire! A little help from green screen and two guys who were holding the wing, some special effects of fire and boom, this scene came to life!
Alice In Wonderland
Based on a children’s book, this movie breathed in a new life into the magical world we had all read about as kids. From Mad Hatter to Alice herself, everything looked straight out of a fantasy kingdom. But how did they shoot the movie with strange looking characters and places? Most of that didn’t exist in real life so the production house used green screens for the vivid backdrops and some CGI to bring some of the characters to the big screen. We have to agree they did a pretty good job with the special effects!
Rampage
We’ve all heard about the 2018 movie where Dwayne Johnson was trying to save an albino gorilla that has turned into a giant after a rogue experiment. The plot of the movie is interesting but what was even more impressive was the CGI. It’s not like they could borrow a giant sized gorilla from the zoo to work in the movie. People in special suits and props were transformed into CGI animals in post production. The Rock wasn’t actually hanging around with a gorilla, it was a man in a funny suit!
Aquaman
In 2018 Aquaman finally got his solo movie and smashed all box office records by raking in $1 billion! Jason Momoa took on the title role and redefined the classic superhero. Aquaman ended up being the highest grossing DC movie after surpassing The Dark Knight Rises! While most of the costumes were built from scratch and CGI was reserved for non-human characters, there was a huge rule of green screen technology in the movie. The color of the screen doesn’t matter but this shot wouldn’t have been possible without the tech factor.
Ready Player One
Revolving around virtual reality, Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One was not only a great story but also boasted amazing special effects. This movie could not have been possible if it wasn’t for CGI. The movie’s virtual universe was made up entirely with CGI and even some of the characters. This shot of a girl shows how she was covered in censors with a camera attached up-close to note every expression that was later recreated on a CGI character. She is even carrying a green screen covered gun for extra details added in post production.
