12+ Secrets From Movie Sets That Sound Like Fiction, but They Are Actually True

Movies
year ago

It seems that all modern directors need is a small studio, a couple of cameras, a green screen, and a computer. Big sets and elaborate costumes are not necessary. But in fact, it’s impossible to create a high-quality movie without a team of professionals — actors, cinematographers, costume designers, makeup artists, and visual effects artists.

We, at Now I’ve Seen Everything, decided to peek behind the scenes of some popular movies to find the facts hidden from the eyes of viewers. And in the bonus, you will find out what Kate Winslet had to do to take part in one of the most iconic movies of this year.

Bill Nighy was hiding behind the scary look of Davy Jones.

Davy Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean is believed to be one of the most convincing characters ever created with CGI. Bill Nighy, who portrayed this character, had to wear a special gray suit on set with light-reflecting dots and black and white stripes. Using the innovative IMocap technology helped create not only a stunning look, but also showed the movements of the character very convincingly.

Michael Rooker had to spend hours in the make-up chair to turn into Yondu.

Turning Michael Rooker into Yondu took several hours. There were usually 2 makeup artists working at the same time. They applied thick blue paint on his face, covered his nails with black polish, and drew cracks on the surface of his head and arms.

Director Garry Marshall invited the same actors to his movies, even for minor roles.

The most attentive movie fans have noticed that director Garry Marshall uses the same actors in his different movies. And it was true even for minor roles.

For example, in The Princess Diaries, Mia breaks her glass at a dinner party and a waiter reassures her that, “It happens all the time.” In Pretty Woman, a waiter played by the same actor says the exact same line to Vivian after she flings a snail across the room.

In The Truman Show, you can see the film’s composer.

In The Truman Show, the man playing the piano while Truman sleeps is composer Phillip Glass. He created some of the music for the movie, including the piece he is playing.

The twins from The Truman Show were actually security guards on the set.

In The Truman Show, the identical twins are played by Ron and Don Taylor, 2 police officers who were working on the set as security guards. Director Peter Weir saw how friendly they were with the film’s cast and crew, so he hired them as actors.

In The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Taylor Lautner looked more like a diver than a werewolf.

This is what Taylor Lautner looked like when he needed to play a werewolf. It was mostly CGI, but the actor had to wear a special suit and make animal-like movements.

He looked quite funny on set, and probably made everyone laugh.

The portrait in Knives Out changes by the end of the film.

In Knives Out, the portrait of Harlan Thrombey, portrayed by Christopher Plummer, changed at the end of the film. After the mystery is solved, his calm faces turns into a understanding smile.

This is how Gal Gadot flew in Wonder Woman.

Visual effects artists did a tremendous job to make CGI look really professional in Wonder Woman. Aside from creating the background, they also worked with the actress’ hair, lightened her skin, and made the dark circles under her eyes less visible.

The iconic Joker dance was not planned by the director.

The iconic Joker dance was entirely Joaquin Phoenix’s improvisation. Arthur was supposed to look in the mirror and think about his actions. But when he heard the music, Phoenix thought that the dance would be fitting. And it made the cut.

The director had to reshoot a scene because of Rock’s giant muscles.

Actor Dwayne Johnson told a funny story that happened to him during the filming of Red Notice. It happened during the rehearsal of the chase sequence. A luxury sports car was bought and transported to the set. But it turned out that Johnson couldn’t fit into the car. The crew didn’t believe it at first, thinking he was pranking them.

But the director had to reshoot the scene. His giant muscles kept him from getting inside the car. So, the crew had to be really creative to come up with a way to do the scene.

What the symbol on Walt Disney’s tie means.

In Saving Mr. Banks, Tom Hanks wears a tie that Walt Disney wore in real life. The strange symbol is the logo for “Smoke Tree Ranch,” a real place in Palm Springs which was a vacation spot for Walt Disney and his family.

In Terminator Genisys, the younger version of Schwarzenegger was played by a different actor.

In one of the scenes of Terminator Genisys, T-800 (portrayed by 67-year-old Schwarzenegger) that travels through time has to fight with a younger version of himself. Many viewers thought that shots from the 1984 film were used. But that wasn’t the case. In fact, the creators used CGI, and the body of the young Terminator was played by actor and bodybuilder Brett Azar.

The visual effects artists studied the archive shots of Schwarzenegger and recreated a cast of his face from 1984. In other words, the face of Arnold was photoshopped onto the body of Brett Azar. It took 12 months of work.

Bonus: This is what Kate Winslet looks like in Avatar: The Way of Water before CGI.

It’s still unknown what Kate Winslet will look like in the new Avatar movie. But the photos from the set have leaked online. It’s known that to prepare for the role, she did freediving.

In our opinion, no matter how advanced modern technology is, not a single good product can be created without a team of diverse people that love their jobs. If a director, an actor, or a CGI artist is not fully invested in what they are doing, viewers will feel that the film is lacking something. Do you agree?

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