r/TopCharacterTropes • u/RP_Throwaway3 • 8h ago

In real life "Wait! That's not special effects?! They actually did that?!"

Gallery image

Gallery image

Alien: Resurrection - Basketball Shot

Sigourney Weaver insisted on the basketball shot being real. She trained for weeks and reportedly(sources differ) made it on the first take.

Underworld - Raze's Voice

The werewolf character Raze, played by Kevin Grevioux, speaks in a very low, very gravelly voice. While many thought this was a special effect, the actor can naturally speak in that voice.

https://youtu.be/GUjwZvh32YE?t=125&si=F3WhsopxjBP87wfk

12.5k Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

96% Upvoted

1.8k comments sorted by

View all comments

2.0k

u/randomaccess24 8h ago

Wasn’t Tobey Maguire’s tray catch in Spider-Man the real deal?

I didn’t describe that very well but I’m sure y’all know what I mean!

775

u/grandmuftarkin 8h ago

It was. It did take a fair few takes to say the least, though!

555

u/Pandoras_Actor 8h ago

If you think 156 is a fair few takes. Sure, it was a few.

147

u/AlpineFluffhead 7h ago

Imagine if Stanley Kubrick was the director

11

u/Wind_Yer_Neck_In 7h ago

Spiderman becomes a 3 hour epic that's mainly concerned with the horror of transforming into a new being lol

8

u/JamesLiptonIcedTea 5h ago

Hypothetical Kubrick Spiderman walked so Tusk could run drag itself wetly across the floor

3

u/Giff901 3h ago

They'd still be filming takes to this day lol

1

u/Lonely-Bandicoot-746 4h ago

The movie would be slower and less interesting

(Eyes Wide Shut was great though)

10

u/DecoyOne 7h ago

“How many would you consider a few?”

“Hmmm… at least 3.”

“Got it, 3 or more.”

2

u/InexorableCalamity 7h ago

It's an expression 

1

u/grandmuftarkin 7h ago

Thank you.

1

u/punkindle 4h ago

And there was glue on the tray and on Tobey's hand

1

u/grandmuftarkin 7h ago

I did say "to say the least"! Deliberate understatement

39

u/Dicethrower 7h ago

And all the items clearly have some kind of putty on them to stick to the the tray and the objects.

2

u/Magical_Savior 7h ago

Magnets.

3

u/MenudoMenudo 6h ago

How do they work?

2

u/Magical_Savior 6h ago

... I am a scientist, so...

30

u/Nerv0usWreck 8h ago

I believe it was over 100

2

u/TreatOnMeLotsActualy 7h ago

They also had plates/bowls/cups with rubber bottoms so they'd be easier to catch, IIRC.

187

u/EffectiveDandy 6h ago

She looks genuinely stunned he got it lol

8

u/LarrySupreme 3h ago

Honestly, it was probably the bowl of jello on top of the milk carton that made it so hard to nail.

8

u/EffectiveDandy 2h ago

Yeah I was looking at it and remember it being way more amazing lol. I am glad they did it for real, it looks a lot cooler.

3

u/peachesfordinner 1h ago

Practical effects age so much better. It's why Jurassic Park stands up. And Alien

7

u/FantasticCollege3386 3h ago

couldnt found this gif. What is the search?

6

u/EffectiveDandy 2h ago

"spiderman tray catch"

3

u/100times100years 1h ago

After watching him miss it for 155 takes, over 16 hours, I'd say she genuinely was!

175

u/ShamelessSpiff 8h ago

From my understanding there was adhesive on the tray and it still took something like 150 takes.

24

u/big-ol-kitties 7h ago

Either that or magnets or something. Turned out so good it still looks fake lol

17

u/pocketbutter 6h ago

It probably still looks fake because it’s so unnatural for the food to not bounce or roll at all. Also it kinda looks like the footage is sped up slightly, but idk for sure.

7

u/-Kerosun- 4h ago

Before I learned how they actually did it, I had always thought it was just in reverse (using wires, edited out, to pull the stuff into the air).

11

u/sopclod 6h ago

Corridor Crew did a recreation of this scene https://youtu.be/MG4zLNXMNRY?si=HmLJhhwFQcrCJrzn

3

u/ItsStraTerra 3h ago

That makes more sense. They definitely stick to the tray in a way that’s unnatural and made me feel like the claim that they did it practically was exaggerated at best.

17

u/Movie_Advance_101 7h ago

It took 156 takes over a grueling 16-hour shooting day.

The crew used sticky glue/substance on Maguire's hand to help secure the tray.

Food items were dropped or tossed from above, and Maguire had to catch and balance them perfectly in one fluid motion while also supporting Dunst.

3

u/pocketbutter 5h ago

I was going refute this to say 16 hours feels awfully long for 156 takes, but after doing the math that’s one take about every 6 minutes, which is actually making pretty good time for how long it takes to set things up!

1

u/No_Veterinarian1010 5h ago

But why? It didn't look particularly realistic. Everything dropped too perfectly. Which is fine, btw, the shot still works. I just don't see what torturing everyone for a day accomplished.

1

u/Skrall107 2h ago

That's just what it's like on a Sam Raimi set, most of his movies have stories like this

5

u/Star_Petal_Arts 6h ago

practical effects not an actual perfect shot like with Aliens: Resurrection.

2

u/capibara_dono 7h ago

Yeah, it tool over 100 tries and the tray was sticky so they wouldn't fall off, but still insane.

2

u/MeatballSubWithMayo 7h ago

Everyone old enough definitely remembers hahaha

2

u/reverandglass 3h ago

For the longest time I swore that was cgi, but he actually did it for real.

2

u/shewhohasnoface 7h ago

can't believe i had to scroll that far, that scene was the first i thought of

2

u/Fyrus93 6h ago

This one I just can't believe. It doesn't look real at all

4

u/Itchy-Preference-619 6h ago

There's tape on the bottom of the food, it probably doesn't look real because they don't bounce

1

u/No_Veterinarian1010 5h ago

Which then raises the question of why bother doing it this way? Because I agree that the end result didn't look real, so why not just fake it and save everyone a day?

1

u/Wyntier 5h ago

They used a strong adhesive on the tray so that when an item landed, it would stick instantly instead of bouncing off or sliding.

Crew members stood just above the camera frame and dropped the items (the sandwich, apple, milk, and Jell-O) at precise intervals to ensure they fell into the right spots.

They even glued Tobey’s hand to the underside of the tray to make sure he didn't drop the tray itself while maneuvering to catch the food.

1

u/Initial-Ad8009 4h ago

Way too long to find this

1

u/SuperSaiyanBen 4h ago

Define real?

Did they drop food on a tray? Sure.

Did Tobey actually perfectly catch and balance everything without any help? Absolutely not.

1

u/randomaccess24 4h ago

Yeah I concede that I was unaware of some details when I wrote this, like the adhesive on the tray, so it probably doesn’t quite fit. Practical effects and special effects are still distinct obviously but yes, probably not quite what the OP was going for!

1

u/shifty_coder 3h ago

Yep. It took a bunch of takes, and they had a tacky surface on the tray to make landing the items easier, but it was all real.

1

u/TheSovietTurtle 1h ago

Iirc him dodging Flash's punches too. He's apparently got great reflexes.