The Insane VFX of Old Movies

[00:00] This is a scene from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey released in 1968. This was before computers

[00:29] and placed in front of the camera.    The glass was attached to bearings  that allowed an operator to slowly

[00:58] and even invent a green screen alternative that worked better

[01:28] and it didn't require editing. To pull this off, he'd record the first scene

[01:53] essentially remained transparent since almost no light was hitting the film. This meant that as he

[02:22] and be slowly pulled towards the camera. As he got closer, his head

[02:52] the same strip of film. By doing it this way,  instead of combining

[03:22] it was all done in one take without

[03:50] The same trick was used for this scene.  The massive demon mouth 

[04:15] These epic chariot racing scenes required an enormous coliseum filled with crowds but the studio didn't have the budget

[04:43] that could be mechanically moved 

[05:11] AI can't do everything, but if it's used right, it can be an amazing tool to

[05:36] The best part is this

[06:03] So far, all of the tricks we've looked at were about adding more things to a scene But what if you wanted to 

[06:28] But it's this shot of the man

[06:55] But what about scenes that

[07:23] The camera was tilted slightly off center so that when it moved forward, the slit would travel from the middle of

[07:49] This single movement

[08:16] But perhaps the most impressive

[08:44] Actors were constantly surrounded

[09:10] it's almost impossible to avoid these problems when keying out backgrounds. But in the 1964 film Mary Poppins,

[09:37] the actors were standing

[10:05] but the sodium light was separated and directed onto a different strip of  black and white film.   The result was a

[10:32] and essentially allow some

[10:59] creating perfect transparency. By the 80s,   this technique was largely forgotten about since it was almost impossible