10 CGI Movie Shots You Never Noticed
Invisible CGI is the best CGI.
Much as so many movie fans complain that cinema is just too jam-packed with CGI for its own good, it's fair to say that just about every single movie released nowadays contains at least some measure of VFX, even if only for simple things like wire removal and superficial touch-ups.
And while audiences certainly think they can always spot CGI a mile off, filmmakers and VFX artists love proving otherwise, as evidenced by these 10 digitally assisted movie shots you almost definitely never noticed.
These shots were all quite ingeniously driven by visual effects that were brilliantly hidden in plain sight, enough that viewers en masse either assumed there was no effect at all, or couldn't tell the practical apart from the digital.
It's often said that the best CGI is that which you don't notice, and with that in mind, these deviously sly VFX moments prove how CGI is often a result of intense creativity and even problem-solving.
And so, if you did manage to spot any of these superbly sneaky VFX moments, give yourself a well-earned pat on the back - but you probably didn't...
10. Marta's Fingers - Knives Out
Knives Out unforgettably ends with Marta (Ana de Armas) emerging triumphant over the entire Thrombey dynasty, in turn inheriting novelist Harlan's (Christopher Plummer) fortune and mansion.
This is cemented by an ingenious final shot in which Martha is shown to be drinking from a coffee mug briefly shown earlier in the film, which reads, "My house, my rules, my coffee!!"
The shot is framed such that Marta's fingers are covering "my rules" and "my coffee," leaving only "my house" visible at the top - a wonderfully witty visual gag which hilariously confirms Marta's victory.
But during editing, filmmaker Rian Johnson realised that the preceding shots of Marta holding the mug gave away the gag too early to keen-eyed audience members, and so had Ana de Armas' finger placement digitally altered to block the words on the mug until the glorious reveal in the final shot.
Though ultimately an incredibly trivial piece of VFX work that most people could learn to do on their laptop in a few hours, it crucially ensures that the closing shot isn't spoiled prematurely and robbed of its departing impact.