This is why filmmaking will always be so amazing to me. Watching the documentary on the production of Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), and they're going thru the process of the scene near the start where the girl puts the gun in her mouth and blows the big hole thru her head.
So, they take the actress and she puts a prop gun into her mouth...fine, right? Makes sense so far. The simple thing would be- pull the trigger on the fake fun and she spits out some fake blood. Sure...but, when she puts the gun into her mouth, they shoot a blast of air into her mouth to show the force of the bullet going off in her mouth...interesting idea, would have never thought of that probably...
The next part is a bit confusing possibly, if you haven't seen the film...the shot starts out showing the reaction to the gunshot from the kids in the front of the van, then moves thru the van to the back, thru the hole in the girl's head, out the back of the window of the van, and away from the van and downwards at an angle...all in one shot.
Next, they take a very realistic dummy of the actress, a dummy with a hole thru her head and use a special camera and lens that actually goes thru the hole in the dummy's head...the dummy is on a dolly, and it moves with the camera for a bit, then it disconnects and the camera moves on thru past the head, and out the hole in the back window. All fine and dandy...but, the top of the van has to be cut- a slice cut out so the crane holding the camera can come thru it...then, they have to go in in post and readd the van's roof digitally...then, they have to add the glass in the back window (since it's not there in real life, so the camera can go thru.) Then, they add those pieces together into a seamless shot that looks just like an actual girl putting a gun in her mouth and blowing a huge hole into her skull....adding a final touch, they cut to a shot of the girl's mouth...and they have her suck on a cigaratte, then let the smoke billow out, creating the effect of smoke from the gun.
All of those elements added together to make something look perfectly real...all for a mere 10 seconds of an 2 hour movie. Amazing.
Posted by Josh at April 2, 2004 05:10 AM | TrackBack