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For a comedy set piece, different lines can be stitched together digitally to make sure the film keeps the funniest material from each take. \u201cOne guy\u2019s line might be funny, but the other guy\u2019s response isn\u2019t,\u201d Grasmere said. \u201cIf they touch each other during the shot, we might have to rebuild a hand, or an entire arm. Or we\u2019ll repaint the background from one shot, blend two faces from two other moments, or superimpose something into the foreground to match two different performances together. There are a million ways to make it work.\u201d<\/p>\n
A lot of invisible effects work concentrates on faces. Artists can do replacements on body doubles, either for nude scenes or dangerous stunts. More commonly, there\u2019s extensive cosmetic work performed on actors \u2014 removing wrinkles, smoothing out blemishes or otherwise correcting imperfections to make actors look their best. This kind of work is usually referred to as \u201cvisual makeup\u201d or vanity VFX, and it\u2019s becoming so common that many top stars have this work written into their contracts.<\/p>\n
\u201cCosmetic VFX work is often super complex, but because we have to sign nondisclosure agreements, we can rarely talk about or advertise that work,\u201d said Martin Pelletier, a VFX supervisor with Rodeo. \u201cYou might do a sequel where an actor returns to a role and has put on a humongous amount of weight, and we have to come in and fix it. Or someone has a triple chin, and we have to make him or her look nice and thin.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can be a sensitive question,\u201d Pelletier added. \u201cWe once had an actress who didn\u2019t want to look overweight in a scene surrounded by a bunch of people. We had to shave off about 80 pounds.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the most common invisible effects is what\u2019s known as \u201cretiming.\u201d If a director feels that a shot or a scene is running too short or too long, it can be sped up or slowed down by either removing frames or adding them. This can create visual artifacts or a kind of unnatural distortion, or cause the shot to look \u201cjittery\u201d and \u201csteppy.\u201d Visual effects artists make imperceptible adjustments \u201cso that it all moves smoothly,\u201d Weintraub said. \u201cIt gets tricky, and it\u2019s a subliminal thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
All of this affords filmmakers a level of control over continuity that borders on perfectionism. \u201cMaybe there\u2019s a spot on somebody\u2019s face in one shot, or someone\u2019s hair was slightly off and we have to go in and replace it,\u201d Groves said. \u201cOn the one hand, it\u2019s like, who cares? No one will notice. But at the end of the day, it\u2019s these little things that can make a film just that much better.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n