Posted : January 2014
Author : acecabana
When it comes to contemporary Hollywood
films, there’s often more than meets the eye. We’re not just talking about an
elaborate use of special effects and CGI, its those smaller more finite details
that are so often easy to ignore.
On the set of any movie, along with the crew, actors and
stunt doubles you’ll also have ‘extra’s’ – people like you and I paid to simply
be a warm prop, background fodder if you will. A crowd milling about in a scene
or a customer in a shop. Extra’s can get paid quite handsomely for just a few
days work depending on the film. But when it comes to scenes involving giant
crowds, how do the movie studios afford to pay all those individuals and how
can you possibly direct 20,000 people?
The truth is, they don’t.
Thanks to the ingenious work of the InflatableCrowd Company (talking about finding a niche in the industry)
the majority of the ‘crowds’ you see in films are actually just inflatable or
latex dolls. Filmed at a distance, add in a few noticeable facial features,
wigs, props and some everyday clothes and you’ll find during the heat of the
moment you won’t even notice the difference between ‘extras’ and their
inanimate counterparts.
They are so believable in fact, that they’ve already been
used in Iron Man 2, American Gangster, Seabiscuit, Blades of Glory,
Ocean’s 13, The Prestige, Million Dollar Baby, Friday Night Lights, We Are
Marshall, Contagion, The Fighter, The King’s Speech and Spiderman 3
– all without you even noticing.
Find out more about the illusionary work of
The Inflatable Crowd Company and see lots more images from various film
sets via their official site. Next time you’re watching a
blockbuster, keep an eye out, you might just see their handywork.
~Blog Admin~
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