10 Secrets That Made Recent Movies Awesome
1. The Doll Was A Combination Of Animatronics, Actors & CGI - M3GAN
The genuinely impressive technical execution of killer android horror movie M3GAN left many fans wondering quite how the relatively low-budget $12 million production pulled it all off. Animatronics? VFX? Clever practical trickery with actual actors?
As it turns out, it was a shrewd combination of all three.
Rather than hedge his bets on a single technique, director Gerard Johnstone had an animatronic puppet of M3GAN built for a close-up shots and dialogue scenes, while a flesh-and-blood actress, Amie Donald, performed more complex movements which the puppet couldn't - specifically during the movie's action sequences.
Donald received coaching to make her movements appear more robotic, and as a cherry on top, CGI was employed to ensure a seamless fusion between the animatronic and Donald's human performance.
The end result is shockingly consistent for such a low-budget feature, and proved absolutely vital in the concept's successful execution - enough that it grossed over $180 million worldwide, prompting Universal to speedily greenlight a sequel, due out in early 2025.