BDM100_Special Effects_Harlan
For the assignment regarding special effects, I chose an article in Cinefex magazine concerning a particular scene in the movie Hancock. The scene features Will Smith's character lifting a stalled car out of the way of a train, and taking the full impact of the oncoming locomotive as it smashes into him, and derails itself. I chose this particular section of the article to look at because in one scene, they utilize a number of different special effects techniques. Firstly, mechanical effects were used in a closer shot of Hancock lifting the car. As he motions to lift it, pulleys and mechanisms were employed to lift the car physically for him. CGI was used in wider shots to convey this same action since the rigs would have been in frame. Secondly, a 1/4 scale model of the train was filmed crashing to be composited into the final footage. A real train was modified with a custom front end made to look as though it had already crashed around a person, and footage was shot of Will Smith reacting to the initial blow of the train. Then the footage was composited with computer generated elements of each, and a substitution shot was used to replace the actual actor with an animated one once the animated train reaches him. Inversely, after the CG Hancock is struck by the train, and a crash is animated, the footage of the real destroyed train was substituted in for the rest of the sequence. Other elements were added digitally afterward such as debris and a city skyline. For this single sequence, nearly half a dozen types of special effects were integrated together to achieve visuals that otherwise would be impossible or unbelievable.