7. The Water Ripple Effect Was Achieved Using A Guitar String (Jurassic Park)
For those of us who grew up watching Jurassic Park, staring at a half-full cup of water and imagining that it might start rippling because, I don't know, something big and bad is approaching, has become a true staple of our adult lives. Well, it as least in has in my mind (I don't get out much). In Steven Spielberg's classic dinosaur rampage movie, the rippling effect is used to denote the footfalls of a gigantic T-Rex as it approaches our heroes. Nobody has likely ever sat down and wondered how this was done - it seems like it would be relatively easy to do, I guess, even if you can't think of a way off the top of your head. But the idea for the ripple effect was inspired by a moment that actually occurred in Spielberg's life, though it was (disappointingly) dinosaur-free. Sitting in his car one day, he noticed that a glass of water was ripping because of the sound emanating from his speakers. Surprisingly, the crew couldn't find a way to actually reproduce this effect so that it made sense, until a guitar string was attached to the dashboard, plucked appropriately, and - wham! - instant moment of cinema genius.