10 Movie Scenes You Didn’t Know Used CGI Trickery

by Danny Meegan

1. Natalie Portman's Hands - Black Swan

Black Swan is a very weird, unorthodox story, and so director Darren Aronofsky chose to make good use of CGI in order to amplify that feeling throughout his film.

Because of this, subtle VFX moments are scattered throughout, including some stellar usage of green screen and lighting technology, but the sneakiest, least-noticeable out of the bunch is a very quick shot of Natalie Portman's hands.

Black Swan chronicles lead character Nina's (Portman) increasing instability, and her transformation is made more scary thanks to several smooth CGI additions, including making the actress' hands more elongated and slender.

Natalie Portman CGI hands black swan
Fox Searchlight Pictures

This was done so well that it's impossible to tell that Portman's hands have been altered, and it really does prove that CGI is best used sparingly, cleanly, and most importantly, unobtrusively.

Any subtle CGI moments that we missed? Let us know in the comments!

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!