Today's Hollywood reliance on visual special effects is more important than it has ever been. Most of the biggest box-office successes are movies that depict worlds that wouldn't be possible without the aid of computer-generated imagery and its clever applications. It actually provides the spectacle the pays for the ticket price at the movie theater.
But beyond the effects in movies like Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker, VFX artists have been employed for much smaller movies since the technology has gotten a lot cheaper and its usage necessary to refine films to their maximum potential. Sometimes, these effects are imperceptible, and here we show you 10 of them that will blow your mind.
Zodiac
David Fincher's period drama about the Zodiac killer, who terrorized San Francisco's bay area in the '70s, is a fine psychological procedural that showcased Fincher's ability to engage his audiences in such a morbid matter. It also showed the director's obsessive attention to detail to recreate his vision of that era.
This detailed view on filmmaking paid off and it went to such extent as to use visual effects in minor details, like the blood coming from a bullet wound or recreating the totality of San Francisco's bay just to get it as right as possible.
I, Tonya
This biopic told the story of polemic ice-skater Tonya Harding, who was interpreted by Margot Robbie. The movie, narrated as dark-comedy, had a lot of dialogue-based drama, supporting itself in the fabulous acting of Robbie and co-stars Sebastian Stan and Allison Janney (who won an Oscar).
So, how much VFX could a skating movie use? Well, a ton. Since Robbie isn't a professional skater, much of the flashy skating was done by a double whose face was replaced with the lead actress'. These scenes are seamless and many people went out of the theater thinking Robbie herself did all the skating.
The Social Network
It's not strange to see David Fincher again in this list since the director isn't afraid to use visual effects just to get the shot perfectly right. His 2009 movie, The Social Network, is an example of this. Fincher doesn't hesitate in using CGI to expand his story about Facebook's creator Mark Zuckerberg.
Visual effects were used to create little things like steam coming out of character's mouths and bigger things like skies or hallways. The most impressive one was the replacement of Armie Hammer's face into his double in order to get the two identical Winklevoss brothers.
The Wolf Of Wall Street
Martin Scrocesse kind of returned to form with The Wolf Of Wall Street. A movie that wasn't constraint by a strong directorial vision but relied on messier editing that allowed it to embody the wild nature of the story. The three-hour white-collar crime film is a rampant trip driven by Leonardo DiCaprio's interpretation of Jordan Belfort.
However, for a movie that is apparently this untidy, it's surprising how much preparation and involvement of the VFX department it had. Entire locations were recreated for the film, characters were superimposed in places they weren't filmed in originally, and all of this was done without audiences catching up to the effects.
Avengers: Endgame
Ok, yes, Avengers: Endgame makes use of visual effects. It's obvious and is part of what makes great most of the MCU movies. But the last installment in the Avengers saga doesn't only use big spectacle VFX's but also implements them in many subtle ways, hard for even the most attentive audience to notice.
Some impressive examples are Captain America fighting against his past-self scene, which not only relied on face-replacement but also put a helmet on top of Chris Evans's head, which the actor didn't have on set, and the time-travel suits that were recreated digitally since, because of a rushed production, they couldn't confection real suits in time.
Forrest Gump
This classic from the '90s won the Oscar for best special effects, besides taking home the best picture award, for a good reason. Director Robert Zemeckis has built his career with movies like Death Becomes Her, Back To The Future, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? that pushed filmmaking technology to its limits.
Forrest Gump did this as well but in more subtle ways. In order to put Tom Hank's character in some of the most important moments in history, like being beside JFK, clever superposition of images was used. Another example is the lack of legs on Lieutenant Dan, an effect so perfect many forget actor Gary Sinise is not an amputee.
1917
The most recent entry in this list is not the least impressive. 1917 was praised for its technical virtuosity, being shot to make it seem like the movie was filmed in one take. Producers heavily relied on this aspect to promote the movie, rightly so, since the filmmaking gave wonderful results.
Of course, the movie wasn't one-shotted. Filmmakers used clever camera movement to hide editing cuts to stitch together the film. However, VFX came to play in some of the invisible transitions, where CGI models were used to replace an actor while the frame transitioned into a new one, making a fluid seamless invisible cut.
Sicario
Denis Villeneuve's Sicario is a masterful exercise in suspense and action that puts its audience in the harsh and violent border between the United States and Mexico, where constant gang violence and narcotraffic are a thing of every day.
The thing is, filming on the border with Mexico isn't really possible, so visual effects were used to recreate that scenario piece by piece. Helicopter shots that are pretty regular for this kind of Hollywood production were entirely recreated using CGI and resulted in images so realistic that one might as well think went to the border.
Arrival
Another director that repeats in this list. Villeneuve is from that cast of directors who are very detailed and methodical but, at the same time, are not afraid to use visual effects for practical solutions, especially when it comes to helping his actors deliver a better performance.
The already sci-fi classic, Arrival depicted an alien spaceship studied by the protagonist scientist, portrayed by Amy Adams and Jeremy Reiner. For entering the spaceship, these characters use big orange protective suits that weren't actually there on set but created with computers on top of the actors. This was done to help them move more comfortably a pick up audio more easily.
Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas
Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas is the adaptation of Hunter S. Thomson's novel of the same name that depicted a semi-autobiographical drug trip to Las Vegas. Directed by Terry Gillian, the movie is full of crazy visuals and psychedelic representations of the world, but interestingly enough, its most simple scene is one of the most VFX's heavy of the movie.
At one point in the film, Toby Mcguire appears rocking a long blonde mane. Every hair in his head is actually CGI. McGuire wasn't told he needed it to shave his head for the scene so he could use a wig and demanded compensation to do it. Gilliam infuriated, didn't accept the offer, and chose to make the hair CGI, which was more expensive than what Mcgire was asking for.