10 Movies That Put INSANE Effort Into Tiny Details
These movies went above and beyond on the smallest of details.
Even the most basic shot in a movie is the result of dozens, even hundreds of decisions made by cast and crew members both during shooting and in post-production. As film fans given only occasional glimpses into the production process, we can't help ourselves but totally take it for granted.
Even so, sometimes filmmakers go so far above and beyond what's expected to achieve a shot that it's tough not to question their mind-boggling commitment to getting it in the can. The following 10 movie shots, many of them quite innocuous, nevertheless had ludicrous amounts of effort put into small details that the overwhelming majority of viewers wouldn't ever think about, at least not consciously.
But such is what can be achieved when a film has the time, money, and passionate personnel to do things the hard way, in turn dialling in on even the most minor things most people won't ever notice. While you might question the effort involved, it all nevertheless speaks to the phenomenal craft that went into these scenes and films as a whole, regardless of what you might think of them...
10. Making A Giant Journal For One Shot - Bram Stoker's Dracula
Bram Stoker's Dracula is a mesmerising marvel of practical effects wizardry, as executed by director Francis Ford Coppola's son Roman, where even seconds-long shots had a backbreaking amount of work put into them.
Case in point, the memorable shot where Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves) is writing in his journal while taking the train to Transylvania wasn't achieved through clever cutting-edge compositing, but an ingenious fusion of practical effects techniques.
During the shot, the smoke from the train casts a shadow across the journal, a surreal and expressionistic touch that couldn't be achieved by simply placing a journal in front of the camera lens with the miniature train set in the background, because the shadow wouldn't travel that distance.
For the shadow to appear on the journal, the production had to create an oversized 20-foot journal prop which was placed in front of the train set as it was blasted with light, causing the smoke to cast genuine shadows on the journal's pages.
It's a shot which would almost certainly be accomplished with VFX today, but back in 1992, Coppola's desire to see those shadows required his prop team to pull out all the stops. All this for a shot which, while gorgeous, lasts a grand total of seven seconds.