10 Movie Moments Which Aren’t What They Seem
7. Independence Day - Gloomy Clouds Made With Milk And A Water Tank
One of the most striking visuals in the 1996 alien invasion spectacular Independence Day came during the scene when the alien ships first entered the Earth's atmosphere. It was one of the most awe inspiring movie moments of its time when that gigantic UFO burst through the clouds early in the feature.
Sadly though, this effect wasn't achieved by building a life size flying saucer and hovering it over various locations around the globe - although that would have definitely been very cool. Yet, the clouds being broken through by the ship weren't the product of post-production CGI, either.
Instead, the visual effects wizards working on the flick actually used a Cloud Tank machine to produce the moment. This involved them adding milk into a water tank and moving a broom with lights on the end (or alien space ship, as we know it) through it!
Visual effects may have moved on a little since the mid 90's and most films happily completely rely on CGI to create sequences like this today. But, it's still amazing to think that this jaw dropping image of the titanic alien space craft revealing itself was partially made by running a sweeper through some dairy infused H2O.