Behind the Scenes

Behind the scenes of The Coen Brothers’ The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Ballad of Buster Scruggs before and after VFX

A before-and-after visual effects comparison from “Mortal Remains,” the final chapter in the Coen Brothers’ Netflix western anthology film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. While the other entries were shot on location across New Mexico, Colorado, and Nebraska, “Mortal Remains” and its spectral stagecoach ride were shot entirely on a soundstage. In keeping with the Coen’s reluctance to delve into the meaning of their work, even the film’s production designer Jess Gonchor wasn’t sure of the passengers’ fate.

“I still don’t know whether the characters in that story are dead or alive or just living in the afterlife,” said Gonchor in an interview with The LA Times. “The Coen brothers didn’t discuss it. We built these monochromatic super facades, which were lit from behind. It was a storybook version of what the afterlife might look like.”

The images above come from The Art of VFX’s interview with visual effects supervisor Michael Huber.

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Before and After Visual Effects, Shot Behind the Shot, the ballad of buster scruggs, the coen brothers

Behind the Scenes

The Shot Behind the Shot – Elf (2003)

I found a few images of behind the scenes set-ups on the Blu-ray featurettes of Elf. They offer a glimpse into how cinematographer Greg Gardiner used forced perspective to create the illusion that Will Ferrell’s Buddy the Elf towers over his North Pole counterparts.

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Behind the Scenes Gallery, elf, forced perspective, greg gardiner, making of, on set, practical effects, Shot Behind the Shot

Behind the Scenes

31 Days of Horror – A breakdown of a signature effect from The Blob (1988)

Like John Carpenter’s The Thing, the 1988 remake of The Blob surpassed its 1950s sci-fi progenitor with the assistance of then-cutting-edge special effects. Many of the film’s most memorable gags were courtesy of effects designer Tony Gardner – including a misdirect that finds the ostensible hero, the clean-cut high school jock Paul (played by Donovan Leitch), pulling a Janet Leigh and getting devoured in the first act.

Gardner and his L.A. based company Alterian have provided effects for a host of classic genre films – Return of the Living Dead, Army of Darkness, Zombieland, multiple Chucky flicks – and Alterian’s Facebook page offers up a treasure trove of behind the scenes pics from those projects. Below are a few photos from the aforementioned Paul-melting scene in The Blob, which employed a practical rig for the actor, animatronics, and quarter-scale puppets.

Continue on past the photos to read a detailed description of the effect from Gardner and to watch a clip of the scene.

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31 Days of Horror - 2018, alterian, behind the scenes, chuck russell, making of, practical effects, the blog (1988), tony gardner

Behind the Scenes

31 Days of Horror – On the set of Sam Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell (2009)

Protective plastic blankets the crew in preparation for a messy effects shot on Sam Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell (2009), which marked the Evil Dead filmmaker’s return to horror after toiling on his trilogy of Spider-Man films. Photo by unit stills photographer Melissa Moseley.

Check out more of this year’s 31 Days of Horror.

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31 Days of Horror - 2018, behind the scenes, drag me to hell, making of, melissa moseley, on set, Sam Raimi

Behind the Scenes

31 Days of Horror – On the set of Phantasm II (1988)

Back in July, special make-up effects artist Mark Shostrom posted a series of photos on his Twitter feed to commemorate the 30th anniversary of director Don Coscarelli’s Phantasm II. Below you’ll find a few of those photos, which document the process behind one of the film’s climactic gags.

I’m also posting this to highlight the fact that Coscarelli (Phantasm, The Beastmaster, Bubba Ho-Tep) has a memoir out this week titled True Indie: Life and Death in Filmmaking. Don was the first filmmaker I ever interviewed when he took time, nearly twenty years ago, to do a story for the student paper at the University of Kentucky. I got the chance to talk to him again a few years ago for Filmmaker Magazine to dig into the making of the original Phantasm.

And if you continue beyond the photos, you’ll find a pair of videos in which effects legend Greg Nicotero talks about the making of Phantasm II.

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31 Days of Horror - 2018, behind the scenes, don coscarelli, greg nicotero, making of, mark shostrom, on set, phantasm, practical effects

Behind the Scenes

31 Days of Horror – Behind the scenes of Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013)

A set pic from one of my favorite unit stills photographers Matt Kennedy, from the making of James Wan’s Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013). For more of Matt’s work visit his official site or his Instagram feed.

Check out more from this year’s 31 Days of Horror.

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31 Days of Horror - 2018, behind the scenes, horror movie behind the scenes, Insidious Chapter 2, James Wan, making of, Matt Kennedy, on set

Behind the Scenes

The Shot Behind the Shot – Jaws 2 (1978)

(Above) The set up for the shark’s fiery demise at the conclusion of Jaws 2 (1978). The production still comes from a collection of 180 set photos recently unearthed and published by the Northwest Florida Daily News. The sequel was shot on Florida’s Emerald Coast as opposed to the Martha’s Vineyard locations of Steven Spielberg’s 1975 original. Check out all of the set stills here.

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Jaws, jaws 2, practical effects, Shot Behind the Shot

Behind the Scenes

The Shot Behind the Shot: On the set of Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables (1987)

(Above) Al Capone henchman Frank Nitti plummets to his death in this scene from Brian De Palma’s 1987 film The Untouchables. (Photo by unit stills photographer Zade Rosenthal)