Rob V

The aging process in Benjamin Button

Hiro11

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/X1rnBQJxfdk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Love that.

wishbone

Speaking of dropping to the floor,



This scene in The Gate when the dead construction worker falls to the floor and breaks into multiple small demons.

devilshalo

I've always loved this shot...

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/sCTGdhXCSks?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Vipper II

Zodiac was kind of the same way.

inri222

Fincher does that alot. He uses CGI for things that you don't even notice. No wonder Dragon Tattoo cost almost $100M.

Michael Corvin

Yeah, that's one of those ones that falls into the 99 out of 100 people probably have no idea that's a visual effect.

Groucho

How is that a visual effect? Just use the camera they had in Blade Runner and zoom into the mirror.

GoldenJCJ

I had to watch that clip twice before I realized what the effect was. Pretty damn cool.

Michael Corvin

When she runs in the reflection is of the hallway, toilet on the left. When she opens it, the side wall is the open door and a towel rack. When the mirror shuts it's a wall with a shelf and a photo. There's no way that shelf can exist there based on the first reflection. It's subtle but kinda cool. You can also tell it was not a real reflection because her sweater sleeve in the mirror isn't the same color. (red sweater, reflection is black)

Draven

Little Shop of Horrors will always be my favorite. Audrey II looks 100% real. I mean, I know it's a puppet but I never doubt it for a second. And it's especially awesome considering how many puppeteers there were and that they had to record at half the speed and then speed it up to get the moves fast enough. So Rick Moranis is having to act and sing in slow motion to make it work.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/L7SkrYF8lCU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Ky-Fi

Pretty impressive for 1935:

<object width="640" height="360"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/K7AKLKQqfj4?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/K7AKLKQqfj4?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="360" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

The Infidel

I thought the ass end of the Titanic rising up out of the water from the POV of the people in the water was pretty jaw-dropping. I think I uttered a "Jeeeeesus Chriiiiiist" in the theater the first time I saw it.

tommyp007

YES!

I always tell friends who have never seen the film to watch it 3 times:

watch it and enjoy the film
watch it and listen to Eberts commentary
watch it again.

Giles

on a big screen that's a truly horrific shot

but it's the trailer when we first see the people jumping ship as the Titanic is rising up and the one guy who hits one of the blades as he falls - a stunt, merged with green screen, merged with CGI - unreal! that truly shocked me

inri222

http://www.steadishots.org/shots_detail.cfm?shotID=155

Contact
"Mirror Flashback", By Gregory Lundsgaard

This is a great shot that involves leading our actor as she runs through her house, up the stairs, ending in the bathroom for a surprise effects ending.

The shot was filmed normally and flipped in post to achieve the mirror image. The actual bathroom mirror was replaced with a bluescreen into which the original shot was superimposed.

Operator's Commentary
Quote from Carin-Anne Strohmaier, 1st Asst Film Editor

I'm so glad so many liked this shot - this was one of Bob Z's favorite in the show. Having had to do the counts for this optical to Sony Pictures Imageworks (who deserve the credit for the final look) this was how it was done - a Steadicam person with the Vista Vision camera strapped to his chest ran backwards in front of Young Ellie as he goes up the stairs and down the hallway - there was a speed change - we ramp from 24 to 48fps (though I can't remember exactly - we could have ramped through three different speeds) - by the time she stops and puts her hand to open the medicine cabinet door ("A" plate ) - we are then inside the reflection. The medicine cabinet was the "B" plate (second plate) and then the door closes and we have the "C" plate (third plate) which was the reflection of the photo of Young Ellie and her dad. By the way - the first time we received this CGI shot as a final (completed & ready to be signed off) Bob Z noticed that the picture frame did not match the one in the Arecibo Puerto Rico bedroom with older Ellie and Joss so they had to have an insert crew reshoot the "C" plate with the correct picture frame and re-composite the shot over again - not an easy thing to do since timing was critical in getting everything to match up. I also liked to give our Avid assistant, Orlando Duenas, credit since he did the initial line up of the shots in our cutting room which Sony Imageworks used as a guide.

Giles

for those interested here's the top ten based on the number of 'likes'

1. Star Wars: A New Hope – Opening shot
http://bit.ly/Hkc4aF

2. Jason & the Argonauts – Skeleton warrior battle
http://bit.ly/1acUVvu

3. Blade Runner – Opening shot
http://bit.ly/1dt1viF

4. An American Werewolf in London: David’s transformation
http://bit.ly/1dt1z26

5. The Abyss – Water pseudopod
http://bit.ly/1acUYYg

6. 2001: A Space Odyssey – Star gate sequence
http://bit.ly/HlN8i8

7. The Empire Strikes Back – Chase through asteroid field
http://bit.ly/1ajfenp

8. John Carpenter’s The Thing – Chest defibrillation
http://bit.ly/1bmtiww

9. Young Sherlock Holmes – Stained glass knight
http://bit.ly/1iizXdN

10. Jurassic Park – T-Rex attack on children in vehicles
http://bit.ly/1acVhCu

Rockmjd23

Pretty good list, but they left out the cardboard cut-out of Bruce Lee mirror shot in Game of Death.

Ky-Fi

Every time I see that, I think "I did not just see that."

dhmac

I think the Top 10 list from the Cinefex Facebook page is pretty good with the exception of the stained glass knight from "Young Sherlock Holmes". Maybe way back then when few people knew what CGI was can I understand people being wowed by it, but that effect has aged very poorly. It just looks awful now.

cungar

Giles

great scene, too bad Belloq's exploding head was obscured by fire to get it's PG rating.

Decker

I never knew that was the reason. I always hated how that shot looked all blurry.

devilshalo

It was the first completely computer generated character so it holds a special place on that list whether it looks good now or not.

Cabman Gray

Here are mine:

1. T. Rex first appearance/chase scene, Jurassic Park
2. Parting of the Red Sea, The Ten Commandments
3. Fred Astaire's ceiling dance, Royal Wedding
4. Transformation scene, An American Werewolf in London
5. Opening shot of "Lullaby of Broadway", Gold Diggers of 1935
6. Kali, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad
7. Kong's entrance, King Kong (1933)
8. Joan Blondell walks across the sky, Topper Returns
9. Creature design, The Thing
10. The space station, 2001: A Space Odyssey