10 Practical Film Effects You Probably Thought Were CGI
4. Tobey Maguire's Tray Scene
This ones really unbelievable. As revealed on the DVD commentary, the scene in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man when Peter Parker catches Mary Janes lunch as it falls from above wasn't a CGI creation at all. While it surely wouldn't have taken a CGI technician long to mock up some paper crockery and a few slices of bread, Raimi was keen to capture this one himself.
To achieve this, the tray was coated with a sticky substance on the underside so Toby Maguire couldn't drop it. They repeatedly launched the food into the air using a mechanical rig and Maguire had to try and catch it, with the assistance of the sticky stuff.
According to visual effects supervisor John Dykstra, Maguire finally caught all the items on take 156. We can rule out the possibility that he real has Spidey-Sense, then, by the sounds of it. But still, Kudos for Raimi and Dykstra for sticking to their guns and avoiding CG where possible.