With Edge of Tomorrow now available to stream, it's a great time to revisit the making of the film, and just how many practical effects were used. Watching the video above, it's impressive to see so many real effects and explosions going on around the actors. While more and more effects are being done with computer graphics, there has been a bit of backlash to fake-looking CGI, and a number of filmmakers (like Christopher Nolan) have bucked the trend and have attempted to get as much in-camera as possible (J.J. Abrams is also doing this on the new Star Wars film).
It takes a lot of skill and professionalism to make sure these practical effects are safe, but getting more in-camera means actors have a lot more tangible real-life objects to react to (and hopefully better performances as a result). This BTS video from the movie Oblivion shows a great example of using practical effects to help both the production and the actors get a more realistic result (and Tom Cruise just happened to start in both of these films):
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16 Comments
Amazing! I love the delicate balance of great CGI with practical effects. I'm glad some of the big guys have come around to using the best tool for the job.
September 14, 2014 at 7:53PM, Edited September 14, 7:53PM
"This is how it's done boyz" I'd like to see the process of how long it took to set up each shot.
September 14, 2014 at 9:11PM
Time spent not in post is time spent on set.
September 14, 2014 at 9:43PM
I loved this movie, except for the last 2 minutes.
September 14, 2014 at 10:56PM
WOW!!!!! It's amazing how many real FX they are, especially the big battle. Had a lot of real things! Amazing Job, no doubt :D and big buget ;D
September 14, 2014 at 11:43PM
"Welcome to Heathrow"
Love seeing that! Looks like T3
September 15, 2014 at 7:49AM, Edited September 15, 7:49AM
Thanks for the share! Definitely how films should be made. Everyone seems to enjoy it more as well. Everyone wins.
Would LOVE to work on a set like that EOT battlegrounds.
September 15, 2014 at 9:59AM
this is kinda bullshit...
this BTS is really designed to shout "hey look how much practical we did"
when the reality is more like this:
http://www.fxguide.com/featured/live-die-repeat-the-effects/
September 15, 2014 at 10:17AM
Yeah, the 3d artists actually have to got rid of a lot of those practical explosions and replace them anyway.
September 16, 2014 at 1:57AM, Edited September 16, 1:57AM
Yeah, but its still more practical effects than most movies do now. I mean look at the Star Wars prequel series, they shot everything on a blue stage. Unfortunately today, this is considered to be a lot of practical effects. The FXguide article is really just showing a few plates where they had large machinery and things that literally don't exist anywhere for them to use practically.
September 16, 2014 at 6:50AM
Practical effects are most often used either as a reference or to create realistic lighting, which will "sell" the CGI composites.
September 17, 2014 at 10:46AM, Edited September 17, 10:46AM
This is awesome :-)
September 15, 2014 at 10:58AM, Edited September 15, 10:58AM
Good insight on how it's done... I think that old fashion FX is the way to go definitely more fun than sitting in post for God nows how many hours... But we could not live with out CGI...
September 15, 2014 at 2:49PM
Great practical effects ,especially in the battlefield
September 15, 2014 at 4:50PM
Really impressed with the practical effects like the explosions and rockets. But what I'm most surprised with is how much Tom and Emily actually did for stunts. They really got thrown around a lot out there!
September 19, 2014 at 8:54AM
Love BTS videos but I would like to see one where the interviews aren't just about how fantastic everyone was to work with. I would like to see one that is more about the technical details and less about kissing up to everyone on set.
September 19, 2014 at 3:28PM